I’M SAVED, NOW WHAT? (part-05)

I’M SAVED, NOW WHAT? (part-05)

PRAYER:
Believers know that prayer is our opportunity to communicate
with God. Satan knows this too and will use his entire arsenal
of deceptions to try to discourage Christians from praying.
Why? Because he knows that he cannot stop the Lord from
answering our prayers.

So what does he do? He bombards us with all kinds of distractions
in an effort to prevent us from praying, or to interrupt us when we
are trying to pray. His distractions can include normal daily activities
that are not bad but they consume so much time that we feel we have
no time left for prayer.

We can also be so tired from the things we do during the day that we
fail to pray before retiring for the night. Satan can cause that kind of
tiredness by convincing us that we have many responsibilities to
fulfill and if they are not completed that day, then we will have
overwhelming feelings of guilt for leaving some things unfinished.

What is one of the keys to receiving answers to our prayers?
James says it is our faith.
    But when he asks, he must believe and not doubt, because
    he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed
    by the wind. (James 1:6)

If we have faith, will our prayers be answered? To answer this
question, we have to consider the fact that God may not respond
to our prayers in the way we want them answered. He also may
not answer them immediately, or in the timeframe we expect.

If God does not answer our prayer the way we want Him to,
and not within the time we wanted it answered, does that
mean our prayer was not and will not be answered?
This verse answers that question for us:
    God’s voice thunders in marvelous ways; he does
    great things beyond our understanding. (Job 37:5)

God sees past, present and future, so consequently, He knows
the right time for every answer to our prayers. When we pray,
His invisible hand is already at work on our behalf arranging
situations to accomplish His Will, and opening our hearts to
prepare us for what He wants us to receive from Him. There
is a danger that our faith can waver if we fail to see and
understand God’s hand at work in any, and all, situations.

Whenever we focus on our circumstances rather than on the
Lord, chances are our ‘feelings’ will override our ‘faith’ that
God will answer our prayers. We can become consumed with
what we want and expect, instead of trying to understand how
the Lord is answering our prayers. If we aren’t careful we can
struggle with trusting God, even after we have prayed (since
His way is not necessarily our way and may conflict with our
human reasoning).

Once we accept the fact that God will answer our prayers in His
own way and on His timetable, we can pray with much more
confidence. To understand how His way may be different than
ours, let’s say that you are praying for the healing of a friend or
loved one, but they end up dying. Did the Lord answer your prayer?
If the person went to heaven to be with the Lord and receive a new
body, then certainly he or she was healed. Receiving a new body
and being with the Lord is the ultimate healing.

We may be disappointed since our desire was for the healing to
take place on this side of heaven, but as difficult as it is, we need
to be grateful for the Lord’s answer to our prayer, even though
we may be grieving the loss of our friend or loved one.

Incidentally, if we pray for healing and a loved one dies, we need to
remember that God knows when we are hurting, and He has given us
the Holy Spirit to comfort us during those times. This is just one of
the reasons He blesses believers with the gift of the Holy Spirit when
they are saved. The Holy Spirit is our friend who guides us, comforts
us, helps us to resist temptations, intercedes for us when we can’t find
the words to pray, and gives us wisdom (when we ask for it) to make
good decisions.

He also helps us in transforming our lives so that we can become
more like Jesus (it is a continual process of eliminating the
non-righteous things, and embracing the characteristics of Jesus
so much, that we start developing them in our own lives). Without
the Holy Spirit it would be difficult, if not impossible, to become
more like Jesus.

What about those without faith, can they expect to receive answers
to their prayers? According to these scripture verses, non-believers
cannot expect to receive anything from the Lord.
    But when he asks, he must believe and not doubt, because
    he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed
    by the wind. That man should not think he will receive
    anything from the Lord; he is a double-minded man,
    unstable in all he does. (James 1:6-8)

James tells us that they are missing an anchor and a rudder in their life
and therefore have no direction. They are just getting through life the
best they can without any eternal goals. The Holy Spirit is the anchor
and rudder for all believers and this is why Christians have an eternal
goal. Our eternal goal begins here on earth as we strive to become more
like Jesus. That means we have a desire to develop His characteristics
in our life. What would it look like if we had more of the Lord’s
characteristics? It might look like a lot of “insteads”.

Examples:
    Peace, instead of anger
    Friendship, instead of gossip.
    Courtesy and respect, instead of rudeness.
    Love, instead of hate and contempt.
    Forgiveness, instead of revenge.
    Humbleness, instead of egotism and arrogant pride.
    Encouragement, instead of making derogatory remarks to or about others.
    Lifting the spirits of others, instead of bringing them down.

We could list many more, but in essence it is selflessness instead of
selfishness. When we review the life of Jesus we discover that even
when He was on a mission, He still took the time to stop and listen
to others – that is unselfishness, and that should be a characteristic
that all believers desire.

LACK OF FAITH:
As we have just discovered in the scriptures, James says that those
without faith cannot expect to receive answers to their prayers.
    That man should not think he will receive anything
    from the Lord; (James 1:7)

I believe the only prayer the Lord hears from a lost person is the one
that invites Him into their heart and life – the prayer of confession
and repentance in response to God’s invitation. In essence, a prayer
for salvation from the Lord.

LACK OF DEVOTION TO THE LORD:
James says that those without faith have a lack of devotion to the Lord.
They have enough interest in religion to know they need some things
that only God can provide, but they have conflicting interests (driven
by selfishness) that prevent them from having a stable lifestyle.
    he is a double-minded man, unstable in all he does. (James 1:8)

There are many things that can cause us to be unstable and Jesus
says that one of them is trying to serve more than one master. He
tells us it is impossible to serve more than one master.
    No one can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one
    and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and
    despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money.”
    (Matthew 6:24)

Also, look at this scripture:
You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons
too; you cannot have a part in both the Lord’s table and the
table of demons. (1 Corinthians 10:21)

This makes sense even in a worldly sense. If you have two bosses
and they give you conflicting orders, which one do you obey? If
you need your boss to make a decision regarding some issue or
project, which one would you go to? When faced with difficult
situations, which boss can you depend on? How can you divide
your time and allegiance evenly between two bosses? You can’t!

In any scenario, if you attempt to please one boss, there is a high
probability that your actions will be displeasing to the other one.
In addition, if we try to please everyone, more than likely we end
up pleasing no one.

James challenges us to make a decision regarding dedication and
obedience. Either choose the Lord, or choose things of the world.
Be serious about which one we want to fellowship with and do
not be a “fence straddler”.

For an athlete to excel, they need to dedicate themselves to their
skill and not allow worldly distractions to hinder their efforts. Of
course they will realize the benefits later (after their dedicated
and consistent efforts). Think about a body builder. If they only
lift weights and workout once in awhile, the results of their lack
of dedicated involvement will be obvious for all to see.

In order to benefit from our own struggles and survive them
with joy and victory, we should remember the following:
    God is in full control of the timing and intensity of our trial and
    He will not let it go beyond the boundaries He has established.

    We need to submit to God’s Will
    and trust Him throughout our trial.

    We should realize that trials are opportunities
    to prove our faith, and in fact, to strengthen it.

    God will be there with us throughout our trials.

    The Holy Spirit will give us what we need to survive the trial.

    God has a specific purpose for our trial although we
    may not understand His purpose until the trial has ended.

    Difficulties are often used by our Father
    to produce Christ-like qualities in us.