Rich Dad, Poor Dad (Taken with instagram)
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Bring me joy. Bring me peace. Bring the chance to be free. Bring me anything that brings You glory.
And I know there’ll be days when this life brings me pain, but if that’s what it takes to praise You - Jesus, bring the rain.
” — MercyMe“Is any pleasure on earth as great as a circle of Christian friends by a good fire?” — C.S. Lewis
God planted stories our hearts and mind to tell and influence others. Never die with a song still to sing, a book untold, a picture unpainted, a movie unprojected.
“Therefore, so that I would not exalt myself, a thorn in the flesh was given to me, a messenger of Satan to torment me so I would not exalt myself. Concerning this, I pleaded with the Lord three times to take it away from me. But He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness.”
The “thorn” is a visual reminder that no matter how privileged or prestigious you may be, you still have a flaw about you. And instead of removing your flaw, God shows us an undeserving favor by giving us Christ’s power in it’s place.
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I recently thought about a question that went something like this: “Couldn’t God just do something on His own [e.g. heal, bless financially, come to the rescue, etc.] without us having to ask?” Are His actions limited to our requests? As if, unless we pray for something - even if its dire - He won’t move unless we ask? I think that kinda makes Him more like a slave at our beckon call - sorta like a genie. The genie is all-powerful but only acts upon our commands.
Do our prayers command God, or are we misunderstanding what prayer is?
I’ve come to believe that prayer benefits us more than God. YHWH doesn’t need our prayer to move, nor does our prayers add to His all-sufficient, self-sufficient Self. The only benefit prayer has to God is the communion with His sons and daughters. Prayer is communication. And when I communicate with my mentors and coaches, I submit myself to their advise, and I agree to change for better results. I see prayer in the same light, except God’s knowledge of me is not limited to what I reveal. God knows me more than I know myself. And when I pray I come before the Potter as the clay in submission to be molded as a vessel of choice. And our change of mind (repentance, in the Greek) causes a change of action, which in turn butterfly effects the world around us. And God uses us to be His hands and feet to a world that questions His presence.
Prayer attunes us to insights from our omniscient Mentor and we change in accordance to our purpose… to His purpose for us. “Prayer is not to get what we want from God; prayer is to get what God wants for us.”
1 require (something) because it is essential…
God doesn’t need us. He doesn’t need our worship, and He doesn’t need our praise - as if God needs eulogy to survive. God was and is and forever will be without us.
We need God. And though our praise and worship is about Him, it’s for our benefit. We praise and we worship because we need to. YHWH is the well out of which we draw out living water and drink. YHWH is the bread of life that fills us up. We praise and we worship because we need God to survive and by His love we are saved.