God's attention

Grabbing God's Attention

Acts 10:31

"And said, Cornelius, thy prayer is heard, and thine alms are had in remembrance in the sight of God."

There will come a time in everyone's life when you will need God's attention to get a prayer answered. It may be a health issue that you are facing, a serious situation that you are facing in your life, a financial calamity or a family situation. In times like these, it would be good to find out how to grab God's attention so that you can get His help. I find in the Scriptures there are some things that grabs God's attention and if you will do them it will help you in your time of need.

First, praying grabs God's attention. You will notice in the verse above that Cornelius prayed. God says in James 5:16, "The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much." Nothing grabs the attention of God like prayer. Daniel prayed and got God's attention. Elijah prayed and got God's attention. Hezekiah prayed and grabbed God's attention. The publican prayed and got God's attention. You will NEVER grab God's attention without prayer. Prayer is the avenue God uses to give us what we need. If you have a need, then you must go to God in prayer to grab His attention.

Second, giving grabs God's attention. Not only did the prayers of Cornelius grab God's attention, but his giving helped God to remember him. If there is any reason for you to give, it is so that you can grab God's attention when you need it. We are reminded in Luke 21:2-3 that giving grabs God's attention when it says, "And he saw also a certain poor widow casting in thither two mites. And he said, Of a truth I say unto you, that this poor widow hath cast in more than they all:" You will notice it was not the amount that grabbed God's attention, but the sacrificial amount that she gave. You don't have to have a lot of money to give to get God's attention, but you must be willing to give sacrificially to grab God's attention.

Third, helping children grabs God's attention. Genesis 21:17 says, "And God heard the voice of the lad;..." This was the cry of Ishmael when Hagar was thrown out of her house. God has a special place in His heart for children. One of the reasons it would be wise to be involved in a church ministry that helps children is so that you can grab God's attention when you need it. When a church is aggressive about reaching children, I believe they will be able to grab God's attention. Likewise, when a Christian will be involved in helping children, they will find that God's ear is more open to their prayers.

Fourth, soul winning grabs God's attention. Psalm 126:5-6 says, "They that sow in tears shall reap in joy. He that goeth forth and weepeth, bearing precious seed, shall doubtless come again with rejoicing, bringing his sheaves with him." The heartbeat of God is to reach the lost for Christ. When a Christian is aggressively trying to reach the lost, they will find that God will do His part is helping them in their time of need.

One of the mistakes most people make is to wait till they need God's attention to start doing these things. Christian, don't wait till you need God's attention to start doing these things, but start doing these things before you need His attention. If you have God's attention before you need it, then it will be easier to get from God what you need in your time of need. Find a way to do these things on a daily basis so that you can daily get God's attention.

The Greatest Need

The Greatest Need of Every Hour

Acts 1:14

"These all continued with one accord in prayer and supplication, with the women, and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with his brethren."

I was talking to a friend of mine one day about the problems that churches face when he asked me what was wrong with the churches of today. There is no doubt that churches, whether big or small, face huge problems. My response was that too many churches have left the prayer closet and started doing everything under their own power and wisdom. This lack of prayer has led to sin in the church and results that are not lasting.

The church in the Book of Acts understood the importance of prayer. Not many days after Jesus ascended to Heaven you will find the church was in the upper room praying for God's power to fall upon them. Throughout the Book of Acts you find the theme of the church was prayer. In their time of need they went to God in prayer, and in the time of success, as seen in the verse above, they continued in prayer. They didn't stop praying when success came, but they continued to pray.

The greatest need of this hour is prayer. Nothing is a substitute for prayer. You may have all the wisdom, but without prayer your wisdom will not give the results it should give. You can preach strongly against sin, but without prayer sin will continue to run rampant in the church. You can have the knowledge of how to build a church, but without prayer the results of growth will be temporary. You will never experience what God intended for you to experience without prayer.

Why is it that prayer has been neglected? The reason its been neglected is because it takes work to pray. There are many things in the Scriptures that are easily followed, but prayer is one of those things that takes work. The reason it takes work is because you are entering a spiritual warfare every time you enter your prayer closet. Yes, you may be regular in your Bible reading, but you will find it is easy to read the Bible once you start, whereas praying never becomes easy. Winning people to Christ can become something of habit, but you will find that prayer will be the hardest thing to make a habit. Prayer is so easily neglected because of the work it takes to pray.

Let me challenge you in this devotional not to neglect your prayer life. A prayer life will give you the power you need to face your daily life. A prayer life will give you the strength to overcome sin's temptation. A prayer life will give you the energy you need to keep going during life's toughest times. Your prayer life is imperative to the health of your spiritual well-being.

Christian, you must daily schedule a time to pray if you are going to be successful in this area. Furthermore, you must not allow anything to take you from your time of prayer. The greatest need in your life is prayer. Moreover, be sure to continue in prayer when you see success. Make prayer a staple of your life. There are some things you may cut back on in your life, but never cut back on prayer.

Accusations

Dealing with Accusations

John 8:3

"And the scribes and Pharisees brought unto him a woman taken in adultery; and when they had set her in the midst,"

Accusations are easy to throw out, but just because someone has been accused of something does not mean that they are guilty. The scribes and Pharisees accused this woman of being caught in the act of adultery. That is a very serious accusation to hurl at someone. Yet, when Jesus heard this accusation He dealt with it in a godly manner. Jesus' goal in handling this accusation was to be sure it was true and to restore the one who was fallen if they were guilty.

When someone accuses another of something in your presence, how you handle that accusation could make or break your credibility. If you handle the accusation in a wrong manner, it could stain your credibility for a long time. On the other hand, if you handle the accusation in a right manner it could not only save the one who was accused of being destroyed, but it could also save your name. Dealing with accusations must be handled in a deliberate manner. Let me give you several thoughts on how to handle accusations.

First, don't believe the accusation just because it has been given. You should always fall on the side of innocent until proven guilty when you first hear the accusation. Just because someone says it is true does not make it true. You may even trust the person who gave the accusation, but every person is capable of making mistakes. Whenever you hear an accusation about anyone, your immediate response is that they should be innocent.

Second, don't move quickly. Just because someone else wants you to move quickly does not mean you have to move at their speed. You need time to deliberately work through the accusation. Many people have had their name soiled because they moved quickly through the accusation without giving time to find the whole truth. It would be wiser to move slower than faster.

Third, always get the story from the other side before determining your opinion. It is never right to take one person's word. The just thing to do is to ask the accused what they have to say. You will find out quickly that there are always two sides to a story. Even if your first opinion was right, how you came to that opinion was wrong if you didn't listen to both sides.

Fourth, ask God to guide you through the accusation. God can help you know the truth if you will ask Him. Your desire should be to come to the truth, and God certainly knows it. You will find that God will guide your mind down the right paths if you will ask Him to help you come to the knowledge of truth.

Fifth, don't cover up sin if you find out that sin has been committed. Dealing with sin truthfully is the best way to deal with it. It may not be easy, but to prevent further damage in the future it must be dealt with in a godly manner. This society is known for its coverups, and when you cover up it will always come back to get you in a greater way.

Unfortunately you will have to deal with accusations throughout your life. Be careful that you handle the accusations in a spiritual manner. When you follow God's method of handling accusations, then you will find that God will lead you to the truth.

Turning

Turning Enemies Into an Ally

Luke 6:27

"But I say unto you which hear, Love your enemies, do good to them which hate you,"

No matter who you are, how kind you are, or what kind of job you have, you will acquire enemies in your lifetime. There is no way you can do anything for God without getting someone upset with you. Sadly, I have watched people who were once good friends become bitter enemies. I have watched people who accomplished so much together become enemies. However, how you treat those who are your enemies is important for the sake of Christ. God tells us how we should treat those who become our enemies for the sake of turning them into an ally.

First, love your enemies. I know this sounds strange, but just because they are a bitter enemy doesn't mean that you can't love them. Remember, love is of God. When God loved the world He also loved His enemies. There are those who try to destroy everything that God is and wants, but God still loves them. As a Christian you are to love your enemies. Loving someone is a choice; therefore, you can choose to love those who fight against you. The reason you can love your enemy is because they are the one who chose to be your enemy. You didn't make a person your enemy, they chose to be your enemy. They consider themselves your enemy. Because this was their action and not yours, then you can choose to love them.

Second, do good to your enemies. Just because they mistreat you does not give you a right to mistreat them. As a Christian, you are not to fight people, but you are to fight sin. You can do good to them when they treat you wrongly. It is more important that you do right because you are supposed to than it is to treat them the same way they treat you.

Third, you are to be a blessing to your enemies. God commands you to bless your enemies. In other words, when you find a way to help them, do it. They may not want your blessings upon them, but they can't stop you from being a blessing. They may not understand it, but you must find a way to be a blessing to them so that they can have a good day.

Fourth, pray for them. The best way to change the heart of your enemy is to ask God to work on their heart. Christian, when is the last time you prayed in a positive manner about your enemy? Pray for God's protection. Pray for God to help them. Pray for God to allow a way that you can mend the fences. Ask God to help them do right. You don't have to preach at your enemy when you pray because God is the One Who works on their heart.

Verse 45 shows us that the reason we should treat our enemies right is because it reveals what our heart is like. If you have a good heart, then good will continually come for your heart even when you are not being treated right. How you treat your enemies shows what is truly in your heart. Your goal should be for God to turn your enemy into your ally. The best way to do that is to follow God's advice on how to treat your enemies.

Don't Limit God

Don't Limit God

Mark 6:41

"And when he had taken the five loaves and the two fishes, he looked up to heaven, and blessed, and brake the loaves, and gave them to his disciples to set before them; and the two fishes divided he among them all."

Have you ever driven a vehicle that someone put a limit on how fast it can go? There is nothing more frustrating than having the power to go faster, but not being able to do so because someone limited the power. When a limiter is placed on a vehicle, then it wastes the power that the engine is able to produce.

Humans are negative and doubtful by nature. It is rare to find someone who does not put a limit on their dreams or on what God can do. Often, when a person steps out and attempts something great, the naysayers begin to speak up and try to diffuse the energy of the one who is attempting great things for God.

Jesus had been teaching all day. The people were tired and hungry, and they needed something to eat. The disciples lack of faith in God's power caused them to tell Jesus to send the people away so that they could get something to eat. Instead of sending the people away, Jesus responded by saying, "Give ye them to eat." Jesus knew what He was going to do. Jesus knew that feeding five thousand people was not going to be too hard for Him. But, in order for the five thousand to be fed, the disciples had to obey what Jesus told them to do even when they couldn't see how it could be done. Because the disciples obeyed Jesus' command, five thousand people saw Jesus feed them with five loaves of bread and two fishes.

Imagine if the disciples didn't obey Jesus command to get the lunch from the boy? Imagine if the disciples questioned Jesus ability to feed this many people? Imagine if the disciples went against Jesus and simply sent the people home? If they would have done these things, then a boy would not have been blessed by giving his lunch, five thousand people would have gone home hungry, and this story would not be in the Scriptures. For this miracle to happen, the disciples had to obey what Jesus told them to do even when their faith was weak. If the disciples limited Jesus by their doubt, then this miracle would not have taken place.

The only thing that limits the power of God is doubt. When a Christian doubts whether God can do something, then they have put a limit on God's ability to do great works. Yes, God could choose to do everything on His own, but He chooses to do His works through people. The greatest works of God can only be done when people stop limiting what God can do.

The only thing that will keep God from doing something great through your life is doubt. When you doubt whether God can use you, you are limiting Him. When you doubt whether God can save a soul, then you are limiting Him. I have watched many Christians stifle what God could do simply because they let their doubt limit God.

It is normal for doubt to show up when God asks you to do something by faith, but you must not act on the voice of doubt. You must not allow doubt to be the voice of reason in your life. Most of the time when God asks you to do something by faith it will make no sense, but if you will act upon faith and not upon doubt, then God can do great works through you. Be careful about limiting God's power in your life. Don't put a limit on what God can do. If God tells you to do something, then obey His command. God can and will do great things through you if you don't limit Him. Don't waste God's power by limiting Him, but unleash His power by obeying what He tells you to do.