Infected by Fear & Learning to Pray God’s Way Purity 1554

Welcome to the MT for Christ 24/7 podcast. I am M.t. Clark, and this is today's photo. To see today's photo, go to mtforchrist.com or follow me, M.t. Clark, on Facebook or Twitter, or watch us on YouTube. Good morning. Today's photo of the view from my lodging's driveway on the shores of Franklin Falls Pond in Bloomingdale, New York comes to us from yours truly as I capture the scene while enjoying a year— year's end vacation weekend with my wife Tammy Lynn back on December 31st, 2024. Well, it's Monday and 2024 is history, and as we begin this new work week in 2025, I hope to learn from some of the mistakes I made last year. And for the most part, I would say I am crushing it in terms of my New Year's revolution to give up lies and have exhibited self-control to keep the bad things out and let the good things in. However, I am only human, and over the weekend I let someone else's fear infect me and cause me to make a rash decision and not do what was right. I was faced with someone else's fearful resistance and what seemed to be a good reason to turn from my course from something I should have done to something more immediate. Under the fearful influence and circumstances at hand, it seemed that I now have had two options of what I should do, both good works in themselves, mind you, and I turned from what I was going to do and chose something I probably didn't need to do, only to find out later that the circumstances were not what they were reported to be, and that has me feeling a little guilty. You can't be in two places at once, and I chose to do— I chose to take care of something more immediate, and honestly, I don't regret choosing that at all, but I made that decision because of someone else's fear, only to discover that other people in my same situation weren't infected by fear and did the good thing I should have done. I made my apologies for not showing up and they were accepted, I guess. But yesterday when I found out that others overcame the circumstances to be where they said they would, I felt ashamed and a little angry at the person who spread the virus of fear that caused me to deviate from my intended course. I'm confessing it today, however vaguely, and I am asking the Lord's forgiveness and I I forgive the person who spread their hysteria so I can give it to God and let it go. As I look back at the situation, I consider— I considered many different options, but the one thing I didn't do was pray about it. I made a quick decision based on the circumstances at hand but didn't ask the Lord, so I don't know what I should have done according to God's plan for me., so even though I did a good work, I don't know if it was his perfect will because I didn't pray. But I am moving forward and will try to remember to pray the next time I'm faced with a similar, a similar situation. Speaking of prayer, the In Touch with Dr. Charles Stanley, uh, devotion for today, uh, addresses prayer, and I'm sharing it on the blog to share the good doctor's teaching on why our answers to prayer are sometimes delayed. And Dr. Charles Stanley writes, Learning to Pray God's Way. God may include delays as part of his perfect answer to our prayers. We like to keep things uncomplicated, follow a few steps and reach the preferred results. Prayer, however, cannot be reduced to such an easy formula. It is— it isn't some transactional activity where repeating certain words brings the desired solution. It's ongoing communication with the Heavenly Father and involves listening, speaking, and acting on what we hear from him. God has promised to answer his children's prayers, but he often waits before responding. He does so for many reasons. Preparation. Sometimes God has to make us ready for what he wants to give us. We may have attitudes or behaviors that aren't aligned with his will. Spiritual growth: The Lord may use delays to test our faith or deepen our relationship with him. Timing: God's timetable often doesn't match ours. He knows what he wants to accomplish in and through us. God includes delays as part of the believer's prayer life. In certain situations, we, like the persevering widow in Luke 18:1-8, have to keep knocking before the Lord gives us his answer. Jesus calls us to a lifestyle of asking, seeking, and knocking, a lifestyle of trust in the Father's promise to answer his children. And that was from Dr. Charles Stanley. And I say amen, as I've been trying to follow the Lord since being saved in 2010. I can tell you that sometimes the things we pray for are sometimes denied for our own good, and at other times may be delayed, again for our own good. I had to walk through some pretty tough times on the path of Christian discipleship, and there were times that I earnestly prayed for the Lord to take away the pain or to bless me, only to come to realize that I wasn't going to get the instant gratification that I wanted. Sometimes the Lord gives you a long road to walk before you get out of the messes you are in, and it's for a reason. Stanley gives us the reasons today: for our preparation, our spiritual growth, and because of timing. And the waiting is where I grew in my faith and my endurance. And after I was on the other side of the calamities I had to face, I was able to see God's hand and why I had to wait. So no matter what you're going through, keep praying because God is with you and he will give you peace in the waiting until you see that his will in your life has been done. Today's Bible verse comes to us from the Quick Scripture Reference, uh, by John G. for counseling by John G. Crews. This morning's meditation verse comes from the section on humility and pride, and today's verse is 1 Corinthians 4:17 from the NIV, the word of God tells us, for who makes you different from anyone else? What do you have that you did not receive? And if you did receive it, why do you boast as though you did not? Today's verse falls under the 9th point of our Counseling Reference Guide's resource section on humility and pride. The Lord— and that 9th point is: the Lord condemns those who become proud and boastful because of what he has done for them. Today's Bible verse reminds us that God is the provider of all things and that we should be humble about the things we have or the things we may have accomplished. The Apostle Paul shares his big view on life, the Christian worldview that rightly sees God as sovereign, and he shares it to us on a personal level by asking what makes us different from anyone else. If we think about what makes me, me, we usually point to our work or our accomplishments, or our family, or the things we own. I am me because I have done this or that. I am me because of the work I do. I am me because of the family I have. Or I am me because of the place I live and the things I own. But the thing is, all those things were given to you by God. He put you where you were when you were born, and he gave you the body and mind that help you to live and accomplish what you have done. We're able to possess. So that should humble us and to cause us to make a regular practice of thanksgiving to the one who gave us everything. As always, we encourage everyone to go to mt4christ.com, where we always share insights from prominent Christian theologians and counselors to assist our brothers and sisters in Christ with their walk. Today we continue sharing from Day by Day Along the Way by J.E. Adams. It's a 365-day devotional And we're on day 53 where Adam shares Proverbs 16:7, which says, 'When a man's ways please Yahweh, he makes even his enemies to be at peace with him.' And J.E. Adams writes, 'This is an important observation. Those who please God find that he quells the hostility that otherwise might be directed toward them. This is not a promise that your enemies will immediately be at peace with you, David's life shows that this isn't true. But ultimately, in God's time, you will see the fulfillment of the promise. Often the promise is immediately fulfilled as God sees fit to bless, to bless in that fashion. But when he delays in bringing hostilities to an end, it is always for a good purpose. And that is vitally important for you to know if you are to withstand an enemy's attacks. God is providentially using them for some good purpose. Perhaps you need to learn patience, develop greater trust, or grow some other virtue that he is at work nurturing in you. Possibly he wants to demonstrate his hand in rescuing you from your enemies. Either way, if your way is right, he will bring hostilities to an end and his time. He will provide together with the trial— he will provide together with the trial the way out so you may be able to endure it. Amen. And, uh, yeah, it's a topic of waiting on the Lord today and, uh, you know, dealing with difficult people, quote unquote, your enemies. Um, you know, during my trials I had, you know, people were close to me became enemies. And when that happened, it was, do I lash out in anger against my enemy, or do I just do what I'm supposed to do and follow the Lord? Well, luckily, I chose the latter. And the Lord, you know, he developed my trust in him and He definitely learned— he taught me how to learn to be patient. Um, I'm still a work in progress on that, but, uh, I'm sure not the man I used to be in terms of patience, because the Lord guided me and, uh, led me through the fire. And that's why we always ask the question: have you fully surrendered to God? Have you made Jesus your Lord and Savior? And if you have, are you following him? Are you reading the word of God to know what God's will is? And are you applying God's word to your life and the things you do? We highly recommend it because it's the way of peace and it's the way of truth. And even though you might have to go through trials and may be persecuted for your faith, when you're close to the Lord, following him, he will give you peace and joy even in the midst of your darkest valley. So we recommend that. And when you come to the Lord, he'll give you a hope and a future, and he'll give you a purpose. And part of my purpose is to lead the Celebrate Freedom support group at Starpoint Church. We meet on Wednesdays at 6:30 PM, and we invite anyone in Upstate New York who can get to Clifton Park on a Wednesday to come out to join us for Christian recovery and discipleship Fellowship, uh, where we teach about walking in the spirit as much as we teach you how to go through the 12 steps and, uh, to overcome your hurts, habits, and hangups. So we invite people out, but if you can't make it and you're in need of, uh, some, some good Christian teaching on recovery, um, we are currently doing a, a celeb— well, the Celebrate Freedom YouTube series where we'll be teaching from Celebrate Recovery's material with my my comments and insights. Currently, there's 2 episodes out there, the ABCs to Celebrate Freedom and the first lesson on Denial. And tonight we're gonna, we're gonna be recording the next lesson and hopefully releasing it tonight as well. And we encourage you to subscribe to the YouTube channel and save that playlist for Christian Recovery. Is what I have it as. Christian Recovery, uh, Celebrate Freedom. And then, you know, I'll put down the topic name, like the second week of the Christian Recovery Celebrate Freedom Denial. And so the next lesson, I believe, is Powerless, and we'll be doing that this evening. Wait for you to check it out. We also have done other teachings in the past that we recommend that are on our playlist page for our YouTube channel, and we encourage you to check those out because because we believe you can find or increase your freedom in Christ by joining one of our podcast classes on YouTube. And we've done teachings on Victory Over the Darkness, The Bondage Breaker, Freedom in Christ, and our own Celebrate Freedom discipleship course. So we encourage you to go there. We also encourage you to give. Um, we appreciate your support and donations. This, uh, support Christian recovery and the encouraging messages I put out. You can go to mtforchrist.com to give. We have donations page, and you can also make a donation underneath our group coaching events page because we're doing the Celebrate Freedom as an ongoing event. And if you want to support that specifically, we put a donation page there. So if you can give, we'd appreciate it. It'll help us, it'll help us in our efforts. Anyway, we always end the program by asking, are you empty for Christ too? And that's a clever play on words, you know. Are you emptying yourself, emptying yourself to be filled with the Holy Spirit? If so, um, keep on walking and talking with God. You're on the right path, and don't deviate from it, from the right to the left, you know. Keep going and keep walking and talking with God. And if you're not there yet, I encourage you to pray, because we know that prayer works, even though it can take some time. And, uh, we know that if you're seeking the Lord, he, he will let you find him, and, uh, he'll lead you into a better life. So, um, let's pray. Lord God, Heavenly Father, thank you for another day in your kingdom. We thank you so much for all that you've done for us through the years, uh, since you called us out of the darkness into your marvelous light. Thank you for helping us, Lord. And, uh, we're not done asking. Uh, we're going to keep knocking and seeking you. And today we're asking for you to go before us, to lead us in the way we should go,. And, um, we also pray for, uh, anyone reading or listening or watching today's message, that they'd be encouraged in their faith and that you would bless them, Lord. Answer their prayer request and show them the way to go, um, because we all want to represent you in your kingdom when we know you, Lord. And we need a lot of help with that. Lord, we thank you, we praise you, we love you, and we pray all these things in the mighty name of Jesus. Amen.