Prayer is a 2 Way Communication

This blog was inspired by my grandfather who preached on this very subject this past Sunday. The funny thing is that this topic is essential for a Christian's growth yet it is rarely talked about from the pulpit.

Prayer is something that we hear about all the time during sermons and various others activities in which it is promoted. This is rightfully so; however, generally, all we hear is that we should talk to God as much as possible. But we rarely hear that we need to let God talk to us in our times of prayer. This means that if God is talking to us, we are being silent and listening for Him. So really, prayer should have two parts: us casting our cares upon Him and us listening to hear His voice.

When we meet a new person or friend, we want to get to know them. But if we want to know more about them and about their character, we don't always talk and not let them tells us anything about themselves. The same goes with talking to God. Yes, He wants us to cast our burdens and cares upon Him. 1 Peter 5:7 says, "Cast all your anxiety upon Him because He cares for you." We should do this continually too. 1 Thess. 5:17 says, "pray without ceasing." But during our prayer time, we should spend as much time listening to God as we do telling Him things so that we can hear His voice and what He wants to tell us. If we are doing all the talking, we will not be letting Him talk to us.

I will end with this story that is true. The worlds largest church is in South Korea and now has over 1 million members. But when it was still a small 300,000 member church, the pastor had another pastor come to Him from another local church that had 3000 members. The pastor of the 3000 member church asked the pastor of the largest church in the world why his church had so many more people. This pastor responded by saying that it came down to not only the amount of time they spent talking to God each day, but the amount of time they allowed God to talk to them. The 3000 member pastor prayed to God for 30 minutes daily but did not allow much time for God to talk to him. The pastor of the worlds largest church prayed 1 to 3 hours a day but split the time between Him talking to God and allowing God to talk to Him. This was the difference between the two. And if you want to see God really change your life, continue speaking to Him but also allow Him to speak to you. God bless you!

Past is Past, Future is Now!

People, especially Christians, often allow their past to remain their present state of mind. What I mean by this is that they allow things that they have done in their past to clog their mindset now and take their focus off of the things of God. (see Heb.2:12) They let Satan get the best of them by worrying about things that have already happened. But the Bible tells us to "cast all our anxiety on Him because He cares for us." (1 Peter 5:7) So what we have to do as Christians is to begin to understand that our past is in our past. We cannot undue all the things that we have already done. We have to repent from those things and learn from them, not relive them and dwell on them.

The mindset that we have to get back is the one that the way we think now affects our future. If we are expecting God to do great and mighty things and that is our current mindset, then in the future, He is going to use us to do those great and mighty things. But we have to get our minds prepared for that now. Philippians 3 talks about the goal in life. Verse 14 states it in very simple words. Phil. 3:14 says, "I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus." (NASB) This verse has to become our mindset. We have to focus on the call that God has for us now so that we will be equipped to pursue it now and throughout the rest of our lives. If we are worried about what we have done in our past, how can we be concerned about what God is wanting to do with us in the present and future.

Probably the greatest example of this is Paul in the Bible. Remember, Paul was Saul at one point. Saul was the guy who basically enjoyed killing Christians for the fun of it. His goal was similar to Hitler's with the Jews and that was to destroy every Christian on the face of the earth. But God got a hold of his life and used Saul/Paul TO WRITE HALF OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. So don't tell me God cannot use you. He can if you will turn your eyes upon Jesus and upon the calling that God has for you. Remember, Christ has already forgiven you of your sins. Now thank Him for it by focusing on your calling.

What do you smell like?

Having the sense of smell is something that is a God given gift that should never be taken for granted. There are people out there who are less fortunate and do not have the ability and privilege to have a sense of smell. Through smelling, we are able to identify things such as flowers, good cooking (or bad in that case), and about every other possible thing you can think of. The sense of smell helps us to recognize things even without always being able to see them visually. As people, we let off a spiritual smell or fragrance no matter where we are or who we are with. My question to you is, what do you smell like?

2 Cor. 2:15 says, "For we are a fragrance of Christ to God among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing." (NASB)

We have to remember as Christians that people are always watching us waiting for us to mess up so that they can justify their actions by saying things like, "Look, there is another hypocritical Christian. Why would I want to believe in their God when they act the same as us." What kind of fragrance are you giving off? Are you a person that is always complaining about everything to the point that you miss the blessings that God has already given you. Or are you a person that is filled with the joy of the Lord to the point that other people can't help but "smell" Jesus Christ all over you. If you are this kind of person, you can rest assured you are walking in line with the Word of God. We have too many Christians today that "stink." They claim to be a Christian but then turn around and cuss or tell dirty jokes. They scream at their kids when a simple quiet but stern response would be more appropriate. These actions are not letting off a good fragrance that would bring people to think about Jesus Christ. It is about time that Christians start smelling like what they say they are. If a weed said it was a rose but still let off that not so great smell that weeds give off, we would obviously know that it was a hypocrite. The same goes with Christians. If we say we are following Christ but give off a smell that reflects the things of this world, then people will call us hypocrites.



So what is the best way to not smell like the world but like the things of God. Romans 12:2 says it best when it says, "And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind..." Staying away from the smells of this world will help us to remain smelling like a true follower of Christ. So it is up to you. Choose this day what fragrance you are going to let off!