Prayer Thoughts for the Heart

Archive for September, 2011

When I was a child, my cousin and I like to relax in the warm summer freshly cut grass and stare up in the beautiful sky. It was fun to see the white fluffy clouds floating in the blue sky. We watched the clouds as they moved and would try to guess what their form looked like. Sometimes a lion’s head, or a snowman, or a huge boat, and on we would guess, but the form was gone as quickly as it had come.

There were times at night, we would sit on our porch in the swing and look up at the starry sky. We would marvel at how far away the stars were and sing the song, “Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star”. We would try to be the first one to find the Big Dipper and some of the other forms the stars made. It was also interesting to us to look up and see the moon as a crescent size and in a few weeks, look up and see a full moon, big and round. Things were so much brighter when the moon was full and we were not as afraid outside when the full moon was lighting our way from my house to her house.

The reason for all this remembering is what I have learned since that time. How wonderful God’s Creation is and how I marveled at it as a child and I still do. It was teaching me then and now.

As I read the Scriptures, I can see how God is teaching mankind that there is a Divine Creator. Paul tells us in the Book of Romans that no one has an excuse to not know God. Even our conscience and His Creation is a clear witness to the existence of God. Add to this knowledge and truth from the Scriptures and respond to it and this can bring you into a saving faith in Jesus Christ, God Son. The greatest miracle we will ever experience is the miracle of salvation. So, then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God, Romans 10:17.

It still amazes me to look at nature and watch the Seasons as they come and go. And a dark cloud that will cover a blue sky and brings rain or in cold weather it will bring beautiful white snow-flakes.

What is there to say now, but God is awesome, holy, sovereign, and the Creator of all things for us to enjoy. We can see God’s Creation with our eyes, and only see God by faith, but we can feel His love, joy, and peace in our heart.

We all have the same amount of time, but we often say to ourselves, Oh if I just had more time, I could. . . . . .

We will never have any more time. We have now, and we have always had, all the time there is to have.
So the next thing for us to learn is how to prioritize our time. Every so often, ask yourself, am I killing my time or making my time count? Am I managing my time or just being active.

Lost time can never be found again and when it is gone it is gone! The older we get the faster time seems to fly by, so take charge of your time.

Most likely, once we understand common sense and wisdom sense about time, we can use our time more effectively and this will reveal to us whether we have made good use of our time.

Our time is the most valuable thing that we can spend and we need to spend it on something that will outlast our time.

Scripture says that we are to spend some of our time to lay up treasures in heaven and that even a cup of cold water given in the right spirit will be rewarded, Matthew 10:42.

We are to spend some time reading and learning godly wisdom and how to be obedient to God’s Commands. His wisdom is more precious than rubies or fine gold.

Wisdom can give us paths of peace and keep us from evil. It can give us a heart of love, compassion and integrity. It will help us to perceive understanding and knowledge, “Real Truth” and mercy, Proverbs 3:5-6.

It will provide us with integrity if we choose to accept it. It means we are a person of moral principles, honesty, sincerity, truthfulness, fairness, and trustworthy.

The person who has a True Christian Spirit is someone who has spent time with God in Prayer and in His Word and lets it penetrate their soul. This will bring out the best in them because it is what will guide their words and actions.

When we take time to be better, (to surpass, exceed, or improve to a greater extent), we will enjoy better times.

The Psalmist says that he will take time, seven times a day, to Praise God for His righteousness, and he loves to obey His commands, Psalms 119:164 & 167.

The Scripture tells the Believer to be holy just as God is Holy. The Word Holy in this case means that we are to open up our heart and mind to godly characteristics and put them into practice.

We must be concerned about growing in ways that matures our heart and mind towards godly attitudes that are pleasing to God, others and ourselves.

Take time to access how you are doing in your desire to accomplish holiness in your actions. Is my mind and heart becoming more pure before God?

If we have a strong craving for and a delight in God’s Word, we will see spiritual growth. The Word is like water as it will cleanse our mind and heart.

When we see and feel growth, rejoice and go for more. Our progress should put joy in our heart and some enthusiasm in our step if we see some changes in our actions
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The more we associate with a person, the more we learn from them and if this person is Jesus, then we will want to pattern our conduct after His.

As we walk the walk, closer and closer to Him, we can experience more of His love, His ways, His words, His nature, His actions, His grace, His mercy, His holiness, His presence, His joy, and His peace, Amen.

“Obey God because you are his children; don’t slip back into your old ways-doing evil because you knew no better. But be holy now in everything you do, just as the Lord is holy, who invited you to be his child. He himself has said, you must be holy, for I am holy” (1 Peter 1:14-16 LB).