Journey

 Scripture Read. James 4: 3   When you ask, you do not receive,  because you ask with wrong motives,  that you may spend what you get on your pleasures. Thought Applied.  Motives will keep God from giving you what you ask for.  Especially if it is for personal gain. Application Made.  Again, pray for things in alignment with his will.  And remember that he WANTS to give you what you ask for. Response Prayer.

 Scripture Read.  Mark 11: 22-25   “Have faith in God,”  Jesus answered.   “Truly I tell you, if anyone says to this mountain, ‘Go, throw yourself into the sea,’ and does not doubt in their heart but believes that what they say will happen, it will be done for them.   Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.   And when you stand praying, if you hold anything against anyone, forgive them, so that your Father in heaven may forgive you your sins.” Thought Applied.  It may seem like there are more and more conditions necessary to get prayers answered.  This one is the hardest.  How certain does one have to be?  How do pray without doubt?  If your prayer is for forgiveness, then you must forgive likewise. Application Made.   Forgive.  And believe.  Have no doubt. Response Prayer.  

 Scripture Read.  Matthew 18:19-20    “Again, truly I tell you that if two of you on earth agree about anything they ask for, it will be done for them by my Father in heaven.     For where two or three gather in my name, there am I with them.” Thought Applied.  "in my name, there am I with them" ?  First, we have to be gathered to do something for the glory - or good - of Christ before we ask.  Again, this is to reinforce that what we are asking for is good and in alignment with God's vision.  Second, He is there - not physically, so how?  Spiritually?  In intent?  I think in intent. Application Made.  If two are gathered in his name but NOT in agreement, then it won't happen.  Or if two or more are gathered and in agreement, but NOT in his Name, it may not happen.  So a good thing to do to see if something you think is good to do should be to bounce it off a fellow Christian.  If they agree, ...

 Scripture Read.  1st John 5: 14-15   14  This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us.   15  And if we know that he hears us—whatever we ask—we know that we have what we asked of him. Thought Applied.  Again, such boldness!  If what we ask is in according to his will, he not only hears but also grants!  Application Made.  Where this often breaks down is in two spots.  1st, is what we asked in accordance to his will?  We can read "his will" to be either - is it a good thing?  Or "is it in alignment with the plans he has made and how he sees that events will unfold?"  I feel that BOTH conditions have to be met, and is is the latter that we do not know.  But if we feel both conditions are true, then ask away! Response Prayer.  Lord, I do not see time as you see time.  And I know that what I feel is good is not what is actually...

 Scripture Read.  Ask, Seek, Knock 7  “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.  8  For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened. 9  “Which of you, if your son asks for bread, will give him a stone?  10  Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake?  11  If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!   Thought Applied.  (See Luke 18: 1-8) Application Made. Response Prayer.

 Scripture Read.   The Parable of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector 9  To some who were confident of their own righteousness and looked down on everyone else, Jesus told this parable:  10  “Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector.  11  The Pharisee stood by himself and prayed: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other people—robbers, evildoers, adulterers—or even like this tax collector.  12  I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get.’ 13  “But the tax collector stood at a distance. He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, ‘God, have mercy on me, a sinner.’ 14  “I tell you that this man, rather than the other, went home justified before God. For all those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.”   Thought Applied.  Recognize that all of us are sinners...

 Scripture Read.  John 14: 13-14  And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Son may bring glory to the Father.  You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it. Thought Applied.  Asking Jesus to help you - aksing in His Name - allows him to bring glory to God the Father. Application Made.  All fathers love to see their children doing good.  All fathers love to see their children helping others.  And when we see our kids doing good things, do others not give us some credit for "raising them right"  Likewise, God gets the glory when we allow Jesus to do good things for us.  And since he wants God to get the glory, his is eager to help us. Response Prayer.  Jesus, allow me remember that not only do you want to be first, that you are eager to help us as helping us brings Glory to your father, God.

 Scripture Read.  Luke 11: 5-13  Then he said to them, "Suppose one of you has a friend, and goes to him at midnight and says, Friend, lend me three loaves of bread, because a friend of mine on a journey has come to me, and I have nothing to set before him."  The the one inside answers, "Don't bother me.  The door is already locked, and my children are with me in bed.  I can't get up and give you anything." I tell you, though he will not get up and give him the bread because he is his friend, yet because of the man's boldness he will get up and give him as much as he needs.  So I say to you: Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.  For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened.  Which of you fathers, if your son asks for a fish, will you give him a snake instead?  Or if he ask for an egg, will you give him a scorpion?  If ...

 Scripture Read.  Matthew 6:5-6  And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by men.  I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full.  But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. Thought Applied.  Prayer is not a show.  It is a private communication - a private conversation, a private time talking with our Father.  Many do it for show - and it goes nowhere.  To keep your heart sincere, and to be able to focus on your time with Him - find a quiet spot where you will be alone and undisturbed.  There, your time with your Father, will find favor. Application Made.  I should spend time praying with God in private to see rewards, i.e. prayers answered. Response Prayer.  Lord, I know I don't pray to you enough....

 Scripture Read.  Matthew 21:22 If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer. Thought Applied.  Belief is the key element in prayer.  If you pray for something, but don't really believe it will happen, then there is less chance of it happening...if not at all. Application Made.  This verse also speaks to faith.  In 21:21 it says, "if you have faith and do not doubt"... Response Prayer.  Lord, Let my faith grow as strong as my belief in you, and let my belief be stronger still.

 Scripture Read.  Luke 18: 1-8  Then Jesus told his disciples a parable to show them that they should always pray and not give.  He said, "In a certain town there was a judge who neither feared God nor cared about men.  And there was a widow in that town who kept coming to him with the plea, "Grant me justice against my adversary."  for some time he refused.  But finally he said to himself, "Even though I don't fear God or care about men, yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will see that she gets justice, so that she won't eventually wear me out with her coming!"   And the Lord said, "Listen to what the unjust judge says.  And will not God bring about justice for his chosen ones, who cry out to him day and night?  Will he keep putting them off?  I tell you, he will see that they get justice, and quickly.  However, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth? Thought Applied.  Thought 1:  Even if an...

 Scripture Read.  Matthew 6:14  "For if you forgive men when they sin against you, your Heavenly Father will also forgive you. Thought Applied.  We are to forgive others if we are to be forgiven, but also the inverse is true:  if we don't forgive others, then our Heavenly Father will not forgive us. Application Made.  Forgive, for forgiveness from God is conditional.  But, no, I don't think so.  What I think is happening here is that God wants to forgive, BUT we create a barrier to His forgiveness when we have an unforgiving spirit. Response Prayer.  Lord, I can forgive outwardly, but do I really forgive others in my heart?  Sometimes, although I try, their casual words cause resentment that is hard to get passed.  Help me to forgive others their nature - especially when they don't care.

 Scripture Read.  Psalm 66: 18-20.  If I had cherished sin in my heart, the Lord would not have listened; but God has surely listened and heard my voice in prayer.  Praise be to God, who has not rejected my prayer or withheld his love from me. Thought Applied.  The first part of this verse (18) implies that outwardly I admonish or do not approve of the sin, and I will speak and act as if the sin committed was wrong.  But "in my heart" shows that inwardly I am protecting how I truly feel.  This creates a barrier, as God does not want us to protect and hold sin dear internally.  He will not listen to our prayers if we are asking Him to agree with us in the sin.  Later in the verse, (20), the author is praising God who did not reject his prayer or withheld his love - which in context implies that he had NOT cherished sin in his heart. Application Made.  In Matthew 23: 27-28, Jesus says, "Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hy...

 No. No. and No.

 Jesus really likes the sheep analogies.  Or should I say God.  Sheeps and shepherds comes up about sixty times in the Bible - by my rough count.  Why does God use sheep so much?  I have a few thoughts: 1.  Sheep are everywhere!  They are on all continents (except Antarctica, naturally.)  Middle East, Asia, Central Europe, North, Central, and South America, Australia, China, and New Zealand.  Ergo, every and all cultures can relate to sheep. 2.  Why do people and sheep share so many behaviors?   Because God made us that way.   3.  Why did God make us that way?  

 Characteristics of Sheep that are similar to God's children and you. Sheep are emotionally complex with distinct personalities.  Christians are also.  But this question is really poorly worded, as I think the author isn't looking for characteristics so much as behaviors.  In that case, I would add they tend to flock, and follow a leaders - which may be no more than the first sheep that steps out.  Many Christians tend to accept leadership from someone who is willing to take it, and we can speculate on all the reasons that may be! Characteristics/behaviors going on that I identify with AND are going on right now in my life?  Struggling with leadership.  At church I find that the leaders (aka Elders) are no more than folks others have identified and I'm getting pulled along with the flock.  They seemed to be no more than a sheep that stepped out a little, but are looking for the Shepherd. A good shepherd (similar to God) has my best interests at he...