The Necessity For Prayer...

The LORD hear thee in the day of trouble; the name of the God of Jacob defend thee; Send thee help from the sanctuary, and strengthen thee out of Zion; Remember all thy offerings, and accept thy burnt sacrifice; Selah. Grant thee according to thine own heart, and fulfill all thy counsel. We will rejoice in thy salvation, and in the name of our God we will set up our banners: the LORD fulfill all thy petitions. Psalm 20:1-5 KJV


This text reads as a prayer of intercession. Regardless of our respective places, positions, and relationships with God, it behooves each of us to remain constant in prayer. Apart from winning souls to Christ, living a life of holiness and our “good standing” with God, there is still a level of total dependence that the Lord requires.  Our dependency on God in large part is supported and cultivated through prayer.

Psalms 20 begins with a cry for deliverance in “the day of trouble.” The defense submitted for the hearer of this psalm was the very name of “the God of Jacob.” By moving from the place of defense to a position and posture of dependency, we bless God on two accounts. First by our recognition of his supreme power, providence and authority, secondly by shifting focus from our dire situation to worship. This shift from horizontal relationship with others, and ourselves to a vertical relationship with God creates a shift in our response to Authority. We begin to walk out our destiny of being in the world but not of the world, fully submitted to the will of God, regardless of the resistance of contemporaries and/or our enemies. We recognize, regardless of our position within and outside the four walls of the church that our first responsibility is to please the Lord. The goal for the believer should be moving beyond the legalistic and natural responses of Christianity found through paying tithes, fasting, or attending worship services, to a relationship with God that requires daily prayer and conversation that requires a sensitive ear. By developing this level of communication with God that exhibits active listening, we are in a better position to “rejoice in salvation,” and walk in complete victory regardless of circumstances.

I am reminded of an Old Testament account of a famine in the land during the time of Joseph (Genesis 41:46-57). While the land was plentiful, he began to store up excess corn and was determined to move into a position of preparedness. He could have chosen to use his hard work to bring increase to his own home, but elected to store and toil for seven years in order to benefit many. I liken this account in Genesis to our actions and responses to God’s spiritual blessings during our times of joy and abundance. The spiritual revelations and blessings that the Lord pours into our lives must be cultivated and “stored” so that when times of disaster come into our lives and the winds of adversity blow, we are not only sustained by those same blessings but also enlightened and elevated by the revelation of scripture. In chapter 20, the psalmist declares that the Lord will “send thee help from the sanctuary, and strengthen thee out of Zion; remember all thy offerings and accept thy burnt sacrifice.” When the Lord “remembers” our interaction with him and our earnest desire to know him, I believe He moves quickly to strengthen us in our time of weakness. It is during the times of test and trial that we know that the time spent with the Lord, was not legalistic tradition, but the purposeful development and cultivation of the most enriching relationship we could ever have. This time spent with the Lord serves as an equipping for spiritual warfare. I believe that we will find that this equipping has strengthened us for the times of trouble, and will certainly shine forth brightly in our lives so that others can move through similar test and trials. I am inclined to agree with the psalmist and join with the author by declaring, “we will rejoice in (thy) salvation, and in the name of our God.”

History... Carried in the flesh.

Jesus was a man that carried his history in his flesh... after He suffered, bled and died he came back victoriously and revealed himself to his disciples. Thomas (who missed the first encounter) was not satisfied with just hearing about his return but expressed intently that he needed to see Christ in the flesh. (St. John 20:19-31) In other words he needed to see the history of what Jesus went through in his flesh. Thomas' belief was contingent upon a first-hand visual and tactile encounter with the scars and holes left from the experience that this man lived. He could not be satisfied or content with a second hand encounter. Transparency is a necessary component of our effective activity in the Kingdom of God. As believers we have to demonstrate our experience of Christ for others to see, believe and ultimately know (for themselves) who Jesus is...in other words our history of the lasting impressions (effects) of relationship with a Risen Savior in our own lives. We must show the world the History of Christ manifested in our flesh/lives.

Yes it is true that there are some who are blessed without ever seeing the history in the flesh, but Christ's example with Thomas lets us know that we can show up and in many cases keep showing up (with a consistent witness/testimony of our experience with Christ) to ensure that others are saved from their unbelief. Truly your history speaks volumes when it is carried in the flesh.

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Believing Is Not Knowing...

Some of you may have been thrown off guard by the subject of this blog. I must submit to you that there is a distinct and pertinent difference between believing in the Lord and knowing the Lord for yourself. Let's dissect this to its most elementary application. If I were conducting an interview with your parents and I asked them if they knew who you were, and their response to me was... "Yes, I believe that is my son or daughter," I must tell you that as the interviewer, I would suspect that perhaps they were ashamed or unsure if they knew you or they were not your true parent and somehow connected to you in some other "illegitimate" way. Now let's review that scenario again and suppose that your parents' response to my afore-mentioned inquiry was... "Yes, I know them, that is (insert your name here), my son or daughter." Then and only then, would I be able to affirm that these individuals not only know who you are, but actually have a relationship with you. Again I must reemphasize the title of this writing; believing a thing is not knowing a thing.


Let’s take a quick look at a couple of versions of 2 Timothy 1:12

"...I KNOW whom I have believed, and am persuaded that He is able to keep that which I have committed unto Him against that day." (KJV)

"...I couldn't be more sure of my ground- the One I’ve trusted in can take care of what he's trusted me to do right to the end." (MSG)

 Certainly this section of the text is interesting for me, in that, I am reminded that at the beginning of 1 Timothy, we find the Apostle Paul is encouraging this young minister not to cower behind his age and to hold firm in his faith amidst turmoil and conflicting practices both social and spiritual that were contrary to what both he and Paul were spreading about Christ. It is also important to note here for those of you who will make the case that Timothy was to hold firm to his faith, which you may say is directly related to his beliefs about the Lord... well... I must disagree. Faith is and has always been substantive. It is not simply our thought life about what is, but it takes shape in our responses to that belief through what we do as a result of our experiences while walking with the Lord (relationship). Scripture informs us that faith is the "substance" of things hoped for, it is something that goes beyond what we think or even feel about God because that can change depending on circumstances, our surroundings, friends, family, etc. It is something entirely different when you are able to say, that although everything in my life is screaming at me that there is absolutely no divine direction, governance, and certainly no protection from God right now, yet, I still KNOW that He is the I AM that I AM, and more than able to bring me to my destined place full of hope and a rich future. The bible says that the heart is deceitful, which further supports the fact that our belief and even some of our hearts desires manifested in our thought life and in our conversation can and have been at times contrary to the plan and purposes of God for our lives. We have got to constantly check our thought life, meditations, speech against the written and spoken words of God in order to line up fully with ALL of who we know God to be. That means when the bank account is low, rather than believe this is just the way life is for you, you KNOW that God is your Jehovah Jireh and is well able to “provide all of your needs according to His riches and glory,” or when there is constant chaos, disagreement and discontent in your home, you KNOW that God desires for you and your family to have a "peaceful habitation and a quiet resting place."

There is a definitive and distinct difference between simply believing in the Lord and knowing the Lord. Just like any other relationship it must be cultivated with quality time, questions and answers, and ultimately with a complete dependence and absolute trust. Ultimately there is no way to feel solidified in your salvation from sin without an assurance of relationship with the Lord Jesus.