 Have you ever felt so overwhelmed on this journey that you found it difficult to pray? Or you make an effort to pray and you just can't find the words? Remember a time when you were either too frustrated, too angry, or too disappointed to pray? When we can't pray it is good to know Jesus, our Great High Priest, is in heaven not only preparing a place for us but He is also praying for us. (Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us -Rom 8:34) and (Wherefore He is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by Him, seeing He ever liveth to make intercession for them - Heb 7:25).
What is so powerful about this truth, besides of course the fact that the Lord Jesus Christ, the Most High God, is praying for us, is that He is not praying some general pray like "Father bless them "; but rather, when we can't pray, Jesus is interceding for you and I specifically for and about what we are going through at that time. Jesus is not only praying specifically about what we are going through, He is praying with passion and empathy because He knows how we feel. In fact, He has felt the same pain, had the same heartache and experienced the same struggle (For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted as we are yet without sin - Heb 4:15). Essentially, when we can't pray, because Jesus has prayed specifically for us, all we have to do is get in the presence of God to receive the mercy and specific grace needed for our current situation. (Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need - Heb 4:16) . In other words, we just have to show up to pick up the mercy and the grace specifically needed for our dilemma because Jesus has already put in our order! The next time we find ourselves in that place where it is difficult to pray, we need to know that Jesus is at the right hand of the Father praying for us. Although initially, we may not feel like He is praying, He is interceding for us. if we by faith push pass our feelings, we will have access to and receive the grace that has been custom designed for our circumstance. I know we have talked about this before but I have to say it again, when you can't pray, say the Name! So glad He is praying for us, Diane p.s. This week each time you pray, thank Jesus for praying for you! Consider what impact this truth has on your perspective and your problems. #Say the Name #Specific Grace  Quietly Waiting www.just4hisglory.com How are you today? Sometimes we hit a rough stretch on this journey. We look up and wonder how in the world did we get here, and before we know it discouragement has set in. Discouragement left unchecked can lead to despair. Despair is a state of hopelessness. ( We are troubled on every side, yet not distressed; we are perplexed, but not in despair: Persecuted but not forsaken; cast down, but not destroyed -II Cor 4:8-9). No matter how bad things may seem we are never without hope.
We serve the God of all hope, yet at times we grow faint and find that we have to fight through discouragement . When discouragement begins to track us down on this journey, the first thing we need to do is run to the Lord to pour out our hearts before Him (Trust in Him at all times; ye people, pour out your heart before Him: God is a refuge for us - Ps 62:8). The Lord is our safe place where we can cry out in honesty to let Him know how we feel. We don't have to pretend. We can share exactly what is on our hearts, trusting Him with our disappointments, hurts, failures and the things that depress us. As we cast our cares upon Him, He demonstrates His lovingkindness and cares for us. After we have run to the Lord and poured out our hearts, the second thing that helps us fight through discouragement is to remember His past faithfulness to us (This I recall to my mind, therefore have I hope. It is of the Lord's mercies that we are not consumed, because His compassions fail not. They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness. The Lord is my portion, saith my soul: therefore will I hope in Him - Lam 3:21-24). Remembering how the Lord has kept and delivered us in the past helps us to have hope in the midst of our current circumstances. Once we have run to the Lord and poured our hearts, and we have remembered His past faithfulness, it's time rejoice in praise (Why art thou cast down, O my soul? and why art thou disquieted in me? hope thou in God: for I shall yet praise Him for the help of His countenance - Ps 42:5) and ( But I will hope continually, and yet praise thee more - Ps 71:14). Praise has the ability to change our very countenance (Rejoice in the Lord, O ye righteous: for praise is comely to the upright - Ps 33:1). In other words, praise looks good on us! We have to learn to rejoice in praise even if when we start out we don't feel like it. When we lift Him up, He has a way of lifting us up. When discouragement comes alongside of us we: run to the Lord to pour our hearts, remember His past faithfulness, and rejoice in praise; then we find hope and not despair. Our hope is not normal hope. Normal hope is associated with a degree of uncertainty, almost like the one using the word is saying: wow I would like to believe its going turn out that way but I'm not sure. Hope has become synonymous with the word wish. Our hope, however, is not a "I'm not sure but " kind of hope. It is not a "that's what I'm wishing for " kind of hope. Our hope is a confident expectation that God is going to come through for us. We don't put our hope in things but our hope (confidence) is in a Person - Jesus, the God of hope (Now the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing that ye may abound in hope, through the power of the Holy Ghost - Rom 15:13) . Biblical hope looks forward in the midst of a not so good situation with expectation, confidence, excitement, joy and peace because it knows the Lord is going to change things. (It is good that a man should both hope and quietly wait for the salvation of the Lord - Lam 3:26). Discouraged? Let's run to the Lord, remember His faithfulness and rejoice in praise! Not in despair, Diane p.s. this week the moment you sense any type of discouragement practice running to the Lord and pouring out your heart before Him  Fullness of Joy (Ps 16:11) www.just4hisglory.com I hope you enjoyed hanging out with Jesus this past week, delighting in Him. If you intended to but really didn't get around to it, or didn't spend as much time as you wanted to, the wonderful thing about this journey is that we get brand new mercies every day (It is of the Lord's mercies, that we are not consumed, because His compassions fail not. They are new every morning; great is thy faithfulness - Lam 3:22-23). So we can begin to delight in Him today. Although learning to delight in Him was our focus during last week's leg of our journey, delighting in the Lord is something we should practice daily until it becomes part of our lifestyle.
Have you ever noticed that when you spend a lot of time hanging around someone that you start to act like that person? When we delight in the Lord (enjoy His presence and His Word) not only are we promised the desires of our heart (Ps 37:4), but also we start to display His character ( But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord - II Corinth 3:18). As we continue to spend time in the Word of God (reading, studying, meditating upon it) we see the glory of Jesus, and the Holy Spirit begins to do a work in us, transforming us so that our character begins to look like Jesus. The more time we spend delighting in His word and the more honest we are with Him (open face-no pretense) the more we begin to reflect the image of Christ. Enjoying intimate fellowship with the Lord involves personal time spent in the Word (that's God sharing His heart with us) and time spent praying without pretense (that's us sharing our hearts with Him). If we are truly going to live for His glory, we must spend time delighting in His word. Only the word of God through the Spirit of God can change our hearts (For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart - Heb 4:12). As we delight in the Word, we are transformed to reflect the Lord's character and the Lord begins to delight in us (But let him that glorieth glory in this, that he understandeth and knoweth me, that I am the Lord which exercise lovingkindness, judgment, and righteousness, in the earth: for in these things I delight) and (Enoch walked with God and was not, for the Lord took him - Gen 5:24; ...before his translation he had this testimony that he pleased God - Heb 11:5). My prayer is that we will become His delight, Diane, p.s. Set aside time to allow the Lord to share His heart with you through His word. Continue to hang around Jesus by replacing your self talk with ongoing conversations with the Lord (instead of all those conversations you have going in your head with yourself all the time start talking to the Lord) . |
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