Before I went to bed and then again during the night God had me praying for pastors who would be sharing His Word this morning to preach as He desires of them. He had me preach for them to listen to Him so what He wants the people to hear would be said. He also had me praying for them to not be afraid of what He gives them to preach. There are many preachers who are timid in their preaching. There are many who say what they think the people want to hear instead of what God desires of them to say. That is sad to me. People should not guide any part of our lives but instead God should be the One to make the decisions. It should be His desires fulfilled not what people desire. It should be that we strive to please Him not people. His Word tells us to love God with all of our heart, soul, mind, and strength (Mark 12:30). This means we are to love Him 100%. We are to love Him with our whole being...with everything we have. To do this we must love Him with our hands to do, eyes to see, ears to hear, feet to go, and mouths to speak. What does that look like? We serve others with our hands by sharing what we have with them. We strive to fix our eyes on Him at all time. We not only hear His voice but we listen to what He tells us. We go where He tells us to go, sharing His love with all we meet as we allow the Holy Spirit to guide us. We glorify Him through what we say. This type of life is not only described in Mark 12 but also in Psalm 84:1-2...
How lovely is your dwelling place, Lord Almighty!
2 My soul yearns, even faints , for the courts of the Lord;
my heart and my flesh cry out for the living God.
Woo hoo! When we love God with all of all our being, we will strive to live in His presence. What other people desire of us will not matter. Only God's desire for us will be what we strive to fulfill. The reason many believers miss what God wants of them is because they refuse to live in His presence. They refuse to die to self so He can live in and through them to the fullest. We cannot love Him to the fullest when we won't allow Him free reign of every aspect of our life. If He does not have full control of us, we cannot fulfill His desire for our life. The believers that refuse to live in this manner are missing so much of what He has for them. Pastors who live in this manner are not only missing out what He has for them but they also are unable to share with others what He has for them. This saddens me greatly. There are people who are not gaining insight into the Gospel because pastors refuse to live as God desires of them. Isn't that what a pastor is called to do? Aren't pastors called to share the Gospel in a way people's lives will be changed? How many people are missing out on what God has for them because their pastor refuses to die to self? How many pastors are afraid to live as God calls them to live? How many refuse to go where He calls them to go or say what He tells them to say? How many pastors are truly afraid to live out a II Timothy 1:7 type of life? Lord, help us.
Dear Jesus,
Thank You for giving me the opportunity to pray for pastors before I went to bed, during the night, and again this morning! Thank You for laying it upon my heart to pray for pastors to realize how the way they are living is not only affecting their own life but also affecting the people put into their life! Father, I pray for a cleansing in my spirit so You can use me as You desire. I also pray for other pastors to pray that same prayer. I pray for pastors to accept what You put upon their life, embrace it, and walk in it. Lord, be with Doc this morning and give him not only physical strength to preach but mental, emotional, and most of all spiritual strength. I pray for more of You to flow out of him and less of himself. I pray for people to see/hear You instead of us today. May You be greater than us. Lord, thank You for being Who We Desire to Please! Amen.
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