Usually when I go to prayer I ask for something. There is always more to recieve and more places to grow. I'm not saying that is a bad thing, but there is a certain way to remember to pray. We have to come to God knowing that He has the power to answer our prayers. We cannot just hope that He is listening and has the power to change our lives; we have to believe. We have to believe with every part of our being that He is a God of power and a God of His word becasue He said "Ask and you will receive; seek any you shall find; knock and the door will be opened to you." - Luke 11:9
So many times in prayer and in life we limit God by our own limitations. We do not allow Him to have the amount of power in our lives as He want to because we don't believe that He can actually or will actually do anything for us. If we truly believed that God can do anything, really believed that He is God and He has the power to do ANYTHING our lives and way to prayer would be drastically different.
We have to begin to challenge ourselves to not limit God. We need to allow Him to do exactly what He needs to do. Whatever it is that is making us limit God, whether that be fear, lack of faith, anger, anxiety, or anything else, we need to give it to God and have faith that HE CAN DO ANYTHING.
Thursday, May 24, 2012
Tuesday, March 6, 2012
Radical Mediocrity
At the beginning of time, the human race was centered on God. However, as time went on this changed. Around the 1600s, humans began to be centered upon man. This is because, at this time, the beginning of the industrial revolution was happening, and all of the wonders of the human mind were beginning to unfold. It was so facinating to us, and we could not help but be drawn to it. The next change took place around the time of World War II. Humans were tired of keeping up with the focus on their achievements; it did not matter as much to them anymore. Humans did not want to give others glory when they saw greatness in themselves, and that led the human race to begin to be centered on the "I" at this time in history. "I feel like this...I did not like that...I want to do something...I have the freedom to do whatever I want...I don't agree with that." Sound familiar? That's because we're still in this "I" centered humanity.
This "I" has been stiched into every part of our human world. Think about it. When we think of intimacy, our minds automatically go to, "What am I recieving from the other person?" Even if we want to disagree, it can't be denied that when we look at our intimate relationships, we always look at what those people have done for us or given to us first. It is God who gave us these relationships, and it is God who put a purpose to them. Intimate relationships should be thought of as our relationship with God; as not just a recieving, but also as a giving. This giving cannot expect anything in return because it does not give only to recieve. It gives because that is love.
Another thing to think about is our dependency on being a "self-made-man." We have become so dependent on making ourslves into something big and having a name for ourselves and being successful in everything we do. We feel the need to be the best, and when we are not, we grow angry at ourselves and think of ourselves as worthless. But, that is not what God wants; He created all of us with a pupose and a gift to give to the world. So, stop trying to be perfect. God knows what He wants, and He's God, so He's going to make it happen. Do not let yourself fall into the trap of feeling the need to create something great and new and different with yourself. Rest in the knowledge that God is already unfolding the most beautiful plan you could ever be a part of.
So, now that we know this "I" state of the world, what do we do about it? Do we just follow along and be as the world would want us to be? Do we escape to a far off land and make our own secret tribe of Jesus loving people to live happily ever after? NO.
We must act! We cannot just falling into this mediocre life that the world is offering us. I mean come on, do you really want to live a life of trying to beat everyone to the top only to untimately fail? I didn't think so. In reality, the most radical thing you could do in this life is to go against it. To follow the "I" of the world has become so boring and numb, but to go back to centering your life on Christ is the new rebellion of the world. A rebellion it needs so badly.
Don't let yourself be a victim of the world's radical mediocrity. There is nothing radical about it. This world, and this life it offers us is a lie. The happiness the world is offering you is fake, and was never real in the first place. The only real happiness is in God.
You cannot just give a little to the One who gave it all. Christ dies for you, and if He was willing to give His full self to us on the cross, then we should be able to do the same for Him. Don't settle for a faith that is not constantly striving. Don't settle for a prayer life you don't get anything out of. Don't be a victim of radical mediocrity.
You were given a beautiful faith. Now, go and do something about it!
This "I" has been stiched into every part of our human world. Think about it. When we think of intimacy, our minds automatically go to, "What am I recieving from the other person?" Even if we want to disagree, it can't be denied that when we look at our intimate relationships, we always look at what those people have done for us or given to us first. It is God who gave us these relationships, and it is God who put a purpose to them. Intimate relationships should be thought of as our relationship with God; as not just a recieving, but also as a giving. This giving cannot expect anything in return because it does not give only to recieve. It gives because that is love.
Another thing to think about is our dependency on being a "self-made-man." We have become so dependent on making ourslves into something big and having a name for ourselves and being successful in everything we do. We feel the need to be the best, and when we are not, we grow angry at ourselves and think of ourselves as worthless. But, that is not what God wants; He created all of us with a pupose and a gift to give to the world. So, stop trying to be perfect. God knows what He wants, and He's God, so He's going to make it happen. Do not let yourself fall into the trap of feeling the need to create something great and new and different with yourself. Rest in the knowledge that God is already unfolding the most beautiful plan you could ever be a part of.
So, now that we know this "I" state of the world, what do we do about it? Do we just follow along and be as the world would want us to be? Do we escape to a far off land and make our own secret tribe of Jesus loving people to live happily ever after? NO.
We must act! We cannot just falling into this mediocre life that the world is offering us. I mean come on, do you really want to live a life of trying to beat everyone to the top only to untimately fail? I didn't think so. In reality, the most radical thing you could do in this life is to go against it. To follow the "I" of the world has become so boring and numb, but to go back to centering your life on Christ is the new rebellion of the world. A rebellion it needs so badly.
Don't let yourself be a victim of the world's radical mediocrity. There is nothing radical about it. This world, and this life it offers us is a lie. The happiness the world is offering you is fake, and was never real in the first place. The only real happiness is in God.
You cannot just give a little to the One who gave it all. Christ dies for you, and if He was willing to give His full self to us on the cross, then we should be able to do the same for Him. Don't settle for a faith that is not constantly striving. Don't settle for a prayer life you don't get anything out of. Don't be a victim of radical mediocrity.
You were given a beautiful faith. Now, go and do something about it!
Thursday, March 1, 2012
Thy Kingdom Come
If we really break down these prayers, it is amazing all the things they say.
Our Father, who art in heaven hallowed be Thy name,
In the beginning of the prayer we are simply calling upon the name of the Lord. We are inviting Him into our prayer.
Thy Kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.
Here, we are putting all of our trust in the Lord. In other words, we are saying, "Do as you will in my life and in the lives of everyone around me." This can be a scary thing to say to the Lord because we don't know where He is going to lead us or what He is going to do in our lives, but that is what faith is about. It is the daily recognition of our brokenness and the asking for God's healing grace. It takes a lot of trust in God to be able to do this, but His Kingdom is the only place that will ever make us whole and happy. There can be no My Kingdom, only Thy Kingdom come.
Give us this day our daily bread,
In this part of the prayer we are not only asking for the true Bread of Life, Jesus, but for all of our daily intentions. We must always remember that everything we ask the Lord in prayer, He will grant to us. He is a God of love and self-giving; there is nothing He would do to abandon us. He made this fully known with the death of His Son. So, tell Him what's on your mind. If you're mad, tell Him; if you're depressed, tell Him. If you're anxious, questioning, happy, or alone TELL HIM. Whatever it is, the Lord can take it. We can only recieve our daily bread if we allow the Lord to give it to us.
And forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us
This might be the hardest part of the prayer to get through. When someone hurts us in any way, it is so easy to want to hold hate for them in our hearts. We do this as a way of revenge on that person, but it does just the opposite. Not forgiving someone is just like drinking poison and hoping the other person dies. All it does is hurt us. The only way to get over hurt that another person has caused you is to forgive and let God handle the rest. Once you forgive them the pain will start to vanish, and you can rest easy in knowing that God is handling the rest. God can only forgive you if you forgive those who hurt you. It is simply God taking His own lesson into practice: Do unto others as you would have them do unto you. If you forgive, He forgives. If you don't forgive, neither can He. So, let the foriveness of the Lord wash over you and create you anew.
And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. Amen.
The wiles of the devil are working on earth, but that does not mean that we need to be subject to them. By calling on the power of God we are saved from the grasp of the devil on our lives. Yes, there will be times of temptation and trial, but by putting God on your side you will always come out on top. This is because Christ already won the war with the cross; we simply need to fight the battle during our time here on earth. The Lord is always on your side - go to Him.
Who Are We?
In today's world, the values that are cherished are money and power. You do not have to be kind or giving anymore; you just have to have the power and people will be forced to listen to you. This was so different in Jesus' time. He was a poor carpenter's son, and yet, thousands of people came to listen to Him. With His death the world was changed forever. Nothing was the same after Jesus came to earth, because nothing was meant to be the same. Jesus was a radical of His time, and now, He is calling us to be radicals of our time.
The world does not care anymore, or, at least, they don't want to take the effort to care. We have to remember that we are not the world's; we are God's. We have been purchased at a price, and therefore we must glorify God by all that we do. We cannot simply go about our days ignoring the fact that our world is broken. We must stand up for what we believe in, and if it is God, then we are being called to something much larger than ourselves.
The biggest thing to remember is that we do nothing. God is the One who does everything. All He is asking us to do is open ourselves up to His love in order to let His Spirit move inside us to transform the world. I don't think that's too much to ask. We are His, and He made Himself ours when he died on the cross for us. Let us not forget what He did for us by falling into the lies of this world. Let us take a stand against the sin and destructive lies we are fed every day so that the Lord can reign once again as the King of the world.
The world does not care anymore, or, at least, they don't want to take the effort to care. We have to remember that we are not the world's; we are God's. We have been purchased at a price, and therefore we must glorify God by all that we do. We cannot simply go about our days ignoring the fact that our world is broken. We must stand up for what we believe in, and if it is God, then we are being called to something much larger than ourselves.
The biggest thing to remember is that we do nothing. God is the One who does everything. All He is asking us to do is open ourselves up to His love in order to let His Spirit move inside us to transform the world. I don't think that's too much to ask. We are His, and He made Himself ours when he died on the cross for us. Let us not forget what He did for us by falling into the lies of this world. Let us take a stand against the sin and destructive lies we are fed every day so that the Lord can reign once again as the King of the world.
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