Life Foundations Part 3 Prayer

Introduction
Over the last few weeks we’ve been thinking about Life foundations. I want to challenge us to build our life on firm foundations. Remember, that Jesus is the solid rock that we build our life on and he is our example.

Last week we looked at the foundation of community and the importance of living in community and building community. This week we are looking at the why, how, when and what of prayer. One of the reasons we looked at how we see God is because the way we see God affects our behaviour and will affect the way we pray.

Proverbs 15:29
New Living Translation (NLT)
29 The Lord is far from the wicked,
    but he hears the prayers of the righteous.

We must believe that God hears us when we pray.

Why Pray
Prayer is a vital part of our life and is our communication with God. God wants to speak to us. Prayer creates an environment conducive to hearing God.

Bill Hybels (Too Busy not to Pray) writes:
“If you lower the ambient noise of your life and listen expectantly for those whispers of God, your ears will hear them. And when you follow their lead, your world will be rocked.”
― Bill Hybels

Prayer is about hearing from God and speaking to God. When we make a habit of praying regularly we create an environment where God can speak and where we can learn to hear his voice. Prayer is about God’s will in heaven done on earth – The Lord’s prayer (Matt 6:9-12)

Richard C Trench says:
"Prayer is not getting man's will done in heaven, but getting God's will done on earth. It is not overcoming God's reluctance but laying hold of God's willingness."

Jesus is our example and he spent time in prayer. (Matt 14:22)
We need God’s direction in our life and prayer enables us to hear from God (If we will shut up and listen). Jesus tells us to pray. In Matt 6:9 he says to his discipkes "when you pray….". Not if you pray, but when you pray.

Paul says pray always – without ceasing

1 Thess  5: 16-17
16 Always be joyful. 17 Never stop praying. 18 Be thankful in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you who belong to Christ Jesus.

The psalms are hymns and prayers to God. Prayer is a normal part of a relationship with God. God wants us to seek him, to hear from him and to learn from him.

Isaiah 55
“Come to me with your ears wide open.
    Listen, and you will find life.
I will make an everlasting covenant with you.
    I will give you all the unfailing love I promised to David.
4 See how I used him to display my power among the peoples.
    I made him a leader among the nations.
5 You also will command nations you do not know,
    and peoples unknown to you will come running to obey,
because I, the Lord your God,
    the Holy One of Israel, have made you glorious.”
6 Seek the Lord while you can find him.
    Call on him now while he is near.
7 Let the wicked change their ways
    and banish the very thought of doing wrong.
Let them turn to the Lord that he may have mercy on them.
    Yes, turn to our God, for he will forgive generously.

God says – come – seek me – call on me.

How to pray
There are lots of ideas on how we should pray. Some scriptures say pray with your hands in the air, others say pray on your knees. I don’t think the posture of prayer is necessarily important unless it is hindering our prayer life. Raising hands to pray is in honour of God. Getting on our knees is a matter of humility and submission. So how do we pray?

The Bible uses words like "be persistent". Jesus says "ask and keep on asking" and tells the story of the persistent widow who keeps seeking justice till she gets it. Paul says be alert and persistent. In other words – be aware when you are praying, staying focussed. Paul also encourages us to pray in the spirit, with thankful hearts.

Ephesians 6:18
New Living Translation (NLT)
18 Pray in the Spirit at all times and on every occasion. Stay alert and be persistent in your prayers for all believers everywhere.

He talks to the Colossians about being devoted and having discipline in prayer, keeping a heart that is open and thankful to God. There are lots of ways to stay thankful in prayer – listing all the things you are thankful for and developing an attitude of thankfulness – seeing potential not difficulty.

Colossians 4:2
New Living Translation (NLT)
An Encouragement for Prayer
2 Devote yourselves to prayer with an alert mind and a thankful heart.

Jesus, just before he teaches his disciples what to pray, teaches them how to pray.

Matt 6:5-8
Teaching about Prayer and Fasting
5 “When you pray, don’t be like the hypocrites who love to pray publicly on street corners and in the synagogues where everyone can see them. I tell you the truth, that is all the reward they will ever get. 6 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.
7 “When you pray, don’t babble on and on as people of other religions do. They think their prayers are answered merely by repeating their words again and again. 8 Don’t be like them, for your Father knows exactly what you need even before you ask him!

Prayer is not about what others think of our prayers.  They are between you and God. Jesus was not against public prayer, just the attitude of the Pharisees to it. Jesus went to the temple to pray and so did the disciples – that was public prayer that gave honour and glory to God.

Some quick thoughts from Jesus’ directive on prayer:
-Pray where you are able to meet with God
-Don’t babble endless and long prayers – stay to the point. Babbling is different to persistence
-God knows what we need so stay to the point
-Pray according to the will of God and in the name of Jesus.

John 15:15-16
New Living Translation (NLT)
15 I no longer call you slaves, because a master doesn’t confide in his slaves. Now you are my friends, since I have told you everything the Father told me. 16 You didn’t choose me. I chose you. I appointed you to go and produce lasting fruit, so that the Father will give you whatever you ask for, using my name.

John 16:23-24
New Living Translation (NLT)
23 At that time you won’t need to ask me for anything. I tell you the truth, you will ask the Father directly, and he will grant your request because you use my name. 24 You haven’t done this before. Ask, using my name, and you will receive, and you will have abundant joy.

Pray to the Father by the Spirit in the name of Jesus. What does "in Jesus name"  actually mean? It means pray a prayer that Jesus would pray. What is on the heart of Jesus for his world? Pray those things.
This is what it means to pray in the name of Jesus and the will of the Father.

Kenneth L. Wilson says:
"To pray in Jesus' name means to pray in his spirit, in his compassion, in his love, in his outrage, in his concern. In other words, it means to pray a prayer that Jesus himself might pray."

Am I praying prayers in the spirit, love and compassion of Jesus?

Come with and attitude of humility.
Prayer requires humility before God. After the dedication of the Temple and Solomons prayer, God tells Solomon that humility is important.

2 Chron 7:11-16
The Lord’s Response to Solomon
11 So Solomon finished the Temple of the Lord, as well as the royal palace. He completed everything he had planned to do in the construction of the Temple and the palace. 12 Then one night the Lord appeared to Solomon and said,
“I have heard your prayer and have chosen this Temple as the place for making sacrifices. 13 At times I might shut up the heavens so that no rain falls, or command grasshoppers to devour your crops, or send plagues among you. 14 Then if my people who are called by my name will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sins and restore their land. 15 My eyes will be open and my ears attentive to every prayer made in this place. 16 For I have chosen this Temple and set it apart to be holy—a place where my name will be honoured forever. I will always watch over it, for it is dear to my heart.

God has chosen us and called us. We are his people. When we come with humble hearts, he hears our prayers. Humility is a key attitude for prayer. God promised his people that if they would come to him humbly, seek his forgiveness and  seek his face, then he would restore and heal and bring about his will for them and make them a great nation that honoured his name.

Both Peter and James tell us that God opposes the proud but gives grace and favour to the humble. James addresses the wrong motives that were prevalent among the people: jealousy, arguments and fighting. Their attitude was wrong.

James 4:1-8
New Living Translation (NLT)
Drawing Close to God
4 What is causing the quarrels and fights among you? Don’t they come from the evil desires at war within you? 2 You want what you don’t have, so you scheme and kill to get it. You are jealous of what others have, but you can’t get it, so you fight and wage war to take it away from them. Yet you don’t have what you want because you don’t ask God for it. 3 And even when you ask, you don’t get it because your motives are all wrong—you want only what will give you pleasure.
4 You adulterers!Don’t you realize that friendship with the world makes you an enemy of God? I say it again: If you want to be a friend of the world, you make yourself an enemy of God. 5 What do you think the Scriptures mean when they say that the spirit God has placed within us is filled with envy?[b] 6 But he gives us even more grace to stand against such evil desires. As the Scriptures say,
“God opposes the proud
    but favors the humble.”
7 So humble yourselves before God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. 8 Come close to God, and God will come close to you. Wash your hands, you sinners; purify your hearts, for your loyalty is divided between God and the world.

James shoots pretty straight when he says this. He does not muck around or beat around the bush. He simply says, when we ask God we don’t get what we are asking for because our motives are wrong.

Wrong attitudes and motives become obstacles to prayer. Things like jealousy, evil desires, wanting selfish answers not God’s purpose, friendship with the world and all kinds of pride can hinder our prayer life. Let’s not be like that. Instead lets deal with the attitudes and get our motives right.

What attitudes and motives might be hindering my prayer life?

An attitude of faith and from a position of righteousness

James 5:13-16
New Living Translation (NLT)
The Power of Prayer
13 Are any of you suffering hardships? You should pray. Are any of you happy? You should sing praises. 14 Are any of you sick? You should call for the elders of the church to come and pray over you, anointing you with oil in the name of the Lord. 15 Such a prayer offered in faith will heal the sick, and the Lord will make you well. And if you have committed any sins, you will be forgiven.
16 Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The earnest prayer of a righteous person has great power and produces wonderful results.

Proverbs 15:29
New Living Translation (NLT)
29 The Lord is far from the wicked,
    but he hears the prayers of the righteous

Am I living my life in right relationship with God? If not, get into right relationship by seeking his forgiveness and determining to live for him.

Am I praying from an attitude of faith?
What can I do to build my faith?

When to pray
There is no hard and fast rule. Different times of day suit different people. I’m not so worried about when people pray, more that they pray. However morning prayer is helpful to start the day on the right note, setting a direction for the day. Evening prayer is helpful to finish the day and to bring the day before God working through and developing a process of bringing everything before God and being accountable for the day’s actions.

Praying through the night when we have something we are desperate about can be useful too. Can’t sleep? It’s a good time to seek God. He may have someone or something he wants you to pray for and he will bring them to mind.

Lamentations 2:19
New Living Translation (NLT)
19 Rise during the night and cry out.
    Pour out your hearts like water to the Lord.
Lift up your hands to him in prayer,
    pleading for your children,
for in every street
    they are faint with hunger.

Romans 1:9
New Living Translation (NLT)
9 God knows how often I pray for you. Day and night I bring you and your needs in prayer to God, whom I serve with all my heart[a] by spreading the Good News about his Son.

Pray when God places someone on your heart: driving, walking, and wherever you are.

Psalm 92:2
New Living Translation (NLT)
2 It is good to proclaim your unfailing love in the morning,
    your faithfulness in the evening,

David says: evening and morning and noon will I pray and cry aloud and he will hear my voice.

Psalm 55:17
New Living Translation (NLT)
17 Morning, noon, and night
    I cry out in my distress,
    and the Lord hears my voice.

So it doesn’t really matter when you pray – just do it.

When is the best time for me to pray?
How will I manage my prayer time?

Whenever you choose to pray – give your best to God.

What to pray
There are many things that we can pray for. Paul says pray about everything. God is interested in everything. (He may not necessarily answer the way we want –but he is listening)

Philippians 4:6
New Living Translation (NLT)
6 Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done.

When it comes to what to pray about, the pattern of prayer that Jesus gives his disciples is helpful.

Matt 6:9-13
Pray like this:
Our Father in heaven,
    may your name be kept holy.
10 May your Kingdom come soon.
May your will be done on earth,
    as it is in heaven.
11 Give us today the food we need,
12 and forgive us our sins,
    as we have forgiven those who sin against us.
13 And don’t let us yield to temptation,
    but rescue us from the evil one.

This is a prayer for kingdom purpose.
Notice there is his purpose, his Kingdom, his mission, his provision.

1. Honour God
Jesus says to start with worship and give God all glory and honour and praise. Acknowledge God and his holiness. Acknowledge and glorify him above all else.

2. His Kingdom
It is God’s kingdom on come on earth. This is all about God’s will and purpose being carried out here on earth. This is about mission. Your Kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.

What is God’s plan and purpose, his kingdom purpose for others, for your life, the people you do life with, our relationships? What is his will for these people? Pray that.

It is not about God giving us what we want, but us getting on board with what God wants. Paul says pray for everyone, for all people, for the governments and for all those in authority, because God’s will is that people be saved. These are the things we are to pray for.

1 Tim 2:1-6
Instructions about Worship
2 I urge you, first of all, to pray for all people. Ask God to help them; intercede on their behalf, and give thanks for them. 2 Pray this way for kings and all who are in authority so that we can live peaceful and quiet lives marked by godliness and dignity. 3 This is good and pleases God our Savior, 4 who wants everyone to be saved and to understand the truth. 5 For there is only one God and one Mediator who can reconcile God and humanity—the man Christ Jesus. 6 He gave his life to purchase freedom for everyone. This is the message God gave to the world at just the right time.

– we are not good at respecting those in government or in authority. It goes against the grain for us, we tend to rebellion. When we ridicule the government we are in direct disobedience to the Word of God. This does not mean we have to agree with what they do or say. There is a difference between acceptance and respect. We are to honour those in authority and pray for them.

Paul also says, pray for spiritual growth, for the people around you and for yourself. Pray for all believers everywhere. This has a strong mission focus on it. God’s will is for all people everywhere to be saved, and that all believers everywhere will live according to his plan and purpose.

Ephesians 6:18
New Living Translation (NLT)
18 Pray in the Spirit at all times and on every occasion. Stay alert and be persistent in your prayers for all believers everywhere.

Paul’s Prayer for Spiritual Growth

Eph 3:14-20
14 When I think of all this, I fall to my knees and pray to the Father, 15 the Creator of everything in heaven and on earth. 16 I pray that from his glorious, unlimited resources he will empower you with inner strength through his Spirit. 17 Then Christ will make his home in your hearts as you trust in him. Your roots will grow down into God’s love and keep you strong. 18 And may you have the power to understand, as all God’s people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep his love is. 19 May you experience the love of Christ, though it is too great to understand fully. Then you will be made complete with all the fullness of life and power that comes from God.
20 Now all glory to God, who is able, through his mighty power at work within us, to accomplish infinitely more than we might ask or think. 21 Glory to him in the church and in Christ Jesus through all generations forever and ever! Amen.

Pray for Kingdom purpose.

Are my prayers kingdom focussed; am I more interested in God’s kingdom and mission or in getting my own way?
What is our response? This is always a challenge.
What will we change in what we pray for?

My challenge: Think about my prayer life and what I spend most time praying about. Is it God’s mission or my comfort?

Lets make sure our prayers have a focus on God's kingdom.

3. God’s provision
Give us this day ….the food and forgiveness we need. This is where we can pray for God’s provision for our life. Notice it says food for today and not riches for the future. He may give us those because he loves to bless us, but Jesus says ask for today’s provision. In other words trust God each day for provision.

Each day seek his forgiveness. Each day ask for his leading and guiding and don’t let us yield to temptation. Jesus knew that these are the things we need. But the emphasis is not on us, it is on God and his provision for us.

Conclusion
Why, How, When and What of prayer. Prayer is vital to our Christian life; it is foundational. God seeks relationship with me through prayer – Jesus and the apostles encourage it.

What am I going to do to develop my prayer life to the next level?

Let’s be women of prayer who seek kingdom purpose. God’s will done on earth as it is in heaven, trusting God for his provision, addressing attitudes that hinder prayer and developing our prayer life to a new level

Life Foundations Part 2-Community

Introduction
Last week we discussed the nature of God. What are our convictions about the nature of God? We also discussed our convictions about self and how we see ourself. Our convictions affect our life so its important to build convictions based on the truth.

This week we are discussing the nature of community. What is community? Why is community important? How do we build community.

Whenever we see anything happening in the Bible and in the early church the context is always community. A community of faith, a community of believers, a community of women, a community of people.

Wherever we are and whatever we do involves community. We live in community. It is not good for people to be alone. God created us to live in communities and share common ground, common purpose and common ownership.

This does not necessarily mean common ownership of personal possessions, but as the early church formed it did. The early church was formed in the context of community. The Jewish people understood community, probably better than we do.

Acts 2:42_47
The Believers Form a Community
42 All the believers devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching, and to fellowship, and to sharing in meals (including the Lord’s Supper[i]), and to prayer.
43 A deep sense of awe came over them all, and the apostles performed many miraculous signs and wonders. 44 And all the believers met together in one place and shared everything they had. 45 They sold their property and possessions and shared the money with those in need. 46 They worshiped together at the Temple each day, met in homes for the Lord’s Supper, and shared their meals with great joy and generosity[j]— 47 all the while praising God and enjoying the goodwill of all the people. And each day the Lord added to their fellowship those who were being saved.

We are a Community of women, doing life together, a community of people. God adds to our number when we are in community.

What is community?
Community is common ownership and participation. Community is taking ownership and participating in it. True community is engaging and life giving. This is the one of the foundations of our life. We are  part of a community.

From the previous verses we see a desire in the disciples to live in and continue in community. They shared meals together, they met regularly together, they shared what they had and they did it with joy and a single-mindedness of spirit and heart.

They had a joy and a passion for doing life together in community. A passion to form community, sustain community and build community.
And they did it with great joy.

In life there are lots of communities. There are online communities, banking communities, sporting communities etc. We can be involved in many and various types of communities and I encourage you to do so. Be an active participant.

Community is also about place and belonging; networks of people and tolerance, reciprocity and trust that is natural and does not need to be specifically taught – it tends to be caught. We all need a place to belong.

Why Community?
We can know what community is, but why be part of a community, and more importantly, why be part of building a community. The truth is, we all need a place to belong, a place where we do life with others, where we are accepted.

1. It is good for us
Community is good for us. We were never meant to do life alone. We are not created to do life alone. It is good for us to be with others. It is good for us socially and physically. When we share with others we are doingboursrlves good. There is some evidence to suggest that being with others helps us build healthier neurological connections and healthier thinking.

We are meant to be with one another. A family is a small community. The Bible tells us that God places the lonely in families – why, because we are not meant to be alone. We are meant to live in community.

Psalm 68:6
New Living Translation (NLT)
6 God places the lonely in families;
    he sets the prisoners free and gives them joy.
But he makes the rebellious live in a sun-scorched land.

I must look up the reference, but in my reading I came across the following:
Humans are social animals. We need connection not just to survive but to thrive.

Social capital – the connections that exist amongst individuals, can be studied and measured to some degree. The social capital – the value of community – the connections we have will affect how we grow and develop, it affects our health and it affects our economic prosperity.

Those communities who develop stronger social capital do better.
Community offers a sense of belonging (a sense of place), social networks and human connection.According to one paper I read;  If you do not belong to a group and you decide to join one, you cut your risk of dying in the next year by half.

Community is good for you.

2. It is good for others
Community is also good for others. Children who live in strong communities with good social capital do better. When we reach out to others and live in community we are helping them to strengthen their sense of belonging to a group of people.

Community gives a place for the lonely to find people and develop networks of people who love them, care for them and embrace them. Community is about relationship and social capital. It’s about strengthening and building people and providing a place where people are accepted and belong.

3. How do we build community
So we understand a little of the what and why. What about the how?

There are many things we can do to build community, and of course there are things that can destroy community. Let’s focus on how to build community.

1. Genuine love for one another
What is genuine love? It is seeking the very best for those in our community and giving genuine care that is real and true. Genuine love and care does not pander to people, it does not manipulate and will not be manipulated. Genuine love and care empowers people to be all God created them to be without forcing them to be.

Romans 12:9
New Living Translation (NLT)
9 Don’t just pretend to love others. Really love them. Hate what is wrong. Hold tightly to what is good.

The context of this is community; it is using what we have to build one another up and to empower people. It is doing what we can do, and doing it well, taking our part.

Romans 12:6-13
In his grace, God has given us different gifts for doing certain things well. So if God has given you the ability to prophesy, speak out with as much faith as God has given you. 7 If your gift is serving others, serve them well. If you are a teacher, teach well. 8 If your gift is to encourage others, be encouraging. If it is giving, give generously. If God has given you leadership ability, take the responsibility seriously. And if you have a gift for showing kindness to others, do it gladly.
9 Don’t just pretend to love others. Really love them. Hate what is wrong. Hold tightly to what is good. 10 Love each other with genuine affection, and take delight in honoring each other. 11 Never be lazy, but work hard and serve the Lord enthusiastically.12 Rejoice in our confident hope. Be patient in trouble, and keep on praying. 13 When God’s people are in need, be ready to help them. Always be eager to practice hospitality.

Let’s not be good at pretending to love one another, but become good at really loving one another. Community means genuine care for people and using our gifts appropriately to do so. This passage is about more than just using your gift, it’s about using your gift to build others up and to bring edification and to work together with others to build kingdom community.

The early church had a bit of an issue as their community got bigger and they had trouble providing genuine care to others. As they worked to resolve the issue, they chose people with gifts that could better administer their food program so that everyone got cared for. (Acts 6)

To build community, genuine care and love for others means resolving issues in a way that builds community and does not destroy it.

Am I showing genuine love or do I just pretend?
How can I begin to show genuine love today?

Conflict is a killer of community – conflict will happen, and it’s not unusual where people gather, but let’s choose to resolve conflict properly and use it as a way to build community, not destroy it. You only have to see what is happening in Ukraine at the moment to realise that conflict pulls a community apart

Matt 18:15-17
Correcting Another Believer
15 “If another believer sins against you, go privately and point out the offense. If the other person listens and confesses it, you have won that person back. 16 But if you are unsuccessful, take one or two others with you and go back again, so that everything you say may be confirmed by two or three witnesses. 17 If the person still refuses to listen, take your case to the church. Then if he or she won’t accept the church’s decision, treat that person as a pagan or a corrupt tax collector.

Jesus says – sort out your differences. Note that this is about restoration and bringing someone back into community. The context is Jesus embracing the little children, addressing the issue of lost people mattering (before) and then having an attitude of forgiveness (after).

I think Jesus did that deliberately. He knew we needed to understand that the important thing is unsaved people, and in relationships we need lots of forgiveness ourselves and we are not always good at giving it and offering it to others.

Conflict handled properly restores relationship and builds community.

2. Embrace people
Embrace people no matter where they come from or where they are on their faith journeyBuilding community means:
embracing people
seeing the good in them
seeing the potential in them
seeing them through God’s eyes

Every person is important and matters to God. Everyone is at a different stage in the life journey and their faith journey. Community embraces people wherever they are in that journey just as we embrace family whether they are young or old. A family is made up of a variety of people – so too is community.

Embrace the differences and don’t expect people to be the same as you. Value and embrace the diversity that exists within community while maintaining a unity of purpose, ownership and participation. Don't allow wrong attitudes to develop towards others. As we contemplate this, we can ask ourselves:

How inclusive am I?
What attitudes do I need to address to ensure I’m embracing and including people in community?

3. Intentional in relationship
Be intentional with relationships, they take time to build and community is made up of networks and relationships. Intentional - including people in meals, in groups, sharing together etc. The early disciples were intentional.

Acts 4:32
NLT
All the believers were united in heart and mind. And they felt what they owned was not their own, so they shared everything they had.
The believers began well with community. As the church grew and expanded into Greece people sometimes forgot the importance of community.

The people of Corinth forgot that community is having things in common, and living as community. They forgot about intentional relationships. They forgot about buikding proper relationships and became self focussed. Paul addresses this tendency in us.

1 Cor 11:17-22
Order at the Lord’s Supper
17 But in the following instructions, I cannot praise you. For it sounds as if more harm than good is done when you meet together. 18 First, I hear that there are divisions among you when you meet as a church, and to some extent I believe it. 19 But, of course, there must be divisions among you so that you who have God’s approval will be recognized!
20 When you meet together, you are not really interested in the Lord’s Supper. 21 For some of you hurry to eat your own meal without sharing with others. As a result, some go hungry while others get drunk. 22 What? Don’t you have your own homes for eating and drinking? Or do you really want to disgrace God’s church and shame the poor? What am I supposed to say? Do you want me to praise you? Well, I certainly will not praise you for this!

The believers in Corinth had forgotten that being in community meant including people – they were even holding fellowship meals including communion and not waiting or everyone to be together. They had lost the intentional aspect of building true community. Some people just got in and ate everything before others arrived – they had divisions among them. Their community had broken down.

Let’s not be like that. Let’s be intentional in building community.

What can we do today to be more intentional in our relationships?

We can be deliberate in building relationship by hanging out with people – not just on Facebook, but by sharing together – sharing meals, helping one another out, sharing/doing life together – sharing of self. Social media can be an obstacle to true relationship and true community. However if used properly, social media can connect us with people. Lets use it to build community, butnot as a replacement for genuine community.

Community is about meaningful connections, not about how many “friends” we have in our online communities. Use social media as a tool to reach out to people, but never use it as a substitute for face to face human interaction.

4. By honouring one another
We see people being honoured in life on special occasions etc. But let’s develop a culture of honouring people every day. Honour in the New Testament meant a good opinion concerning one

Romans 12:10
New Living Translation (NLT)
10 Love each other with genuine affection, and take delight in honouring each other.

How do we honour people? We build them up and empower them.
We speak well of them and choose to resolve conflict with them instead of letting it get in the way. We use our gifts to serve them.
We prefer others before ourselves.

Am I honouring other people?
What can I do today to begin honouring others?

Conclusion
Community – common ownership and participation, builds and empowers people – it is good for us and for others.

Building community:
-Requires participation
-Requires us to be intentional if we are to genuinely love other
  honour others
-Embrace others and
-Develop deeper relationships with one another.

A Thought from Esther 4

Esther was placed into Royal favour at the right place and the right time. God places each one of us into position. He has a plan and purpose for us.

Esther did not really understand at first why she had position, and sometimes we don't either. Mordecai, her God fearing cousin helped her to understand that God had a reason for placing her into the position she occupied in the royal household.

Being placed in a position, circumstance or situation by God is not for our benefit. God places us in position because he wants us to represent him in that place. He wants us to take action. 

What position had God placed you in?
What action does he want you to take?

God’s plan for your life is a good one. Take hold of his purpose for you. Take action. 

Thoughts

http://jillwhalan.tumblr.com/post/85019357617/good-looked-after-his-people

Life Foundations

“On Christ the solid Rock I stand when all around is sinking sand”

Jesus is our foundation. When we build on the foundation of Jesus we will be able to stand firm, no matter what circumstances we find ourselves in.

1 Cor 3:10-11
10 Because of God’s grace to me, I have laid the foundation like an expert builder. Now others are building on it. But whoever is building on this foundation must be very careful. 11 For no one can lay any foundation other than the one we already have—Jesus Christ.

Jesus is our foundation. We build on The Rock that is strong and stable. Jesus said, build your life on Solid ground.

Matt 7:24-29
24 “Anyone who listens to my teaching and follows it is wise, like a person who builds a house on solid rock. 25 Though the rain comes in torrents and the floodwaters rise and the winds beat against that house, it won’t collapse because it is built on bedrock. 26 But anyone who hears my teaching and doesn’t obey it is foolish, like a person who builds a house on sand. 27 When the rains and floods come and the winds beat against that house, it will collapse with a mighty crash.

Foundations provide stability and they provide a firm platform for us to build on. So quite clearly, Jesus is our foundation. Following his teaching places us on solid ground and a firm foundation. Jesus says that a firm foundation is vital to our walk of faith.

We live according to our values and our convictions. Values are the things that we hold to be important. Convictions are the things we believe and hold to be true. (Whether they are or not.) Here is a conviction about faith:

Heb 11:1
Faith is the confident assurance that what we hope for is going to happen.

Notice the conviction, that faith is confident assurance of the promise of God. We live by our values and our convictions. What I believe and what I value will be affected by what I think. And what I think is affected by what I believe and value. We will be living from a conviction of some sort that is based on what we hold to be important and what we hold to be true. Our values and convictions form the basis of our decision making.

So we live from our convictions of life. But what if what we hold to be true is not actually true but based on a false reality? As we look at foundations, I want to address some of the convictions about life and God that we might to hold to ensure we are on solid ground.

A conviction that God exists is a good start. But a solid foundation requires us to answer more than just a belief in the existence of God, or a higher being. I believe it’s important to have a foundation based on a conviction, not just that God exists, but on who God is. I’m not talking here about the arguments for the existence of God, but convictions around the nature of God. What are our convictions about the nature of God?

1. Who is God?
A conviction that God exists is a good start. But a solid foundation requires us to answer more than just a belief in the existence of God, or a higher being. It’s important to have a foundation based on a conviction, not just that God exists, but on who God is. I’m not talking here about the arguments for the existence of God, but convictions around the nature of God.

What is my conviction about the nature of God? What we believe about God will affect our view of him. What we believe about God will affect our attitudes and behaviour towards God and towards others. What we believe about God will affect the way we live and the decisions we make.

We can easily get a wrong idea about who God is and develop a conviction about life that is not actually based on truth but is distorted and filtered. This can happen over the years through the information we take in, what others tell us and from negative experiences or assumptions. We can begin to view God through a distorted lens. This causes us to have a shaky foundation.

Are we basing who God is on assumption? For example, Ben Harper in the TV comedy My Family says after a bad experience, “Now I know there’s a God and he hates me”. This is a false belief, a conviction based on a distorted view of God, that is assuming God is out to get him. It affects his petception of life and his experiences. He believes in the existence of God, but his conviction about the nature of  God is wrong.

Unfortunately, this is often the conviction held by Christians who strive to win God’s favour when they already have it, and believe that in every negative experience God is out to get them. Is this how we see God? Or do we see God as he is described in the Bible? God is loving and Kind, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love; He is forgiving and  He is trustworthy. Note how David, the psalmist, sees God. He has a conviction about God based on truth.

Psalm 103
A psalm of David.
1 Let all that I am praise the Lord;
    with my whole heart, I will praise his holy name.
2 Let all that I am praise the Lord;
    may I never forget the good things he does for me.
3 He forgives all my sins
    and heals all my diseases.
4 He redeems me from death
    and crowns me with love and tender mercies.
5 He fills my life with good things.
    My youth is renewed like the eagle’s!
6 The Lord gives righteousness
    and justice to all who are treated unfairly.
7 He revealed his character to Moses
    and his deeds to the people of Israel.
8 The Lord is compassionate and merciful,
    slow to get angry and filled with unfailing love.
9 He will not constantly accuse us,
    nor remain angry forever.
10 He does not punish us for all our sins;
    he does not deal harshly with us, as we deserve.
11 For his unfailing love toward those who fear him
    is as great as the height of the heavens above the earth.
12 He has removed our sins as far from us
    as the east is from the west.
13 The Lord is like a father to his children,
    tender and compassionate to those who fear him.
14 For he knows how weak we are;
    he remembers we are only dust.
15 Our days on earth are like grass;
    like wildflowers, we bloom and die.
16 The wind blows, and we are gone—
    as though we had never been here.
17 But the love of the Lord remains forever
    with those who fear him.
His salvation extends to the children’s children
18     of those who are faithful to his covenant,
    of those who obey his commandments!
19 The Lord has made the heavens his throne;
    from there he rules over everything.
20 Praise the Lord, you angels,
    you mighty ones who carry out his plans,
    listening for each of his commands.
21 Yes, praise the Lord, you armies of angels
    who serve him and do his will!
22 Praise the Lord, everything he has created,
    everything in all his kingdom.
Let all that I am praise the Lord.

David is convinced of the goodness and the love of God. The Apostle Paul also understood the truth about God. He too is convinced about the nature of God as loving, kind and faithful.

Romans 8:38
New Living Translation (NLT)
38 And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons,[a] neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow—not even the powers of hell can separate us from God’s love.

Psalm 36:5
New Living Translation (NLT)
5 Your unfailing love, O Lord, is as vast as the heavens;
    your faithfulness reaches beyond the clouds.

Jesus too spoke of God as a good God.
Mark 10:17-18
17 As Jesus was starting out on his way to Jerusalem, a man came running up to him, knelt down, and asked, “Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?”
18 “Why do you call me good?” Jesus asked. “Only God is truly good.

What convictions can we see in these verses? Conviction by Paul on God’s love, by the psalmist on God’s faithfulness and Jesus, on God’s goodness. Are these actually our convictions about God? Our belief about God can be affected by the past and by what others have said and done. When we have false beliefs they colour everything that happens and we see everything through a lens of untruth.

If we believe God is not good, we will see everything through that lens and we will believe God is out to get us. When we have been told that God is nasty and horrible and wants to punish us, then that can become a conviction we have, because that is what we have been told. But it’s not true.

We can ask ourselves: What convictions do I hold about the nature of God? Are they based in reality?

When we hold convictions based on truth we make decisions for our life based on who God is and not on how we feel about a situation. When we make decisions based on who God is, we are making decisions based on a firm foundation.  These convictions will enable us to see our circumstances through a different light because we are standing on unshakeable ground.

2. Who I am.
This is also an important conviction that affects the way we live and the way we relate to people. If we have a conviction that we are stupid and hopeless, that is how we will live. If we have a conviction that we are amazing human beings, that is how we will live.

We all have seen the difference between those who have a positive attitude towards life and those with a negative attitude. These attitudes come from our convictions about who we are and they affect the way we live, the way we relate to people and how we do our work. Our convictions about ourselves will affect everything we do! Our convictions about ourselves are often related to what we perceive others beliefs about us to be. Usually these are not remotely near what others think but we allow our perceptions to colour and to cloud what is truth.

What convictions do you hold about yourself? What are they based on? Remember that convictions are the things that we hold to be true (They may not actually be true). Where have these convictions come from?

Developing a firm foundation means challenging our convictions and testing them against the Word of God. What does God’s word say about who I am? Here are some examples that we may know well yet still struggle to believe because we have wrong convictions about who we are.
We think we are not worth anything. The Word of God says we are fearfully and wonderfully made (Ps 119). We are God's masterpiece and his chosen people.

Eph 2:10
For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago.

Eph 2:19
A Temple for the Lord
19 So now you Gentiles are no longer strangers and foreigners. You are citizens along with all of God’s holy people. You are members of God’s family. 20 Together, we are his house, built on the foundation of the apostles and the prophets. And the cornerstone is Christ Jesus himself. 21 We are carefully joined together in him, becoming a holy temple for the Lord. 22 Through him you Gentiles are also being made part of this dwelling where God lives by his Spirit.

We are God’s children; We are his masterpiece; we are the beloved. We are priests in his Kingdom, we are a chosen people. God places value on us, God loves us. In him we are chosen. Its not like school where we waited to see who got chosen first or last for activities. With God, we are always first choice.

1 Thessalonians 1:4
New Living Translation (NLT)
4 We know, dear brothers and sisters,[a] that God loves you and has chosen you to be his own people.

1 Peter 2:9
New Living Translation (NLT)
9 But you are not like that, for you are a chosen people. You are royal priests,[a] a holy nation, God’s very own possession. As a result, you can show others the goodness of God, for he called you out of the darkness into his wonderful light.

Peter and Paul both understood that we are chosen by God, we are his very own people.

So we are chosen by God, a royal masterpiece, fearfully and wonderfully made and  adopted into his own family. These are the deeply held truths we need to base our life on.

3. Building Convictions based on the word of God.
Once we understand that our convictions play an important role in our lives, we can begin to challenge these convictions. Are the things I hold to be true – my convictions – actually the truth? What are my convictions actually based on? If they are based on a lie, or a false perception of truth, how do I change them?

So glad you asked!! The Bible tells us that transformation comes from transformed thinking. It comes from being deliberate in changing how we think about situations. We are to be transformed by the renewing of our mind.

Romans 12 :1-3
A Living Sacrifice to God
12 And so, dear brothers and sisters,[a] I plead with you to give your bodies to God because of all he has done for you. Let them be a living and holy sacrifice—the kind he will find acceptable. This is truly the way to worship him.[b] 2 Don’t copy the behaviour and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.
3 Because of the privilege and authority[c] God has given me, I give each of you this warning: Don’t think you are better than you really are. Be honest in your evaluation of yourselves, measuring yourselves by the faith God has given us.

Notice we are to be transformed and to renew our minds, to change the way we think. We are also to do an honest and accurate evaluation – not based on experience, but based on faith. We are to have a sober understanding of ourselves, based on the truth. We also change the way we think by making sure we think about the right things.

Philippians 4:8-10
New Living Translation (NLT)
8 And now, dear brothers and sisters, one final thing. Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise. 9 Keep putting into practice all you learned and received from me—everything you heard from me and saw me doing. Then the God of peace will be with you.

What are the good, right and lovely things we should be focussing on and basing our life on? Remember not just to memorise this verse but to search out the things that are good and right and lovely and start building them into our life one piece at a time. These are the things that we are to put into practice.

Our thoughts and our experiences are built and stored in our brains, those amazing and mighty organs in our skull. The way we perceive a situation, and the decisions we make around those situations, based on beliefs and values, will either build stronger connections in the brain or weaker connections.

What we think about, become our convictions. What we do with what we think about is where we can begin to change our wrong beliefs about God, about ourselves and about life. When we are thinking about something we are able to work on that thought – it becomes malleable and we can change the “shape” of the thought.

Our thoughts are a bit like building with Lego Blocks. If we have built something badly with Lego we can deconstruct it and rebuild it. Changing our thoughts involves deconstructing and then reconstructing the thought to change it and transform it.

Reading the word, thinking about what we think about, and taking time to consider what God has to say on the subject – (not what we think our experience tells us)  - helps us to shape our thoughts and give them a different shape – a different direction. In fact this process helps us to understand and gain truth and to build our convictions on truth.

Simply being told what is true does not mean we will automatically change our conviction on it. As we develop this process; as we are deliberate in following through on this process; as we spend time deliberately working on the wrong thoughts and convictions, and reshaping them, our convictions can be transformed by the truth.

Ask God to show you what convictions you have about life that you need to change. Look up and find the truth in God’s word. Take time to ponder and think about what the truth actually is. Many of the psalms say "Selah". This means to pause, to ponder and to think deeply about. In other words, think deeply about the Word, build this into your thought life and understanding. Joshua was told to meditate on the word of God. He was to think deeply about the truth of God's word and live accordingly.

Determine to focus on the truth. A few minutes each day is all that is needed. Focus on the truth, think deeply and ponder the truth and then determine to live accordingly. This may mean catching yourself thinking an unhealthy or negative thought and replacing it, being deliberate in changing it to a healthy one.

As we deliberately think about what we think about, and rebuild the patterns of neurons in our brains, then we begin to develop new convictions based on truth. We are building on the solid rock, giving ourselves a firm fiundation.

Conclusion
Finally, we must take action. What are our convictions? What do we hold to be true, about God and about ourselves? Challenge yourself. Are these convictions, these deeply held beliefs actually true? Do our held beliefs stack up against the word of God? What will we do today to challenge and if necessary, change our thinking.

If our beliefs, our convictions affect what we do and say, then let’s make sure that they are based on truth, not on our own perceptions or experiences but the word of God. Lets determine to challenge our convictions against the word and to be deliberate in changing our thinking, so that our deeply held beliefs, our convictions, match the truth of who we are and who God is.

Some thoughts from Jonah

Jonah 1.1-6

The lord gave this message to Jonah son of Amittai: “Get up and go to the great city of Nineveh. Announce my judgment against it because I have seen how wicked its people are.”

But Jonah got up and went in the opposite direction to get away from the lord . He went down to the port of Joppa, where he found a ship leaving for Tarshish. He bought a ticket and went on board, hoping to escape from the lord by sailing to Tarshish. But the lord hurled a powerful wind over the sea, causing a violent storm that threatened to break the ship apart. Fearing for their lives, the desperate sailors shouted to their gods for help and threw the cargo overboard to lighten the ship. But all this time Jonah was sound asleep down in the hold. Bible.com/app NLT

I'm always amazed at how Jonah went in the opposite direction to his given mission. By trying to run away from God he actually put the lives of other people at great risk and was quite oblivious to their peril. He was so focussed on his own self interest instead of on the interests of others. In running away he was also putting himself in peril.

Unfortunately we often do the same thing. God challenges us to do something, to reach out to others in someway with his Good News of grace, or he asks us to change something in our lives that is hurting us or others. Stubbornly we run in the opposite direction, either physically or emotionally and we don't realise that not only are we making things worse for ourselves, we can actually be complicit in making life worse for others, putting them at risk too by the way we behave and the things we say.

The good news is that if we will look to God, seek his forgiveness for "running away", and follow him, we will experience great freedom. If we do what God asks, not only will we be free but we will have great opportunities to bring his grace and freedom to the lives of others.

Stepping into something new, into the unknown, is not always easy, because it can challenge our security and how we perceive ourselves. However, as we step out, as we learn to trust God, we can do so confident in God's love, his grace and his goodness towards us. We will learn more of who he is and have opportunities we never dreamed about.

The challenge for us all, me included, is to be prepared to take on what God is asking of us and not shy away from it.

What is God asking us to do? What opportunities lie ahead for us?

Are we prepared to overcome the obstacles, take on the challenge and move into His purpose for us?

Love these words

Psalm 36:5-9 NLT
Your unfailing love, O Lord, is as vast as the heavens;
your faithfulness reaches beyond the clouds.
Your righteousness is like the mighty mountains,
your justice like the ocean depths.
You care for people and animals alike, O Lord.
How precious is your unfailing love, O God!
All humanity finds shelter in the shadow of your wings.
You feed them from the abundance of your own house,
letting them drink from your river of delights.
For you are the fountain of life, the light by which we see.