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Making men MEN again. The David Alliance will help you slay your giants.
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Wednesday Jan 27, 2021
Wednesday Jan 27, 2021
webstix.com Tony Herman - the coolest cat on the net
How gullible are you? Can you be fooled pretty easily? Most people are overly confident that they cannot be deceived and they would recognize a fraud or being taken advantage of better than most… and those are exactly the people who get taken advantage of the most.
Deception
A woman who says she bought magic wands from a self-described psychic to erase negative thoughts says $5,400 of her money was all that disappeared.
Joann Zansky, 57, said she paid a woman who claims to be a psychic $1,800 for each of three wands.
"She was a terrific actress," Zansky said. "I believed her."
Zansky said she contacted Bethlehem police after she became suspicious about the effectiveness of the wands.
"We're investigating," police Lt. Robert Righi said. "Possibly it is some violation of consumer fraud."
No charges have been filed against the woman named in the complaint. A person who answered the phone at the woman's business said she was unavailable.
Heres a question who should you be more mad at… the woman selling you the fake magic wands or you for believing in the fake magic wands… We could debate that all day, but lets get back to it in a second.
No one, and I mean no one likes to be deceived, taken advantage of or fooled. It belittles you and makes you feel foolish and look gullible to those around you.
The last time you were taken for a ride, how did you feel? What did you want to do to that person… probably some not so nice things. And maybe rightfully so… but still its not as bad as… as bad as what? Remember the question about the magic wands? Who should you be most upset with - the person selling the magic wands or you believing the magic wands?
So to be deceived by someone is bad… but there is one thing that trumps being deceived by someone…
James 1:22 But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.
OUCH… yea thats right. When you deceive yourself it really stings. So my answer to the magic wand question is you should be more mad at yourself for deceiving yourself for believing the sham.
How man of you right now are deceived thinking that you are a pretty good christian man (or woman if you are listening) You go to church, you read your bible, you attend bible study, you give in the offering… But you don’t do the word. You don’t really live it, you don’t really practice it… You are deceived… worst of all, you are deceived by yourself. No one to blame. As Robert plant has so eloquently sung “its nobody’s fault but mine”.
See the problem with self deception is that you live it for so long you actually believe it, and others do too.
So they thought he was a she….
He was a She: Everyone thought jazz musician Billy Tipton was a "he". Only as Tipton was dying at 74 in 1989 did paramedics discover "he" was a she. Tipton began masquerading as a to get gigs in the '30's--and later married and adopted three sons. Even his kids didn't know until after the death. Said one: "He'll always be Dad." -Time man
Now you ask… how can that happen. How can you go so long deceiving yourself and others… someone has to find out at some point right? Apparently not until death.
There is the lesson. Maybe you are so deceived that you may not find out that you are a phony until death… when God says… uh excuse me “who are you?”.
So what’s the solution “DO THE WORD”. As my Dad said a 1000 times Read Pray and Obey… to complicated still??? I will dumb it down for you READ PRAY AND DO! Don’t poser, be a doer!
Tuesday Jan 26, 2021
Tuesday Jan 26, 2021
webstix.com Tony Herman - the coolest cat on the net
What would you do for a Klondike bar?
Genesis 25 Jacob and Esau
Esau was born first…. why was this a big deal, because the first born had all the rights, got the blessing and the majority of the inheritance…. talk about bad timing. They were twins, but Esau was born first before Jacob. But Jacob was a schemer… one day Esau comes in hungry
from hunting… he must have been a bad hunter- just a guess. he is so hungry that he tells his brother he would give him his birthright for some stew his bro is making. How good can stew actually be that you would give up your blessing, your inheritance? Or how hungry one must be to give up their birthright.
And he does! He gives up his birthright for some stew… really? Stew? how Stew-pid , ok that was bad. And it set a rift between the brothers for years and years… and it caused Jacob to reap what he sowed for years in his life. He himself continually got taken advantage of (for another podcast)
But lets get back to this stew thing…
Was it really that the stew was that good?
NOPE, it was that Jacob was really that hungry. When you do not feed yourself you become impetuous and act on impulse… you are literally acting on hunger. But maybe its not just physical hunger that causes you to act on impulse, maybe it is spiritual hunger, emotional hunger, mental hunger…
We can do some dumb things on a full stomach… on a full tank… but we can really do some dumb things on an empty stomach, mind, heart soul etc…
I guess the key is to make sure we are feeding ourselves in all areas and not just junk food but real solid good food.
What are you feeding your spirit?
Is your spirit full of time with God and your mind full of prayer?
Are your emotions filled with loving actions towards your wife and kids? Is your mind filled with Gods word.
You know I have gone on a few diets over the years and I do great until I skip a planned meal and it seems like I am ravenous. I will eat 4 candy bars and a bowl of lard. And why? because I passed that point where my blood sugar drops and I almost can’t control my appetite. The same is very true in all our appetites.
How many people have made critically enormous bad decisions because they simply missed a spiritual meal, or an emotional meal and the like?
Maybe sometimes living victoriously is not so much about how much we pray and read and commune with God all at once, but rather that we take bite size pieces through out the day.
Monday Jan 25, 2021
Monday Jan 25, 2021
webstix.com Tony Herman - the coolest cat on the net
When I get my 63 split window corvette you can bet on one thing for sure. Its not going to be a car that sits in my garage for looks… taken out ever so rarely on a late Sunday afternoon for coffee with the wife… OH NO NOT ME, I will be driving that car a lot and usually above the speed limit.
If you have ever gone to a museum to see artifacts one of the most unique things is when you see a piece that belonged to someone regardless of what it is. Maybe you see a helmet from Harold “Red” Grange in the NFL Pro football hall of fame. It will be dried up, beat up scuffed up and probably still smell like sweat and blood. Grange was a hammering rod of a running back. I bet Red could tell stories about that helmet that would put smiles on any man woman or child.
Or maybe you go to the Rock n roll hall of fame and see a guitar from none other than Chuck Berry… its worn out, buckle scratches, sun dried, cracked head, chipped tuning pegs. But the stories Chuck could tell swinging that Axe around the country and world. It would be amazing.
Or if you went to the Nascar hall of fame and saw a car that Dale Earnhardt senior drove. The paint swaps, the chips, the steering wheel… the headset sitting on the seat… Talk about some wear and tear and sheer adrenaline in that thing. Again the stories that Dale Could tell just sitting there leaning up against it.
so when you retire what are yours going to look like. You know right? What’s it going to look like? Will you be able to hold them up and tell any stories… What exactly am I talking about? Well lets read Eph. 6:10-17
10 Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. 11 Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. 12 For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. 13 Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. 14 Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, 15 and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. 16 In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. 17 Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.
No kid wants to be the one who at the end of the game has a pristine clean spotless uniform. You get what I mean… no dirt, no sweat, no blood, no paint from other players helmets… it means you did not play.
So what will your armor look like in heaven?
I fear for many of us it will look like we did not fight.
Belt - of truth - notches for salvations
Helmet - Salvation - dings and dents from defending Satans lies
Sword - Spirit still razor sharp, bloody, grip terribly worn from all the warfare prayer
Shield - Faith, shield, has burnt marks from all the fiery arrows, blocking cancer reports, bankruptcy, gossip, lies
Breastplate - Righteousness that has an axe still stuck in it, but never pierced through to the other side. When Satan threw that major sin at you… your breastplate of righteousness took the blow
Shoes - Peace, shoes worn down, retied, dirty, sweaty, foot prints still worn into the souls… shoes that carried peace to your boss, neighbors, kids, friends, strangers…
I want my armor worn, I want it to look like it was not just second hand hand me down, but third, fourth and fifth hand me down. I want it to wreak of hell and smoke, I want it to have ashes from hell in the creases of the leather. I want anyone to look at it and say… I don’t know who wore this armor… but they my friend were a warrior. They were a truly sold out, bad to the bone fighter.
Thursday Jan 21, 2021
Thursday Jan 21, 2021
webstix.com Tony Herman - the coolest cat on the net
Have you ever seen one of those pictures that might either be an old lady or a young maiden depending on how you look at it? They are kind of a mind game in a sense. Sometimes hearing Gods voice is the same way…
Perspective in asking to hear Gods voice.
You want to hear Gods voice because you usually want an answer because of a problem, pain or inconvenience… it may even be hidden in a spiritual desire. What do I mean? Well you may actually pray a prayer like “God give me more miracles, use me more”. Sounds great right? But if your motive is selfish, it’s really not a prayer God might answer.
Let’s break it down.
What if when you face a pain or problem or even a selfish motive… what if instead of asking for God to answer it, you instead ask for him to tell you how you can persevere through it? Now immediately the 9 year old comes out of us… awww that’s not fair. I just want the answer. But I have found that God is pretty good at speaking to me when I want to be more like him and I am praying on how to be more holy and righteous rather than just asking for a quick fix. And lets be truly honest here… that is many times what we are asking for.
What if you challenge your wanting to hear God for answers to make life easier with a challenge of wanting to hear Gods voice with how to be more like him in the middle of the challenge?
Im my own life I have had seasons (remember that podcast a few days ago?) Seasons where marriage was tough… I prayed to God to change my wife. I prayed for a long long time… Then I started to pray “ok God if your grace is enough to get through a rocky season of marriage then this is what I want. I want enough grace to be like you and handle it no matter wether my wife changes or not. Guess what happened… We both changed. I changed first and I believe out of a right spirit it drew change out of my wife months later… yes months.
Then later in life my son put my wife and I through some challenges… challenges no parent wants to go through. But again I started praying “God give me the strength and character to handle this wether my son ever changes or not”. And he did, and in fact much faster than he answered my prayer about my marriage.
And yes, my son got his life back on track and is now heading in the right direction.
It is all a matter or perspective. Now when there are issues… thats a nice way of saying when life punched you in the face- I seek God for his change in my life. I might pray “God what do you want to teach me through this, tell me, show me… change me”. And I hear him with much greater clarity than any other way I might pray.
I know as men we like to make life our master and put our will to the test… and be relentless until that rock in life moves. But maybe just maybe God put that rock there to never move.
I have shared this story before but its so true for todays podcast. A man is shaving one morning in the mirror and he thinks he hears Gods voice telling him to go move that huge boulder in his front yard. He is positive its Gods voice. he gets all excited about God giving him super powers like Samson… he cleans up, rushes out to the front yard and begins to push, for almost 30 minutes. Nothing. So he knows he heard Gods voice… so every day for a good thirty minutes at a time he pushes against that rock, for a week, a month for 3 months. Nothing. He gets up one morning and heads to the bathroom and starts to shave and is mumbling to God about how nothing has changed, what a dumb thing to try to do… every day for 3 months and nothing, NOTHING has changed. God speaks to him and says back away from the mirror. Look at your arms… they are thicker, look at your chest it is more muscular… your back is healthier and stronger… your legs are tighter and more sturdy… Then he whispers to the man “The rock didn’t change… but you sure did”. And he gets it.
Sometimes hearing Gods voice isn’t about getting the answer, its about becoming the answer. And you know who the answer is right? Exactly!
Wednesday Jan 20, 2021
Wednesday Jan 20, 2021
webstix.com Tony Herman - the coolest cat on the net
What is something you are really really good at. People recognize you as really knowledgable on this one subject or in this one area of life…. what did it take to get you there? For me? It took a whole lot of caffeine!
In Malcom Gladwells phenomenal best seller “Outliers” he outlined the idea of masters performing a practice routine of 10,000 hours before they became a master. It sounds great, and listen if you want to be great at something you will need to put in the hours… however it falls apart under scrutiny. First off many of the people studied had already put in 1000’s of hours before anyone counted, many were just supremely gifted and only put in 7000 hours, some practiced 30,000 hours and were never masters and some are still practicing and will never be masters… so what gives. Well, truth be told not all people are alike and not all practice is alike. Some can practice 30 minutes and squeeze 30 minutes out of it, and some can squeeze 4 minutes out of it… but many can squeeze 2 hours out of 30 minutes.
So what does this have to do with hearing Gods voice… well hold on Ruben… the one thing they had in common was that those studied never gave up… they just always practiced… good practice, bad practice, focused practice, brainless practice, long practice, short practice, 2 a day practices, 1 a week practices… they just kept practicing.
Again… you are asking Garth what does this have to do with hearing Gods voice.
We will get there but be patient. If you are in a giant stadium and there are hundreds of voices and i ask you did you hear Ricks voice? You might say who is Rick? What does he sound like? What did he say? But if you know Rick personally you will say to me “Hey look around, I hear Rick”. Even in a large noisy crowd we can hear the voices we know.
Ok so where are we going?
If you really want to hear Gods voice you will read his bible every day (practice… thats right we talking about practice) Read the bible everyday and then practice what you heard him speak to your during your devotional time. (I hate using the term “quiet time” when we are talking about God talking… Did he talk to you? No, it was my quite time)
It is really a 1, 2 punch. You read his word, you listen to his voice while you read and pray and then you try to do what you feel he is telling you to do during that time. And then through out the day.
And it is practice… not just a 1000 hours, not even just 10,000 hours but never ending practice.
Remember what Hebrews says?
Hebrews 4:12
For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.
This is not talking about Gods spirit speaking to us, it is talking about scripture. We must get into his word to hear his voice, recognize its cutting, its piercing, its sharpness in our lives so that we recognize even more his spoken word in our hearts and minds.
Practice, we talking about practice… not a game, but practice.
Again, what does James tell us
James 1:22
But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.
So apparently we can hear his word, but unless we do his word we are deceiving ourselves. We pray to hear his voice so we can have the answers, but what if we sought to hear his voice so we could do what he says? Right? That would be good….
but we can hear his word and do it… it’s right there in scripture. Lets not waste that opportunity. Practice… we talking about practice… Not an answer, not a formula, but practicing reading his word and hearing his voice.
Tuesday Jan 19, 2021
Tuesday Jan 19, 2021
webstix.com Tony Herman - the coolest cat on the net
When you head out of town are you the guy who has every little detail mapped out? You know, not only what roads, highways and interstates but also what restaurants what bathroom stops, what hotels, what sites to see etc…
if you are… I bet you drive God crazy!
Remember this series on hearing Gods voice is going to step outside the box of what you might typically hear on this topic. And I might actually make each podcast sound like it is most important… it is… they all are…What do I mean? Well I am talking about how to hear Gods voice- thats pretty important regardless of the point in each podcast… so anyway.
Here is a mind blowing secret for all of you today… God rarely gives us specifics about our life. If he did we would surely mess it up… but why do we get frustrated when he doesn’t… because ultimately we want to hear his voice and know the specifics so we can be in charge.
What I have learned in a 50 year relationship with God is that….
One key to hearing Gods voice is knowing that it does not always and sometimes rarely comes in daily doses or weekly chunks of clear concise mandates, words and impressions. Usually hearing his voice is about hearing the spirits subtle leading and moving. Its like this. We would love to enter a sailboat race and every day hear exactly what wave to grab onto and sail. But its in the wind. We have to listen to the wind, watch how it affects the sea and trust his movement even when storms come. Yes I hear God daily sometimes and sometimes incredibly specific. But more often than not when it comes to my life and direction I start to feel seasons welling up inside my spirit. Right now I have felt in the past 8 months a season of stay where you are at, dig in deep and trust the next 10 years to me. My ministry will expand globally while at the same time becoming more entrenched in my current ministry. How will this happen? I am not sure but that is what I feel the spirit of God is speaking to me about this season of my life. Now in the next few weeks, months and years there will be times of specific words from God speaking to me and how to move forward. There will also be times when he speaks to me about helping others or praying for others etc… but in the big picture I have learned to be more concerned about the season he has put me in than to worry about specific words every day of what I am to do in life.
What am I saying? I am not worried any longer about the right wave… Im watching and feeling the wind.
This is not to say that I don’t ask God for direction in finances, business, the TDA, my church etc… but usually he speaks to me by first moving in those areas and I see his hand at work and it alines with the season I feel I am in.
So before you run out and pout about God not speaking to you in detail, first ask him to show you the season you are in. Then begin to ask him for more specific insight in order for that season to bare as much fruit as possible. Then begin to ask him to speak to you daily about the affairs of your heart… yes first your heart, then everything else starts to fall into place.
When we treat Jesus like a genie, you know we rub the bible and wait for his magic Holy Spirit to come out and we ask for answers… why not first ask for him to name your season… and walk in it. Own it, ask for more light in that tunnel. The problem is when we don’t see our season we simply use him like a compass and not a companion. We have our ideas and goals and our own season of choice (and by the way who ever picks a hard season for themselves) But get away from trying to hear his voice for your answers and hear his voice for his season.
Monday Jan 18, 2021
Monday Jan 18, 2021
webstix.com Tony Herman - the coolest cat on the net
We are born with our DNA in place… with certain human needs kicking into high gear. We want food, we want to breath, we want warmth and love. Its locked into our human nature. I also believe we have a spiritual nature that has the same types of things in us.
To know and hear God’s voice is the pursuit of our hearts even before we come to know Jesus.
It is many times evident just by the questions we have growing up and even now in life. What is the purpose of my life?
Who should I marry?
What education should I pursue?
What job should I take?
What does God want from me?
Is there a God?
Why do bad things happen when I seem to be doing good? What happens after I die?
What is God saying, or is He talking at all?
So how do we know his voice…it seems important and again even a longing locked into OR hardwired into our psyche.
This week I want to give you some practical steps to hear Gods voice, but probably the most practical and overlooked one is seen in John 10.
JOHN 10:1-5 Jesus says my sheep (my followers) know my voice.
So first thing is first. You may be a Christian, church goer and good person. But are you a follower of Christ. Sheep follow the shepherd, they follow his leading and when one goes astray the shepherd goes after it. But if you don’t follow the shepherd… maybe you’re not a sheep.
I have said it many times that you can be a Christian and not be a Christ follower. I know many people who have asked Christ into their hearts and they even go to church… but they are not disciples. Disciples seek, listen and obey. There are many Christians who just simply don’t do any of these. And as sad as it may be… they are Christians… they just are not disciples.
If you chose to not listen to the rest of the series you could simply hang on this one thing and it would do you wonders… and that is take time to read, pray and follow scripture… and in time you will read and pray and follow his voice along with scripture.
I love my wife… for many reasons. She has a wicked dry sense of humor. a few days ago I was texting her about a youtube channel that gave you all kinds of cooking lessons using an air fryer….yes I just got one and they are amazing. Anyway my wife asked me who’s channel it was. I sent her a link of this woman and told her much I am learning. My wife texted me “I need cooking lesson on that thing”. I joked and texted back “one wild night in bed for one free cooking lesson… she texted me back… Do you think she will go for that”. Well anyway it took a long time to read my wife. Sometimes when people meet her or just see her they think she is stuck up… she is just quiet and has almost no expression on her face unless she is talking. It was so hard trying to read her by her expressions when we dated. Now almost 40 years later I can not only read her expressions, I can understand what she is saying to others in the other room just by hearing the inflections in her voice. I can tell if she is talking to her sister, her mother or one of our boys just by the sound of her voice and not jus the words.
Our walk with Christ is like that when we are disciples and not just Christians.
So lets be honest. We all want to be able to hear Gods voice. but if we do not want to foster that relationship it’s honestly like wanting sex from our wife when we want it, but not wanting to take time to be with her and grow in our friendship and relationship with her… we all know how well that works out.
So step one in hearing Gods voice… know God.
Friday Jan 15, 2021
Friday Jan 15, 2021
webstix.com Tony Herman - the coolest cat on the net
Text: Ephesians 4:26-32
25 Therefore each of you must put off falsehood and speak truthfully to your neighbor, for we are all members of one body. 26 “In your anger do not sin”[d]: Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry, 27 and do not give the devil a foothold. 28 Anyone who has been stealing must steal no longer, but must work, doing something useful with their own hands, that they may have something to share with those in need.
29 Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen. 30 And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. 31 Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice. 32 Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.
Topic: How to—or not to—handle your anger.
Big Idea: Once we know what's behind our anger, we can better deal with it and replace it with more godly behavior.
Introduction
- Everybody's angry about something in today's "Age of Rage."
"In your anger, do not sin."
- Anger alone isn't necessarily a sin; even God gets angry.
- But we need to find out what lies behind our anger before it leads to something else.
- Illustration: Nicodem's car has a warning light when he's low on gas. He gets angry at the light, especially when it lights up at the worst times. But "my problem isn't the little red light. My problem is the empty gas tank."
- Hurt, frustration and/or fear most often lie behind our anger.
"Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry."
- When we go to bed angry, we wake up angrier, because it has settled in.
- Illustration: Your favorite football team loses a game on a lousy call. TV replays confirm the call - again and again. So does your "Sports Illustrated." Your anger lingers on and on.
- If this behavior persists, anger becomes a characteristic attitude in you.
- If anger's turned inward, we sink into depression.
- Illustration: Jonah settled into depression because he was angry with God for not destroying Ninevah. He became a pouting prophet.
"And do not give the devil a foothold."
- Anger opens the door to the devil, and there's no telling what might follow anger.
- Illustration: Cain opened the door to anger, and what followed? He murdered his brother.
- Illustration: Alexander the Great conquered the world, but not himself. In a fit of anger, he killed his dearest friend. Deep remorse and guilt followed. He tried to commit suicide, but his own men stopped him.
"Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths … "
- Illustration: In the movie The Indian in the Cupboard, a twentieth-century boy outfits his eighteenth-century Indian friend Little Bear with a modern army. But because Little Bear's men are not used to twentieth century weapons, some of them are killed by friendly fire.
- We underestimate the destructive capability of angry words.
- A well-controlled mouth can neutralize anger (see also Proverbs 15:1).
"And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God … "
- Illustration: You want to become a great tennis player, so you hire a professional. Your game improves until you're ready for competition. Early in the match, a call goes against you, you get angry, and you consequently start forgetting everything you learned.
- Every time we get angry, we turn a deaf ear to the Holy Spirit's counsel.
Conclusion
- We need to replace anger with Christlike qualities.
—"Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander … "
—"Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other … " - Knowing Christ brings humility and power to your life.
Thursday Jan 14, 2021
Thursday Jan 14, 2021
webstix.com Tony Herman - the coolest cat on the net
This means WAR… nope Prayer!
The greatest weapon of our time…
Nuclear war? Lasers? Robotic weaponry? Drones?
I am not sure to be honest. But it does not matter if the person with the power to push the button isn’t willing to do just that… push the button.
I remember working in Chicago and listening to a gang banger tell me that no matter where he is at, home, west side, east side, north side, south side, High school, the mall, the car wash, the arcade, a party…
It did not matter - he said there was always someone out to kill him from a rival gang. To him there was not safe place… his goal was to get old enough to save up money and move to Montana… why? he figured they didn’t have gangs and no one would know him.
Guess what… all of us should be able to relate as followers of Christ. Everywhere we go there is an enemy out to destroy us, kill us, steal from us, lie to us.
When life gets bad… this means war…
No actually when things get bad… this means prayer
5 weapons of prayer
Eph. 6
Perpetual Prayer (Ephesians 6:18a)
The first two words of verse 18 it says praying always.
ALWAYS??? What is one thing you do always?
Work? no
Sleep? nope
Eat… not always
Breath? Yep!
Prayer should be like breathing. We pray all the time over everything, about everything, anyone, everyone. It is just a second nature.
We must understand just how powerful prayer is that we need to do it always.
Petitionary Prayer (Ephesians 6:18b)
We get this from what he says next in verse 18. …with all prayer and supplication. The first term prayer, refers to general requests whereas the second term, supplication (some of you maybe have petitions or requests), is a word for specific prayer needs.
You know what this speaks to me about. Sure we can run to God with emergency specific prayers… but it goes beyond that. This is speaking of the things we continually pray for. I specifically pray for my kids all the time. More my church and my parents and my health. SPECIFIC, PETITIONARY PRAYER IS POWERFUL PRAYER.
Powerful Prayer (Ephesians 6:18c)
When we pray, and whatever it is we pray for, the true effectiveness, the true answers to prayer, come when we are—as verse 18 says next—praying in the Spirit.
Now does this mean praying in tongues? Sure does. But I also believe we can pray on auto pilot and not really be praying in the spirit wether in tongues or in english. Look we have all driven home or to work and wondered how did I get here… I don’t remember a thing. autopilot.
For powerful prayer to be powerful you should pray in tongues and in an expectancy that God is talking back.
Perseverant Prayer (Ephesians 6:18d)
This fourth aspect to our secret weapon of prayer is that we need to keep on praying.
Verse 18 reads being watchful to this end with all perseverance. We need to persevere, continue, keep on praying.
Ever pray for a few days and then let it slide?
What about for a few weeks and let it slide?
What about a few months, years…
I think sometimes we quit praying not because it is boring or because we just get busy… but rather maybe because we don’t get the answers we expect or we don’t feel like it makes a difference. Persevere anyway!
it is the small drip drip drip of water that erodes the rock.
Purposeful Prayer for the Saints (Ephesians 6:18e)
At the end of verse 18, he tell us to pray, or to make supplication for all the saints. There’s that word supplication again, which means specific prayer requests. And to pray for all the saints means to pray for all Christians.
You know as Christians we can sometimes be selfish without realizing it. We pray for ourselves our problems our family our needs… we forget there are many out there that need prayer… especially the other Christians. I think as we pray unselfishly for others it is like reaping and sowing to some degree. When we give we always get a blessing back. When we pray for others we have a supernatural expediency to our prayers… Don’t ask me how, But I have witnessed it hundreds of times.
Wednesday Jan 13, 2021
Wednesday Jan 13, 2021
webstix.com Tony Herman - the coolest cat on the net
I HAVE NEVER BEEN REAL GOOD AT MATH… And I would hate to be tested up against Jesus. Not just because he is the son of God and knows EVERYTHING… yes that would make it hard even if the rules were fair… but he doesn’t play fair when it comes to math. For instance did you know 2+5 = 12
FOR REAL!!
John
6 Some time after this, Jesus crossed to the far shore of the Sea of Galilee (that is, the Sea of Tiberias), 2 and a great crowd of people followed him because they saw the signs he had performed by healing the sick. 3 Then Jesus went up on a mountainside and sat down with his disciples. 4 The Jewish Passover Festival was near.
5 When Jesus looked up and saw a great crowd coming toward him, he said to Philip, “Where shall we buy bread for these people to eat?” 6 He asked this only to test him, for he already had in mind what he was going to do.
7 Philip answered him, “It would take more than half a year’s wages[a] to buy enough bread for each one to have a bite!”
8 Another of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, spoke up, 9 “Here is a boy with five small barley loaves and two small fish, but how far will they go among so many?”
10 Jesus said, “Have the people sit down.” There was plenty of grass in that place, and they sat down (about five thousand men were there). 11 Jesus then took the loaves, gave thanks, and distributed to those who were seated as much as they wanted. He did the same with the fish.
12 When they had all had enough to eat, he said to his disciples, “Gather the pieces that are left over. Let nothing be wasted.” 13 So they gathered them and filled twelve baskets with the pieces of the five barley loaves left over by those who had eaten.
5 + 2 = 12
How do you see life on a regular basis?
So here is a problem
Here is a predicament
Here is an opportunity… how do you see it?
All the disciples were quiet, but Andrew at least spoke up. Sure he maybe was just trying to score some food for Jesus, and maybe if any left over for he and is Bro’s. But at least he pointed out what he had to Jesus.
But wait thats not all… does it strike you as odd that Jesus starts out by letting the reader know he is testing Philip? Does that seem right? Well the truth is that Jesus did not cause the people to be hungry, nor did he cause them to not pack lunches… so this is a natural problem in and of itself. But what he does with this normal problem when you have thousands out traveling by foot, is to use it to test his followers.
And he was testing Philip, but it was Andrew who saw the opportunity.
Hey do you see opportunities in life… I mean supernatural opportunities in life or do you just see things you are not qualified or courageous enough to take on. I’ll let you figure that out on your own… maybe both.
But what if you started looking at everything as a test from Jesus to see if you go after it like an opportunity.
You have a million excuses to not take on lives problems and difficulties as opportunities. YOUR TO OLD… Mother Theresa didn’t start serving others until age 50.
It probably won’t work out anyway.
"You miss 100% of the shots you never take." Wayne Gretzky
You gotta be willing to fail in order to succeed and that is more true in our spiritual walk than any other area of our life.
God only uses other people, not me.
"I am always doing things I can't do, that's how I get to do them and not you" Pablo Picasso
God will use you if you just take the time to step out.
Will he answer every prayer with power and supernatural manifestation? No.
But is it still our calling to step out in faith when we see problems? Yes.
So take the step, look for fish and bread and not the crowd… remember 2+5 = 12