prayer

Giving Thanks

November 23, 2024 by Bill 7 Comments

As we come into the season of Thanksgiving, we must remember what we are thankful for. Yes, Thanksgiving Day is usually a time for family gatherings and giving thanks but let’s not forget the One who has given us all things, (2 Peter 1:3). Here are some verses that we can declare over ourselves and our families reminding us to be thankful in ALL things.

“The LORD is my strength and my shield; in him my heart trusts, and I am helped; my heart exults, and with my song I give thanks to him.” – Psalm 28:7

“Offer to God a sacrifice of thanksgiving, and perform your vows to the Most High.” – Psalm 50:14

“I will praise the name of God with a song; I will magnify him with thanksgiving.” – Psalm 69:3

“We give thanks, for your name is near. We recount your wondrous deeds.” – Psalm 75:1

“Oh come, let us sing to the Lord; let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation!” – Psalm 95:1

“Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good! His faithful love endures forever.” – Psalm 118:1

“Has the LORD redeemed you? Then speak out! Tell others he has redeemed you from your enemies.” – Psalm 107:1

This week, it would be a good thing for us to make a list of the things we are thankful for. Maybe do this with your kids or grandkids. It will help us focus on the good things God has done for us. Happy Thanksgiving!

Throne Room Prayer

August 10, 2024 by Bill 313 Comments

“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.” (Hebrews 4:16)

There are different times and ways to pray. Sometimes it’s what I call, “shooting prayers”, when you see or are reminded of a need and say a quick prayer. Other times we pray as we’re driving, walking or relaxing. And sometimes we pray, or we should be, in our “prayer room” or quiet place where we can be close to God. Several times I have gotten an image of what getting close to God might look like and how we pray when we’re there. Let’s look at this.

Picture this: We come into the Throne Room of God with boldness and confidence. This is a majestic place where He has invited us to come at any time because we’re His children; we have access to our Father at any time. So what should we do as we approach our Father, how should we act, how should we pray/talk to Him? I’m afraid, too many times; we come to Him with a list of things we want without first showing our love to Abba Father. He already knows what we need and wants to help us. I saw a prayer procedure once that offers us a good method to use when praying. It’s called A C T S.

A – First, come before God with Adoration and praise. He’s been so good to us; we need to let Him know how good He is and how much we appreciate and love Him.

C – Confess our sins. We need to admit our mistakes and ask Him to forgive us for our sins. To offer our bodies a living sacrifice…HOLY. (Romans 12:1).

T – Thank Him for all He’s done, for what He’s doing and for what He’s got planned for us.

S – After we’ve done these three things, then we can confidently present our Supplications to Him, the things that we need. I’ve seen this as a good lesson for kids but it’s a good method for adults too.

The Valley

July 11, 2024 by Bill 38 Comments

I posted this vision a few years ago along with two others that I thought God wanted me to share, Here is the link to the previous post that includes the other two visions: https://roadrevelations.org/2020/07/the-valley-the-circle-and-the-cloud. I was reminded of this concept of prayer again recently so, here it is.

I used to work in Big Stone Gap, Virginia and would top the mountain outside Norton and see God’s wonderful creation, Powell Valley. One morning, God gave me a vision of people in the valley praying. In the vision, I saw many prayers going up as a bright shaft of light from the valley to the sky. But these prayers were scattered all over the place as they represented people’s prayers that were personal and not in agreement with each other. Now, God hears our prayers and will answer them according to His will, purpose, timing and our faith. But then I saw several of these light-shaft prayers, coming from all over the valley but they were aimed and met at one point in the Heavens. I realized these were prayers that were prayed according to God’s will for the time and when they met at that one point in the sky, an explosion happened and sparks of blessings showered down on, not just those who had prayed, but all people in the valley. “And this is the confidence that we have toward him, that if we ask anything according to his will he hears us. And if we know that he hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests that we have asked of him.” (1 John 5: 14-15). We need to be like those in the Upper Room who were, “in one accord” and saw a great outpouring of God.

Hand or Face?

June 22, 2024 by Bill 81 Comments

“If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land.” (2 Chronicles 7:14)

I was reminded of this idea from the Dutch Sheets devotion, GiveHim15 in which he spoke of our hunger for God. When we pray, when we go to God or turn toward Him or call out to Him, what is our motive? Are we just looking to see what’s in His hand or are we looking into His face and glad to be in His presence? There are two things our seeking implies; urgency or awe. We urgently need something from God or we just want to be in His presence. Many times we’re asking God for the things we need. He already knows that. And He may have a different idea about what we think we need. He wants to be with us. Now, there are times when we pray urgently for an immediate need and we cry out, “GOD, HELP!” He knows about those times too. I’m often guilty of going to God in prayer and asking first. Then I’m convicted and repent and say, “I’m sorry God, I love You and want to thank You for all you’ve done for me. I praise You and bow before You.” Then, I can see Him saying, “I love you too, come up here and let me hug you.” What a difference! Seek His face.

Think of this scene: A father comes home from a long trip and is met at the front door by his child. Does the child run and jump up into daddy’s arms because they’re so glad to see him. Or does the child immediately ask, “What did you bring me?” And what would you think of a friend who you only hear from when they need something?

I can see myself in the song, “Turn your eyes upon Jesus.” I’m sitting at Jesus’ feet with my needs. The lyrics say, “Turn your eyes upon Jesus, look full in His wonderful face. And the things of earth will grow strangely dim in the light of His glory and grace.” Wow, can you see it? When we look up into His face, our needs are “strangely dim”. And…His smile! We are in His presence! And, when we seek first His face, we get His hand also. Think about this the next time you pray.

Conversations With Jesus

November 4, 2023 by Bill 30 Comments

God speaks to us in many ways; through His word, a preacher, a song, or by inspiration during prayer. Prayer, by the way, is just talking with God and here are some examples of conversations we might have with God. I posted this several years ago but thought it would be good for those who may be struggling with some issues.

When God gives you a task to accomplish, you might say: “God, I’m not good enough, I can’t handle it.” And God says, “Great, I’m glad to hear you say that.” “No, you’re not and you can’t, that’s why I’m here.” “Now, let me help and we’ll get ‘er done!”

“Lord, I’m feeling sort of messed up today, why is that?” “Well, child, it’s because you’ve cluttered your mind with all these other things in your life except Me.” “I keep reminding you, ‘Seek Me and my Kingdom first and all these other things will be OK.’” “Oh yeah, I remember.” “I’m sorry Lord; I don’t know why you keep putting up with me.” “Child, it’s because I love you and I’ve got some great things I want you to accomplish.” “Now let’s go.”

“Lord, don’t let our country, founded on your principles, go down.” “Show yourself mighty, strong, loving, compassionate and merciful.” “Yes, I can do that but I have millions of people who claim to be my followers who are just sitting by and doing nothing with those things you mentioned, which I’ve placed in them.” “If my people will get up and do something, then you will see My power displayed and change will happen.”

“Yes, I’m a follower of yours Jesus.” “Well, get up and follow me!” “It takes more than just saying you’re a follower to be my follower.” “Get up and come on, we’ve got work to do.”

“That’s just the way I am, I can’t help it!” “Well child, that’s true to a point.” “You were born with a sin nature because of Adam and Eve’s sin but I sent Jesus to save you out of that and now, you’re a new creation, you’re different.” “You have power and a free will to say no to sin and the devil.” “Now, THAT’S just the way you are and you CAN help it!” Spend some time every day just talking with God.