prayer

His Word, His Way

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(Day 6 of a 28-day series from First Bradenton)

Nebuchadnezzar asked them, “Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, is it true that you don’t serve my gods or worship the gold statue I have set up? Now if you’re ready, when you hear the sound of the horn, flute, zither, lyre, harp, drum, and every kind of music, fall down and worship the statue I made. But if you don’t worship it, you will immediately be thrown into a furnace of blazing fire—and who is the god who can rescue you from my power?” Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego replied to the king, “Nebuchadnezzar, we don’t need to give you an answer to this question. If the God we serve exists, then he can rescue us from the furnace of blazing fire, and he can rescue us from the power of you, the king. But even if he does not rescue us, we want you as king to know that we will not serve your gods or worship the gold statue you set up.” Daniel 3:14-18 (CSB)

In this passage, the young men Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego display an exemplary level of faith. They tell the king in no uncertain terms that they trust God to be able to rescue them from the current threat and any other that the king could give. They know that He is powerful enough to save them from the furnace, and they believe that He will because He is a good God. But they go further than that.

These three were no longer children; they had grown up during exile from their homeland. They were surrounded by a culture that was contrary to their faith, but they did not waiver. They were willing to throw themselves into the Father’s arms regardless of the outcome.

They declare to the king that they would not stop following God even if they knew that He would not save them from the furnace. They believe that God is good regardless of their own circumstances or outcomes. They believe that following the one true God is more important than their own safety, because His word is true, and His ways are right. Just like a young child, these young men trust God entirely.

As adults we know that life is hard, and trials come. Even so, our prayers should reflect our belief that we can trust Him no matter what. We can throw ourselves headlong into His care, knowing that whatever happens, He will be glorified, and we are already saved. As we pray, we know that we can trust him, because His word is true, and His ways are right.

Though Satan should buffet, though trials should come,

Let this blessed assurance control,

That Christ has regarded my helpless estate,

And hath shed his own blood for my soul.

“It Is Well with My Soul”

By Kyle Reilly

Childlike Simplicity

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(Day 5 in a 28-day series from First Bradenton)

In many cases, prayer is a subject that comes easy to new believers. Just like a child to his/her Father, we realize how small we are compared to the greatness of the God of the universe. Because of this, we are quick and willing to go the Lord in prayer, laying all of our burdens before Him. After all, He cares for us. 

…casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you. (1 Peter 5:7)

Something begins to happen to that childlike simplicity as we mature as a Christian. When we begin to grasp the nature of God and the fact that He is all knowing (John 16:30), that knowledge begins to affect the way we pray. Why should we pray if God already knows our need? Why should we share our heart with God if He already knows the contents of it (Matthew 6:8)? Greater still, why should we pray if God is ultimately going to work all things together according to the council of His own will?

In him we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will… (Ephesians 1:11).

It is at this point that we need to have our mindset reshaped as far as how we think about prayer. Prayer is less about how we get things from God and more about our relationship with God. Bluntly framed, God is not in need of our prayers. He is not frantically waiting to act until we ask Him to intervene in our lives. He is not “shook” nor can He be shaken. God is the sovereign creator and King of the universe. He is, of His own self, independent and self reliant. More specifically though, He is our God. He entered into covenant relationship with us through faith in the work of His son. This makes us His children. Childlike praying offers us an opportunity to know Him better, trust Him more, and understand deeper the vastness of His love for us. 

It has been said that communication is the key to any relationship and it is never more true than with our relationship to our Heavenly Father. God uses this communication not so much to change a specific circumstance in our lives but more to change us as faith followers. Simply put, prayer is a means of grace that God uses to shape us into the image of Christ.

For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. (Romans 8:29)

This causes me to think the way Paul thought…that in every situation, my immediate circumstances are less important compared to the “surpassing value” of gaining Christ.

Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ… (Philippians 3:8).

By Doug Hull

God Noticed

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I had a moment today. And someone noticed.

It was during a coaching call. When I normally would have been “Johnny on the spot,” my mind was divided, torn, maybe even a little paralyzed. My client said, “Well, this isn’t normal.” My only response was, “I’m distracted.”

Been there? You’re in the middle of something that has to march on, but your mind is not there? Depending on the circumstances, we have various responses to take. The one I chose to take was to dive in even though I didn’t have much confidence in how the rest of the call was going to go. 

But then I made a second choice. I said a simple prayer. “God, I’m distracted. My client needs my full attention. So I need you to calm my mind.”

Guess what…the next thought I shared was “the one question that broke it open for me,” said my client at the end of the call.

He’s not looking for flowery, “Child, I don’t even know who you are” prayers. He’s looking for honest, “God I need you” prayers.

I had a moment today. And God noticed.

Our Prayers: Childish or Childlike?

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(Day 4 of a 28-day series from First Bradenton)

“Do not be afraid, little flock, for your Father has been pleased to give you the kingdom.”- Luke 12:32

“If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the Heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him.” Luke 11:13

One of my adult children needed to run an errand but could not because of other obligations. It was something that I could gladly and easily do. It brought me joy to grant the request. Then I realized that our Heavenly Father also finds joy in granting our requests, when they are for our good and His glory.

However, there are times when our requests become more like demands of God. We do not pray in a childlike manner, but in a childish way. Jesus reminds us that we must have the humility of a young child when we come to him. In fact, he taught his disciples that they must become like children, or they would not enter heaven. (Matt. 18:1-4)

Sometimes children will repeatedly ask parents to grant a request. A little later they will start asking the same thing again. While Jesus warned against vain repetitions, he taught that we should be persistent in prayer. When he told us in Luke 11:9-10, to “ask, seek and knock,” some translations in a footnote indicate the meaning as “Keep on asking…” He also told of a man who continued to ask a friend for bread. His bold persistence was rewarded, and he received the bread. (Luke 11:5-8)

Sometimes we act as though an elaborate display of words will impress God. We fail to take time to listen to him. We can learn some valuable lessons from children’s prayers. It happened to me years ago when our four-year old grandson was spending the night.

As we were having bedtime prayer, he ended with his usual “Amen.” I followed with a short, simple prayer. Then he turned to me and said, “Grandma, I had already prayed,” (as if one prayer were enough.) I replied that I just wanted to talk to Jesus too. He answered, “I want to talk to him again.” He then prayed, “Dear Jesus, when we get to heaven, can we come to your house?” After a long pause, as if waiting for an answer, he added, “Okay, goodbye.”

“Father, help us to realize that a simple two-way conversation with you can be a deep, meaningful experience. Amen.”

By Pat Browning

Faith Like a Child

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(Day 3 of a 28-day series from First Bradenton)

“Jesus called a little child to him and put the child among them. Then he said, ‘I tell you the truth, unless you turn from your sins and become like little children, you will never get into the Kingdom of Heaven. So anyone who becomes as humble as this little child is the greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven.”  Matt. 18:2-4

I have always heard that Jesus calls us to have “faith like a child.” And that is absolutely right, of course; but what does that mean?

I have had the privilege to work with children in different capacities since I was in 6th grade. So, I used to think I had it figured out. Boy was I wrong. God is still teaching me what it truly means to have childlike faith.

As I think about it today, what I am inspired to focus on is the absolute, unwavering confidence that children place in their earthly fathers. I wonder if God makes some of us this way as children to prep us for adulthood and the confidence we should have in Him.

Let me share a story from my childhood to express what I mean. I was probably eight, which means my little brother was four. We each had our own room, but we were having a sleep over in his room on this particular night. In the middle of the night, we heard a scary rattling noise.

To us it sounded like a diamond-back rattle snake had slithered its way into the bedroom and was looking for some small boys to strike with its dripping fangs and eat. So we ran straight out of my brother’s room and into my parent’s room and woke up our dad.

We told him the situation, and he went to investigate. Here’s the thing, my dad is a tall, strong, and smart man. So my brother and I were not scared anymore with him on the job. There was no doubt in our minds that no matter how big that snake was, it had no chance against our dad! He would defeat that scaly beast before it could even open its fang-incasing mouth.

Turns out that rattling sound was just a fly buzzing around in my brother’s lamp, not a giant man-eating monster. My brother and I felt so bad we woke my dad up for a harmless fly, but he was as gentle and as patient as ever. My dad looked at us and said, “Boys, I would rather you wake me up for ten flies than not wake me up for one snake.”

What I learned from that experience is that having childlike faith means having the same kind of complete, immovable confidence in our heavenly Father. God is infinitely greater than we can ever imagine. When we pray to Him and ask for help, we do not have to waste our time doubting. We can be sure He will take care of us and defeat whatever is scaring us. Because whatever it is does not stand a chance against our big strong Dad! Totally confidence is what He deserves.

“You fathers—if your children ask for a fish, do you give them a snake instead? Or if they ask for an egg, do you give them a scorpion? Of course not! So if you sinful people know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him.” Luke 11:11-13

by Frank Welch

I Am a Child of God

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For the next 28 days, our church has been challenged to pray together.  Part of the effort is to provide daily devotionals on the church website for encouragement going along with the theme from the previous Sunday message.  The message series is entitled “Pray Like Jesus.”  Yesterday’s theme was Childlike Praying.

I’ll pass these along each day for you.  You can join us in this effort on your behalf as well as our church.  May you know all the benefits of being a child of God this week.

The Reason We Ask, Seek, and Knock

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(Post from a youversion reading plan by Adam Stadtmiller)

God answers prayer, but asking prayer is not primarily about answers. Asking prayer, like all other forms of prayer, is about relationship. If you make asking prayer about answers, you’re moving into dangerous territory.

When prayer is primarily about answers, our relationship with God becomes results focused. When God says no or works outside of our time schedule, we desperately question why and are tempted to feel inadequate or unloved by God. Be assured that as you grow in the area of asking prayer, the Devil will seek to shift the focus of your prayers from relationship to results.

Christ was well aware of the relational purpose of asking prayer. In the seventh chapter of Matthew when Jesus dared His followers to ask for things – big things – like “elephants” in prayers. He immediately transferred the focus from the asking to the fatherly or paternal relationship that surrounds each request we make.

Jesus was saying that whenever you ask in prayer you open up the familial lines of communication and put yourself in a position to experience relationship with a loving and compassionate Father.

When God answers your prayers in dramatic fashion, you will grow in the knowledge of His power and care for you. When God works on His schedule instead of yours, you will come to know more about His sustaining power. And when God says no and your dreams die or perhaps you lose someone close to you, you will come to know the God of all comfort who weeps with you. If you want to know God as Father, begin to assault the throne of heaven in asking prayer.

Leaving The Shield

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He is a shield for those who live with integrity. Proverbs 2:7

Solomon says wisdom leads to living with integrity which in turn results in being shielded by God.

We all long to feel safe and protected. Reflecting on this verse recently, I made the connection between making wise choices and maintaining safety from God when the right choice is made. His safety and protection is not guaranteed and is put in jeopardy when I choose to disobey or disregard wisdom. Whatever the results are from an unwise choice is my fault; I chose to leave the protection behind God’s shield.

This isn’t necessarily a popular thought these days. Living life as you want without any fear of repercussions is what culture preaches. Then when life strikes back after someone makes a poor choice, suddenly God is questioned and possibly even denied. It’s his fault, not ours. I bet if we asked some guys from scripture they would testify differently about what happens when you leave the shield of God’s protection.

Ask David. When he left because of his lust, people died, including his infant son.

Ask Jonah. When he left because of his prejudice, he ended up on the beach, covered in fish guts.

Ask Achan. When he left because of his selfishness, he lost everything, and so did his family.

We’re just like these guys. We’ve left the shield at some point. Thankfully, that doesn’t have to be a permanent decision. 

Have you thanked God lately for his protection, for being your shield, for welcoming you back after you’ve left? Maybe the next time you talk with him, not only thank him but also commit to following him with integrity, to staying behind his shield of protection.

2AM Wrestling

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“It’s important to remember to silence your phone before getting in bed.” 

That’s what I told myself at 2am this morning. A not important notification chirped me out of sleep. Before looking at the phone, I had guessed it might be about 5. What? And so my mind started. It was the final round in a wrestling match.

This match started two months ago. I can tell you when and why, but that’s not the point of this post. The point is to learn from the match. The match was a mental one involving my talking self, my listening self, and God. If that sounds confusing or you think I need help, stop and read my last blog post.

My listening self actually wanted to talk when I woke up. He started it. And my talking self wasn’t ready to listen. He demanded God to join in. It was exhausting. But guess what? When it was over, not only was this round over but the entire match was over. 

How did that happen? Because I told myself to stop listening to myself. And more importantly, I invited God onto the mat. The result was an answer that can only be explained by knowing God got involved. It was one of those, “How have I not seen this before? This could have saved me from years of wrestling.”

Takeaways from this scenario:

  • Keep wrestling. The winning is in staying in until the final round.
  • Be willing. Answers come to the persistent.
  • Invite God. He’s good for anytime, even 2am.