THE PATHWAY TO THE HEART OF THE FATHER (8 OF 9)

A continuation on my teaching on Prayer. Also let us continue to look at the word beseeching. We cannot convince God to do for us what we want Him to do when we want it. Paul tried it. "For this thing I besought (beseech) the Lord thrice, that it might depart from me." (2 Corinthians 12:8) The word "given" is translated "gift"; "there was given (gift) to me a thorn in the flesh, the messenger of Satan to buffet me, . . (verse7) What a gift from God. We would do whatever we could to get this off our back. Cast out Satan, do whatever it took to convince God to take back His gift. This was a big deal to Paul to the point God had to directly speak to Paul, "And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me." (2 Corinthians 12:9) We must be willing to walk through whatsoever God brings our way, oh me! Jesus in Matthew 4 waited until verse 10 to tell Satan get thee hence. Jesus did not try to kill him, nothing. We would have tried to bind him or cast him out, whatever we had to do to get Satan gone, but Jesus did not do that. Jesus did not attempt that, He accepted, He was willing to walk in what the Father wanted for Him, for as long as the Father wanted Him to walk in it. God cannot develop us unless we are willing to endure His work in our lives. Now there is a point if not developed God will set us on a shelf so we can watch others. This is what Paul was saying here in 1 Corinthians, "But I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection: lest that by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway." (1 Corinthians 9:27) The word "castaway" means (in the Greek) to be on a shelf I have seen this in lives of Christians and in lives of churches. God had enough of all the unfaithfulness from leaders and the folks, eating each other, and just selfish ambition which is agenda driven. So God will scatter the people and look for others to fulfill His will on earth as it is in heaven. The will of God is amazing so many things, but it is the very best thing for our lives. Often times, in the will of God, we begin to go under, by not being willing to walk in the will of God and God must rescue us or lose us. And we think because God has delivered us so we have succeeded, but in reality we have failed. We have failed by not going through what God desires for us to go through, not being molded and conformed into the image of Jesus, not willing to trust in God's grace. All the while the folks thinking they have succeeded because they get out of their discomfort, but it is failure. Success is found in and only happens in the will of God. Anything outside the will of God, even if God is doing it, is failure. God does not always get what He wants, look at Adam, Samson, Saul, the Bible is full of people God wanted to use, but in the end they were put up on the shelf. I do not know about you my friend, but that scares me and causes me to double my effort toward God. Just because God is using us does not mean He is happy with us or we are moving in God's will. Make no mistake God will use us in our obedience or He will use us as firewood. So we need to be willing to walk in the will of God and when God is not convinced by us we do not need to get upset and think we have succeeded when God says no. Now if we pester and push God to say yes, after He has said no, we have failed. No means no!! If God appears to have changed His mind rest assured you have NOT received God's best, but His second best. I do not know about you I want God's best for me, my family, and the folks God wants me to minister too. Beseeching also has to do with requesting or supplication. Where there is a response from in a given situation, or we give a reaction. God wants to teach us to make the right reaction or response. Jesus said, "Pray (beseeching) ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he will send forth labourers into his harvest." (Matthew 9:38) God desires to teach us that our life with God is not totally involved with praying, but through the praying much will come out in different areas of our activity in the kingdom of God. To bring us into this, to teach us to be active, so that our response, our reactions should be what they need to be coming out of our life of prayer. Prayer is not the "all and in all" or end, but the beginning of God's response to a situation and events in our lives and others. Jesus did not instruct them to pray to send forth labors into the vineyard, but to look unto the field and then He expects our response, You look and now you can give that response. God wants us to be aware. He wants our spiritual awareness to increase so that we can move in His will and how to join in all of this. Prayer trains us to be able to move with God now and in our next life to come. So that we become an expression of God. Giving what God wants you to give as a result from a response or reaction to a condition that you have seen, know, and understand that comes and now God is getting what He wants in all of that. Our prayers are to be an expression of what God wants on earth in lives as it is in heaven. You know God is not after things as much as He is after our obedience. In Luke Jesus said, "Watch ye therefore, and pray (beseeching) always, that ye may be accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of man." (Luke 21:36) The word "always" means in every fitting situation. We are to give the correct response in every situation and circumstance God wants. For this to happen God must train us in this response. If we would know God's intentions it would be so easy to beseech God's will. But, we get off on our own things beseeching God. But in every situation God wants a certain response. To be trained in the righteousness of God is to walk right in the eyes of God, just to do right. God is after our total life to be a correct response, our reaction, and action is righteous. Without knowing we are right. It is God in us as He builds in us His righteousness to where we just do right. God wants to train us in His righteousness, so we can do right, live, it becomes automatic. Again in Luke, "And the Lord said, Simon, Simon, behold, Satan hath desired to have you, that he may sift you as wheat: 32 But I have prayed (beseeching) for thee, that thy faith fail not: and when thou art converted, strengthen thy brethren." (Luke 22:31-32) Now Jesus did not pray for Peter, it was a reaction to the Father in form of a request because of what He saw relating to Peter, "Father, do not let Peter's faith fail." Not a prayer but a request to the Father for Peter, so everything ahead for Peter and the disciples does not fall apart. And what is ahead? Returning back to the heart of the Father where he came from. Written by David Stahl