Last night the Lord started me praying for pastors early in the evening. Within minutes of me posting I was praying for them I received a message of one who was in emergency surgery from having a heart attack. I prayed specifically for him and his wife as they went through this ordeal. They were able to fix part of his problem and will do surgery tomorrow to fix the rest. I had shared with someone earlier about how the Great Physician uses doctors, medications, treatments, etc. to heal people. This was an example of that. We have to be smart on when to go to the doctor. The way to be smart is to be in relationship with the Lord to where you can hear His direction. There are times He has healed me instantly but there were also times where He healed me through doctors, medications, and treatments. I am so grateful for Him and the way He works in and through me. As I continued praying for pastors, He had me pray specifically for those who had everything going for them in the right direction. He had me pray for them to stay focused on Him. The enemy does not like when people are doing God's work. He does not like seeing people brought into relationship with God. He especially does not like when people leave God and return to him. That is when the enemy thinks he has won. I prayed for pastors who are on the mountaintop right now to realize the enemy is right behind them, conniving ways to pull them down into a deep, dark valley. He will use people to tear them down. He will even use family members. He will pull out all the stops to make a person fall away from Christ. One must stay focused on Christ when these attacks come. We all must stay in His Word and on our knees so we will be ready for the attacks. They will happen. Sometimes they happen one right after the other. Having on the full armor of God every day is the way to not only survive the attacks but to be victorious over them. I will admit I get tired of the constant attacks but I also am thankful for the way the Lord strengthens my faith through them. Today is Sunday. It is a day of worship with our corporate body of believers. It is a day where the Lord should be glorified through our words and actions. Every day should be so. Unfortunately, the enemy will be working through people's words, actions, and attitude within corporate bodies of believers all around the world. He will tear pastors down by people. He will work through people to cause great anguish in pastors. I am praying for every pastor to have on His full armor so they can be victorious over these attacks. I am praying for God to go before them so they will be ready. I pray their response to such attacks will be Christ-like. When Jesus walked on this earth, He was attacked over and over. We must follow His example of being obedient to our Heavenly Father. The enemy tested Jesus in the wilderness in Matthew 4. Jesus had been without food and water for forty days. Needless to say, his physical body was weak. But instead of giving into temptation He stood strong against the antics of the devil. That is exactly what we need to do when he tempts us. These words in verses ten and eleven are what we need to have on our lips at all times...
The way we can live Christ-like is to give our whole being over to Him. We must trust Him with our checkbook, our calendar, our family...every aspect of our life. When you receive a notice in the mail of an increase in the electric, you must trust Him. When you open the next envelope and there is a huge increase in the house payment, you must trust Him. When you know there is no way for additional income to cover such increases, you must trust Him. He already knows the answer to these 'problems' and as you seek Him He will share those answers. I think of a song Big Daddy Weave sings called "Jesus, I Believe"...
I need to hear You now I need to know it's You I'm standing on Your promises I know Your Word is true You're bigger than what I see It's You in exchange for me 'Cause even the impossible is Your reality
Yes! Right now "the impossible" is not impossible for Him. For those pastors who feel beaten down, He is there to lift them up. For those pastors going into the pulpit this morning with dread because they do not know what they are to speak, He is there to provide the words. For those pastors who wonder if they will get a paycheck today or not, He will provide. That does not necessarily mean they will receive a paycheck today but He will provide in one way or another. The other night when I looked at my plate and realized every part of our supper was provided by someone else, I was blessed. He provides in many different ways. Sometimes His provision comes in food, gas cards, etc. The best way He provides is in encouraging when times appear bleak. They are never bleak when He is in the center of them. There may be tough times physically, mentally, emotionally, and financially but when one lives in His will, walking in obedience their spiritual life is thriving no matter what as long as their focus is on Him. Woo hoo! Oh how I pray for more people to realize this type of life. Dear Jesus, Thank You for encouraging me to start praying early last night. I continue to pray for this dear man and his wife who are going through this time of his heart attack and surgeries. May their church family surround them with support during this time in a different, new way. I think of the pastor who lost his dear grandmother and pray for Your strength to be with him as he goes into the pulpit today. His physical body is tired but I pray his spiritual body is on fire for You. I pray for not only pastors who will speak Your words today but for those listening to adhere to them. I pray for a cleansing in my spirit so You can fill me with more of You so people will see/hear You instead of me today. I pray for there to be nothing between us that would stop me from being Christ-like. Father, I also pray for those pastors who are in need of a filling in their physical tank. There are some that are so beaten down by their schedules, people's attitudes, etc. May they be focused on You in a different, new way. Thank You Father for being My Reality. Amen.
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