SAVING THE CHURCH AND FAITH IN JESUS

 Prayers for  the critical life, health, and future ministry direction of many congregations.

This is a prayer guide: Psalm 100, Joel 2:12-17, Matthew 28: 19-20

Read Ezra 3:11

Let us give thanks for the love of GOD revealed in tangible ways...

for the foundation laid for us in Christ Jesus...

for the same mindset as Christ Jesus who emptied himself...

for the faithful witness of the saints who have gone before...

Read Revelation 2:1-7

Let us repent of our complacency and disengagement with our denomination...

the inordinate value we place on programs and participation...

our tendency to regard prayer as just a supplement...

treating our brothers and sisters in ways that dishonor Christ...

allowing the culture to permeate the church in ungodly ways...

loving the American dream more than the Savior Jesus...

proclaiming the message of the cross without clarity and passion...

Read Exodus 33:13-14

Let us pray for a teachable spirit...

for assurance that in life and in death we belong to our Savior Jesus Christ...

that we would trust the peace giving presence of God at all times...

for God's people around the world who suffer true persecution for the gospel...

for those who do not yet know Jesus Christ as Savior, or who have turned from him or been led away from the truth of his love...

Read Psalm 24:3-8

Read Psalm 19:1-4;7-9

Let us give thanks for God's glory, revealed all around us...

for God's Word, at work in all his people...

for God's radiance that will lead and sustain us through this day...

for God's promise that we are more than conquerors through Christ Jesus...

Read Matthew 24:3-7;12-14

Let us pray for wisdom in our leadership to exhibit the Kingdom of God...

a spirit that will glorify Christ in discussion and reconciliation...

vision to see God's future and the ability to communicate that vision with hope and humility...

endurance and renewed vitality...

protection from the confusion and arrogance that fosters disunity...

Read 1 Thessalonians 3: 12-13

Let us pray that God would increase our love for each other and especially for those who are outside the reach of the Church...

that the Holy Spirit will strengthen our hearts in times of temptation and discouragement...

that our love for God would be revealed in holy attitudes and humble behavior...

that those who lead Jesus' followers around the world would see the Church increase in witness and service...

Read Malachi 2:17; 3:7b

Read Psalm 68:26

Let us give thanks for how the praise and adoration of God arises in the life and worship ...

for how we experience the unity of the Holy Spirit in the work and worship...

Read Acts 15:22-35

Let us pray repenting of any bitterness and ungodliness we have brought into our life together...

that Christ would be honored in all conversations and decisions..

that together we glorify God and exhibit God's Kingdom...

for a spirit of mutual justice, fairness, and charity...

that each congregation may find freedom to respond in this challenging season through different Christ-honoring ways...

for strength, grace, and wisdom for our leaders...

for congregations who are struggling...

for vision, wisdom, and persistence in the work of the Middle Governing Bodies Commission.

Read Revelation 4:9-11

With that image in mind, let us pray that in all our deliberation, we would be aware of the presence of the One who truly reigns for ever and ever...

that we would relinquish our need to rule and control, deferring to the will and purpose of the Lord of all...

that congregations would once again become places of prayer, study, worship, nurture, and mission...

that we would listen to the admonition and encouragement of sisters and brothers called to ministry around the globe...

Read Hebrews 10:23

Read Psalm 63:1-3

Let us give thanks for times when we have seen God in sanctuary...

for the gift of God's perspective in our lives...

for ways in which God enables us to give public witness to His grace and His glory...

Read Acts 5:27-39

Let us pray repenting of self-interest that blinds us to God's calling...

that we would yield our hearts to God's will in every situation...

that confusion would not obscure God's purpose...

for the wisdom and understanding in difficult conversations...

THE EMPTY CHAIR

A woman's daughter had asked the local minister to come and pray with her mother.
When the minister arrived, he found the woman lying in bed with her head propped up on two pillows.

An empty chair sat beside her bed.
The minister assumed that the woman had been informed of his visit...
'I guess you were expecting me, he said.

'No, who are you?' said the mother.
The minister told her his name and then remarked, 'I saw the empty chair and I figured you knew I was going to show up..'

'Oh yeah, the chair,' said the bedridden woman
'Would you mind closing the door?'
Puzzled, the minister shut the door.
'I have never told anyone this, not even my daughter,' said the woman.

'But all of my life I have never known how to pray. At church I used to hear the pastor talk about prayer, but it went right over my head...'

I abandoned any attempt at prayer,' the old woman continued, ' until one day four years ago, my best friend said to me, ' Prayer is just a simple matter of having a conversation with Jesus. Here is what I suggest.. 'Sit down in a chair;
place an empty chair in front of you,
and in faith see Jesus on the chair.

It's not spooky because he promised, 'I will be with you always'..
'Then just speak to him in the same way you're doing with me right now...'

'So, I tried it and I've liked it so much
that I do it a couple of hours every day. I'm careful though.If my daughter saw me talking to an empty chair, she'd either have a nervous breakdown or send me off to the funny farm.'

The minister was deeply moved by the story and encouraged the old woman to continue on the journey.
Then he prayed with her, anointed her with oil, and returned to the church.

Two nights later the daughter called to tell the minister that her mama had died that afternoon.
Did she die in peace?' he asked.

Yes, when I left the house about two o'clock, she called me over to her bedside, told me she loved me and kissed me on the cheek.
When I got back from the store an hour later, I found her .

But there was something strange about her death. Apparently, just before Mom died, she leaned over and rested her head on the chair beside the bed. What do you make of that?'

The minister wiped a tear from his eye and said, 'I wish we could all go like that.'

“He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds.” Psalm 147:3




I love my girlfriends. I love doing life with friends who “get me.” I love having tangles of conversations over hot coffee that are stranded together with light-hearted laughter, rich revelations, loads of love, treasures of time and gobs of grace.


Though sharing beautiful life-moments is always fun, some of the most powerful blessings of friendship for me have been found in broken places. In the trenches. Those places where our troubles and fears scream loudly and long to be quieted by the understanding heart of a friend. Times when we rise up to encourage one another with God’s promises, share reminders of His truth, extend challenges to believe, offer prayers for problems and speak hope to a sister who’s hurting.






I’m not sure where this message of hope finds you. Sometimes we just need to be reminded that God cares and that He is compassionate. Sometimes we just need to be reminded that God sees us, knows us, hears us and loves us. That He is faithful, powerful and never wastes a hurt. Perhaps you need a word of encouragement today. Perhaps you know a friend who needs this word. The best thing we can do for our friends is to love them and point them to Jesus.

“But David strengthened himself in the Lord his God,”(1 Samuel 30:6 NIV).


Sometimes life doesn’t work out the way we thought it would. This was certainly the case for a teenage boy named David who was anointed the next King of Israel.

While King Saul was still on his throne, God chose David to be his successor. This didn’t sit too well with the King and he made every attempt to kill David before the crown could be placed on his handsome head. The young David, who earlier had bravely charged the Philistine giant, Goliath, now ran for his life. The one place Saul didn’t think David would hide was among the Philistines whom he had previously shamed. So that is exactly where David hid…the briar patch, so to speak.

By this time, David had a six hundred man army gathered round him. Each man brought his wife and children to live in the camp. The rag tag team of outcasts became David’s kingdom for a time.

One day while David and his men were off fighting a battle, another group of people, the Amalakites, invaded their camp and took all their wives and children captive. When David and his men returned home, they found empty beds, smoldering fires, and the haunting absence of familiar voices.

The men wept until they had no more tears or energy for recourse. Rather than devise a rescue plan, they turned their anger on their leader and threatened to stone him. Hurting people often hurt people and they were looking for someone to blame.

Can you imagine how David must have felt? His previous employer was trying to kill him (he had worked in Saul’s palace), his best friends had turned against him, and his wife and children had been taken captive or possibly killed. Where was he to turn? How could he encourage his men when he had nothing left to give?

There was only one place to turn…to God.

“But David strengthened himself in the Lord his God” (1 Samuel 30:6). Friend, sometimes to God is the only place we have to go. Isn’t it a shame that we wait until God is our last resort rather than our first line of defense? Yes, God has called us to live in community with other believers, but sometimes I believe He wants us all to Himself.

Moses was alone with God when he talked to God in the burning bush. Hagar was alone with God when he spoke to her and gave her water in the desert. Elijah was alone with God when God revealed Himself in the still small voice. Hannah was alone with God when she poured out her heart in prayer for a child. Jesus often went away by himself to commune with His Father. Where do we go when we hit rock bottom? When we’re feeling empty? When we’ve lost hope?

Go to God. Strengthen yourself in the Lord your God. It worked for David and He will work for you. David later wrote, “It is God who arms me with strength and keeps my way secure,” (Psalm 18:32 NIV).

SO, WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO BE A PRESBYTERIAN?

 It means I am a Christian in service to my church and my community. I willingly give my time and money to support my church. It means that I try to set an example in my actions that is worthy of Christ's sacrifice. And finally, it means that I have an obligation to help anyone I can, in any way I can when they are in need.

Are You Struggling With The Ten Commandments?

Table of Contents

1. The Most Recognised Document
2. How should we understand it?
3. God's Kingdom is about Relationships
4. The Commandments are about Relationships
5. Intimate Relationship Needs Clear Identity of both Parties
6. Our Relationship with God defined by the Ten Commandments
7. Because the Commandments are addressed to the human family they also reveal our identity
8. Ten Commandments Protect our Life Source

Identity Wars - The Road to Freedom

Taken captive by the dark forces of the Dragon, every human heart is struggling under the weight of the new kingdom. The human race was enticed to believe that freedom comes from escaping the law of God and managing himself without "interference." Is there a way of escape?
Our Father in Heaven will not forsake us, He sent His Son to break the chains that hold us and lead us on the road to freedom.
This road can be hard to find if you don't have a correct understanding of the map provided. Come with us on the journey that leads us back to our true destiny as children of God.

The Most Recognised Document

The Ten Commandments would have to be the most recognized document anywhere in the world. It has been described as the most concise and yet most comprehensive code for living in a society.
There are millions of people who seek to apply and follow the Ten Commandments while millions of others reject them as no longer relevant to the society of today. Christianity is deeply divided over the place of the Ten Commandments. Some claim that Christ nailed them to the cross and that we are free from the "legalism of the law" others try their best to keep the commandments but constantly fall short and fall into despair or focus on other people's "sins" to distract themselves from their own problems.

How should we understand it?

What is the point of the Law? Can we keep it? Should we keep it? How does it relate to the gospel? These are all important questions. A good starting point is a response Jesus gave to a lawyer concerning how we obtain eternal life.

And behold, a certain lawyer stood up and tested Him, saying, "Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?" He said to him, "What is written in the law? What is your reading of it?" Luke 10:25,26

Jesus links eternal life to the law but he asks a very important question. "What is your reading of it?" How do you understand it? This question opens up the whole question of context. Notice the following scripture:

"For My thoughts are not your thoughts, Nor are your ways My ways," says the Lord. "For as the heavens are higher than the earth, So are My ways higher than your ways, And My thoughts than your thoughts. Isa 55:8-9

When we read the commandments – what do we see? What context do we bring to those 10 famous commands? If God's thoughts are not our thoughts and our ways are not His ways, then do we read the commandments the way He intended them to be read?
The Bible refers to the Law of God as the Law of Liberty – James 2:12. David says in the Psalms that he loves God's law and it is his delight. Psalms 119:97,70. How can this law bring freedom when it constantly shows us where we are making mistakes? Even the Bible tells us that we can't find righteousness by trying to keep the law. Romans 3:19,20. How do we harmonize this? To answer this question we need to step back a few steps and lay some ground work. We need to look at the foundations of God's kingdom and what they are based upon to try and grasp God's ways and read the commandments from His ways and not our ways. Then I believe we begin to see how the Law is in fact liberty and something we can love and delight in like David.

God's Kingdom is about Relationships

One of the best scriptures that reveal that God's thoughts are not ours and our ways are not His is found in Jeremiah 9:23,24:

Thus says the Lord: "Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, Let not the mighty man glory in his might, Nor let the rich man glory in his riches; But let him who glories glory in this, That he understands and knows Me, That I am the Lord, exercising lovingkindness, judgment, and righteousness in the earth. For in these I delight," says the Lord.

This scripture clearly reveals that the heart of God's kingdom is value by relationship to Him as opposed to finding value in achievements and things. For a deeper look at this point, I encourage you to read the book Identity Wars. (Opens in new window)
Just knowing that God loves us and we are special to him, makes our desperate need to be accepted by others and valued by our achievements seem insignificant. Knowing that we are loved regardless of what we achieve in life can take away our fear of failure and enable us to be creative and do things just because we enjoy it rather than to be accepted.

The Commandments are about Relationships

What does this have to do with the commandments? Well if God's kingdom is about relationships rather than achievements then these commandments should be about relationships rather than achievement.
If we look closely at the Ten Commandments, the first four are about our relationship to God and the last six about our relationship to each other. From heaven's point of view, the commandments are about protecting our relationships not a tool to show God we are acceptable to him by trying to perform them.

Intimate Relationship Needs Clear Identity of both Parties

So how do the commandments protect our relationship with God? Let me explain with an illustration. It involves a radio communication between the Amercians and the Canadians. Notice how true Identity affects the communication.

CANADIANS:

Please divert your course 15 degrees to the south to avoid a collision.

AMERICANS:

Recommend you divert your course 15 degrees to the north to avoid collision.

CANADIANS:

Negative. You will have to divert your course 15 degrees to the south to avoid a collision.

AMERICANS:

This is the captain of a U.S Navy ship. I say again, divert YOUR course.

CANADIANS:

No, I say again, you divert YOUR course.

AMERICANS:

This is the Aircraft Carrier USS LINCOLN, the second largest ship in the United states Atlantic fleet. We are accompanied with three Destoyers, three Cruisers and numerous support vessels. I DEMAND that you change your course 15 degrees north. I say again that's one-five degrees north or counter-measures will be undertaken to ensure the safety of this ship.

CANADIANS:

This is the lighthouse. Your call.

The communication of the Americans towards the Canadians was based on a belief that the Canadians were in a ship. A wrong understanding of their identity caused a wrong form of communication to take place and caused major problems in the relationship. This principle of wrong identity leading to bad communication is happening on many levels.
Millions of husbands and their wives have disagreements because they have not clearly defined their roles in the relationship and therefore their communication will often be confused. This also happens with parents and children. When children forget the role of their parents to train and lead them, disobedience always takes place. When parents forget their responsibility to care for and train their children, neglect and abuse often takes place.

Our Relationship with God defined by the Ten Commandments

This brings us back to the Ten Commandments. The human race, like the story of the Americans, has forgotten God's real identity and mistakenly thought that God is a ship not too different from themselves, not realizing that He is the light house. This fact causes great problems in communication between God and man. The Ten Commandments clearly define who God is and who we are and provide the basis upon which we can communicate.
If we would summarise the Ten commandments, we find that they tell us the following:

1. God is our Creator – (In Six days the Lord made Heaven and Earth)
2. God is our Redeemer – (I brought you out of bondage)
3. God is our Source of Life - (In Six days the Lord Made Heaven and Earth)
4. God is about heart to heart relationships – (No idols, Don't take my name in vain, Don't Kill, Don't commit adultery, Don't Steal, Don't lie, Don't Covet.
5. God is about Family – (Honour your Parents)

Let's look at each of the ten commandments in detail with this idea in mind.

God's Character
	His Commandments	His Characteristics
1.	I brought you out of Bondage. You will have no other God's Besides Me	Relationship Based - (Redeemer, Saviour, The Only God)
2.	You shall not make any carved Image	Relationship Based - (Focus on relationship, not visible things)
3.	You will not take the name of God in Vain	Relationship Based - (Integrity, Transparency, Respect)
4.	Remember the Sabbath for in Six days the Lord Made the Heavens and the Earth	Relationship Based - (Creator, Source of Life)
5.	Honour Father and Mother	Relationship Based - (Family Paternal)
6.	You shall not Kill	Relationship Based - (Life is Precious, Relationships are forever, I am the Source of Life)
7.	You shall not Commit Adultery	Relationship Based - (Valid Intimate Relationships are Forever)
8.	You Shall not Steal	Relationship Based - (Relational, not material focus)
9.	You shall not lie	Relationship Based - (Integrity, Transparency)
10.	You shall not Covet	Relationship Based - (Creator, Source of Life)

To help understand the principles outlined in this table, as well as the rest of this page, you may download the video file titled Identity Defined - The Ten Commandents from our resources page.

Because the Commandments are addressed to the human family they also reveal our identity.

1. We are Created beings – (In Six days the Lord made Heaven and Earth)
2. We are Redeemed – (I brought you out of bondage)
3. We are totally dependent on God for Life – (the Lord Made Heaven and Earth)
4. We are designed for heart to heart relationships – (No idols, Don't take my name in vain, Don't Kill, Don't commit adultery, Don't Steal, Don't lie, Don't Covet.
5. We are designed to live in families – (Honour your Parents)

Once we accept what the commandments are saying we can begin to have effective communication with God. We must never forget that the only reason the human race is even interested in having a relationship with God is through the amazing demonstration of God's Love through giving his son to die for us on the cross. That is another complete subject but suffice to say that we can only begin to communicate with God when we accept God's sacrifice.

Ten Commandments Protect our Life Source

David makes an interesting comment in the psalms in regard to the commandments.

I will never forget Your precepts, For by them You have given me life. Psalms 119:93

This scripture from Psalms 119 uses commandments, law and precepts interchangeably. So how does the law give us life? Let's Follow the sequence:

1. God is our Life source. We live every breath by His power. Acts 17:25,28; Colossians 1:17
2. We receive this life through a relationship with Him. John 17:3
3. That relationship is defined by the Ten Commandments. Matt 22:36-40
4. To break our relationship is to break the commandments
5. Therefore an observance of the Commandments protects our relationship and therefore our life.

When people talk about the Law of God being a dead letter or being nailed to the cross or something we can't keep, they are speaking out of our natural human experience to perform and achieve to be accepted. Paul certainly addresses this human problem in the New Testament and warns us against trying to earn acceptance with God by keeping the law, but once we look at the commandments from heavens point of view, we can say with David "O how I love your law" and understand what Jesus meant when he said.

And behold, a certain lawyer stood up and tested Him, saying, "Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?" He said to him, "What is written in the law? What is your reading of it?" So he answered and said, "'You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, and with all your mind,' and 'your neighbor as yourself.' "And He said to him, "You have answered rightly; do this and you will live." Luke 10:25-28

© 2012, Maranatha Media

WE KNOW THAT TROUBLES HELP US LEARN NOT TO GIVE UP.

Romans 5:3-5 (NLT) “We can rejoice, too, when we run into problems and trials, for we know that they are good for us--they help us learn to endure. Endurance then develops strength of character in us, and character strengthens our confident expectation of salvation.”


Life is filled with storms of one kind or another. In the midst of those storms, we tend to respond as if God has somehow been caught off guard. The storm makes no sense. We can’t explain why terminal illness strikes godly people. We don’t understand how our strongest friends can become our fiercest critics. The anguish of a broken marriage or the overwhelming heartbreak of a prodigal child drives us to doubt God’s purpose, plan and provision. The fear of financial ruin paralyzes us. God understands.

The Bible is filled with men and women who were storm survivors – people of God who endured great pain and weathered intense life storms because they chose to follow Him. The Apostle Paul, known for persecuting and murdering Christians, was forever changed when he met Jesus Christ. While God gave him a life of great power and eternal impact, it was also a life filled with great storms. Paul learned to “patiently” endure the troubles, hardships and calamities that came his way. (2 Corinthians 6:4 NLT)

Because grain was a precious food source to the Romans, threshing grain was a natural part of every day in ancient Rome. In pictures of early Rome, one man is always seen stirring up the sheaves while another rides over them in a crude cart equipped with rollers instead of wheels. Sharp stones and rough bits of iron were attached to these wheels to help separate the husks from the grain. This simple cart was called a “tribulum” from which we get our word “tribulation.”

No Roman ever used his tribulum as a tool of destruction - only refinement. God uses our trials and storms as tools of refinement to build in us endurance. The word “endure” comes from two Greek words that when combined, give the meaning “to remain under.” It is the capacity to stay under the load, to remain in the circumstances without running away or looking for the easy way out.

The purpose of every storm is to purify and cultivate endurance. Like Paul, we may sometimes feel as if we are being torn to pieces under the pressure of circumstances. But his challenge to the Romans compels us to re-examine our perspective and response to each storm we face. “We can rejoice, too, when we run into problems and trials, for we know that they are good for us--they help us learn to endure. Endurance then develops strength of character in us, and character strengthens our confident expectation of salvation” (Romans 5:3-5 NLT).

Endurance is never passive. It is the picture of a soldier staying in the heat of the battle under terrible opposition but still pressing forward to gain the victory.

There are few things that we can count on in this unpredictable life - but we can count on storms to come. We can also count on God’s continual and unfailing strength for those storms. When the hard times come and when bad things happen, we do not have to wonder where God is. Instead we can hold on to the promise that is found in Jeremiah 16:19, “Lord, you are my strength, and my protection. You are a safe place for me to run in times of trouble” (NLT).

An old seaman once said, "In fierce storms we can do but one thing. There is only one way to survive. We must put the ship in a certain position and keep her there." Richard Fuller commented on the old seaman’s words:

“This, Christian, is what you must do. Sometimes, like Paul, you can see neither sun nor stars, and no small tempest lies on you. Reason cannot help you. Past experiences give you no light. Only a single course is left. You must stay upon the Lord; and come what may -- winds, waves, cross seas, thunder, lightning, frowning rocks, roaring breakers -- no matter what, you must lash yourself to the helm and hold fast your confidence in God's faithfulness and his everlasting love in Christ Jesus.”

No matter what storm rages in your life today – no matter how fierce the winds or how high the waves may be – where you are is no surprise to God. Heaven is not in a panic. Keep your gaze on Him and your glance on the raging waters. “Lash yourself” to Him and He will supply everything you need to stand firm in the storm.

HAPPY EASTER- HE IS RISEN!

On the third day he rose again.’ Such is the bald statement in the Creeds. But why does this give hope that you and I and all of us will, like Jesus, be brought after death into eternal life? Let us admit that we are totally out of our depth in talking about the resurrection of Jesus, because it was a divine initiative.

The best place to start is from God’s viewpoint. God’s question was: ‘How can we get across to the disciples that divine love conquers even death, and that Jesus will bring people through death into eternal life and joy?’
The disciples had seen that Jesus had brought several people back to life -the widow’s son, Jairus’ daughter and Lazarus. This gave them some hope about death. But now Jesus himself was dead. Death seemed to have conquered him. To be brought to believe that in his dying, Jesus had overcome our death, the disciples would need a great deal of convincing.
So the divine Persons decide that the risen Jesus – the same, yet different - will encounter the shocked and hopeless disciples. He will meet them in their ordinary lives and gently draw the veil. Gradually they will recognise him. They will realise that he has come back to them, to bring them – and you and me – into the divine dimension of reality where he himself is.
The resurrection of Jesus was planned by God, not by disciples who were trying to retain their credibility after the ignominious death of their leader. It was a divine initiative, a bolt from the blue. Caught totally off guard, the disciples only slowly became convinced that something dramatic had happened, and that it changed everything.
Their faith in the resurrection of Jesus was based on the encounters they had with him. They tell us that they met him, not once but over and over, in the Garden, in the Upper Room, at the Lakeside, in an Emmaus inn. As for the nature of these encounters between the risen Lord and the disciples, they are outside our experience. But we must not spiritualise the massive realism of these encounters which occurred on the border between God’s world and ours. The world, of course, is not simply ‘ours’ but also God’s

Billy Graham shares the reading of Christ's resurection.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=l-8Z5_VljXQ

Ron DiCianni: Painting the Resurrection

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=-yABivU-AKQ

OBEY MY VOICE

But this is what I commanded them, saying, ‘Obey My voice, and I will be your God, and you will be My people; and you will walk in all the way which I command you, that it may be well with you,’ (Jeremiah 7:23 NASB).

 We look at how quickly we knock (ask God for direction in prayer), but how reluctant we are to wait for the answer before plowing ahead.

Many problems and messes in our lives come from not waiting on God’s answer before we move forward and forge ahead with our own desires without hearing clear direction from God.

Silence from God does not mean “go ahead, do what you want to do.” God not saying “no” cannot be interpreted as God saying “yes.” I’m not sure if that sentence is even grammatically correct, but it is scripturally accurate.

“God didn’t stop me from buying that house, so I did it.” “God didn’t stop me from marrying that man, so I did it.” “God didn’t stop me from sleeping with that boy, so I did it.” Oh my. “I knocked and you didn’t answer, so I came on in.”

If you aren’t hearing from God in a particular area of your life, here are a few questions to consider.

1. Are you obeying what He already has told you to do?
2. Are you living your life according to the principles He already has mapped out for you?
3. Are you asking for direction in one area of your life, and yet knowingly disobeying Him in another?

Perhaps God is waiting for you to do something He already has told you to do, before He tells you the next thing or gives you further direction.

So what do we do when we knock on God’s door and we don’t hear an answer right away? We looked at various options, but one thing is for certain, silence from God cannot be interpreted as a “yes.” “Well, God didn’t tell me ‘no,’ so I went on ahead.” That’s not going to work. It could be that God is waiting for us to obey what He already HAS told us, before He gives further direction.


First he turned to Matthew 6:8-15.

“For your Father knows what you need before you ask him. This, then, is how you should pray: `Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us today our daily bread. Forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one. For if you forgive men when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.”

Then he turned to Matthew 18:19.

“’Again, I tell you that if two of you on earth agree about anything you ask for, it will be done for you by my Father in heaven. For where two or three come together in my name, there am I with them.’ Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, ‘Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother when he sins against me? Up to seven times?’ Jesus answered, "I tell you, not seven times, but seventy-seven times.”

I am not saying that obedience in one area will make you’ll strike it rich, find the man of your dreams, or live happily ever after. However, I do believe that sometimes God’s silence is due to the fact that He is waiting for us to obey what we do know before He gives us more direction.

So go ahead and knock! Ask! Pray! But make sure that you are doing what you do know has told you to do first.