21 Day Spiritual Journey: Day 4

You are never too old to set another goal or to dream a new dream.
– C. S. Lewis

I asked yesterday what your dream was going to cost.  I realize that one of the costs for me is accepting the displeasure of some people because I cannot do what they want me to do.

I don’t like to say “NO” and when people suggest that I might be going in the wrong direction because it doesn’t fit their agenda I generally take them seriously.

This hit home when someone close to me began discouraging me about the things I am fasting this month even though I wasn’t complaining.

I took it to the Lord and He said “Sanballat and Tobiah”.

“Remember, O my God, all the evil things that Tobiah and Sanballat have done. And remember Noadiah the prophet and all the prophets like her who have tried to intimidate me.” Neh. 6:14

As the church walks into the future…the dreams God has planned for us we are going to have many who rise up to discourage us.  We are going to face many who will try to distract us from the “good work God prepared in advance for us to do.” Eph 2:10. They will want us to follow their lead rather than God’s. We will have to say “No” to them.

Today I am making a list of all the things I am going to have to say “NO” to in order to say “YES” to the dream God has given me.

What do you have to say “no” to today in order to say “yes” to God?

Who in your life is your “Sanballat and Tobiah”. Who intimidates you? What can you do about it?

Quote of the Day:  The art of leadership is saying no, not saying yes. It is very easy to say yes. Tony Blair

Heaven Pt. 87

“When Solomon finished making these prayers and petitions to the LORD, he stood up in front of the altar of the LORD, where he had been kneeling with his hands raised toward heaven. He stood and in a loud voice blessed the entire congregation of Israel:” I Kings 8:54,55

In our last “Heaven” post we left Solomon on his knees with his hands stretched out to Heaven asking for God’s blessing. We’ve left him there for a long time and its high time we got back to these Heaven posts on a more regular basis. 🙂

The take away from today’s verse for me is that there must come a time when we finish with our praying and we get up and do something, even if that is only to get out-of-the-way.

Don’t get me wrong, I am a firm believer in praying through. In most cases we don’t pray enough. Then in other situations we fall to our knees when the time for praying has come and gone and it’s time to act.

The truth is we ought to be praying the blessing of our God upon our days before they even begin. Then as our days happen we can act in cooperation with the Holy Spirit confident of the fact that God is going to move on our behalf.

There’s a time for everything. There is a time to pray. There is a time to finish our praying and a time to get up and move in the faith we have prayed forth.

How do you know when your praying is complete and it’s time to act?