Sun Stopping Prayer

How is your prayer life? Are your prayer times the richest part of your day or is it a chore you avoid until you have no more excuses and then you can't wait until they are over? In Joshua's life, he faced disappointment, setback, delays and instructions from the Lord that no one had ever heard of. It's easy to go to Joshua chapter 10 and read about his powerful prayer and we all want to be able to pray Sun Stop Moving Prayer but God only trusts that kind of power to those who have proven that honoring the Lord and obeying Him are not debatable choices but opportunities to show our trust in God regardless of His instruction.

Joshua's prayer was answered after marching all night long and began fighting and continued fighting for 36 hours. Quit expecting to walk out of troubles forever. Make sure you are keeping the Lord first in your life. Just because He has been there in the past does not mean He will be there today, you must continually put Him there. Kind of like wearing a retainer for those who have had braces on their teeth; if you don't constantly wear a retainer your teeth revert back to their old positions. Our prayer lives can be the richest parts of our lives but they can also be a challenge to "keep up" when things don't seem to be going like we want them to. The same God who stopped the sun for 24 hours is listening for your requests and looking to see if your obedience matches your desire for things to change.

I love the quote "He who God uses greatly will be tested powerfully"! Don't let tests cause you to doubt God's goodness of favor on you, in fact if you are in a serious battle you re probably right where He wants you to be -- let His light shine through and make sure He gets the praise!

Don't Quit

Everyone faces touch situations somewhere at some time. No avoiding that fact but we can prepare for these tough events and decide before they get here that we are going to get through them, they will not stop us. They may delay our arrival but they will not keep us from reaching the God designed destination. The question is how do we prepare.

First, know who will get you through the tough times. If you rely on anything or anyone other than Jesus Christ and the guidance of His Holy Spirit you will delay your arrival even longer.

Next keep God's Word exalted above all circumstances. What God says will never change, circumstances do. Get advice from people who have walked the path before you. Usually advice requires us changing something which brings resistance but don't be afraid of change. Everybody and everything changes. We can't stop it and complaining (even if it's just rehearsing it in our minds) causes frustration to grow; when that happens it brings more difficultly in relationships that can help you get through the struggle. The enemy we face and who constantly works to kill, steal and destroy us is relentless so prepare for long term to battle him with weapons that are not earthly but divinely powerful for tearing him down.

One more thing although I could keep going with ideas is don't give up. We do not know all that God knows. We see through a dark glass, He sees things exactly like they are -- trust Him. I love the saying, "When you cannot see God's hand, you can trust His heart". He is for you and He will never leave or abandon you, so hold on, remember change is on it's way!!!

God's DNA

We all have God given talents. Everyone has them, Christians and non-Christians. God made us unique and gets joy when we use our gifts for His glory. Many struggle with accepting their gifts because they like the gift someone else has and try to be like them. People spend their whole lives "acting" like someone they were never created to be. One of parents highest responsibilities is to seek God about their children's gifts; once they discover what they are the parent should constantly point the children towards their gifts; NOT the gifts the parents want them to have but the gifts God has given them. Because we all have God given gifts we know the devil will try to pervert, steal and destroy these gifts. It requires constant effort to use these gifts and if God is going to get the glory from our use of gifts, it must not be our talent or skill alone that empowers us. A tendency that can creep in is to become prideful about gifts especially the ones that are used in public platforms. Parents need to stay watchful as their children get comfortable with what God has given them by instructing them early on in their gift discovery and function. Proverbs 22:6 says "Train up a child in the way he should go, when he gets older he will not depart from it." Training is likened to training a horse to be used in handling cattle. It implies practice, patience, correction, encouragement and perseverance.

Ask someone if they can identify your gifts, then ask them if they think you are using them to their highest potential. If they say you are not using them to that potential ask them to help you increase that use until it is obvious that what God invested in you is not being wasted. We are all created with gifts from God, use them to glorify Him, after all He gave them to you!