Last Sunday, I heard a sermon on prayer, the second in a series on prayer. Oddly enough, well maybe not so oddly, these two sermons came on the heals of an entreaty of mine asking God how I could pray more efficiently. Specifically, as to how to better pray for my family, and generally, as to how to better pray for others. My take away from that sermon was profoundly simple:
‘Read your Bible before you pray.’
Since my prayers are usually worded with a particular scripture in mind, I reasoned, “Okay, I do that.” But the more I pondered that simple directive, the more I began to question myself, “Do I actually do that?” My conclusion was No!
So this morning before I began my prayer time, I opened my Bible. I questioned, “Where do I turn to?” The book of Ephesians came to mind. Feeling no need to question further, I turned to Ephesians, and began reading chapter 1 verses 16-20. Here’s what I read.
“I have not stopped thanking God for you. I pray for you constantly, asking God, the glorious Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, to give you spiritual wisdom and insight so that you might grow in your knowledge of God. I pray that your hearts will be flooded with light so that you can understand the confident hope he has given to those he called—his holy people who are his rich and glorious inheritance. I also pray that you will understand the incredible greatness of God’s power for us who believe him. This is the same mighty power that raised Christ from the dead and seated him in the place of honor at God’s right hand in the heavenly realms.”
The last two sentences lingered in my thoughts as I began to pray for my immediate family, in particular my grandchildren. I pondered how praying this verse back to God on behalf of my grandchildren would benefit them. If my loved ones had a better understanding of the incredible power of God (the very same power that God used to resurrect Jesus from the dead), then it stands to reason they would be empowered to pray with more confidence in God to meet their needs. That could shift their focus. Their focus would then center on the power of God to meet their needs, not solely on their needs.
This is a ‘Need to Know’ kind of information. That being the case, I texted my beloved grans and shared the above verse adding the following comment:
..You have incredible power, to live the life to which God has called you. To call upon during the tough times in your lives. To give you guidance when the way seems uncertain. To encourage and assure you. To enable you to recognize when the enemy is attacking you and empower you to resist him. Just remember you have access to the same power that raised Christ from the dead. Learn how to draw upon that power…..
A new year has begun. We all have an opportunity for a fresh beginning. But will we take advantage of it, or do we even know how. Will we be able to detach ourselves from the trials, disappointments, and losses experienced from 2023? While last year did have its mountaintop moments, why is it that the valley moments seem to possess a greater force to pull us downward?
How do we overcome this downward force? The world offers their solutions and I might add that the source of those solutions have very little, if any, to do with God. True and lasting peace, even in the midst of life in our valleys, can only be found in God.
I met a man on a mission trip several years ago who would be considered poor by my country’s standards. Yet, the riches this man possessed was reflected in the words of his young adult daughter when she was asked about her life’s ambition. Her heart’s desire was to serve God as she had seen her father do. Her father passed on a legacy to his daughter far more valuable than any worldly possessions or riches.
Living a life that counts for eternity is reflected in the choices we make on a daily basis. It is especially apparent when there are valleys to be endured and when the mountaintop experiences may be in short supply. The secret to making right choices is in asking ourselves this question: Will the choice I want to make count for eternity?
Obviously, the significance of Thanksgiving is that it is a time to pause and contemplate all the things we have to be thankful for.
Some broad categories for which I am thankful are Faith, Family, Friends, and Country, just like many of you, I imagine. But in this post, I will zero in on a significant aspect within the category of Faith whose impact carried over into Family, Friends, and Country.
It was about 9 years ago, when God first introduced me to the concept of fiery darts. That instruction opened my understanding of how I had been victimized by my own thoughts. Negative thoughts or what I eventually began to see as fiery darts. I shudder to think the course my life would have taken, had I not been awakened to the destructive force of fiery dart thinking.
As my training proceeded, I began learning how I had been deceived by my old nature (my thoughts and attitudes prior to my becoming a Christian), and the world’s concept of truth (a truth void of God’s Truth). I discovered that the world’s concepts of truth held more sway over my thinking than God’s concept of Truth.
That deception was advanced by my lack of spending time with God in His word. Notice, I didn’t mention that I did not spend time with God in prayer! Because I spent a lot of time praying. But you know what that amounted to? I spent a lot more time talking to God rather than listening to Him. For we hear God’s voice when we read the Bible.
When my talking to God and my listening to God got in balance, then and only then, did I find my way out of the bondage I had placed myself in with fiery dart thinking.
This balance impacted how I dealt with problems within the context of family and friend relationships. It encouraged me to take those problems to God. Faithfully He would lead me to a particular scripture or scriptures that would shed light on how I should respond.
There hasn’t been an area in my life that this balance hasn’t impacted. For example, instead of despairing over the negativity of our recent political climate, God reminds me of 2 Chronicles 7:14. My prayers for my country are worded according to God’s Word, not my despair.
When disaster strikes our nation, I’m reminded of verses such as John 16:33. My prayers are worded with the hope found there, not my fears.
Knowing how to counterattack the temptation to think negatively about our problems, presents us with a perspective that will identify solutions.
My expressions of thankfulness this holiday will be centered on the gratefulness I feel towards God for opening my understanding to what fiery darts are and how to defeat them. For that knowledge has enhanced the gratefulness I feel towards
What do fiery darts have to do with Christmas anyway?
Maybe I should ask another question.
Is there anything about the way we here in America celebrate Christmas that bothers you? Whoa! Hold on, I can’t type that fast!
Yes, it does seem that we have lost sight of the true meaning of Christmas. So much so, that we find ourselves in the midst of a cultural war attempting to prevent us from even saying Merry Christmas in public places.
You see, Satan’s hidden agenda (Um, maybe not so hidden anymore) is to get us to focus more (a lot more) on Santa or some magical substitutional Christmas spirit than we do Jesus. Eventually, pushing Jesus out of the picture altogether, I’m sure!
That is just a sampling of the problems with which we contend during Christmas. And if we aren’t careful fiery darts like frustration, depression, selfishness, loneliness, greed, stress, or anger and certainly the lack of personal and world peace will find us vulnerable targets!
The side affects of an over-commercialized Christmas are burdensome but added to that the persecution of Christians, especially in middle eastern countries, the heaviness of such a load is more than any of us could carry and the joy of Christmas seems beyond our grasp.
But do not despair!
Armed with the following Truth thoughts we can wage a successful war on such fiery darts and reclaim the blessedness of Christmas in spite of the darkness that tempts us to despair.
Jesus came to this earth as a baby, grew up and preached to all He could that God had sent Him to save the world. He accomplished this by dying on the cross and coming back to life–that’s what we refer to as the Resurrection. When we accept that personally then we have the promised hope of heaven and peace reigns in our hearts. (Fiery darts fizzle in the face of such Truth!)
And there’s absolutely nothing about Santa or a Christmas spirit that can compare to that; much less change that.
We have the ability by God’s grace to resist the fiery darts, like the ones I mentioned previously, that accompanies an over-commercialized Christmas, and, instead, partake of the splendors of a Christmas centered on the love, joy, and peace inspired by faith in the Christ-child.
And what about the cultural war on Christmas? Do you realize that all this upheaval only serves to broadcast the good news to anyone who has ears to listen. (I call that a fiery dart that backfired)
Does the persecution tempt you to despair? Listen my dear readers, as horrible as it is, remember this–when a Christian leaves this earth they have Jesus and heaven waiting on them. For those they leave behind, this is their comfort! And their loved ones who believe in Jesus too, have the confidence that at some point in the future they will be reunited.
Fiery Darts: Satan's Weapon of Choice 