Introducing Transformational Prayer
The Transformation of Paul Before Paul met Christ, he, by all human standards, had his act together.
Paul was at the top of the food chain for Jewish religious leaders. Paul was from the right linage that was held in high esteem. He was a well educated scholar. He proved himself on his way to the top. He had great confidence and probably held a pretty good standard of living. No doubt, Paul was from the right side of the Jewish tracks. But then he met Jesus.
What a tremendous change has taken place in Paul as he describes it in Philippians 3:3-11. This is transformation 101. Look through the passage and note the changes. The attitude transformation in itself is incredible. In modern day terms, it would be like a first son of a family owned a multi-million dollar company proving his worth and being very successful, only to one day on the way to a business meeting in another town decide to walk away from it all. And this of his own free will.
How hard it is to walk away from things we need to leave behind. Perhaps it’s an attitude like Paul’s—a bit arrogant. Perhaps it is possessions like the Rich Young Ruler. It could be a big mouth like Peter or an ungrateful spirit like the nine lepers who simply took what Jesus had to offer and walked away. Whatever the case may be, we all have items and attitudes that need to be left behind. The beginning of transformation is the realization that there is someone worth leaving and forsaking all others (and things) for.
Transformation only happens when we are honest about ourselves.
Transformation happens only through Jesus. Transformation does not come through hard work or behavior modification. Whether you are man or woman, rich or poor, wise or simple, genuine transformation comes only through presenting your life to Jesus and counting all the other things rubbish. Make no mistake, Paul couldn’t do it on his own and neither can you.
Think about Paul’s transformation. What are the implications for you? Are there areas in your life that need to be completely given over to Jesus for change? Pray that God will reveal them to you. Are you ready for the lasting change of Jesus? Through prayer, present what you need to Jesus and allow him to begin the new, or continued, work of transformation in you. |
Most of us have used devotionals before. Some are frankly better than others. Some
lead us to new heights of understanding. Others leave us largely unchanged. Part of
that is the time and thought we offer as we make the devotional journey. Some of
that is the spiritual attentiveness we bring to our reading. This is a classic.
A father has two sons; one that works and one who dreams. The father probably taught them both the same, loved them the same and gave them equal shares of all he had.
Then the one son who dreams wants to go off and see things and be the grown up. He wants his share now. So the father sells half his land and gives his son the money. Maybe the dreamer had big ambitions, and maybe God called him to do something in the land he ventured off to. But temptation got in the way and distracted him. He lost everything. He went from a vibrant, excited young man in search of adventure to a starving pig feeder that had less than the big, smelly, greedy, thankless beasts he attended. So he wishes to return home. One of my favorite hymns growing up in the church, and it still puts a smile on my face to do this day, is WE ARE ONE IN THE SPIRIT. The main stance of the song says, “… and they will know we are Christians by our love.” How does the world know we are Christians? This question has people questioning who God is and His existence because of how they see us. These two parables are told before our first devotion. Jesus speaks of the importance of one. Are you, or do you know someone who used to be so deep in the work of the church, community, home, or office? Excited about what happened and then… nothing. One by one, or all at once, responsibilities were dropped off or handed over to others. Things you or someone you know were once very passionate about, and then the passion ebbed away and died. Areas
spiritual gifts were used as they should be and now are like the one talent buried in the ground, waiting to be claimed again. To be born again, to start a new life. It’s like a butterfly coming out of its cocoon in the spring. It was once a caterpillar crawling along the ground. Many made grossed faces at it. Some may have tried to squish it or flick it or even feed it to their pet bird. It may have had vivid colors to begin with or dull grays; now it has even more beautiful features and the strength to fly. It has a second life, a second chance and it can see the world from a different perspective. It has freedom. Do we have a fire in us as bright as the sun and burning strong ready to vanquish evil in every life we pass by all day long? Or are we waiting for someone to come along and take our hand and lead us step by step by step?
I want my heart to be that of Isaiah, ready to go and put forth everything, opening every door of opportunity to go where I am sent, but I am held back. The Golden Rules: The Foundation of our Laws for a working society.
Common sense to know good from evil, right from wrong, and how to stay out of trouble. But it is also getting back to basics.
In Sunday School, we learn the Ten Commandments, and as we go deeper into our devotions, growing in our Spiritual lives, we find more like love your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind, and love your neighbor as yourself. It all seems so simple. It all seems so reasonable, but how much is it really?
I want my heart to be that of Isaiah, ready to go and put forth everything, opening every door of opportunity to go where I am sent, but I am held back. “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: Love your neighbor as yourself. All the Law and Prophets hang on these two commandments.”
What does it really mean? We hear others say, “Think with your heart, not your head.” Or “Don’t let your heart get in the way of what must be done.” But as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are one, so is heart, mind and soul. It is our connection, our trinity and the eternal battle is not between emotion and logic, it is between what is has always been; God and Satan. Who is my neighbor? A simple question, but to Jesus, it was a naïve one,and it opened a whole new door to the tunnel vision of the Jews. The Jews were God’s chosen people. The Gentiles were pagans and scum. And the Samaritans? … Well, they were even below scum. Half Jew, half Gentile, not to be established with either side, left alone in their own little spit of land, and refused to be recognized as even human.
What does it really mean? We hear others say, “Think with your heart, not your head.” Or “Don’t let your heart get in the way of what must be done.” But as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are one, so is heart, mind and soul. It is our connection, our trinity and the eternal battle is not between emotion and logic, it is between what is has always been; God and Satan. Breaking free from the bonds of quarreling seems like a hard task.
Forgiving others for words said, things done, or not done, and to find peace.
Actually not trying to justify who is right and who was wrong; who was acting like a Christian and who is not. Neither is as long as the barrier of unforgiveness stands. And yet we want “our rights”, our justice, we want to be told they were wrong. Everyone is on our side and no one is on theirs. We want the other to make the first move in admitting they were wrong, and we want to stand tall and proud while they wallow in asking their reverence.
What does it really mean? We hear others say, “Think with your heart, not your head.” Or “Don’t let your heart get in the way of what must be done.” But as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are one, so is heart, mind and soul. It is our connection, our trinity and the eternal battle is not between emotion and logic, it is between what is has always been; God and Satan. Who are you? You have a name, hair (somewhere on your body, even if it
is in places you’d rather not), eyes that hold more than you realize, and you have
finger prints unlike anyone else. No one is exactly like you; even twins have differences. You have a personality, tastes, and likes and dislikes that are yours.
Some you share with others, but no one else is you.
Isn’t that awesome? Have you ever envied what another person could do? Their drawing, crafts, speech, confidence, achievements even their phone skills? Each one of us has our own gift and specialties, and that is what we need to concentrate on.
A toddler can sit on a pew and warm it, but that is not a spiritual gift. Your gift is yours and is meant to be used out into the world. It is meant not for one to boast, but so God can be glorified. It is not so you can say, “Look what I did,” but for us to say, “Look what God did through me.” Be transformed. When we give our lives over to God, there is more than just the washing away of our sins. Our lives are transformed, made new. He transforms our thoughts, our words, our actions, and even the way we look at other people, to what we need to do to help grow the Kingdom and to show His light. We are not meant to be judges of this world and look down our noses at those lost in the things that God finds displeasing. We are to be understanding and be the shoulder they can cry on, the hand they need to be helped out of the pit they dug for themselves, and the ear to listen. We don’t need to know the words, except in prayer. Let God do the speaking or the silencing. Most of the time, if we sacrifice our tongues to being silent instead of persecuting, we transform even the tension of the situation from being awkward and uncomfortable to trusting and hopeful. Do you have any encouragement from being united in Christ? Do you find comfort in His love? When was the last time you could actually say you had Fellowship with The Spirit? Do you feel as though you have tenderness and compassion but it’s like a limp muscle that hasn’t been exercised in a long while?
Or maybe just in some areas and in other areas you’re strong as an ox? And why is it so difficult for Christians to be like minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and purpose?
As humans, our greatest gift and curse at the same time is free-will. “Faith does not operate in the realm of the possible. There is not glory found in that which is humanly possible. Faith begins where man’s power ends.” George Muller.
In the movie The Santa Claus, when Tim Allen is faced with his role as Santa Claus, he still denies it. He says, “What if I don’t buy into all this Santa stuff? I mean I see it, but I don’t believe it. Is that a Polar Bear directing traffic?”
The intelligent elf trying to guide him on his first night’s journey into their new world, said simply “Seeing is not believing, believing is seeing.” Before we asked ourselves, “Am I Moses or Isaiah?” Do we say, “Here I am send me?” or do we say, “Here I am send someone else?” Now we look a little closer at Moses. There is so much to be learned about prayer here in this small area. First of all, prayer is not a show. It is not a “look at me, I’m talking to God. Be in awe of my connection to Him.” Thankfully, the only time I have seen this happen is when my TV surfing catches a glimpse of the small group of TV evangelist who give Christianity a bad name. What I truly believe this is showing us, is how to walk closer to God. This scripture is used a lot for comfort at funerals, and when we are going through difficult times in our lives. We especially need the comfort in dark times, if there is a difference between difficult and dark. Verse four echoes that for us, “Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil for You are with me; Your rod and staff they comfort me.” (NIV) The Lord is my light, my salvation, the stronghold of my life, my protector, my shelter, my strength, the one I would sacrifice all in joy for. He’s my mercy, my helper, my receiver, my teacher, my leader. This is who God is to David. But who is God to you? Why did you choose to follow Him? Is that choice still strong with you or is it a part of the past and now you feel like you’re just going forward? Have you ever considered it “pure joy” whenever you face trials? Maybe in sarcasm, “Oh,joy.” Right? Here we go again. Everything is going up, up, up, except my wages. Gas finally came down, but even that is not stable, and I still can’t afford it because of the inflation of everything else. Love is not Cinderella, dancing across the ballroom with the prince until midnight and then mysteriously leaving, and he feels he can not live without solving the mystery of who she is. Love is not Snow White being heard singing and stealing the heart of a prince, listening, and he must dash her away to a better life. Love is more like Beauty and the Beast. Getting to know the person and learning to get past the bad features so we may hold on to what is more likable. Do we own a Christian Coat? You know what I’m talking about. You’ve seen it on other people. Do you have one? The coat we wear to church, take our tithe out of the big pocket that holds our pocket book, so we can write our tithe check, or not because its’ just for show. We smile and chat with those in the congregation, and get along while we are in church, and have our children on their best behavior. Then as soon as the sermon is over, or maybe if we feel like keeping it on a little longer we wait until the sun goes down and the weekend is declared over, we become another person. We’re either the MASTER OF DISGUISE or Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. Or are we so confused, we’re more like Sybil? Who did you vote for in the election? By the time they announced the next President-Elect, I was so happy it was over, I could have almost cared less. It was so nauseating and obnoxious in your face bantering and mudslinging both
from the candidates and the people discussing politics. One conversation I was “blessed” to over hear went “If you’re in the military, I would be shocked if you voted for …” It was actually a little comical this last Presidential election of ’08
how some people were torn how to vote because of their racism and bigotry. For two-thousand years the signs have become clearer and clearer of the approaching time of Christ’s returning. From Daniel to Isaiah, and Paul, John, Peter, and even Jesus Himself, we are warned, and should always be prepared. We never know the day nor the hour, but we can watch for it, and prepare. It’s always been encouraging that God is always there. He’s our greatest champion in all we do, whether we win or not. With God, doing as He asks, there are no losers. Even if we feel like putting the stupid L sign to our own foreheads, He is there, and He says, “Stand Firm!” Do you often feel you take your life in your own hands? That you’re not sure which way to go, so you just trust the next step you make is the right one, the next word you say will not get you in too much trouble, or the next breath will be the one you need to find the strength to do the right thing? We can take our stand against the devil’s schemes just as Jesus did in the desert. We have our Faith to extinguish the flaming arrows he tries to hit us with by attacking us with our past, our weaknesses, and tempting us to trade in our lives in God and turn
towards the world. Some of us are the dreamer who adventured out and got distracted from what we were called to do. Who have wonderful gifts and calling and we want to use them, we have a passion to do so and then we're left with shattered dreams of rags of hopes and promises that went wrong. We know it was the right decision, and maybe we know where we went wrong, but we feel now it is too late. How are your eyes? Are they full of Jesus’ light?
Do you see things the way Jesus sees them?
Do you see people the way Jesus sees them? Many times our first reaction to any kind of pain is to try and ease it, much like Paul did. Easing the pain is not always the best medicine. Our second reaction is often to jump right in and fix the problem. | |
