Teach Us to Pray - Part One

Many of us suffer from a mediocre prayer life. We don’t pray as often as we should or want to, and we don’t see the results we long for. The end of the year is a great time to perform a self-examination and decide how to proceed in the new year. 

The other day I saw a friend who had lost a lot of weight. I asked him how he had done it and he responded, “I changed my whole way of life”. How do we make prayer our way of life? To build a good foundation for our new and improved prayer life, we must do some remodeling and demolish some concepts we believe about prayer and how we approach prayer. Put on your hard hats. We’re about to enter the Demolition Zone! 

Demolition Zone #1: I must sound good and make pretty sentences. This thought pattern must go. In Matthew 6:7 Jesus said; “Don’t think you’ll be heard for your many words.” He’s our audience and He is not impressed with pretentious speech. So let’s put away the changing of voices and the lofty tones once for all and just be ourselves. Talk to Him like you would a friend sitting in your living room.

 

Demolition Zone #2: I’m praying to the God who’s far away up in Heaven. Another wall that needs to be smashed to pieces. Jesus came near. He is right here in this room. He is a REAL person. He is Emmanuel, God with us. The curtain in the temple has been torn down. John leaned his head on Jesus' chest. Peter dove in the water and ran to embrace Him. No one who comes to Him in all sincerity is turned away. He wants us near. He says, “Come to me all you who are weary and heavy laden and I will give you rest.” Matthew 11:28

 

·       Demolition Zone #3: I’m praying to the “what have You done for me lately God”. Nothing wrong with asking God for things. But if every time it’s about getting, we need to check our motives. We wouldn’t do this in any other relationship. The gifts are meant to draw us back to the Giver. Jesus said we have to come to Him like little children. Children were drawn to Him. They wanted to sit on His lap, hang out with Him and listen to Him. It was all about His person and not what He could give.  

Since we are talking about petitioning, here’s a free tip from me to you: don’t make personal prayer all about intercession. Intercession is only a part of prayer. Personally, I find intercession to be exhausting. When I pray for CBS, I know I’m coming against principalities and powers that would love to see this ministry bear no fruit. It’s war. Do you think satan wants your relatives healed, reconciled, or saved? He will try to keep and protect his turf. Intercession is messing with the enemy’s turf! It is laying hold of things that are humanly impossible. Intercession is work! And if prayer is nothing other than work, after a while, we’re going to feel weary and start to resent it. Take time to include adoration, confession and thanksgiving in your prayers as well as intercession for yourself and others.

Join us again next week as we visit three other demolition zones on our way to improving our communication skills with God.

Evelyne Calton
Prayer Chairman, CBS-Rutherfordton Class
Originally presented as the Opening Devotion for
the CBS membership

The REAL Serenity Prayer

 

God grant me the serenity

To accept the things I cannot change;

Courage to change the things I can;

And wisdom to know the difference. 

         That’s how I had always heard and seen the Serenity Prayer until recently.  An article informed me that in its original form the only pronouns used were plural.  In that form it was more about unified serenity, courage and wisdom within the community of the kingdom. Having always thought it was about the individual journey of a Christian, I pondered the difference and gained new insight in four key areas. 

          First, we need to more fully appreciate community within the kingdom.  In the parable of the lost sheep, the shepherd was not out trying to confront and bring conviction on the wolf; instead, he was searching for a member of the flock who had drifted away from the rest; who needed rescue, reorientation, reconciliation and restoration. 

         Second, the community needs unified wisdom.  Proverbs says that wisdom was the first work of God and it was by wisdom that He laid the foundation of all creation.  In his epistle, James instructs believers to go to the Father in faith, asking for wisdom and expecting Him to supply. 

         Third, God’s people need collective and unified courage to apply wisdom that will bring about God-honoring kingdom growth.  Sometimes this involves loving, but difficult confrontation. 

         One beatitude of Jesus promises blessing to the peacemakers,

not the peacekeepers.  There is a difference.  Making peace usually requires acknowledgement of the elephant in the room, confronting the elephant, and dealing with it, so that real peace can abide in the room.  Keeping peace is more about tiptoeing nervously around the elephant, pretending not to notice it, and believing that as long as nobody disturbs the elephant, all will be okay. 

         Only godly wisdom can produce the courage to make changes that need to be made, but sometimes that same wisdom instructs us to wait while God is at work.  That’s when the fourth area becomes so very important.  That’s when we are able to abide in the serenity that only God can give in spite of circumstances. 

         I believe we can strengthen our churches (the individual communities within the Kingdom) by applying the principles set forth by the Serenity Prayer in its original form: 

God grant us the serenity to accept

 the things we cannot change;

Courage to change

the things that should be changed;

And wisdom to know the difference.

 

by Marjorie Arrowood

Originally presented to the Leadership Team

Rutherfordton CBS

 

Faith in Your Guide

Service Dog

Think about a guide dog or helper dog. What do you picture in your mind? Naturally, we either see a person who is blind or wonder what is wrong that a person needs a helper dog.

The person who is blind can’t tell where the curb or other obstacles are located. They can’t see the direction they are going, or their objective. They depend on their dogs to lead them, guide them, and even protect them from harm.

 People with helper dogs may be able to see externally, but do not see what is going on inside their bodies. Reasons for a service dog may be a variety of physical problems such as epilepsy, diabetes, heart conditions, etc. In these cases the dog detects or ‘sees’ that a physical episode is about to occur and warns the person. These people depend on their dogs to save their lives.

In Psalm 32:8, God says,

 Just as the blind person is completely dependent upon and has complete faith in his or her dog to lead them correctly, so we are to walk by faith and completely depend on God to be our eyes and guide us. Just as the helper dog gives a warning before a serious incident happens so the person can take appropriate action to protect them, so we are to heed God’s warnings for our lives.

What if these people doubted their service dog? What if they lived in fear that something bad might happen if they trusted and followed their dog’s actions? Life would be pretty confining and without joy or fulfillment. It’s a choice each of us must make: live by fear or live by faith.

If these people have faith in their dogs implicitly, how much more should we have complete faith in our Almighty God, the Creator of ALL.

We can’t see beyond the present, but God does. His eyesight and sense of direction are perfect. He will never lead us astray, nor cause us to stumble. He will always correctly guide.

We shouldn’t hesitate to walk by faith because God’s eyesight in better than 20/20, it’s PERFECT!

Prayer: “Lord, help me to trust your eyesight and to always walk by faith without hesitation. Amen.”

 

Lorna Hawley

Core Group Leader

Wear Your Life Jacket

I grew up living high on a bluff above the Intercoastal Waterway in Morehead City, North Carolina, with my Mom and Dad and three brothers. Fishing trips with my Dad and brothers are some of my fondest memories.

One summer day when I was eight years old, dad put the whole
family in our fourteen foot red motorboat, and took us offshore to do some serious deep sea fishing. There were huge swells that day, but Dad, being the seaman he was, kept the bow heading into them.

We threw out our baited hooks and, in no time, I saw Dad’s rod bend. Something had taken the bait. I looked over the side of the boat and saw the most beautiful fish ever. This wasn’t the Spanish Mackerel that we usually caught. No, this was a monsterous silver bullet shining through the blue water. . .King Mackerel!

Dad’s attention was drawn to the fight of reeling in the catch. He didn’t see the boat had gradually turned sideways to a swell. I looked up and shouted, “Dad, we’re going over!”

Tackle, parents, food, and kids spilled out into the sea. Since we had on our life jackets we quickly surfaced beside the overturned boat. Pop! There was Dad. Then Pop! there was Mom. Next David, Susan and Stephen all popped up. But where was baby brother, Mark? Dad didn’t hesitate as he dove under the boat, took hold of Mark’s legs, and released him from the air pocket where he was trapped. We were relieved when Mark popped up. He was safe.

For years I’ve read a Psalm almost every morning to get specific attributes of God that I can use for praise and adoration. Last week I was reading Psalm 35 where King David was asking the Lord to fight against those enemies who hated him, and were threatening to kill him. He says, “Let me hear you say, “I am your Salvation, your Savior from those too strong for you.” Dad cared for us kids by insisting we wear our life jackets when we went out in the boat . . . no ifs, ands, or buts. It was what saved us, and Dad was my hero.

God is our sweet heavenly Father who says, “I am your salvation; there is none like me, saving you from those too strong for you.”  Life is full of people and circumstances that are simply too strong for us: bills you can’t pay, a wandering child, chronic illness of a loved one, life without a spouse, the constant pull of the desires of the world, and lies from the evil one who’s out to destroy us. Each of us knows the strong enemies we face. Psalm 35 reminds us that these powerful waves will not overcome us. Jesus says, “I am your salvation, Savior from those too strong for you.” I’m your life jacket. Trust me. Put me on, and I will save you.

Susan Hamlin

Originally presented to the CBS-Rutherfordton Class Leadership Team

Being Intentional

Our last blog, Next Steps, included a call to meet with God to focus on where He wants to take us next. Some have taken that step and as a result God is walking with them down a new and deeper path. In our study in Luke, we have seen already how God worked in the lives of Zechariah and Elizabeth, Mary and Joseph, Simeon and Anna, to move them along their faith journey to the next step He had for them.  

 

The letter that follows is from Judy Bond, Teaching Director for CBS-Rutherfordton Day Class, sharing her thoughts about being intentional with those Next Steps He has for us:

 

Hello Ladies, 

I thank you all for answering God's call to study His Word.  Over the past week God has brought the word "intentional" to me in various ways. I heard it at church and in a prayer Sharon Lorber from our Children’s Department prayed at Leadership Prayer on Wednesday morning and over and over it keeps popping up to grab my attention.  

I know God is calling me to be more intentional with the things he asks of me.  What is often hard is when He asks me to do things that I don't always deem to be important.  But He calls us to obedience, so I have included intentionality as a prayer focus for the week, not just for CBS but also for my personal life.  Some questions I’ve asked myself:

·       Am I intentionally setting aside time to shepherd, or just doing it when convenient?  (Remember Satan will keep you busy when you depend on convenience!)

·       Am I intentionally setting aside time to pray and do my lesson, or am I doing it when it’s convenient?  

·       Am I intentional about my prayer life, keeping a written record of needs or do I just wait until they pop into my head?  

·       Am I intentional in taking time to listen to my spouse/children/loved ones/friends, or again, do I just listen when it's convenient for me?  Do I give them my full attention or partial?  

·       Am I intentional in coveting time alone with God? Do I meet Him on His terms or do I squeeze in a few minutes here and there when it’s convenient for me? 

These are all thoughts that I have been thinking and have been challenging me. I wish it was all natural, but the natural man is not who we are in Christ.  Jesus was intentional with His Father, His followers, with us and His mission.  So, as I challenge myself to look at my own life, I pass the challenge along to you. ~ Judy

 

Spiritual growth can be a long slow journey but it starts with one intentional step followed by another. Will you take the challenge presented by Judy this week? Will you chose an area in your life and service to God and be intentional about drawing closer to Him in that one area?

Remember, the best is yet to come!

Next Steps?

"He who has called us will also work through us."        

1 Thessalonians 5:24, paraphrased 

 

As a new year begins for the Rutherfordton CBS Day Class, the leadership team is:

* praying that the ladies and children who are coming will grow and experience life change through the study of Luke.

* asking God to help us prepare ourselves for growth.

* looking for God to reveal our Next Step of faith.

 

The Christian life is a walk of faith (Rom1:17…from faith to faith) that leads us to experience increasing oneness with Jesus (2 Cor 3:18…from glory to glory) and that’s why knowing our Next Step is so crucial. 

 

This Sabbath, my family visited a church where an old friend of my husband’s was the guest speaker. I just love the Holy Spirit’s faithfulness to speak to me no matter where I am! Isaiah 43:19 was one of the verses he used for his sermon; “Behold, I am doing a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it? I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert.”

 

The Lord is always about doing a new thing in us (our Next Step). The question is, are we perceiving it? Because we can be assured that God is more than willing to show us what it is. That’s why He says; “Do you not perceive it?” If we believe that He IS after doing something new in us, then we will perceive it and we will gladly join Him in it.

 

Henry Blackaby says that when we pray for something, we also need to open our spiritual eyes and perceive (pay attention to) His answer. It may come through Scripture, the Church, the Holy Spirit, or the circumstances we’re in. Some possible Next Steps are fasting, journaling, and a more disciplined prayer life.

 

Praying God's Word
by Beth Moore

One Next Step could be to demolish a stronghold that you’ve identified. A good help for doing this is Praying God’s Word by Beth Moore. I remember struggling with anxiety attacks a few years ago. With the help of God’s Word and the authority of Jesus Christ, I demolished that stronghold that was keeping me from experiencing complete freedom. It is for freedom that Christ has set us free! (Gal 5:1) There are many more Next Steps to raise your level of faith and improve your relationship with Christ. Until we enter Heaven, we WILL have many Next Steps.

 

Just ask God and He will be faithful to let you know. Just a clue: your next step will always begin with repentance.

 

The best is yet to come!

 

Evelyne Calton, Prayer Chairman

Rutherfordton CBS Day Class

Welcome to CBS



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Welcome to Community Bible Study  

Rutherfordton Day Class for Women

        Registration is now open for the 30-week in-depth study of the Gospel of Luke (see study description on the Registration Forms tab above) which will begin on 9/3/14 and run through May, 2015. The Adult and Children's registration forms can be found on the Registration Forms tab above. 



Second Baptist Church

        Classes meet at Second Baptist Church, 191 Green
Street, Rutherfordton, NC, every Wednesday (except for breaks for Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Years, and Easter or inclement weather in the Winter that causes school to be closed).


Weekly Class Schedule:
09:30 - 09:45  Gathering, Announcements, Worship
09:45 - 10:35  Small Group Study
10:35 - 10:45  Short Break
10:45 - 11:30  Worship and Teaching Time

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