Prayer

I read texts on prayer a lot. And though I am not an exhaustive font of knowledge on prayer their are some things I find helpful in my search to deepen my prayer life.

1. Remember God in prayer

I don't mean that we should pray for God because He is self-sufficient. I mean that praise should be part of prayer too. We pray to the Father through Jesus Christ the Son by the aid of the Holy Spirit.

2. Humble oneself when praying to God.

For me this sets my mind to see more cleary that I am the creature and He the Creator. He is the potter and I the clay.

3. May what I request be according to the Will of God.

When I think of the requests I make from God I look at it in the light of James 4.
James 4:3 NASB You ask and do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, so that you may spend it on your pleasures.
1 John 3:22 NASB and whatever we ask we receive from Him, because we keep His commandments and do the things that are pleasing in His sight.

4. Give my all to God. Submit myself to God

I have realized that the more I give my desires to God the more freedom in Christ I have.
Romans 12:1-2 NASB Therefore I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.

5. Use the word of God in a prayer

Psalm 27:4 NASB
One thing I have asked from the LORD, that I shall seek: That I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, To behold the beauty of the LORD And to meditate in His temple.
Psalm 61:1-8 NASB
Hear my cry, O God; Give heed to my prayer. From the end of the earth I call to You when my heart is faint; Lead me to the rock that is higher than I. For You have been a refuge for me, A tower of strength against the enemy. Let me dwell in Your tent forever; Let me take refuge in the shelter of Your wings. Selah. For You have heard my vows, O God; You have given me the inheritance of those who fear Your name. You will prolong the king's life; His years will be as many generations. He will abide before God forever; Appoint lovingkindness and truth that they may preserve him. So I will sing praise to Your name forever, That I may pay my vows day by day.

6. It is through Christ that we ask.

John 16:23-26 NASB
"In that day you will not question Me about anything Truly, truly, I say to you, if you ask the Father for anything in My name, He will give it to you. "Until now you have asked for nothing in My name; ask and you will receive, so that your joy may be made full. "These things I have spoken to you in figurative language; an hour is coming when I will no longer speak to you in figurative language, but will tell you plainly of the Father. "In that day you will ask in My name, and I do not say to you that I will request of the Father on your behalf;

Church's and heart attacks

I woke up in time to go to the 11 o'clock service. Before I went I sought to ready my heart by meeting God in his word. It was great to take in the word of God in two places Hebrews 10.
Hebrews 10:5-7, 10-12, 14-17, 19-23 NASB
Therefore, when He comes into the world, He says, "SACRIFICE AND OFFERING YOU HAVE NOT DESIRED, BUT A BODY YOU HAVE PREPARED FOR ME; [6] IN WHOLE BURNT OFFERINGS AND sacrifices FOR SIN YOU HAVE TAKEN NO PLEASURE. [7] "THEN I SAID, 'BEHOLD, I HAVE COME (IN THE SCROLL OF THE BOOK IT IS WRITTEN OF ME) TO DO YOUR WILL, O GOD.'" [10] By this will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. [11] Every priest stands daily ministering and offering time after time the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins; [12] but He, having offered one sacrifice for sins for all time, SAT DOWN AT THE RIGHT HAND OF GOD, [14] For by one offering He has perfected for all time those who are sanctified. [15] And the Holy Spirit also testifies to us; for after saying, [16] "THIS IS THE COVENANT THAT I WILL MAKE WITH THEM AFTER THOSE DAYS, SAYS THE LORD: I WILL PUT MY LAWS UPON THEIR HEART, AND ON THEIR MIND I WILL WRITE THEM," He then says, [17] "AND THEIR SINS AND THEIR LAWLESS DEEDS I WILL REMEMBER NO MORE." [19] Therefore, brethren, since we have confidence to enter the holy place by the blood of Jesus, [20] by a new and living way which He inaugurated for us through the veil, that is, His flesh, [21] and since we have a great priest over the house of God, [22] let us draw near with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. [23] Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful;
This reminded me of the valley of dry bones and how God could make them live then I read and right near the valley was written the new covenant in which God speaks of in Ezekiel 36.
Ezekiel 36:3, 22-29, 31 NASB
therefore prophesy and say, 'Thus says the Lord GOD, "For good reason they have made you desolate and crushed you from every side, that you would become a possession of the rest of the nations and you have been taken up in the talk and the whispering of the people."'" [22] "Therefore say to the house of Israel, 'Thus says the Lord GOD, "It is not for your sake, O house of Israel, that I am about to act, but for My holy name, which you have profaned among the nations where you went. [23] "I will vindicate the holiness of My great name which has been profaned among the nations, which you have profaned in their midst Then the nations will know that I am the LORD," declares the Lord GOD, "when I prove Myself holy among you in their sight. [24] "For I will take you from the nations, gather you from all the lands and bring you into your own land. [25] "Then I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean; I will cleanse you from all your filthiness and from all your idols. [26] "Moreover, I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; and I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. [27] "I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will be careful to observe My ordinances. [28] "You will live in the land that I gave to your forefathers; so you will be My people, and I will be your God. [29] "Moreover, I will save you from all your uncleanness; and I will call for the grain and multiply it, and I will not bring a famine on you. [31] "Then you will remember your evil ways and your deeds that were not good, and you will loathe yourselves in your own sight for your iniquities and your abominations.
This brought up not a feeling that I owed God but thankfulness to God and shame at my sin. So I went to church and saw God revealed in song and preaching. During the preaching it was announced that the man who suggested I purchase the biography of John and Betty Stam suffered a heart attack. I was stunned to say the least I spoke to him whenever I entered the bookstore. Yet I met with God today even though I was off kilter at finding this out. Yet halfway through someone decided to sit next to me. His name was Justin. I am really introverted thus left without small talk. I managed to connect with a couple I used to see almost every Sunday for a year. May God bless them with a child according to His will. I will end by saying this that though hard times will come I will trust in the Lord.

Going forth and being a woman and not a girl.

Today I am looking at my life. My sister has brought me to a salon and while she has had her hair done I have had a time to examine myself and though to others I may seem as if I am relaxing on my tablet. But inwardly God knows. In reading the book about the life of John and Betty Stem I see an awesome work of God in their life. They counted their lives as loss for the sake of Jesus Christ. They paid for the calling of preaching the gospel in China with their lives. The Bible demands us to lay down our lives to present our bodies as a living sacrifice which is our spiritual worship. I know that this sacrifice gains us a closer relationship to God. And it is a fragrant offering to God. This reminds me of the story Paris Reidheid shared in his sermon Two Shekels and a Shirt about the two Moravian slaves and how as the boat pulled away these words were heard, " May the Lamb receive the reward of his suffering!" Those who count their life as loss for the sake of Christ gain life