Rhythm of Faith

Exercise for Your Soul Can you think of any other exercise that yields more results than prayer? We can converse with the God of the universe. When we bow our heads and utter God’s name, we have an audience with a king more powerful than the leader of any country on earth. We’re reminded that we’re not alone. Even after a terrible tragedy or trial, God waits to be with us in prayer. Our trust is stretched and we gradually gain perspective. We’re united to God and to other believers. When we pray for a sister, we’re joined with her and with others who have the same desire. Our bond with others is strengthened. We grow when we pray. By uniting our wills with God’s, we can see ourselves making progress toward becoming more like him. Our faith is flexed. We wee God answer. Friends are healed. Children begin a relationship with Jesus. Patience appears in the face of trials. Jobs are provided. Our spirits expand. We learn to wait. When answers are slim, we learn that God is still at work whi...

Grow Down How honest and direct children are with their needs! If it feels good, they laugh. If it hurts, they cry. If they want it, they ask for it—or just take it. In Luke 18:17 Jesus says, “Truly I tell you, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it.” These words about children actually preceded Jesus’ conversation with the rich young ruler who couldn’t admit his need for God and Jesus’ interaction with Zacchaeus, who scaled a tree — like a child — to catch a glimpse of Jesus. Jesus set the stage with a truth and then illustrated it both negatively and positively. By contrasting two men’s actions — one who couldn’t admit his needs and one who readily admitted his needs to the point of making himself look like a child — Jesus clearly teaches us how to approach God with our needs. What do you need? Patience with a potty-training three-year-old? Wisdom with a truth-stretching six-year-old? Compassion with a troubled thirteen-year-old? Jesus ...

The Reason We Ask, Seek, and Knock God answers prayer, but asking prayer is not primarily about answers. Asking prayer, like all other forms of prayer, is about relationship. If you make asking prayer about answers, you're moving into dangerous territory. When prayer is primarily about answers, our relationship with God becomes results focused. When God says no or works outside of our time schedule, we desperately question why and are tempted to feel inadequate or unloved by God. Be assured that as you grow in the area of asking prayer, the Devil will seek to shift the focus of your prayers from relationship to results. Christ was well aware of the relational purpose of asking prayer. In the seventh chapter of Matthew when Jesus dared His followers to ask for things – big things – like "elephants" in prayers. He immediately transferred the focus from the asking to the fatherly or paternal relationship that surrounds each request we make. Jesus was saying that whenever you...

Abandon:  Laziness You may or may not remember the “get rich quick” commercials promising little work, lots of pay, and early retirement. The underlying messages were that the best life was to have more money than you could ever need, quit working, and be lazy gallivanting around in a beautiful mansion with everything you ever wanted. (i.e., cars, food, trips) This, however, is not how God designed us to function. As humans, we’re made for work; work gives us meaning. In fact, work begins with God in the first book of the Bible: Genesis. In the creation story (see Genesis 1), God works for six days and rests on the seventh. This is the example we as people, made in the image of God, are suppose to follow. If we don’t, the Bible has some tough words for us. Paul says in 2 Thessalonians 3:10, “...The one who is unwilling to work shall not eat.” (NIV) How do we abandon laziness? We find what it is that we love doing that serves other people. Instead of focusing on what it is that will...

BELIEF BEFORE BEHAVIOR  People conceived and brought into life by God don’t make a practice of sin. How could they? God’s seed is deep within them, making them who they are. It’s not in the nature of the God-begotten to practice and parade sin. Here’s how you tell the difference between God’s children and the Devil’s children: The one who won’t practice righteous ways isn’t from God, nor is the one who won’t love brother or sister. A simple test. (1 John 3:9-10 MSG) This is a difficult verse, but it speaks volumes about the priority of heart change over behavioral change. John is telling us that belief is the essential act required before behavior will change. When we believe and are "born of God", the Holy Spirit comes to reside in us and empowers us to live a life that is free of habitual sin. That's not to say that we will never commit individual sins, but that we will not be trapped in a pattern of behavior characterized by long term, blatant sin.  This speaks to our ...

SUFFICIENCY AND EXCESS  Paul used the example of manna to make the point that God will provide just what each person needs, and no more. No one in Moses' time could keep extra manna around because it would rot, become worm-infested, and demonstrate a lack of trust in God. Like manna, grace cannot be stored up for the future. That would lessen our dependence on God for our "daily bread."  Similarly, when we try to store up our material possessions and ignore others who have little or nothing, we are violating God's call for us to use what we need and share the rest. God blesses us with what He knows we need and asks us to use the extra "plenty" to supply those who don't have enough.  The way we handle our money is a gauge of our affections. Generous giving demonstrates to our children that we see our resources as God's rather than our own.  Be a model of generosity, trust, and dependence on God. Written by parenting and design   Posted by kachi 

Elijah had been used of God to hold back rain from the people for over three years, because of their sins. Obviously, he was not well liked as a preacher. I can imagine the stress he experienced during those years. Consider 1 Kings 18:1: "After a long time, in the third year, the word of the LORD came to Elijah: "Go and present yourself to Ahab, and I will send rain on the land." According to a couple New Testament passages, this "After a long time" was actually three and a half years. The famine was three and a half years long. For three and a half years, the people apparently continued to sin, Elijah continued to hold on by faith, but God said nothing. God was apparently inactive...not speaking...even to His great servant Elijah during this time. Have you ever been there? Has the silence of God in your life ever been eerily strong? Imagine you had been faithfully serving...God is using you...you are in constant communication with Him...and then suddenly...eve...