AWAITING!! Watching & Praying

PSALMS 116:1-2  I love the Lord,  because He has heard my voice and my supplication.  Because He has inclined His ear unto me,  therefore will I call upon Him as long as I live.

Romans 12:12  Rejoicing in hope;  patient in tribulation;  continuing instant in prayer.

Yes,  as long as I live I will call upon Him.  I know He hears me when I pray!    When we come before our Lord in prayer it should be with delight in our hearts,  not just some duty to be fulfilled!  It is Awesome to come into the Presence of God,  with child-like faith,  knowing He hears your every word!  One should understand when we pray, that we are actually communicating with Him!  When one comes to God,  not only must we believe that He Is, (He.11:6)  but that He also hears our prayers!!  I love to pray,  I'm always talking to Him about something.  But as I read AW Tozer this morning,  I became aware of my file-card mentality!  To understand what I'm saying, read this excerpt of Tozer:

" When religion loses its sovereign character and becomes mere form this spontaneity is lost also, and in its place come precedent,

propriety, system--and the file-card mentality....  The slave to the file card soon finds that his prayers lose their freedom and become less spontaneous, less effective. He finds himself concerned over matters that should give him no concern whatever--how much time he spent in prayer yesterday, whether he did or did not cover his prayer list for the day, whether he gets up as early as he used to do or stays up in prayer as late at night. Inevitably the calendar crowds out the Spirit and the face of the clock hides the face of God. Prayer ceases to be the free breath of a ransomed soul and becomes a duty to be fulfilled. And even if under such circumstances he succeeds in making his prayer amount to

something, still he is suffering tragic losses and binding upon his

soul a yoke from which Christ died to set him free."

Wow,  this really struck a cord with me.  You see I'm guilty of writing everything down,  to the point that I've become dependent upon my paper and inkpen.  This greatly hinders the Holy Spirit from spontaneously praying through me.  Yes, it is good to make prayer lists and to even write your prayers down. But in doing this, I've bound upon my soul a yoke,  in which I desire to be set free.  You see,  I'm a very self-conscience person.  My fear is not sounding right, my speech studdering,  and saying the wrong things.  So I pray as I'm writing,  and there I have it on paper.  No need to worry about messing up,  so I just read what I write.  Has that become a hindrance to a spontaneous move of God on me in Church?

Prayer meeting should be a time of delightful communication when two or more are gathered as one to pray in one accord,  with the knowledge that He is in our midst!  Prayer is child-like faith in action.  As children who catch their ball in mid air,  God catches our prayers as they go up before His Throne.  When we pray,  we enter into the very Presence of God.  And what a delightful and joyful place to be!  It is a sweet and pure innocence that only God can place in your spirit.  It is a love and longing to be with Him as a little girl longs to be in her Grandpa's arms.

Lord may my prayers never cease to be the free breath of a ransomed soul.  Speak through me,  that my prayers will do the work you intended then to do.  Deliver me from the file-card mentality,  that I may spontaneously pray through the power of the Holy Spirit.

Futhermore our Praise and Worship should be one of great delight and something we all look forward to.  Our Worship should never be looked at as a mere duty or dread.  The Ministry of Music is an Awesome Ministry to be a part of!  Why would one not want to sing to the King of kings and the Lord of lords?   Why would one not want to Praise Him for saving your soul?  Every seat in the Choir should be filled!  Why would one not want to come to Choir Practice?  Why?  If you are a Choir Member nothing should hinder you from coming to practice. You should sing like ten thousand people are sitting before you.  It is all about Him!  If you are a Choir member it becomes about your priorities,  nothing should hinder you,  except bronchitis.  Just kidding, but you get the point.  It is satan who does not want our voices lifted up to Almighty God.  It is most definitely evil spirits who would hinder our voices to lift up powerful songs to magnify the Name of the Lord!

I call upon those things that be not as though they were.  Our Choir is filled with Anointed men and women of God who are filled with your Holy Spirit and love you with their whole being!!  Thank You Holy Father for placing the Spirit of Worship in Your people.  Thank You Holy Father for casting out demons and evil spirits who would hinder the Awesome Ministry of Music.

What delightful communication we have in prayer and singing.  I also have my kids I teach,  these things are my very heartbeat,  not my pacemaker.  If I did not have His "Communication Tools"  I would die.  Prayer and singing,  what a delightful communication God has given unto us to commune with Him and enter into His very Presence.  Yes,  delightful indeed!

               Tracey

( This morning as I was sitting here at my computer,  I made and awful mistake!  You see I sat here and typed before I wrote this out on my paper.  I just typed from my heart. I accidentally hit the wrong button on my keyboard and lost all my work.  I didn't click publish first.  I became so distraught, I went in my bathroom and cried like a child. Then became angry. I felt totally defeated.  I told God there was no way I could remember all of that, that I had typed. I had given up, was going to walk away.  Then I realized it was all a work of satan, who did not want me to publish this piece.  God spontaneously moved upon me to rewrite this. I was tested about what I had just wrote about.  My dependence upon paper and ink!  And for that I give You, Lord,  all the Praise and Glory in the Name of Jesus,  who is greater in might than all the demons in hell who would have hindered me from obeying the voice of my Lord this day!!!!!!!!!)