Pastor Stephen Dedman

Tag: pray

Are You Praying?

Faith, Trust

“Call to me and I will answer you, and will tell you great and hidden things that you have not known.”
‭‭Jeremiah‬ ‭33:3‬

What are you praying to God today? Do you pray expecting God to answer in a mighty way? Sometimes we pray for something so big to happen but in the back of our minds we have so much doubt.

When we pray we have to realize first and foremost, who we are praying to. We pray through Jesus, who is our mediator. Jesus takes our requests to God.

That is why we end our prayers with, “in Jesus name,” or “in Christ name.” We pray to the Son of God who knows what we need before we ask. He can part waters, move the stars, heal, mend, forgive, and He can change any situation you’re facing.

Second, we must know what we are praying for. Sometimes we ask for things to happen for our good but essentially it’s not for God’s glory. When we pray we seek the Holy Spirit of God to put on our hearts what we need to pray. He will answer the prayers of the righteous because their hearts are in tune with God.

You may be praying for a different job, a person to marry, or even a change of circumstances, but is what you’re praying for going to bring glory to God? We pray for God’s will to be done, not ours.

Third, we must know why we are praying. We are praying because there is something on our heart that we want to see happen.

We want to see the sick be healed, we want to see the poor and needy have what they need, we want to see peace in our lives, we want to live worry-free. We pray because we desire the things of God to happen on earth as it is in Heaven. The real reason we pray is because we know God answers prayers.

Pray

Lord, I seek you with my whole heart. Cleanse me and forgive me. Reveal to me what I need to know today.

Time To Pray

Encouragement, Trust

“So it was, when I heard these words, that I sat down and wept, and mourned for many days; I was fasting and praying before the God of heaven.”
‭‭Nehemiah‬ ‭1:4‬

When do you know it’s time to pray? Is it when things in your life are falling apart? Or when there is mass chaos all around? What has to happen for you to realize it’s time to pray?

Most of the time we wait till things get out of hand before we say, “I can’t do anything but pray that God does something.” If this is the case, we’ve waited too long.

Nehemiah received some news that deeply disturbed him. The Jews had gone back into their homeland to rebuild their city and temple, but the walls around Jerusalem were still in ruins. As you can tell in our Scripture verse today, Nehemiah was troubled in his heart.

His response to this terrible news was to turn to God with fasting and prayer. He knew he couldn’t do anything about it, but He knew God could.

Are there things in your life right now that are disturbing you? Are they out of your control? If so, it’s time to pray. When something lays heavy on your heart and you can’t get it off your mind, you need to turn to the Lord in prayer.

Don’t wait until it’s too late. The moment something troubles you, seek the Lord in prayer. Spending time in prayer with God will make a difference in your life. God will reveal special things to you and give you hope that something is about to happen.

Pray

Lord, I know You hear my prayers and You know my heart. I ask that You give me the solutions to my troubles. I seek You today for guidance and understanding.

The Word Of God

Faith, Trust

So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.
Romans 10:17

The gospel of Jesus Christ leads lost people to saving grace.  The power of God’s Word calls people to trust in the name of Jesus and causes people’s faith to be strengthened.

Sadly, there are a lot of people in the world today who are not searching for truth.  People believe much of what they hear to be true, even if it isn’t.  The media only tells people what they want them to hear and many times that means leaving out the truth.

One thing we can stand firm on is that the Word of God is true. All of Scripture is God’s truth to mankind. Truth produces faith and faith produces love and love produces patience.

Faith opens our hearts and minds to understand God’s truth.  Only those who hear the Word of God can repent of sin and trust Jesus for eternal life.  This is why God’s Word is so important.

As Christians, we need to be consumed in the Word of God so we can know and understand the perfect plan of God.  Scripture will reveal what we need to know.  However, if we never turn to the Word of God we will never understand what God desires for us to know.  

Maintaining a constant and consistent study and meditation of the Bible will allow us to hear from God and to align our lives with what He desires.

Pray

Lord, give me the desire to know the truth through reading Your word. Help me to align my heart with Your heart. Only Your word will I hide in my heart.