Wow, can you believe 2012 is almost over???!! My goodness! I was meditating on the things that God has really been pressing in my heart this year and I wanted to share it with you. Here goes the first one:
#1. Pray for Realzzzz....
Beginning this year I was unsatisfied with my prayer life. So I decided at the beginning of the year that I would NOT go to sleep unless I entered into God's awesome courts and we spent some time together. But my flesh was not used to this! So I decided to do a 100-Day Challenge. This challenge consisted of me praying to God every night for 100 days straight (to create the habit). And I had decided that I would not pray in my bed or by my bed or sitting because the temptation of falling asleep was always there, so I decided to walk around my room as I prayed. This challenge was quite interesting when I was on vacation. I would go to the bathroom at nights since I shared the hotel room with my sister to pray. I wonder if my sister ever asked why I always took so long in there!!
The thing is that God is always with us, but He asks us to seek, knock, and ask, or as the NLT states, "keep on asking...keep on seeking...keep on knocking" (Matthew 7:7-8). And the promise is that we will receive, we will find, and the door will be opened! And Oh has God been faithful! Some nights it was harder than others, but seeking Him every night has changed the way I see God and I know that there is still a sea of things God has yet to show me. So I must keep seeking, knocking, and asking. And God has a SEA of things to show you. But we must pray for realzzzz! In other words, we must speak to God on a daily basis. As it says in Scripture, we must "never stop praying" (1 Thes. 5:17). Make 2013 a year where your seeking God is a priority and you will see God manifest Himself in your life in a new way.
Blessings,
Karina
The thing is that God is always with us, but He asks us to seek, knock, and ask, or as the NLT states, "keep on asking...keep on seeking...keep on knocking" (Matthew 7:7-8). And the promise is that we will receive, we will find, and the door will be opened! And Oh has God been faithful! Some nights it was harder than others, but seeking Him every night has changed the way I see God and I know that there is still a sea of things God has yet to show me. So I must keep seeking, knocking, and asking. And God has a SEA of things to show you. But we must pray for realzzzz! In other words, we must speak to God on a daily basis. As it says in Scripture, we must "never stop praying" (1 Thes. 5:17). Make 2013 a year where your seeking God is a priority and you will see God manifest Himself in your life in a new way.
Blessings,
Karina
Hah! I did something similar a while back where I was touched by the verse "Man does not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of God" (Luke 4:4). It may sound a bit weird or extreme, but I decided to not eat unless felt the presence of the Lord in prayer first. There were some times where the food went uneaten, but what a sweet season with the Lord where I was feeling his presence often multiple times each day! I found I was experiencing so much of God that I didn't want to stop and was praying before bed, and in the morning, and talking to him in the work truck during the day and while on the job.
ReplyDeleteThat was a season where I tried to really "Pray without ceasing" (1Thes.5:17, NASB&KJV & Rom.12:12), but what really touched me more was the growing intimacy with God as I was seeking to "abide in Him" (See John 15:4 NASB&NKJV).
It was that season that I actually discovered that section [Jn.15:4] of Jesus farewell speech to his disciples where he tenderly invites them to abide in him. I wanted that kind of intimacy with God all the time. I wanted to be like John who rested his head on Jesus' chest at the last supper. It was only later that I realized that that same section is where he promises his Holy Spirit would come after he left and gently was teaching how we should be doing just what you are doing now.
Your message today echoes a bit of your last post regarding being a true friend, and challenges me where I myself have maybe fallen a bit short lately. When you read the 'Apostle of Love's' words in 1John4:13-21 about abiding in God, he puts another spin on it--and this is something that you and your father's ministry are famous for: Abiding in love.
It says in 1John4:16,17: "So we have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and whoever abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him. By this is love perfected with us, so that we may have confidence for the day of judgment, because as he is so also are we in this world."
That section seems to project what it is I interpret you to be doing right now: seeking to abide in Him--abide in His love--and in doing so you better your relationship with God, and you better your relationship with your neighbor. I love that that section also gives direct instruction how to do so... maybe I ought to reread it again... and again... ;)
Thanks again for another inspiring post! In researching the verses that your post inspired I stumbled across a few old treasures that I hadn't revisited in a long time. Thank you!
I love these posts.