Praying Without Ceasing

Praying Without Ceasing

“Now it came to pass in those days that He went out to the mountain to pray, and continued all night in prayer to GOD.” Luke 6:12 NKJV

How do we pray without ceasing as Paul said in 1 Thessalonians 5:17? We know that Jesus could because He was the Son of GOD. Really? Jesus was also the Son of Man and He had to deal with all of the human things that we have to deal with. Jesus’ ability to pray all night was because He was GOD’s Son. So are all Christians, we are the children of GOD!

One of the problems is what most Christians think prayer is, many Christians think pray is some formal or formula that we follow to get approval and answers from GOD. Many Christians pray nothing more than their desires and requests for a better life. Some Christians don’t pray until they are in a desperate situation.

Prayer is a conversation with our Father! Jesus did not spend the night in some formal ritual process. His prayers as recorded in the Gospels are conversations with His Father, remember He did not speak in King James English which seems formal compared to modern English. I’m sure that when Jesus was in the presence of His Father they did not speak in any human language as we see in books and movies. I’m sure They have Their own personal eternal language if they even have to speak at all.

Let’s stop making prayer hard and one sided our prayer time with GOD as His children should be relaxed and familiar, whether we are asking for forgiveness or sharing our heart’s desire. We need to not be in a hurry that is we need to take time to listen to our Father’s Word for us.

Part of what praying without ceasing means is as we go through our day we need to be listening to Father as much as speaking to Him. It is a continual process of communication no matter what is happening or where we are. Remember He sees all and He hears all and He knows all so we should listen.

Study the Psalms and learn to pray especially David’s, there are prayers of thankfulness and desperation, recognition of who GOD is in His love and mercy and His righteous judgment, what He has done and what He said He will do.

Do I pray without ceasing? No, this lesson is for me and all Christians who struggle in this area. It is part of seeking GOD first and His Righteousness and that is another lesson.

I forgot about praying in the Spirit which is part of praying without ceasing, when our spirit is in fellowship with Holy Spirit whether we are awake or asleep or just preoccupied. But we have to yield our conscious and unconscious self to Holy Spirit and allow Him to speak and think through us, He will be in communion with the Father and speak to us as we wait and allow Him.

Lending According To Jesus

Lending According to Jesus

“And if you lend to those from whom you hope to receive back, what credit is that to you? For even sinners lend to sinners to receive as much back. But love your enemies, do good, and lend, hoping for nothing in return; and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High. For He is kind to the unthankful and evil. Therefore be merciful, just as your Father also is merciful.” Luke 6:34-36 NKJV (emphasis mine)

GOD is kind to the unthankful and the evil! While Christians understand who the evil are unrepentant sinners; liars, cheaters, sexually immoral, violent, selfish, those who lack virtue, etc. Do we really understand who the unthankful are? Sinners are not thankful to GOD for His salvation and all that it requires but what about Christians?

Many Christians today are not thankful to GOD for all the requirements of salvation! Tithing and offerings, praying unceasingly (that’s another topic to discuss), fellowshipping with other Christians, keeping the 10 Commandments, reading the Bible everyday, doing His will, loving our enemies, etc. There are many Christians that complain that they are sick, do not have enough money, can’t go on long vacations, don’t have a newer car, rent instead of own a home, etc. Many of these issues are self caused yet we blame GOD. We think GOD should make our life better while Christians who are persecuted, raped, imprisoned and murdered for their faith pray to be able to do His will.

The main point of this passage is to be generous as our Father is generous. He is kind to the unthankful and the evil. This concept puts a fresh light on lending and not expecting a repayment, it’s not just to those we know, love and trust! We should have a personal relationship with the Father through His Spirit that lives in us so that we not only feel compassion for a homeless person, or an addicted person, or a family struggling to survive but we hear Him speak how to help or bless them even if it’s only for a moment.

Being in the Center of the devils Hate

Rabbi Jonathan Cahn said, “We want to be in the center of the will of GOD. We want to be in the center of the enemy’s hate.”

When we are doing the will of GOD we will be attacked, the devil hates GOD and he hates Christians and he hates Christians doing the will of GOD.

The scriptural teaching is to seek GOD and His Kingdom first. To resist the devil and he will flee. We are to stand fast in the liberty in which Christ has made us free. To crucify ourself (take up our cross) and to obey Christ (do GOD’s will) by doing the works of GOD.

Our warfare is spiritual not natural even though we live in the natural and are being attacked in the natural. The devil’s realm is the natural realm even though he is a spiritual being. Christ’s Kingdom is both the natural and spiritual realms. When we are attacked we are to press into the will of GOD.

Christ is the creator and the devil is a usurper, a distorter of truth (liar) and a murderer. Everything from Christ is good no matter how it looks at the time. Everything from the devil is evil no matter how it looks at the time.

So how does this play out in our lives? Sometime with difficulty, sometimes with defeat but it can and should always be in the victory of the Cross and Resurrection of Christ. We cannot live the victorious life of a Christian if we are not centered in Christ. It is the resurrection power of His Holy Spirit living in us that teaches us and allows us to do the works of GOD and live the victorious life of service in the natural realm that prepares us for the eternal life of service in His eternal Kingdom.

Warfare is a continual part of our life whether we are a Christian or not! If we are not a Christian we are still under the attack of the devil to destroy us and to keep us from the truth of salvation through Jesus. The devil will do anything that leads to our natural death and eternal damnation, especially if it pleases the flesh. Jesus Christ did everything to bring us out of darkness into His Light so that we can see the truth about salvation and eternal life. Jesus is the only One who can and did save us in this natural life and the eternal life to come.

GOD’s Kingdom (both the natural and eternal realms) is not about living a religious lifestyle it is about having a personal relationship with GOD through Christ by the empowering of His Holy Spirit. As we grow in our personal relationship with GOD and discover how much He loves us and all that He has done and is doing for us we naturally desire to obey Him and do His will.

What are the works of GOD? To obey the commandments of Jesus, love GOD with all our heart, mind and strength, to love one another (other Christians), to love our neighbors (saved or not) as we love ourselves, to be in unity (with all other Christians) and to yield our spirit, soul and body to do the will of GOD.

What is the will of GOD? It is to preach the gospel to everyone alive, to lay hands on the sick and see them recover, to cast out demons, to raise the dead back to life, to make His enemies His footstool and to disciple the nations of the world into His Kingdom. We all cannot do all of these things but we all can do some or one of these things.

When we do the will and work’s of GOD we will be attacked, when we are attacked we will be victorious in Christ Jesus when we remember no matter how hard it is Jesus already defeated the devil and gave us His authority over the devil. Nothing the devil or any person can do will cause GOD to forsake us, nothing the devil or any person can do can take us away from GOD’s loving eternal grasp. No matter what happens to us in the natural GOD has prepared a place for us in His eternal Kingdom.

Seek GOD and His righteousness first and be in His will second and we’ll be in the third Heaven with Jesus.

The Bible is a Weather Report

The Word of GOD; the Bible; is not doom and gloom! Like a weather report it is an immediate warning of danger present and future.

A warning so that we are prepared for our eternal future, so we can be prepared for the storms of life that affect every life. Our place in eternity does not protect us while we live in this sinful mortal world. This world is under the power of the devil and the more humanity rejects GOD’s plan for eternity the more His judgment is active in the earth. Every living thing and the whole planet are experiencing the devil’s hatred of GOD and all He has created and done. Every living thing and the whole planet are experiencing the just judgment of GOD for their rejection of Jesus. Study John 1:1-18 & 3:12-21

The Bible is doom and gloom to those who ignore it! It warns us of storms, tests and judgment but those who ignore it or reject it’s teachings of how we should live will experience both present and eternal judgment. Study Proverbs 1.

Jesus is only the third human to be created by GOD and not conceived by a man and a woman. Adam and Eve were the first and second and Jesus was the third and last; Adam and Jesus are both called the Son of GOD. The difference is that Adam was formed of the dust of the earth then GOD breathed His Life into Adam; Eve GOD created from Adam’s rib everything that Eve was came from Adam. Remember that GOD created Adam as a complete eternal being with an immortal body. GOD then separated Eve from Adam so that Adam would have a companion equal to him and so that they could procreate and fill the earth as GOD commanded them.

Jesus was formed in Mary’s womb by the Spirit of GOD (Holy Spirit) and thereby became the only human to be a Son of Man and a Son of GOD. Jesus was formed in Mary’s womb and from that instant was a human being and experienced everything that a human could experience with one exception, marriage and procreation.

When GOD told Adam and Eve to go forth and fill the earth He established the covenant of marriage, He said a man would leave his father and his mother and be joined to his wife and the two would become one.

Without the seed of the man and the egg of the woman there can be no conception of human life. At that moment of conception GOD gives that human an eternal spirit and a call and purpose in His eternal Kingdom. GOD then writes out the days of their life to accomplish His call and purpose for them.

This is why every true Christian believes that marriage is between one man and one woman therefore sex in any other relationship is sin! This is why every true Christian believes that life begins at conception therefore abortion is murder!

If you do not believe these two principles and teachings of the Bible then you are not a true Christian. GOD gave us His Word, the Bible and His Spirit, Holy Spirit to teach us, to remind us of everything that Jesus said, to council us in the purposes of GOD and gifts us for the work of His Kingdom.

Study to show yourself approved before GOD not men!