DO NOT PRAY LIKE A POLITICIAN…THE POWER OF UNCENSORED PRAYER!

 

Politicians are notorious for telling voters what they want to hear. To win your vote, they make promises they know they won’t keep. They sing us sweet lullabies of better days ahead. They go to great lengths and hire people to write speeches that will evoke loud applauses. Election time can become one big circus.  If I am not careful, I can fall into the trap of praying like a politician.

God is not concerned about me giving speeches in prayer; telling Him what I think He wants to hear. He is not asking me to make empty promises. He is not asking me to have well thought out phrases and giving Him my resume. He is not impressed by any of this.
I had the privilege to once again hear this dynamic man of God speak this weekend.  He spoke on being a house of prayer.  He reminded me that in order to get to this point, I must be like Jesus and pray RAW HONEST prayers.  Jesus is inviting me and you to come and tell Him all, withholding nothing.

He invites me to cast all my cares on Him.  Telling Him the good, the bad and the ugly.  Allow Him to see my heart, inviting me to replace my filth with His righteousness and giving me a greater level of freedom.

He invites me to come and tell Him that I really don’t want to forgive because the offense just seemed too great and the offender never said sorry.  RAW HONEST EMOTIONS.  He invites me to cry out and ask Him to help me go beyond my feelings and ask Him for the grace to walk in forgiveness as many times as it is needed!

He invites me to be honest, take off my church face, abandon my well-crafted speeches and tell Him that I feel doubt overtaking me. When I have been in the wilderness longer than I would like and I begin to wonder if He has forgotten about what He has promised.  He wants me to have raw conversations with Him about my doubts and then sit long enough to get His faith infused answer giving me the proper perspective to continue to believe!

He invites me to be honest and tell Him that my flesh loves the applauses of man making me sometimes more focused on pleasing them instead of pleasing Him.  He wants me to be honest and tell Him that I struggle to not think too much of myself.  It is then that He begins to show me how to be like Him, how to imitate His humility.  Jesus type of humility can never be fabricated, only in prayer can pride be put to death!

I officially resign from praying like a politician.  I want to be a house of prayer, flowing in the power of God.  Teach me Lord.  How about you?

 

 

 

Repentance is the warm up before prayer

 

Most workout enthusiast encourage you to warm up before exercising because it is crucial to an effective workout.  It warms your muscles, increases blood flow to exercising muscles and the heart, which minimizes the risk of injury and increases your energy.  The same is true for prayer.  There are times we want to jump in COLD and our prayers feel like they are hitting the ceiling.  We know we have done wrong and we refuse to acknowledge it, we just want to tell God all we need from Him.   However, I have learned that REPENTACE melts the frost off our hearts causing the blood of Jesus to flow in our situation.  It is arrogant to think that we can just come into the presence of God expecting something without acknowledging that we have done wrong.  God is simply not pleased with arrogance.  He makes it quite clear that He resist the proud but gives grace to the humble (James 4:6).  True Repentance requires true humility.

Sometimes we say sorry because we don’t like the consequences of our actions, but would return to that sinful action in a heartbeat if there were no consequences attached; if we knew we would not be caught.   This is not true repentance.  Repentance is saying God I am sorry and I really mean it.  I regret what I have done and I truly want to change.  I want to turn from my sinful ways because I know it displeases you.  Repentance says I want to turn my back on sin and run forward into the arms of Jesus.  It is more than words, it is a shifting of the heart.  It is an invitation to Jesus to come in and make right all that is wrong.   Yes I prayed that initial prayer when I first came to Christ asking Him to forgive me of my sins, but that was not intended to be my only prayer of repentance.  As I go with Christ, His truth shines the light on the parts of me that need to change.  I have given up on trying to fix me because the list is long.   However when I repent, I am inviting Jesus to shower me with HIS grace to walk in victory. For His strength to turn away from the very thing that displeases Him.  It is an ongoing process, but one that brings great FREEDOM!

Is there something that you know you need to repent of so that your prayers will not be hindered?  Anger, jealousy, a bad attitude?   I encourage you to pour your heart out to Jesus and receive His forgiveness so that you can move forward in your prayers.

If we claim we have no sin, we are only fooling ourselves and not living in the truth. But if we confess our sins to him, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all wickedness. If we claim we have not sinned, we are calling God a liar and showing that his word has no place in our hearts.  1 John 1:8-10 NLT

 

Keep Calm and Pray On

 

As you all know by now, I am expecting…great things from God.

In my first and only birthing class over 12 years ago, I learned that I should not let my emotions get the best of me when the pain from the contractions during delivery came.  It was recommended that I use a breathing pattern to help to keep me calm through the contractions. I did not understand why there was such a strong emphasis on staying focused and breathing until that faithful December morning over 11 years ago.  I had NEVER felt pain like that before, it was unreal.  The temptation was there to scream and totally lose it but I REMEMBERED!  I made up my own unorthodox breathing pattern when the excruciating pain from the contractions overwhelmed me.  The” breathing instead of screaming like a mad woman” approach did not cause the pain to go away but it helped to put me in a zone.  I knew that there was no going back, the baby had to be delivered.  The pain was a part of the package for life to come.  THE. PAIN. WAS. A. PART. OF. THE. PACKAGE. FOR. LIFE. TO. COME.  And so it is with life…

 

 

 

 

 

Many of my revelations come from my experiences as a wife and mother.

God reveals so much to me in what may appear to be mundane.  But in my barefoot and pregnant, wiping noses, potty training, nursing, “I said no for the 10th time,”  “what do you want for dinner” seasons of life   I have come to get a greater revelation of Jesus.  Making the mundane magnificent. In life Jesus is teaching me not to get distracted by pain.  He is teaching me to keep calm and pray on.

The pain of waiting for an answer to prayer can cause you to lose it.

The pain of uncertainty and the realization that control is an illusion can cause you to lose it.

The pain from a negative diagnosis from the doctor can cause you to lose it.

The pain from too little money and too many bills can cause you to lose it.

The pain from lost dreams and disappointments can cause you to lose it.

The pain of life is inevitable. If you are not careful, you can be distracted by the pain.  You can forget that you are in labor and though the pain is great, something beautiful awaits you on the other end.  Do not get stuck in the middle of delivery and lose what God has promised.  Screaming and letting your emotions get the best of you can prove to be detrimental.  Today I encourage you to refocus, breathe in the goodness of God, and stand on His promises. Get in a zone and keep calm and pray on!  Prayer indeed birth great things!

“…The earnest prayer of a righteous person has great power and produces wonderful results.”  James 5:16 NLT

 

Prayer Is The Ultimate Ice Breaker

In a previous post I mentioned a life changing leadership conference I attended.  I am still processing all that I learned.  I took note of what the speaker used as an icebreaker on the second day…PRAYER.   He told us to find someone in the room that we did not know and pray for his/her need.  I quickly found a sweet young lady.  We exchanged names and she asked me with a smile, “How can I pray for you?”  HOW. CAN. I. PRAY. FOR. YOU?  And before I could filter my thoughts and give her a general and “safe” prayer request, I found myself opening up and spilling some very personal information about myself.  Information that I would have preferred not to lead a conversation with, especially to a total stranger.  But that was the point she wasn’t a stranger she was my sister in the Lord.  There was a great sense of comfort as I shared.  She listened with a smile, and then it was her turn.  She gave her prayer request and then we took turns and prayed for each other.  Then just like that the ice was broken for me.  Whatever walls or inhibitions that were up came down.  My heart was prepped through prayer. This prayer set the stage for me for the rest of the conference, it was the icebreaker.

That simple demonstration greatly impacted me.  Allow me to explain.  The speaker mentioned how we have complicated a simple thing.  We go to extravagant lengths to do “church.”  But what if, what if we returned to one of the traditions mentioned in bible…PRAYER!  Prayer doesn’t require any special fund raising, or man made strategies.  All it requires is a heart after God and a desire to see His kingdom manifested here on earth as it is in heaven.  Prayer breaks every ice because it brings us directly before the throne of God. As we seek His face in genuine prayer He sends the fire.  The fire that revives, purges, and makes new. I have fallen in love with prayer all over again because I have fallen in love with Jesus AGAIN.  I am seeing Him in a totally different light.  SIMPLY beautiful.  SIMPLY.  Prayer from a pure heart is one of the most beautiful things to listen to.  I love to hear passionate people pray.  I feel like I am getting the inside scoop between two friends.  Real prayer that breaks the ice is not about proper grammar, volume, or even length .  Real prayer is birth from a humble(repentant)  and hungry heart.  PERIOD.

Be Blessed!

Anika

 

I am going to tell my daddy on you

My children excel in telling on each other.  There are six of them, so there are many opportunities for disagreements throughout the course of the day.  When things get a little rough, you can hear one of them shouting, “I am going to tell daddy/mommy on you.”  When they feel they are losing the battle, they give up on arguing and run straight to either Tyrone or I to pour out their distress.  When they tell on each other, they hold nothing back.  Raw emotions are spilled out and no stone is left unturned.  They are not worried about composure; how it looks or sounds.  If the offense is great, there are even real hot crocodile tears.

 

 

If only we could take a page out of their book.  Instead of fighting and trying to prove our point, defend ourselves, fight our own battles we should run and tell our heavenly father all about it in prayer.  Tyrone and I may be annoyed at all the telling and rarely do we invite them to tell us all the Nitti gritty but not so with our heavenly father. He lovingly invites us to come.  Tell Him all, hold nothing back in prayer.  Cast It. Throw it. Give Him all of our worries to Him.  Why?  He cares for us.  Lovingly and perfectly.  He cares for me.  He cares for you.  Don’t worry about trying to find the words, just pour it all out to your daddy.  Don’t try to hold back the tears, let them flow.  Your tears and raw emotions are safe with Him.  You can be vulnerable.

 

After the kids get through telling, we often ask them what their part in the offense was.  Be prepared to hear and RECEIVE God’s response after you are done telling.  God is masterful at showing us ourselves, things that we didn’t and would prefer not to see. He doesn’t show us to make us feel hopeless but rather that we will be transformed to be like Him.  I often go telling on someone in prayer only for God to show me how I am also a guilty party in the matter.  He shows me my need to repent, my need to see His perspective.  Telling is as much about God correcting my offender as it is about God lovingly correcting me. So when you go telling, be humble enough to receive the response.  Yes He comforts, but because we are His children, He also corrects.

So the next time that husband, that coworker, that child, that friend now turn enemy pushes don’t push back in your flesh, only complicating the matter.  Run and go tell your daddy on them in prayer.