my prayer…

what i want to do right now is basically pray here my own prayer to GOD.  if any part of this prayer speaks to you where you would say, “that’s how i feel about it too.  that’s the way i want to live my life too,” then you just whisper in that moment very quietly to GOD, “GOD, that’s my prayer too!”

LORD, help me make the biggest decisions first.  so that i can make the best decisions from now on.  i need to make the decision GOD to live life your way.  the decision to know YOUr word – the bible.  the decision to ask for YOUr help – to pray.  the decision to get good advice and the decision to take my time.  LORD, i’m not capable alone to make consistently good decisions yet i want to learn how.  become my teacher, LORD.  give me wisdom.  give me the ability to see life from YOUr point of view.  i commit the best i know how to following YOUr leadership in my life.  and i pray this in JESUS’ name.  amen.

just a thought from the front porch…

a breath, a prayer and pay attention to what really matters…

i’m learning lot about micro decisions these days.  i’m discovering more and more just how ready GOD is to help me and empower me to choose well and to live better.  if i’ll only take a moment, take a breath, whisper a prayer and pay attention to what really matters and do what’s right.

spend a little time thinking before you decide.  at least take a breath.  capture a moment and whisper a prayer and reflect on the kind of life you want to live. 

example:  you want to keep peace in your home so you think, maybe i shouldn’t mention this troubling issue i’m having with my spouse because peace is a value in our home.  but then you know… you’ve taken a moment, you’ve caught your breath, you’ve whispered a prayer and you feel deeply if i let this go then a higher value will be lost.  because more than valuing peace of the moment i really value a healthy relationship and if i let this go this feeling will turn into anger and anger will become the cancer of bitterness.  so you make a micro decision to speak about the issue.  and the next day you’re so glad that you did. 

or you’re recovering from alcoholism.  and you’re thinking about going to a bar just to eat the pretzels or to eat the cheap happy hour food.  but then you feel a thirst crawling up in your throat.  so you take a breath, you whisper a prayer and you go home instead.  you’ve made a good micro decision. 

i live in the same world you do.  i often made decisions on the fly.  honestly, i think most of us are addicted to the fast pace of life.  few of us want to wait on the LORD, take time to study, whisper a prayer or consult a friend.  delayed gratification doesn’t seem to be cool or in vogue these days so we tend to just rush in while the iron is hot, we say.  and we often live to regret those decisions.

just a thought from the front porch…

our decisions become better and better…

another decision that makes a positive effect on our life is to decide to ask for GOD’s daily help. 

this is called prayer.  did you know that we’re commanded by GOD to ask HIM for help when we’re making decisions in our life?  HE commands us to come to HIM for help.  james 1.5-6 (nlt), if you need wisdom, if you want to know what GOD wants you to do, ask HIM and HE will gladly tell you.  HE will not resent your asking.  we just need to ask for GOD’s help every day. 

look at this prayer, “i want to thank you LORD for being close to me so far this day.  with YOUr help i haven’t been impatient, lost my temper, been grumpy, been judgmental or envious of anyone.  but i’ll be getting out of bed in a minute and i think i’ll need YOUr help then.”  i think so! 

let me tell you how these first three points we have been looking at work together.  GOD, the HOLY SPIRIT, becomes the leader of our life and takes up residence in our life.  then the bible gives us teaching for all of our decisions, sometimes specifically and sometimes generally.  then through prayer we ask GOD’s help.  we say, “GOD, by YOUr SPIRIT become my teacher so that when i read the bible, YOU help me understand it and then YOU help me apply it to the situations in my life.” 

look what JESUS said about the HOLY SPIRIT in john 16.13-14 (nlt), when the SPIRIT of truth comes, HE will guide you into all truth…HE will tell you about the future. HE will bring me glory by revealing to you whatever HE receives from me.

GOD promises to be our leader.  HE gives us HIS word to help us.  then HE promises to be our teacher.  is it any wonder then that our decisions should start to become better and better decisions when we have GOD’s help at work in our lives. 

what’s our part?  we’ve got to listen to HIM.

just a thought from the front porch…  

let’s pray…

the problem for many of you is that you can’t trust GOD because you have a wrong conception about who HE is and what HE’s like.  maybe you were brought up in a way to think of GOD as a cold tyrant, as a harsh judge who’s angry with you and HE never smiles at you and HE’s never happy with you. HE’s always putting you down and HE wants to make your life miserable because you cannot measure up.  JESUS CHRIST said that HE came to reveal the FATHER.  HE came to show us what GOD is really like.  HE was the son of GOD.  he says, “GOD loves you as a father loves his children.”  GOD cares for you. GOD says you are valuable.

GOD wants to meet your needs. all these other things will be brought into focus if you will trust HIM.

would you get a new image of GOD in your life today?  would you pray this in your heart.  GOD will hear you.  HE knows your heart.  HE knows the very things you’re thinking.  just say,

dear GOD, you know i’ve worried.  it’s because i’ve been trying to do it all myself instead of letting YOU be at the control center of my life. 

if you’ve refused to let GOD at the control center of your life, you have a right to worry.  but say,

GOD, help me to realize that YOU do love me and that YOU care about me and that i’m valuable to YOU and that YOU want to take care of my needs.  JESUS CHRIST, help me to understand it more.  as much as i know how, i ask you to become the manager of my life.  i want to do things YOUr way and not my way and i know YOU will take care of me.  GOD, i want to drop all my cares and burdens on YOU.  i want to lay my worries and fears and anxieties at YOUr feet.  FATHER, YOU have promised to take care of me if i will trust YOU. from this moment forward,  i’m going to trust YOU.  in JESUS name i pray.  amen.

just a prayerful thought from bill’s front porch…

a way you can trust GOD…

here is a way you can trust GOD every moment.

don’t panic – pray.  those are your alternatives – panic or prayer.  in philippians 4.6-7 (niv) it says don't worry about anything, instead, pray about everything.  if it isn’t worth praying about, it isn’t worth worrying about.  don’t panic – pray.

1 peter 5.7 (niv), cast all your anxiety on HIM because HE cares for you.  the word “cast” in the greek literally means “to let go, to drop”.  it doesn’t mean i pick up my load and toss it as far as i can.  sometimes your load is so big, you couldn’t toss it five feet. literally it means “drop, let go, release.”  just let it drop and they’ll fall to your feet. 

he’s saying give your worries to the LORD.  but the problem is we become indian givers.  we give them to GOD and then we take them back – “LORD, i think i’ll worry about that a little bit more.”  i used to do that all the time.  i’d get in bed and start worrying about something and think, “this is crazy!  this is stupid!  my worrying is not solving the problem. it’s just a slow form of suicide and it’s keeping me awake. there’s no use worrying about it.”  i’d get out of bed, get on my knees and pray, “GOD, i give you this problem.  i cast my cares upon YOU.  it’s YOUr’s.”  i’d get back into bed, pull up the covers and then start worrying again.  i was an indian giver.  i was giving them and then taking them back. 

how do you overcome worry?  simple.  put GOD first in every area of your life.  until you do, you have mixed up priorities and you’re going to be victimized by anxiety.  your values aren’t right.  GOD says, in the ten commandments, thou shalt have no other gods before ME.  what is your god?  your job?  your winnebago?  your family?  yourself?  your bank account?  thou shalt have no other gods before ME.  when i put HIM first, all these other things will be brought in the proper perspective. 

i live one day at a time.  i trust GOD for things beyond my control.

just a thought from the front porch…  

the cycle of good intention…

have you been stuck in the cycle of good intention – i want to change – you make the effort – you fail and then you feel guilty about it?  good intention, effort, fail, feel guilty.  you can change.  are you ready to change?  are you ready to change now?

if you’re ready for a change just pray this prayer in your heart. 

dear GOD, YOU know all the habits and temptations in my life that have tripped me up for years.  YOU know all the tempting situations that i’m facing right now.  YOU even know what temptations lay ahead of me this next week that i don’t even know are coming and are going to hit me.  so i’m asking for YOUr help.  but i’m not asking for a miracle.  i’m asking for YOUr strength to take these steps that we’ve been looking at for these past few weeks. 

i am willing to follow YOUr principles so i can change and be free.  help me to clearly see the patterns in my life that lead to temptation.  give me enough strength to start avoiding them and build some boundaries in my life that there’s certain places i don’t go, and certain things i don’t watch, and certain people i don’t hang out with.  LORD, if that means changing jobs or moving so be it.  i want my soul to be saved. 

LORD, help me to remember to refocus my attention when things get my attention and tempt me.  today i commit to finding a spiritual accountability partner who can help me in the specific areas of my weakness.  and that i can help them and encourage them too. 

most importantly, LORD, i need YOU to do some heart surgery on me.  i ask YOU to remove the negative emotions that make me vulnerable to temptation.  would you replace the discouragement and the exhaustion or the boredom or the spiritual dryness and emptiness?  would YOU replace the insecurity and the deep wounds and hurts in my heart?  would YOU replace the resentment, the anger, the sadness, the loneliness with YOUr love, with YOUr forgiveness, and with YOUr confidence.  i want to learn to trust YOU.  i ask you, JESUS CHRIST, to start changing me from the inside out beginning today.  in YOUr name i pray.  amen. 

just a thought from the front porch…

divert your attention…

we are going phrase by phrase through the LORD’s prayer and we are looking at the words JESUS used in matthew 6.13 (niv), lead us not into temptation but deliver us from the evil one.

now i want to be practical in dealing with this real occurrence in each of our lives so i am giving you some steps from GOD’s word that will help you if you do them to.

we have looked in the past few weeks to 4 steps…
1.  predetermine your pattern of temptation.
2.  then plan to avoid it.
3.  you must protect the condition of your heart.
and 4. you pray for GOD’s help. 

so step #5:  you point your attention elsewhere. 

you change the direction of your thoughts.  you refocus on something else.  you shift your attention. 

james 1.14-15 (tlb), temptation is the pull of your own evil thoughts and wishes.  these evil thoughts lead to evil action. 

temptation always starts with a thought.  it always starts with the mind.  so in the end whatever gets your attention gets you.  there is a pull to what gets your attention. 

if you’re standing at the edge of a cliff and you look over, there is something that pulls you towards the bottom.  what is it that does that?  how does that happen?  it’s because it has your attention. 

whatever gets your attention gets you.  it’s a physical law that you’re drawn toward whatever has your attention. 

if you’re driving down the freeway and you look off at something along the side of the road you tend to drift in that direction.  if i said to you right now, are you hungry?  you might think, well yeah i am a little bit hungry.  it has your attention.  or how’s the temperature where you are?  and some of you think it’s a little cold and you grab a sweater.  or are you tired, it’s getting late.  and you yawn, i am a little bit tired.  whatever gets your attention, you’re inevitably drawn towards.  so the more you think about something the stronger the hold it gets on you. 

so you divert your attention.  you think about something else. 

just a thought from the front porch…

let’s stop here and go to prayer…

if you’re ready for a change just pray this prayer in your heart…

dear GOD, you know all the habits and temptations in my life that have tripped me up for years.  you know all the tempting situations that i’m facing right now.  you even know what temptations lay ahead of me this next week that i don’t even know are coming and are going to hit me.  so i’m asking for your help.  but i’m not asking for a miracle.  i’m asking for your strength to take these steps that bill has been talking about here on the front porch.  i am willing to follow your principles so i can change and be free.  help me to clearly see the patterns in my life that lead to temptation.  give me enough strength to start avoiding them and build some boundaries in my life that there’s certain places i don’t go, and certain things i don’t watch, and certain people i don’t hang out with.  LORD, if that means changing jobs or moving so be it.  i want my soul to be saved. 

most importantly, LORD, i need YOU to do some heart surgery on me.  i ask YOU to remove the negative emotions that make me vulnerable to temptation.  would YOU replace the discouragement and the exhaustion or the boredom or the spiritual dryness and emptiness?  would YOU replace the insecurity and the deep wounds and hurts in my heart?  would YOU replace the resentment, the anger, the sadness, the loneliness with YOUr love with YOUr forgiveness, and with YOUr confidence.  i want to learn to trust YOU.  i ask YOU, JESUS CHRIST, to start changing me from the inside out beginning today.  in YOUr name i pray.  amen. 

just a thought from the front porch…

it starts inside…

i want us to continue looking at what GOD has to say about man’s oldest problem, temptation.  it goes all the way back to adam.  we all eventually face it.  sometimes even when you know what’s right to do it’s difficult to say “no”.  it is difficult. 

we are going phrase by phrase through the LORD’s prayer and JESUS said in matthew 6.13 (niv), lead us not into temptation but deliver us from the evil one.  we need to pray that GOD will lead through that difficult maze of traps that satan lays out for us to fall in every day. 

now there are some different steps that will keep you from falling into the traps that satan sets for you.  we have already looked at two:  step 1. predetermine my pattern of temptation.  step 2. plan to avoid it.  and now step 3.  i must protect the condition of my heart. 

proverbs 4:23 (niv) says this, above all else, guard your heart,
for everything you do flows from it.  it says, guard your heart.

if you want to change something that is continually causing you to stumble, you don’t start with your behavior.  you start with the heart.  you start inside of you. 

you don’t start by tying to change your behavior by sheer will power: “i’m not going to do it anymore.  i’m not going to do it anymore!  i’m not going to do it anymore!”  willpower doesn’t work, have you learned that? 

when you do anything, any kind of personal improvement program simply by willpower you eventually give up, because you get tired and you get stressed and you haven’t change the inside of you.  so as a result you don’t change yourself.  you’re just forcing yourself to do something that is unnatural to you.  and eventually you’re going to give up.

so if you want to change a persistent pattern in your life that you don’t like about you, you don’t focus on your behavior and you don’t focus on the circumstance and you don’t focus on the temptation. 

you don’t even focus on how you feel.  you focus on what’s going on in my heart.  what’s going on inside of me that causes me to want to do this?  that means you have to do a little heart examination.  you’ve got to do a spiritual x-ray of your heart. 

if you want to change it starts with the inside out if you want permanent change. 

just a thought from the front porch…

what benefit do i get?...

there are some questions that we are asking here on the front porch that will help you in this area of temptation.  you need to know where you’re tempted most.  we’ve asked, when am i most tempted?  where am i most tempted?  who is with me when i’m most tempted?  and then you need to ask the question, “what temporary benefit do i get when i give in?”

every time you give in to temptation… by the way, it’s not a sin to be tempted.  it’s a sin to give in to temptation.  even JESUS was tempted. 

now what payoff do i get when i sin?  there’s always a payoff.  every negative behavior has some sort of pay off. 

the bible says sin is fun, did you know that?  no one would do it if it were a bummer.  if sin had the pain of a root canal you’d never do it.  there is pleasure in sin.  the bible says it’s fun. 

but it’s just a short-term pleasure.  what is it trading, short-term pleasure, short-term relief, short-term comfort for a long term problem, damage and destruction?

so you need to ask yourself what am i getting out of this that causes me to keep doing it?  why do i keep blowing up?  why do i keep being fearful?  why do i keep lusting?  what’s the payoff in this?

sometimes you’re tempted because of comfort.  you give in to temptation because of comfort.  it’s comforting to do this.  sometimes you give in because of relief.  it’s a stress relief.  it’s a relief that you explode or whatever.  sometimes people give in to temptation for excitement.  they’re just bored with life and they just want some excitement in their life.  so they go and do something that’s really stupid to do, go get drunk and act really stupid because i’m looking for excitement.  other people give into temptation because it gives a sense of false confidence. 

how do i feel when i give in?  do i feel more loved?  do i feel more accepted?  do i feel more popular?  you need to know these things.  you need to know your pattern of temptation.  how satan hooks you.

just a thought from the front porch…

know when you are tempted most…

so how do i keep from falling into the traps of persistent temptations?  very good question.  well first of all you need to predetermine your pattern of temptation.

look at this, proverbs 5.6 (nlt), the immoral person does not care about the path to life.  she staggers down a crooked trail and doesn’t even realize where it leads. 

if you don’t know your pattern of temptation you’re going to travel down certain paths not realizing you’re headed for destruction.  you’re headed for a crash.  you’re headed for a crack up. 

that’s why lamentations 3.40 (mgs) says this, let’s take a good look at the way we’re living and reorder our lives under GOD. 

if you can identify the patterns that tempt you, then you can predict the problems in advance and you can avoid those situations. 

and you have to ask yourself some questions if you really want to look at your pattern of temptation, so you can break through those bad habits you really don’t like about yourself, you’d like to change. 

one you ask, “when am i most tempted?” 

did you know that you are tempted on certain days more than other days?  and you are tempted at certain times of the day more than other times. 

for instance, on monday morning when you go back to work or you go back to school, you may be tempted to be frustrated, tempted to be short tempered, tempted to be irritated with people because it’s monday morning.  and those temptations may be totally different than temptations you face on friday nights. 

the temptations you face on saturday morning might be just to be lazy or waste time or be irresponsible when you know you need to do something.  so different days of the week you’re going to be tempted different.  certain days of the week certain things happen.  and it’s tempting to you.  so you need to know that.

also you need to know the time of day.  you may be tempted more in the morning or the afternoon or the evening.  late afternoon when your blood sugar’s low and you start to get irritable.  or you may be tempted at night.  what tempts you may tempt you after everybody else has gone to bed.  and you’re still up by yourself. 

so you just need to know when am i most tempted.

just a thought from the front porch…

patterns that continually cause you to stumble

the question we are looking at here on the front porch is how do i keep from falling into the traps of persistent temptations?  if the last part of the LORD’s prayer in matthew 6.13 (nlt) says, don’t let us yield to temptation, but rescue us from the evil one then how do I do that?

now i’m not talking about the little temptations of life like, “i shouldn’t have that piece of chocolate cake” or something like that.  no, i’m talking about the persistent temptations – patterns in your life that have continually caused you to stumble over and over and over. 

maybe it’s anger that seems to be out of control.  you just can’t get control of your anger.  maybe it’s fear that tends to dominate your life and cause you to panic.  maybe it’s worry.  maybe it’s resentment.  and you can’t seem to let it go.  it could be lust and sexual thoughts.  you just have compulsions about some areas of sexual thoughts.  in vegas where i used to pastor it could be gambling.  you just don’t have enough and all you need to do is win.

it could be greed.  it could be jealousy.  it could be envy.  i could go on and on.  but it’s those persistent habits, traps that you know mess up your life and you’d like to get rid of them.  you just don’t know how to break the cycle. 

now paul obviously felt this way, the apostle paul.  in romans 7,15 (nlt) he says, i don’t really understand myself, for i want to do what is right, but i don’t do it.  instead, i do what i hate.

again, as you read through the new testament you find there are certain principles and patterns that you find over and over and over.  and i’m going to summarize them all in seven different steps. 

we’ll look at the first one on monday.

just a thought from the front porch…

the oldest problem on the planet…

there was this pastor in california that had to go into downtown santa ana for a meeting. he was late and ended up parking in a no parking zone.  so he wrote a note to “bribe” the cop and he put it under his windshield wiper. “i’ve circled this block ten times and i have to make this appointment or my heavenly boss will be upset with me.. remember… ‘forgive us our sins.’”

when he got back he found a ticket on his car and this note from a police officer.. “i’ve circled this block for ten years. if i don’t give you a ticket, my earthly boss will be upset with me. remember.. ‘lead us not into temptation.’”


today we have come to the 7th phrase as we have been going phrase by phrase through the LORD’s prayer.  and GOD may have left at the end of this prayer, the most significant and difficult request of them all.  matthew 6.13 (nlt), and don’t let us yield to temptation, but rescue us from the evil one.

is there anyone reading this that does not understand the need for that appeal?

temptation is the oldest problem on the planet, and we all have problems with it. for we all have weaknesses of the flesh, we all have dark areas we don’t keep under control. that’s the bad news.

the good news is: GOD desires to assist us. HE says, “I want to help you get control of your life. I want to teach you how you can handle and overcome temptation.”

now we are going to look at this because i believe that all of us have great intentions to not keep continually falling into these traps.  in our self we say, i think that today is going to be different.  but it never is. 

somehow in some way i always fall back into the same old ways of relating to people and my old bad habits.  sometimes i feel like there’s a tug of war going on inside of me.  i really want to do what’s best but i always end up disappointing myself and GOD.  i’ve tried everything –resolutions, self-help tapes, even hypnosis.  nothing seems to work.  why do i keep making the same mistakes falling into the same traps over and over?  why am i so resistant to change?  why do i do things that i know are bad for me?  i’m very discouraged and i need help getting unstuck.”

if that is what you are feeling then the next 2 – 3 weeks are for you as we look at how do i keep from falling into the traps of persistent temptations.

just a thought from the front porch…

it’s as easy as a,b,c…

wouldn’t you like to let go of that load of guilt that is in your life?  it’s as easy as a,b,c.

let’s pray…

dear FATHER, i know there are people here on the front porch today who are tortured by guilt and shameful memories.  they’ve tried all kinds of things to get rid of it but nothing’s worked.  help them to realize how much YOU love them no matter what they’ve done.  right now, give them the courage to pray the prayer of forgiveness so that they can be free. 

just pray this prayer in your mind, in your heart, say this, “dear GOD, you know all the things i’m ashamed of.  you even know the things i’ve done i don’t even know about that were wrong.  thank YOU for bringing me here today to receive your forgiveness.  i want to take the a,b,c steps.  first, i admit that what i’ve done is wrong.  i admit that i have often been my own god.  i’ve gone my own way.  i did things i wanted to do instead of what YOU wanted me to do.  i ask you to forgive me for all those things.  second, i BELIEVE.  i believe that YOU want to forgive me.  i believe in YOUr grace.  i want to believe that JESUS CHRIST died to pay for all that i have done wrong.  thank you, JESUS CHRIST, for sacrificing YOUr life for me.  now, today, as best as i understand it i commit my life to YOU, JESUS.  i open up my life and say, i want to get to know YOU.  i want to follow YOU.  i want to live for the purpose YOU made me for.  in YOUr name i pray.  amen. 

why don’t you pray this prayer today?

just a thought from the front porch…

the prayer is not meant for everyone…

i want to make one thing clear.  even though most of you could say the LORD’s prayer word for word without any notes, that prayer is not meant for everyone.  in fact, some of us who are here on the front porch today your greatest need in life is not to pray for daily bread.  your greatest need is to meet the BREAD OF LIFE.  if you’ve never personally crossed the line of faith and made a commitment to JESUS CHRIST, your greatest need today is not your physical need.  and far more exciting and far more satisfying than having GOD answer your prayers and meet the daily needs of your life is having GOD meet the deepest need of your life which is a spiritual need.

the bible says your body, your life on this earth will be short.  in fact the bible describes it like this, life is like a vapor.  it is here for a moment and then it is gone but your spirit will live eternally.  you will live forever.  and JESUS says, “I am the BREAD OF LIFE.  no one who comes to ME will ever be hungry again and those who believe in ME will never thirst.”

the very first step in dealing with anxiety is to enter into a personal relationship with JESUS CHRIST.  then you can begin to pray the model prayer because the very first words of the model prayer are our FATHER.  you can’t honestly begin to call GOD your father until first you have entered into a personal relationship with HIM.  if you’ve never done that i want to ask you today to do that.  i’m going to lead us in a prayer.  you don’t have to pray out loud.  you don’t have to say anything out loud.  but in your heart and mind if you’ll pray a simple prayer along with me wherever  you can make that commitment today.

let’s pray

            dear LORD, thank YOU that YOU are the source of all life.  and thank YOU that YOU love me and YOU sent YOUr SON JESUS to die for me.  and right now i accept YOUr gift of salvation.  i ask for YOUr forgiveness of my sins and i ask YOU to come into my life and to give me eternal life.  thank YOU that YOU keep YOUr promises and that YOU now live in my life.  in JESUS’ name.  amen.

just a thought from the front porch… 

the cure for anxiety…

there was this story of a couple who were getting a divorce.  the man was a ceo of a large communications company and his net worth was five billion dollars.  he was saying i don’t want to go through all the legal hassles so he said to his wife, “i’ll just give you a billion dollars to make you go away.”  and she flatly refused.  she said “i won’t settle for anything less that 2.5 billion.”  what can you buy for 2.5 billion that you can’t buy for a billion?  maybe an aircraft carrier.

it just verifies the words of proverbs 27.20 (ncv), people will never stop dying and being destroyed and they will never stop wanting more than they have. 

in many ways this simple phrase, give us this day our daily bread, in the modal prayer of JESUS, is the antidote for materialism.  it’s the cure for the anxiety of trying to keep up with everybody else around you.  it’s the medicine i need to keep me from lusting after the things of this world that really aren’t about my needs.  they’re really just about my wants. 

this whole prayer, the LORD’s prayer is about us saying to GOD, i recognize YOU as the source of providing for my needs.  and i’m here to declare my dependence upon YOU because YOU are a loving father and YOU’ll give me what i need today and YOU’ll meet my need.  but LORD help me to be content with what YOU give me.  help me to be content that YOU meet my needs.

in 1 timothy 6.6 (msg), paul says a devout life does bring wealth but it’s the rich simplicity of being yourself before GOD.  since we entered the world penniless and will leave it penniless if we have bread on the table and shoes on our feet that’s enough.

he says if you can say in this life i know GOD.  i am HIS child.  i have a relationship with HIM and i’ve got shoes on my feet and bread on my table and a roof over my head then you are rich.  and he says that is enough.  that is enough.

just a thought from the front porch… 

some barriers we have to asking GOD…

notice here in matthew 7 verse 11 (nlt), if you sinful people know how to give good gifts to your children how much more will your heavenly FATHER give good gifts to those who ask him.  we are to ask GOD to meet the needs in our lives.

now there are some barriers that people have to asking GOD to meet their needs. 

one is that we are not really convinced that GOD could love us like that. 

you may have truly given your life to CHRIST.  you may be truly forgiven of your sins, but you still live in bondage to your past and with an overwhelming sense of guilt and condemnation. 

but GOD says to those who are in CHRIST JESUS there’s no condemnation.  and one of the things that satan will use in our life to keep us anxious and worried is he keeps playing old tapes from our past.  so to break satan’s hold you must actually believe that GOD loves you and HE cares about your needs, that HE’s interested in your life and that HE is your father and HE delights in you.

another barrier is our view of GOD, our view that GOD is kind of distant and occupied with the bigger things in life and HE doesn’t really care about the details of my life. 

or maybe even more seriously.  some of us are not really convinced that prayer really matters or changes things. 

we’re kind of self-sufficient so we try to solve every one of life’s problems on our own but then we can’t figure it out and we get desperate so we turn to GOD in prayer.  rather than prayer being our first response, it’s our last resort. 

just a thought from the front porch…

the real issue of giving us daily bread…

in looking at the phrases of the LORD’s prayer we start with focus on GOD and then JESUS encourages us to pray something like this matthew 6.11 (niv), give us today our daily bread. 

now why would we pray for more daily bread when most of us are trying to stop eating more bread?

here’s why.  because the issue is not really bread.  in fact, in these six words JESUS gives us some life lessons that will help us understand how to achieve inner peace in our lives. 

one thing we learn is to seek GOD as the answer to our needs. 

listen i start to worry every time i look at someone else other than GOD to meet my needs, so the path to inner peace begins by seeking GOD as the answer to my needs. 

picture it like this.  matthew 7.9-11 (nlt), you parents if your children ask for a loaf of bread do you give them a stone instead?  of course not.  or if they ask for a fish, do you give them a snake?  absolutely not.  if you sinful people know how to give good gifts to your children how much more will your heavenly FATHER give good gifts to those who ask HIM. 

now if you are a father, you understand these verses.  when brett and stef came into this world, they made me a father.  they are now adults and i am no longer responsible to meet their physical needs but i remember what it was like to do everything i could to meet their needs. 

and if that’s true of me an imperfect father with incomplete knowledge and limited resources how much more true is it of our heavenly FATHER who is all powerful?

just a thought from the front porch…

the starting place in prayer…

back a few years ago in response to 911 president bush recommended that congress set aside 38 billion dollars for a new department called homeland security but the reality is there are more people in our country right now searching for internal peace and calm than ever before, there is less internal security in our homeland than ever before.

fact – one out of every eight americans between the ages of 18 and 54 suffer from some kind of anxiety disorder.  that is about nineteen million people. 

fact – anxiety disorders are the most common mental illness in america even surpassing depression.  and among senior adults 65 years of age and up, the number one health issue is anxiety.

to many people in our world the path to inner peace seems illusive.  so the question is how do we find it?  if we can’t throw enough personnel at it where does peace in our heart and in our soul come from?

now this is a struggle for all of us.  and being a follower of JESUS does not exempt you from life’s problems.

now we’ve been going week by week through the model prayer of JESUS and we have been seeing that the very essence of prayer is the recognition that i need somebody with a power that i don’t have to help me navigate life successfully. 

that’s why we’ve been unpacking phrase by phrase the model prayer of JESUS. 

if you’ve been here on the front porch you understand that the first part of the model prayer focuses on GOD.  but now at this point in the prayer we make a transition and the focus is now on us.  but the order is important.

here’s why. 

the starting place in prayer is always the acknowledgment of who GOD is. 

that’s why the model prayer begins, our father in heaven, hallowed be your name.  we begin there because if there’s no powerful GOD in heaven and if i don’t have a loving FATHER who is willing to meet my needs then why pray?  that is where some of you are today.

just a thought from the front porch…

let’s pray…

dear FATHER, i have no doubt that there are many people here on the front porch today who are stressed out from resentment and worry and the need to control things.  i’m sure there are many who are struggling with the issue of complete surrender to you.  they’ve held on to something for so long they don’t know how to let it go.  help them to realize how much YOU love them so that they can relax.

now you pray.  say this in your heart, “dear FATHER, YOU know how i’ve resented the unchangeable things of my life that cause me pain.  you know i’ve asked YOU many times for an explanation but it’s never come.  today, i want to stop fighting you over the things i don’t understand.  i want to be at peace.  today i pray the prayer of surrender.  YOUr will be done.  YOUr kingdom come, YOUr will be done in my life.  help me to say that every day.  help me to change the things that i can but to accept the things that cannot be changed.  today, JESUS CHRIST, i accept YOUr plan for my life.  i surrender to YOUr control and i’m going to trust in YOUr care.

in JESUS name I pray, amen.              

Just a thought from the front porch…