Turning It Over to the Lord – Part 2
Wherefore let them that suffer according to the will of God commit the keeping of their souls to him in well doing, as unto a faithful Creator. (1Peter 4:19)
IT DOESN'T SOUND FITTING THAT WE MIGHT SUFFER “according to the will of God.” We are in the habit of praying for the Lord to protect us from evil people and to heal our sick bodies. Many people pray as though God can be talked into anything if we just have enough faith. We gather up all the faith of our souls toward an answer to prayer. Does it not work against faith if we think that “God might not answer our prayer?” Maybe. But, we might do ourselves a favor if we really study what the Bible has to say about prayer.
THIS IS THE MASTER VERSE IN THE BIBLE ON PRAYER: And this is the confidence that we have in him, that, if we ask any thing according to his will, he heareth us: And if we know that he hear us, whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we desired of him. (1John 5:14-15) Again, we run into the idea that God may answer our prayer and, God may not answer our prayer.
THIS IS THE UPPERMOST VERSE TO MEMORIZE AND USE In thinking about prayer. Praying in the will of God. We can discern the will of God by studying the Scriptures and by tarrying before God in prayer. Praying “in the spirit” is a Bible concept (idea). Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints; (Ephesians 6:18)
WE WANT TO REMOVE ALL THE HINDRANCES TO PRAYER. There may be some hindrances to prayer that need to be pulled out of the shadows and dealt with. Jesus taught us the model prayer that concluded with: For if ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you: But if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses. (Matthew 6:15)
It is ideal for our forgiveness to result in reconciliation but it doesn’t always. It takes two to reconcile. It only takes one to forgive. I’m not going to stay at odds with the Lord because somebody doesn’t want to forgive me and doesn’t want to reconcile. I will forgive and be on my way, knowing that I have obeyed the Lord. Holding a grudge is expensive. You won’t be forgiven of God until you let it go.
I WAS STRONGLY INFLUENCED BY PAUL FERGUSON WHO WAS MIGHTY IN PRAYER and had unusual power with God in meetings he held. Several people died in his meetings who chose to get in a contest with God. Early on, he read the Bible through and pulled out all the verses on prayer and memorized them. I’ve never gone that far, but I do believe there are at least a hundred verses on prayer that every serious Christian ought to memorize and use constantly in our prayer life. Paul Ferguson’s main verse was: “Draw nigh unto God and He will draw nigh unto you.” (James 4:8)
THERE IS NO BETTER PRAYING THAN PRAYING BACK THE WORD OF GOD to the Father. Who are the people of prayer in the Bible and what kind of praying did they do? What kind of results did they have? How did Jesus pray?
What did James know about prayer? If you type “Camel knees James” into Google, you may get what I did just now: Over 3 million results in 46 seconds. When James died a martyr’s death in A.D. 62, the attendants who buried him found his knees to be as hard as the knees of a camel. He was the lone figure that kneeled in the Temple for years to pray for the sins of the people.
AFTER ALL THAT PRAYING, THE NATION DID NOT REPENT. Forty years after Jesus was crucified, the Lord sent Titus, the Roman general, to destroy the Temple and the city in A.D.70. Over a million people who had gathered for the Passover Feast were slaughtered. Jerusalem had been thoroughly prayed for by one lone figure.
I have said many times that I don’t want to talk to James when I get to Heaven. What if he says: “Show me your knees?”
WHEN JESUS WAS GOING TO HEAL A WOMAN, He put the laughing people and scorning people and unbelieving people out of the room. And they laughed him to scorn. But when he had put them all out, he taketh the father and the mother of the damsel, and them that were with him, and entereth in where the damsel was lying. (Mark 5:40) And, you know the rest of the story. Jesus took into the room, the father and mother and the people that were with Him. He took the dead damsel (young woman) by the hand and raised her from the dead. Sometimes less is more.
IF YOU HAVE AN URGENT ISSUE THAT NEEDS PRAYER, don’t run out into the street and grab up a lot of warm bodies to help you pray. To the contrary, try to get rid of everybody in the room who is not serious about prayer to God.
Here’s another verse on prayer by James. Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much. (James 5:16)
IF YOU ARE SUFFERING ACCORDING TO THE WILL OF GOD, your suffering may be required for you to be made in the image of His Son. Making us to be in the image of His Son is a high priority in the mind of God. And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose. For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren. (Romans 8:28-29)
THINGS ARE GOING TO COME INTO YOUR LIFE that have no identification tag on them. They do not appear to have any meaning or purpose. I had an almost new car that I ran under the rear end of a long, log truck. Half of the truck was parked in my lane. As I was meeting the headlights of an oncoming car, suddenly I saw the truck and slammed on the brakes. The bed of the truck leveled everything off just above the spark plugs, went up the corner post, knocked out the windshield which hit my mother in the face. I saw the underside of the truck as it went over us.
WHEN I LIFTED MY MOTHER'S HEAD, her face was covered in blood. She was unconscious in the hospital for a month. The student who was leading the singing had his jaw broken and had to be wired shut. A front tooth was knocked out, so he ate through a straw until his jaw healed. He continued in school.
When my mother came home, my dad was furious as to what he could do to the man who had parked the truck in the highway to go up to a house to buy moonshine whiskey. I knew my dad carried a gun. My mother countered him with: “All things work together for good to them that love God.” Over and over she told him.
WHILE I WAS GONE ON A SUMMER MISSION TRIP, the man who was driving the truck came to the little church I pastored and heard the preacher who was filling in for me. My mother was there. During the invitation she came to the man and put her arm around him and asked him to be saved. He and his wife went to the altar and he gave his heart to the Lord. My dad never mentioned the man again. Mom healed up, and life went on. There’s a great need to turn things over to the Lord and trust Him to be in charge for an end that suits His plan and purpose. Ω
Read Through the Bible in a Year
APRIL 24, 2018 – TUESDAY
A.M. 2 Samuel 10-12 P.M. Luke 19:29-48
(Bible Gateway will read this to you if you like. Look for the speaker icon.)
If you are behind in your reading, you may want to link in today and go back to where you have been reading. This will help you to eventually catch up. If you are beginning, start with today.
Good Memory Verse:
And this is the confidence that we have in him, that, if we ask any thing according to his will, he heareth us: And if we know that he hear us, whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we desired of him. (1John 5:14-15)
Song for Today:
The Rocks Will Cry Out (2:48) – (Calv.Mem.Church – Sou.Pines,NC)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2RB339rbvNU
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See the Funeral of Former First Lady: Barbara Bush: (1:36.00) (Without comment: Posted by Washington Post) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bozw22vgog0 - Scripture Reading Begins at 1:39.00. (The actual funeral was about an hour and a half. The entire filming was 5 hours and 40 minutes.)
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