ARE YOU GROWING (7).

*WISDOM FOR TODAY.*

*ARE YOU GROWING (7)*

*Scripture Treasure.*

James 5:16-18:

*Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.*

*Elias was a man subject to like passions as we are, and he prayed earnestly that it might not rain: and it rained not on the earth by the space of three years and six months.*

*And he prayed again, and the heaven gave rain, and the earth brought forth her fruit.*

*Insight and Highlight.*

A growing Christian is a praying Christian.

*Scripture Commentaries.*

God distinguished five prayer intensified characters, among many others, in the scriptures.

In Ezk 14:13, God said to the prophet Ezekiel *Son of man when the land sinneth against me by trespassing grievously, then will I stretch out mine hand upon it, and will break the staff of the bread thereof, and will send famine upon it, and will cut off man and beast from it:*

He said in Ezk 14:14 that if *"..... these three men, Noah, Daniel, and Job, were in it, they should deliver but their own souls by their righteousness, saith the Lord God.*

God said if these men prayed to Him so that He may spare the people, He said they would only pray to deliver themselves.

In Jer 15:1 *Then said the Lord unto me, Though Moses and Samuel stood before me, yet my mind could not be toward this people: cast them out of my sight, and let them go forth.*

These five people were known for their active prayer lives.

Elijah was also noted for a rather unusual way of prayer but one that powerfully distinguished him a man of prayer. He *"..... cast himself down upon the earth, and put his face between his knees,*, 1 Kgs 18:42.

The effect of this was to reverse his own prayer that had withheld rain for three years.

This outstanding turnaround was esteemely referred to as *".....The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man....."*

Eli knew the authority of God to do as He liked but lacked the courage to plead to God to reverse His pronounced judgment. He knew the voice of God but

his spiritual maturity was handicapped by his reluctance to plead with God.

It is spiritual maturity to plead with God when we are wrong (whether or not He choose to reverse His decision). Though God did not hear Moses' intercession to change God's mind over His refusal to let him enter into the promised land, Moses' intercession was posthumously honored. Nobody knew where he was buried (Deut 34:5-6, Jude 1:9) and he was in the land of Canaan by transfiguration (Matt 17:1-8).

Moses, amongst others, was one of God's most fearing men and one of the greatest Intercessors.

God is always looking for a man of prayerful integrity. He said in

Ezek 22:30  *And I sought for a man among them, that should make up the hedge, and stand in the gap before me for the land, that I should not destroy it: but I found none.*

He sought a man to stand in the gap for Sodom and Gomorrah but none was found,

Gen 18:16-33.

He sought for His people *".......which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways;......"* 2 Chron 7:14.

Jesus tied absolute deliverance to prayer and fasting, Matt 17:21.

Most, if not all, things that happen adversely in this world are often attributable to Christians who fail to pray.

People who pray often forget their comforts. They trade their comforts for the survival of God's people and for the propagation of the gospel of Christ here on earth.

Jesus prayed and He sweated "like great drops of blood" while in extreme agony praying in the Garden of Gethsemane before his crucifixion, Lk 22:24.

Esther asked her people to fast and pray and she was prepared to die if this would bring redemption to the Jews in Shushan, Esther 4:16.

It is Christian maturity to pray and plead with God for help. It is Christian immaturity to resign to His impending judgment or develop a 'let it be' attitude to life's eventualities and do nothing.

God does not want us to be passive/prayerless Christians. His Kingdom is not for such people.

Jesus tells us that *"......from the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffereth violence,........"*

He further tells us that the Kingdom needs Christians who can resist this intense opposition against God's kingdom.

Those who oppose His Kingdom, do so to attack it to prevent its growth

So Christ calls for spiritual warfare, where believers must use the weapons of our warfare, Eph 6, to actively claim the Kingdom from Satan's dominion, from the violent who *"......take it by force.*

(Matt 11:12)

Psalm 146:5 *Happy is he that hath the God of Jacob for his help, whose hope is in the Lord his God:*

A prayerless Christian is immature. He can not outgrow anything but all things will outgrow him.

How often do you pray or how intensely do you pray?

We must take the Kingdom of God from the violent attacks of the violent who want to take it by force.

The Kingdom of God does not belong to them! By prayer we will dominate them but we must pray!

Are you growing at all?

*Remorse corner.*

A growing Christian will never cease to grow when he prays without ceasing.

*Call to Word action.*

1 Thess 5:17 *Pray without ceasing.*

*The Christian clarion duty.*

Praying without ceasing is maintaining an "attitude of prayer" that cultivates a continuous and a reliant connection with God throughout daily life.

*Prayer.*

Lord let me grow praying and let me pray growing as a Christian in Jesus name.

Good morning all and have a blessed day.

Shalom.