You know, at times in life, when things are going the way we think they should or when somethings just don’t seem to be “right, we have a refresh button as well! It’s called prayer! Now please don’t mistake prayer with the “easy” button that you’ve seen in commercials (don’t we all wish life had an easy button!) While prayer does not necessarily make things easy, effective prayer can truly refresh you!
Effective prayer is an opportunity to connect with God, it’s our time to ask from and listen to our Heavenly Father. It’s a time to deepen our relationship with the Lord through praise and intimacy. I truly believe that those of us who struggle with prayer do so not because our hearts are not in our prayers, but I believe the main reason that we don’t fully engage in prayer is because we aren’t seeing results when we pray.
When us ordinary people pray, we release the extraordinary power of God to work in us, through us and for us. The prayer of a person living right with God is something powerful to be reckoned with! When you pray, you become a force to be reckoned with, and that is extraordinary!
People who walk in the security of knowing who they are never feel the need to prove themselves and they never pull others down to build themselves up. They stand boldly and are neither boastful, nor bashful about who they are.
It’s a wonderful time to be a Texan right now! It’s been quite sometime since we’ve been able to say this out loud, but…How about them Cowboys! Yessir, the Dallas Cowboys have actually shown up this season. They have six wins, their most recent win coming against the Super Bowl champion Seahawks! The Cowboys are here ladies and gents, and it looks like they’re for real this season. For some fans, it’s a great time to come out of hiding and declare their devotion!
What a powerful truth, that as I grow in Christ, my understanding and enjoyment of who I am in Him, and what I have in Him, should NOT diminish, it should increase! As I mature, I don’t become passive in my faith, I become bolder! Boldness is not just for new Christians, I venture to say that the more mature we are in our walk with Christ, the bolder we should be! We are growing into the fullness of His goodness!
At the end of No Sugar September, I recognize another important element, while I minimized my desserts, my craving for them was never minimal. Can I tell you that, even if you minimize Jesus, the soul-craving for His greatness, will not diminish. Listen to what Solomon shares:
Psychologists have proven that a child at the age of 5 or 6 years old has already formed a fairly clear picture of how they view themselves. These studies show that how a child views themselves has nothing to do with background, location or race. It has to do with what was affirmed to them before the age of 5, by their parents.
You no longer have to strive to belong! You no longer have to perform to belong! You already belong! You are accepted in the “beloved”, or the “very dearly loved”, through Christ. As a very dearly loved child of God, your identity is one of:
Humility and generosity are built on the foundation of faithfulness. Let me put it this way: humility and generosity are fruit of a servant’s heart, but faithfulness is the soil that they are cultivated in. The extraordinary promises of God, accessed through humility and generosity, are not discovered in sporadic occurrences, they’re truly discovered in consistency, or faithfulness. Jesus put it this way:
