Author: admin

Sometimes we pray casually. Our mind wanders and we even have trouble staying focused on the God of the universe, with Whom we’re speaking. Yet there are other times when our prayers carry a sense of desperation. We know how urgently we need God to intervene on our behalf. We cannot afford to be left out in the lobby waiting for an appointment! We must rush in to His holy presence immediately in order to consult with our Lord. In those urgent moments, we need to know that He is listening to our every prayer and is already marshaling His resources to deliver us.

“Hear me speedily” is an interesting phrase! How do you “hear” speedily? Of course, for God to hear is for God to act. We can have no doubt that when God hears; He responds. However, Scripture is clear that there may be times when God turns His face away from us. Because of our sin, God can refuse to listen to our plea. That can be a terrifying predicament. For if God is not listening, then He is not intervening. There is no more desperate place to be than in a position where God is not listening to our prayers.

That is why the psalmist did not take for granted that God would hear him. He pled that God would hear him “speedily.” The psalmist could not afford to be found out of favor with his King.

How speedily does God hear your prayers?

There are times in our lives where we find ourselves bogged down in the “mire.” Sometimes it’s our own fault. We may have been careless in our decisions and relationships. We might have forged ahead without seeking God’s guidance along the way. Suddenly we find ourselves bogged down in the “mire” and wondering how we got there.

But sometimes the mire is not our doing. We may have been diligently obeying what God told us to do. Suddenly we find that life has grown exceedingly complicated. Enemies are working against us. Other people’s issues are becoming our problem as well. We can find our life losing its focus as we attempt to extricate ourselves from the complications that have developed.

At times our lives can become so complicated that we are unsure how we will ever resolve the multitudinous issues we are facing. That is when we cry out to God: “Deliver me out of this mire!” People have been praying that prayer for millennia! And you will not be the last. Aren’t you glad you can lift up such a request to someone who hears, and will respond?

At times it can be baffling how we can be so foolish! We say something stupid. Or we neglect to do something important. Or we make a costly mistake when we knew better. Then we look in the mirror and shake our head in disbelief. How could we have been so foolish? As we consider the cost for our carelessness, or as we try to repair the damage from our thoughtlessness, we wonder why it is that we do things that are so hurtful to ourselves and to others.

At times it’s hard to admit our failure, especially if it was a foolish mistake. Yet there is one person to whom you never need hesitate to approach. For God knows our foolishness even better than we do. He is completely aware of our every shortcoming. He sees mistakes in us that we are not yet aware of ourselves. And yet, God is also infinitely patient, and gracious. He knows that we are but dust. And, He loves us with an infinite love.

The best way to overcome your foolish actions and words is to take them to God. Let Him address them. He will not simply beat you over the head with a club. Rather, He will help you view your life and actions from His perspective. But take heart. The sooner you take your problems to God, the sooner He can set you free from them.

We all enter deep waters at some point in our life. Often it is only for a season, but those waters will come.

We may have been doing great, only a few days or weeks before. But suddenly the waters come in a flood. They seem to overwhelm us and take our feet out from under us. We can’t seem to get any traction. There seems to be no escape.

At that moment we cry out in desperation: “Save me Oh God!”

The next moments can be some of the most precious in our life. For in that instant, we are in a position to have our greatest experience of God’s presence. It is when we are most desperate for God that we are in a place to experience Him most fully.

Do you currently feel overwhelmed by problems you are facing? Are you fearful? Are you having difficulty getting traction to stand up to a challenge? Cry out to God! He will not delay. He will not ignore you. He will not be at a loss to know what to do to help. He awaits your desperate cry today.

God is good! He loves us with an infinite love. He cares about our destiny. He desires us to be holy, like Him. He enjoys having fellowship with us.

As a result, God is continually giving things to us. He is the great cosmic gift giver! He delights in loading us up with benefits.

Like a parents who keeps finding one more gift they want to give their beloved child at Christmas, so God keeps finding one more blessing He wants to grant to His children.

If we were to stop and recount the blessings God has given us, even recently, we might be surprised how many there are. For besides the large gifts He has granted are countless smaller ones that we tend to overlook or take for granted. God does not merely sprinkle us with benefits, He loads us with them!

You may think you have a heavy load of problems to deal with. But the truth us, your blessings far outweigh them! Take time to consider some of what God has done for you, even today. How are you bearing up under the load of God’s blessings?

Those who are righteous have every reason to be glad. They are children of the King! Their sins, though despicable, have been washed clean and forgotten. They are heirs of the King and joint heirs with Christ. There is no one, and no thing, that can prevent them from obeying God’s will. Your eternal destiny is secure. Your future is glorious. Victory is assured. No problem can overcome you. No obstacle is impossible. The righteous have so much to be glad about!

Take an inventory of your joy. Are you filled with gladness? Do you regularly recount the numerous reasons for you to be joyful? Do you have a sense of joy that continually rises up within your soul like a fresh spring in the desert?

Being glad is a choice. It stems from our viewpoint. If we gaze upon our God, we cannot help but be glad. If, instead, we choose to focus on people and problems, our joy dissipates like the morning dew.

When you are troubled and sad, it is not necessarily that you have more problems than usual. It may simply be that you have begun to focus more on them than on your God. Your joy is not based on an absence of difficulty, but on the presence of your God.

Today, let the righteous be glad!

We do not set the terms for our relationship with God. He does! In this life, we can become careless. We don’t see God with our physical eyes. So, often we transform Him into the image we are comfortable with. We are pleased to have a God who is “always there for us.” We like a God who never condemns us but who is simply glad we took time to “stop by!” We imagine that God is relieved that we chose to pray to Him at all, what with our busy schedule and all.

However, a day will come when we will see God with our eyes. We will understand then, how awesome it is that we can address God in prayer at all. When we see the multitude of heavenly hosts and saints from all time gathered before His glorious throne, then it will amaze us that every time we whispered a prayer, He heard us. That the God, who is the center of the universe gave us His attention.

Yet it is critical for us to understand that God listens to us on His terms, not ours. He has declared that if we regard iniquity in our heart, He will not hear us. It is not that He cannot. It is that He will not. He is holy. He will not be treated lightly. He will not allow you to make a mockery of His holiness and His hatred of sin.

Before you try and pray to God the next time, ask yourself this question: “Have I regarded iniquity in my heart?”

Life can be viewed as a series of tests. When we are young, the tests are not complex. They review the most basic rules and expectations. Will we only take one cookie from the cookie jar as our mother instructed us, or will we take two? Will we clean our room and do our chores?

But as we grow older, the tests become more frequent, and complex. There is also far more at stake should we fail an exam.

God is a master at giving tests. His are always thorough and they are always fair. He knows what He is measuring. He recognizes what it is He wants to bring to the forefront of our lives.

Often when we are in the midst of a divine test, we focus more on the circumstances God is utilizing than we do on the character He is examining. There are times when the issue is not the particular test we are in at the moment but the character and spiritual maturity that is being exposed in the process.

Are you currently undergoing a divine test? What is it revealing? Are you passing, or failing?

Once lies and deception enter in to a leader or an organization, trouble is sure to follow. Lies always bring harm. They weaken and destroy relationships. They erode trust. As a result, wise leaders will not tolerate dishonesty in their midst.

There are many ways for falsehood to creep in to leaders’ lives. It can begin by simply stretching the truth, or telling a half-truth, or withholding a portion of the truth. Such behavior can appear easy to justify. But once dishonesty has a foothold, it can be difficult to expunge it from you.

The psalmist declared that when he drew near to God, his heart desired, even craved truth. He understood that God’s truth was his life. Not only would he embrace truth, but he would surround himself with others who loved God’s truth as well.

If you can tolerate liars and deceivers in your company, perhaps you have not drawn close enough to the God of light and truth.

Even though you are the king, your confidence must be in God. When you are the boss, holding the top position, it is easy to be distracted by the trappings that come with your office. Wealth, influence, friends, and power can become intoxicating. Yet wise leaders know where their strength ultimately lies. They find their joy not in the accolades of sycophants or in the press clippings tracking their success, but in their God.

When the office is gone, when the job is over, when the followers have departed, God will remain. It is in God that these leaders place their confidence because He is the bedrock to their existence. He is the one, unalterable, consistent, reliable relationship that they have.

When we place our confidence and our future in Him, we share in God’s reflected glory. God’s success becomes our success. His glory, our glory. Even the king understood that despite all he might look to for his own success and security, nothing compared to the confidence he found in identifying his reign, and his life, with God.

You may be the leader of a large organization or a small one. The crucial reality is not who you lead, but Who you serve.