Day Five - Focus Focus Focus

Day five has arrived. I hope and pray these blogs, which you can tell by now, are intended to be used as daily devotions, are having a positive impact on your life and walk with God.

The acrostic A.C.T.S. helps me stay focused when I pray. One of our Deacons shared last week how difficult it is to stay focused while praying. I absolutely agree. Satan hates it when we worship, witness, and a thousand other things we do for God and others, but there is nothing that worries him more than one of God's children praying. Bible study and prayer, coupled with fasting? Oh my, forget about it. These are our lifelines for everything spiritual! Without our personal contact with God, we shrivel and wither. We become unfruitful prey to the devil. Focus, focus, focus on the Lord God Almighty. Seek His wonderful face.

Okay. But how, right? I'm so  busy. I'm so tired. I really don't know how.
I'll tell you. I would love to say "just make it about Him." After all, our God is awesome and worthy to be praised. So just do it, right? Well, we are human, and we are prone to selfishness, so we use that tendency to our advantage.

That leads me to T. and S. : Thanksgiving and Supplication. I am not sure if this will make me look bad or not, but I excel in these two areas. When I am focused, and really set to pray, here is where I run out of time. I just want to be honest with you, I lack a vision and vocabulary to spend the time God deserves on A. (adoration). Not to brag, but I am not the sinner I once was, so C. (confession) is often just me trying to give Him a moment to see into my heart; this is where I utilize silence. I ask Him to convict, search, and reveal any unconfessed sin to me.  I want to repent and move forward - I just do not always see what He sees.

Read Psalm 51:17

I want to be broken. The Potter and the clay. I want to be humble and surrendered to Him. Seeing Him in His glory and seeing ourselves in our sin should be enough to make any of us radical and fanatic for God, but maybe you need a little more. Look at your life, and how blessed you are. Look at the needs of so many people around you. When you combine these four concepts together, A.C.T.S., your devotional time and effort will immediately increase.

"Give thanks unto the Lord, for He is good." (1 Chronicles 16:34).
"Give thanks for His wonderful works." (Psalm 75:1).
"It is good to give thanks to God." (Psalm 92:1).
"In everything, give thanks." (1 Thessalonians 5:18).
"We give You thanks, O Lord!" (Revelation 10:17).

I know you have needs; we will get to that next. But, I also know how blessed you are. Think about it, and recognize Him for it. James 1:17 reminds us that "Every good and perfect gift is from above and comes down from the Father of lights." Start a list and see how long it takes you. We should be so thankful.

Read Philippians 4:6-7

As in awe of Him as we are, as broken over sin as I hope we will be, as grateful as we are for all He has done for us, the truth is, we have needs. He wants us to depend on Him.

 Psalm 34:19 says, "Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the Lord delivers us from them all."
Psalm 118:6 says, "The Lord is with me, I will not be afraid."
1 Peter 5:7 exhorts us to cast all of our cares upon Him, for He cares for us.

Oh, how true! Your needs are many, I am sure, and then there are all those you care about in life, from your parents and children to the military and police, from your ministry to you career. You get the point. Just pray. It is amazing, the power of prayer. I still believe in miracles. "You have not because you ask not." Just ask!!! Don't use rhetoric and try to be specific. Just talk to Him, and you will see the results in your life and the surge of power that will result from it will positively affect everything else, including our church.

Enjoy your weekend. I really hope to see you in God's House on Sunday. I believe we will sense the energy from all of us reading and praying this week. He wants to work in our midst - so let Him move.


In Christ,
Pastor Todd