TEMPTED?

I awoke this morning practicing what I preach...lol.  The first thought to enter my mind was an invitation for the Holy Spirit to fill me, to saturate me, to overflow within me.  I prayed this prayer off and on for maybe twenty minutes as I got up, showered, and prepared my coffee.  If you were at Grace River yesterday, then you know that this is from the message that I brought from Luke 4.  Just because I'm a pastor, it doesn't mean that I don't have tough days (weeks?). Even Jesus had tough days, weeks, and months.  Jesus experience with the devil (the slanderer) in the wilderness (the alone place) reveals five types of prayer declaration that we need to include in our every day in order to overcome the devil's attacks.

 

#1--"FILL ME WITH THE HOLY SPIRIT" - As Jesus was led into the wilderness to be tempted, he was full of the Holy Spirit. The Spirit's filling brings with it the fruits of the Spirit: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.  It brings the power to heal the sick and to raise the dead. It brings the knowledge and understanding of God Himself--the once who created the day that we are now experiencing.  The Spirit's filling is the greatest resource that we can possess--almost as important as salvation itself.

 

#2--"I AM THE CHILD OF GOD" - The devil begins his conversation with Jesus, "If you are the Son of God...".  If?  He does the same thing with us..."If you are the child of God", "If you are loved by God", "If you are accepted and forgiven", "If you really matter".  My friends we do matter! We are children of the Most High God! We are the King's Kids!  If you are unsure of your identity, here are 40 Bible Verses to tell you: http://www.openbible.info/topics/identity.

 

#3--"IT IS WRITTEN" - Jesus responded to temptation with, "It is written..."  A verse a day keeps the devil away!  Get in the Bible! Find a reading plan on your Bible App! Dust off your printed copy and begin reading John.  Use the 40 Bible Verses on identity mentioned above. Read one each day, learn it, memorize it, declare it! 

 

#4--"I WILL WORSHIP THE LORD MY GOD" - Jesus response to the devil's suggestion that he bow down to him was simply, "You must worship the Lord your God".  We worship whatever we value. Start your day with worship expressions from your heart directed to the Father, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit!  You will encounter names for God, revelations of His character, and descriptions of His attributes as you read the Bible. Use these biblical calls to worship to focus on declaring out-loud all that God is.

 

#5--"I TRUST GOD" - "You must not test the Lord your God", Jesus declared when it is suggested that he toss himself off of the temple in order to delivered by the angels.  No need to test God, when you trust God!  Declare it right now! "I trust God"...with my day...with my job...with my family...with my finances...with my life!

 

Friends, I'm practicing these five declarations today!  Will you join me?  Let's do it together and see what happens!  I suspect that Satan will depart until a more opportune time!  Let's chase him out of town with our declarations of faith in God!

PRAYER

"First of all, then, I urge that entreaties and prayers, petitions and thanksgivings, be made on behalf of all men, for kings and all who are in authority, so that we may lead a tranquil and quiet life in all godliness and dignity." --1 Timothy 2:1-2

 

As God's children, we are commanded to pray for our governmental leaders, "all men, for kings and all who are in authority". And before we throw a quick prayer up, notice that the verse tells us exactly how to pray. Four specific words are used:

 

Entreaties: to ask God to meet a specific need. We are to ask God to meet the needs that exist in our country as well as needs that exist in our leaders--from the president all the way down to the dog catcher.

 

Prayers: to address God. The word is often used in the Bible to refer to public prayer--prayers that we pray outloud in a group. We do not merely pray for our president from our prayer closet, but we also look for opportunity to publicly pray for our leaders.

 

Petitions: to meet with God. This is where you get to voice your concerns, your disappointments, your hopes and your fears. This is you and God sitting down at the conference table to take care of business.

 

Thanksgivings: to be grateful to God. Our prayers are to be marked by a spirit of thanksgiving--grateful that God is for us and not against us--that He is causing all things to work together for our benefit--that though we may see darkness, joy comes in the morning.

 

This verse promises a preferred future as a result of our praying, "a tranquil and quiet life in all godliness and dignity". Are you feeling stressed today? worried? despairing? Your peace awaits you as you begin to pray for our president!

PRAYER

"Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, and he prayed earnestly that it would not rain, and it did not rain on the earth for three years and six months" (James 5:17)

 

As proof that the prayers of a righteous man can accomplish much, James points us to Elijah. He was a human being--just like you and me. In response to Elijah's prayer, no rain feel on the earth for 3 1/2 years. This sounds like a challenge to me. If Elijah was just like me and he could get an outrageous answer to prayer, why can't I?

 

Today, let me challenge you to make a list of some things that you really need God to do for you. Pick one or two and "pray earnestly". Keep it up all day--all the time looking for God's answer.