#overcomes

You know when your love has endured the impossible, when it overcomes all the odds, when it remains when everything else changes, when it is always true no what comes. Then you’ll know.

Umbilical Cord

“…After He had sent the multitudes away.He went up to the mountain by Himself to pray; …when it was evening, He was there alone.” Matt 14:23NASB

Online Charisma magazine put out an article about; How to know if you’re under attack from the devil. Out of eight things listed, the one which spoke to me the most was: You find it difficult to kneel and pray. Reading and studying the Bible— no problem. Praying as I go about the day-to-day again— no problem. Kneeling down and spending lengthy amounts of time praying— very difficult. I have to force myself to pray, bring my mind back to what I’m doing repeatedly, discipline myself. Fruit from those times in prayer has been plentiful.

Paul instructed us in 1Thess 5:17 “pray without ceasing.” This is a heart attitude. Only a heart turned to the Lord can accomplish ‘without ceasing prayer.’ My cry, as I hear about things each day is: lift them up to the Lord; declare His lordship over the situation; give it to Him to work out, and in some circumstances— praying in tongues.

What do we do when we are faced with the devastating?

Jesus lost His cousin. Only a few of Jesus’ relatives are mentioned in the Bible. John the Baptist was His forerunner, Lu 3:4NASB “…The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Make ready the way of the Lord,…” They were not only blood relatives, they were kindred spirits.

John was beheaded. The totally human Jesus felt deep grief. Matthew 14:13NASB “Now when Jesus heard it, He withdrew from there in a boat, to a lonely place by Himself,…” One great-grandson gets hurt, off he slinks alone to ‘lick his wounds.’ Jesus wasn’t slinking off, He was going to talk to the only One Who could make sense of the senseless, and comfort the broken hearted, Father God.

The crowd found out where He was going and had ran ahead. Result was great miracles. Everyone in the crowd received healing. Then He fed them all with a few loaves and two fish, with leftovers. Estimates are: there were approximately twenty thousand people in the crowd. What an upper! This had to have been a totally bi-polar day!

I’ve found that every time I’ve had a mountain top experience with God, there was a downside to the mountain. The Israelites experienced this, when the Lord performed all the plagues in Egypt. Freedom! Mountain top! Then they faced the Red Sea in front and the approaching army behind. Deep valley! Sea waters parted, they passed through on dry land! Deliverance! Mountain top! No meat or water. Deep Valley! (See Exodus 1-15)

James 5:13NASB “is anyone among you suffering? Let him pray. Is anyone cheerful? Let him sing praise.” Let us follow Jesus’ example. When things hurt, He went to pray. When things went wonderful, He went to pray. The umbilical cord between the spirit and the Father— prayer. It overcomes the attacks, protects from pride, and strengthens for the time of temptation. Food for the soul.

You don’t have to persevere to pray. But it sure beats trying to go it alone. Ultimately, it’s your choice. You choose.

PRAYER: Lord God, I do not know any Christians who aren’t under some attack right now. Help us all to overcome and pray as You taught us to do, in Jesus’ name.