AWAKE MICRO PRAYER STAND IN FAITH
Has your email inbox ever sent you a warning you were running out of space? Has your voice message ever been full on your phone? If we want to receive email or voice messages we have to clear out old data. Delete some stuff. This parallels our ability to stand in faith.
When Jesus is teaching about faith in prayer he wants you to be confident you will receive something from your Father through prayer. Confident the same way Jesus was confident. Prayer is more than feeling or emotion. Prayer is beyond circumstances and facts. How is your confidence in God? He longs to hear your prayers. In 1 Tim 2:8 it is clear that each one of us should be able to send and receive in prayer the same way we each have an email or a cell phone. “I desire then that in every place the men should pray,” so let’s each learn to pray with the same excitement my youngest had when she got her own line and IPHONE. I remember that feeling, my first cell phone was a “car phone” and I was terrible at checking my voice messages. Still am FYI. So the inevitable happens. A completely full inbox.
In the same way your inbox reaches capacity so can your heart. The chaos and junk of life alert and ding at us everyday. If we are going to connect to God with consistent reliability, with confidence, and with faith we need to have a heart check. What is in my heart? What’s it full of? Do I even have capacity to receive?
Take a few min to check in with yourself. What have you believed about yourself today? Is it true? Try not to judge yourself here. Just observe. What needs deleting? What isn’t helping you grow in an ever deepening awareness of God’s love? Was it the interaction with a random angry person supercharging your ears with their angst? Helpful hint, anger doesn’t make connection easy. Listen to the words of Jesus.
“Have faith in God.” Jesus answered. ‘Truly I tell you , if anyone says to this mountain, ‘Go throw yourself into the sea, and does not doubt in their heart but believes what they say will happen, it will be done for them. Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours. And when you stand praying, if you hold anything against anyone, forgive them, so that your Father in heaven may forgive your sins.” Mark 11:22-25
The condition of our heart and our prayers being answered are connected. We need to pray with our whole heart. This sounds like “ALL IN” language.
Char, prove it. Ok, “You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.” Jer. 29:13
Of the statements about mountain moving faith above one stands out, “if you hold anything against anyone.”
How do you know if you are carrying something against someone? It’s in your conversation.
PROOF, “A good man brings good things out of the good stored up in his heart, and an evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in his heart. For the mouth speaks what the heart is full of.” Luke 6:45 Jesus in teaching us to pray told us to pray against evil. It’s like HE wants us to pray for our own heart. And when the heart hurts the mouth sounds off. We all have been around a friend when they are offended or hurting.
Self doubt is fed by overthinking, but it’s genesis is in the heart. In order to avoid the chaos of overthinking where things went wrong, or who is to blame start by guarding your heart and defining your values. Please take a few min and watch the IGTV illustration below. Part of guarding your heart is renewing your values and other times it’s reviewing who’s around you. When everyone around you is disconnected from God how can they feed your faith? They may share their opinions some of which sound good and some don’t, but their opinions won’t aid you standing in faith. If you are in a relationship lacking clarity or security you need direct communication. You need your own line. Prayer is that connection.
Group prayer taken from “Have faith in God.” Jesus answered. ‘Truly I tell you , if anyone says to this mountain, ‘Go throw yourself into the sea, and does not doubt in their heart but believes what they say will happen, it will be done for them. Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours. And when you stand praying, if you hold anything against anyone, forgive them, so that your Father in heaven may forgive your sins.” Mark 11:22-25
- STAND.
- HOLD YOUR HANDS OUT.
- ASK GOD IF YOU ARE CARRYING ANYTHING AGAINST ANOTHER.
- FORGIVE THEM.
- NOW WITH NOTHING IN YOUR HANDS IT’S TIME TO SEND AND RECEIVE. PRAYER ISN’T JUST ALL TALKING. HOW OFTEN DO YOU EXPECT TO RECEIVE WHEN YOU PRAY? RIGHT HERE I NEED YOU TO HAVE FAITH IN GOD. HE HAS SOMETHING FOR YOU TODAY. ASK HIM. DON’T DOUBT HE HAS IT FOR YOU. STAND ON THIS PROMISE. STAND ON THIS TRUTH. GET INTO IT. FULLY SEE WHAT YOU ASKED FOR HAPPENING, AND RESPOND HOW YOU WOULD IF IT WERE IN YOUR HANDS NOW. RESPOND BY ACTUALLY SAYING WHAT YOU RECEIVED IN PRAYER TODAY.
