Omnipotent, Omnipresent Loving Lord, I humbly lay my life before You, for You alone deserve all the praise, honor and glory. Open my eyes, Lord. Allow me to see all the wonderful things You have done for me. Open my heart to accept You and Your Word daily. Open my mind and allow me to understand Your teachings.
Romans 12:12 – Rejoicing in hope; patient in tribulation; continuing instant in prayer
Romans 15:4 For whatever things were written before were written for our learning, that we through the patience and comfort of the Scriptures might have hope.
Open my eyes, Lord. Allow me to see all the wonderful things You have done for me. Click To Tweet
Grant me patience Lord, as I await Your answers to my call. Teach me to be still in the midst of the storms for Your timing is always perfect, never too early and never too late. Knowing that You hold the future, it is definitely worth the wait!
James 1:3 knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience.
Hebrews 6:12 – That ye be not slothful, but followers of them who through faith and patience inherit the promises.
Teach me to be still in the midst of the storms for Your timing is always perfect. Click To Tweet
Guide me accordingly, help me to make the right decisions that will only lead me to You. Search me, Oh Lord, for You alone know my heart. I desire Your Holy presence as I await You patiently, Oh Lord. Bless me with all that I deserve, in Jesus’ precious name I pray, Amen!
Recommended Reading
Get your copy of When God Says “Wait”: navigating life’s detours and delays without losing your faith, your friends, or your mind
Luke 8:15 But the ones that fell on the good ground are those who, having heard the word with a noble and good heart, keep it and bear fruit with patience.
James 5:8 – Be ye also patient; establish your hearts: for the coming of the Lord draweth nigh.
christianstt.com
I have been focusing so much on practicing, I’ve forgotten the real point of this whole thing. I need to learn to put God first.
I need to focus on praying and praying and figuring what He wants me to do.
I know there is more to this life than continual practice. There is something more fulfilling. I just have to learn how to listen to God’s voice and discernment on what to practice on, and what to leave alone.
I don’t know exactly what I am to do. I have been failing on the practice. But, it’s time to get back up, and practice some more.
Have you ever wished that you were fantastic at 1 thing, then really bad at all the rest? I have.
I’m pretty good at a lot of stuff. I can do many things pretty well. And they’re not all in the same line of skills.. They range from physical to mental, artistic to analytical.. I’m okay at a bunch, but I’m not excellent at 1 thing… If I were, I think it would make my walk a lot easier.
Think about it. John Mayer, he is fantastic at the guitar (and singing), but he’s probably not a great carpenter or painter. It was pretty easy for him at an early age to determine a path… For me, I have to choose between many things that could be a possibility. And an even bigger problem, I see potential in everything….
I say all this because…. you might be the same. You might be practicing everything out there trying to see what sticks. I’ve been there. I am there…
Don’t give up. Give God time to work. He will stir in you 1-2 things that He wants you to do, just give Him time. Keep running in the direction that is pleasing to Him and is within your realm of interests, and He’ll come along. He’ll either change your direction drastically, or He’ll bless what you’re doing.
Out of Practice..
We hear it all the time.. “I’m just out of practice.” But, mostly it just applies to golf or cooking. Think about it one step further though..
If you’re out of practice with what the Lord wants you to do. Aren’t you disobeying?
2 great thoughts..
1 – The more our hearts are in line with God’s, the more you can do whatever you want. I read that in a book “Seizing your divine moment”
2 – If you know what you are to do and don’t do it, that is a sin.. Read Paul’s letter to Timothy (I think…)
New video. Can’t embed here, but here’s the link to it…
Something my wife sent me this morning hit me like a rock.. It was from Crosswalk.com, a daily devotion. It was focused around Genesis 25:26, Isaac was sixty years old when Rebekah gave birth to them.
Let me give you some background… Isaac was 40 when they got married, now we learn he was 60 when they had kids… Let that sink in…
They waited 20 years to have kids. 20 YEARS!! You think that’s not a period of practicing and patience… You think whatever 6 month struggle you’re going through is tough. Try waiting on something for 20 years.
I know I find myself impatient. I pray and I wait for a whole day with no response… Then I get upset and figure I’ll do it myself. That is entirely the wrong approach. I must wait patiently on the Lord. Evidently even if that means waiting for 20 years.
What are you waiting on? What are you working towards that hasn’t come yet? When you think you’ve done all you can, just remember, pray, practice, wait with patience. Isaac waited 20 years for his children…
Practicing is nothing more than putting feet to your faith. It is having faith in the Lord and practicing what you believe. If He is the who He says He is, we have nothing to fear. Go! Get up and take action! Practice, for that’s what builds character.
Moses
Let’s take a look at what I consider one of the greatest examples of Prayer Practice & Patience throughout the Bible. I think it’s definitely more than I could have ever handled. In fact, it was more than Moses thought he could handle too… Let’s look at how Prayer, Practice, and Patience take shape.
Story
I think most of us are somewhat familiar with the story of Moses. The Pharaoh, the plagues, the splitting of the Red Sea, the 10 Commandments, etc.. If you aren’t, here’s a great link to a very informal story on Moses. Not “Bibley” at all..
http://www.bible-knowledge.com/Story-of-Moses.html
But, after you read that, let’s look at some of the details and juxtapose those against our modern-life. Continue reading ‘Prayer, Practice, Patience – Biblical Example’
prayerpracticepatience.wordpress.com
God of This City
Recently I have been praying a lot for Kenya. I have been praying for patience on the timing and when I should leave. But through this, I still wanted to leave as soon as possible. I felt so out of place in America, and I know my heart if out on the mission field and I am ready to go join it!
Last night two of my closest friends Zoe and Julie spent the night. These two amazing girls have also had the call of missions placed on their hearts. Last night we were driving around, we had left Pet Co and were driving through the parking lot, and going to go rent a movie and head back to my house. While driving through the parking lot we saw a homeless women sitting against the wall of a store. Our hearts immediately went out to her and we all decided to go across the street to walmart and buy her some basic needs. The excitement rose as we bought huge water bottles and other basic needs, including a bible. We then sat in my car for a good 15 minutes and prayed for guidance and for the Lord to give us the words to say.
After we had prayed and were feeling the presence of the Holy Spirit, we headed across the road back to the women. As we approached her, she seemed cautious, but she started to open up to us a little. We gave her the items, and she seemed truly grateful for them. Julie then asked if we could pray for her, she said yes! Then Julie continued on and asked if there was anything specific she would like us to pray for. She simply said a house, and went on to explain that she hadn’t had one for a very long time. The three of us nodded and sat down with her ready to pray. Julie then asked her for her name, and the women told us that she did not give out her name. Julie nodded and sweetly said “Ok, well we will go ahead and pray for you then.” Suddenly out of know where the women seemed like a completely different person. “I don’t want you to pray for me. Stop playing your stupid games. Go back to your car and leave me alone.” I felt immediately unsafe, like the devil had officially entered the area and was influencing this women. I even felt like she might pull out a dagger and stab us or something, the tension was that thick. Not wanting to upset her further we stood up. “We will leave this with you.” Julie said, handing her the bible we had bought. “I don’t want it, that is a natural resource and you do not have the right to be carrying that around! Now, go back to your car and leave me be!” Completely shocked and heartbroken by her reaction, we went back to my car, taking the bible with us. We drove in almost complete silence, and then decided to pull over into a parking lot and pray. When we pulled over, Zoe and Julie confirmed the feelings of darkness and an evil spirit the minute we were about to pray for this women. So we simply prayed for her.
Over the course of the night and this morning, we came to the conclusion that maybe this was preparation for the mission field, because when we are on the field we are not always going to be accepted and received well.
Also, when I was driving home from dropping Zoe off this morning, the song “God of this City” started playing, and one section in particular caught my attention and opened my eyes.
“You’re the Light in this darknessYou’re the Hope to the hopelessYou’re the Peace to the restlessYou areFor greater things have yet to come
And greater things are still to be done in this CityGreater thing have yet to comeAnd greater things are still to be done in this City” When I heard these worlds I realized why Julie, Zoe and I are still here and not off in county. We are still here because God has greater plans for Houston, and He is not done using us here yet. He is the light, the hope and the peace! And I feel like he wants us here at the moment so that he can use us in his glory to show these things. He isn’t through with us yet!
patienceprayerandpersistence.blogspot.com
