SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 6/27/2023 11:17 AM
My Worship Time Focus: PT-5 “The
Principle”
Bible Reading & Meditation Reference: Matthew
21:20-22
Message of the verses: “20 And seeing this,
the disciples marveled, saying, "How did the fig tree wither at
once?" 21 And Jesus answered and said to them, "Truly I say to you,
if you have faith, and do not doubt, you shall not only do what was done to the
fig tree, but even if you say to this mountain, ‘Be taken up and cast into the
sea,’ it shall happen. 22 “And all things you ask in prayer, believing, you
shall receive.’”
I have to say that the Lord seems to be talking to
me about prayer because of what is in this section, and also I just heard a
sermon on prayer, and also in our devotionals that I ‘m using in our Sunday
school class since February have been on the prayers of Daniel and on what is
called the “Lord’s Prayer” which is actually the disciples prayer in Matthew
chapter six. Prayer has always been a
very important part of my walk with the Lord, and I am always thrilled to learn
more about it.
John
MacArthur writes the following: “Whatever
our finite minds may lead us to think, there is no inconsistency between God’s
sovereignty and man’s faith, because God’s Word clearly teaches both. It is not the believer’s responsibility to
fathom God’s inscrutable ways but to obediently follow His clear teaching. Persistent prayer that is believing God’s
Word cannot be inconsistent with the operation of God’s own sovereign will, because
in His sovereign wisdom and grace He commands such prayer and obligates Himself
to honor it.”
I
believe that when we pray to the Lord seeking His will for our lives that as
long as we are in fellowship with the Lord that He will then put upon our
hearts the things He wants us to pray for, things that are in His will for
us. To have these prayers answered they
must be in the will of God for us.
MacArthur
adds “God’s will for His children does not, of course, always involve things
that are pleasant to the flesh or the things one might naturally prefer, His
will for His children includes their willingness to sacrifice, suffer, and die
for Him if necessary. For the believer
who seeks God’s will, it is never a matter of succeeding or failing, of
prosperity or poverty, of living or dying, but simply of being faithful (see 1
Cor. 4:2). Therefore Paul declares, ‘If we live, we live for the Lord, or if we
die, we die for the Lord; therefore whether we live or die, we are the Lord’s
(Rom. 14:8).”
I
think that there is little doubt that the church in most places of the world,
especially in our own country is impotent, and that is because so many
Christians are impotent. The reason that
Christians are impotent is because they are not persistent in praying for what
God wants, believing He will provide it. It is God’s desire that His children ask
and keep asking, to seek and keep seeking, to knock and keep knocking, and it
is through that persistence that He promises to bless. God guarantees that they will always receive,
always find, and always have the door opened to them as seen in Matthew 7:7 “"Ask,
and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be
opened to you.”
“God does not build His church or build up His
people by better ideas, better programs, or better methods, although such
things can have a place in His work. God promises to truly reveal His power
only through faith believers who, in persistent prayer, seek only His will.”
Spiritual
meaning for my life today: It is my desire to continue to do a better
job in my prayer life, to seek the things that God desires for me to do and
then to do them. I want to be a part of
what the Lord tells us to do in His Great Commission.
My Steps of Faith for Today: Continue to pray for three people who I have
been praying for specifically for to be saved.
6/27/2023 12:28 PM
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