"I urge, then, first of all, that petitions, prayers, intercession
and thanksgiving be made for all people.
This is good, and pleases God our Savior."
1 Timothy 2:1,3 NIV
One BIG thing I am learning in this season of physical constraints and in extended days of prayer with the Lord, is just how much God values, aches for and desires for His leaders and His people to spend time with Him in prayer (intimacy & intercession) and in the Word. He aches for relationship with people. He does not desire prayer birthed out of religious duty but prayer birthed out a desire to know God (intimacy) and relationship with Him.
The world might not value prayer and intimacy with God because it values doing, achieving, and striving. The world values performance and impact. These are important to God too. The only difference is God wants us to do these things from Him (abiding) and not for Him. (John 15:5)
- He wants us to learn how to live, move and have our being in Him.
- He wants us to learn to live from the power of God that resides in us.
- He wants us to learn how to hear His voice and follow Him.
- He wants us to desire to know Him above all the other desires in our heart.
- He wants us to learn to do only that which we see the Father doing.
- He wants us in love, to encourage and build others up.
- He wants us to become a praying people.
Prayer is so important to God that in 1 Timothy 2:1-3, we see God, through the Apostle Paul, exhorting Timothy to ABOVE ALL things, to pray!
"I urge, then, first of all, that petitions, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for all people. This is good, and pleases God our Savior." 1 Timothy 2:1,3 NIV
Paul is telling Timothy, "before you start anything Timothy - first of all pray and look to see who you can encourage through prayer, petitions, intercessions." Paul knew that for Timothy to endure the hardships of life, ministry and expanding God's Kingdom - he needed to be intimately connected to God and to others through prayer.
If Jesus only did that which He saw the Father doing (John 12:49-50) and He made a huge impact for the Kingdom of God in the earth, then how much more does He want us listening, seeing and knowing what He wants to do? We find God's heart for others through prayer. When we pray for others - even our enemies, we begin to see God's heart for them. We begin to see them through Jesus' eyes and not our own.
When this season with pain started in March of 2010, I was quite frustrated with the Lord. I love doing, I love moving fast, I love seeing God connect with people. I love ministry and I love seeing God's power working in and through people's lives. I also loved to pray. By God's grace, the Lord called me into a life of prayer back in 2000 when I heard Becky Tirabassi. It was not uncommon for me to pray two to three hours a day. However until Jesus began to hold me hostage in bed this year, I did not fully realize was just how much God values prayer. How much He wants us to slow down and walk with Him so the ministry we do can be more powerful and effective. He began to show me how to take time away with Him is so contrary to our nature, but that in order to have a bigger impact we had to find time to be with Him and to get direction from Him.
When we slow down to hear His voice through prayer and being in the Word, we begin to see and know what He wants to do in any given moment or circumstance (with our family, our children, our friends, those we are praying for, in the ministries we lead). We can then begin to see the power of God move and flow more freely. We can see lives transformed because we have learned to see and to know what is on God's heart. We begin to partner with what God is doing and wants to do. We begin to move from God and not for God.
Lord,
I pray today that you would help us to be like the Apostle Paul. Lord, he so walked with you that he knew what to do and where to go. You led him, you showed him when to go into a city and when not to. You showed him daily how to walk with you. You helped his heart to desire nothing more than to know you. Paul said that everything was garbage compared to the priceless gain of knowing you. Lord, help us to lay all things, all desires, all idols, all wants, all wishes aside today, and let us come back to just wanting you.
Teach us how to hear your voice, how to abide with you, how to walk with you. Lord, your Word says "to live, move, and have our being in You". Lead us to this place Lord. Teach us how to pray. Teach us how to talk with you. Help us to become people of prayer and of Your Word. Teach us Lord Jesus how to pray.
The world is so in need of you. You. Not some doctrine, or dead words on a page. They need the living God who can take all despair, hopelessness and pain and turn it into HOPE and LIFE.
Jesus, we need you.
We need a living God.
We need a living God.
Teach us how to be more like you.
Prayer was so important to you that Jesus went away continually to be with your Father. Empower us by your Spirit to live life like you did.
In your name we pray,
Amen
The picture below is a drawing my friend Lyn did of me.
It still speaks deeply to my heart.
Thank you for this word. I have been walking thru a season where I have felt discouragement on all fronts, and it has led me to feel incredibly lonely. Unfortunately instead of dropping to my knees and seeking my Father (which I know is the best place to be) I went to a place of striving, doing, etc...working to TRY to force myself to feel encouraged, noticed, accepted...all so I could prove that I truly wasn't alone. The enemy laid the bait down..and my sinfulness snagged it up and set the most important thing aside. I have had a series of moments over the past few days where my Father has gently been whispering to me and drawing me back into the prayer life that I love. I am an intercessor ironically...so OF COURSE I have felt discouraged! I haven't been doing that which I love the most...PRAYER and INTIMACY with my GOD. Thank you for this wise reminder..to spend time doing the most important thing!
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