“…AND I WILL HARKEN UNTO YOU”
Jer. 29:12
THE UNMATCHED POWER EVER AT OUR FINGERTIPS
It was a beautiful summer morning. The sky was clear, the air fresh and cool. Some were already at work and the activities of the day were well underway. There was a plane flying high overhead. Few paid much attention to it, but those that did noticed that the plane banked steeply into a shallow dive and seemed to speed up as it headed out to sea.
The time was 8:15 A.M. Aug. 6, 1945. The city was Hiroshima
Suddenly there was a blinding flash of light. The plane pitched and rocked wildly. The pilot exclaim in horror and wonderment, “my God, what have we done,” as he witnessed the instant extermination of 92,000 human beings. The awesome power of the atomic age had come.
The Bible tells us of another spectacular event that occurred in 701 BC. Assyrian king San nack’erib delivered a letter to King Hezekiah of Judah. In this letter, he bragged about the many kingdoms he had conquered and that it would be useless to resist him. He said it would be foolish to trust in his God to save him, as they had destroyed every kingdom and god they had encountered.
King Hezekiah laid that letter before God and prayed earnestly and sincerely, and that night 185,000 enemy soldiers died. Would it be fair to say that Hezekiah’s prayer triggered twice the power of the atomic bomb by killing twice of the enemy? And yet the countryside was not destroyed nor any of the innocents harmed.
Sen nack’erib made a terrible mistake. He tried to convince Hezekiah that God would be powerless before his mighty Assyrian army. God sent him back the way he came in disgrace and was then killed by his own sons, while he was praying to his ‘false’ god. Read the whole intriguing story in 2nd Chronicles chapter 32 and learn what prayer can do.
We all have a Sen nack’erib that is daily, moment by moment, that God can’t or won’t answer our prayers. Our Sen nack’erib is the doubts, discouragements and put-downs that constantly invades our minds. We know him as Satan. He’s continually reminding us of our many failures and of his many conquests and how useless it is to resist him.
Satan’s objective is no different than was Sen nack’erib’s. He wants you to serve him or to destroy you, either way, you lose. But, if we employ the same weapon that Hezekiah used, then we have many times the power of the atomic bomb at our fingertips. The direct, personal conversation between a loving Father and an imploring child can move mountains of problems (Mat. 17:20). It’s called prayer. Ask and it shall be given to you (Mat.7:7). Just do it!
The veil that separated man from God has been torn from the top to the bottom by the blood of Christ (Mt. 27:51). The way into the Holy of Holies, the very throne of God, is now open to all mankind (Heb. 10:19-23). There is no need to go through a minister, priest, pope, or the ‘virgin’ Mary. For we have the only mediator authorized by God (1st Tim 2:5), who is, right now, sitting at the right hand of the Father (Mk. 16:19) and is pleading our cause. We have access to more power than we can possibly imagine. Satan knows that and tries to convince us that we are unworthy of God’s love.
When it’s the hardest to pray is when we should pray the hardest! Satan constantly tries to flood our mind with negative defeatist thoughts. He knows that there is a deep tendency in human nature to become precisely what we imagine or visualize ourselves to be. He knows that our subconscious mind cannot distinguish between what is true or false, real or imagined. It simply accepts everything as
entered, like a computer. Whatever is presented is accepted, if you allow it to be, but that choice is yours. Be very careful what you allow your mind to dwell on. We are told to “…think on these things” (Phil. 4:8-9).
Our mind is like our cell phones constantly receiving messages, but we can delete them or accept them the choice is ours. We can fill our mind with the vanity of Satan’s garbage or with God’s truths, such as:
“I can do all things through Him that strengthens me” (Phil 4:13).
“Greater is He who is in me than he who is in the world” (1st John4:4).
“I came that you might have life and that you might have it more abundantly” (John 10:10).
“In all thy ways acknowledge Him and He will direct thy paths” (Prov. 3:5-6).
The Psalms have a wealth of good thoughts to dwell on, don’t allow Satan to fill your mind with junk food.
Remember it’s your choice.
There is great power in visualization
Visualization is a more descriptive word for focusing and concentrating your thoughts in a particular direction. One of the Vietnam P.O.W’s was able to keep his sanity by playing 18 holes of golf every day. Every morning he would take out his clubs, walk up to the green, and place his ball on the tee. Making sure he gripped his club correctly, he would strike the ball and follow it to the next green. He carefully kept score and constantly tried to improve his game. Understand this was all done in a cubicle of about 6 by 12 feet. He visualized every detail with mind pictures. When he was finally released and back home, his friends were surprised at how his game had improved even though he had not actually played in years. Again, what you allow your mind to dwell on is up to you.
I read of a study made by a prominent university where they were attempting to find a formula for success. They were able to isolate it down to four important categories. These were: IQ, the ability to learn. Knowledge, what you have learned. Skill, the ability to apply what you have learned. But these three accounted for only 7” % of the total. The single most important element to complete the formula counted for 93% of the total necessary for success in any endeavor.
This element in large measure was what Cain had a problem with. You could also see it in King Saul. Yet it is also the thing that prompted God to describe David as a man after his own heart. Would you say integrity, dedication, loyalty, perseverance? Of course, all those things are important ingredients, but something stood far above all these elements. It’s called attitude. Attitude made up 93% of their success formula.
Your entire life can be changed by a change in your attitude. Guard it with your life, IT IS YOUR LIFE!
Charles Swindall said about attitude: “…Attitude is more important than: education, money, circumstances, failures, successes, appearance, skill, or what other people think, say or do, it will make or break a company – a church – a home (or you). “… I am convinced that life is10% what happens to me and 90% how I react to it and so it is with you, we are in charge of our attitudes.”
Speaking of formulas, here’s one that works well for any problem:
Prayerize, visualize and actualize.
Prayerize: King Hezekiah prayed up twice the power of the atomic bomb against his enemies.
David kept in touch with God by saying; He will hear my voice every evening, morning,
and noon (Psalms 55:17).
Visualize: Draw a mental picture in great detail. Use the as if approach, as if it was already so, for
God’s promises are as good as done.
Energize: Take action. The right angle to any problem is the try-angle. Just do it!
Actualize: “I can do all things through Christ who strengtheneth me” (Phil. 4:13).
Just remember the izes have it.
“And this is the confidence we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He heareth us, and if we know that He heareth us, whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the partitions that we desired of Him” (1st John 5:14).
“Then shall ye call upon me, and ye shall go and pray unto me, and I will hearken unto you.
And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart” (Jer. 29:12-13).
You can do it!
But,
Are you standing on the promises or just sitting on the premises?
Del Leger, 6/12/18, (970) 249 6857, Christian Church of God, Grand Junction, Co.