Daily Bread - APR/19/07
Colossians 4:2 - Devote yourself to prayer staying alert by it with thanksgiving.
Prayer is one of the common subjects of the Bible. It is one of the many privileges granted to us by God which allows us to come to Him and ask whatever we desire (Mark 11:24; John 14:13-14; 15:7; 1 John 3:22; 5:14-15). At the same time, prayer is how we yield to the Holy Spirit (Jude 1:20; 1 Corinthians 14:4; Acts 2:4; Romans 8:26-27). Through prayer we are able to stay alert to the spiritual condition of things around us as well as build ourselves up in faith (Ephesians 6:18; 1 Peter 4:7).
Prayer is something that we must learn to do in the Spirit and by the Spirit if it is to be effectual. Otherwise, we can be lost in a compromise of words and thoughts that really take us nowhere. But if we allow the Spirit of God to pray through us then we will find ourselves praying with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit rather than caught away in a mental exercise of request and petitions.
Prayer must become an act of worship where we interact with God, and through this interaction the wellspring of life overwhelms our hearts (Luke 19:46; Matthew 21:13; Isaiah 56:3). One of the important dispositions of prayer is the act of thanksgiving. When Jesus multiplied the loaves and the fishes He simply gave thanks, and one of the great miracles of all time was the result (Matthew 15:36; John 6:23). Paul describes the utterances of the Spirit in the heavenly language as the giving of thanks (1 Corinthians 14:16-17). Of course, if prayer is of the Spirit and of faith then thanksgiving will naturally be a consequence of such a realm. Considering that faith has the certainty that those things which are asked for are supplied, thanksgiving overwhelms us with the knowledge that all is well. Through the work of the Holy Spirit we are build up and established in faith and we learn to function in that realm through this act of thanksgiving (Colossians 2:7; Philippians 4:6).
We are called to be devoted to the realm of prayer, to be so given to this fellowship with God in the Holy Spirit that at any instant the prayer of the Spirit gushes forth from us as rivers of living water (1 Thessalonians 5:17-18; Romans 12:12). Through this overflow of God in our lives all that we have need of is supplied. Prayer may be viewed as a divine connection which results in the power of God flowing out of us to supply all of our needs and the needs of those around us (James 5:14-16; Colossians 4:12; 1 Timothy 2:1; Acts 13:3).
Be blessed,
Pastor Mark Spitsbergen
abidingplace.org
About Me
- Carol L
- San Diego area, California, United States
- I started this blog back in 2005, but in 2006 began dedicating it solely for the purpose of posting email messages called, Daily Bread, sent out Monday through Saturday by my pastor, Mark Spitsbergen. These daily emails contain fresh revelation that Mark gets from the Word of God by the Holy Spirit for that day for the church that God has called him to pastor, Abiding Place. 1 Peter 4:11 says, "If any man speak let him speak as the oracles of God; if any man minister let him do it as of the ability which God gives that God in all things may be glorified through Jesus Christ to whom be praise and dominion forever and ever. Amen." Jesus Christ is the Way, the Truth, and the Life, (John 14:6), and He says, "The words that I speak to you are Spirit, and they are Life." (John 6:63). For the Word of God is quick (alive), and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. (Hebrews 4:12).
No comments:
Post a Comment