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Weekly Wisdom Winnows
by Lisa Mendenhall
Compare your prayer life, now, to what it used to be; do you detect an improvement in quality? in quantity? What about confidence in your prayers, do you have assurance? Or, do you observe a 'falling away' from what you once believed and practiced? Why is it that most of us would have to answer, "falling away"? What causes us to lay down our prayer lives? What is it that makes us give up on praying for our family, our nation, other people?
It could be the lack of seeing the answers to our prayers. Perhaps in the past, some of us prayed over something to change or someone to change, but didn't get the results we expected or just didn't see any, period! In response, we caved-in and quit praying altogether instead of praying more! We privately let prayer slip right out of our lives because of discouragement and disappointment. We allowed ourselves to "become weary in well-doing" by not seeing the results that we expected to see or wanted to see. Basically, we just quit trying. In turn, the 'not trying' has allowed a lot more of the world to creep into our lives. In the process, we have also given place to the devil by not "fighting the good fight of faith." In some cases, we no longer recognize the enemy when he comes in. When we quit praying regularly, we get dull of hearing and insensitive to the Holy Spirit's leading.
We need to remember this: When we pray over a situation and don't see the results we want, when we want, let's step back and look at the whole picture. What did our prayer do? Did our prayer cause confusion in the enemies camp? Did our prayer lessen the severity of the situation even if it couldn’t stop it? For example, I heard a minister ask God why the people were able to come in and hurt United States during 9-11 because we had prayed for our nation and its protection, regularly. He heard this answer: "How bad do you think it would have been if you all had NOT been praying?" Sometimes, we have to look at it from a whole new perspective. What have our prayers prevented? Sometimes, we have to look at the things we don’t see, not just at what we can see.
One more thing, guard your prayers by watching your words after you pray. Negative talk about what you prayed will cause your prayers to be ineffective! It will tear down what you just asked in faith. So, GUARD YOUR TONGUE! GUARD YOUR THOUGHTS! If, for some reason your prayers don’t seem to be working, seek God; ask Him to reveal whether there is anything blocking it. Then, if there isn’t, DON”T BE DISCOURAGED! Don’t quit!
Look at the whole picture, and continue to trust God. Some things that your prayers accomplish won't be revealed 'til we get to heaven. It is time to get back to prayer and stay there! Pick your prayer life back up, dust it off, and stand praying! Time is short, and God needs all pray-ers on duty!
Rate it:
'To separate the chaff from (grain) by means of a current of air. To rid of undesirable parts. To separate or get rid of (an undesirable part); eliminate: winnowing out the errors in logic. ...separate grain from chaff...separate the good from the bad...examine closely in order to separate the good from the bad; sift...' (www.dictionary.com) 'This study gave me direction and focus for my teaching. God had placed a longing in my heart to teach the body of Christ how to separate from carnal thinking and rid themselves of old ways that hinder their Spiritual growth. I desire to see them live victoriously, by the 'higher ways' of God's wisdom.'
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