Planting Ourselves in the Word in 2008

Psalm 1 is the perfect door into the Book of Psalms. Here we find the description of the BLESSED life. The blessed life is the one that is full of the favor and grace of God and therefore is satisfying and contented. How do get this kind of life?

The Psalmist tells us it begins with a "NO." That is, there are some things we must put OUT of our life if our life is to receive God's blessings. The blessed man/woman says NO to wickedness is all it forms and degrees.

The way to blessing? DO NOT compromise with sin! Don't fool yourself into thinking you can get near and remain unaffected. "Fear the Lord and turn away from evil" Proverbs 3:7. How serious are you about keeping your distance from evil? What TV or cable or satellite stations do you watch? What do you read? What do you listen to? What friends do you spend primary time with? We cannot live in this world and stay completely away from evil. But we can choose to LIMIT the influence of evil coming into our lives and our homes. We DO NOT have to watch shows that mock God and righteousness. We DO NOT have to watch violent movies. We DO NOT have to attend movies that are laced with sexual provocation. We DO NOT have to read detailed descriptions of violent crimes. We CAN say NO. And...WE MUST!

But the blessed life does not come with just saying NO. There must be something that we DO pursue, that we do purposefully put INTO our life. The Psalmist says the "put on" of the blessed man is "his delight is in the law of the Lord and in His law he meditates day and night" v.2. Do you "delight" in God's Word? To "delight" means that it brings you pleasure. It means that your heart bends towards it like a plant toward the sun or roots towards water. Our delight shows the true condition of our heart. It shows evidence of a saved-heart (Romans 7:22). What does the blessed men/woman's heart-delight do? It moves him to "meditate in the law of the Lord day and night."

To meditate means to murmur. That is, it means to talk to yourself about the Word. It means to ask the Word questions, seeking to draw out its nourishment. It means you carry on a conversation with God about what HE is saying in any particular passage of the Scriptures that you are thinking over. Meditation asks these kind of questions:

• What does this teach me about God?
• What does this instruct me to do?
• What does this instruct me to stop doing?
• What does this tell me to believe?
• What attitudes does this address?

These questions and others are meditation type questions.

Meditation has a GOAL. The goal of meditation is APPLICATION. We meditate so that we can know God and please Him by acting, thinking and believing in a way that pleases Him. It is meditation that bridges understanding of the Word into obedience to the Word so that the grace of God can flow into our lives.

Now, in v.3 of Psalm 1 the writer tells us the results of this saying NO to wicked influence and YES to the Word of God: fruitfulness. "He is like a tree planted by streams of water..." Much of Israel is arid. Water has to be brought into the land by irrigation. Fruit trees are planted by these canals of life-giving water ON PURPOSE. There the roots can pull up all that is necessary for life and fruit-bearing. The lesson is clear. The Word of God is to our souls like water is to the roots of a fruit tree. If we want to bear fruit, if we want stay healthy and green, if we want whatever we do in our lives to prosper and succeed in God's ways WE MUST STAY IN THE WORD. We must "plant" ourselves daily in waters of the Word.

Do you have a Bible-reading program? What will you do to take in the Word in 2008? Will you spend at least some time each day meditating in the Word? As absurd as a man dying of thirst on the edge of a clean, freshwater lake is a Christian shrivelling up spritiually with Bibles laying around their house.

God WANTS to bless our lives in 2008. He WANTS to give us patience when times are trying...He WANTS to give us love when we are being attacked...He WANTS to fill us with kindness for others when the whole world is living for self...He WANTS to make us fruitful witnesses to Christ and the gospel with our family and friends. He WANTS to. How will He? As we PLANT ourselves in His Word day by day, meditate on it, and live it out in the power of the Holy Spirit.

We MUST do this in dependence on Him and in relationship with Him. When we live in the Word, God reveals Himself to us in ever fuller ways.

"For the Lord KNOWS the way of the righteous..." v.6. That is, He watches over, cares for, is involved with, blesses with all that is needed.

I plan to plant myself in the Word in a deeper, more faithful, more obedient way in 2008. I pray that you will, as well.

What is Real Forgiveness?

Why is it that "little" things seem to cause "big" eruptions in relationships? It might be that real forgiveness is not taking place on a regular basis. Life together means offenses against one another and the need for both asking and granting forgiveness. If forgiveness is not sought and when sought is not given, disease inevitably sets into any relationship.

Of course one can ask for forgiveness and not really mean it. That is, I can ask for forgiveness even though I believe I am the one who was in the right, just to make peace. That doesn't count in terms of relational healing! And one can grant forgiveness and not really mean it. That is, I can say, "I forgive you" but not really release the offense and therefore leave with the perfect recipe for long-term bitterness.

What is real forgiveness? We are commanded in Ephesians 4:32 to be "forgiving one another just as God in Christ has forgiven" us. What does that mean?

Forgiving one another as God in Christ has forgiven us means to let the offense go and to promise NEVER to bring it up again. The glorious New Covenant promise to us in Jeremiah 31:34 is, "I will forgive their iniquity and remember their sin no more." This means at least 3 things:

• I will never bring this offense up to you to use against you again.
• I will never bring this offense up to someone else to color their opinion of you.
• I will never bring this offense up in my mind to stew over and rekindle anger against you.

So...do YOU know how to forgive as you are commanded to forgive, as God in Christ has forgiven you? This kind of forgiveness can suck the remaining venom out of your relationships and infuse them with joy.

May 2008 be a year of Real Forgiveness for you and from you!

YOU Know My Heart

As Solomon prays the dedication prayer for the magnificent temple of Jehovah in 2Chronicles 6, he includes, "...for You, You only, know the hearts of the children of mankind" v.30.

As future Isrealites and even Gentiles would pray towards the temple, where God's presence on earth dwelt, Solomon was asking God to give the pray-er what he deserved according to God's knowledge of his heart. God alone could and did know the heart of every pray-er.

God alone knows your heart. That is, only God knows your heart completely, top to bottom, inside-out, thoughts and intents.

Why is this important to know?

• So that I do not trust my OWN knowledge of my heart and instead look to God for a true diagnosis of where I am and what I need. Psalm 139:23-24
• So that I go to God's Word regularly, where the thoughts and intents of my heart will be revealed to me by God: Hebrews 4:12; and where the prescription my heart needs will be supplied, Psalm 19:7-11.
• So that I realize I am naked before God in the innermost core of my being. That being so, I can be amazed by the grace that still embraces me as a child. Jesus' death and resurrection allows God to see me as I am and love me without reservation. And, if I know that God sees me as I am, I can stop the pretending before Him. Then I will be free to TRULY love Him back, knowing that He loves me with a love that does not flow from His being impressed with me but from His infinite, loving nature.
• If God knows me at my heart-core, I can believe that everything that comes into my life day by day is designed by the heart-Knower to perform needed spiritual surgery so that I learn to love Him with all my heart and to love my neighbor as myself.
• Because then I can listen to what my brothers and sisters (and even non-believers) tell me they see regarding my heart. God still speaks through His people to His people. Iron still sharpens iron, if we let it.

I pray that 2008 is a year of allowing the heart-Knower to do His work within you.

Wisdom for the Asking

The beginning of King Solomon's reign is chronicled in 2Chronicles 1. There we find that God appears to Solomon one night and asks Solomon "what I shall give you?" v.7. Solomon hits the prayer nail on the head when he asks for "...wisdom and knowledge to go out and come in before this people, for who can govern this people of yours, which is so great?" v.10.

Note WHY this was such a great prayer and why it was fully answered +:

• Solomon humbly recognized that he did NOT have the resources needed for this great task IN HIMSELF. He was king, after all! But he was also a young man, without the experience of his father David, and this was indeed a vast people. The reservoir of wisdom needed to guide and judge the people of God was vast indeed. He was charged to lead the people in strict accordance with the Law of God. Humble people PRAY.
• Solomon also recognized that the resources he needed WERE to be found in God. So...he asks for them. This is the ongoing battle of the spiritual life: WHO does have what I need and WHO doesn't? Solomon wisely recognized that only God can supply what is needed for God's work.
• Solomon's request is NOT selfish, it is centered on GOD'S interests: His covenant people. Solomon recognized that Israel was GOD's people, v.10. "If we ask anything according to His will, he hears us" 1John 5:14. When we align ourselves with God's interests, we will have one answered prayer after another.

God answers Solomon's request and then more: he makes him the richest, most famous man of all time. Why? Because a man/woman who cares first of all for God's kingdom and not to build his own kingdom can be trusted with the stuff of this world as well as spiritual riches.

So...what are YOU asking for? James says that "you ask and do not receive because you ask with selfish motives" James 4:3. For the work that God has called YOU to, are you asking:

• For wisdom and knowledge to do it God's way, according to His Word?
• That God will become famous through your work?
• That God will keep you seeking all the resources you need for your work from HIM?

If God can trust you with the work He's given to you, if He can trust you to do it in constant dependence on His resources, He will trust you with more. He will give you even what you have NOT asked for.

If the task seems as vast as the sand on the seashore, then that measure of wisdom and knowledge and resources will be given...and more.

Terror and Comfort: From the Same God

"And an angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were filled with fear." Luke 2:9

Angels were mostly known from the Old Testament stories as those who brought the judgment of God against men. Remember the angel who killed 70,000 Israelites due to David's sin of numbering the fighting men? Remember the angel who killed 185,000 Assyrians in one night (2 Kings19:35)? An angel appearing to men in the shining glory of the Lord is nothing but a call to alarm! Then consider that these men were shepherds. Shepherds were at times outcasts. Their job kept them from the religious rituals necessary to remain "clean." They tended to be despised and on the lowest social rung. Could it be that these men had heard over and over how much they deserved God's judgment? The appearing of a glorious angel was NOT good news as far as they knew..."...they were filled with fear."

But the message of this glorious angel was, "Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of a great joy that will be for all the people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ, the Lord" Luke 2:10,11.

Expecting the "woe" of judgment, the shepherds instead received "good news." Joy for judgment, the opposite of what they reasonably expected. What turned deserved judgment into delivered joy? "A Savior." But not just any savior, THE SAVIOR, the promised One, "Christ, the Lord." There were many pretending saviors politically and militarily in their day. But this Savior was not sent to lead every Israelite into the realization of their fondest dream: defeat of Rome. This Savior is the Savior who was anointed to "bring good news to the poor...to bind up the broken-hearted, to proclaim liberty to captives and the opening of prison to those who are bound...(Isaiah 61:1). This Savior came to give men like the shepherds what other men said they could never have: favor with God..."peace among those with whom He is pleased" Luke 2:14.

The Savior still turns expected judgment into joyful good news. He still gives outcasts like you and me peace with God. He is still offered to those who live this life on the lowest rung. But ONLY this Savior can do that. Good news is offered ONLY in Him. And it is only offered to those who KNOW they deserve judgment and are therefore suprised by the joy of good news in the Savior.

It is offered to you, to me, to our neighbors, to our extended family...to "all the people."

Terror and comfort from the same God.

The Love of God #6

God's love is a TRANSFORMING love. 1John 4:7: "...whoever loves has been BORN of God and KNOWS God."

Divine love is not satisfied to leave us like it found us. God will NEVER be satisfied until we are the very image of Jesus Christ. And so, He "causes all things to work together for our good...that we might be conformed to the image of His son" Romans 8:28,29.

If God loves you He will transform you...and keep on transforming you...and keep on transforming you. He is relentless in love. And in His omniscient sovereignty He is using EVERY circumstance and interaction of every day to make you like Jesus...especially the HARD ONES! Romans 5:3-5.

A love that allows others to stay the same...to remain in ignorance or self-destroying habits or blindness to sin without seeking in every way possible to bring them to the light and to the freedom of Christ is really NO love at all. Well...that is not really correct. It IS love...self love.

But God will NOT love us in that way. He WILL have His way with us. When we cooperate through willing and joyful submission and obedience His love becomes a heart-filling elixir of wonder and awe. But if we will NOT cooperate, His love WILL be tough. He chastens those He loves (Hebrews 12).

Let us cooperate. Let us be wise to what HE in love is up to.

OH, LOVE THAT WILL NOT LET US GO!!

Love of God #5

God's love is a LIFE GIVING love. "God sent His only Son into the world, so that we might LIVE through Him." 1 John 4:9.

God gives us life through His Son's death. This life He gives is ETERNAL life. This is not only life without end or diminishing, but God's kind and quality of life! We deserved eternal death but have been given eternal life. That is God's love for us.

In ourselves we are TAKERS, not givers. We suck the life out of others for our own good. We use others to make our life better. We see others as those who are to be consumed. We measure others according to their potential for making our life better.

Not the God who is love. He is life. He has no need to siphon off the life of others.

God gives His own son to death for us to have life. Then He raises His son to life and raises Him to heaven where He now lives to intercede for our continuing life (Hebrews 7:25).

And the Father and the Son do all this for our life out of their infinite, eternal, unchanging life-giving love.

Who needs life from you?

The Love of God #4

God's love is a HURTING love. It hurt God to love us redemptively. "God...loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins" 1 John 4:10.

God did not just send the eternal Son to become also man. He sent Him to become also man that He might live a perfect life under the law and so be qualified to be our propitiation. Propitiation means the "sacrifice that turns away wrath." The animal's blood that was sprinkled on the mercy seat in the Temple's holy of holies was obtained at the cost of the animal's life. When that blood was sprinkled on the lid of the ark of the covenant, it was a sacrifice that then stood between the Holy God above the ark and the broken law within the ark. How could this infinitely Holy One who dwelt between the cherubim not bring wrath down upon the head of His people who had continuously rebelled against His law? The answer, bring that wrath down on the head of someone else, upon someone who deserved no wrath, who was unblemished.

Jesus was the final lamb, the spotless One who perfectly obeyed the law of God and therefore was qualified to be the sacrifice who's blood would be sprinkled once and for all forever in the Holy of Holies in Heaven (Hebrews 9:11-14). He qualified to have the wrath WE deserve brought down on His head. And it was. God the Father's white-hot holy wrath was brought down, full-measure, on the head of His perfect Son. He watched His Son writhe and gasp and shake with horror as He was treated like the sin-scum of all sinners since Adam. My sin...my unkindness, my lust, my food-idolatry, my dishonoring and critical spirit, my laziness, my meritless pride, my tight grasp on things, my rush to the morning paper with a passion that my Bible reading lacks...this and so much more, multiplied by a number with so many zeroes that only the Infinite Mind can call the number, multiplied again by the sin of billions of other sinners...ALL of this was brought down on the head of Jesus on the cross.

And the Father not only watched...His will HELD Jesus there to suffer the entire torment, to drink to the dregs the cup of God's wrath until ALL my sin and your sin and the sin of millions yet to come was paid for in full. Until "It is finished!" could truly and agonizingly be screamed.

THAT...is a hurting love. And that is the kind of love the Father has loved us with and its shadow is the kind of love with which we are to love one another.

The Love of God - #3

God's love is a GIVING love, not a GETTING love. All of us know John 3:16: "For God so loved the world that He GAVE His only Son..." How about 1John 4:9-10: "...God SENT His only Son into the world, so that we might live through Him...God...loved us and SENT His Son to be the propitiation for our sins."

And when God gives, He doesn't give the left-overs. No back-ups. He doesn't give what is expendable. He gives the BEST - "His only Son."

For the redemption of you and me, God sent THE Son...the ETERNAL Son with whom the Father had unbroken fellowship through the ages. The Son, who created all things, who upholds all things by the word of His power was sent. Not Gabriel or Michael, archangels by trade. They weren't qualified for this work of eternal redemption.

John writes that we should "love one another, for love is from God..." 1John 4:7. Therefore, the love with which we love one another should be, in some way and to some measure, a GIVING of the BEST.

What kind of GIVING the BEST? How about...

• My best EFFORT. I cannot begin to count how many times I have given left overs of effort to others. I wait until it is almost time to teach and then do some hurried preparation. Left-overs. And not even warmed up. Yuk.
• My best TIME. When I am best able to think clearly. When my mind is not hurried or cluttered or weary. When I SHOULD be doing the task and not taking time from family or time with the Lord to get it done. The best time is the right time.
• My best CHOICES. When I serve my family, I often give them grumpy or irritated responses instead of choosing to be gentle and kind and affirming. I CAN and DO do this with others. Why cannot I do it with my family? Perhaps I care about impressing others more and so I choose to respond in the best way...the way that will make me look most spiritual and keep my reputation up to snuff in other's eyes. Pitiful!!
• My best PRAYERS. When you say, "I will pray for you," DO YOU? Do you love by giving some precious time to pour over a prayer list for those you love and who need your love? When we commit to pray, love will write the request down or tape it up somewhere and stop during the day or at the tired end of a long day to bring the person and their request to the Lord. Love will pray specifically and not just, "Lord, bless Judy."

Of course, this giving the best kind of love is God's nature by nature, but not ours. But God lives within us if we are truly redeemed. And that means the Holy Spirit, who produces LOVE in those He indwells will be at work making us giving-the-best lovers. The Father gives the Holy Spirit to those who ask (Luke 11:13) for help in becoming God-like, giving-the-best lovers.

The Love of God - #2

There is no horizontal movement with God's love. His love is ALWAYS from the GREATER to the LESSER. More correctly, from the GREATEST to the LEAST.

We tend to love those in our own "class" or in a higher class because there is the hope of receiving something in return for our investment. Let's face it, we love to get love. How does this show? By our disappointment or anger that our love was not reciprocated. Don't love me back and you can forget any further love from this boy!!

But God's love to us is from the Infinite and Holy One to damned sinners. God's love always flows DOWN (except the eternal love between the Father, Son, and Spirit!) and it is always to the infinitely underserving.

There is no possibility of love from us to God until He first loves us. "In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us..." 1John 4:10. That downward flowing, greatest to least, holy to sinner love is what births love in us.

What a Lover!

The Love of God - #1

Which is more important for understanding God's Good News...God's love or God's wrath? Well...this is like asking which is more important for flying, the right or left wing of a jet aircraft? Or...which is most important for seeing, your right eye or your left eye? The answer, of course, is that God's love and God's wrath are equally important in understanding the Good News. First, God's wrath against the sin of sinners is the necessary context for a revelation of God's love in rescuing sinners. A gospel presentation that begins with God's love begins in the wrong place. This is why the Apostle Paul begins the gospel in Romans with nearly 3 chapters of detailed argument that ALL men are sinners facing the wrath of God with no hope of changing the situation by their own attempts at obedience. The gospel can only "fly" when both the wing of God's wrath against sinners and God's love for sinners is clearly set forth.

Both wings are seen in John 3:16: God LOVED the world and gave His Son that whoever believes in Him shall not PERISH, but have eternal life.

But here I want to begin to look at several characteristics of God's love for sinners.

God's love is His NATURE. 1John 4:8: "...God is love." God is not ONLY love, but all that He does and all that He is, is loving. God is holy and loving and therefore He exercises a HOLY LOVE. God is true and loving and therefore His is a TRUE LOVE or a FAITHFUL LOVE. God is just and loving therefore He acts in JUST LOVE. God is patient and loving and therefore He always responds to us with a PATIENT LOVE. We should not think of God's attributes or characteristics as segmented and sometimes one motivating God and sometimes another motivating Him. All that He is He is at all times and at all times He is moving and motivated by LOVE.

Since love is God's very nature, His love for us flows from WHO HE IS. God's love towards us is NOT a response to something LOVELY in us! Love flows to us from God's nature and therefore God's initiative. It is based on who HE is and not on who WE are. That is good news indeed. Because if God loved us for who we are we would be under eternal pressure to be worthy of His love at all times or to face rejection. But because love flows to us from God's nature it CANNOT change because HE cannot change.

Of course, God's love CAN move and initiate towards us because in unfathomable love He sent Christ to die in our place. With our sin removed by the redemption in Christ's blood, LOVE can flow to us, unhindered by who and what we are.

Hallelujah! What a love and what a LOVER!

"Father, glorify Your name"

These are the words of Jesus as he was in His last week on the way to the cross (John 12:28). He was the grain of wheat that was about to fall into the ground and die (John 12:24). As He faced the cricifixion, his soul was troubled (v.27) deeply. The other gospel writers tell us more about his agony as the cross approached. Now was Jesus' hour to suffer ultimate agony: he would become sin, taking the wrath of His Father, being separated from the Father as the Sin-Bearer. The sinless one would taste of death for sin. What would Jesus do?

Jesus asked: "And what shall I say? Father, save me from this hour?" (v.27). "Father, keep me from this suffering. I don't deserve it. It will separate me from you for the first time in my human life. I will be humiliated beyond that suffered by any other man. Pain that causes me to tremble to the depths of my sinless soul. It is too much to ask. They don't deserve this kind of sacrifice from Me. Save me." What would YOU do? What DO you do...when you are facing suffering, unfair accusations, the anger and rage of evil, uncaring people? Do you say, "Father, save me from this hour?"

Jesus would NOT say that. Rather, He said, "But for this purpose I have come to this hour." I came for this. This is my purpose. This is the Father's will for me. This is what it takes to fulfill God's will for me. I knew it was coming and now it is here. I will not try to squirm out. I will not shrink from my duty now that the time has come to suffer.

And then He astounds those of us who are still unclear on the concept of what it means to bring glory to God through our lives. Jesus said, "Father, glorify your name." The Father would receive glory, He would be seen as great in His saving mercy, His love for wretched rebels would be made to shine to the heavens for eternity by lifting up the Son on the cross to suffer as a criminal. It would please the Father to bruise the Son like the Son deserved His wrath.

With the cross facing Him, Jesus' decision here shows what was the deepest driving force of His life..."Father, glorify your name."

Not...
Father...make me comfortable, or
Father...keep me from humiliation, or
Father...let them suffer...they deserve it, or
Father...isn't there another way? or
Father...isn't there someone else, or
Father...why me? or
Father...couldn't we talk about this? or
Father...how could you?, but
Father...glorify Your name.

May we so love the Father and so trust the Father and so desire the Father's glory!

What a Leader Does

In 1 Peter 5:1-4, the Apostle Peter gives authoritative advice to leaders in the church...elders. He gives it not as an authority over them so much as he does a fellow elder/leader. See John 21:15-17.

The exhortation or command is: "Shepherd the flock of God that is among you" v.2. To "shepherd" is to guide and provide. It is to give oneself for the safety and health of those who are cared for. The shepherd in Jesus' time was not behind driving the sheep, but out front leading the sheep. He could lead the sheep because, as Jesus said, they know the voice of the shepherd and trust him and therefore follow him (John 10:3-4). In this day of concern for numbers and gathering crowds the "knowing" part of the relationship between shepherd and sheep often goes out the back door. In this day of deep self-absorption, the loving of ourselves often turns shepherding into manipulation of the sheep for the shepherd's benefit.

Whom has God given YOU to shepherd? Kids, employees, a small group, a wife, a local congregation?? To shepherd them there must be the opportunity for them to learn your voice. To learn your voice and trust your voice your "sheep" must have interaction with you where you are feeding and leading, guiding and providing. That is, they must learn your voice in the context of your CARE for them, your LOVE for them. If they learn our voices in that context, with consistent service for their good, they will hear and they will follow.

Not to be overlooked is the primary description of these sheep: "The flock of God..." Yikes! These sheep are not really mine! They aren't primarily MY flock. They are God's flock. We care for them for God. God has given us the high calling of caring for His own. God sent His Son to redeem them. God moves heaven and earth in sovereign purpose for their good. God supplies all they need inwardly by His Spirit and outwardly by others. God protects them from Satan and evil men. It is clear...they are God's flock. But God also provides them with shepherds. Like you and me.

Any way you look at it, this is a glorious and sobering call, "Shepherd the flock of God among you." May the Chief Shepherd (Hebrews 13:20) give us the heart of shepherds for His flock under our care.

You Do Not Have Because You Do Not Ask

How much has NOT happened in your life because you either didn't pray or stopped praying or prayed with selfish motives? See James 4:2,3 and Matthew 7:7.

Every time I come across those open-ended promises for prayer in Matthew 7 and Luke 11 I am astounded at several things:

• That I have a Father in Heaven who desires to move heaven and earth in response to MY prayers! HE is the sovereign One. But HE has willed that HIS sovereign hand moves in response to the prayer of His children...like me...and you. Is this not astounding? Is this not sobering? Does it make you want to pray?
• That I do not pray MORE!!!!!!! With the kind of promises that my Father gives to the pray-er, why do I not pray more? More...for lost friends and family. More...for godly desires and passions that are missing from or faint in my heart. More...for His work in my church. More...for opportunities to witness to my neighbors. More...for His grace in the elections in my country which seem to exhibit all that is sinful in the human race. More...for the work of missionaries and church planters in the dark 1/3 of the world. More...for my relationship with my wife. More...for my parenting. More...for my PRAYING!!
• That my Father in Heaven will give the Holy Spirit to those who ask (see Luke 11:13). This does not mean giving the Holy Spirit to indwell, but to give the Holy Spirit to empower with wisdom and virtue and character and courage and a spirit of prayer. How PERSONAL the Father's answer to the prayer of His children...He says He Himself will come and be the answer to our prayers!

"Father, I do not just want to be astounded at these things, I want to PRAY MORE! Help me. Fill me with Yourself in the Person of Your Spirit. Empower me to pray, to KEEP on praying, and to pray with pure motives. In Jesus' name, Amen."