Today’s featured fruit: JOY.

What exactly is joy? Joy isn’t an emotion. It isn’t happiness. It isn’t pleasure. It’s waaaaay deeper than that.

Joy comes from God. It’s available 24/7, no matter the circumstances.

What does the Bible say? Joy is a major theme in the Bible. It sings in the Psalms, graces the Gospels, epitomizes the Epistles and reverberates in Revelation. Here’s just a sampling:

• “Shout with joy to God, all the earth!” (Psalm 66:1)
• “Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice!” (Philippians 4:4)
• “[T]he joy of the Lord is your strength.” (Nehemiah 8:10)
• Jesus told His disciples: “I will see you again and you will rejoice, and no one will take away your joy.” (John 16:22)
• “Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance.” (James 1:2)
• “Let us rejoice and be glad and give him glory!” (Revelation 19:7)

C. S. Lewis called joy “the serious business of heaven.” Billy Sunday said: “If you have no joy in your religion, there’s a leak in your Christianity somewhere.”

LET THE SPIRIT
FILL YOU WITH JOY TODAY

Today’s featured fruit: LOVE.

Why love? There’s a reason love is first on the list. At its heart, the Bible is one gigantic love-fest. In fact, God IS love. The Bible says:

Dear friends, let us love one another for loves come from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. (1 John 4:7-8)

What exactly is love? It’s not a feeling. It’s not a sentiment. It wasn’t invented by Hallmark or Hollywood.

Here’s God’s definition:

Love is patient,
love is kind.
It does not envy,
it does not boast,
it is not proud.
It is not rude,
it is not self-seeking,
it is not easily angered,
it keeps no record of wrongs.
Love does not delight in evil
but rejoices with the truth.
It always protects,
always trusts,
always hopes,
always perseveres.
Love never fails.
(1 Corinthians 13:4-8)

LET THE SPIRIT FILL YOU
WITH LOVE TODAY

The sinful nature desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the sinful nature. They are in conflict with each other … (Galatians 5:16-17)

It’s SPIRIT WEEK here on GUWG where each day we’re taking a deeeeeep dive into what the Bible says about the Holy Spirit.

Today’s topic …

THE FRUIT TEST

Our sinful natures are in direct conflict with the Holy Spirit. Who’s winning in your life?

Consider these two rather different lists …

1.  Fruit produced by the sinful nature (Galatians 5:19-21):

• hatred
• jealousy
• discord
• idolatry
• impurity
• selfish ambition
• fits of rage
• drunkenness
• sexual immorality

2. Fruit produced by the Holy Spirit (Galatians 5:22):

• love
• joy
• peace
• patience
• kindness
• goodness
• faithfulness
• gentleness
• self-control

Here’s the test: Would the people around you say they see more of List #1 or List #2 in your life? Be honest. Think deeeeeeply. Put yourself in their shoes.

GOT FRUIT?

Here are today’s verses, straight from the mouth of Jesus:

I am the true vine,  and my Father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful. Remain in me, and I will remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me. I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. (John 15:1-2, 4-5)

I love it when the Bible paints pictures.

The Father is the gardener. Jesus is the vine. We’re the branches. The Holy Spirit is the life-giving sap that runs from the vine to the branches. If the branches stay connected to the vine, they live and grow fruit. If they don’t, they die. It’s that simple.

So, what “fruit” does the Holy Spirit help us grow? A cornucopia of fabulous stuff:

• love
• joy
• peace
• patience
• kindness
• goodness
• faithfulness
• gentleness
• self-control

We’ll talk about each of these in detail in the next few days. Until then:

REMAIN IN THE VINE

I will ask the Father and He will give you another counselor to be with you forever. (John 14:16)

It’s SPIRIT WEEK here on GUWG, where we’re focusing on one of the most important but misunderstood (at least by me) topics in the entire Bible: THE HOLY SPIRIT.

Some quick facts to get us started …

The Holy Spirit is a person. It’s critical to understand that the Holy Spirit is a person — not an “it” or some impersonal force that we can manipulate. He has a mind (Romans 8:27), emotions (Ephesians 4:30) and will (1 Corinthians 12:11).

The Holy Spirit is God. He’s part of the Trinity, along with the Father and Jesus (Ephesians 4:30). He’s omnipresent, eternal and loves us more than we can possibly imagine.

What does the Holy Spirit do? The Father sent the Holy Spirit to help us live the Christian life. He lives in us (1 Corinthians 6:19). He guides (John 16:13), teaches (John 15:26), leads (Romans 8:14), warns (Acts 20:23), assures (Romans 8:16), helps (Romans 8:26), convicts (John 16:8-11), gives us spiritual birth (John 3:5), prays for us (Romans 8:26) and makes us holy (1 Corinthians 6:11).

What do we do? The Bible puts it simply and directly: “be filled with the Spirit” (Ephesians 5:18). Put another way: “You, however, are controlled not by the sinful nature but by the Spirit, if the Spirit of God lives in you.” (Romans 8:9)

Get to know the Holy Spirit. Listen to him. Talk to him. Let him teach you and guide you. Ask him to fill every nook and cranny of your life — your thoughts, emotions, work and relationships — so that his love can flow out of you and into the world.

BE FILLED WITH THE SPIRIT

LOVING FATHER:

We pray for our mothers,
who cared for us
when we were helpless,

who comforted us
when we were hurt,

whose love and care
we usually took for granted,

as we often take
your love for granted.

God our Creator, we also pray:

for new mothers,
coming to terms
with new responsibility;

for expectant mothers,
wondering and waiting;

for those who are tired,
stressed or depressed;

for those who struggle to balance
the tasks of work and family;

for those who are unable
to feed their children due to poverty;

for those whose children have physical,
mental or emotional disabilities;

for those who have children
they do not want;

for those who raise children
on their own;

for those who have
lost a child;

for those who care
for the children of others;

for those whose children
have left home;

and for those whose desire
to be a mother has not been fulfilled.

Bless all mothers,
that their love may be deep and tender,
and that they may lead their children
to know and do what is good,
living not for themselves alone,
but for God and for others.

AMEN

(Author Unknown)

]]> http://getupwithgod.com/mothers-day/mothers-day-prayer/feed/ 1 Mother's Day Prayer http://getupwithgod.com/mothers-day/mothers-day-prayer/ http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/GetUpWithGod/~3/XcWcv-P4RVk/ http://getupwithgod.com/prayer/praying-hands/#comments Sat, 12 May 2012 08:03:33 +0000 GUWG http://getupwithgod.com/?p=4828

Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends. (John 15:13)

We conclude PRAYER WEEK here on GUWG with a little story about the painting to the right …

In the 1490s, two struggling art students, Albrecht Dürer and Franz Knigstein, were having trouble making ends meet. Albrecht came up with a plan: he would work to support Franz’s studies and then when Franz had sold enough art to support both of them, Albrecht would quit working and go back to school. Franz liked the idea but insisted on being the first to work.

Albrecht became a highly skilled painter and engraver. When his art began to generate enough money to support the two of them, he returned to keep his part of the bargain.

But things didn’t work out according to plan. Albrecht was shocked and saddened to see that Franz’s labors had left his hands too stiff and gnarled to hold a brush. Franz’s career as an artist was over before it had started.

But that’s not the end of the story. Franz refused to be bitter. One day, Albrecht returned home to find him kneeling by his bed, his hands uplifted in prayer, asking God for continued blessings on Albrecht’s artistic endeavors.

Deeply struck by his friend’s unselfish acts of love, Albrecht sat right down and sketched what would become by far his most famous work — the “Praying Hands.” It’s a work that has inspired millions in the centuries since its creation.

May we all lift our hands in prayer today and ask God to fill our hearts to overflowing with his self-sacrificial love.

This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters. (1 John 3:16)

 

So, how should we pray? First, let’s start with how NOT to pray:

• Don’t do it for show. Jesus said: “And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by men.” (Matthew 6:5)
• Don’t babble. Jesus also said: “And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like the pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words.” (Matthew 6:7)

So how SHOULD we pray?

Jesus shows us the way:

• Pray often. “Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed.” (Luke 5:16)
• Be vigilant. “Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the body is weak.” (Mark 14:38)
• Ask, seek, knock. “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.” (Luke 11:9)
• Pray with passion. “And being in anguish he prayed more earnestly, and his sweat was like drops of blood falling to the ground.” (Luke 22:44)
• God’s will, not ours. “Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done.” (Luke 22:42)

More Deep Thoughts

Theologians have debated and discussed prayer for centuries. Here are some of their deepest thoughts on how we should approach prayer:

• “Prayer is the sweat of the soul.” (Martin Luther)
• “We must wrestle earnestly in prayer, like men contending with a deadly enemy for life.” (J.C. Ryle)
• “Prayer is the nearest approach to God and the highest enjoyment of him that we are capable of in this world.” (William Law)
• “Effective prayer is a quartet: the Father, the Son, the Spirit and the Christian.” (John Blanchard)
• “Prayer is a sincere, sensible, affectionate pouring out of the soul to God, through Christ, in the strength and assistance of the Spirit, for such things as God has promised.” (John Bunyan)
• “He prays well who is so absorbed with God that he does not know he is praying.” (Francois de Sales)
• “When you kneel to pray, don’t give orders — report for duty!” (Anonymous)

I have so much to do that I spend several hours in prayer before I am able to do it. (John Wesley)

It’s PRAYER WEEK here on GUWG. Monday, we started with the WHY of prayer. Tuesday, we focused on the WHO. Yesterday, we covered the WHAT. Today, we’ll discuss WHERE and WHEN to pray.

So, WHERE should we pray?

That answer’s simple: everywhere.

If you had followed Jesus, here’s what you would have seen …

He prayed in lonely places. He prayed in crowds. He prayed in the desert. He prayed in the mountains. He prayed by a river. He prayed by a tomb. He prayed at a picnic. He prayed at the dinner table. He prayed in a garden. He prayed on the cross.

Get the picture?

So, WHEN should we pray?

That answer’s simple, too: all the time. Here’s how the Bible puts it: “pray continually” (1 Thessalonians 5:17).

Basically, prayer is staying connected to God. If we aren’t connected to God in this world, we’re as good as dead. So . . .

Pray when you wake up. Pray while you shower. Pray when you can’t find your hairbrush. Pray when you’re stuck in traffic. Pray before you eat. Pray while you eat. Pray after you eat. Pray while you work. Pray while you watch TV. Pray before you go to bed. Pray while you’re lying in bed freaking out about everything you forgot to do that day and everything you have to do the next day. Pray, pray, pray, pray, pray. And then pray some more.

God wants to be with us every single moment of our lives. We should want the same.

PRAY EVERYWHERE
ALL THE TIME

So, what should we pray? Here are some suggestions straight outta the Bible.

THE LORD’S PRAYER

Stuck on what to pray? The best place to start is Jesus.

When Jesus’ disciples asked him what to pray, here’s what he said. The words may be familiar but pray through each of them slowly with all of your heart, soul and mind.

Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name.
Your kingdom come,
your will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us today
our daily bread.
Forgive us our debts,
as we also have forgiven our debtors.
And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from the evil one.
(Matthew 6:9-13)

PRAY THE PSALMS

John Calvin called the Psalms “An Anatomy of All Parts of the Soul.” Pray through them and you’ll find honest depictions of every human emotion and experience: love, hate, joy, sorrow, peace, anger, gratitude and suffering.

There are 150 to choose from. Here are a few of my favorites: 1, 4, 5, 19, 23, 25, 30, 33, 40, 42, 51, 63, 100, 119, 136 and 139. You’ll find poetry, praise, passion, power … and prayer.

PRAYERS FOR THE SCATTERBRAINED

If you’re easily distracted like me, sometimes it’s helpful to have a memory device to keep you focused. Here’s one I use often:

A = Adoration
C = Confession
T = Thanksgiving
S = Supplication

PRAYER BYTES

All of the above are excellent, but my most frequent prayers throughout the day are much shorter. “HELP!” and “THANKS!” are my two favorites. Or I’ll pray through the Fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22), asking God to give me love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Sometimes I’ll repeat a Bible verse as I go through the day, like “I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me” (Galatians 2:20).

The possibilities are truly endless.

Tune in tomorrow when we’ll focus on the WHERE and WHEN of prayer. Until then, pray pray pray pray PRAY.