Prayer Is Verb

PRAYER IS A VERB.

"I am responsible. Although I may not be able to prevent the worst from happening, I am responsible for my attitude toward the inevitable misfortunes that darken life. Bad things do happen; how I respond to them defines my character and the quality of my life. I can choose to sit in unending sadness, powerless by the severity of my loss, or I can choose to rise from the hurt and preserve the most precious gift I have which is life itself." Walter Anderson

CHANGE ME: Gail Rodgers "The Spirit of Lord works within us to become more and more like Him." (2 Cor. 3:18) As I sat down in the church service my foot began to tap to the lively praise music. It was refreshing! The pastor stood and prayed, "Oh Lord, we have come here today to be changed by you, so please change us." The words caught me off guard. I wasn’t sure I had come to be changed. I came to be encouraged and refreshed yes, but changed? I thought about it over the next week. As Christians we so often want God’s blessing and His strength and His wisdom, but do we willingly say "Lord, change me?" I knew I didn’t always. Yet it is the thing God calls us to. That is to be changed. My thoughts went to the worm and the butterfly. If the worm were asked, I am quite sure he would not feel the need to change, having no concept of the beautiful, flying creature he would become. Only the Lord sees us as the finished product of what His grace can do in our lives. Only He knows the butterfly in each of us. Is the Lord asking you to let Him change you? Change is not always easy. But the joy and the reward of being transformed into the Godly person God knows you can be will surprise you and delight you. It will bring a fulfillment that is worth every effort. And God will enable you, by His Spirit, to make the changes you have put off too long. Don’t wait any longer for God to change your circumstances or whoever or whatever is holding you back. Ask Him today to change you. He promises to transform you and you won’t be disappointed with the result!

James 4:2 “you have not, because you ask not.” “You don’t have the things you want, because you don’t pray for them.”

All The words in this verse in The KJV have one syllable except for one. All the words are simple words yet they are ones that if we use will transform us from ordinary praying to powerful praying. What would happen if everyone who was to hear this message took these words to heart as message that God really has spoken to us? Do you think they would change the way you live, the way you think, the methods you use to work with and the ministry God has given to you to be different? Our hope today is that these words would become a part of your life and that the poverty and powerless of the prayer lives of many would be turned loose for the glory of God. These words are given to us today that we might take a new hold on our prayer life. Some may have questions like these: “Why am I making so little progress in my Christian life? Why do I seem hindered by the sin of unbelief? Why am I so little like Christ in my words and actions? Why am I seeing so few come to Christ through my life? The plan of salvation is simple as A, B, C. You must Admit you are sinner. You must Believe that Christ died for your sins. You must Confess with your heart that you want to be forgiven.

The answer from God in these seven words is neglect of prayer. “You have not, because you ask not.” Why is my church growing so slowly? Why do people who attend this church lack in spiritual power? Why is the body of Christ so deplete in knowledge and wisdom in the ways of Christ? Why in the church today is there so little preaching against man is a sinner, unbelief and worldliness? Why is that so many settle for a low plane of Christianity? Why Christ is not being portrayed as the Head of the church and given little recognition as the example we are to follow? Neglect of prayer. “You have not, because you ask not.” We read in the early days of the church that “the Lord added to the church daily such as were being saved. Many of them which heard believed. And believers were added to the lord, multitudes. The Word of the lord increased and the number of disciples multiplied.” How could this happen? They did not have big screen TV, Multi-media, motivational speakers, self-help seminars, retreats for refreshment and renewal, big church buildings, feel good preaching, camp meetings or seminars on how to win souls.