Indeed in our hearts we felt the sentence of death, but this happened that we might not rely on ourselves but on God, who raises the dead. He has delivered us from such deadly peril and He will deliver us. On Him we have our hope that He will continue to deliver us as you help by your prayers. Then many will give thanks on our behalf for the gracious favor granted us in the answer to the prayers of many.
2 Corinthians 1:9-11
Have we a little pride? It is my forever prayer that the Lord carves pride out of my heart and being. Praise the Lord He has dug a little deeper. I have said many times before that pride is something that is hard to detect on your own. Often times for me I am in the pit of pride before I even know where I am.
I have been going through some major difficulties when it came to morning worship. I placed a major guilt upon myself for not rising at a certain time and beginning my day with the Lord. I would often begin my day in prayer and then proceed to bible study. I found it extremely hard for me to get before the Lord in prayer each morning and if I had not come before Him in prayer I found myself making excuses of why I couldn’t study the bible later in the day- yes knowing that He was still there for conversation and worship I felt it growing harder and harder to pick up the phone. My prayer life suffered and of course my bible study.
I did say a few prayers throughout the day- mind you to me this is different because I longed to spend time with my Father. Don’t get me wrong I know that I can pray anywhere- but I also knew that I longed to go home for a visit, where I would wear my crown before Him and bow down in complete submission to the will of My Lord.
The wonderful Holy Spirit encouraged me to pick my study back up regardless of my prayer life. Filled with great encouragement I continued to dive into bible study that I am currently taking. Believing God (Beth Moore). It was then that I discovered (lead by the spirit) that without the word- I have no words to pray. Where is my encouragement? What is my motive? When I would pray I would pray words that were self led and not spirit led. If I wanted to enhance my prayer life I needed scripture- which in turn I neglected because of my defeated prayer life. The word of God is the basis to life (including your prayer life.)
That is when I realized that I don’t need to worry about coming to my knees before Him. He will get me there and my heart will reflect my sincerity. We must be ready to come to the throne of God. We must have on our lips the words of repentance and of requests upon the Lords will that they be done. If you are making excuses to refrain from study, perhaps feeling the guilt of sin, don’t do it. Go to the word, it is through His word that the words you pray will take on great power!!!! Having feelings of inadequacy in anything (even our prayer lives) is Satan’s way of detouring us from the word of God. I guess he figures if we feel as if we are not good enough, we will just give up. Don’t give up- just change your focus. Focus on the word. (And not yourselves)
I surly did feel the sentence of death (full of guilt and shame) but I now know that these feelings came because I was relying on myself above Him who raises the dead (who raises those sleeping). Amazing isn’t it!! He has delivered me from this deadly peril and I know that He will deliver me!! My hope is on Him to continually deliver me as you help by your prayers. I thank you in advance for those who are praying and I ask that you continue to pray. I have had many answers to your prayers.
It truly is so important that we not only pray and believe God for our deliverance, but also pray and believe God for the deliverance of others.
Heres to your delieverence through Christ!!!
