Take up the whole armor of
God…praying always… —Ephesians 6:13,18
{CHAMBERS} “You must learn to wrestle against the things that hinder
your communication with God, and wrestle in prayer for other people; but to
wrestle with God in prayer is unscriptural. If you ever do wrestle with God,
you will be crippled for the rest of your life. If you grab hold of God and
wrestle with Him, as Jacob did, simply because He is working in a way that
doesn’t meet with your approval, you force Him to put you out of joint (see
Genesis 32:24-25). Don’t become a cripple by wrestling with the ways of God,
but be someone who wrestles before God with the things of this world, because
“we are more than conquerors through Him…” (Romans 8:37). Wrestling before God
makes an impact in His kingdom. If you
ask me to pray for you, and I am not complete in Christ, my prayer accomplishes
nothing. But if I am complete in Christ, my prayer brings victory all the
time. Prayer is effective only when there is completeness— “take up the whole
armor of God….””
{ELGIN} Do you brush your
teeth in the morning? Seem like an odd
way to start a devotion? Brushing your
teeth is a discipline. So is getting up
to go to work. If you don’t do either
one, there are negative consequences.
You value your teeth … and you value your source of income .. so you
make yourself do those things. After a
while, they become more routine, but still …. You must choose to do them. That is the same with prayer and
obedience. We must discipline ourselves
to do them. Our natural selves push back
– or wrestle with our spiritual selves.
The message is – you are too busy to brush (pray) this morning … you can
do that later … or I will just call in sick today … I don’t feel like going to
work (doing the will of God) today. Something
I have noticed as I grow older … the speed at which my body atrophies …. Loses strength
.. stamina … tone … is accelerating. And the difficulty I have getting back to where I was. If
I slack off in any way, BOOM! I am
sliding down the steep slope of atrophy.
It’s the same with our spiritual life.
A life without spiritual discipline is a life of spiritual
weakness. The danger is .. you can
become used to that condition and start to think that it is normal. Well, it may be common, but it is far from “normal”
if you are a Christian. I want to encourage you to get serious about your
spiritual condition … God has called you to so much more than mediocrity in
your faith walk. I can encourage but the
Spirit must convict your heart, if you need it.
This is a good time of the year to think about our new life in Christ. Like Jesus, you have two natures. You spiritual nature should be dominant. Like Jesus, seek to do the Father’s
will. Like Jesus, stand against temptation
with the Word of God. Like Jesus, be disciplined
to talk to the Father and look to Him.
Like Jesus bring Glory to God , the Father, through obedience and
devotion. Like Jesus …. Fulfill the
purpose the Father has given you. Let
you light shine before all men.
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