Prayer - Thy Kingdom Come

Prayer - just the word itself has a negative effect on many of us. Why? I think because humans have complicated it!

God intended prayer to be simple.


Ask - it will be given
Seek - you will find
Knock - the door will be opened to you


Direct asking, direct receiving
Earnest seeking, abundant finding
Persistent knocking - Doors open



God hears our prayers.
This fact alone is something we all struggle with - we believe we have to be some kind of special perfect in order for God to even hear our prayers. Why do we think that? I want to suggest that we can only think that when do not KNOW our God well enough.


A parent hears their children requests - all of them - yet it is not always good or right or timely to grant the request. We do not give a 6 year old keys to our car. That does not mean we do not love the 6 year old!


God wants to communicate with us - which you can see in my earlier posts. He wants us to hear Him and He wants to hear us.


Notice again in the sample prayer Jesus gave His disciples:

"Our Father, in heaven,
Hallowed be Your name.
Your kingdom come.
Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven."

Up to this point notice not one word about ME or MY or GIVE ME!

This is where our prayers need to start also. My Father, You are holy and to be reverenced. I come before you humbly seeking YOUR answers in my life/world. Your kingdom come! This is key! God has answers! Answers that we have not yet even thought of. If we just make up our mind what God needs to / ought to/ should have alredy done and stamp our feet and holler at Him that we are surprised He has not already granted our request we are missing the mark. We need to bring ourselves, our lives, our concerns humbly before Him and invite HIM to answer the needs according to HIS riches in glory through Christ Jesus our Savior and Lord.

God answers prayer!

Another fact that is hard for us to believe! Why? As children coming to parents we understand the answer process. Sometimes immediate, sometimes delayed, but always answered somehow!
Jesus told us that God the Father is anxious to give the answer. We must remember God sees the BIG picture the long haul - He is working - we are believing - the answer is on the way - we keep trusting - sometimes God's answers are different that what we envisioned. Sometimes the answer is exactly the opposite of what we thought the answer should be. That is where again we need to remind ourselves who is God. We are not God! We do not always understand why He answers as He does and so we need to choose to trust His Love. Granted this is not easy.


Jesus said to his disciples: John 16:23-24 "Most assuredly, I say to you, whatever you ask the Father in My name He will give you. Until now you have asked nothing in My name. Ask, and you will receive, that your joy may be full."


Our prayers ascend as sweet incense before God's throne - don't be afraid to pray - PRAY MORE! Submit your life and family and problems and all that concerns you to OUR FATHER and invite HIS Kingdom to come and HIS will to be done and see the answers HE sends.


Prayer is our secret weapon against Satan and his kingdom, there's on old rhyme, that says:

Satan trembles when he sees, the weakest saint upon their knees. Let's pray more!

Joyfully yours,
Ruth Joy
http://www.joy-bringer-ministries.org/

Prayer - Thy Kingdom Come

Prayer - just the word itself has a negative effect on many of us. Why? I think because humans have complicated it!

God intended prayer to be simple.


Ask - it will be given
Seek - you will find
Knock - the door will be opened to you


Direct asking, direct receiving
Earnest seeking, abundant finding
Persistent knocking - Doors open



God hears our prayers.
This fact alone is something we all struggle with - we believe we have to be some kind of special perfect in order for God to even hear our prayers. Why do we think that? I want to suggest that we can only think that when do not KNOW our God well enough.


A parent hears their children requests - all of them - yet it is not always good or right or timely to grant the request. We do not give a 6 year old keys to our car. That does not mean we do not love the 6 year old!


God wants to communicate with us - which you can see in my earlier posts. He wants us to hear Him and He wants to hear us.


Notice again in the sample prayer Jesus gave His disciples:

"Our Father, in heaven,
Hallowed be Your name.
Your kingdom come.
Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven."

Up to this point notice not one word about ME or MY or GIVE ME!

This is where our prayers need to start also. My Father, You are holy and to be reverenced. I come before you humbly seeking YOUR answers in my life/world. Your kingdom come! This is key! God has answers! Answers that we have not yet even thought of. If we just make up our mind what God needs to / ought to/ should have alredy done and stamp our feet and holler at Him that we are surprised He has not already granted our request we are missing the mark. We need to bring ourselves, our lives, our concerns humbly before Him and invite HIM to answer the needs according to HIS riches in glory through Christ Jesus our Savior and Lord.

God answers prayer!

Another fact that is hard for us to believe! Why? As children coming to parents we understand the answer process. Sometimes immediate, sometimes delayed, but always answered somehow!
Jesus told us that God the Father is anxious to give the answer. We must remember God sees the BIG picture the long haul - He is working - we are believing - the answer is on the way - we keep trusting - sometimes God's answers are different that what we envisioned. Sometimes the answer is exactly the opposite of what we thought the answer should be. That is where again we need to remind ourselves who is God. We are not God! We do not always understand why He answers as He does and so we need to choose to trust His Love. Granted this is not easy.


Jesus said to his disciples: John 16:23-24 "Most assuredly, I say to you, whatever you ask the Father in My name He will give you. Until now you have asked nothing in My name. Ask, and you will receive, that your joy may be full."


Our prayers ascend as sweet incense before God's throne - don't be afraid to pray - PRAY MORE! Submit your life and family and problems and all that concerns you to OUR FATHER and invite HIS Kingdom to come and HIS will to be done and see the answers HE sends.


Prayer is our secret weapon against Satan and his kingdom, there's on old rhyme, that says:

Satan trembles when he sees, the weakest saint upon their knees. Let's pray more!

Joyfully yours,
Ruth Joy
http://www.joy-bringer-ministries.org/

Connecting the dots / Trust!

We went to dinner tonight with my brother and sister-in-law. What a time we had just conversing about life and things we've been through. It was comforting, uplifting, healing and just plain enjoyable! Have you ever noticed, God just has this amazing way of connecting the dots for us? You know, you struggle through days that are filled with sameness or sometimes madness, or heartache and grief - you know God has ways of working things out - yet it all seems like a bunch of disjointed dots on a page. Then one day out of seemingly nowhere, God just draws a line from one point to the other like one of those "connect the dots" pictures and we get a little glimpse of the truth that HE IS GOD - and He actually does know what He is doing in my life - and He cares, very much! We suddenly realize He is actually working on a bigger picture that we cannot see fully yet but are realizing they are not just random dots without meaning!

Well, that's our God! You may have guessed - tonight HE connected some dots for me! :-) Truth be told, if we really stop and think about our lives, God is about a lot more than meets the eye. He is at work in all of our lives doing things that are not humanly possible at so many levels. The hard part is hanging in there while the dots are totally unconnected. That brings us to TRUST! The life long lesson we are ever learning! God was always looking for the Israelites out in the wilderness to learn that lesson. HE was GOD! He was trustworthy! They didn't get it. I want to get it! I hope you do too.

There is so much tumbling about in my heart and mind - but it'll have to be for another time and blog. If you happen to find yourself in one of those disjointed places - don't lose heart - don't give up - keep trusting God and HIS love and plan - one of these days you too will start to see those dots getting connected!

Joyfully,

Ruth Joy
www.joy-bringer-ministires.org

Connecting the dots / Trust!

We went to dinner tonight with my brother and sister-in-law. What a time we had just conversing about life and things we've been through. It was comforting, uplifting, healing and just plain enjoyable! Have you ever noticed, God just has this amazing way of connecting the dots for us? You know, you struggle through days that are filled with sameness or sometimes madness, or heartache and grief - you know God has ways of working things out - yet it all seems like a bunch of disjointed dots on a page. Then one day out of seemingly nowhere, God just draws a line from one point to the other like one of those "connect the dots" pictures and we get a little glimpse of the truth that HE IS GOD - and He actually does know what He is doing in my life - and He cares, very much! We suddenly realize He is actually working on a bigger picture that we cannot see fully yet but are realizing they are not just random dots without meaning!

Well, that's our God! You may have guessed - tonight HE connected some dots for me! :-) Truth be told, if we really stop and think about our lives, God is about a lot more than meets the eye. He is at work in all of our lives doing things that are not humanly possible at so many levels. The hard part is hanging in there while the dots are totally unconnected. That brings us to TRUST! The life long lesson we are ever learning! God was always looking for the Israelites out in the wilderness to learn that lesson. HE was GOD! He was trustworthy! They didn't get it. I want to get it! I hope you do too.

There is so much tumbling about in my heart and mind - but it'll have to be for another time and blog. If you happen to find yourself in one of those disjointed places - don't lose heart - don't give up - keep trusting God and HIS love and plan - one of these days you too will start to see those dots getting connected!

Joyfully,

Ruth Joy
www.joy-bringer-ministires.org