How to Pray Powerful Prayers

The smoke of the incense, together with the prayers of the saints, went up before God from the angel's hand. Revelation 8:4 

Prayer is more than just an exercise or a discipline. It is an act of love poured out to God. Prayer is the pouring forth of a believer's innermost desires, concerns, failures, fears, and thoughts to the one he loves the most. Prayer is the most intimate thing we can do. It is expressing our very soul to God.

There are different types of prayers. There is a place for public prayer. This is almost like a married couple holding hands in public. A couple may even sneak a kiss in public but most of their intimate times are behind closed doors. This does not only include physical intimacy but they save their most private thoughts for when they are alone. Prayer is much the same way. A believer who is madly in love with the Lord will have times when he wants to be completely alone with God to share his most intimate praise, worship, and request. This is what Jesus meant by the "prayer closet."

Prayer is holy. It  means much more to God when the person doing the praying has kept himself clean from a sinful lifestyle and done his best to be faithful to God. No married woman would be comfortable with a spouse who flirts with other women all day and comes home to tell her how beautiful she is at night. The words would sound meaningless because he has said them to others. She will feel as if she is just someone else for him to flirt with. It is the same with God and prayer. He does not want our second best. If we participate in things that are clearly against his word our prayers will be lifeless at best and hypocritical at worst.

A husband and wife can each tell when the other is holding back something. My wife knows when I am talking to her but my mind or heart is elsewhere. Life is busy but I must always make time to give her my undivided attention. My prayer life with God should be no less important. When I am surrendered to God my prayers are more energetic and powerful; they have much more meaning.

Jesus Christ excelled in prayer because he was both Holy and completely surrendered to the Father. Full surrender opens the door to powerful prayer. God is only impressed when he knows we are holding nothing back from him. Anyone can memorize prayers and learn to pray beautiful orations in public. Only a person who is truly in love with God will pray prayers that shake the spiritual world and change heaven and earth. If I am tempted to participate in something I know is wrong I must remind myself of this. I can not afford to allow anything into my home or life that would make my prayer less powerful.

There are far too few believers who are praying and our world is depending on us. Won't you join me in making a commitment, not just to prayer, but to Holy prayer? It is worth the price!

Prayerfully Yours

Sullivan Jones

How Far Away is God?

Acts 17:27 - That they should seek the Lord, if haply they might feel after him, and find him, though he be not far from every one of us. 

Many see prayer as an obstacle course to be surmounted. Prayer seems to be some difficult or mysterious thing. Some wonder if there is a certain way to approach prayer. Do I have to use certain religious words? How do I address God? Still others wonder if God wants to hear from them at. "Am I worthy of asking God for anything?", they might ask. These questions show a lack of understanding about prayer. 

Prayer is a two way communication between man and God. Many become frustrated with prayer because they wonder if God is even hearing them. The truth is, as this scripture tells us, God is never very far from any of us. He is always ready to listen when one of his children pray and he always answers. The problem is we don't always recognize His answer because we may not know how to look or listen for it. 

God answers us in different ways. He may immediately speak the answer into our minds. He may lead us to a Bible verse as we are reading that clears up the matter. Often I have been praying about something and then pastor (or an evangelist) will preach on the very thing I was troubled about. This is answered prayer. 

God may send someone to us to confirm his word. A couple of years ago I was praying about returning to school. An evangelist friend of mine called me one day to ask a question. The conversation led to his father-in-law who had graduated from a Christian college and was now teaching. This minister left me with these words: If you will seek God first, he will open the door for you to go back to school. The next day someone from work stopped me and begin to talk to me about going back to school. After this, my pastor asked to talk to me and he felt I should go back to school as well. I realized God had confirmed what I was feeling through three different people. That is the way God works. He always confirms his word. 

Are you struggling with your prayer life? Don't know how to get started? Take some small steps. Don't worry about how others pray. You are your own person and must develop your own relationship with God through prayer. Some may pray louder than others. Some may have bigger vocabularies. Prayer is not a contest. It is simply spending time with God speaking to him and listening for his voice. Above all, don't expect his answers to always come the same way. The wonder of our God is that he is always the same but his manifestations are limitless. He never ceases to amaze us! 

Don't be afraid to try prayer - it really works because God is really never very far from any of us!  

Prayerfully Yours,

Sullivan Jones 

Cognitive Dissonance

Proverbs 19: 21 - There are many devices in a man's heart; nevertheless the counsel of the Lord, that shall stand. 

Over the weekend I attended a men's conference where one of the speakers talked about Cognitive Dissonance. This is a fancy psychological term to say that someone believes something that can not possibly be true because the facts contradict it. One example he gave was of a woman who had a favorite childhood memory of her father reading her a certain book. The book was her favorite because her father read it to her before he died while she was very young. Years later, she learned that the book she held so dear was not published until after the death of her father. He could not possibly have read it to her. She had linked two childhood memories into one. The point of the story was that the mind can play tricks on us.

Consider this scripture from Proverbs. There are many devices in a man's heart. The heart is the Biblical terminology for the mind or the imagination. In other words, we think a lot of things but that doesn't make them all true. When we commune only with ourselves we will convince ourselves of almost anything. We must all have some grounding of truth to base our ideas upon. The only rock solid truth in this world is the word of God. God's counsel will always stand true. Recently, a pastor friend told me that someone asked his opinion about a certain issue. His reply was simple. "My opinion doesn't matter. The only thing that matters is what the word of God says." How true this is. We must base our ideas and opinions on the word of God. The word of God has stood true since before the beginning of time and it will stand true when the world is on fire. We can not afford to commune with our hearts. We must take our advice from the word of God. His word will never fail!

Trusting Him Daily,

Sullivan Jones 

Our Forgiving God

Nehemiah 9:16-17

 “But they and our fathers acted proudly,

Hardened their necks,

And did not heed Your commandments.

 They refused to obey,

And they were not mindful of Your wonders

That You did among them.

But they hardened their necks,

And in their rebellion

They appointed ha leader

To return to their bondage.

But You are God,

Ready to pardon,

Gracious and merciful,

Slow to anger,

Abundant in kindness,

And did not forsake them.

Of all God's attributes, his mercy and forgiveness are possibly the hardest for me to understand. Perhaps it is because we as humans are so quick to get offended and so slow to forgive. We harbor grudges over the silliest things. We all know what it is like to see close friends become bitter enemies over something so petty and fleeting as money and material possessions. How quickly we forget that the richest blessings are the relationships we have with family and friends. Yes, because we are so trivial with our own forgiveness, we might tend to think that God is as well. 

The above passage is part of a prayer of re-dedication from the book of Nehemiah. It was prayed over the people by their leadership as an act of consecration to Jehovah during Nehemiah's reconsecration of Jerusalem. As part of the prayer, the leaders remind God of his mercy and kindness. They recall the time when their fathers sinned against God and Moses by creating a golden calf in the desert. They remind God that he forgave them because it is in his nature to forgive. They plead for God's forgiveness in their day, confident that God will do no the same for them that he did for their forefathers. Why? Because he is a God of mercy. Kindness is a part of who he is. He can not help but to be kind. It is Who He Is. 

All humanity was originally created in the image of God. Because of sin, we are not in the perfect state we were before the fall. There are, however, still things about our nature that are like God. We are happy at times and sad at others. We become frustrated and we get angry. But of all these things, I believe we are the most like God when we choose to forgive. Forgiveness is not only a virtue, it is a fruit of the Spirit of God. ( See Galatians chapter 5). Yes, we are most like God when we are quick to forgive and let things go. 

No only do we need to forgive others, we must also forgive ourselves. I have heard people repeatedly ask God to forgive things that he had long forgotten. How do I know he has forgotten? Because the prophet Micah said that he would cast all our sins into the depths of the sea. He is so full of love to us. We can not possibly understand just how deep his love and mercy goes. If you are having problems forgiving someone, ask God to help you see that person through his eyes. You will see how much he loves them and know that you must do the same. Are you having problems forgiving yourself? Ask God to help you see yourself as he sees you. You will probably be surprised at what you find out. He doesn't look at us as we see ourselves but he loves us with an unending love. 

God's love is faithful. If you need forgiveness, God has not changed. All you have to do is ask. He is abundant in kindness and will not forsake you. Don't give up on yourself. God hasn't and he never will.

Thankfully,

Sullivan Jones 

No Evil Thing

I will set no wicked thing before mine eyes. Psalm 103: 31 

 David's vow not to look at anything unholy seems almost impossible at times. There is so much that is unholy in our world. Everything in the news is about someone's transgression. Have you ever noticed that rarely (if ever) is anything positive reported in the news? It almost seems that people are  interested only in what someone has done wrong. One can not drive down the interstate or walk down the street without seeing advertisements for ungodly businesses and scantily clad persons. And this is not even discussing the evils of television! It seems no subject is so taboo that it is not blatantly portrayed on the big screen. Nor is it confined to television. With the internet on every phone and handheld device we own, there is evil at the touch of a button almost anywhere we are. We are truly surrounded by evil on every side and, if we let ourselves be, we can feel overwhelmed by it. The writer of Ecclesiastes knew this feeling when he wrote, "Indeed, there is no one on earth who is righteous, no one who does what is right and never sins" (Ecclesiastes 7:20). In writing this he allowed himself to be overwhelmed by his surroundings. 

 The Christian we must remind himself that this isn't true. Our world may be evil, but it has always been so. The same writer of Ecclesiastes said, "There is no new thing under the sun." In every generation God's people have had some evil to contend with. Yet we can say with the Apostle John, "Greater is he that is in me than he that is in the world" (I John 4:4).  WWII holocaust survivor Corrie ten Boom made this statement about her time in a Nazi prison camp: "The great ploy of the enemy is to display such blatant evil around me that I think my sins do not matter." The modern day Christian must not fall to this ploy of the devil. Just because our world is filled with evil does not give us the excuse to allow things into our lives that we know are wrong. We must all make a fresh commitment (in the words of King David) to "set no evil thing before our eyes." The spirit of religiosity that is in our world says that we can participate in almost anything the world does and still be used of God. We must guard against this at any cost. Just because something feels good doesn't mean it is good. We must judge everything by the word of God. 

Another ploy the enemy uses is to try to make us feel small and insignificant. He tells us that no one wants to hear that what they are doing is wrong. He tries to make us feel old fashioned for having ideas of Holiness and separation from the world. We are tempted to keep quiet in conversations where our voice would be the lone one that stands for Biblical values. We must not give in to this. If there was ever a time that our world needed the people of God to be bold it is now. To be bold does not mean to be unkind. We can speak the truth in love. Not speaking up when we know someone is voicing an opinion that is not Biblical is not being kind. It is allowing the person to be deceived. Our world needs a conscience and we as the church must be that conscience. 

We are salt and light to our world and a city that is set on a hill can not be hid. It is time for us to be the city on the hill. Surely, there is darkness around us but the light of God's word shines brightest in the darkest of the night. With so much wickedness in our world, it's time for the church to shine. I challenge you, fellow Christian. Shine as brightly as you can. Your world depends upon it. 


In Christ's Love,

Sullivan Jones 

Anointed Prayer

Often earnestness can be mistaken for anointing. Someone who is anointed will feel earnest toward prayer. But just because we feel eager to pray, doesn't mean our prayers will be anointed. Men can pray long prayers, using beautiful language, but if the Spirit of God doesn't touch their hearts and lips, the words are empty. Jesus rebuked the pharisees for doing this. We understand this in preaching. A man can stand behind a pulpit and proclaim the gospel without any anointing on his life. The words he speaks may be true but it somehow sounds empty. Why? Because his life doesn't testify that he lives what he is preaching. It is the same with our prayers. The disciples recognized this when they asked, "Lord, teach us to pray" (Matthew 6:9). No doubt they saw that Jesus prayers were answered much more quickly than their own. This was because he always prayed according to the will of his father.  The very first thing he taught his disciples to pray was : "Our father ..... thy kingdom come, THY WILL BE DONE." We can pray long prayers with beautiful words; they may even be sincere. But the prayers that really touch God are prayers that are anointed with His Spirit according to his will and word.

Prayer: Lord, when I come to you in prayer, anoint my mind, heart, spirit, and lips that I might ask of you petitions that be according to your will. Let me pray with the anointing that will destroy the bondage of sin and sickness in people's lives. In Jesus name, Amen.

Prayerfully Yours,

Sullivan Jones 

Mustard Seed Faith

Matthew 17:20 - "If you have faith as a grain of mustard seed ..."

Jesus told us that faith is like a grain of mustard seed. We plant it and it grows. It is indeed a very small seed and is not worth much on its own. But like the parable Jesus told, some varieties of mustard plant can grow to be 8 ft tall. While not a tall tree (compared to a desert palm) it is much higher than most garden plants. Indeed, birds could indeed find a place to perch in a mustard bush, especially the black mustard. Once the tree has grown, the seeds are used to make the table condiment we know as mustard. The seeds are pressed to make mustard oil and the leaves of the smaller variety are grown to be eaten as mustard greens. The parable was so accurate because most every Israeli at the time of Christ would have been familiar with a "mustard tree" as we are familiar in the south with mustard greens. 

Jesus audience understood him to be talking about the growth of faith and not necessarily the size. The difference between the seed and the bush of the mustard plant is amazing. When God speaks to us to attempt something for him we do not know how it will turn out. If we were to look at the seed (where we are now) and compare it to the tree (the finished product) we could become discouraged. Therefore, Jesus gave us this parable to remind us how good God is at doing the impossible. If you and I were to be handed some seeds, shown some photos of plants, and then asked which seed grew into which plant we would probably guess incorrectly. The natural tendency would be to match the smallest seed with the smallest plant. Yet the smallest garden seed the Jews knew, probably the black mustard, grew into the largest plant in their gardens and fields. 

So it is with our lives. Often the smallest beginnings turn into the most successful ministries, careers, etc. The people who have the most success didn't necessarily start out trying to be something "big". They just took one day at a time and trusted the process. Likewise, you and I must take one day at a time with our Christian walk and trust God's process. Jesus followers were not asked to understand how a mustard seed changes into a mustard plant. That is for God alone to understand.  Their only obligation was to put the seed in the ground and let God do his work. Likewise, we are not to try to figure out where we will end up. We are simply to obey as God speaks and let him lead. His plans are so much better than ours and he can cause the most humble beginnings in our lives to have the greatest long term effects. 

Are you facing questions about your future? If you are young you might be wondering which college to attend or career to pursue? If you are older you might be wondering if you have enough money for retirement. Wherever you are in life, remember this. God knows how to turn mustard seeds into mustard trees and he can do the same "impossible" thing in your life. Jesus compared the mustard seed/mustard bush growth both to personal faith and the Kingdom of God as a whole. Just as the teachings of Christianity grew from the voice of one man to encompass the entire Christian church so can God do the same in your life. Don't worry too much about what you see now. Plant the seed by doing your part and watch God do his. You will not be disappointed. 

Trusting Him Daily,

Sullivan Jones 

Trusting in the God of David

Psalm 37: 39 - But the salvation of the righteous is of the Lord: he is their strength in the time of trouble. 

David was a man who knew what it was like to be in trouble. From his youth he cared for his father's sheep. By his own testimony, he killed both a lion and a bear to protect his flock. Later on this experience served him well when he faced Goliath. He proclaimed that the same God who had delivered him from the mouth of the lion and the bear would deliver him from this Goliath who was defying his God. David trusted God for deliverance and the rest is history. Against all odds he killed Goliath with a sling and stone and led Israel into victory. Because of this victory King Saul became jealous of David and sought to kill him. David went from being a national hero to a hunted fugitive. Yet even while he was hiding in caves from Saul's army God was with him. More than once Saul's army came close to capturing him and he "barely" escaped. Once while Saul was sleeping David had the chance to rid himself of his enemy. The Bible tells us that God caused a deep sleep to come on Saul and his men (I Samuel 26:12.) David came upon them sleeping and knew he could kill Saul. Yet David feared to do anything to God's anointed. Instead he left the battle to God and God did not disappoint. Because David spared Saul's life, Saul left him alone and stopped pursuing him (at least for a while.) Eventually Saul died and David was made king.

Even after David's coronation, trouble continued to plague him. Absalom, his own son,  turned against him and tried to take his throne, leaving David to flee  for his life. After his throne was reestablished, he continued to fight bloody battles all his days to keep enemy armies out of his kingdom. And even as he was dying, his son Adonijah tried to take the kingdom from Solomon, David's choice to replace him as king. Yes, David knew what it was to be int trouble.

Yet if there was one thing David learned in all his years of trouble it was this: The Lord was his strength in times of trouble. It wasn't David's own strength that killed Goliath. It wasn't even David's strength that killed the lion and the bear. It certianly wasn't David's own strength that made him a king. His God did these things for him. The one time David forgot this was when he committed his sin with Bathsheba. We see how low this brought him. When David realized his error he quickly repented, acknowledging that it was only God who had prospered him so. Yes, David knew what it was to be in trouble. Yet he also knew what it was to trust in his God.

Is there any trouble in your life today? Do you have a problem you don't know how to handle? Remember the words of David. "The salvation of the righteous is of the Lord: He will be your strength in time of trouble" (Paraphrased). Whatever you need today you can find it in Jesus Christ; F He is the lion of the tribe of Judah, the God of David. He will most assuredly rescue you as he did David so long ago. Call on him today and see what he will do. Be encouraged! David's God is your God. He has never lost a battle and is not about to. You can depend on Him for he will never let you down! Not today, nor tomorrow! Never! His is your strength!

Trusting in Jesus,

Sullivan Jones 

The God of Jacob

There are many titles for God given throughout his word. Some of these are "The Lord of Armies", "The Lily of the Valley", and "Everlasting Father", to name a few. Of all these titles my favorite is when he is referred to as the "God of Jacob." That's right, the God of Jacob. Why is this so significant to me? Because I can identify with Jacob.

 I can understand God being called the God of Abraham and Isaac. They were pretty righteous men, for the most part. But Jacob was a conniving liar, thief, and flat out con artist. He had a lot of faults that most of us wouldn't want listed on a resume. I guess that is why I can identify with Jacob a little more than with his father and grandfather. We seem to have more in common. :) My life has been far less than perfect and I have done a few things I wish I could undo. Yes, I can identify with Jacob.

Yet Jacob, with all his faults, had something that God admired. He loved God and was always in pursuit of him. He loved the birthright that identified him as a Son of God as much as Esau despised it. This later moved God to say, "Jacob have I loved but Esau have I hated" (Romans 9:13). God loved Jacob in spite of his faults. He loved Jacob because Jacob loved God. No, he wasn't perfect, but he never gave up trying.

Jacob had some of the most remarkable experiences with God in all the Bible. Jacob saw a vision of angels and had God appear to him and speak to him several times. The last was when he was afraid to go into Egypt after learning that Joseph was alive. God appeared to him, called him by name, and assured him that he would be with him and his seed in Egypt. He also promised to bring them out again. Yes, Jacob had a remarkable relationship with God.

The Psalmist David invoked the name of the God of Jacob in Psalm 20:1 with these words: "The name of the God of Jacob defend thee." The God of Jacob is to us the God of imperfect humanity. Do you feel like you have made too many mistakes to count? Wish you could erase something in your past? You are in good company. Jacob felt the same way when his brother Esau came after him for stealing his birthright. Be encouraged! The same God who helped Jacob make peace with his past can help you today with any situation you are facing. He is after all the God of Jacob!

Be Blessed,

Sullivan Jones 

Sweeter than Honey - A Labor Day Thought

Psalm 19: 7-10

The Law of the Lord is perfect converting the soul ...... The judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether. More to be desired are they than gold, yea, than much fine gold: sweeter also than honey and the honeycomb. 

I awoke this morning with the last words of this section of scripture running through my head. The psalmist is telling us that the law of God is sweeter than honey. Imagine that! When we think about laws we usually think about rules and regulations that keep us from doing things that we don't want to do. Rarely do we truly think about the protection of those laws or the chaotic confusion that would result from a society with no laws. All of us would agree that some laws are good but rarely do we think of them as sweet.

Let's take today for example: Labor Day. Most of us think of it as a last chance to get a few days off before the busyness of the fall is upon us. Traditionally it was the end of the summer vacation season and school started the next day. Very few of us really think about the origins of the holiday. To give the short version, the holiday is a commemoration of the struggles early Americans had in establishing fair labor laws and practices. Today, because of laws passed by Congress, we are no longer at the mercy of our employers whims. We can not be forced to work long hours without overtime. We have unemployment compensation if our position ends or we are dismissed unfairly. There are OSHA codes to ensure safety in the workplace. The list goes on. While there are some who would say the government unfairly imposes itself into our lives, I'm sure all of us are thankful for at least some of these regulations. They have done much good for American society.

We could make a parallel application of these labor laws to our spiritual lives. Many times we are tempted to see the word of God as unfair interference into our lives. When the preacher "steps on our toes" we can get disgruntled or even angry. Why is he picking on me? Why are there so many restrictions in the Christian life? Why can't I just live as I please! The truth is that we need regulations. Without guidelines all of us would wind up in the ditch. Our lives would become a shipwreck on the storms of life. Without some guidance, we would be left to go with our best guess. Often this is not good enough. We need something more concrete to give us direction in times of trouble. The word of God is that concrete direction. If we will heed it, it not only gives us dos and don'ts but offers us protections as well.

God's word gives us a promise that we are  blessed when we obey him and cursed when we do not. The reason is simple. His words, when obeyed, keep us from making mistakes that will bring curses into our lives. By default then, we are blessed. When His word is ignored, we are open to the enemy of our souls and whatever he wants to do in our lives. Like the labor laws that this holiday commemorates, God's word stands up for us and offers us protection when we do right. We can never go wrong by seeking the word of God for direction. His word is truly sweeter than honey and the honeycomb.

Blessings,

Sullivan Jones