{"id":2185,"date":"2018-10-27T15:43:44","date_gmt":"2018-10-27T15:43:44","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/leadinghorsestowater.net\/?p=2185"},"modified":"2018-11-17T18:45:02","modified_gmt":"2018-11-17T18:45:02","slug":"brighten-your-corner","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/leadinghorsestowater.net\/?p=2185","title":{"rendered":"Brighten Your Corner"},"content":{"rendered":"

Are you a Christian?\u00a0 Are you lonely? Do you feel forgotten?\u00a0 Where do you find yourself?\u00a0 Are you depressed?\u00a0 Are you in a corner somewhere without a purpose?\u00a0 Are you limited in what you can do physically?\u00a0 Are you discouraged because you feel you cannot do things because of your limitations, whether it be physical, financial or otherwise?\u00a0 <\/strong><\/p>\n

I believe God has a very important and specific ministry for you and it starts in the corner where you are.<\/strong><\/p>\n

The largest part of any task is preparation.\u00a0 As a matter of fact, we can be so meticulous about preparing for a task, we often quit before we even get started because the preparation is too much.\u00a0 The time it takes becomes our enemy.\u00a0 \u00a0We get bogged down in details and give up.\u00a0 The result is unfinished business and discouragement which destroys motivation. It also opens one up to Satan’s accusations and feelings of\u00a0 guilt.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Prayer is preparation.*\u00a0 \u00a0When we look at the needs around us that require prayer, we see a mountain that looks insurmountable.\u00a0 When we look at people’s needs, we begin to realize that we could pray all day long.\u00a0 \u00a0As a result we don’t start or we start but become discouraged because we have demands on our time.<\/strong><\/p>\n

If you found yourself responding to the opening paragraph, if you were able to say that’s me; this is where you come in.\u00a0 You can pray.\u00a0\u00a0A couple of checks must be made before you start.\u00a0 Are you plugged in?\u00a0 Is the power on?\u00a0 <\/strong><\/p>\n

There is a story about a train wreck at a washed out bridge.\u00a0 The night watchman was questioned.\u00a0 Did you warn the train?\u00a0 Were you waving your lantern?\u00a0 Yes, I was waving the lantern to warn the train he responded, but no one asked him if his lantern was lit.\u00a0\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

To pray effectively, one must be plugged in.\u00a0 One must be trusting Jesus Christ as his\/her only hope of salvation.\u00a0 <\/strong><\/p>\n

Is the power on?\u00a0 One must not have any unconfessed sin in his\/her heart.\u00a0 If there is unconfessed sin, the Lord will not hear us.\u00a0 To pray effectively your lantern must be lit.<\/strong><\/p>\n

If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear\u00a0me:\u00a0<\/em><\/strong>But\u00a0verily God hath heard\u00a0me; he hath attended to the voice of my prayer.\u00a0\u00a0<\/em><\/strong>Blessed\u00a0be\u00a0God, which hath not turned away my prayer, nor his mercy from me.\u00a0 <\/em>Psalm 66:18-20<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Lord has instructed us to pray in secret.\u00a0 Public prayer* can affect our motives.\u00a0 It can also draw the religious who have no relationship with God through Christ.\u00a0 If God answers the public prayer* of the righteous, the religious who participated can take the credit and the glory.\u00a0 Private prayer gives the glory to God when He answers.\u00a0 Public prayer* can give Christian recognition to those who should not have it.\u00a0 Prayer and\/or prayer meetings at one’s local church should not be considered public prayer.**<\/strong><\/p>\n

And when thou prayest, thou shalt not be as the hypocrites\u00a0are: for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets, that they may be seen of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward.<\/span><\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly.\u00a0<\/span><\/strong><\/em> Matthew 6:5&6<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Praying in secret also assures us that God has answered our own prayer.\u00a0 What a joy to know that He hears and answers “my” prayers!<\/strong><\/p>\n

If you found yourself responding positively to the opening paragraph, then the ministry for you is that of prayer.\u00a0 Who should one pray for?\u00a0 Anyone who has a need.\u00a0 Everyone needs to be saved and God is not willing that any should perish.\u00a0 <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Make a list of those you know or those whose paths have crossed your path in the past.\u00a0 Pray for your fellow Christians wherever they may be, pray for your family, for those in authority, for your town or neighborhood (God knows who lives in the house with green siding), for former fellow employees, for your former employers, for former classmates, for all the branches of your family tree, for your neighbors, for your enemies and for the peace of Israel.\u00a0 If these needs are too much to pray for in a day, pray for different groups of individuals each day of the week.\u00a0\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Pray that God would prepare them for salvation.\u00a0 Pray for God’s will in their lives.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Oh, how our nation needs prayer.\u00a0 The solution to our moral bankruptcy is not political.\u00a0 The solution is for individuals to come to Christ one at a time.\u00a0 If any man be in Christ, he is a new creature, old things are passed away, behold all things are become new<\/em>.\u00a0 <\/strong><\/p>\n

If one person in every community in our nation would take on the burden of praying in secret, asking God to move in individual lives in his\/her community and the surrounding areas, perhaps God will pour out His Spirit and change the moral fiber of our nation one soul at a time.\u00a0 And when that last soul comes to Christ, the Lord will come for His own.\u00a0 Even so Lord Jesus….come quickly!<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

…..Brighten the corner where you are…….with prayer!….<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

*Before the farmer sows seed, he prepares the soil.\u00a0 The seed we have is the word of God.\u00a0 It is all good seed.\u00a0 Good ground produces fruit.\u00a0 Good ground is ground prepared by God the Holy Spirit.\u00a0 We participate in that ground preparation through prayer.<\/strong><\/p>\n

**\u00a0In some circumstances a case may be made for public prayer.\u00a0 These thoughts are my personal convictions.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Note: All Christians are to pray…..without ceasing.<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Are you a Christian?\u00a0 Are you lonely? Do you feel forgotten?\u00a0 Where do you find yourself?\u00a0 Are you depressed?\u00a0 Are you in a corner somewhere without a purpose?\u00a0 Are you limited in what you can do physically?\u00a0 Are you discouraged because you feel you cannot do things because of your limitations, whether it be physical, … Continue reading Brighten Your Corner<\/span> →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/leadinghorsestowater.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2185"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/leadinghorsestowater.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/leadinghorsestowater.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/leadinghorsestowater.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/leadinghorsestowater.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2185"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/leadinghorsestowater.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2185\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2237,"href":"https:\/\/leadinghorsestowater.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2185\/revisions\/2237"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/leadinghorsestowater.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2185"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/leadinghorsestowater.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2185"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/leadinghorsestowater.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2185"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}