Call Him

William and Lena were raised in the church by their grandmother, Wilamena, who had a big broad smile complete with a gold tooth.  She was one of the most faithful Usher Board Presidents this side of heaven.  Every Saturday they made their weekly trip to the local drugstore to replenish her peppermint candy supply which she eagerly distributed Sunday mornings as Saints and visitors arrived.  If anybody had the gift of hospitality it was her Grandma.  That lady would open her home to practically anybody and she would feed you until you felt like you were gonna burst, but she never let anyone leave until she prayed for them.  Sometimes the prayers were sweet and calm but there were other times when they were fiery and hot like the hot peppers she grew in the backyard.  At 88 you can still find her smiling, passing out peppermint and praying.

Shortly after Lena moved to Arizona to work as the Chief Financial Officer for a Christian School Wilamena noticed she was becoming more distant from her faith.  Lena justified her lack of involvement at her new church because she worked for the Lord at the Christian school where she was employed full time.  She attended mandatory worship service every morning so taking day trips on Sundays in her brand new convertible Lexus with her new boyfriend wasn’t a big deal?  Her weekly Skype calls with Grandma became increasingly uncomfortable because it seemed like Grandma was looking right into her soul and on top of that all she wanted to talk about was God and pray.  One night she had the courage to remind Wilamena that “we live in the 21^st Century Grandma, it doesn’t take all of that anymore”.  Though Wilamena didn’t react it felt as if someone had just stuck a knife in her back.  She noticed that her sweet Lena was becoming more arrogant and self-righteous.  They ended the call with a short prayer, but Grandma went into full attack mode after they said their goodbyes interceding for her Lena because she could feel trouble was on the horizon.

The next morning Lena tried to access her email from home to get a jump start on the day, but for some reason she couldn’t sign on.  It wasn’t the first time so she didn’t bother to call the Help Desk.  When she arrived at her office she spoke as usual but she was met with an unusual funk.  Her co-workers spoke but it was the way they spoke and avoided eye contact that raised the red flags.  Three minutes after arriving the Principal called her to his office where the head of Human Resources waiting.  “Hmmm, what’s up with this?” she thought to herself as she sat down.  The Principal immediately went into why he called her into the office, which was odd because he always prays before any type of meeting.  He continued that she was being suspended without pay while they investigated her for the possibility of embezzlement.  They requested her badge, company iPad, car keys and credit cards.  She thought to herself: “someone please call 911, an elephant just fell out the sky and landed on my chest and I can’t breathe” and then she prayed silently, “Oh, God, help me!!!!!”

My thought for today is: Call Him

If my people who belong to me will humbly pray, seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, forgive their sin, and heal their land. 2 Chronicles 7:14

This is a conditional promise from God to His people (you, me and Lena).  What is a conditional promise?  Your son asks for a new pair of Jordans; you agree but only if he improves his grades from Cs to at least 4 Bs.   Let’s look closer at the scripture so we can help Lena out:

·       The Condition – the people (you, me, them, Lena) must:

o   Humble ourselves when we approach God.  Humble is defined as: not proud or arrogant; modest.  We cannot make demands on God, nor can he be manipulated through empty promises or even our tears.  Faith causes God to act on our behalf not tears. We must lay our attitudes, degrees, titles, status, selfishness, etc. aside because God is not impressed by anything He has given us the ability to achieve.   We cannot play God, period, you will be the one that gets played.

The Lord knows the thoughts of man, that they are futile. Psalm 94:11 (NKJV) 

I know everything they’ve ever done or thought. I’m going to come and then gather everyone—all nations, all languages. They’ll come and see my glory.  Isaiah 66:18 (The Message)

o   Pray:  first we offer thanksgiving; we make our petition (request); we ask Him to speak to us and pause; then we thank Him in advance for the petition we just made.  For example:  Father/God, thank you for waking me up this morning (whatever else you want to thank Him for); I need your help with (what is your request??); Father, I invite you to speak to me, pause and listen; Father I believe you’re going to (do whatever you requested), I trust you and I am depending on you.  Thank you for hearing my prayer.  In Jesus Name, thank God, Amen.  It’s the Hello, the conversation and the goodbye.

o   Seek His Face:  Reading your bible; fasting; attending bible class; listening to the Preached Word (YouTube, CDs, DVDs); studying specific biblical topics.  For example: you want to know more about prayer.  You could use biblegateway.com, youversion.com (or any bible application) to search for words on Pray, Praying and Prayer.  Read each scripture, define words you don’t use regularly; look up the scripture in different translations, record the ones that jump out at you and what they mean to you.

o   Turn from our wicked ways: I think this is self-explanatory, but to be clear, you need to have that uncomfortable conversation with yourself, you may even want to look in the mirror and say:  “Self, what are you doing that you know good and well you shouldn’t be doing?”  If you listen, you’ll get the answer.  If something pops up that you are unsure of AND you feel guilty about it you may want to stop.  If you are unsure, you may want to seek counseling from your Pastor.   When you turn from it, you want to make sure you don’t go back and pick it up.

·       The Promise:  God will hear us, forgive us and heal our sicknesses

God isn’t a man that he would lie, or a human being that he would change his mind.  Has he ever spoken and not done it, or promised and not fulfilled it?? Numbers 23:19 (Common English Bible)

So these are two things that don’t change, because it’s impossible for God to lie. He did this so that we, who have taken refuge in him, can be encouraged to grasp the hope that is lying in front of us. Hebrews 6:19 (Common English Bible)

In His Humble Excellence

Tan