How To Pray for Godly Marriages

Do you know how to pray for a godly marriage? I am over at Satisfaction Through Christ today talking about “How to pray for godly Marriages.” Please come and join me!

I remember the day he was born. 8 pounds 81/2 ounce bouncing baby boy! He was the best baby always smiling always content. Today he is  a 23-year-old happy, content, smiling, adult young man, with a wife! On June 13th, Andrew and Katie celebrated their 1 year Anniversary! Where in the world does the time go?

From the time, he was born until the day he married I  prayed for him and his  future wife. I prayed that as he waited for the young lady that God had picked for him he would  grow in his relationship with the Lord and the Lord would teach Him through His word how to be a godly husband and one who knew what it meant to be the head of his household.

I prayed for the young woman who would someday be his wife. I prayed that  God would grow her into a godly wife and to teach her the Biblical definition of what it means to be a submissive wife. God has answered prayer and my son Andrew has  grown and is still growing  into a godly man. Katie my new daughter is a godly young lady and still growing as well.

Read the rest of the Story here: Satisfaction Through Christ

 

 

 

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Are You Encouraged when You Know You’re Being Prayed for?

I can imagine the encouragement and the joy the believers of Rome must have felt as they read or heard the apostle Paul had mentioned them in his prayers. I know when I find out someone has prayed for me it increases my faith and builds me up.

When Paul wrote this letter to the believers in Rome the gospel was under attack. People were twisting it to suit their own preferences. There were those who taught that salvation was by works not by faith. Still others were using the grace of God as a license to live any way they pleased. It would be easy to get discouraged or even question your own beliefs of the Gospel message. Does any of this sound familiar? We could almost lay these attacks of the Gospel on our own time line in history and they would fit perfectly. The writer of Ecclesiastes says, “There is nothing new under the sun.” If we have been around for a while we know that his words ring true.

That which has been is that which will be, and that which has been done is that which will be done. So there is nothing new under the sun. Ecclesiastes 1:9.

 

Let’s look at the prayer that Paul prayed in Romans 1:8-10.

“First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for you all, because your faith is being proclaimed throughout the whole world. For God whom I serve in my spirit in the preaching of the gospel of His Son, is my witness as to how unceasingly I make mention of you, always in my prayers making requests, if perhaps now at last by the will of God I may succeed in coming to you.” 

*First we see that Paul was thanking God through Jesus Christ for all the believers in Rome. Because of the finished work of Jesus Christ we have direct communication with God ourselves. Paul approached the throne of grace with confidence. You and I can do the same!

He was thanking God for their faith. What a faith they had, in the midst of attacks and persecution their faith was being proclaimed throughout the whole world. Oh, how I desire that I have that kind of faith! How I desire that the church, the bride of Christ, would have that kind of faith! Can you imagine the Glory that would be shown to God if we exercised this kind of faith in our day. And the encouragement believers every where would receive from each others faith.

I want to be an encourager through my faith and trust in Jesus Christ. No matter what is going on in the world in which I live. I have asked God to show me the faith of other believers of our day. He has been faithful in answering that prayer. What a joy and faith builder it has been!

*Second we see Paul praying, “if by the will of God,” he would be able to go and be with the believers in Rome. Think about this for a minute. Paul was praying for people he had never met. We are taught in 1 John 4:7-11 that one of the signs of a true believer is love for the brethren. Paul is a great example of one who loved the brethren.

Our church family supports a missionary family from Bangladesh. I can understand the love Paul had for the believers of Rome because God has placed such a great love for this family in our hearts. The love and bond that God places in the hearts of believers is an amazing thing! It truly is hard to put into words.

Paul Longs to See The Believers in Rome!

For I long to see you so that I may impart some spiritual gift to you, that you may be established; that is, that I may be encouraged together with you while among you, each of us by the others faith, both yours and mine. Romans 1:11-12

*Third we see Paul pray that he may visit the saints in Rome so that each can be encouraged by the others faith. This passage reminds me of what Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 12, Romans 12 ,and Ephesians 4 concerning spiritual gifts. These gifts are given for the equipping of the saints, for works of service and for the building up of the body of Christ.

Each one of us is to use our gifts in accordance to the grace that has been to us through the Holy Spirit.

I pray that each of us remember this as we prepare to come together each Sunday as the body of Christ! May our services erupt with praise and worship to God as we exercise our gifts in honor of Him!

*Fourth we see Paul prays for and desires to obtain fruit among the believers. This could mean that Paul prayed that he would have opportunity to witness to  the un-saved. Through the preaching and teaching of the gospel he would lead them to Christ. It could also mean that through the preaching of this same gospel that the believers in Rome would grow in maturity in the faith. Believers are characterized in Scriptures as those who are continually growing and maturing in the faith.

After reading this small passage of Scripture has it encouraged you to be a prayer warrior for your brothers and sisters in Christ?

 

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I Give Up!

How can I change this situation?

My thoughts taunt me.

I cannot get out of this situation. 

The things I want to do, I do not do. The things I do not want to do, I do.

I cannot do this!

I want to change, but nothing I do makes a difference. What am I doing wrong?

Have you ever had any of the thoughts listed above? Do you find yourself in a sin that YOU cannot seem to get out of. Do YOU make covenant with your mind that YOU will not do… anymore, only to find yourself doing it again? Are YOU always focusing on what YOU need to do to change. Most of the messages I hear today are mainly focused on what we must do to crucify the sin that still dwells in us. There is some truth to this, we must be listening to the guidance of The Holy Spirit, but I believe our focus has been placed in the wrong place. Too much ME and I.  Our flesh sure wants to be in control! The truth about salvation is that I could not do anything to take away my sins. Why do I think I can do it now? Jesus was crucified on the cross to take away the guilt and penalty of sin. His righteosness was imputed or placed on us. We have been justfied through faith in Jesus Christ. I heard someone say that being justified is God looking at us “just if ied” never sinned! Praise Him!Only because of the work of Jesus Christ!

Have you ever heard the phrase, have been saved, being saved, will be saved. In reality, in the heavenly places we have been saved completely. But right now in the here and now we are being saved, we are being sanctified. We are being changed into the image of Christ. I cannot do this work. It is Christ in me changing me. It was His work from the beginning that saved me, it continues to be His work now to save me.

So instead of focusing so much on what I must do, let’s turn our minds to Christ and what He can do. Ask Him through the power of the Holy Spirit to transform us, to conform us into His image.

There is a giving up that must take place in our lives for sin to be crucified. Think about that. This is not what we usually hear. I cannot do this but I know that He can! Will we ever be completely set free from sin while we are here on this earth? No, it will be our struggle, our suffering until the Lord comes to take us home!

Paul writes in Romans 7:24-25;

“Wrethched man that I am! Who will set me free from this body of death? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!”

Some day we will be set free, but until then Christ is continually working in us making us free.

Lean on Him, trust in Him, ask Him to do the work! Rest in Him, listen and obey!

Finding My Mary in a Martha World

I find myself in a whirlwind. I am either so busy with life that my study time, my alone time with God goes to the wayside. Or I find myself not wanting to do life because all I want to do is sit at the feet of Christ and just rest, just be with Him. As I ponder this, my mind is taken back to the account of Mary and Martha in Luke 10:38-41:

“Now  it happened as they went that He entered a certain village; and a certain woman named Martha welcomed Him into her house. And she had a sister named Mary, who also sat at Jesus’ feet and heard His word. But Martha was distracted with much serving, and she approached Him and said, “Lord, do You not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Therefore tell her to help me,” And Jesus answered and said to her, ” Martha, Martha, you are worried and troubled about many things. But one thing is needed, and Mary has chosen the good part, which will not be taken away from her.”

I find myself going from a Mary to a Martha, or from a Martha to a Mary in only a matter of seconds. Where, O, where is the balance? As I look at this passage that was written for our teaching, and observe the contrast between the two women, I can see that the balance is found in both. There is an appointed time for everything, And there is a time for every event under heaven. I think the key to this passage is that Martha was not resting in the work God was doing in her. She was working in her own strength, she was worried and concerned about many things. But Mary was resting in Christ. I do not believe Mary just sat at the feet Christ “literally” every day all day long. I believe she did the work that was granted for her to do, but with the attitude of resting in Him in all her tasks. She was at His feet in her heart.

God has called me as His child to rest in Him, to seek His face, to pray to Him in all matters of life. To study to show myself approved a worker who need not be ashamed accurately handling the word of truth. I am called by God to be a wife, mother, friend, church member, Bible Study teacher and writer… shall I go on? But God has told me in His word that He would, “equip you in every good thing to do His will, working in us that which is pleasing in His sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be the glory forevermore. Amen.” Hebrews 13:21.

My prayer is that the “Martha” in me finds the rest Mary found in Christ, either sitting at His feet resting in Him or going about my everyday life resting in Him, in my heart!