Psalm 119: Focus On God's Word Pt. 124 God's Word Is Confirmed By Praying, Rejoicing and Thanksgiving.

Psalm 119:38  Stablish thy word unto thy servant, who is devoted to thy fear. 

We are learning about needing to ask God to establish or confirm His word to us. How does God establish His word in our lives? 

One of the main avenues that God does this is through our life experiences. Answered prayer is a great example of seeing God confirm His word to us. 

I regret not keeping a prayer journal from the time that I was born again, for it would have contained many records of my prayer requests, and of God's answers.

Rejoice. Pray. Give thanks. 

1 Thessalonians 5:16-18  Rejoice evermore. 17)  Pray without ceasing. 18)  In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you. 

God gives us three imperatives in this text. 

First, we are to always rejoice. A Christian should be filled with joy because Jesus has rescued us from death, the grave, hell and eternal damnation. He has given us eternal life, a home in heaven, a new heart and a new spirit. He has given us exceeding great promises that He will keep. 

Philippians 4:4  Rejoice in the Lord alway: and again I say, Rejoice.

Paul was in a Roman prison when he wrote the book of Philippians. He spoke of rejoicing to the believers at Philippi more than any other letter he wrote to the churches. 

Roman prisons were not nice places to be confined. Yet, Paul rejoiced in the Lord. His heart was full of joy and he counted it a privilege to suffer for Jesus Christ's sake. 

A believer in Jesus Christ should never be known as a complainer, nor should they be bitter people who sow discord among other brethren at church. 

Yet, it seems like many believers complain, gripe and murmur about their church, their pastor or how they think things should be done. 

When a believer in Christ stops to contemplate on all that God does for us, and all that He promises to do for us in the future, we will be filled with joy. 

Always praying and persevering. 

Ephesians 6:18  Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints; 

Second, we should always pray. Paul tells us pray without ceasing. There may be times at work when we cannot stop and pray because we have tasks to complete. 

Yet, we can offer the fervent effectual prayers of a righteous man in our minds, no matter what tasks we are responsible to complete. 

Paul tells us to pray always and make our supplications to God as His Spirit directs us. He reminds to pray with perseverance. 

To persevere is to be patient and persistent in praying. It means to steadily pursue our prayers, by not giving up or abandoning praying for our own needs or the needs of others.    

Casting all our cares upon Jesus Christ. 

1 Peter 5:7  Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you. 

The idea of praying without ceasing is connected to casting all of our cares and burdens on the Lord, because He cares for us. 

The verb "casting" is very strong indicating a forceful throwing action. 

"Cares" are anything that causes us great anxiety, emotional distress or that distract us so that we cannot serve God as we would. 

God wants His children to cast our cares upon Him. He knows that if we keep trying to cope with these things ourselves, we will become weary in well doing. 

If we fail to cast our cares upon Jesus, we risk becoming a burned out Christian or losing our effectiveness for serving our King and Master. 

We are to cast all of our cares upon Christ. It does not matter if it is a spiritual concern or a physical one. 

It does not matter if it is a crisis or an inconvenience. It does not matter if it is a great problem or a small one. The Lord of glory cares about each one of us, and He will help us. 

Psalm 55:22  Cast thy burden upon the LORD, and he shall sustain thee: he shall never suffer the righteous to be moved. 

This is the Psalm that Peter alluded to in his Spirit inspired letter. Jehovah invites all believers to cast all their burdens upon Him. He promises to sustain each of us through whatever it is that we are going through. He will comfort us and keep us safe, and bring us through the trial. 

Jesus invites us to come to Him with our burdens. 

Matthew 11:28-30  Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 29) Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. 30)  For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light. 

Jesus does not want us to be overwhelmed with worry because He promised to provide for our needs. He does not want us to carry any heavy burdens by ourselves. 

Jesus invites us to bring our heavy loads and cares to Him. He promises to give us rest, because He will take the weight of our burdens off our shoulders and carry them in His everlasting arms. 

Jesus said my yoke is easy and my burden is light. He will carry those heartaches, sorrows and problems for us. 

Always giving thanks to God. 

Ephesians 5:20  Giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ;

Third, we are to always give thanks to God for all things. "All things" includes things that are good and things that are not good. Yes, even if our doctor tells us we have cancer, we give thanks. 

Even if we suffer a job loss, we give thanks. Even if we experience family problems, we give thanks. Even if the Devil attacks our church (and he will attack Bible preaching churches!) we give thanks. 

2 Corinthians 5:17  Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.

We give thanks because Jesus Christ has made all things new in our life, when the Spirit of God regenerated us. 

Each believer is made a new creation in Christ and the old, sinful things passed away. God is now at work in us and will keep working in us, until He calls us home to glory.

Thoughts to Ponder...

Psalm 116:1,2  I love the LORD, because he hath heard my voice and my supplications. 2)  Because he hath inclined his ear unto me, therefore will I call upon him as long as I live. 

I spent time on the subject of prayer because our life experiences cause us to pray in various ways for various needs. 

However, it is through our prayer life that we can most readily see God confirming or establishing His word to us. 

Prayer aligns our hearts with God's will. He speaks to us through His Word and we commune with Him in prayer. 

How wonderful it is to know that God wants to hear from each Christian. He has an open ear toward our prayers. He has already promised to work out all things that happen in the life of a believer, for our good and His glory (Romans 8:28). 

God loves us and prayer is one way that His love is manifested to each child of God.

Hebrews 4:14-16  Seeing then that we have a great high priest, that is passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our profession. 15)  For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin. 16)  Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need. 

Jesus Christ is our great high priest. He is sympathetic toward us because He lived among us as a man. He knows the depths of the human experience and is well acquainted with the sorrows and disappointments of life. 

Yet, Jesus opened the door wide so that we can come boldly to the throne of grace to obtain grace from God to find grace to help and mercy in our times of need. 

Therefore, are we praying without ceasing?

Are we rejoicing always in good times or bad?

Are we giving thanks to the Father for all things that come our way?

Are we being persistent and persevering in prayer?

May the Lord strengthen our hearts in order to vigorously pursue what He has for us.

Bob