heaven's tree book club

October 4, 2012

THE  INTERCESSOR  AND  THE   BIBLE

Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked or stand in the way of sinners or sit in the seat of mockers. But his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night. He is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither. Whatever he does prospers. - Psalm 1:1-3

Today my dad went off to the bay area to fix up the house. This would be another time when I could not go with im because of my health situation. This was now the fourth day not going outside. Four days without fresh air and sunlight and I begin to realize how much I took going outside for granted when I was well. I went out so often to go for walks but right now that would be such a luxury. I felt pretty discouraged throught the day. The long awaited package came today but it was incomplete. Only two out of the three items came. They said five to seven days which should have been last Friday or Monday of this week, it ended up taking eleven days but I am still missing a piece but the major portion is here. God taught me about my priorities this week when my girlfriend sent me mooncake on Monday and my child sent me a letter on Tuesday but I only was wanting today's package. I care more about things than people and these are two of the most important people right now in my life and my heart was so off when I did not value their love. The love of God is like a mirror and I see how much I fall short.

"The life of a Christian is all about passion. Nothing is more powerful than when the Holy Spirit reveals the Son of God through the words of Scripture. Like the disciples on the road to Emmaus, every heart began to burn when God revealed Himself. When He unveils Himself and we have understanding of what He is saying, passion is the result. - Wesley and Stacey Campbell, Praying the Bible: The Pathway to Spirituality"

This is so true. Sometimes I take hold of a promise or a truth that I read so many times but the Holy Spirit brings it into clear focus and the result is passion. I take God at His word and believe Him in what He says about the future, the past, and who I am. It has been a while since I have felt any passion. There has been a lot of dryness and emptiness.

"Let's look at several important benefits of praying the Word of God:

•           You align yourself spiritually with God. You begin to see things from a biblical standpoint and get a heavenly perspective of life instead of the world's system. "Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things" (Colossians 3:2).

 •          You begin to pray things you have never prayed before. Because you are praying the Bible, you pray with fresh strength from God. You can pray for the church with biblical apostolic prayers that are thorough and effective. For instance, "I ptay also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope

to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints" (Ephesians 1:18).

•           You receive authority from God. Ptaying the Bible in the power of the Holy Spirit gives you a confidence and an authority because you are praying His truth, His will, and His ways. You have more confidence in your prayers when you know that you are praying God's Word. "This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. And if we know that he hears us — whatever we ask — we know that we have what we asked of him" (1 John 5:14-15). You defeat the works of the Enemy. Praying the biblical directives defeats the Enemy because you are praying the very purposes of God. Satan is the father of lies, and when you pray the Bible, you pray God's trurh. "'Is not my word like fire,' declares the Lord, 'and like a hammer that breaks a rock in pieces?'" (Jeremiah 23:29). You are taken to a higher dimension in God. You are led to places in God that you would never discover otherwise. His truth permeates your life dramatically. "As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts" (Isaiah 55:9). You become more passionate for God. The Holy Spirit reveals the Son of God through the words of the Bible, creating a passion for Jesus. "Do not let your heart envy sinners, but always be zealous for the fear of the Lord" (Proverbs 23:17)."

Praying and meditating Scripture is a powerful devotional tool. I confess I don’t do it enough. The author has listed many benefits here. I especially like to study and pray through the prayers of the Bible especially the Psalms. They are full of raw honesty and closeness with God. I also like to pray Paul’s prayers for the church. Being in the Word of God helps counter the culture’s ideas and all the negative thoughts I have sometimes. Most recently, I try to cling to the promises of God and pray them out loud or in journals.

How do we know the will of God if we are not in the Word of God. One very interesting thing is to read through the prayer requests online. I read some that make you really wonder. One woman wanted to ask prayer to win the lottery. There is the question of if one hundred Christians pray to win the lottery, who does God answer? One other woman asked God to bless the relationship with her live in boyfriend and father of her child. We have the option to post comments to prayer requests and there was a man who totally rebuked her for having a live in boyfriend and shared a lot of truth but did not do so in love. The truth of the matter is that many people have a shallow relationship with God and have no idea that having sex outside of the marriage relationship is sin. It is abundantly clear in the entire Bible that having sex outside of marriage is a sin but many Christians just don't know. It is so important to be in the word of God to know the will of God.

"The Word of God is a seed that grows. When God speaks His Word, He is sprinkling seeds that will bring forth His goodness and His purpose. The Word of God always produces, never returns void. Therefore, when you and I, guided by the Holy Spirit, speak God's Word into situations, we are sowing the promises of God, the immutable truth of God's Word. Then He will cause life everlasting to spring forth from those seeds."

Prayer:

Father, I am reminded today about the importance and value of Your word. My life right now lacks passion and purpose and I need to be filled with Your presence and power. It is hard right now to believe Your words sometimes and especially Your promises. I have a number of impossible situations where I need You to come through and right now Your Word just does does not seem true to me. I feel so numb to Your Word and I have so much doubt. Please help me regain a passion for You and a passion for Your truth.