Monday, March 2, 2009
Always in every prayer of mine for you all making request with joy, Philippians 1:4
Matthew Henry speaks of this "As holy joy is the heart and soul of thankful praise, so thankful praise is the lip and language of holy joy."
This speaks to me so clearly. As I sometimes pray I realize the heart of my prayers and wonder, "Is God listening to this request" I even ask myself often times "Are my motives truly pure?" Is my soul giving thankful praise? Or do I simply follow the guidelines of "effective prayer"? Do I have holy joy when praying for another?... "holy joy is the heart and soul of thankful praise" How powerful those words! Paul while praying for the churches did so with joy. He rejoiced to the Lord for all people. To truly have joyful prayers at all seems so simple but to consider the word "rejoice", I begin to realize the joyfulness that Paul must have had just to simply pray at all! How many times do we dread the thought of prayer, to have to find the extra time to sit and be in communion with our Lord and Savior, the Creator of the Universe. And when we do begin how often do we rush to finish. Does it become a chore? Do we simply check PRAY off our "to do" list'. And when we ask God, "How can I glorify you today?" is our heart really ready to receive what He wants to speak to us? Do we not all seek to be so at one with the will of God that we can rejoice with joy regardless of what His will is? And, if we could see His will before us and be given the opportunity to change it, would we? Do we rejoice in the joy of His awesome plan for our life?
Lord I just ask you today to give me a pure heart. Give me the desires to pray joyfully! To rejoice with you Lord that I am able to have this communion with you. That You Lord God have given me direct access to You, my Holy God, the Maker of Heaven and Earth! Today Lord, I rejoice that I am yours! And that you God hear the prayers of a righteous man! I rejoice in the knowledge that YOU have a plan for my life and in you I can take rest!
Thursday, February 26, 2009
Fulfil ye my joy, that ye be likeminded, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind. Philippeans 2:2
Make full, be complete, of the same mind, equally ready to love and to be loved. I ask God to humble me in my prayers, yet there are times when I see he has given me those opportunities to be humble and I fail him. There may be an opportunity to love another who may not be so easily lovable. Or an opportunity to express Godly kindness to someone who may not be such a kind person. These are the moments that our Lord gives to us to let the Holy Spirit be seen in us. These are the moments we should rejoice in. Expressing Christ's love for us to another is our calling. It is our purpose. It is what sets us apart from those not in Christ. It is that "thing" that we have that someone can say "I want that". It is Jesus Christ. It is the joy that we as Christians should be and can be experiencing that we often chose not to experience. That is the joy I am seeking. That is the joy I am missing. Without the love of Christ, I cannot have joy. Today I am humbled that I have allowed strife and not peace into my heart. Because in that, I have quenched the Spirit and forgotten the true meaning of Joy.
The Joy of Christ
There are approximately 468 bible verses with the word "Joy" in them. I have committed myself to study each one.
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