Thursday, March 31, 2011

Preoccupied with Praise!

Our Heavenly Father knows exactly what we need to hear - it is my responsibility to have the ears of my heart open that I may truly hear Him speak to me.  I must admit, there has been a few things concerning my health I have allowed my mind to be preoccupied  with and my heart has probably needed a hearing aid so I can hear beyond my own circumstances and how I see them.  But God...(love that phrase!)...He opted to call me on my lack of faith and patience and He did so this morning as I read the following.  He spoke to me as I read this puritan prayer:

Thou incomprehensible but prayer hearing God, known, but beyond knowledge,revealed but unrevealed, my wants and welfare draw me close to Thee.  For Thou hast never said, "Seek ye Me in vain."  To Thee I come in my difficulties, necessities, distresses;

Possess me with Thyself; with a spirit of grace and supplication, with a prayer attitude of mind, with access into warmth of fellowship, so that in the ordinary concerns of life, my thoughts and desires may rise to Thee,  and in habitual devotion I may find a resource that will soothe my sorrows, sanctify my successes, and qualify me in all ways for dealings with my fellow men.

I bless Thee that Thou hast made me capable of knowing Thee, the Author of all being, of resembling Thee, the perfection of all excellency, of enjoying Thee, the source of all happiness.

O God, attend me in every part of my arduous and trying pilgrimage;I need the same counsel, defence, comfort I found at the beginning.  Let my religion be more obvious to my conscience, more perceptible to those around.

While Jesus is representing me in heaven, may I reflect Him on earth, While He pleads my cause, may I show forth His praise.  Continue the gentleness of Thy goodness toward me,  And whether I wake or sleep, let Thy presence go with me, Thy blessing attend me.

Thou hast led me on and I have found Thy promise true, I have been sorrowful, but Thou hast been my help, fearful, but Thou hast delivered me, despairing, but Thou hast lifted me up.

Thy vows are ever upon me,
And I praise Thee, O God.

Amen

Wow!  I read that through and I knew I had to read it again....but this time I wanted to digest it like a favorite food- enjoying each piece instead of just cramming it all end and not taking time to enjoy it and be spoken to by the Holy Spirit.  I tore about many parts of this prayer where the Holy Spirit spoke to my heart.  I have highlighted these as I want to share them with you.  I figure I am not the only one out there who needs to hear this and gain from it.  There are many things I have to say- so I am not asking you to cram it all in quickly and go about your day- take as much time as you need with the Lord to allow Him to speak to you- Read it over several days or read and reread- May you be blessed by this timely prayer.  I would love to interview the puritan who wrote this prayer- what was he going through at the time?  I don't know but I will share what the Lord taught me about what I am going through right now.

Thou incomprehensible but prayer hearing God, known but beyond knowledge, revealed yet unrevealed- My heart was reminded God and His power, His all knowing- He is beyond our comprehension.  If I started today listing all the qualities of God I would die before I even scratched the surface of all that He is...Yet, He is a prayer hearing God!  Think of the most powerful, influential person in the United States today.....2 people come to mind immediately- President Obama and Oprah Winfrey.  How far do you think you or I would get if we called and tried to get an appointment with either one of them?  Dream on, right?!  But those who have accepted Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior have immediate access to the King of Kings....no secretary to go through, no screening process, no waiting list.....this is our incomprehensible yet prayer hearing God!

My wants and my welfare draw me close to Thee-  Through every circumstance in my life, pleasant or difficult, it is supposed to draw me closer to God and make me more aware of my dependence on Him.  My flesh struggles with this- My wants and desires tend to make me gravitate to "how can I fix this?" instead of "God, I am depending on you to see me though this".

Possess me with Thyself...so that in the ordinary concerns of life, my thoughts and desires may rise to Thee-As I was meditating over this statement, a few things came to mind.  We our actions, our words, our being becomes like that  which possesses us.  We have all looked at somebody that was acting out in some strange way and said "wow! he is possessed!", or we may notice that if we are a mega fan of a certain TV star or sports star, we take on some of their qualities.  When Michael Jordan was at the top of his game, the popular slogan was "be like Mike"  and  boys played on the basketball courts imitating his incredible slam dunks and flying through the air with what seemed such ease.  In the 1980's when Michael Jackson was the music superstar, you could look around and see kids wearing one glove, copying the singer. In the late 1970's when Charlie's Angels was the big TV hit, every girl wanted the Farrah Fawcett hair style.  Ok, now I am dating myself, but you see what I mean.....when we allow Jesus Christ and His Holy Spirit to really possess us, we become like Him.

And in habitual devotion, I may find a source that will soothe my sorrows, sanctify my successes, and qualify me in all ways for dealing with my fellow men.-  The key word here for me is "habitual".  Faith and trust in our Heavenly Father does not flourish when He is just our "emergency contact" no more than our flower garden will flourish from a once a week watering.  No, it is through careful attention, frequent conversation, habitual devotion that we find Him to be our All in All!

I bless Thee that Thou hast made me capable of knowing Thee....the source of all happiness- Isn't that amazing, the incomprehensible but prayer hearing God calls out to us "Come now and let us reason together, though your sins be as scarlet they shall be as white as snow, though they be red like crimson they shall be as wool!  He is our source of all happiness.  We must  grasp that with all our being.  If we try to make our source of happiness in anyone or anything else, we will never find happiness and will ride a emotional roller coaster of which we will never get off!

I need the same counsel, defence, comfort I found at the beginning.- Sometimes we are so hungry and we start looking for "something new" to refresh our relationship with the Lord.  Yet, when I read the Word, I am reminded of the following.

Revelation 2: 1-7- The church of Ephesus is admonished for leaving their " first love"  They are commanded to "repent and do the first works"  Everything we need from God has been given to us within His Word-There is not a "new word" out there- What was our source of comfort in the beginning of our Christian walk is what will be our source until the Lord calls us home.  It is the time we spend with Him- I am convinced that will make us or break us!

Let my religion be more obvious to my conscience- I want to exchange that word "religion" with the word "relationship".  I want my relationship with my Father to be more obvious to my conscience  I don't want to be someone who just goes through the motions and not even thinking about what I am doing when it comes to my relationship with my Lord.  That can be the danger is anything that we have done for years.  I am in the medical profession.  I have been doing this for so long that a lot of it I could probably do blindfolded with my hands tied behind my back......but I would never do that!  Why?  Obvious!  Lives are at stake!  So it is with my relationship with my Lord- there is too much at stake to just go through the motions!

While Jesus is representing me in heaven, may I reflect Him on earth-  Jesus is our Advocate in Heaven- we are His Representatives on Earth!  We trust Jesus to be the finest Advocate or Attorney for us, our standing with the Father depends on it.  So we must be the best Representative for Him, we are to be His hands, His feet, His voice while we are here....right or wrong, the opinions others have of Jesus, will be formed as they watch us live our lives.

While He pleads my cause, may I show forth His praise- Christ is in heaven forever interceding for us before the Father- Is He not worthy of my praise!  Am I not grateful that the Father sees me through the eyes of His Son!  Oh yes, may I show forth the praise that He alone is worthy of.

Thou hast led me on and I have found Thy promise true, I have been sorrowful, but Thou hast lifted me up.-  For almost 47 years He has led me and I have found His promise true, He has lifted me up time and again.  It is through these times that we can draw only one conclusion- We have found Thy promise true!

"Praise is the honey of life which a devout heart extracts from every bloom of providence and grace, and the rehearsal of our eternal song."  Charles H. Spurgeon

Oh that I may become preoccupied with praise, instead of my problems, of Christ instead of criticism- rehearsals will soon be over and the curtain will rise- Eternal praise will be offered to the only One worthy of such praise and honor. Worthy is the Lamb!

To God be the glory!