THE EFFORTLESS WAY

 

My Mother always talked about “the effortless way” to living your life and getting what you want. She would always say “when you put God in charge of your life you have no worries, no stress and everything becomes effortless. All you have to do is put everything in God’s hands and he will take care of it for you”. 

The effortless way that my mother always talked about meant that you put everything to God in prayer. Prayer is conversing and communicating with God. When we pray, we can talk to God aloud or within our thoughts. 

Prayer is an earnest desire that we take to God.  Prayer is the soul’s sincere desire, it is our heart’s desire. But even sincere desire is not enough by itself. There must be BELIEF, too. Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours (Mark 11:24 NIV). You must realize God’s ability to give you every good thing in life. You must believe in his readiness to do it. Model your thoughts after the Psalmists of old. They first asked for that which they wanted, then eliminated all doubts and fears by affirming God’s power and his willingness to grant their prayers. For prayer to be effective Faith is required. Without faith, prayer accomplishes virtually nothing…but with faith, anything is possible! 

Try to make prayer your first response instead of your last resort when facing a new challenge or an old temptation.

And we are confident that he hears us whenever we ask for anything that pleases him. And since we know he hears us when we make our requests, we also know that he will give us what we ask for. (1 John 5: 14-15)

Even when we are praying for or about things other than our own spiritual needs and growth, conversing with God cannot fail to have a pervasive and spiritually strengthening effect on all aspects of our personality. That conversation makes an indelible impression on our minds, and our consciousness of him remains vivid as we go through our day.

Keep on asking, and you will receive what you ask for. Keep on seeking, and you will find. Keep on knocking, and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks, receives. Everyone who seeks, finds. And to everyone who knocks, the door will be opened.  You parents—if your children ask for a loaf of bread, do you give them a stone instead? Or if they ask for a fish, do you give them a snake? Of course not! So if you sinful people know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give good gifts to those who ask him.  (Matthew 7:7-11)

Is there something you are believing God for today? Does it seem like it’s taking a long time to come to pass? Be encouraged because the Bible says that …through faith and patience you will inherit His promises (Hebrews 6:12 NLT). If you’ll stay in faith, if you’ll keep on seeking Him, it won’t be long until you see that breakthrough!

The problem is that most people give up just before they get their prayers answered. They stop when things get hard or when they don’t get the answer they want the first time. But the verse encourages us to continually ask and continually seek. That doesn’t mean that we seek Him one time and then stop. No, we must seek Him until we have his promise!

Asking is the golden key to receiving! Asking is admitting that we have a lack or limitation. Ask not and you will receive not. Fear is a hindrance which the enemy uses to cripple us so that we refrain from asking. Fear tells you, 'It doesn't make sense to ask, there is a global recession going on, so why bother to ask?”

We have to make known our needs to God in prayer, ask His help, and then we have to BELIEVE he will give us what we need. Prayer alone is not enough. We may pray incessantly, yet, if we do not BELIEVE that God will give us what we need, we have no reason to expect that we shall receive what we have asked for. 

So why do so many fail to receive that for which they ask? Because they are not persistent enough. They do not convince the God in them that their prayer is something they MUST have. They ask and knock once or twice, and because the door is not immediately opened, they give up in despair. Remember “The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, No, he is being patient for your sake…"(2 Peter 3:9, NLT) 

Successful prayer requires three basic steps: 

1. Acknowledge or admit the problem
2. Turn the problem over to God, who alone knows the most effective solution or way out.
3. Rest with a sense of deep conviction that God will grant what you ask for. 

Doubts and hesitations only weaken your prayer. Do not say to yourself, “I wish I could be healed” or “I hope this works.” Your feeling about the work to be done sets the tone. Believe and know that whatever you ask for is yours. 

Today, submit your prayers to the Lord and keep an attitude of faith and expectancy. Keep asking. Keep seeking. Keep knocking on the door, and it will be opened to you. Know that God is working behind the scenes. He is perfecting whatever concerns you. Don’t give up! Instead, start thanking Him for His faithfulness in your life. Thank Him for His promise that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek after Him!

Till the next time

Bruce

Have You Remembered All of Your Gifts?

As parents we delight in giving gifts to our children because we love them and want to bless their lives. Our delight is doubled when we see their eyes and hearts light up with joy. Our delight is tripled when we hear from their lips words of gratitude and appreciation.

Our heavenly father delights in blessing us, but his joy and our own joy at receiving his gifts, is not complete until we express our sincere thanks from the depths of our hearts.

“A spiritual gift is given to each of us so we can help each other. To one person the Spirit gives the ability to give wise advice; to another the same Spirit gives a message of special knowledge. The same Spirit gives great faith to another, and to someone else the one Spirit gives the gift of healing. He gives one person the power to perform miracles, and another the ability to prophesy. He gives someone else the ability to discern whether a message is from the Spirit of God or from another spirit. Still another person is given the ability to speak in unknown languages, while another is given the ability to interpret what is being said.  It is the one and only Spirit who distributes all these gifts. He alone decides which gift each person should have.” (1 Corinthians chapter 12 verse 7-11)

It’s important to know and recognize our gifts and our graces. That is, it’s important to know what we are really good at - our fundamental abilities that would bring to bear in any kind of task. It’s also important to know what special abilities God has given us.

You have all that the greatest of men have had

Two eyes, two ears, two hands, two feet

You have all that the greatest of men have had

Whether they were explorers or scientists or builders or speakers or motivators

They came here with no more or no less than you

The difference between the mighty and the mundane

Is what you do with what you have.

In the book The Ultimate Gift, author Jim Stoval writes, life is a gift that has been given to us. The way we live it and maximize it is our gift to those around us. The following is a list of just a few of life’s gifts that we all can enjoy:

1. The Gift of Work: He who loves his work never labours

2. The Gift of Money: Money is nothing more than a tool. It can be a force of good, a force of evil or simply be idle.

3. The Gift of Friends: It is a wealthy person, indeed, who calculates riches not in gold but in friends.

4. The Gift of Learning: Education is a lifelong journey whose destination expands as you travel.

5. The Gift of Problems: Problems may only be avoided by exercising good judgment. Good judgment may only be gained by experiencing life’s problems.

6. The Gift of Family: Some people are born into wonderful families. Others have to find or create them. Being a member of a family is a priceless membership that we pay nothing for but love.

7. The Gift of Laughter: Laughter is good medicine for the soul. Our world is desperately in need of more medicine.

8. The Gift of Dreams: Faith is all that dreamers need to see into the future.

9. The Gift of Giving: The only way you can truly get more out of life for yourself is to give part of yourself away.

10. The Gift of Gratitude: In those times we yearn to have more in our lives, we should dwell on the things we already have. In doing so, we will often find that our lives are already full to overflowing.

11. The Gift of a Day: Life at its essence boils down to one day at a time. Today’s the day!

12. The Gift of Love: Love is a treasure for which we can never pay. The only way we keep it is to give it away.

13. The Ultimate Gift: In the end, life lived to its fullest is its own Ultimate Gift.

As we come to the end of the year we should take the time to remember and reflect on all of the things that we have to be grateful for. When we were sad, God sent a comforter. When we were sick, he was our healer. When we were alone, he was our friend. When we are confused, he is your counselor and guide. When our heart was lost in sin, he sent his son to save us.

Hope you have a very great Christmas holiday and a Happy New Year.

Till the next time

Bruce