Journal 1-26-14

Foundations for prayer

• Luke 11:1-5, Romans 5:1-2, Genesis 6:8, Luke 18:8; 11:6, Matthew 6:9, Isaiah 1:15-16, John 13:35, 1 John 1:5-7, 9, Hebrews 4:16, Isaiah 58:1-9, Leviticus 19:18, 2 Corinthians 5:14, 1 Corinthians 13: 4-7, 1 Thessalonians 3:12, 1 John 4:19, 1 Peter 5:8-9, Ephesians 6:10-18, John 1:5, Romans 8: 37, Ecclesiastes 4:10, Psalm 31:15

     Ok, so I realize that there are a lot of scriptures up there to read, but let me read them and I'll write down what comes to mind! This was kind of a long chapter. Ok, in reading all these scriptures I see the need for 1) Recognizing God's grace (Romans 5:1-2) 2) Keeping faith in Jesus (Luke 18:1-10) 3) Walking in the light (Isaiah 1:15-16 & 1 John 1:5-7, 9) 4) Listening to God 5) Loving people (John 13:35) 6) Resisting Satan (1 Peter 5:9) 7) Surrendering- accepting God's will, as Jesus did, not ours. In doing this we can be sure that our prayers will be answered 8) Perseverance- the steady persistence in any course of action (Ephesians 6:18).
     All of this goes along with my 4 favorite gestures in life- read, pray, turn from sin, ans surround ourselves with people doing the same! In reading all this it's obvious that we have to make an effort in our life to hear God and for Him to hear us, we have to act accordingly (turn from sin). I see that prayer is worship. Living in the light is worship and it's not always easy. We have to make sacrifices and be diligent for prayer to be successful. It's like working out. You wont build any muscle unless you sweat a bit.
     I've never exercised my mind and spirit much with the Lord. I've always done things on my own and mostly resorted to prayer only when things got rough, but being locked up has given me the opportunity to workout and as I watch my muscles grow and my strength increase I can also see my spiritual life changing and it's obvious to me that whatever I'm doing today is a much more lucrative investment of my time than what I've done before. This morning I didn't want to do this stinking study at all, but when I got out of bed and got started I started feeling a little better and I'm now glad that I looked up all those scriptures and read them. I think everyday in making these little sacrifices and enduring these little pains, by making an effort, I get a little closer to the goal and that is communication with Jesus and salvation for a soul.

Prayer: Dear heavenly Father, thank you for your will be done today, yesterday, and tomorrow! Amen

Random thoughts: I miss being a daddy, spending time with my kids, laughing with Angela, and just being normal. What was I thinking? Life is set up to be so sweet and by the choices we make we can spoil so much of the good days! My apologies to all my children, my family, and my friends! My next forty years...I'm going to drink more lemonade and not so many beers. I think it's high time I started living and stopped dying!