Prayer Circle May 2

2Pe 1:12

12 Because the stakes are so high, even though you're up-to-date on all this truth and practice it inside and out, I'm not going to let up for a minute in calling you to attention before it.

2Pe 1:5-11

5 So don't lose a minute in building on what you've been given, complementing your basic faith with good character, spiritual understanding (knowledge), 6 alert discipline (self-control), passionate patience (perseverance), reverent wonder (godliness), 7 warm friendliness (brotherly love), and generous love, each dimension fitting into and developing the others. 8 With these qualities active and growing in your lives, no grass will grow under your feet, no day will pass without its reward as you mature in your experience of our Master Jesus. 9Without these qualities you can't see what's right before you, oblivious that your old sinful life has been wiped off the books. 10 So, friends, confirm God's invitation to you, his choice of you. Don't put it off; do it now. Do this, and you'll have your life on a firm footing, 11 the streets paved and the way wide open into the eternal kingdom of our Master and Savior, Jesus Christ.

2Pe 1:8 NIV - "For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ."

The hardest part of creating these daily encouragements is deciding the level or degree I should breakdown the information that the Holy Spirit enlightened me with. We had women within our Prayer Circle that has been chasing God for up to 3 decades. I don’t want to alienate their attention because their exposure to God’s revelation and mysteries is at a high level nor do I want to insinuate to the newer Christians to “catch up”.

In the body of Christ today, we become so easily offended and miss the Truth that God is trying to add to our lives. Mature saints believe they deserve meat at each mealtime and push away the nutrient laced breast milk that refuels their cells. I’ve read where it’s healthy to drink a glass of water (liquid) 30 minutes before you eat. It will ensure that you don’t overeat and take in too many calories-- preventing fat buildup and storage. It’s harder for obese people to breathe, move, and do the simple things in life. However, how many of us slightly overweight people actually do that? Drink some breast milk from time to time… sit in a refresher course about the basics of salvation, deliverance, and being a Christian.

Basketball today is different than it was 15 years ago. Today the greatest players don’t have to be the best at the fundamentals (dribbling, passing, shooting)… it’s about who can dunk the ball the best. When I was growing up Christianity was about showing the love of Christ to each other and bringing others into the knowledge of Christ. Today it’s about God working miracles thru the disciples; can you pray in a financial blessing, can you heal my body, etc???

In one way or another we all want greater faith… we want to remove doubt from our belief system, we want to restore the faith that was lost because of circumstances, reality, and bad behaviors. Today the Holy Spirit led to 2 Peter 1:5-12. He showed me that greater faith isn’t the solution. He brought to my attention that there are other factors that are needed that will produce the greater faith that we all desire. What are these factors?

GOOD CHARACTER- what are people saying about you in the streets? A good name is more precious than silver and gold. Regardless of your intentions… what persona do you display?

SPIRITUAL UNDERSTANDING (KNOWLEDGE)- what are you learning about God? What do you know about him? Do you have an established study schedule, prayer life, and worship time? Everyone is different… some of us may meditate everyday and others may have a current covenant with God to devote Tuesday and Friday mornings to him. We are not here to judge each other’s schedule.

ALERT DISCIPLINE – (SELF CONTROL, TEMPERANCE)… I used to cringe at these words because I was SUPER deficient in these areas. Is it really necessary to check everyone who is ignorant or misunderstands you? When you feel rage rising, will the consequence be a tornado aftermath? Are you able to smile, speak life into darkness, and pierce another man’s heart with a blessing?

 PASSIONATE PATIENCE- are you consistent? Do you blow with the wind depending on who you are with or where you are? In the New Testament this is a characteristic of a man who is not swerved from his deliberate purpose and his loyalty to faith by even the greatest trials and sufferings. Are you easily distracted from what God has commanded you to do?

REVERENT WONDER (GODLINESS)- Do you promote godliness? If so, is it to just the church saints or do you practice it at home with your family and loved ones. I’m not saying who here is perfect because believe you me… I’m disqualified. But after you realize where you went wrong… do you show remorse, repent, and turn from that behavior? Or do you just brush it off, shrug your shoulders, and keep moving – not really learning from the situation or promoting godliness.

WARM FRIENDLINESS (BROTHERLY LOVE)- How do you treat your fellow brothers and sisters in Christ? Do you easily get irritated or upset when people make mistakes (because they should know better by now)? Each person in Christ makes up the body. Do you expect the eye to hear things and the neck to support your legs? We need deliberately practice showing God’s love. In the house of God is the perfect playground for us to show mutual affection towards one another. Understanding how delicate you are should be the foundation on how you treat others. Love others as you love yourself.

GENEROUS LOVE- This is agape love. The kind of love that God shows us. It is full of mercy, grace, understanding, compassion, patience, kindness, gentleness. This kind of love with show if you have matured fruits of the Spirit within.

Use the rest of this month to practice and incorporate each factor into your life. Each factor will keep you effective and productive in the body of Christ. Each factor complements faith and will produce that greater faith that we all are looking for.

Faithful Father,

We come humbly before your throne to worship you, bless you, and praise your holy name. Thank you for showing us today each element that’s needed for us to be elevated to a greater faith level. Your word is so powerful. It cuts and heals at the same time. Thank you for cutting out foolishness and healing our wound forever. Today we take on the responsibility of practicing the fundamentals of Christianity. Thank you for new knowledge and revelation. In Jesus name we pray… Amen.