Category Archives: Wake Up and Pray! Be Alert

December 14, 2015

30 Days of Hopeful: Day 26

By marilynnchadwick

So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ (Romans 10:17).

Blog photo-Bible

I’ve heard it said that the person whose Bible is falling apart–isn’t  falling apart.  It’s true.  When you combine the regular reading of God’s Word with prayer, you naturally strengthen your hope.  You probably realize by now that the point of our 30 Days of Hopeful is not just hope—it’s also faith. And faith, as we’ve learned, is the “substance of things hoped for” (Hebrews 11:1). In other words, faith is the foundation for our hope.

So how do we build our faith?  Romans 10:17 tells us that “faith comes by hearing the Word of God.” Ponder that for a minute.  Faith is a gift, but we nourish it through a prayerful reading of Scripture.

God’s Word reveals His will, which in turn, helps us to pray in alignment with His purposes.  Prayer helps us communicate with God.  And praying  according His Word is a key to answered prayer.  Prayer helps us get to get to know God so that we become more familiar with His will. Our technique doesn’t matter as much as the condition of our heart.  The point is to weave prayer and Bible reading into our ordinary days… and to pray continually, or abide.  This builds hope.

It takes spiritual muscle to stand on God’s Word when we face seemingly impossible situations. His promises help us defeat fear and worry.  They strengthen our hope and our faith—but not without a struggle.  No wonder it’s called a fight of faith. As my prayer partner is fond of saying: “We glance at the problem, but we gaze on the promise.” Praying in line with God’s Word gives authority to our prayers. And prayer fuels hope. 

Another way to strengthen our hope is to keep watch for signs of God’s work all around us–especially in response to our prayers.  John Wesley encouraged his early followers to include the “discipline of watching” as part of their daily spiritual walk. Wesley’s advice on reading your Bible? “Be sure to read…with great attention, with proper pauses and intervals so that you may allow for the enlightenings of divine grace.”  Click here to read more on Wesley’s Bible reading method.

Watch, pray, and read God’s Word.  Simple ways to keep the fires of hope alive.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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December 12, 2015

30 Days of Hopeful: Day 24

By marilynnchadwick

Let us be sober, putting on faith and love as a breastplate, and the hope of salvation as a helmet (1 Thessalonians 5:8). 

Helmet JPG

The most fitting description of the Christian life can be summed up in one word: war.  Throughout the Old and New Testaments, we see the theme of the “fight of faith.”  Did you know that hope can help us fight our battles?  The Bible tells us that hope is part of our armor.  Ephesians 6:11-17  describes each piece of our spiritual armor in detail, with hope being the helmet that protects our minds.

The most vulnerable part of any soldier in battle was his head.  Archaeologists have learned  that helmets were “purpose-built” to protect the wearer against the specific weapons he faced.  Ancient helmets were pointed at the top, to deflect the downward force of a club. But as time went on and the ax became popular as a weapon, the shape of the helmet was modified to counter the cutting edge of a downward-falling blade. Continue reading

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December 8, 2015

30 Days of Hopeful: Day 20

By marilynnchadwick

Here’s a little secret: Hope is not just an attitude or an ambition. It’s a person. His name is Jesus. But my guess is you already knew that.  Sounds so simple—yet if you’re like me, you sometimes forget that Jesus is a real, living person. He’s the whole point of our faith. The indwelling presence that animates our very life.

I’ve heard it said that if you want to succeed in life, then “the main thing is to make the main thing the main thing.” In our case, as believers, the “main thing” is Jesus.

The Apostle Paul knew this full well. Here’s how he identifies himself in his letter to his young protégé, Timothy: “Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the command of God our Savior and of Christ Jesus our hope” (1 Timothy 1:1). He says that Christ Jesus, Himself, is our hope.

We often try to build our hope on strength, ambition, dreams, Bible study practices, knowledge, or even friends. But in the end, the only lasting hope, the hope that stands up under fire, is Christ Jesus. Paul fastened his identity and his hope to Jesus.  It’s clear he knew his destiny and calling as an apostle by the command of God. But beyond that, he knew Christ Jesus as his “hope.”

This is day 20 of 30 Days of Hopeful. Hope is just one dimension of our life as believers. The Bible lists hope, along with faith and love, as the three attributes which remain with us into eternity (1 Corinthians 13:13). I can’t quite get my head around that one just yet.

For now, let’s simply ponder the thought that hope is a person. We have hope as we reflect upon Jesus; talk with Him; dwell in Him; meditate on His Word; get to know Him better.

So Pray. Listen. Worship. Serve. Give. Spend time in solitude with Jesus. Look for Him in the faces of the least and the lost. You’ll increase the fires of your hope because you’ll get to know true hope—His name is Jesus.

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December 7, 2015

30 Days of Hopeful: Day 19

By marilynnchadwick

“Jesus, are you willing to heal me?”  The man was desperate.  He was covered with leprosy–a terminal case.  His condition was hopeless.  Lepers were untouchables, so he was ostracized.   An outcast.  Jesus was his last ditch effort.  Face in the dirt, he crushed any remnant of pride…and begged.  His plea was simple. Just ten words: “Lord, if you are willing, you can make me clean.”  Jesus answers in half as many words and performs a miracle.  “I am willing.  Be clean!” (Luke 5:12, 13 NIV).

Let’s meditate on this passage in a different Bible version:  While he was in one of the towns, Jesus came upon a man who was a mass of leprosy. When he saw Jesus, he prostrated himself before him and begged, “If you want to, Lord, you can make me clean.” Jesus stretched out his hand, placed it on the leper, saying, “Certainly I want to. Be clean!”  (Luke 5:12-13 PHILLIPS).

Notice this version uses the word “want.” The Greek word, thelo, is translated “want, will, desire,” or even “wish.”  Thelo also indicates a “pressing on to action.”  Jesus not only wanted to and was willing to heal the guy. He took action!

In an instant, Jesus changed the man’s condition from hopeless to hopeful!  The leper’s plea can be considered a type of prayer. The word deomai, translated “beg,” describes a specific, urgent prayer.  The leper’s answer came swiftly.  His desperate cry for healing was consistent with the will of God for that man in that moment.

Alignment with God’s will is the key to powerful prayer, as Jesus taught His disciples in The Lord’s Prayer: Pray, therefore, like this: Our Father Who is in heaven, hallowed (kept holy) be Your name.  Your kingdom come, Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven (Matthew 6:9-10). This is a strong petition. It’s an imperative—more of a demand than a request—and better translated:  “Kingdom come! Your will be done on earth as in heaven!”

God’s will is done perfectly in heaven–so heaven becomes the template for our earthly prayers. It’s almost as if Jesus wants us to shake our fist and shout as we decree that God’s will be done on an earth still crawling with enemies.

So how do we know God’s will? My short answer is this: Read His Word.  Saturate your heart daily. Grow so close to your Good Shepherd that you know His will, obey His will, pray His will.  And when we pray according to God’s will, our hope springs to life.

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December 6, 2015

30 Days of Hopeful: Day 18

By marilynnchadwick

Sometimes it’s hard to hold onto hope in the middle of life’s storms. We may have to lean on the help of a few good friends. It was one of those times for the paralytic in Luke 5. We don’t know the man’s ailment; what we do know is that he was helpless. So his friends carried the man on a mat to see the Master.  Their way was blocked by the crowd, but they were persistent and clever. They climbed on the roof, hauled up their sick buddy, and lowered him through a hole they made in the roof—right in front of Jesus. Pretty daring!

But instead of rebuking them, Jesus (maybe with a hint of a smile) applauded their faith.  Right then and there, he healed their friend!

Let’s reflect further on this miracle:  Some men came carrying a paralyzed man on a mat and tried to take him into the house to lay him before Jesus.  When they could not find a way to do this because of the crowd, they went up on the roof and lowered him on his mat through the tiles into the middle of the crowd, right in front of Jesus. When Jesus saw their faith, he said, “Friend, your sins are forgiven”  (Luke 5:17-20 NIV).

Jesus saw the faith of the sick man’s friends and forgave the man of his sins. Then he healed him. As everyone watched, the man “jumped up, picked up his mat, and went home praising God” (Luke 5:25, 26). The onlookers were “gripped with awe and wonder” and praised God, too. Could the faith of a few friends have ignited such miracle? Was it their persistence? Their willingness to take a risk? Maybe all of those.

But I like to think it was also their love for their friend that opened the door to the miracle. They had suffered with this man. Prayed for him. Refused to give up on him.  Did whatever it took to get him to Jesus. Most important of all, they believed in the power of Jesus, Son of the Living God, to set their friend free.

These friends were true intercessors. They knew what it meant to stand in the gap. They remind me of some friends who stood in the gap for a woman I know. She was caught in the grip of addiction. She’d lost hope—even the will to live. Together, her friends waged a battle for her on their knees.

How they did pray! That little team of friends demonstrated the power of persistent prayer and loving action. They “made a hole in the roof” to place their friend at the feet of Jesus.  Maybe this is our calling as believers.  To be vessels of the same mercy we’ve received from the Lord. Agents of hope.  It was Jesus himself who reminds us that there is no greater love than to “lay down our life for our friends.”

I‘ll leave you with my favorite definition of mercy:  “Mercy is the willingness to enter the chaos of another person’s life.” 

Lord, make us willing to be Your vessels of mercy and agents of hope to a hurting and broken world. –Amen

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