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Details about BUMP!!!:
BUMP!!!
Well, folks, I had hit another type of wall!! This was not a wall of sin or
things that kept me from walking with God; this was a wall of spiritual things.
In Scripture it says, We are to “put on the whole armor of God, that you may be
able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we do not wrestle against
flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers
of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the
heavenly places.” (Ephesians 6:10-13) This was not a “bump” that I could take a
brick out and throw it away; it was something that could only be dealt with in
the spirit and in prayer.
A short while ago, my family gathered together to see God in a situation that
has bothered all of us for years. After much prayer, asking God to help us, we
were shown that most of the problems we were having as a family were caused by a
generational curse. Hey! I thought it was crazy too till God showed us all in
separate ways that this was not our own individual battle, but a family one that
was passed down to us. We prayed, read the Word, read books of reputable
authors, listened to tapes, and in our seeking - God was soooo faithful! He put
together a group of wonderful prayer warriors that fasted and prayed for us just
to minister to our family. There were things that came to the surface that
surprised some of us, and confirmed a lot of things to all of us. At times when
we pray, we don’t think it will take too long for an answer, but this answer
came after years of asking and seeking. I guess what I am trying to say is,
DON’T GIVE UP!!!
I really haven’t talked too much about prayer yet, so I would like to focus on
that today. It is really hard to put down on paper what I need to say. It would
be easier to talk to a large group of people at one time and have the
opportunity to go into depth about how important prayer is. So I will do the
best I can in a short article to give you enough to make you really hungry to
know a lot more about prayer and you will seek the answers for yourself. It has
taken me many years of prayer to be where I am today and I have barely scratched
the surface. I do want to share some of what the journey called prayer can mean
to you and your family.
At the beginning I said something about waging a spiritual war and that is one
of the meanings of prayer. Another is praise. Praise helps win the war in the
spirit against the enemy. Prayer is most importantly, communication with God -
just plain talking WITH God, not AT Him. It took me years to finally get that
down. Remember, I was raised in a traditional denomination church where prayer
was done only a certain way. Rarely was it taught that it was personal. I had to
learn how to sit with my hands folded a certain way, or stand or kneel, always
with my head bowed, and never, never use regular English. I guessed at that
time, that maybe He heard my prayers a little better if I did it a certain way.
Now don’t get me wrong, there is a lot of instruction of prayer throughout the
Word, and it is important that you search it out mainly for the reasons why
different methods or ways mean something very important in each situation.
Jesus had a lot to say about prayer. One thing I learned is, it is my heart that
is listened to by God in prayer, not how eloquently I say the words. As I said,
there are several Scriptures that tell us how to pray, but there is one that you
really won’t find a description for anywhere, or at least I don’t think so, that
is what I call the “SOS Prayer“. SOS Prayers” are the ones that I uttered when
emergencies came up. At those times there was not time to get into a prayerful
position, place, or even in a certain attitude. That is when I learned to always
be of a prayer attitude and found myself praying a lot! The Scripture says to
pray at all times. (I Thessalonians 5:17) I evolved into this; so don’t be hard
on yourself if your prayer times are short. I use to think that five minutes was
too long. Now, I catch myself praying all the time. As you grow, you find that
you will read the Word and pray more. You will find that your interest change,
your personality change, and your friends change, all for the good.
I also found out the hard way - not to get “cocky” or irreverent in my prayers.
I simply got so familiar with things that I let my conversations with God get a
little too lax and at times almost disrespectful. Before I received salvation, I
used the phrase, “Oh my ___!“ It was used as slang, all the time not knowing
that He was hoping that I wanted to talk with Him. Now after I received
salvation, when I say, “Oh my God,“ it with an attitude of love and a way of
saying who He is to me. When He gently corrected me, I was devastated to think I
was speaking to the Creator of the universe as if He were the neighbor down the
street. He gently brought me back to the place of realizing that He, above all,
deserves every type of respect, and in no way, was I going to treat Him in any
other way, shape, or fashion. He wants us to be personal, very personal; after
all, He created us. He knows our thoughts and hearts before we even know them,
and He wants us to be intimate with Him, but we are to be respectful to Him.
Needless to say, ATTITUDE is very important whether it is a short SOS Prayer, or
a lengthy conversation with Him. Scriptures gives us several examples of
prayers. Of course the most popular is Psalms 23. Another Scripture that has
always been important to me is Matthew 21:22. This really shows the attitude I
was talking about. Be sure to read it!
When we hit those “bumps” again and again, we can always take it to our Father
in prayer. In Romans 8:26, it talks about the Spirit making intercession for us
when we don’t know what to pray for. In those times we can truly believe what is
said in the Word. God hears and cares, and He always answers. Maybe we think “He
doesn’t hear“. Or, “He really doesn’t care about me.” Or maybe we say, “Why
won’t He answer?” Remember, at the beginning I said something about it taking
years and some of the answers were not what we expected, but God kept His word.
HE DID ANSWER US!!! So keep on, keeping on! Believing always, and praying in
Jesus’ name. Read Matthew 6, and study that portion on prayer. It will change
your whole world, and most of all, it will change your attitude ---it did mine!
I love to pray. It feels like a warm blanket has been wrapped around me, and it
is just Jesus and me talking to our Father, our “Daddy God”, Abba, who loves to
listen to His children. So when you go “BUMP!“ again, remember it could be a
call to prayer. A time to be loved on by the Father, or a time to LOVE on the
Father. Either way, it is communication with our Creator, our Friend, our Lover,
and our Most Beloved One.
I LOVE HIM SO MUCH, AND PRAY YOU ARE FALLING IN LOVE WITH HIM MORE AND MORE EACH
DAY. I think I shall crawl up in His lap and love on Him in prayer.
BE BLESSED!
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