A man is powerful on his knees
Do you wait to pray until you feel like it or do you have an appointment with the Lord and keep it? Now more than ever there are many ways to keep track of every event, meeting and appointment in our lives. But, the most important appointment with the Lord is often neglected.
This is a guest post by Beth Harris. She is a wife, mother, Bible study leader and volunteer editor for markalanwilliams.net.
This quote reminded me of a powerful little book that made quite an impression on me as a new believer almost 30 years ago called, My Heart – Christ’s Home by Robert Boyd Munger.
The book is based on Revelation 3:20 which says, “Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with Me.” (NKJV)
The author compares the human heart to a home and explains the transformation that takes place in the life of a new Christian. The Lord moves in and patiently though persistently waits for the believer to surrender each room. Ultimately, He wants access to the entire home or life including the rooms that are undesirable.
At first the new believer makes some positive changes, including a daily appointment with the Lord. But, he gets busy and begins to skip their time together. After he is convicted, he repents and reestablishes his meeting with Jesus. What really strikes him though, is the idea that the Lord has missed their time together and that He desires fellowship with all believers.
Maybe like me, you create time for appointments and activities that are necessary and some that are enjoyable too. This is not wrong, unless our schedules are too full to have an appointment with the Lord and spend time in fellowship with Him.
Hebrews 4:16 says, Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need. (NIV)
Praise God that He is approachable.
Because of the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, we are invited to come to the throne of God with confidence. He is accessible and available to meet with us at any time of day or night.
The creator of the universe, the Almighty God, is able to meet with and listen to everything that concerns us 24/7.
We are admonished in 1 Thessalonians 5:17 to “pray without ceasing” (NIV), but, some may struggle to set aside time to meet with God.
Be assured that the devil will put obstacles in our path when we try to draw closer to the Lord. As a result, our good intentions may be derailed as we face distractions, interruptions and circumstances that try to interfere.
Perhaps making an appointment with the Lord and keeping it is a challenge that needs to be overcome.
Everyone is different in terms of what time of day will work best. But, start small by scheduling 5 to 15 minutes a day with the Lord, just as you would any other appointment. Then add more time once it becomes a habit.
Pray and invite the Lord to speak to you through the Bible. It might even help to think of Him waiting to meet with you.
But when you pray, go away by yourself, shut the door behind you, and pray to your Father in private. Then your Father, who sees everything, will reward you. (Matthew 6:6 NLT)
God wants a personal relationship with us and the Bible encourages us to spend time privately in prayer with Him.
We may find it helpful to structure our prayer time with the Lord by using an acrostic called ACTS.
Spend some time working through each letter as follows:
A – Adoration: Spend time adoring or praising God for His attributes.
C – Confession: Ask God to help you confess and turn from your sins.
T – Thanking: Thank God for your specific blessings.
S – Supplication: Ask or present your prayer requests to God.
Our prayers are powerful as the Bible says in James 5:16: “The prayer of a righteous person is powerful an effective.” (NIV)
Our humble submission to an all-powerful God results in powerful prayers.
Finish with letting God speak to you by reading a verse or chapter in the Bible. Keep some index cards handy and take a moment to write down a verse and work on Scripture memorization.
Do you have an appointment with the Lord?
Your thoughts are welcome! You can leave a comment below.
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“Don’t pray when you feel like it. Have an appointment with the Lord and keep it. A man is powerful on his knees”—Corrie Ten Boom | CLICK TO TWEET
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