I’M SAVED, NOW WHAT? (part-09)

I’M SAVED, NOW WHAT? (part-09)

MEASURING OUR FAITH (continued)

OUR BIBLE READING AND PRAYER LIFE.
There are two primary ways for us to keep in touch
with the Lord and for Him to keep in touch with us.

One is reading the bible frequently. Not only do the scriptures
provide us with good advice for daily living as a believer, but
they also give us an insight into the characteristics of God, Jesus
and the Holy Spirit. If you are not reading the bible at least daily,
then you should make a conscious effort to start today. During
the time we are reading God’s Word, we shut the door on Satan
and his tempting thoughts. Reading the bible is not just a nice
thing to do, it is a necessity for God’s children who expect to
hear from Him and understand His ways.

If you struggle with reading in general, then start by reading
just one chapter each day. In my opinion, quality reading is
better than quantity reading. I believe that when we read for
quantity, we often overlook some ‘golden nuggets’ the Lord
wants to share with us. However, when we read for quality,
we meditate more on each verse and think about what the
Lord wants us to understand from His Word.

Don’t just flip through the bible and point your finger to a verse,
but choose one book (1 John is a good one to start with) and
read it sequentially. If you are reading a novel, you wouldn’t flip
through it and read just one sentence or paragraph. If you did, you
would miss the continuity of the story. Think of the entire bible as
a story told by God through His servants.

I have been teaching Sunday school at my church for over forty
years and many times when I re-read the same verse, I discover
something new that I didn’t notice the previous time I read it.
This is the reason re-reading the bible is beneficial. If you reread
a novel, you will probably see the same things you saw the first
time you read it. You may even anticipate what you are about to
read.

However, when re-reading the bible, you cannot anticipate
what you are about to read because the Lord may give you
a new understanding of a verse. If you are just reading the
words and are not spending time meditating on what you are
reading, the scriptures might seem redundant and boring to you.
You may be wondering, “How do I meditate on the scriptures?”
One way is to reread each verse and emphasize a different word
each time.
For example:
    “The Lord is my shepherd”
    “THE Lord is my shepherd”
    “the LORD is my shepherd”
    “the lord IS my shepherd”
    “the lord is MY shepherd”
    “the lord is my SHEPHERD”

See how the meaning of this one phrase changes each time?

You can also enhance your meditation by praying before
you read. Ask the Lord to show you what He wants you
to understand from His Word.

The second way we keep in touch with the Lord is through
prayer. If you are not praying at least once daily, then you
need to make an immediate adjustment to your daily routine
and carve out a portion of your time for prayer. When writing
to the Thessalonians, Paul advised them to pray all the time.
    pray continually (1 Thessalonians 5:17)

Have you ever had a close friend that you haven’t seen for a long
time? What do you do when you get together? Chances are you
spend most of the time catching up on what has happened since
you last saw or talked to each other. This is one of the reasons we
need to pray daily. When we pray, we keep up to date with all the
Lord wants to share with us. It also gives us a chance to voice our
concerns to Him. As He shares with us and we voice our concerns
to Him, we develop a dialogue and friendship with the Lord. This
friendship helps to develop a desire in us to pray more frequently,
because we want to talk with Him. It also gives us the ability to
feel comfortable praying silently in the midst of others when we
see a need.

For instance, we might hear someone using profanity and we can
silently ask the Lord to convict them that this is not the type of
language they should be using. Or, we might be driving and see a
wreck with an ambulance on the scene. We can pray that the Lord
will be with the ones injured and that He will guide the medics as
they attend to those who have been hurt. In either case, it doesn’t
have to be a long prayer, but one that is brief and sincere.

As an example of praying silently, I was working for a company
and receiving positive feedback for the work I was doing, but one
morning when I arrived at work, I was told that I was going to be
laid off. It wasn’t a very long prayer, but while I was still in my
manager’s office and immediately after hearing the bad news, I
asked the Lord to be with me and guide me in my search for a new
job. The Lord answered that short and silent prayer (before the end
of the day I received two job offers and the one I chose was where
I worked for the next thirteen years).

Here is how God continued to work in that situation. I called
the previous company I worked for to see if I could use them
as a reference. My former manager asked if I would come to
his office and discuss an open position that they needed to fill
with someone who had my qualifications. I met with him and
we reviewed the opportunity, but we struggled with agreeing
on my starting salary.

After I left his office and while I was saying hello to some former
co-workers, I heard a page on the intercom for me to answer a phone
call. I went to the nearest phone and discovered it was my mother.
She had received a call for me from a manager at another company.
He heard that I was looking for a job and he had an opening for an
analyst that he wanted to discuss with me. Incidentally, he called
my mother because that was the only number he could find for
contacting me.

When I arrived and talked to the hiring manager, he said that
he heard I had been laid off and thought I would be a nice fit
for what they needed. I never asked him how he found out about
the layoff, but I have a pretty good idea of Who was behind it all.
Isn’t it awesome when God works behind the scenes and gives us
pleasant surprises? My guess is, the manager who told me I was
being laid off, called a friend and gave him the news. Either that
friend was the manager who called my mom, or he told a friend
who told a friend, etc. At any rate, I am convinced that the Lord
was orchestrating it all.

In a shopping mall a year later I ran into the manager who laid
me off and he told me a couple of things. One was that he really
hated to lay me off but when all the managers were told to cut
back, he decided to use the “last in, first out” (LIFO) approach.
Since I was the last one hired, that meant I would be the one who
was laid off. I told him that I understood and it was okay.

Then he told me that he had been wondering about something
for over a year. He wanted to know why I didn’t seem disturbed
over the news of being laid off. He said that I looked like there
was nothing wrong and he thought he saw a slight smile on my
face. It gave me a chance to tell him about the silent prayer I
prayed and I had an opportunity to share my faith with him.

Many years later, guess who moved their membership to our
church? Yep, the very manager who had laid me off. I see him
many Sundays and we are still friends after all these years.
Again, isn’t it awesome when the Lord is involved in our lives?

Staying in communication with the Lord is something that all
believers should have as a top priority. If you are not praying,
then start; if you pray a couple of times a week or month, then
start praying daily; if you are praying daily, then pray throughout
the day. If you don’t have anything specific to pray about during
the day, then praise the Lord and thank Him for your blessings.
Pray, pray, pray.

In the scriptures (Matthew 6:9-13), Jesus gives us a pattern for
praying. Using that pattern, we can personalize our prayers as
we communicate with our Heavenly Father. God deserves the
glory for giving us a new perspective on how to pray!

One night as I was preparing a lesson for Sunday School,
it was as if the Lord told me, “Set the lesson aside for
awhile and focus on prayer. I have something to share
with you that you can share with others”. The link listed
below is the result of that ‘session’.

Go to this link for an example
of how we can personalize our prayers:
https://utvolwoody.wordpress.com/2018/11/01/personalizing-your-prayers/