“You do not have, because you do not ask God. When you ask [pray], you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives.”¹

Some time ago I took a psychological test that, among other things, measured how much I was in touch with my major emotions of love, wonder, guilt and fear. On a scale of 0 to 100 any score below 30 was considered repressed.

On fear I scored 5!

This concerned me because I knew that repressed fear could cause me to act out blindly by setting myself up to fail at work or in relationships. I didn’t want to do that so I prayed earnestly that God would deliver me from my buried fear. However, I realized I was praying the wrong prayer. I was focusing on praying for deliverance from the symptom rather than from the cause, so I changed my prayer to: “Dear God, my real prayer is that I don’t want to face that fear. I’m too afraid. That’s why I buried it. Please give me the courage to face and deal with the real cause/s of my fear/s.”

The point I’m making is that we need to learn to be honest in our praying. For example, if I can’t stand my neighbor and, wanting to impress God, piously ask him to bless my neighbor while in my heart I despise my neighbor, which prayer does God hear? He hears what my heart is saying. Only as I admit this can God help me to love my neighbor and bless him through me.

By the way, it took me two years to resolve the fear mentioned above. It was caused by the death of a sister that I loved dearly when I was a small child. My fear was that if I loved someone I might lose them. In time I discovered that I had a few more hidden fears to deal with as well. Since facing and resolving these fears, my close relationships have improved dramatically.

How can you tell if you have any buried fears? Look at any symptoms in your life. Do you have a pattern of failure at work or in relationships? Any phobias? Any floating anxieties that you have no idea where they are coming from? Any physical ills such as ulcers or any addictions that you may be using to avoid facing something you have buried?

And how do we overcome such fears? I don’t know any easy solution but for me it began with a genuine desire to overcome them. Next, I needed to accept full responsibility for resolving my fears and stop blaming anyone else for them. Above all, I needed to ask God to help me to be honest with myself, to give me the courage to face my fears, and to lead me to the help I needed to overcome them.

Suggested prayer: “Dear God, please give me the insight and courage to see and deal with any repressed or hidden fears in my life, and lead me to the help I need to overcome the causes of these. Thank you for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully in Jesus’ name, amen.”

1. James 4:2-3 (NIV).

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“This is the confidence we have in approaching God: 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 what we asked of him.”¹

Some time ago I read how, when Norman and Melissa “C” stopped making payments on their Hartford, Connecticut house, the Federal National Mortgage Association (FNMA) began foreclosure proceedings.

The Camerons contacted FNMA officials to explain why they had stopped making payments on their $54,000 mortgage: God told them they could. “It was our desire to be free from this mortgage debt,” the Camerons told the court overseeing the foreclosure. “Therefore we asked God our Heavenly Father in the name of Jesus Christ. He heard us and He freed us from this mortgage bondage.”

According to this report, the FNMA officials made it clear that they would continue with foreclosure proceedings until they, too, are contacted by God.

This illustration is certainly extreme but I have heard others claim “God” had told them to do such and such, and before long “God” was telling them the opposite. Sometimes some people justify what they want to do by claiming “God” told them this was the right thing to do. This is not faith. It is presumption. Faith only applies to prayer that is in harmony with God’s will.

Suggested prayer: Dear God, please give me sense enough to know the difference between faith and presumption, and to always ensure that my prayers are in harmony with your will. Thank you that when I pray this way, you always hear and answer my prayers. Gratefully in Jesus’ name, amen.”

1. 1 John 5:14-15 (NIV).

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“I thank my God every time I remember you.”¹

I have read that “Charles Plumb, a US Naval Academy graduate, was a jet pilot in Vietnam. After 75 combat missions, his plane was destroyed by a surface-to-air missile. Plumb ejected and parachuted into enemy hands. He was captured and spent six years in a Vietnamese prison. He survived the ordeal and now lectures on lessons learned from that experience.

“One day after Plumb gave a presentation, a fellow came up to him and said, ‘You don’t know me, but I am the person who packed your parachute the day you were shot down.’

“Plumb gasped in surprise and gratitude. The man pumped his hand and said, ‘I guess it worked!’

“Plumb assured him, ‘It sure did. If your chute hadn’t worked, I wouldn’t be here today.’”

If it weren’t for somebody else—perhaps many “somebody elses”—most of us wouldn’t be where we are today either. And if it weren’t for somebody else telling us about Jesus and God’s gift of salvation, forgiveness and eternal life, most of us wouldn’t know God and wouldn’t be bound for Heaven.

May we ever be mindful and thankful to all who have “folded our parachute,” as it were, and may we do the same for others.

Suggested prayer: “Dear God, thank you for all who have helped me be where I am today and especially for those who shared your love and message of eternal salvation with me. Help me to have a thankful heart and help others to find Jesus and know God—as others have helped me. Thank you for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully in Jesus’ name, amen.”

1. Paul the Apostle (Philippians 1:3, NIV).

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“Sir, we would see Jesus.”¹

I have read that when Leonardo de Vinci was forty-three years old, the Duke Ludovinco of Milan asked him to paint the dramatic scene of Jesus’ last supper with his disciples.

Working slowly and giving meticulous care to details, he spent three years on the assignment. He grouped the disciples into threes, two groups on either side of the central figure of Christ.

Christ’s arms are outstretched. In his right hand, he holds a cup that was painted beautifully with marvelous realism.

When the masterpiece was finished, the artist said to a friend, “Observe it and give me your opinion of it.”

“It’s wonderful!” exclaimed the friend, “the cup is so real I cannot divert my eyes from it.”

Immediately Leonardo took a brush and drew it across the sparkling cup! As he did he exclaimed, “Nothing shall detract from the figure of Christ!”

Suggested prayer: “Dear God, please grant that nothing I ever do or say will ever detract from the beauty of Christ being seen in me. This I can only ever do with your help. Thank you for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully in Jesus’ name, amen.”

1. John 12:21.

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“For in the day of trouble he [God] will keep me safe in his dwelling; he will hide me in the shelter of his tabernacle and set me high upon a rock.”¹

I have read that William Cowper, like many people today, suffered from times of deep melancholy and depression. One night when he was in a particularly dark mood of despair, he decided to take his life by jumping into the Thames River.

That night the city of London was blanketed with an extremely heavy fog and Mr. Cowper, searching to find the river, lost his way. Stumbling blindly through the fog he was dumbfounded when he found himself on the doorstep of his own home. Going to his room he penned the words of the beautiful hymn:

God moves in a mysterious way
His wonders to perform;
He plants his footsteps in the sea,
And rides upon the storm.

His purposes will ripen fast,
Unfolding every hour;
The bud may have a bitter taste,
But sweet will be the flower.”

Suggested prayer: “Dear God, please help me in my times of despair and depression to trust in you. Hide me in the shelter of your love and lead me to the place of help that I need. Thank you for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully in Jesus’ name, amen.”

1. King David (Psalm 27:5, NIV).

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“He [Jesus] looked around at them in anger and, deeply distressed at their stubborn hearts, said to the man [with the withered hand], ‘Stretch out your hand.’ He stretched it out, and his hand was completely restored. Then the Pharisees went out and began to plot with the Herodians how they might kill Jesus.”¹

Because Jesus healed this man on the Sabbath (the formal religious day of the religious leaders), they were furious with him and planned to kill him.

A major fault of these religious leaders was that they loved their man-made rules and doctrines more than they loved people! Furthermore, they used these rules to control people. Instead of communicating God’s love and mercy, they communicated their rigid religiosity and drove people from God rather than draw them to him.

While correct teaching is important, “Christianity is much more than a creed. It is experiencing divine love, divine acceptance, and divine forgiveness and communicating these to every life we touch.”

St. Francis had it right in his prayer:

Lord, make me an instrument of your peace.
Where there is hatred, let me sow love;
Where there is injury, pardon;
Where there is doubt, faith;
Where there is despair, hope;
Where there is darkness, light, and
Where there is sadness, joy.

O Divine Master,
Grant that I may not so much
Seek to be consoled as to console;
To be understood as to understand;
To be loved as to love;
For it is in giving that we receive;
It is in pardoning that we are pardoned;
And it is in dying that we are born to
eternal life.

Suggested prayer: “Dear God, please make me an instrument to share your love, joy and peace wherever I go and to every life I touch. Thank you for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully in Jesus’ name, amen.”

1. Mark 3:5-6 (NIV).

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“Moses my servant is dead; now therefore arise, cross over the Jordan River, you, and all these people, to the land which I am giving to you.… Every place where you set your foot, that I have given to you.”¹

When God told Joshua and the ancient Israelites that he had given them the Promised Land, he didn’t hand it to them on a silver platter. To claim God’s promise, they had to battle every inch of the way. They still had to go, conquer, and possess it.

The reality is, however, that had God not given the Promised Land to them, they never would have been able to conquer and possess it.

God also has a work for you and me to do. He will give us opportunities every day to serve him but it’s up to us to take advantage of every one of these as they will come to pass—not to pause!

With God’s help, let us “seize the day” and take advantage of every one of these opportunities, and claim every promise he has for us.

Suggested prayer: “Dear God, please help me to be ready to ‘seize’ every opportunity you give me to serve you and claim every promise you have made to me. Thank you for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully in Jesus’ name, amen.”

1. God to Joshua in the Bible (Joshua 1:2-3).

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Isaiah the ancient prophet wrote, “Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, ‘Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?’ And I said, ‘Here am I. Send me!’”¹

Another thing I struggled with when I was a young man was how would I know if God was calling me to serve him in a fulltime capacity?

One of the most helpful pieces of advice I received came from Oswald Chambers who described God’s call as being like “the call of the sea to the sailor. Only he who has the nature of the sea within can hear that call.”

In other words, a man who is “called” to be a sailor cannot rest until he launches out to sea—the call is in his heart. And so it is with the call of God. One cannot rest until he/she steps out from the safety of the shore and launches out into what he/she believes God is calling him or her to do.

A good test is: “Are you gifted for what you believe you are being called to do?” As a general rule, although not always, friends who know you well can help you answer this question more realistically.

Another test of God’s call is to try doing in a small way what you feel you are being called to do. For instance, if you feel called to be a teacher, learn a subject well and offer to teach a small class in your church. After practice you will see if you are gifted to teach or not. When I feel I’m being led to do something, I always start in a small way to put it to the test. If it fails, I know it wasn’t from God. However, we may need to test our call several times because nothing that is worthwhile ever comes easily.

Be assured, however, if God has called or led you to do it, he will help you. But we need to do our part too. Once we feel assured that God is calling us, we need to be adequately trained for the work we are called to do. True, we are instruments in God’s hand but it is our responsibility to make and keep the instrument sharp.

Suggested prayer: “Dear God, give me the courage to put to the test what I sense you are leading me to do. I’m willing to do what you want me to do … just make it plain to me. Thank you for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully in Jesus’ name, amen.”

1. Isaiah 6:8 (NIV).

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Cognitive Dissonance

“Temptation is the pull of man’s own evil thoughts and wishes … that lead to evil actions.”¹

How true it is that “what the mind dwells on the body acts on!”

Consider, for example, how temptation works. A seemingly innocent thought comes to mind from anywhere of a number of directions or, at times, from seemingly nowhere. We decide (mostly unconsciously) to dwell on that thought and, as we do, it hooks our emotions; and the more we concentrate on that thought, the stronger we feel about it, and the stronger we feel about it, the more we think about it—and then we begin to visualize in our mind what we desire and want to do. And then, unless we make a conscious choice to stop thinking about it, we are just as likely to give in to and act out the temptation.

The battle is won or lost in the mind before we ever act out the temptation.

One of many dangers in consistently giving in to temptation is that, as another has pointed out, “If we don’t live the life we believe, we will end up unhappily believing the life we live.”

We do this because as long as we don’t live consistently with what we believe, our mind experiences what is called “cognitive dissonance”; that is, mental disharmony. Because we can’t tolerate this mental conflict, we change our beliefs to match our behavior and then rationalize and justify what we do—an extremely dangerous path to follow. The end result is what the Bible calls having a dead conscience which ultimately leads to death—spiritual death.²

Suggested prayer: “Dear God, please give me the desire and good sense to live in harmony with your Word, the Bible, and never rationalize or justify anything that is contrary to your Word and your will. Thank you for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully, in Jesus’ name, amen.”

1. James 1:14-15 (TLB).
2. See James 1:15.

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“I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day—and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for his appearing” (the Apostle Paul in 2 Timothy 4:7-8, NIV).

This week we join with all our Catholic friends to mourn the death and loss of Pope John Paul II, the spiritual leader to more than a billion Catholics worldwide. He was indeed a great man and a great moral spiritual leader who proclaimed his forthright message throughout his 26-year leadership of the Catholic Church. He will be sorely missed by millions worldwide.

On the positive side of this sad loss is the great world-wide outpouring of love for this man. Furthermore, it has been incredibly refreshing to see and hear the secular news media giving so much time and attention to a spiritual leader and hear them say that Pope John Paul II made it clear that Jesus Christ was the way of salvation. What a wonderful witness to the world, and a graphic reminder to all who are vigorously working to rid the public arena of all Christian witness—and to all who claim Christian morals are no longer relevant—for them to see such a worldwide belief not only in a spiritual leader but also in God!

For those who like to think differently, God is not dead. Communism tried to destroy God—and failed miserably in their attempt to do so. Some years ago Friedrich Nietzsche stated that, “God is dead.” Today God says, “Friedrich Nietzsche is dead.” Pope John Paul II is now dead but the impact of his ministry will not die and the belief in God in the hearts of men, women, young people and children all around the world will live on for all eternity.

At our church yesterday, Jim Green, the head of The Jesus Film ministry of Campus Crusade for Christ—a gospel film seen by multiplied millions worldwide—was telling us how Pope John Paul II gave a copy of The Jesus Film to every Catholic Cardinal in the world in his own language.

So together we extend our sympathies to all Catholics and pray that the passing of Pope John Paul II will be used of God to awaken a renewed hunger for God in the hearts of people worldwide and that they, too, will discover for themselves that Jesus is the way of salvation to all who believe in him and accept his gift of forgiveness and eternal life.

If you have never received Jesus as your Savior and received his forgiveness and eternal life, be sure to click on the link in No. 2 below for the article, “To Know God and Be sure You’re a Real Christian.

Suggested prayer, “Dear God, today we thank you for the impact that Pope John Paul II had on so many lives worldwide and we pray for the comfort of all our Catholic friends. We also earnestly pray that his passing will be used by your Holy Spirit to awaken in the hearts and minds of people everywhere that they, too, have a great need for you and realize their need to accept Jesus as their Savior and therein receive your forgiveness and the gift of eternal life. Thank you for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully in Jesus’ name, amen.”

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