Hannah and Prayer ~Day 21

11 Sunday Mar 2012

Posted by tiffmartens in Faith, Giving, Prayer, Sacrifice, Surrender, Uncategorized, Yielded

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“For this child I prayed, and the LORD hath given me my petition which I asked of Him.” I Samuel 1:27

In the midst of pain for what she could not have on her own, Hannah found herself willing and ready to offer back to the Lord what was already His. Her heart and mind had been brought to the knowledge and awareness that it would take a miracle for her to conceive; in such a case, what only God could give to her, she vowed back to Him, realizing that this was not to be her son, but God’s.

We will find that what we desire or ask for [from God] is not ours at all (though we may have the pleasure of being stewards of His welcomed gifts). We will find in prayer, that we will better receive when we give back to God that which we cannot rightly keep anyways.

We are not to consume God’s gifts upon our own desires and lusts, but for His purposes and glory. James 4:3 says: “You ask, and receive not, because you ask amiss, that you may spend it upon your lusts.” Hannah asked with a heart already surrendered and an attitude resolved to give back what she desired so badly. When she died to her dream and found that God was the only one who could raise up this miracle in her womb, she received a heavenly blessing. She was given a son that was dedicated to God.

In prayer we must die to our own requests, our own desires and come to the point of full surrender to God’s will…we must pray His will – not ours – or we will become lost in the moment that ours is not answered. When we have been so molded and conformed to an understanding of what God desires of us, no sacrifice will be too great to give Him. What is mine must become His if I am to expect the blessings of abiding in prayer.

Tiffany

New Hope

25 Sunday Dec 2011

Posted by hstelzl in Holiday, hope, Hoping, Salvation

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Isaiah 9:2-5, paraphrased…

Israel, Thy people that walked in darkness have seen a great light. It has shined upon them. You have multiplied them and gone before them and given them new joy. You have broken the yoke of their burden and the staff on their shoulder, and the rod of their oppressors, just as you delivered Gideon in the battle of Midian. Their enemies have become confused and the garments of their enemies are rolled in blood – they are conquered: but, this is nothing. It is all kindling for the fire.

Israel has fought the good fight. They are ready to take of the spoils of the enemy. Isaiah shows up on the scene, and he says “Those spoils are worthless to you. You might as well burn them up.” Why? Israel fought for those things – sacrificed their lives for them! They were oppressed, but now they are free…and leave the spoils? Isaiah tells them why:

“For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even forever. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this.” ~Isaiah 9:6-7

The worldly spoils…the things the world promises us happiness with…they are nothing. For unto us is given a greater gift. “For God so loved the world that He gave his only begotten Son…” This Christmas is new hope. A chance to remember over two-thousand years ago, when a seemingly ordinary baby was born, in an ordinary stable, to an ordinary young mother, to accomplish God’s extraordinary plan for redemption .A plan birthed before the foundations of the world.

Lay aside every weight, and the sin that so easily besets you. Push those things that compete for your love and your affection away. Turn to the child, the son that is born to you. Stand at the manger, and look up at the cross. He came for one reason…and it was to bring a light into your heart that could not have come in any other way, shape or form. Run to the cross, and fall down, and worship Him.

“Oh come, let us worship and bow down; let us kneel before the Lord, our God, our maker. For he is our God; and we are the people of his pasture, and the sheep of his hand. Today, if you will hear his voice, do not harden your hearts…” ~Psalm 95:6-8

And so may you say, “For me to live is Christ!”

Merry Christmas!

~T&H

From Oswald Chambers

20 Saturday Aug 2011

Posted by tiffmartens in Daily Living, Loving God, Obedience, Prayer, Uncategorized, Wisdom

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This excerpt is taken from My Utmost for His Highest, October 17th, but good for every day of our lives!

“And greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto My Father.” John 14:12

Prayer does not fit us for the greater works; prayer is the greater work. We think of prayer as a common-sense exercise of our higher powers in order to prepare us for God’s work. In the teaching of Jesus Christ prayer is the working of the miracle of Redemption in me which produces the miracle of Redemption in others by the power of God. The way fruit remains is by prayer, but remember, it is prayer based on the agony of Redemption, not on my agony. Only a child gets prayer answered; a wise man does not.

Prayer is the battle; it is a matter of indifference where you are. Whichever way God engineers circumstances, the duty is to pray. Never allow the thought – “I am of no use where I am;” because you certainly can be of no use where you are not. Wherever God has dumped you down in circumstances, pray, ejaculate to Him all the time. “Whatsoever ye ask in My name, that will I do.” We won’t pray unless we get thrills, that is the intensest form of spiritual selfishness. We have to labor along the line of God’s direction, and He says pray. “Pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that He will send forth laborers into His harvest.”

There is nothing thrilling about a laboring man’s work, but it is the laboring man who makes the conceptions of the genius possible; and it is the laboring saint who makes the conceptions of his Master possible. You labor at prayer and results happen all the time from His standpoint. What an astonishment it will be to find, when the veil is lifted, the souls that have been reaped by you, simply because you had been in the habit of taking your orders from Jesus Christ.

Be Blessed!

T&H

Initiate…don’t Wait

24 Sunday Jul 2011

Posted by hstelzl in Character, Christlikeness, Daily Living, Leadership, Loving God, Obedience, Purification, Relationships, The Heart, Truth, Waiting

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“Seeing that ye have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit unto unfeigned love of the brethren, see that ye love one another with a pure heart, fervently.” (I Peter 1:22)

Wait to be loved. Wait for others to speak truth. Wait for other souls to be purified…No. Peter writes, “Seeing that ye…” I cannot judge the purity of other souls, but I can know my own; that I am able through Christ to love in a way others may not be free to. So I must allow the fervent love of Christ to flow through me because I am a child of truth and purity. I cannot dawdle while I wait for other sinners to desire sanctification. Rather, I must desire it within my own heart, and know I stand accountable before God for my own thoughts, words, and actions.

T&H

One Love for Christ

~ Dedicated to helping young people grow in their walk with the Lord

Tag Archives: child

Hannah and Prayer ~Day 21

“For this child I prayed, and the LORD hath given me my petition which I asked of Him.” I Samuel 1:27

New Hope

From Oswald Chambers

Initiate…don’t Wait

Follow “One Love for Christ”