SPEAK, LORD, YOUR SERVANT IS LISTENING

SPEAK, LORD, YOUR SERVANT 

IS LISTENING
 

When Samuel hear’s God’s call, he says, “Speak, for your servant is listening” (1 Samuel 3:10). This is the true spirit of prayer; not, “Listen, Lord, your servant is speaking!” Jesus shows that by prayer we attempt to submit our wills to the will of God, “Thy will be done.”  Prayer must never be an attempt to bend the will of God to our desires. When we submit our wills to his, miracles happen, and there is no greater miracle that the inner transformation of repentance and faith. Some years ago a very loving and humble elderly priest formed a prayer and study group for prisoners. At the end of the session, they all received a Christmas package. But they had to attend each session in order to receive the package. One prisoner, with a  life sentence for murder, heard about the prayer sessions with instructions in the Faith and wanted to attend. His sole purpose was the gift. However, after attending, he was deeply moved but the Catholic Faith and the offer for repentance from a merciful God. He asked for baptism. On fire with love, he is now a catechist. He has offered his life in prison for the salvation of his mother, a single barmaid who never knew love. This is the fruit of genuine prayer: 

one loving soul sets another on fire.


Reflection based on Matthew 6:7-15

Father Emmerich Vogt, O. P.




Father in Heaven, I willingly offer myself to you
to do with me as you will. Help me
to witness to your power, your love,
and your way of life.

In Affliction and Trial

Selected excerpts from Abiding in Christ

By Andrew Murray

Every branch that bears fruit He prunes,

That it may bear more fruit.

John 15:2

“In each affliction we need to hear the voice of a messenger that encourages us to abide even closer...  Abide in Christ!  This is the Father’s object in sending the trial...  Through suffering the Father leads us to enter more deeply into the love of Christ.  It is an unspeakable  mercy that the Father comes with His affliction and makes the world around us dark and unattractive.  This leads us to feel more deeply our sinfulness, and for a time we lose our joy in what was becoming so threatening to our spiritual life.

Pray for grace to see in every trouble, small or great, the Father pointing you to Jesus and saying, “Abide in Him.”  Abide in Christ; in this way you will become particular of all the rich blessings God designed for you in the affliction… Your assurance of His unchangeable love will become stronger...the love in which, as sympathizing High Priest, He descended into all your sorrows.  Abide in Christ; for by conforming to your blessed Lord in His sufferings, a deeper experience of the reality and the tenderness of His love will be yours.

Say that now you have but one object in life: making known and conveying His wonderful love to others.  You will learn the art of forgetting self, and, even in affliction, using this separation from ordinary life to plead for the welfare of others.  When you see affliction coming, meet it in Christ; when it has come, feel that you are more in Christ that in the affliction, for He is closer to you than affliction can ever be; and when it is passing, still abide in Him.  Let the one thought of the Savior...become your time of choicest blessing...that He and you belong entirely to each other...that you are more completely satisfied with Him and more wholly given up to Him than ever before.

Delight yourself in the assurance that closer union with Him and more abundant fruit through Him are sure to be the results of trial.

A Prayer

John 15:1-7

I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinedresser. Every branch in me that does not bear fruit he takes away, and every branch that does bear fruit he prunes, that it may bear more fruit. Already you are clean because of the word that I have spoken to you. Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing. If anyone does not abide in me he is thrown away like a branch and withers; and the branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned. If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.

Lord, I acknowledge that as I abide in You, I am fruitful.  Thank you for making me fruitful because I daily abide in Your presence through praise, worship, prayer, and meditation of Your Word. My obedience to Your Word brings my blessing. Lord Jesus, You chose me, appointed me and planted me for the purpose of producing lasting fruit. Right now I ask the Father in Jesus Name for that fruitfulness.

-PD

Fruit, More Fruit and Much Fruit
By Richard Lineberry

I am the vine.  You are the branches. 
Jesus, John 15:5

 

The picture of the Vine that Jesus gives is rich in information that we need if we want to have productive lives.  The first lesson is UNITY.  Everything must be in right relationship to everything else if the vine is to produce as intended.

Branches cannot be disconnected from their source of energy or they will wither and die.  That’s why Jesus says, “Abide in me,” and “Apart from Me you can do nothing.”  He is our power source.  What God orders, He pays for.  If we think we can accomplish spiritual growth apart from His program, we deceive ourselves.  His Body, like the human body, can only work properly if each system and organ is functioning for the sake of the whole.  The connection between parts of the vine is a living one.  No outside force makes it all happen.  No human wisdom attaches us to the Lord.  Even my best ideas how life should be lived don’t produce spiritual fruit unless He blesses it.

The goal of all of this union is to produce the fruit the vinedresser (God) expects.  Fruit may be the “fruit of the Spirit,” (Gal. 5).  It is reproducing the life of Christ and all He does through us.  We are a continuation of His ministry on earth.  Fruit is increase.  Fruit is always greater than the seed from which it came.  When Peter preached his first sermon on the Day of Pentecost, 3,000 people were added to the Vine.  Later, 5,000 more came in.  That’s increase! 

The vinedresser knows how to keep the vine healthy.  He removes excess leaves and redirects energy to the fruit.  He prunes away unproductive parts so that branches revive and bear greater increase with time.  That means God redirects us and removes unnecessary activities from us so that we produce what we were planted for originally.

God does the work as He chooses.  Our job is to center on Him.  Jesus’ command, “Abide in Me,” is our job.  Do we want to grow in every way God has planted us for?  Abide in Him.  Do we want to see the life of Christ available  for others to taste and see?  Abiding in our source can only make that happen.  Live in Him.  Learn His ways.  Ask for His will to be done.  If difficulties come, don’t think that life outside the Vine is better.  Remain in Him.  Abundant life is there.

Seven Plus One Causes &

Cures for Ineffective Prayer 

We tend to think that prayer is some peoples’ jobs but not the real work of daily life and work for me, for God and for mankind. Ask yourself, “What do I believe about the importance of my own prayers?” 

Then  look at my actual practice of prayer.

A simple method of daily prayer anywhere, anytime

 Dick Eastman (author of The Hour that Changes The World by Prayer) suggests taking one or two of the 96 fifteen minute periods in a day, spend the the first five in thanks and praise, then five in prayer for closest relationships, then five for the nations and peoples of the world. Many prayer tools are available like the Ignatius style daily devotional heard at http://www.pray-as-you-go.org/

The point is to overcome the obstacles to prayer we need a plan, a program, a habit, a way, an accountability.

John Wesley reformed the culture of Great Britain and brought continuous transformation in the lives of generations and nations through his method of prayer and small group accountability, which became the basis for the Methodist Church. He said, “God will do nothing apart from prayer.”  

     

In last week’s sermon I referenced Paul Billheimer’s book Destined For The Throne, where he writes that prayer is the training program for us, the body of Christ, to prepare us to share his throne as his bride in the fullness of his eternal kingdom. Individually and corporately, we are his temple, his house of prayer for all peoples, and our work, our business, our school, our relationships, our use of all the resources of earth, our part in the reformation of the culture all spring out of abiding in Him to come into heart agreement and pray.

Obstacles We Must Overcome to Pray

     1.     Exchange prayerlessness for prayerfullness “the more you pray the more you will pray.  

             the less -the less”

     2.     Exchange sinful weak character  (unforgiveness, selfishness, laziness, apathy of the 

             flesh) with the inward righteousness of person and presence of Christ.

     3.     Exchange pride in religious practice (like going to church) with humility and     

             brokenness.

     4.     Exchange focus on performance, personality, gifting or position in others or even 

             ourselves with God’s heart.

     5.     Exchange reliance on programs and ideas with actual prayer alone and together.

     6.     Spiritual Warfare and resistance of demonic authorities.

     7.     Lack of perseverance to press through these obstacles.

Plus One: the main cause and main cure for ineffective prayer

     

The problem is lack of faith.

“Be it unto you according to your faith.”

     

The cure is faith which comes by God’s Word spoken in my mouth and activated in my heart by the Spirit of God.

      

“Speech is the instrument for the manifestation of the spirit.” God spoke the Word into creation. He has given us the power of life and death in our tongues. Jesus said, “The words I speak to you are spirit and life.” Therefore when we speak His word from our spirit man, God is creating and acting.

      

The Scripture is the inspired word of God. Jesus is the Living Word. Man shall not live by bread alone but by the proceeding word of God. The word of God is near you, even in your mouth. Faith comes by hearing God’s Word. If you abide in me and my words abide in you will ask what you will and it shall be done for the glory of the Father.

      

Here are some more:  I watch over my Word to perform it...ask and keep on asking...everyone who asks receives...Whatsoever things you desire, when you pray, believe that you receive them and you shall have them…

 22 So Jesus answered and said to them, “Have faith in God. 23 For assuredly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be removed and be cast into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that those things he says will be done, he will have whatever he says. 24 Therefore I say to you, whatever things you ask when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you will have them. Mark 11:22-24.

2012 God Present; pruning and producing: John 15:2 Abide in God and his Word abide in you, then you will have his love, his joy and He will produce fruit that will last forever as you pray and work.   

-PD

2012 Theme & How to Have 

Anticipation and Hope

God Present: pruning and producing John 15:2

In his last words to his closest friends, Jesus says to continue to live, dwell, remain, abide in Him.  He explains how by using the analogy of how branches respond to the care of the vinedresser.  In our case we need to let Father lift them up, cleanse them from dirt, bind them to the trellis of discipline, and yield to God’s pruning, so they could produce even more fruit for him and others.

Regarding this word, “abide in me and I will abide (dwell, live, remain) in you (vrs 4)," I offer another analogy-that we live or abide in the house of our thoughts. We relate to others through the rooms of our feelings and motivations deep within our heart and soul. Though we live every moment from our inner “house,” often we are not aware of some things in these rooms-what spirit is moving and arranging things within.

However, we were not made to live in the limitations of our souls, but in the revelation, freedom and life in the spirit. We were made in God’s image to live in Him and be his dwelling place through our spirit, not just remain or dwell in how we feel, what we think or what we choose to do on our own.

My thoughts and feelings set the course for my decisions and reactions. So the more I build my house of thoughts with God’s Word, the more God is present in me. The more His word is the dwelling place for my heart, the more God is present in my responses to others. The more I practice his presence the more my house becomes his dwelling place-a place he wants to dwell and is comfortable. I want to continue to draw life from God and for Him to want to abide in me.

Jesus allowed himself to be lifted up upon a cross. Do you know that He saw this as victory, as fulfillment, as the path and door to his joy, to bring glory into the Father’s house much fruit. He even promised to bring you and many other brothers and sisters into what he was preparing in God’s house. He had come as the promised, Living Seed which would be planted in the ground to die, in order to bring forth much fruit.

(John 12:23-26 23 And Jesus answered them, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. 24 Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit. 25 Whoever loves his life loses it, and whoever hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life. 26 If anyone serves me, he must follow me; and where I am, there will my servant be also. If anyone serves me, the Father will honor him).

Are you willing to be part of Father’s house and vine with Jesus, to die to self and be lifted up in God’s victory and bring many others into God’s house with you? Jesus calls you to himself and into his kingdom, to share in his death, but also His resurrection and in much fruit, thereby to share in God’s glory. He endured the loneliness of the cross but did not remain alone. He wants this same relationship with the Father for you and with you.   

Moment by moment, look for how God is present in the house of your thoughts, feelings and actions, pruning and producing, fruit for His glory and for others’ benefit.

-PD

2012 God Present        

John 15:2b

      1I AM the True Vine, and My Father is the Vinedresser. 2Any branch in Me that does not bear fruit [that stops bearing] He cuts away (trims off, takes away); and He cleanses and repeatedly prunes every branch that continues to bear fruit, to make it bear more and richer and more excellent fruit…

       10If you keep My commandments [if you continue to obey My instructions], you will abide in My love and live on in it, just as I have obeyed My Father's commandments and live on in His love. 11I have told you these things, that My joy and delight may be in you, and that your joy and gladness may be of full measure and complete and overflowing.

How is God present to me? Anything hindering us?
What gives me hope, love, joy, and what good works are we producing together? 
Abide in God, moment by moment.

“GOD NOW” 

song for our theme for 2012 God Present

IN EVERY MOMENT,   IN EVERY CIRCUMSTANCE, 

IN EVERY MOVEMENT OF MY SPIRIT AND MY SOUL.

DOWN EVERY PATH,   THROUGH EVERY DOORWAY, 

EVERYWHERE I GO MAKE ME MORE AWARE OF YOU.

IN EVERY ACTION,   ALL MY RELATIONS,  

IN EVERYTHING I DO, DO NOTHING WITHOUT YOU.

IN EVERY VICTR’Y,   IN EVERY LIFTING UP,  

IN EVERY OVERFLOW OF LOVE AND JOY IN YOU,

YOU COME,  YOU COME  TO ME.   I COME, I COME, TO YOU.

YOU ARE PRESENT,  EVER PRESENT, YOU ARE PRESENT,

MORE PRESENT TO ME NOW (REPEAT)

IN EVERY FALLING,  IN EVERY FAILURE,  IN EVERY DISCIPLINE 

I YIELD MYSELF TO YOU.

IN EVERY LOSS,   IN EVERY COSTLY THING,   THROUGH EVERY SACRIFICE 

I GAIN MORE OF YOUR LIFE.

LET THERE BE HEALING,  WHERE HEARTS ARE BLEEDING

LET THERE BE TREES OF LIFE,  WHERE WE’VE SUFFERED LOSS

REKINKLE FRESH FIRE,  WHERE WE’VE LOST DESIRE,  

WHERE HEARTS ARE SICK,   LET HOPE BEGIN AGAIN

HOPE AGAIN,  BRINGING HOPE AGAIN,  I CAN HOPE AGAIN

GOD NOW, NOW GOD, HERE I AM

K. Dwight Cunkle