DAILY ENCOURAGEMENT - WEDNESDAY: “The Secret To Changing Our World” #2

A great many people do not pray because they do not feel any sense of need. The sign that the Holy Spirit is in us is that we realize that we are empty, not that we are full. We have a sense of absolute need. We come across people who try us, circumstances that are difficult, conditions that are perplexing, and all these things awaken a dumb sense of need, which is a sign that the Holy Spirit is there. If we are ever free from the sense of need, it is not because the Holy Spirit has satisfied us, but because we have been satisfied with as much as we have. ‘A man's reach should exceed his grasp.’ A sense of need is one of the greatest benedictions because it keeps our life rightly related to Jesus Christ." - Oswald Chambers.

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"Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened. Or which one of you, if his son asks him for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a serpent? If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him! - Mat 7:7–11. (ESV).

As we continue this series on prayer, let us remind ourselves that... some say that the Sermon on the Mount was really not a sermon it was just a collection of the wisdom of Jesus, and they use this portion of scripture to support their argument. They say that the teaching on prayer just doesn't fit here... wrong! Jesus has just said not to judge the hearts of others unless we want to be judge accordingly. We think to ourselves, how can we live up to this standard? Jesus answers the unasked question. Pray...

Why Don't We Pray Earth Shaking Prayers Anymore?…We get Satisfied.
Why do we get satisfied? Because it is easier to stay the same than to change. We are easily satisfied. The enemy of our soul throws us a few trinkets, and we start to lose sight of Jehovah Jirah! God is our provider, all we have to do is ASK!

"Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened. - Mat 7:7-8.

Sir George Adam Smith tells how he and his guide were climbing the Weisshorn in the Swiss Alps. It was stormy and they were making their climb on the sheltered side of the peak. When they reached the summit, they were filled with the exhilaration. Sir George forgot about the fierce winds, leaped up and was nearly blown over the edge to the glacier below! The guide grabbed hold of him and exclaimed: "On your knees, sir. You are safe here only on your knees!" - Source Unknown.

We need a vision of who we are in Christ and His plan for this world.
In Matthew 7:11 it says "..how much more.." We need to realise that God has so much more for us! We must not become satisfied with the status quo and go along with everyone else! ASK God for more, give us more of you Lord, more of your love, more of your compassion, more of your grace, and in this case here, more of the Holy Spirit’s power!

Is it so difficult to ask? Let’s put away our pride and our inhibitions, and come before His throne as a blood washed child, a follower of Christ, a member of the family of God, and just ask! Can we identify with the prophet Jeremiah...? But if you will not listen, my soul will weep in secret for your pride; my eyes will weep bitterly and run down with tears, because the LORD's flock has been taken captive. - Jer 13:17.

Knowing that intercessory prayer is our mightiest weapon and the supreme call for all Christians today, I pleadingly urge our people everywhere to pray. Believing that prayer is the greatest contribution that our people can make in this critical hour, I humbly urge that we take time to pray--to really pray. Let there be prayer at sunup, at noonday, at sundown, at midnight--all through the day.

Let us all pray for our children, our youth, our aged, our pastors, our homes. Let us pray for our churches. Let us pray for ourselves, that we may not lose the word 'concern' out of our Christian vocabulary. Let us pray for our nation. Let us pray for those who have never known Jesus Christ and redeeming love, for moral forces everywhere, for our national leaders. Let prayer be our passion. Let prayer be our practice. - Robert E. Lee.

We don't want to stand before God and find out He wanted to do "more" through our lives, but we wouldn’t allow Him! The Faith and Prosperity Teachers miss it, they think the "more" is material; the more is much more than that! God wants to use His Church to change the world. He wants to use us, to change Lives, change Communities, change Cities, change Countries and change the World.

Loving Father, I thank you for the power of the Holy Spirit who helps me to pray! I thank you Lord that I can come before your throne and ask for more of you, more of Jesus and more of the Holy Spirit’s power. In His wonderful name I pray!