Scripture Prayer and Motivation

When we think “motivation”,

• We think business…increase profits;

• We think school…raise those test scores;

• We think personal growth…make those major changes!

Seems like motivation just got invented in this last century, doesn’t it? Well, it didn’t! Motivation has been around for thousands of years. And it looks like God invented it. Yes, it’s a God-thing!

God, the Motivator In Exodus 12, God is giving Moses instruction for the Passover ritual, the ritual that the Israelites are to observe before the tenth and final plague hits in Egypt . God gives specific detail, about what they are to do. And then God tells then exactly what they are to do each year as a reminder of what he had done to deliver them from the slavery of Egypt . Repeat the ritual! Don’t forget! Remind yourselves of how special you are to Me.” (paraphrased)

That’s motivation! And it’s set to impact all the senses, not just sight and hearing: ­

--There’s a lamb to hold and love ­

--Food to smell and taste ­

--Prayers to pray ­

--Songs to sing ­

--Hearts to warm as the family gathers ­

And the incredible story of deliverance to ponder and cherish. This scene carries many of the elements that …..Accelerated Learning researchers consider essential for a great learning situation …..Neuroscientists would consider optimum for changing behavior …..Total Physical Response educators set up for the learning of a new language. The new language is the language of motivation: Encourage yourselves and don’t forget…you’re special! Joshua Prospers In Joshua 1:8 the Lord tells Joshua to study the Word, not to let the Word depart from his sight. Then Joshua will make his way prosperous. Does that sound like a motivational plan to you? The plan worked.

Joshua led Israel in the taking of the Land of Promise : Canaan . Not a small accomplishment! Everyone remembers one of those exploits: the battle of Jericho . God’s motivational plan for Joshua not only worked, but some of Joshua’s feats have become legendary. God’s motivational plan is still in place. Praying scripture-based prayers is one of the ways we can keep the Word in our sights. Having these prayers in audio form make the plan even easier to adhere to. David: a Master of Motivation Scripture is full of motivational stories being acted out. In 1Samuel 30:6 David is at one of the lowest points in his life: …..his home and town were burned to the ground …..all of the women and children are kidnapped …..All of David’s worldly possession are stolen …..his men are preparing to kill him in their anger and grief! David’s reaction to this dilemma? He encourages himself in the Lord. He puts on the ephod of the priest and prays. The word “encourage” is chazaq in Hebrew, #2388 in Strong’s.

It means: To seize To be strong, courageous To bind, restrain, conquer To become mighty, to prevail, to withstand To behave oneself valiantly …..quite a loaded word! David is obviously a master of God’s motivational program. He moves from that time of prayer to a time of stepping up in leadership. David persuades the men who plan to kill him, to follow him instead. Together they overtake the enemy and regain all, goods and family members alike. David apparently knew how to motivate others as well as motivate himself. His words to his men are not recorded. But they must have been some power-packed words to turn that murderously angry crowd into a submitted war-machine. Tap into the Power We have access to power-packed words today in Scripture. God has not changed. He still wants us: ­ To recognize and commemorate the wonderful things He has done for us ­ --To be assured that we are special; ­

--To encourage our hearts with His motivational stories from Scripture; ­

--To have our minds renewed according to His Word so that we can live an abundantly fruitful life.

There is no more powerful way to begin and end the day than with: ­ Prayers of thanksgiving and praise for who God is and what He has done. ­ Prayer affirmations reminding ourselves that we are the apple of God’s eye with a special destiny.

Source: Pray the Scriptures

http://www.pray-the-scriptures.com/howtoprayscripture/howtoprayscripture.html

Gain Discernment In Five Easy Steps

Who we can gain the discernment to be able to know right from wrong, biblical from unbiblical at the early stages of contradicting the will of God?

There is no easy way to gain discernment. Like everything else in the Christian life, it is difficult, costly and requires great dedication. As a wise grandparent may have told you, the good things in life - those things of great value - rarely come easily. It seems, though, that they are usually worth the effort.

First, I’d like to begin with a couple of definitions of words we may use synonymously but in reality have very different meanings:

Wisdom - Wisdom relates to the mind, the intellect and the control of behavior. Wisdom is a way of thinking about life and reality that enables someone to appreciate and pursue what is good in life while avoiding what is evil. God reveals life’s values and how humans can achieve those.

Instruction - Instruction is the learning of wisdom through moral and intellectual discipline.

Discernment - Insight is insight and understanding; the ability to make distinctions between good and bad, better and best. In the book of Proverbs this is synonymous with the word “insight.”

Discretion - Discretion is the application of insight in making good decisions.

Start With Wisdom - Start With Proverbs
The first few verses of Proverbs describe the purpose of the book:

"To know wisdom and instruction,

to understand words of insight,

to receive instruction in wise dealing,

in righteousness, justice, and equity;

to give prudence to the simple,

knowledge and discretion to the youth—

Let the wise hear and increase in learning,

and the one who understands obtain guidance,

to understand a proverb and a saying,

the words of the wise and their riddles. "

To summarize we can say that this book is given to teach wisdom through instruction. This allows insight and prudence which in turn allow discretion. We could also say that as we are instructed in wisdom we learn to be prudent in our discernment between what is good and what is evil. Discernment plays out practically in using discretion to making decisions. What we see is that there is an entire book of the Bible, and a long one at that, whose purpose is to teach wisdom which is a necessary prerequisite to discernment.

Practically, then, begin with Proverbs. Read and devour the book. Allow the wisdom of God given to Solomon and other men to become your wisdom. Apply the Proverbs to your own life.

Fear the Lord
One needs to read only seven verses into Proverbs to learn the key to wisdom. “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge; fools despise wisdom and instruction.” (Proverbs 1:7). To be wise, one must fear the Lord. This is not a fear that we can equate with terror and trembling, but what the Geneva Study Bible calls “a reverent awe and worshipful response of faith to the God who reveals Himself as Creator, Savior and Judge.” In other words, to have discernment one must first be wise, and to be wise one must have a deep and intimate knowledge of God.

How does one know the Lord? By immersing himself in Scripture. Scripture teaches all we need to know and all we are required to know about God. If we know Scripture, we will know wisdom. Make the cry of the Psalmist in Psalm 119 your cry: “Oh how I love Your law, it is my meditation all the day.” (Psalm 199:97)

Ask God
“If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him.” (James 1:5) If you want to be wise, ask God for wisdom. Ask with faith (verse 6) but also ask knowing that wisdom is something you must work towards. God does not indicate that He will give us wisdom as He gave it to Solomon. Wisdom will lead us ever back to the Scripture which is the tool God has given us to make us wise.

Walk With The Wise
“He who walks with wise men will be wise, but the companion of fools will be destroyed.” (Proverbs 13:20). To be wise we must walk with others who are wise. We must choose as our companions those who also value wisdom and discernment. We must flee from those who are fools and who reject God’s wisdom, preferring earthly wisdom over that which is heavenly. I believe the primary mark of a fool is his arrogance against God, so avoid those who are humble towards men, but arrogant towards God.

“My books are my tools, and I use them. I cannot afford to be a book collector; neither the budget nore the diminishing shelf space permits such a luxury. I enjoy my library. Each book is a friend that converses with and teaches me. Better to have fewer of the best books than to clutter your shelves with volumes that cannot serve you well. Above all, love your books, use them, and dedicate all you learn to the service of Jesus Christ.” (a quote by Warren Wiersbe)

Reading good books is one of the best ways we can walk with the wise. Though they may have gone to their reward long before we were born or though we may never meet them in this life, we can walk with wise men through the words they have written. Read Calvin, Luther, Spurgeon, Tozer, Sproul, MacArthur…there are so many who can teach us so much.

Persevere
There are no shortcuts to gaining wisdom and discernment. Just look at the long list of men who have not been able to “finish strong,” having fallen for false teachings even after many years of study and dedication. Press on, never believing you have arrived, always examining your own heart and always asking God to increase your wisdom.

by Tim Challies, blogger, author and web designer. His first book, "The Discipline of Spiritual Discernment," will be available on January 7, 2008.

Source: Gain Discernment In Five Easy Steps

http://www.challies.com/archives/articles/gain-discernmen.php

4 Steps to know God

1. GOD LOVES YOU AND IS SEEKING TO HAVE PERSONAL RELATIONSHIP WITH YOU
"In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us, and sent His Son to remove the barrier of sin." (1 John 4:10)
God loves you and planned a wonderful, full life for you. He wants to enter a personal and intimate relationship with you that includes fellowship, inner peace, happiness, guidance in life and power to fulfill His special plan for your life.

2. SIN HAS CREATED A BARRIER BETWEEN MAN AND GOD
“All have sinned and come short of the Glory of God.” (Romans 3:23)
GOD is Holy, and cannot have a relationship with anyone who falls short of His righteous character. Sin began when man went his own independent way and rejected his relationship with God. At that point, man became unacceptable to God’s Holy character.
The Ten Commandments were given to show us how good we would have to be if we try to come to God in our own merit. But God doesn’t grade our law-keeping on the curve. He said, “For whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles in one point, he has become guilty of all.” (James 2:10)
No matter how sincere we are, or how hard we try, or how religious we are, we can never produce a righteousness that God can accept. Even our good deeds are not acceptable in God’s sight, “But we are all like an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are like filthy rags …” (Isaiah 64:6)
So our sin has created a barrier that we cannot remove. Even though God loves you, He cannot compromise His holy character to receive you. Only God can remove this barrier.

3. JESUS CHRIST CAME TO REMOVE THE BARRIER BETWEEN GOD AND MAN
Jesus said of Himself, “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” (John 3:16)
“The Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.” (Matthew 20:28)
You see, God so loved us that He stepped out of eternity into time and became a man in the person of Jesus Christ. He lived a perfect life as a man and thus qualified to die for the sins of the world. He then willingly died in our place to purchase a pardon for sins and satisfy the demands of His own perfect justice. When He did, He tore down the barrier of sin that separated us.

4. NOW THERE IS ONLY ONE BARRIER BETWEEN YOU AND GOD YOU MUST RECEIVE THE PARDON JESUS PURCHASED FOR YOU
Jesus Christ has removed every barrier that stood between you and God except one -- you must receive the pardon He purchased for you by an act of your will. You see, a pardon is not a pardon until it is received. There is a pardon with your name on it in heaven, but you must receive it to make it valid.
It is not a matter of how good you are -- or even how bad you are. The issue is, will you talk to God and tell him you receive the pardon he purchased for you. He wants you to come just as you are and confess you can never be good enough for Him to accept.
YOU can change your eternal destiny right now. Wherever you are, just bow your head and tell God you receive His pardon for your sins. Ask Jesus Christ to come into your life and begin to give you a new heart with new desires. He will come into your life and bring a new power and motivation for living you never dreamed possible.
Jesus gave us this invitation, “Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with Me.” (Revelation 3:20) The door represents your will.
The Lord Jesus Christ is knocking at the door of your will right now. Just invite Him in and receive the gift of pardon He gave His life to give you. Then thank Him for the pardon and that He must keep His Word.
Don’t expect feelings right away. Some have them, some don’t. The important thing is to simply believe God keeps His Word and He now has come to live in you. Seek out a Church that is true to the Bible and seek to learn about your new life.
“For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.” (2 Corinthians 5:21)


Welcome to the forever family of God!

by Hal Lindsey
Source - http://hallindsey.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=5&Itemid=37