The World is Spinning Out of Control, Be Anxious For Nothing..

1 Peter 4:7 The end of all things is near. Therefore be clear minded and self-controlled so that you can pray.

It is becoming more difficult each day to think clearly because of what is going on in the world. There are physical, tangible changes taking place in the earth that affect you. From the dust we came and to the dust we shall return. If the earth (dust) is changing, then so are you (physically). The point here: now more than ever its important to take time to clear your mind and pray. Clearing your mind will be more difficult, but here is where the attitude of a soldier works for you. Suffer like a good soldier through the effort it takes to do the things you know you need to do and do them.

We know we should pray. The Lord recently gave me a framework to use in my prayer life.

1. Psalm 100:4

Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise; give thanks to him and praise his name. 1 Thessalonians 5:16 Be joyful always; Phil 4:4 Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice!

There is a way we approach our God and it is not with whining and moaning and self pity. We enter His gates with praise, rejoicing and thanksgiving, every time, all the time. That is how we do it. Find something, anything to be thankful for. Find something, anything present past or future to rejoice about and approach our Lord with those words of thanks and rejoicing in your heart and on your lips. If you feel like the Lord has not heard you, consider how you approach Him....

2. Seek first His Kingdom

Matt 6:33 But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.

Okay, got it, but what does that mean? A King without subjects has no real kingdom. We are to pray for souls to be added to the kingdom. It is time to start praying in earnest for the souls of everyone you care about. Friends, family, even enemies. This is not polyanna, milktoast so called churchianity praying we are talking about here. This is power at work. This is mountain moving prayer time. You may not see it. You may not feel it, but mountains are moving (and quickly).. today through prayer. Time, I think, is short. Think about how much you care about those around you and consider what it will be like for those who do not make it into the kingdom of heaven. Consider the fact that your prayer many times will make the difference between someone making it in to the kingdom or not:

Job 22:28What you decide on will be done,

and light will shine on your ways.

29When men are brought low and you say, ‘Lift them up!’

then he will save the downcast.

30He will deliver even one who is not innocent,

who will be delivered through the cleanness of your hands.”

Think about the implications of that ^^^^^....

3. After we have approached the Lord with thanks and rejoicing and praise, and we have sought first His Kingdom, then its time for all other things to be added to us. Then is the time for preparatory prayer. That is, laying the groundwork for our future by going ahead of ourselves in the future and praying for the things we want and need. I am a military man by nature, that has been my work so the Lord speaks to me in those terms. He likened this preparatory prayer to calling in artillery strikes on an enemy position before an infantry assault. Before the troops ever step foot on their objective, it has been 'softened' and readied to be captured. That is one way to look at what prayer does for us, it prepares our way before us.

Last but not least here, pray for all those things the Lord knows you need but you have failed to ask for. Why? You have not because you ask not....

James 4:1From whence come wars and fightings among you? come they not hence, even of your lusts that war in your members? 2Ye lust, and have not: ye kill, and desire to have, and cannot obtain: ye fight and war, yet ye have not, because ye ask not. 3Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts

The world is moving at a speed that will daze and confuse many. As this world and events on it move faster, we must slow down, clear our minds and pray. Everything we want and need is a prayer away from us. The Lord is near, be anxious for nothing:

Phil 4:4Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! 5Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. 6Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. 7And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

These are the things the Lord is saying to me today. Grace and peace