From Hymns To Hope

   THE PRAYER CONNECTION by Michele Avery

FROM HYMNS TO HOPE:  …… “and Oh the Joy that floods my soul” ©

What do I do, and where do I go, when life becomes too hard to bear? Lift up your head; sing a hymn, and follow it with prayer.

Many of us remember hymns as the “old” songs that we would hear in church when we were children. They were usually slow and full of what seemed to be pain, heartache, and a deep sense of urgency! Very few churches have held on to this type of music, due to our ever changing times; A time where almost every need has been met by quick fixes and temporary solutions. We want, what we want, when we want it, and a God who will keep up with the times! After all the God of today must meet this world’s standard of care or like anything else, he will soon be replaced with what we feel is a little faster, a little stronger, and lot more dependable!  And who could do this job better than Him? Well, me of course!......The only problem is, when I took on the job, I found that I was not qualified to take on the cares of this world. Why can’t I have the peace and contentment of my ancestors? Did they serve this same god that I know about? I am convinced that they must have served a great God!! Because they seemed to just KNOW that HE was indeed the Almighty!!

What did they have that we don’t seem to have when facing our “giants” in life? (those circumstances that seem too massive for us to handle).  Could it be that things were easier for them back then? Of course not! As a matter of fact, we will probably never have to experience what they had to experience and endure. So, why was it possible for them to remain calm and give to others such wisdom and hope, while in the middle of their storms? Let me explain, what it is that they had that we don’t seem to have! They believed in a God that seemed much “bigger” than the god that we seem to serve! And they believed in a God, who seemed much “stronger” and much “wiser” than the God that we tend to serve. Their God really could do, exceeding and abundantly above ALL that could ever be imagined, and his hand really could reach down from Heaven and help when they needed it and His blood? It really did reach the highest mountains and flow to the lowest valleys, and when people did them wrong, they would remind themselves that, “Can’t nobody, do me like Jesus, because He’s MY friend!” and when the world seemed to be changing around them; THEY saw a God, who was unmovable and unchanging, knowing that when things got too hard to bear, they could get on their knees and say, “I need thee, Oh, I need thee….every hour, I need thee” and getting up off of their knees,  could just ask God to “Take their hands and lead them on and help them to stand, because they were tired, weak, and worn!! WHY? Because Jesus was THEIRS! therefore they knew who to extend their hands to. They knew who picked their feet up and set them on solid ground; but not the same kind of ground that our feet are on, that gives in and attempts to swallow us up, because our hope is not always “built on nothing less, than Jesus’ blood and righteousness!”  Oh, there is hope in our hymns of old.

Is it really that we don’t serve the same Great God, as our ancestors? Of course not!!  It’s just that THEIR God was REAL, real in their souls and what WE need to know is that the more we begin to Seek HIM; the “bigger” he will get, the wiser he will be, and the more able, he will become, giving us that assurance that they had, when singing, “yes, Jesus loves me; for the bible, tells me so” ….and when asked, how do you know? You can tell them; it’s because “He touched me, yes, he touched me; and oh, the joy, that floods my soul; something, something happened, and now too, I know, that he touched me and made me whole!”

Prayer for Today:

Dear Lord, thank you for being the SAME God, that our ancestors knew, and thank you Lord that you left your Word, your Holy Spirit, and Hymns of old to remind us that you are, just as powerful, just as wise, and just as able to do, just what you said that you would do, and that is to be God!!!!! A God who sits high and looks low, loving us so deeply, just as you do the sparrows; and now we know too, that we can sing in joy, because if your eyes are on the sparrows, then we know, you’re watching over us!!   Amen!

Praise Is What I Do!

                          

                                                THE PRAYER CONNECTION BY MICHELE AVERY

“YOU CAN’T STEAL MY PRAISE….BECAUSE!! …PRAISE IS WHAT I DO!!!” ©

Have you ever woke up, feeling on top of the world? Ready to give God thanks for all that he has done for you? So you say a little prayer that goes something like this?

7:00AM: “Lord, I thank you, for waking me up this morning; thank you for keeping us safe through the night; thank you for your mercy and your grace! You didn’t have to do it, but you did! And for that I say thank you!!!! For this is a day that YOU have made Lord, and I WILL rejoice and be glad in it!!!!” …..THEN!

9:00AM: “I’m sick of my life going like this! I ain’t got no decent clothes, I’m tired of being broke, gotta go to this tired job! And deal with these tired folks! They better not mess with me today, honey because my day is already a hot mess!!!!”…..What happened? An hour ago your hot mess of a day, was a day that the Lord had made and you were rejoicing and glad about it!  I’ll tell you what happened! The enemy smelled your praise and decided to invite himself to the party! I know all so well, how the enemy can take your praise and turn it into a “pout”…..Just the other day, he came to me wanting to steal my praise and asked these questions: “Aren’t you tired of the same old things, day after day? How’s that knee of yours? God still hasn’t healed you? Your kids are working your nerves; you’re broke, and you’re still without a job!! Why are you praising God, the way that you do? He created you to fail! I thought for a moment about what he had said to me and I felt my joy sort of slipping away…..looking down, I saw a ray of sunshine coming through the blinds and it was on my arm! Something happened to me in that instance! The Holy Spirit told me to go ahead and answer his questions, since he wanted to know! Here’s what I told Satan: “Yes, I get tired on many days, but My God always gives me strength to make it through! And my knee, yes it still hurts, but when I think about the goodness of Jesus and the fact that I have both of my legs and I can walk, the pain gets replaced with praise! And did you mention my children? Each one of them are saved, baptized, and on their way to Heaven, so you will never get your hands on them!! And I’m broke, you say? Well, I can’t tell! I still have my home, I still have my car, and my family eats every day! And my job situation? I temporarily have a new employer and he’s putting me to work just fine and because of my praise! He gives me benefits in FULL!! So, you see; I was born to praise! Just look around! Everything that God made gives him praise, except YOU! The sun showed up just in time this morning, the trees were swaying in honor of my God, the oceans still stop at the seashore in humble obedience, the flowers rise up in order to brighten someone’s day, and the birds? They sing of God’s new mercies EVERY morning! And you want to know why I still praise him? It’s simply because…Praise Is What I Do!!.

Wrestling Vs. Resting

         

WRESTLING VS RESTING IN GOD’S ABILITY ©

Many of us have wrestled with life for many years, only to find that life has fought back and seemed to have disabled our ability to truly trust and depend on God. This inability to trust God is about to land us right in the middle of a "wrestling match"… with HIM! Seem unfair? You and God going head to head? Hmmm..What could God gain by wrestling with little ole me? And where will this leave me? Well, it will leave you right where He wants you...having to lean, depend, and rest upon Him. So, you've struggled in life and now you want to struggle back and forth with God! He welcomes you! This is His opportunity to demonstrate to you, the effects of trying to conquer life in your own strength! In wrestling with God, we are telling Him that we have trust in our own abilities. In the bible, Jacob found himself wrestling with God, until daybreak, as a result of his fear and trust issues. He had a “self-reliance” attitude when dealing with life. God will surely need to disable this type of inward assurance. God allowed Jacob to wrestle with him until he barely had strength. Can you imagine, trying to hold on to your own “limited” abilities until you barely have any strength left? God knew that Jacob's faith would begin to increase as a result of his challenging Him, because he would realize that he was not more powerful than God! And that his “inward assurance” would transform to “blessed assurance” in his surrendering to the Almighty God. In the end, God would eventually end up crippling Jacob as a result of him refusing to let him go!! Was it about Jacob not wanting to let go without being blessed? NO!  But God needed for Jacob to change his strategy. In other words, God was saying by disabling him at that moment, “Jacob let me go! Stop wrestling me and “rest” upon me!”  God was showing him that wrestling with him was not going to benefit him, but that trusting and putting his faith in Him was the best way to deal with his struggles, his doubts, his fears, and his failures.  Although Jacob was now disabled, his faith in God was "stellar!" His disability would serve as a reminder of what it took for God to change his life forever!! God took him from a place of wrestling to a place of “resting” on HIM!! Sometimes God has to disable our lives in order to get us to trust him! Once he achieves his desired outcome, which is for us to know that HE is God, and that we are no match for the pressures of this world, outside of HIM! We will begin to see blessing flow. Jacob walked away with his blessing, because he had a renewed spirit, a changed heart, and a new faith. Thank you Lord for our hard lessons; for they bring us to a place of obedience and total surrender! Amen

  “Don’t worry that God has seemed to disable you for a season; He just needed for you to stop wrestling with life and to start resting in his ability.” 

I Corinthians 2:5   New Living Translation

I did this so you would trust not in human wisdom but in the power of God.