Category: prayer

Heavy Laden or Easy Yoke?

Monday, 17 January, 2011 11:52 Written by Pastor Bruce 0 Comments

“I am so busy”, “I just don’t have any time”, “I’m stressed out!” These are heard more and more commonly these days. And the sad thing is that it is accepted by most as “honorable”.

Matt. 11:28  Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy-laden and overburdened, and I will cause you to rest. [I will ease and relieve and refresh your souls.]

Being stressed may be “fad-ish” but it is far from honorable and not the way that God designed us to live. We cannot live long and live strong carrying the weight and the stress of the world! Jesus worked hard doing the will of His Father but never once declared, “I am on the edge of burnout so I must take a vacation and vegetate for a few weeks”.

Jesus wants us to work hard to get the will of God done on the earth but be yoked up with Him so that we don’t become overburdened and stressed out.

If we have allowed ourselves to get stressed out it is because we have failed to get (and stay) yoked up with Jesus! We should be invigorated and energized by our fellowship with Him, drawing our strength from Him to press on and finish our course strong. Learn to wait in His presence until you be endued with power from on high! Take His easy yoke.

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When You Fast

Monday, 10 January, 2011 11:23 Written by Pastor Bruce 0 Comments

Jesus said WHEN you fast, not IF you fast.

“Moreover, when you fast, do not be like the hypocrites, with a sad countenance. For they disfigure their faces that they may appear to men to be fasting. Assuredly, I say to you, they have their reward. But you, when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face, so that you do not appear to men to be fasting, but to your Father who is in the secret place; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly. – Matthew 6:16-18 NKJV

Fasting should be as common as giving and praying according to Jesus. Just study Matthew 6. He wants His body to fast. He fasted and it was a part of His lifestyle!

Fasting can be a tough subject for Christians who have never fasted because it deals with the flesh and sacrifice. There are many wrong ideas about fasting that have evolved from many wrong teachings on the subject. The bottom line in fasting is to say NO to your flesh in order to say YES to your spirit and hear from God.

We should be so accustomed to fasting that we are consistently asking the Lord, “do you want me to fast something right now?”. It should be a lifestyle with us. We should live so connected to the Lord that we are willing to give up anything at anytime in order to spend more time in fellowship with Him.

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Draw Near to Him

Thursday, 04 November, 2010 08:35 Written by Pastor Bruce 0 Comments

There is something that we can do to initiate a greater manifestation of the presence of God in our lives.

“Draw near to God, and He will draw near to you.” – James 4:8

God is everywhere because He is omniscient, but His presence is not manifest to the same degree everywhere. He responds to our respect, reverence and honoring Him. 1 Samuel 2:30 says that He “honors those that honor Him”. The more that we honor Him, the more that He will honor us. One of the greatest ways that He honors us is with His presence. We need His presence today more than ever before.

In Exodus 33 Moses recognized that it was useless to attempt to fulfill the will of God without knowing that His presence was with them. Moses knew about drawing near to God. He knew how to reverence and honor God. He practiced honoring God and worshipping God to the extent that when he went in to meet with God in the tent of meeting all the children of Israel would stand at the entrance of their tents and worship God as well! Reverence, honor and respect begets (promotes) more reverence, honor and respect.

To draw near to God we must come to Him in worship and prayer, leave our agenda (and our watches) outside of the “place of prayer”. Be willing to stay with Him until we are full and refilled with His presence…and until we know that His presence has surrounded us, changed us and strengthened us. Until there is joy! In His presence is FULLNESS of joy! Joy is an indication of being full of the Spirit!

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Reverence?

Wednesday, 20 October, 2010 10:06 Written by Pastor Bruce 0 Comments

Words disappear from society over time when they are not used. One of those words is REVERENCE.

Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom which cannot be shaken, let us have grace, by which we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear. For our God is a consuming fire. – Hebrews 12:28-29 NKJV

Here is a New Testament scripture talking about reverence and godly fear! Reverence and godly fear are not being taught in most churches today. People are told to “come as you are”, casual dress, flip flops, coffee cups and all! BE COMFORTABLE is the “buzz message” for today. And most people are lapping it up without even thinking. Their attitude is “tell us want we want to hear”…instead of tell us what we need to hear.

In a day where millions and millons have no respect or reverence for anyone or anything we have been teaching the body of Christ to relax and be comfortable. Sit back and take it easy, don’t worry, be happy.

Our God is still a consuming fire and deserves all respect, all reverence and all honor! There is a lot that we need to learn about THE FEAR OF THE LORD.

My personal prayer is, “Lord, teach me. I am at awe in Your presence. I humble myself before you to learn more how to respect you more…”

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Catch Up or Clean Up

Thursday, 19 August, 2010 06:15 Written by Pastor Bruce 0 Comments

“I would rather play catch up to God than clean up.” Timing is vitally important in walking out the plan of God in your life.

A man’s steps are of the LORD; How then can a man understand his own way? – Proverbs 20:24 NKJV

We should not be  paralyzed by fear of making a “wrong” move but yet not so quick to plow ahead without “peace”. Our communication with God is key in receiving direction. We should not expect to “be led” without spending the necessary time that we need to know in our “knower” (spirit) that we are taking the step that God wants us to take WHEN He wants us to take it.

Spending time in prayer is never wasted time even though not every time in prayer is what we would consider productive. I remember one time going to prayer with my Bible, notebook and pen in hand expecting to God to speak. After all He knew that I needed an answer and quick. Before I begin to pray the presence of the Lord came upon me like a thick, heavy blanket. I could not move as I sensed the awesome presence of the Lord so strong. I began to speak and could not…so I dared not. I stood for one hour holding my Bible, notebook and pen. After over a hour I sensed the presence of the Lord lift and I asked the Lord, “What was that all about?” No sooner than I asked Him this question He answered, “I just wanted to see if you would wait in My presence.” Wow, I learned alot that day. It is just as important what you don’t do in prayer as what you do. Be sensitive and allow God to speak to you. Be ready to write it down when He does. And you are only responsible to do what He has asked you to do, nothing more and nothing less. Be led.

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