Way of Wisdom - 13 May 2015

Way of Wisdom

with Regina Sanders

Ceaseless Prayer

1 Samuel 12:23 "Moreover, as for me, far be it from me that I should sin against the LORD by ceasing to pray for you; but I will instruct you in the good and right way"erse 11.
Psalm 34:11 "Come you children, listen to me. I will teach you the fear of the LORD."

So what we see here in Samuel is that Israel has asked God to provide them with a king, the king of their choosing, not the king of God’s. And this hasn’t worked out so well for them. So Samuel tells them, “Look, OK, this is what we are going to do. I’m going to call upon the Lord and He is going to send thunder and rain. He is going to let you know about your wickedness; the things that you’re doing that’s not right.” And so, that’s what Samuel did. Samuel called to the LORD and the LORD sent thunder and rain and all of the people greatly feared the LORD and they feared Samuel because Samuel called to the LORD and the LORD answered him by bringing these things.

So all of the people come to Samuel and say, “Please pray for you servants, pray to the LORD your God so that we may not die for we have added to all of our sins this evil by asking for ourselves a king.”

You know, and Samuel could have said, “You’re right! That’s right! You did! You brought this all on yourself!” But instead what Samuel tells them is this:

“Do not fear. Yes, you have committed all this evil, but you do not turn aside from following the LORD. You serve the LORD with all of your heart, even though you’ve done this evil; you’re still serving the LORD. And you must not turn aside from serving the LORD because if you did, you would then go after futile things which cannot profit or deliver because they are futile. For the LORD will not abandon His people on account of His great name, because the LORD has been pleased to make you a people for HIMSELF.”

You know, up until this point God has really been happy. “You know, I’ve got My people, I’ve got Israel. They’re wonderful. They make mistakes but you know, no matter what mistakes they make, they serve Me whole-heartedly.”

And Samuel continues, “Moreover, as for me, far be it from me that I should sin against the LORD by ceasing to pray for you. But I will instruct you in the good and right way. “ In other words, Samuel says, “I’m going to continue to pray for you. I am going to continue to lift you before God and I am going to listen to what God tells me to tell you. And as I listen to what He tells me I’m going to instruct you. I’m going to tell you what God says. And this is going to be leading you in the good and right way so that you don’t go off and do these foolish things.”

You see, we have to pray. We have to pray for one another, we have to pray for ourselves. And if we ask God to reveal to us the things that we do that are not pleasing to Him, and if we will be quiet a moment and listen to Him...He will reveal those things to us. And then the choice is ours, what we will do. Will we obey God and stop doing those things or start doing different things that He instructs us to do or will we just cross our arms say, “It’s going to be my way. I’m in control of my life.”

My prayer, as I pray for you all, is that we choose to follow God’s instinct. We choose to follow His leading, because He will lead us. He will reveal things to us. He’ll not only reveal our sin, but He will reveal the things that we are doing right. Because God loves us and so His final word to us doesn’t have to be a negative thing, but is always something wrapped in love. Because He does love us and He will continue to love us and instruct us.

The important things are that we choose to listen to Him. We choose to pray for ourselves, we choose to pray for others; and did you know that blessings come to you, and protections come to you, and good health comes to you, when you lift up your brothers and sisters in Christ, when you lift up other ministries in Christ. God blesses you for the prayers that you pray for others.

That doesn’t mean that we should pray just to get something, it has to come from our heart; it has to be sincere. But it does mean that God rewards us. He knows our heart, He knows the intent of our heart. He knows when we mean what we’re saying. And it’s his honor to bless us and to embrace us in his love and say, “Well done my child. You followed me, you listened to me. And you loved yours brothers and sisters because you prayed for them, and that shows me how much you love them.”

Prayer

Father I just thank you for each one that pulled up this podcast and listened this morning. I thank you that they took the time out of their busy schedule to come here your word. Father I pray that the word spoken here this morning brings into them abundant life. May our words always encourage and uplift them and show them the right way, the right path to walk down.

Use us, LORD, as your vessel. Let your words come through my mouth as I bring these messages here. I don’t want any glory, I don’t want any credit, Father, but may you receive all glory, all honor, and may you just lift each one father, and embrace them. Pick them up like a father does his child and spins them around in love and, father, just bring healing to their bodies that need healing. Heal their finances. Restore their fortunes as your word tells us.

Lord, we know that you have good plans for us. And all we have to do is listen and obey and pray for one another. Father, I ask you to enlighten us, let us know who we need to pray for, what we need to pray, put those things in our heart, in our mind, and out of our mouths, Father. Now I ask you to bless each one with health, with financial blessings, with peace, love, and joy. And continue to bless them throughout the week. In Jesus name I pray and ask these things! Amen.

Again, thank you for being here with us. I pray that you will come back tomorrow and each day this week, and be blessed by the wonderful words that are brought to you. Have a good week.

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