BBD 05.12.17 Let Us...Pray! (Classic)

#1 · May 12, 2017, 12:00 pm

Quote from Forum Archives on May 12, 2017, 12:00 pm
Posted by: theburningbushdevotional <theburningbushdevotional@...>

Classic from 2010

Burning Bush Devotional

12 May 2017

Let Us…Pray!

Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you
will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives,
and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened. - Matthew
7:7-8 NKJV.

Therefore I say to you, whatever things you ask when you pray, believe that you
receive them, and you will have them. - Mark 11:24 NKJV.

Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with
thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God,
which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through
Christ Jesus. - Philippians 4:6-7 NKJV.

For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but
was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore come
boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help
in time of need. - Hebrews 4:15-16 NKJV.

Xiao Chen, a Chinese man, went down to the Changjiang River for a late night
swim, but became stuck in the silt of the river. Two fishermen saw the
predicament Xiao was in about four hours later, and they called for help. It
took another seven hours for firefighters to pull Xiao out of the silt. When he
was finally pulled from the silt, he still had a red plastic bag in his
hand…containing his…cellphone! He was embarrassed about becoming stuck, and had
refused to call for help, even though he had the phone with him the entire
time!

It appears incredibly strange and puzzling that if you are stuck for four hours
that you would not call for help. I find it equally as puzzling that not only
do non-Christians refuse to pray during difficult situations, but many
Christians refuse to pray. I am sometimes troubled by the years during which I
prayed every day, but sometimes for only a small amount of time. During those
years, I did always turn to God during difficult times, and God was always
faithful to carry me through those times. Each time God answered, my prayer
life increased. Each time in response to prayer that I heard God's still small
voice whisper the answer to my problem, my confidence in Him increased.

The Bible tells us very plainly of the power of prayer and of God wanting us to
pray, desiring for us to pray. The writer of Hebrews explains that we have a “High
Priest” who knows what it is like to be a weak human being. We are urged
by the writer of the book of Hebrews to not
only go to God with our needs, but to go to Him “boldly.” Amazing
that as a child of God we do not just have a cellphone to call for help, but we
can talk directly with Almighty God, the Creator of the Universe. He is always
ready to hear our pleas in the Name of Jesus. We can talk with God anytime, anyplace,
about anything that is on our hearts and minds. The apostle Paul says in Philippians
4 that we should not be anxious about anything, but instead take
our “requests” to God.

When I think of the time that I have wasted when I could have been praying,
asking for God's hand to move across my life, and the lives of others…it brings
great sadness. Each day brings new opportunities to shape the world around you
through prayer. Martin Luther said that, “Prayer is
not overcoming God's reluctance, but laying hold of His willingness.” The
apostle John writes, “Now this is the confidence that we have in
Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. And if we know
that He hears us, whatever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we
have asked of Him (1 John 5:14-15).”

It is time to lay down our prayerlessness and go boldly to the throne of God
with our requests. Let no more time be wasted when we could be talking with the
Creator of all things. Let us…pray!

Copyright © 2010 - 2017. Ed
Wrather. The Burning Bush website has been online since January 31, 1998. On
June 8, 1998 the email version of the Burning Bush Devotional was first sent.
Ed Wrather began writing devotionals in the early 1990s. The distribution of those
first devotionals was primarily through the Burning Bush Newsletter sent to
prison facilities throughout the United States and Canada.

Visit the
Burning Bush websites:

www.theburningbush.net

www.theburningbush.org

The Burning Bush websites are celebrating
19 years online since January 31, 1998. Since June 8, 1998 the Burning Bush
Devotional has been spreading the truth of God's Word to more than 14,000
subscribers across the world.

The Addictions Kit - Biblical Help for Addictions by Ed Wrather is now
available for download from Amazon. The Addictions Kit provides practical Biblical steps to defeat
your addiction that actually work.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00VIYLNLM

The New Pastor's Training Manual is available for download on Amazon. Here is the link: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00PJ8UTGS If you prefer a paper copy of the book you can order it from
the Burning Bush website at http://bit.ly/1uXDBnk

Books now available at the Burning Bush website:

New Pastor's
Training Manual

Biblical Help for
Overcoming Substance Abuse

Biblical Help
for Overcoming Sexual Addictions In Times of
Trouble - Devotionals to Encourage and Strengthen You (Also available for
download on Amazon.)

You can leave comments/feedback
about the devotionals at www.theburningbush.net.

There is a translation tool on
theburningbush.net website in the top right hand corner of all of the pages.

Check out the Scripture Index being constructed for the
Devotionals at the Burning Bush website. The Links are in about the middle of
the home page. Topics for each devotional are now being added to the Index.

Please continue to pray for
healing for Pastor Shane Hall, Michelle Abetz, Wesley Lewis, Brad, Damon D.
& wife, Beverly (Jeanie’s sister), Lexi McCalip, Gary Kirk, and Jeanie.

Please pray for an end to the
racial hatred in the USA and that it will be replaced with peace and love. Many
prayer needs are posted at the Burning Bush website on the Prayer Request page.
You can also post your prayer requests there (Of course, I am always in need of prayer - please pray for me. My
prayer focus is now that God will give me opportunities to preach. As the
apostle Paul says, “…woe is me if I do not preach the gospel!”).

You can contact Ed Wrather at
theburningbushdevotional@gmail.com View LinkedIn profile with
endorsements at http://www.linkedin.com/profile/view?id=92988105

If you enjoy the devotional
please recommend it to your friends. They may subscribe by sending a blank
email to burningbushdevo-join@welovegod.org

There is a complete devotional
archive at the old Burning Bush website. Here is the URL: http://www.theburningbush.org/DevotionalArchive.html.

You can help support this
ministry by using this link: www.paypal.me/EdWrather

Devotion vs Devotional: We do our
devotions, we read devotionals.

You can unsubscribe to the burningbushdevo devotional group by
sending a blank email to burningbushdevo-leave@welovegod.org and then respond
to the confirmation email.

You may subscribe to the html text group (Because of time
constraints the devotional is only being sent now in html format) by sending a
blank email to burningbushhtml-join@welovegod.org and you may unsubscribe by
sending a blank email to burningbushhtml-leave@welovegod.org and then respond
to the confirmation email. If the link does not work, copy and paste the link.

--

To unsubscribe, send ANY message to: burningbushdevo-leave@welovegod.org

Posted by: theburningbushdevotional <theburningbushdevotional@...>

Classic from 2010

Burning Bush Devotional

12 May 2017

Let Us…Pray!

Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you
will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives,
and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened. - Matthew
7:7-8 NKJV.

Therefore I say to you, whatever things you ask when you pray, believe that you
receive them, and you will have them. - Mark 11:24 NKJV.

Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with
thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God,
which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through
Christ Jesus. - Philippians 4:6-7 NKJV.

For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but
was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore come
boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help
in time of need. - Hebrews 4:15-16 NKJV.

Xiao Chen, a Chinese man, went down to the Changjiang River for a late night
swim, but became stuck in the silt of the river. Two fishermen saw the
predicament Xiao was in about four hours later, and they called for help. It
took another seven hours for firefighters to pull Xiao out of the silt. When he
was finally pulled from the silt, he still had a red plastic bag in his
hand…containing his…cellphone! He was embarrassed about becoming stuck, and had
refused to call for help, even though he had the phone with him the entire
time!

It appears incredibly strange and puzzling that if you are stuck for four hours
that you would not call for help. I find it equally as puzzling that not only
do non-Christians refuse to pray during difficult situations, but many
Christians refuse to pray. I am sometimes troubled by the years during which I
prayed every day, but sometimes for only a small amount of time. During those
years, I did always turn to God during difficult times, and God was always
faithful to carry me through those times. Each time God answered, my prayer
life increased. Each time in response to prayer that I heard God's still small
voice whisper the answer to my problem, my confidence in Him increased.

The Bible tells us very plainly of the power of prayer and of God wanting us to
pray, desiring for us to pray. The writer of Hebrews explains that we have a “High
Priest” who knows what it is like to be a weak human being. We are urged
by the writer of the book of Hebrews to not
only go to God with our needs, but to go to Him “boldly.” Amazing
that as a child of God we do not just have a cellphone to call for help, but we
can talk directly with Almighty God, the Creator of the Universe. He is always
ready to hear our pleas in the Name of Jesus. We can talk with God anytime, anyplace,
about anything that is on our hearts and minds. The apostle Paul says in Philippians
4 that we should not be anxious about anything, but instead take
our “requests” to God.

When I think of the time that I have wasted when I could have been praying,
asking for God's hand to move across my life, and the lives of others…it brings
great sadness. Each day brings new opportunities to shape the world around you
through prayer. Martin Luther said that, “Prayer is
not overcoming God's reluctance, but laying hold of His willingness.” The
apostle John writes, “Now this is the confidence that we have in
Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. And if we know
that He hears us, whatever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we
have asked of Him (1 John 5:14-15).”

It is time to lay down our prayerlessness and go boldly to the throne of God
with our requests. Let no more time be wasted when we could be talking with the
Creator of all things. Let us…pray!

Copyright © 2010 - 2017. Ed
Wrather. The Burning Bush website has been online since January 31, 1998. On
June 8, 1998 the email version of the Burning Bush Devotional was first sent.
Ed Wrather began writing devotionals in the early 1990s. The distribution of those
first devotionals was primarily through the Burning Bush Newsletter sent to
prison facilities throughout the United States and Canada.

Visit the
Burning Bush websites:

http://www.theburningbush.net

http://www.theburningbush.org

The Burning Bush websites are celebrating
19 years online since January 31, 1998. Since June 8, 1998 the Burning Bush
Devotional has been spreading the truth of God's Word to more than 14,000
subscribers across the world.

The Addictions Kit - Biblical Help for Addictions by Ed Wrather is now
available for download from Amazon. The Addictions Kit provides practical Biblical steps to defeat
your addiction that actually work.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00VIYLNLM

The New Pastor's Training Manual is available for download on Amazon. Here is the link: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00PJ8UTGS If you prefer a paper copy of the book you can order it from
the Burning Bush website at http://bit.ly/1uXDBnk

Books now available at the Burning Bush website:

New Pastor's
Training Manual

Biblical Help for
Overcoming Substance Abuse

Biblical Help
for Overcoming Sexual Addictions In Times of
Trouble - Devotionals to Encourage and Strengthen You (Also available for
download on Amazon.)

You can leave comments/feedback
about the devotionals at http://www.theburningbush.net.

There is a translation tool on
theburningbush.net website in the top right hand corner of all of the pages.

Check out the Scripture Index being constructed for the
Devotionals at the Burning Bush website. The Links are in about the middle of
the home page. Topics for each devotional are now being added to the Index.

Please continue to pray for
healing for Pastor Shane Hall, Michelle Abetz, Wesley Lewis, Brad, Damon D.
& wife, Beverly (Jeanie’s sister), Lexi McCalip, Gary Kirk, and Jeanie.

Please pray for an end to the
racial hatred in the USA and that it will be replaced with peace and love. Many
prayer needs are posted at the Burning Bush website on the Prayer Request page.
You can also post your prayer requests there (Of course, I am always in need of prayer - please pray for me. My
prayer focus is now that God will give me opportunities to preach. As the
apostle Paul says, “…woe is me if I do not preach the gospel!”).

You can contact Ed Wrather at
theburningbushdevotional@gmail.com View LinkedIn profile with
endorsements at http://www.linkedin.com/profile/view?id=92988105

If you enjoy the devotional
please recommend it to your friends. They may subscribe by sending a blank
email to burningbushdevo-join@welovegod.org

There is a complete devotional
archive at the old Burning Bush website. Here is the URL: http://www.theburningbush.org/DevotionalArchive.html.

You can help support this
ministry by using this link: http://www.paypal.me/EdWrather

Devotion vs Devotional: We do our
devotions, we read devotionals.

You can unsubscribe to the burningbushdevo devotional group by
sending a blank email to burningbushdevo-leave@welovegod.org and then respond
to the confirmation email.

You may subscribe to the html text group (Because of time
constraints the devotional is only being sent now in html format) by sending a
blank email to burningbushhtml-join@welovegod.org and you may unsubscribe by
sending a blank email to burningbushhtml-leave@welovegod.org and then respond
to the confirmation email. If the link does not work, copy and paste the link.

To unsubscribe, send ANY message to: burningbushdevo-leave@welovegod.org