We Are Living In The Atmosphere We Prayed (Or Didn't Pray) For In The Past
Matthew 7:7-9 NKJV — “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. “For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened. “Or what man is there among you who, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone?
If this is true, and it is, then the beautiful and challenging reality is that you and I are living in our prayers we prayed before, right now.
You and I are living in the atmosphere we prayed for sometime before now. We are praying into our atmosphere sometime in the future.
What do I want to live in? That is the real question before me.
God calls embracing this "faith."
Clearly, darkness is increasing. It's promised in the Bible and clear all around us. The default future you and I have without a life of increasing prayer (and increasingly corporate prayer, but that's a story for another day) is darkness.
The alternative future I can have, if I respond in faith, is sown in the seeds I pray today. It takes time to see those seeds bear fruit, but my testimony is that I am living in what I prayed for sometime before now, and that makes me confident to pray much more now than ever.
God is faithful. Are we?
Luke 18:1-8 NKJV — Then He spoke a parable to them, that men always ought to pray and not lose heart, saying: “There was in a certain city a judge who did not fear God nor regard man. “Now there was a widow in that city; and she came to him, saying, ‘Get justice for me from my adversary.’ “And he would not for a while; but afterward he said within himself, ‘Though I do not fear God nor regard man, ‘yet because this widow troubles me I will avenge her, lest by her continual coming she weary me.’ ” Then the Lord said, “Hear what the unjust judge said. “And shall God not avenge His own elect who cry out day and night to Him, though He bears long with them? “I tell you that He will avenge them speedily. Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will He really find faith on the earth?”
This prayer life Jesus is describing isn't about God changing everyone else. He is "bearing long with us" until we see WE are the ones that need prayer, not everyone else. Our need for light in the dark is great.
In the next verses Jesus lays out WHAT to pray: repentance!
Luke 18:9-14 NKJV — Also He spoke this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and despised others: “Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. “The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, ‘God, I thank You that I am not like other men—extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this tax collector. ‘I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I possess.’ “And the tax collector, standing afar off, would not so much as raise his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me a sinner!’ “I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other; for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.”
If I spend my time telling God what to do about everyone and everything else, I will never change. I'll live in the dark as my future unfolds. If I compare my "righteousness" to others and conclude I am doing ok, and even thank God for that, I am being swept OUT of the kingdom.
2 Thessalonians 2:11-12 NKJV — And for this reason God will send them strong delusion, that they should believe the lie, that they all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness.
The unrighteousness being described here isnt just "fast living"... It's mostly arrogant, legalistic, lawless living. Jesus condemned the Pharisees because of their blindness. He never expected the sick to see, only those who claimed to be well.
Wheat bear the fruit of humility. If I sow to the Spirit I will reap of that same Spirit. If I sow judgment, even in prayer, I'll be judged with the same level of scrutiny.
What are you living in right now? It's really the atmosphere you prayed for, or didn't pray for. The world is going somewhere... Are we going with it? The only way not to is to pray for something different.
The arrogant portions of the church are also going somewhere we don't want to go, called "falling away." The falling away is simply God giving the lawless what they want, which is the fruit of their own leadership. The only way to not go there is to pray something different than what the flesh likes to pray.
If I sow to the Spirit, I'll reap a harvest from the Spirit in my near future. God responds speedily when what we pray agrees with His heart and timing.
We sow in prayer. Children ask and receive.
What do we want our next days to be like? We can only ask for them today.
I want to be patient, kind, faithful, gentle, good, self controlled, joyful, loving, peaceful... I can see where I lack these today. If I pray, I'll be more of these tomorrow. We become a new creation as we die to the old one.
It isn't all God. It isn't all on me. It's a partnership. I sow the seeds and pull the weeds, but God does the miracle of making it grow.
My choices today have consequences tomorrow and the need is great. It will only get greater until Jesus returns.
Will He find faith in me? It's up to me and depends on Him hearing me and giving me what I ask for. Do I believe that enough to ask?
It's so simple anyone can do it, and so simple few will. Those who do have a bright future. Those who don't ... Don't.
Comments
Post a Comment
I appreciate your comments.