The Lethal Combination

I Sam. 21:6 So the priest gave him hallowed bread: for there was no bread there but the showbread, that was taken from before the LORD, to put hot bread in the day when it was taken away.
I Sam. 21: 8-9 And David said unto Ahimelech, And is there not here under thine hand spear or sword? for I have neither brought my sword nor my weapons with me, because the king's business required haste.9 And the priest said, The sword of Goliath the Philistine, whom thou slewest in the valley of Elah, behold, it is here wrapped in a cloth behind the ephod: if thou wilt take that, take it: for there is no other save that here. And David said, There is none like that; give it me.

We see in the above verses that David is on the run from Saul. He has just been warned by his best friend, and Saul's own son, Jonathan, that he needs to "get out of Dodge". David heads to Nob, where the priest Ahimelech is. The priest is curious as to why the hero of Israel is alone. David tells him that the "king hath commanded me a business, and hath said unto me, Let no man know anything of the business whereabout I send thee, and what I have commanded thee..." (I Sam.21:2) This was the truth, for the King had sent him on a business. It wasn't King Saul, but the King of Kings! And his business was staying alive. David was being very discreet.
He continues to tell the priest that he needs bread. The priest offers him the shewbread, after he confirms that David is pure. David then asks for a weapon. Ahimelech tells him that all he has is Goliath's sword. David says (I like this part!)
"There is none like that; give it me." This sword was a token from the greatest battle in Israel. A battle that David himself had fought. God delivered a giant into the hand of a young man! What a boost to his spirit to be reminded of a great victory during a time of trial in his life. Isn't God good?
The thing that caught my eye was that David received food or nourishment for the journey from the priest, or at church. He also received a weapon there. When we go to church, we receive the food for our journey, from God's Word, as the Pastor preaches. We also receive a weapon to fight the spiritual battles in our lives at church. We get "ammunition" from the Bible, so to speak! Likewise, when we get in God's Word daily, we receive food from the Lord. When we go to God in prayer, we are using our greatest weapon against Satan.
There have been times that I have felt the enemy breathing down my neck. But just when I needed it, I received the "shewbread" to give me strength, I am reminded of a great victory that God wrought in my life and I remember to use the weapon needed to fight in spiritual warfare -God's Word! It isn't long before I see a victory!
Yes, any way you slice it, God's Word and prayer are a lethal combination.

Lord, I Need You!

John 15:5 I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing.

Have you ever told the Lord about someone else's faults? I have, many times! After all, it is better to complain to the Lord than to take it out on your family or upon the one with whom you are irritated! Well, today, I was giving the Lord an "earful" of what I thought about a certain situation. I told Him how it was clear to me just who was at fault in that situation. After this, I went on my merry way, feeling much satisfaction after my time of "unloading" upon the Lord.
Well, it wasn't long after my prayer time that the Lord reminded me that this year I was trying to lay aside pride...and that I had just picked it up and carried it forth happily. I was so ashamed. Later, my husband (without knowledge of my prayer time diatribe) pointed out an area in which I had done the exact same thing as the person I was "lining out" to God earlier.
The Lord scolded me sharply within my heart. He brought to mind the verse above, especially the last line: for without me, ye can do nothing. That's the long and short of it. Without Him, I can not achieve any good thing. Without His giving me a clear mind, I could not form these words that I am writing in my mind, much less type them! Without His giving me strength, I could not even rise from my bed each morning. I cannot persuade the folks in my town to come to Christ, I can only tell them that there is a way to Heaven through Christ. The Holy Spirit does the real work. I want the Holy Spirit upon my life so that He can work easliy through me. It isn't up to me to "save" people - though at times I do act as though it all depended upon me! Do not misunderstand - I am fully aware that we, as born again believers, have a responsibility to tell any who will listen about Jesus' gift. But without HIM I cannot even do that!
This has changed my prayer life. I do not want to habitually read off names mindlessly to my Lord, nor do I want to be known to Him as a complainer. I want to come before Him realizing fully that I need Him, for without His help, how can I raise children who are like Him? Without Him, how can I be a wife that would be an ornament to my husband? Again, I ask, how can I do anything? The answer - I cannot. I am reminded today that I need Him. I want my prayer to be from this day forward, "Lord, I need You! In all I do, think, say, desire - I need You."

Sour Prayers

Matthew 21:22
And all things, whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive.

I heard once about a very forgetful lady. She was having a friend over for lunch and wanted to make a special dessert for her - a pie. Now this pie only called for three ingredients - that's it. One ingredient was the main flavor of the pie, and the other two were the sweeteners. Well, in her haste to prepare the delicious dessert, she left out one of the sweeteners! When her guest took a bite of the pie - which LOOKED yummy - she was startled to find it was the sourest pie she had ever tasted! The pie was un-edible because it was so tart!! It was ruined because one ingredient was left out...one very important ingredient!
I believe my prayer life gets like that sometimes! I get busy reading over my prayer list with my mouth, while my brain goes on "hold" and I mentally rehearse all of the reasons He can not- or will not- or has not- answered my requests! I am leaving out a very important ingredient to my prayer life: BELIEF! The verse we've read today says we must ask in prayer - form the words with our mouths - while also believing that He can do it! That's it. We ask, while believing, and we shall receive! When I leave out the "believing" I think my prayer life tastes pretty sour to the Lord!
Well, I laughed very hard when my friend, who was the "taster" told me about her sour pie experience! I thought to myself, "How can you leave out an ingredient of a recipe, when there are only three ingredients in the whole thing?! Today, however, the Holy Spirit asked me, as I was trudging through my prayer list with vain repetitions: "How can you leave out the most important ingredient, Valerie? You've forgotten to believe that I can accomplish these things!" I wasn't laughing, in fact, I was crying. I'm so thankful the Lord is working on this area in my life. I want to see my prayers answered!

I don't want to have a "sour" prayer life. I don't want to leave out "believing" from my prayer recipe again!

A Prayer Request

Sorry I've not been posting lately. It's been a rough week for me. Last Sunday I was in terrible pain from a toothache. Naturally, being the week of Christmas, I could not get in to see a doctor until Thursday. He did however, call in an antibiotic and a prescription for Vicadin!!! I've been feeling so bad, and all this from a toothache, that I've done only what has been necessary to survive: Food, clothes and path. Food for my family, clean clothes and a path to walk through the house! I had a root canal on Thursday, and now another tooth (two were bad and the dr. had a hard time telling which one was worse!) is bothering me. On Christmas night, Laci was up screaming all night. We took her to the doctor and she has an ear infection!!!
Laci is doing much better now, but I'm not. Anyway, I know this sounds so silly, so minor, but could you please pray for my tooth? I don't know if I can bear the thought of another root canal, and my budget is telling me the same thing!
Thanks so much for your prayers.

P.S. This reminds me of how every member of the body is important, even something as small as a tooth! As a church body, every member is important from the oldest to the youngest, richest to the poorest. Well, maybe I should save this idea for a later post! Have a good weekend...and be sure you go for your regular dental checkups! :o)

I Had Some Prayers Answered!

Well, it's been a red letter week! I am reminded of I Thess.5:18 "In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you." Easy to type, hard to do! I mean, we all love to thank Him for safety, good health, good finances, souls saved, etc. But it's hard to thank Him when we are ill, we're in a car wreck, we're broke, no one is getting saved despite faithfully going soul winning, and so forth.
This week we were in a revival meeting. We didn't see anyone get saved, we didn't have to put out chairs for attendance, and our neighbor churches of like faith didn't come out to support us. (Back home, we would go to a revival in a nearby church of like faith to offer support. After all, we're all on the same team! Aren't we?) We felt let down. We'd prayed all week for the Lord to send lost people that would be saved. We were faithful and all of one accord but He said "no", for now. We are not quitting! We will not stop soul winning, singing, smiling and living a life that is Christ honoring! I want to thank the Lord for having His way this past week. Was it what I wanted? No. Was it what He wanted? YES! This is His church, and we are following Him, so He surely did have His way, and I'm glad!
I went to the dentist on Wednesday to have my teeth cleaned and examined. I prayed that the Lord would please not let me have any cavities, or expensive work that needed to be done. But, I had a bad feeling about my teeth, so my prayer had some doubt in it. Again, God said "no". The dentist presented to me so many things that had to be fixed that I had to fight back the tears! I don't have insurance, and in case you didn't know, I'm not financially wealthy. I am wealthy in many, many other ways though! One way is that I am saved. That's enough right there! But it doesn't stop there, I am blessed by Him everyday! So I can say "Thank you". This teeth thing is a set back, but I'm going to keep praying and waiting on God to use this for good. Romans 8:28 applies to teeth too, you know! :)
The bottom line: I had some prayers answered this week! I hear you saying "But, uh, Valerie they weren't answered! Your revival didn't go the way you'd asked and you had tons of problems with your teeth!" You're right! But "no" still qualifies as an answer! God answered...He said "no". It hurts, but I will make it. I can make it, because I have Him.
By the way, I was hurt at first. If you've read very many of my posts, you know that I am right behind Paul for the "chiefest of sinners" title. I'm definitely no "super Christian". I couldn't understand at first. I wondered "Why Lord?" But, because I know Him, I know I can trust Him. He will take care of me. I love the song that says "And although there have been times I've been out of His will, I've never been out of His care." He cares for me...and you.
I know it's a little early for Thanksgiving, but I want to give Him thanks. I'm thankful He heard me, and that He said no. I know He did it because He loves me and He knows what's best for me!