[et_pb_section fb_built=”1″ custom_padding_last_edited=”on|tablet” _builder_version=”4.7.4″ _module_preset=”default” custom_margin_tablet=”0px||||false|false” custom_margin_phone=”-82px||||false|false” custom_margin_last_edited=”on|phone” custom_padding=”||12px|||” custom_padding_tablet=”0px||||false|false” custom_padding_phone=”0px||||false|false”][et_pb_row custom_padding_last_edited=”on|phone” _builder_version=”4.6.0″ _module_preset=”default” custom_padding=”0px|||||” custom_padding_tablet=”” custom_padding_phone=”|0px||0px|false|false”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”4.6.0″ _module_preset=”default”][et_pb_image src=”https://welovechurch.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/DontStopNow.jpg” title_text=”June8Blog_Insta” disabled_on=”off|off|on” _builder_version=”4.9.7″ _module_preset=”default” custom_padding=”||8px|||” hover_enabled=”0″ border_radii=”on|8px|8px|8px|8px” box_shadow_style=”preset1″ sticky_enabled=”0″][/et_pb_image][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.9.7″ _module_preset=”default” text_font=”Neue Montreal||||||||” custom_padding=”||25px|||” inline_fonts=”Ogg Medium”]As we near the end of 21 days of prayer, I’m believing what won’t end are the habits of daily prayer and the daily reading of God’s Word that we have developed in our personal lives during this time. One of the most eye-opening things I’ve discovered is that when I’m intentional about carving out space for God to speak to me, He does! As I’ve created space for Him and pressed into His Word, He has shown me new revelation.
I would say for many of us, the greatest challenge moving forward will be to protect the time we worked to create from becoming filled again with futile things. What do I mean by futile things? Well, the definition of futile is “incapable of producing any useful result; pointless.”
Another revelation for me personally has been discovering how much time I do indeed have, and how easy it is to waste it on things like TV/Netflix, oversleeping, “vegging out;” all those things not being ‘bad,’ just futile.
I want to take what 21 days of prayer has accomplished for my personal walk with Jesus into everyday moving forward! And I know that if I’m not intentional about protecting it, it’s a given that other things will compete and take over this time I’ve been setting aside just for Jesus.
Another thing I’ve been reminded of is how we always make room for what is most important to us. Yikes! Let that thought sink in for a minute! Consider your marriage or time spent with your children – can you imagine if you neglected carving out time for those relationships? Undoubtedly, those relationships would suffer, and there would be a disconnect resulting in distance and the inability to grow closer in a meaningful way.
We always make room for what is most important to us.
It’s the same with God. When we nurture our relationship with Him, we get to know Him in a deeper way and our hearts become aligned with His heart.
Have you ever been driving your vehicle when the alignment is off? Your vehicle starts pulling to one side or the other. It’s harder to move forward with ease when your vehicle is out of alignment. When we spend time with God, He keeps us in alignment. That alignment with Him affects everything! Prayer isn’t about getting God’s will to align with mine, but my will to align with His.
C.S. Lewis said the following about prayer, “Prayer does not change God, it changes me,” “We must lay before Him what is in us, not what ought to be in us.”
The value of prayer and reading God’s Word, isn’t just for our benefit.
Philippians 1:9-11 (AMP) says, “And this I pray, that your love may abound more and more, displaying itself in greater depth, in real knowledge and in practical insight, so that you may learn to recognize and treasure what is excellent, identifying the best, and distinguishing moral differences, and that you may be pure and blameless until the day of Christ, actually living lives that lead others away from sin; filled with the fruit of righteousness which comes through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God, so that His glory may be both revealed and recognized”.
In conclusion, there are two kinds of knowledge. Knowledge that is raw information or head knowledge and the other is knowledge that comes through experience. We need to develop ‘knowledge that comes through experience.’ It’s the experience of knowing Jesus in a personal way that will not only change us, but can be both revealed and recognized, which will set in motion in us, the way Philippians describes as, “living lives that lead others away from sin.”
Let’s continue to seek the presence of God and let this new habit become a permanent one![/et_pb_text][/et_pb_column][/et_pb_row][/et_pb_section][et_pb_section fb_built=”1″ _builder_version=”4.6.0″ _module_preset=”default” width_tablet=”80%” width_phone=”80%” width_last_edited=”on|tablet” max_width=”1920px” module_alignment=”center” locked=”off”][et_pb_row custom_padding_last_edited=”on|phone” _builder_version=”4.7.4″ background_color=”#ffffff” width=”100%” max_width=”1920px” custom_margin=”0px|0px|0px|0px|true|true” custom_padding=”51px|60px|51px|60px|true|true” custom_padding_tablet=”60px|40px|60px|40px|true|true” custom_padding_phone=”40px|20px|40px|20px|true|true” border_radii=”on|10px|10px|10px|10px” box_shadow_style=”preset1″ box_shadow_color=”rgba(0,0,0,0.1)” locked=”off”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”4.0.3″][et_pb_blurb title=”@ET-DC@eyJkeW5hbWljIjp0cnVlLCJjb250ZW50IjoicG9zdF9hdXRob3IiLCJzZXR0aW5ncyI6eyJiZWZvcmUiOiJCeSAiLCJhZnRlciI6IiIsIm5hbWVfZm9ybWF0IjoiZGlzcGxheV9uYW1lIiwibGluayI6Im9mZiIsImxpbmtfZGVzdGluYXRpb24iOiJhdXRob3JfYXJjaGl2ZSJ9fQ==@” image=”https://welovechurch.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/suzannecampus.png” image_max_width=”150px” content_max_width=”860px” image_tablet=”https://welovechurch.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/joshbairdblog.png” image_phone=”https://welovechurch.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/ShawnBaird2.png” image_last_edited=”off|tablet” image_max_width_tablet=”150px” image_max_width_phone=”150px” image_max_width_last_edited=”on|tablet” _builder_version=”4.9.4″ _dynamic_attributes=”title,content” header_font=”New Montreal Medium|600|||||||” header_text_color=”#333333″ header_font_size=”22px” header_line_height=”1.4em” body_font=”Neue Montreal||||||||” body_font_size=”16px” body_line_height=”1.9em” text_orientation=”center” animation=”off” header_font_size_tablet=”18px” header_font_size_phone=”17px” header_font_size_last_edited=”on|desktop” body_font_size_tablet=”15px” body_font_size_phone=”17px” body_font_size_last_edited=”on|desktop” custom_css_main_element=”font-weight: 400;” border_radii_image=”on|200px|200px|200px|200px” box_shadow_style_image=”preset1″ box_shadow_vertical_image=”10px” box_shadow_blur_image=”20px” box_shadow_color_image=”rgba(0,0,0,0.1)”]@ET-DC@eyJkeW5hbWljIjp0cnVlLCJjb250ZW50IjoicG9zdF9hdXRob3JfYmlvIiwic2V0dGluZ3MiOnsiYmVmb3JlIjoiIiwiYWZ0ZXIiOiIifX0=@[/et_pb_blurb][/et_pb_column][/et_pb_row][/et_pb_section]
