4 Keys to developing a Powerful Prayer Life!

Hi friends,

Hope you're doing fine. Sharing an article written recently for a magazine. Hope it blesses you! 

Note*  (The celebrities enlisted below are from Indian background as the church was from there. However, as we are Kingdom citizens, we have no racial or national parameters :)  you may choose any celebrity of your choice!)

4 Keys to Developing  a Powerful Prayer Life!

 Let me begin by asking you a question. Who is your favorite celebrity, the one who inspires you the most? Maybe a cricketer like Sachin Tendulkar or a film star like Amitabh Bachan or Rajnikanth, maybe a leader or maybe a woman icon like Kiran Bedi or PT Usha. Now suppose you get a free ticket to meet with your favorite celebrity for about 30 minutes, how excited you would be! What all preparations you would make! You would immediately start planning what to wear, where to go, what to ask. Also you would definitely carry your camera with you to take as many photos as you can to treasure the memories of that meeting forever.

Now let me ask you another question, what if instead of that celebrity, you got an invitation to have a friendly chat with the God of this Universe? What would be your reaction? Would you be as thrilled or maybe even afraid? Would you be making the same plans we discussed earlier? Most likely the answer is NO. We are given an Invitation every single day by the biggest and the best celebrity in the whole world, our Lord Almighty and yet sadly, most of us choose to either ignore or postpone His invitation to spend time with Him.

Some people may say, I’d be happy to accept the Invitation someday but not right now, I don’t feel ready enough. The truth is we will never be ready enough so let’s go to Him today just as we are. Others will say yes, I’d like to but what can I talk about? Here are 4 keys from my personal experience that may help you. God wants everyone of us to  develop our own close prayer walk with Him.

√ KEY NO 1 : A Time of  Prayer - 

We can pray whenever we feel like as God’s lines are never busy. However, it is a good discipline to set aside the first & last portion of our day for prayer. Gradually we will learn to make prayer our lifestyle meaning we connect with God all through our day for eg: when we are driving to work, when faced with challenges during the day, before our meals, etc. (Psa 5:3, Psa 3:5, Psa 4:8)

√KEY NO 2: A Place of Prayer- 

It is good to find a quiet & comfy place where there’s less chance of being distracted/ interrupted. (Math 6:6)”But when you pray, go away by yourself, shut the door behind you, and pray to your Father in private.”

√KEY NO 3: A Way of Prayer- 

There are no hard & fast rules for prayer. Prayer is simply talking to God from our heart & listening to what God has to say. The imp thing is to be honest & simple as God loves the childlike prayer the best. We don’t have to impress Him, He already knows us since He made us.(Jer 1:5) We can relax in His presence as He loves us just as we are. We can even ask the Lord to teach us to pray. In Math 6:9-13, we see the Lord’s prayer where Jesus taught His disciples how to pray.

Let me share with you 4 main elements of a Powerful Prayer:

This can be summed up in the acronym ACTS- they are : Adoration , Confession, Thanksgiving & Supplication

a) Adoration: means praising & worshipping God for who He is – His attributes- Faithful (1 Corin 1:9, 2 Tim 2:13), Holy (Psalms 22:3, Isa 6:3), Sovereign (Job 42:2,Eph 1:11), Love (1 John 4:8, John 3:16) etc & what He does (His works). During this time, we can sing songs of Praise & Worship.

b) Confession: means looking into our life & checking if there is anything displeasing in the eyes of God. Ask Him to reveal that to us & to forgive us because of the holy blood of Jesus. (Psalm 139:23,24, I John 1:9)

c) Thanksgiving: means expressing our gratitude & thanks to God for His blessings in our life. (1 Thess 5:18)

d) Supplication: refers to our prayer requests to God. This can be for our needs or for the needs of others (Intercession) (1 Tim 2:1-3, Heb 5:7.)

√KEY NO: 4  A Record of Prayer- 

Journaling what God speaks to us or keeping a written record of our prayer requests and ticking them as God answers them can be a great source of encouragement in our prayer life. (Habakkuk 2:2)

I am sure that if we apply these principles, our prayer life will become such a joy that we will actually look forward to having more chats with our Heavenly Father.

Let me end with some favorite quotes on prayer:

Ø  Mark 11:24 “Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.”
Ø  “Satan trembles when he sees the weakest saint upon his knees.”-The Kneeling Christian
Ø  “Don’t pray when you feel like it. Have an appointment with the Lord and keep it. A man is powerful on his knees.” - Corrie Ten Boom
Ø  “Prayer is a shield to the soul, a sacrifice to God, and a scourge for Satan.”- John Bunyan
Ø  Philippians 4:6-7 “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”

Wishing you a blessed prayer life,

Sparky Laurie

Related post : SLOW DOWN TO THE SPEED OF LIFE:

Act Justly,Have Mercy,Walk Humbly Part 3

Hi friends,

Hope you are all doing well. In the last two posts we have explored the first two requirements God has of us from Micah 6:8 which are  to ACT JUSTLY and to  HAVE MERCY . Today let us study what the 3rd part -

               3)WALK HUMBLY –

The term "humility" comes from the Latin  word humilitas,  which means   "from the earth"(humus), “grounded” or "low". In other words it is meekness or modesty and is the opposite of arrogance or pride. Humility is a heart attitude and also a prerequisite to be great in the Kingdom of God.  Godly humility is not false modesty or being a doormat. On the other hand, it is being so comfortable with who we are in the Lord and therefore being able to put others first.

Psalms 25:9 “He leads the humble in justice, And He teaches the humble His way.”

All the men of God used greatly by God in the Bible were the most humble people who lived.

Gen 41:16 “Joseph then answered Pharaoh, saying, "It is not in me; God will give Pharaoh a favorable answer."

Numbers 12:3 “Now the man Moses was very humble, more than any man who was on the face of the earth” Hence was greatly used by God

In Math 11:29 Jesus said  “Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.” He is indeed  the very epitome of Humility ; we see this portrayed especially in Philippians 2:5 -11 “ have the same mindset as Christ Jesus: Who, being in very nature God,  did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage; rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being  made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself  by becoming obedient to death—even death on a cross! Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”

 In Mark 9:35   Jesus sat down and he called the twelve and said to them, “He who wants to be first shall be last, and the servant of every person.”

He demonstrated this in John 13:3-5 which says: “ Jesus knew that the Father had put all things under his power, and that he had come from God and was returning to God; so he got up from the meal, took off his outer clothing, and wrapped a towel around his waist. After that, he poured water into a basin and began to wash his disciples’ feet, drying them with the towel that was wrapped around him.” We see here that Jesus was so secure in His identity and purpose that He could willingly wash His disciples feet. When we know fully who we are in Christ and what His assignment  of us really is,then and only then will we be able to joyfully serve our brother, honoring him more than ourselves (Rom 12:10 ) 

There are great rewards for walking in humility.

1 Pet 5:5,6 “Clothe yourselves, all of you, with humility toward one another  for “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble. Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time.”

Prov 15:33 “….before honor comes humility.”

Prov 22: 4 “The reward of humility and the fear of the LORD are riches, honor and life.”

Related link :Click  MEEKNESS IS NOT WEAKNESS 

Would you like to really see how humble you are? Here’s a checklist of 9 characteristics of a humble person acc to Joyce Meyer. I recently came across it and felt it a pretty good yardstick to measure those areas where we yet need to improve…Caution it can be eye opening! J

Click here for Joyce Meyers 9 Characteristics of a Humble Person !

Let us sing with King David : WHO AM I THAT YOU ARE MINDFUL OF ME ? SONG  

2 Sam 7:18 “Then King David went in and sat before the Lord and said, ”Who am I , O Lord God , and what is my house, that you have brought me thus far?”

This beautiful Video sums it up all 3 posts we have just seen perfectly… ENJOY!

Click below to sing : SHOW JUSTICE,LOVE MERCY,WALK HUMBLY - by Andy Bromley 

Related posts-  PART 1 ACT JUSTLY , PART 2 SHOW MERCY,

CHRISTIANITY  W/O CHRIST 

Hope you enjoyed this post. Have a blessed week!

Love and prayers,      

Sparky Laurie

Act Justly, Have Mercy,Walk Humbly Part 2

     

Hi friends,

         Hope  you are all doing well. In my previous post I mentioned to you how God had been speaking to me through Micah 6:8 as to what He requires from us. We saw Part 1 which describes what it means to Act Justly, today let us study what the second part means   

2) HAVE MERCY –                                 

                              

  

According to Zech 7:9, "True justice actually means to have mercy." Now let us see what mercy means.

Mercy means compassion, pity, forgiveness, kindness, sympathy, understanding, benevolence.

To understand this better let us see what MERCY is not  . The opposites of Mercy are Cruelty, unkindness, meanness, nastiness, brutality/malice, spite, vindictiveness, viciousness ruthlessness, heartlessness, harshness.

The above words are easily a clear description of the world we live in today. Tuning in to the morning news would give you the visual imagery of the same.

Lam 3:22-23 “The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.”

Psalms 136:1-26  Repeatedly tells us from 1^st verse till last verse :  “O give thanks to the Lord for His mercy endures forever.”

Mathew 5:7 “Blessed are the merciful for they shall obtain mercy.”  

                             

There is a small difference between LOVE and Mercy. MERCY means extending LOVE even when the other doesn’t deserve it. It is easy to Love but what about MERCY ? This is an area I struggle a lot  and He has been repeatedly reminding me how when  I didn’t deserve MERCY both He and many loved ones in my life had extended me MERCY.As He opened my eyes I could see what I was blind to earlier and this brought a new prayer on my lips "Lord Make me Merciful just as you are Merciful." Do for me what I can never do in a 1000 years no matter how hard I tried. And the process of Sanctification continues as He’s teaching me…to be Merciful….
Luke 6:36  “Be merciful, even as your Father is merciful”

1 Pet 1:13 “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to His great mercy, He has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead”                

No matter how kind we may be, living in this fallen world often fills us with spite due to bitter experiences in our life, especially when the good we do is repaid by evil. Our natural inclination is then to harden our heart and become harsh in our dealings with those causing us pain. This will cause us to lose our sensitivity to the still small voice of  the Blessed Holy Spirit who leads us into all righteousness empowering us to be Holy even as our Father in Heaven is Holy. In fact Mercy is actually a FRUIT of the SPIRIT.

 Related post :SPIRITUAL FRUIT SALAD

Knowing all we have gone through and going through and will go through, He still commands us :
Mathew 9:13 “ Go and learn what this means, ‘I desire mercy, and not sacrifice.’ For I came not to call the righteous, but sinners.”
When tempted to justify our unkind actions and blame our hard heartedness on our compelling circumstances, let us remember Our Precious Lord Jesus lying bruised ,broken ,naked ,humiliated and alone on that Cross. 

The ISV Bible says Jesus kept saying, "Father, forgive them, because they don't know what they're doing."

Related post :PERSONALITY OF GOD - PART 4 HUMANITY 

And what were we complaining about? The Good News is that our God is so rich in Mercy and we can be sure that no matter how badly we mess up and miss the mark, we can always find Mercy as we rush to His Throne of Grace with tearful eyes and repentant heart. He is a Good Good God whose mercies endure forever.

Heb 4:16 “Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.” 

Ephesians 2:4-7 “But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ- by grace you have been saved – and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.”                                   

We can be sure that as we learn all other things by sheer dependence on the Holy Spirit, we can learn Mercy as well.

Psalms 23 :6 “Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever.

Click below and enjoy these  catchy  MERCY SONGs :   

2) Some Mercy for ME ! Greater is the one Living inside of me

 by MERCY ME -

Prayer : Lord fill us with your mercy. Help us to be merciful to ourselves and to others just as you are Perfect Father.Make us more like your Blessed Son Jesus. Holy Spirit empower us .-Amen

Hope you enjoyed this post. Next post we will examine part 3 in the series.

Have a blessed day!

Sparky Laurie

Related posts : PART 1 Act Justly , Part 3 Walk Humbly

Act Justly,Have Mercy,Walk Humbly Part -1

Hi friends,

Today morning as I woke , these are the words that kept coming up in my spirit- ACT JUSTLY, HAVE MERCY, WALK HUMBLY. Searching it up I found the verse is :

“He hath shown thee, O man, what is good: and what doth the Lord require of thee but to do justly and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?”-Micah 6:8

 God is SIMPLY brilliant! His sheer brilliance is that the things of God are so simple; that a little child can understand them but they are also as profound as the oceans. Let us see in the consequent 3 blog posts one by one what God requires us to do -

1) ACT JUSTLY-

Justice means fairness, impartiality, righteousness, honesty, integrity.

Psalms 33:5 “The Lord loves   justice and righteousness.”

Isa 30:18 “For the Lord is a God of justice, blessed are those who wait for Him!”

Isa 61:8 “For I, the Lord, loves justice; I hate robbery and wrongdoing .In my faithfulness I will reward my people and make an everlasting covenant with them.”

 To understand justice properly, let us see what injustice is. Injustice means  unfairness, prejudice, inequality, bias, discrimination. Looking around us today we can see a lot of injustice going in almost every walk of life.  People are denied what is rightfully theirs and are cheated of their inheritance for no cause or reason. This is injustice.

What does Justice do ? How can we act justly?

Proverbs 8:25 “Evil doers do not understand what is right but those who seek the Lord understand it fully.”

To act justly means to do the good that we know we should without delay or hesitation whether we are have support or are alone. Many times we see injustice around us but we don’t respond. We may look over our shoulder waiting for the next person to initiate the first move. There is a saying Justice Delayed is Justice Denied. So let us be quick and courageous enough to act when we see an opportunity- to speak up for the fatherless, to defend the innocent ,to take care of the destitute.

Isaiah 1:17 “Learn to do right, seek justice. Defend the oppressed. Take up the cause of the fatherless; plead the case of the widow.”

Prov 27:9 “The righteous care about justice for the poor but the wicked  have no such concern.”

 In reality, acting justly may be the less popular thing to do. It may invite criticism and ridicule. It may draw unwanted attention or even persecution. But this is what our Lord Jesus modeled to us always speaking up for the oppressed in society the lepers, healing the  sick, encouraging and empowering both men and women, setting free those oppressed by the enemy.

There is a Reward for pursuing righteousness and acting justly.
Deu 16:20 “Follow justice and justice alone, so that you may live and possess the land the Lord your God is giving you.”

Psalms 37:27-29 “Turn from evil and do good, then you will dwell in the land forever. For the Lord loves the just and will not forsake his faithful ones.

Isa 51:4-5 “Listen to me, my people, hear me, my nations: Instruction will go out from me; my justice will become a light to the nations. My righteousness draws near speedily,my salvation is on the way, and my arm will bring justice to the nations.The islands will look to me and wait in hope for my arm.

 Amos 5:24 “But let justice roll on like a river, righteousness like a never failing stream!” 

Let us sing GOD OF JUSTICE :  WE MUST GO 

Related post :  LET'S STOP PLAYING THE COURTROOM GAME

Part 3 WALK HUMBLY 

Hope you enjoyed this post, in my next post I will share about the second aspect and that is Part 2  HAVE MERCY.

Have a wonderful day!

Sparkylaurie

                                              

My Understanding of the Blessings of Obedience outlined in Deut 28

"Every good and perfect Gift is from above,coming down from the Father of Heavenly Lights, who does not change."- James1:17

Hi friends,

This morning during my Quiet Time, I was led to study the Deuteronomy 28 blessings outlined for us; His blood bought Bride. On closer and detailed examination I could find that our blessed Lord has outlined blessings for us that easily covers every single aspect  of our lives. The victory has been won for us by our Lord Christ Jesus on the Cross of Calvary and all we have to do is take it in His name. Under the inspiration of the blessed Holy Spirit & with some help from online commentaries, I was able to unravel some pretty reassuring promises. I was awestruck at the Perfect all encompassing list of Blessings our good God has given us.What is it you need? Blessings in finances? Healing & Wholeness?Blessings in your work place?Blessed family life? Blessings over your children?Victory over enemies?Deliverance? Freedom from Fear/Anxiety/Worry?...You name it, He has got it covered! Here's my understanding of what is a modern practically understandable version of the blessings God has for us as we walk in Obedience. Let us agree with the Holy Spirit and declare these Promised blessings over ourselves boldly and watch them come to pass in our lives and thus Glorify the matchless Majestic name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

DEUTRONOMY 28 BLESSINGS OF OBEDIENCE  

(Taken from Deu 28:1-14)

I am blessed in the city- in my civil employment

I am blessed in the country/field- blessed in my household work

Blessed is the fruit of my womb-my children, my dreams

Blessed are the crops of my land- direct benefits of our toil      

                      

Blessed are the young of my livestock- indirect benefits of our toil   

                  Blessed is my basket- my purse (my hand held container for collection of provision)

Blessed is my kneading trough- the daily bread /provision for present use

I am blessed when I come in- When I come from my employment, no evil will have happened to my family / dwelling place in my absence.

I am blessed when I go out-My way shall be made prosperous for me and I will enjoy Divine favor and blessing in all my labors as I set out.

I am blessed with Protection & Power against enemies. I am promised security from all foreign invaders , and even if my enemies attack me in a firm & united manner, they will be confused, utterly broken, embarrassed, terrified and will run away - TOTAL VICTORY& Deliverance  FOR ME

God blesses my barns (store houses/bank accounts ,ie my finances)  and work places (my employment and occupations) and everything will come to be by Divine appointment.

I am blessed because the Lord separates me for His service, honor and glory. He will sanctify me and preserve me as His holy priest.

I am blessed because my life fills others with awe and fear in the name of the Lord Jehovah- my life is a witness of His Name.

I am blessed with abundant prosperity, extraordinary fruitfulness and the Special Blessing of Heaven.

I am blessed with Open heavens above me to give my land early and latter rains at the right time to make it uncommonly fruitful.

All the work of my hands is blessed by the Lord.

I am blessed with freedom from debt. I will lend to many in need and borrow from none.

I am blessed because the Lord has made me the head and not the tail.  God has made me a leader among other people and nations. I will rule and govern the things assigned to my life with Godly authority, loving kindness and mercy.

I am blessed by God and possess a Spirit of Excellence which ensures that I will always be at the top and never at the bottom. 

Let us sing : Blessed Be The Name of the Lord...

Let us always declare with the boldness and confidence of a little child the following declaration all of the days of our life:  

Have a blessed week!

Sparky Laurie

The three pitfalls every Christian must learn to avoid

Hi friends,

Hope you all are doing well. I would just like to share something I was inspired to write based on a message ‘Unmasking the False Self’ that I just listened to . As we grow in our Christian walk, very often the Lord reveals to us areas in our life that we may struggle with and how we can overcome them. Today let us discuss 3 common temptations satan brings to all of us at different times of our life. Jesus, the Son of God was not spared; He faced them too and came out victorious each time. Let’s see what they are and learn from the life of Jesus how to tackle them.

For this study let’s go to Luke 4: 1-13 where we see our Lord Jesus after being baptized in the River Jordan by John the Baptist is led by the Holy Spirit into a period of solitude, silence and fasting for 40 days. During this time, Jesus was full of the Word and worshipped the Father. This is what gave Him the victory in facing the trials that came.

1)      The Temptation of ACCOMPLISHMENT / WE ARE WHAT WE DO –

     

      This is a lie of the enemy and a mask that he gives us to adorn. We read that Jesus was hungry as he had not eaten all this time and satan knowing his point of weakness tempts Jesus in this area asking Him to “do” something in order to prove that He was the Son of God. The same temptation comes to us today. That voice that tells us that in order to be something, we have to do something and we are driven to do many things that we may not really want to do and more importantly that God does not want us to do. If we can just rest like Jesus and be secure in the knowledge of our Father’s unconditional love, we will never again fall into this trap of the evil one of doing something just to prove our worth. Instead we will be like Jesus and “do nothing of our own but only what our Father does”- John 5:19 and He will accomplish great and mighty works through us.

                          

2)      The Temptation of ACCUMULATION / WE ARE WHAT WE HAVE-

     

      The devil took Jesus to a high mountain and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and said that all that power, authority and glory would be His in a moment if Jesus would only worship him once. What an irony! All that satan promised to give was already Jesus’! The same temptation comes to us that if we could only have this and that, we would be truly happy. Our perpetually discontented hearts are the breeding ground for satan to tempt us with wealth, power, prestige…etc but if we truly knew our authority in Christ and believed in our loving Father as Jehovah Jireh who is able to provide us with every good thing needed for abundant life here on earth, we would never fall a prey to this temptation that makes us run like rats in the so called rat race of life! We would be satisfied in worshipping the Lord our God for who He is rather than for what He gives and our good Father who loves to bless us, will give us more than our lives can contain. Psalms 84:11 says that “No good thing will the Lord withhold from those who walk uprightly.”The blessings of God will actually overtake us, we need not run after anything.- Deu 28:2

                                      

3)      The Temptation to seek APPROVAL/ WE ARE WHAT OTHERS THINK WE ARE-

 

      This lie of satan can be the cause of the biggest bondage in our life. It prevents us from being who we are created to be and from walking into the wonderful destiny that God has already chalked out for us. As long as we fear man and long for their validation, we will never be able to freely do what God is asking us to do. Trying to be popular is a snare because we cannot please God and man at the same time. Another problem is that man is fickle and so keeps changing unlike God who never changes. Even listening to the wrong advice due to approval addiction may actually lead us away from where God wants us to be. Sometimes what the Lord wants us to do may not make sense even to well-meaning folks! If we ever want to do anything dynamic for the Lord, we just need to learn to obey God rather than man. Satan asked Jesus to jump down from the Temple and even quoted the Scriptures (Psa 91:11, 12) to Jesus that God would give His angels charge over Him. But Jesus didn’t fall for this temptation too. He already knew who He was and didn’t need anyone to tell Him that. We read further in that Chapter (Luke 4:22-) that Jesus never cared for the praises of man. He did what He had to do and said what He had to say completely filled with the Holy Spirit. He was compassionate and loving but was never manipulated by anyone. He had a mission and He was constantly in prayer with the Father who empowered Him to fulfill it. We too have a mandate here on earth given to us by our Heavenly Father. Mathew 5:16 reminds us “To be as shining lights so that others may see our good works and give glory to our Father in Heaven.” We do not need the approval of man, we have the stamp of approval of the Father and His Holy Spirit who will teach us all things and help us fulfill our calling here on earth.

      1 Corin 1:22 “God has acknowledged us as His by giving us His Holy Spirit in our hearts as the pledge and foretaste of future blessing.”

Hope this blessed you as it blessed me.

 Take care, God bless!

Sparky Laurie