Reflection
on Joshua 1:1–9
God
made some extravagant promises to Joshua. He knew that Joshua would face fierce
enemies and overwhelming obstacles and therefore would need to remember these
assurances in tough times. We need to be able to hang on to God’s promises as
well. Praying Scripture back to God is a valuable tool to assist us in our
spiritual growth—“reminding” him of his promises, as it’s sometimes called.
Repeating the assurances of God’s Word in prayer elevates and guides our
requests. By praying God’s words back to him, we have assurance that we are
praying effectively.
PRAISING GOD
Enter His gates with
thanksgiving, and His courts with praise. Give thanks to Him; bless His name
Praise
and thanksgiving are part of every level of prayer. They are continuous as we
walk in the light. To come before God with thanksgiving is no different than
coming before our earthly parents with an attitude of gratitude. Nothing
disturbs a parent more than a child who is always demanding, forever
complaining, and never satisfied. How would you feel if you've given as much as
you can as a parent and your child still wants more, more, more? On the other
hand, how would you feel toward the child who snuggles up and says,
"Thanks for being who you are. I just love you and I know you're doing the
best you can for me." What a great parent-child relationship.
Can
you imagine approaching God and demanding, "I want more!"
And
He responds, "I gave you My only begotten Son."
"But
I want more!"
We
ought to start every day by saying, "Thank You, heavenly Father. I
deserved eternal damnation, but You gave me eternal life. How may I serve You
today?
Praising
God is acknowledging His attributes. I try to be aware when I pray that God is
the ever-present, all-powerful, all-knowing, loving heavenly Father. I don't
praise Him because He needs me to tell Him who He is. He knows who He is. I am
the one who needs to keep His divine attributes constantly in my mind. I try to
keep the knowledge of God's presence foremost in my thoughts. No matter where I
go, He is with me.
I'm
always disturbed when I hear people asking God to "be there." It's
like we are questioning His omnipresence. The same goes for asking God to be
with our missionaries. We have the assurance of Scripture that He will be with
them unto the ends of the earth. We can confidently acknowledge that He will
neither leave us nor forsake us. We ought to thank God for His presence and ask
Him to bring to our minds anything that may be keeping us from having perfect
fellowship with Him.
Prayer: Father God, teach me
to practice the awareness of Your presence and accept the sufficiency of Your
attributes.
source:
No comments:
Post a Comment