A Spiritual Discipline for Disciples to Grow Up is Prayer

Below is an excerpt from my bible study, Grow Up: Maturity in Christ Build Real Community, from the summary of the Prayer chapter. 

To take away the mystery of prayer, we need to understand that it is simply communicating with God. It is not pompous, eloquent, or well-spoken words. We were created to communicate with God. We speak, He listens, He speaks, we listen. Jesus taught His disciples to pray in the Lord’s prayer. Anytime we are at a loss as to how to pray, the format of this prayer can guide us. We can begin by acknowledging who God is, recognizing His exalted place above all else, praying for His will to be done, asking for provisions, forgiveness, and protection for self and others, then recognizing that the glory truly lies with Him. 

We are here to change the world for the better for Jesus. Prayer will impact and affect the world. Prayer often does not change our circumstances. More times than not, it changes us. The mighty weapon of prayer can hold back much on behalf of the people of God.

Prayer is a significant and very important way for us to connect with our Creator. It grows our relationship with Him. Prayer is such a key component in growing up spiritually. It is an open dialogue with the One who feeds, molds, and perfects us. Avoiding prayer cuts us off from our source. Prayer helps us remain, abide, and commune with God. He serves as the source of our growth, guidance, and everything.

Let us be prayerful people who stay connected to our wonderful Creator!

Book is available on Amazon 

Jesus' Prays

 At one of the hardest times in Jesus' life, this is the prayer He prayed for us. 

“I am praying not only for these disciples but also for all who will ever believe in me through their message. I pray that they will all be one, just as you and I are one—as you are in me, Father, and I am in you. And may they be in us so that the world will believe you sent me. “I have given them the glory you gave me, so they may be one as we are one. I am in them, and you are in me. May they experience such perfect unity that the world will know that you sent me and that you love them as much as you love me. Father, I want these whom you have given me to be with me where I am. Then they can see all the glory you gave me because you loved me even before the world began! “O righteous Father, the world doesn’t know you, but I do; and these disciples know you sent me. I have revealed you to them, and I will continue to do so. Then your love for me will be in them, and I will be in them.” John 17:20-26

What can we learn from this? 

What are my takeaways?

What are your takeaways?

To think, Jesus knew he was about to be arrested, brutally beaten, and crucified. Yet he still prayed for us. 

I takeaway my need to pray for others especially when I am going through times of trial, difficulty, and pain. In those times, I tend to be more inward-thinking. Seeing His example, the better approach for me is to look outward and upward.

What are your thoughts?

Grow Up is Updated and Ready!

It is official. The books are up and ready for purchase on Amazon. You can also find a link through the website beverlyverhage.com. 

If you know of others that are interested, please help me get the word out. I would love to get this tool in the hands of any seekers and Christians looking to grow in their faith and in community with others. I would love to start getting the word out to bible study groups, churches, small groups, etc. Study available in this link. 

 The study is about growing up spiritually as individuals in Part 1 and growing together with others in Part 2. The study compares our spiritual growth to the manufacturing process of brick making and brick building.

 

Grow UP is here and ready to purchase on Amazon in English and Spanish.  I have completed the pilot group studies, compiled the corrections and updates, and is now ready. 

If you know of groups that may be interested in this study, please forward any of my information.

If you were part of the pilot group, help me get the word out. Or even better, consider leading this study for a group.

My website is beverlyverhage.com. There is a link to the book on Amazon. I look forward to exploring spiritual growth with you on the pages of this book, but more importantly, through the bible. Many blessings to you.

Hold Back the Wall

Prayer is the strong and mighty weapon we have at our disposal in the body of Christ. The church is able to press back the forces of darkness by bringing down His kingdom to earth. We are part of the army of God that is warring on behalf of people that will come into the kingdom. Many in the body are too ill-equipped to defend themselves and too ignorant to know they are deceived. It is the army of God that is to be the wall that holds back the tidal wave of attack and assault against the people. (Remember Jesus said the gates of hell would not be able to prevail against the body that rest under this mantel of who Jesus is: “You are the Messiah/Christ, Son of the living God” – the very proclamation made by Peter to Jesus) 

 

We are to gear up. We are to be alert. We are to be prepared for the battle at all times. We are to be dressed and ready not only for our sake, not only for the sake of our family and not only for the sake of our church; but for the sake of those that do not even know the Lord yet. But why must we? How will they get to know, how will they learn and who will live it out in front of them? We must demonstrate and grow up in our salvation. We must teach them by walking with them and discipling them. I see the church holding back the tidal wave of harsh judgment. I see the body of Christ holding back the tidal wave of curses that will come upon all the people. I also see the blessings that can come as the wall is holding back the curses but bringing forth the blessings on all behind that wall.

 

Those in and of the world hate the Christian. They persecute us and misunderstand us, but the world needs to comprehend and understand that believers are the very force that stands between the world and the judgment of God that is coming upon it. It is standing between the plans that Satan has for this world and his forces of evil. His plan is for utter destruction, and I am certain of that. Nonbelievers may despise the believer, but I tell you there will come a day when the church will no longer be able to hold back the inevitable judgment to come. When it comes like a powerful tsunami, many will long for the day the church was holding back this disaster of evil. And in those days, you will desire for the peace, joy, and salvation but it will not be found. 

 

The earth and the sins of many have brought forth curses. We are standing currently in the outpouring of the blessings of those that have gone before us. Those blessings came from the covenants made that were honored by those that laid the foundation of faith in Jesus Christ and walked in loving obedience. We need to comprehend the magnitude of that which the church is responsible. I cannot overstate this especially to the believers. We have to take our role seriously. We need to wake from our slumber, rest, ease and time of complacency. We no longer can sit in the sterile, sanitized, impotent useless state any longer. This was never true, fulfilling or worthy of our calling. We are free at this point in history not for our sake but for the privilege of carrying the message of hope, peace and love of our savior to the world. We truly need to take up our call! Get up out of your seat. Activate your faith. Pray like never before. Be strong and courageous. And today, choose the one you will serve. I choose to serve the Lord. Join me!

 

Pray for the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. Pray for believers to rise up. Pray for the army of God to be activated. Pray for the warring angels in the heavenly realm to be activated and charged. Pray for and cry out for deception to be exposed like never before. Pray for revelation and light to be brought forth and for all to see clearly. Pray that those who will receive the Lord will begin to seek Him and turn to Him. Pray church pray.  Be the army of Almighty God. War on behalf of those that do not yet know Him. And Pray for the enabling power of the Holy Spirit to fill you now. Pray for protection for the Body. Pray especially for believers to start walking in integrity, righteousness and loving obedience. Pray for the equipping of the saints. Be bold, strong and courageous; and do not fear.

Studying the Word of God in the Presence of God

I have been studying the Bible for years now.  It has become a pursuit, a passion, and a desire of mine.  It has been transformational.  I have grown in my love for The Lord as I learn more about Him from the scriptures.  There have been times when I have encountered some hard truths that I wish weren't there, but the full counsel of the Word of God has been true nourishment that has sustained me, matured me and grown my relationship with God through His Holy Spirit by the grace gift of Jesus Christ.

However, I approach the Word of God typically through the use of external tools alongside the scripture known as bible studies.  I am beginning to notice these external tools are often times far too emotions and feelings based for me.  I strongly believe that the Word of God is not subject to our interpretation nor our emotions and feelings. Honestly I am so thankful for that fact.  I cannot imagine being tossed about at the whelms of my emotions and feelings.  While I can interact and enjoy life and even God by those very emotions and feelings, I cannot stand on them as truth.  At the end I plan to elaborate on an example in my own life to expound on this idea.

I find that women's studies are constantly asking me "How I feel about this or that" and all I can say at the top of my lungs is "I don't care how I feel, it doesn't matter how I feel, I want to study the Word of God to see what God says about this or that".  Perhaps this is the way it has been for some time, and perhaps I am just noticing it.  However, I do think being overly concerned about the way we feel may lead us into a very unwise walk if it supersedes truth.

In general, there seems to be two extremes in the body.  There are those deeply immersed into God's Word or those immersed in His Spirit.  It seems rather uncommon to find the Christian with a combination of the two which is what it takes to be well rounded.  Those who are studying the Word without the help and assistance of the Spirit, find their pursuit dry and legalistic; a type of bootstrap obedience. This leaves them empty, lifeless and joyless maybe even judgmental and harsh. Those who seek the Spirit without the Word typically are overzealous, hyper-spiritualized, experiential in feelings and emotions without being grounded in truth. These are the ones who are typically unable to discern between the leading of the Holy Spirit and their own thoughts.  They are easily led astray. they are on fire and full of the spirit and unfortunately without proper grounding and truth may burn out without the substance of the Word.

I believe we are to search the scriptures, study them and allow God to speak to us through them.  However if we only study the scripture as we do with any other book, it will be a dry, lifeless book.  If we are studying it in hopes of discovering all the ways to behave in order to please and appease God, our efforts will not only be futile, but  this approach will leave us feeling defeated.  We will be overwhelmed at the sheer magnitude and the daunting task of obeying all that is in the Bible. Due to the fact that we are linear beings, we typically can intentionally obey the latest rules we have studied because they are on our minds.  Conversely, if we have developed good habits or are easily obedient to the Bible, we see ourselves as succeeding, this may lead us to become prideful and arrogant.  Either way, we will be displeasing to God.

I believe we are to seek the Holy Spirit.  It will be the enabling power for us to live this life.  The Holy Spirit will teach us through the scripture, and remind us of all we have learned.  The Holy Spirit is what Jesus said He was sending to us when He left this earth.  Jesus died to not only rescue us from our sin of which we couldn't do for ourselves, He also sent us heavenly assistance to give us the power to live in a manner that pleases God.   The reason He did this is to restore us into a real vibrant relationship with God.  He created us to know Him, to be loved by Him and so we would be able to love Him back and put Him on display to the world for others to see (bring Him glory).  Why?  So the world then could know Him, be in relationship with Him.  Honestly to know Him and be in relationship with Him is to love Him.  He is love and when the enabling power of the Holy Spirit is experienced in us, we can experience that love.  That discovery of Him and love of Him will be the motivator and the enablement to obey Him.

So my challenge is to get into the Word of God in the presence of the Holy Spirit who will lead you into all truth.  When you are tempted to read scripture and say "I don't FEEL like that is true" or to say "That doesn't line up with what I have been through"; how about turning those statements around.  Read the Word in the awareness that God is with you by His Spirit.  Tell Him openly what it is in your experience that is causing you to struggle to believe the Word.  Ask Him to help you with your unbelief and help you with your understanding.  One thing I see is where we allow our circumstances and feelings to interpret scripture.  For example, when the scripture talks about answered prayers, if you haven't received a positive answer to your prayer; you begin to believe that God doesn't really answer prayers.  As a matter of fact, He does answer prayers.  It is possible He is saying no which is still an answer, not yet or perhaps He is saying yes as an answer but differently than you could have imagined.

We need to avoid interpreting the Word of God without the assistance of the Holy Spirit.  Allow your time in the Word to be an extension of your prayer time.  Let it be a conversation between you and God. (that is all prayer really is)  This can be the most profound experience you have ever had with Him, if you will do it.

Here is a second part of the challenge: take time to read the Word of God and journal what you learn and discover.  Read a verse, a chapter or an entire book, but whatever you choose to read, do it prayerfully.  Ask God to open your eyes and enlighten your heart to hear from Him in His word. (see Ephesians 1:17-19).   Allow Him to talk to you and when He begins to open your eyes to see truth, begin to write it down in a journal or notebook.  Resist the temptation of bringing your feelings into your interpretation.  Sometimes our feelings come on board long after our minds have lined up with the Word of God.  Feelings can mislead us, and instinct can be wrong.  If we are created by God, then His instruction manual on how to live and navigate life is what we need to depend on in order to live according to His design.  He provided us a large portion of the Word, the Old Testament, before the rescue was sent in the person of Jesus, so we are able to see that man cannot please God independent of God.  So the last part of God's Word, the New Testament, demonstrates His answer for us. The answer being, His power was made available to us in order that we may be restored into a relationship with Him.  Also that we are enabled to follow and obey His commands because of this wonderful gift of His power made manifest in us.

• As promised earlier, in reference to the matter of not standing on emotions and feelings as truth; in the midst of menopause I would be so hot at times I would have sworn the thermostat was set much  higher than it actually was.  When  I would take a look to see, I would see the same temperature which would have been giving me a chill in years passed.  During these episodes, I began to truly see how my hormones were playing tricks on me.  They were not a reflection of a change in my environment, rather they were in essence lying to me about it.  So my internal gauge was no longer reliable, and I needed to seek the truth by checking the thermostat.  Did I cool off by checking the external gauge?  No! But I could see the truth and refuse to freeze everyone else because of my internal reality.

Allow God's Word to be the road map for you and allow Him to be your guide by His Holy Spirit.  May your day be blessed today and may you be a blessing to others as you go.

Maintaining a Vibrant Prayer Life

Why do we as Christians come to God with a list of requests if we come at all to Him in prayer?  Is it because we live in a society filled with messages of self?  Could it be that we are so self-centered that we don’t even realize we have made even our spiritual pursuits about ourselves? Also, could it be that we really don’t believe that prayer matters all that much, and that is the reason we don’t regularly pray?

Our sermon Sunday was encouraging us to develop a vibrant prayer life.  To do this, you need to remember that prayer is not a magic spell you cast to get circumstances to work out in your favor. Nor is it a list of things you command God to do for you. I firmly believe that prayer is simply communicating with God regularly.  It is the best part of our walk with Him.  It is where we engage in communication with our Creator. Prayer is a wonderful way to align ourselves and our perspective up with God. Prayer is where most of our battle against the enemy is won.

As I talk to God in prayer, I remind myself of who He is, what He has done, how big and able He is and how wonderful and good He is. That is praise. By the time I have done this, the List of requests that I had seems to diminish in size and scope.  It brings perspective to my requests and to my circumstances.  So often during my prayer time, I am the thing that changes more than my situations. After a time of praise, I spend some time thanking Him for all He has done for me. That is gratitude. In Psalm 100:4, we are told that we enter His gates with thanksgiving and His courts with praise.  These two things are so powerful to help align our thinking, our will and our perspective. It is the best part of our time with Him.

After we have aligned our thinking, we can bring all our requests to Him.  We can trust Him to lead us to the BEST answer. It may not be what we want to hear, but it is what will be best. We can bring everything to God in prayer. Our anxiousness, our hurts, our disappointments and even our faithlessness. You want to know a secret, He already knows, but we still need to bring it to Him. The act of submitting our requests and our confessions to Him, is our way of giving God access to these parts of our lives.

Prayer matters and is effective. Prayer strengthens our faith.  The more we talk to the Father in prayer, the more we believe Him. The more we believe and trust Him, the stronger our faith becomes.  It was counted to Abraham as righteousness because he believed God.  We know that He believed because when God told Him to go to a place God would show him, Abraham went. Many other evidences in Abraham’s life demonstrated his belief.  Faith is simply demonstrating in action what we believe to be true.  We may say that we believe that God answers prayers, yet we do not pray. Then do we really believe He answers prayers.  If we believed that, wouldn’t we take things to Him in prayer.

• 1.     Start this week by setting aside time to pray regularly.
• 2.     Consider journaling to help you focus.
• 3.     Spend time in your prayer exalting God to remind yourself of who exactly it is you are talking to. Also, this will help you remember what an honor and privilege it is to be able to talk to Him in such a personal way. (This is the best time of prayer I promise… It is the time when perspective comes and we realize for our own sake our own insignificance compared to God, yet how significant we are to Him)
• 4.     Spend time thanking God for all He has done. Starting with what Jesus did for you on the cross.
• 5.     Submit your requests, petitions and intercessions to Him.
• 6.     Demonstrate what you say you believe by acting out in faith and pray.