ListenDaily – 16 April 2010: Scary stuff?
Let us continue the 1-2-3 challenge. In case you didn't see it on Monday, it is explained below.
The first minute of the 1-2-3 includes asking God, audibly, out loud, "to remove Satan from your presence for this time".
I am interested - really interested; how many people - how many Christians - believe Satan is a real being, who involves himself in the activities and people of this world.
"For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms." Ephesians 6:12
Is this real for you? I firmly believe that in order to develop your ability to hear God, you must come to a realization that a real force is working against you. This is not scary stuff, if you face it. "For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord." Romans 8:38-39
Satan cannot take you away from God, but he can distract you from hearing God's voice, or perverting what God said. (Think Adam and Eve...)
There is great danger in ignoring the fact that Satan is real and wants to keep you from hearing God.
Raise your hand.
Ask for help.
"I lift up my eyes to the hills; where does my help come from? My help comes from the LORD, the Maker of heaven and earth." Psalm 121:1-2
Questions:
1. Do you believe in an actual Satan?
2. If so, do you believe he works to distract people from God?
3. If so, do you have enough humanly resources to overcome him? Are you willing to try this1-2-3 experience to help?
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May we ask the only One who can help. Jim.
THE 1-2-3 CHALLENGE:
Starting today, and then first thing tomorrow morning, I challenge you to listen to God, with this five minute exercise:
1) Do this as soon as you wake up. Set your clock a few minutes early if that is what you need to get up ahead of the household noise. Lay your Bible by your bed as a reminder.
2) Go to the quietest place in your house, outside, your kitchen, your bathroom...wherever.
3) Pray for 1 minute that God would speak to you. Audibly, out loud, ask Him to remove Satan from your presence for this time. Ask Him to remove distractions and mental clutter. During this time, do not ask Him for anything else, do not thank Him for anything else, do not pray for anyone else (but please find another prayer time for all these things).
4) Open your Bible and read for 2 minutes. This is God talking to you through His Word. Listen to Him.
5) Close your Bible and be silent for 3 minutes. Listen for Him. He may come as a thought, a nudge, an idea. For a while, He may seem hard to hear. There is so much clutter in our minds! Keep listening.
This may seem difficult. You will hear every creaking tree branch. You will hear every barking dog. But like Elijah's time in the cave, God is not in the tree branch, God is not in the dog. Persevere. Listen for the gentle whisper
INTERESTING THOUGHT:
"Give me a hundred preachers, and I care not a straw if they are clergy or laity, who fear nothing but sin and desire nothing but God, and I will shake the gates of hell and set up the Kingdom of God on this earth." John Wesley
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