Pray & Seek God's Heart
I believe one of the first things on God’s heart is for each of us is to be more like Jesus; to sit with Him, to reflect Him to others, and then to serve with His love on this earth. If you have not picked up a red prayer reminder band with “Pray and Seek God’s Heart” on it, I encourage you to do so and wear it to help you remember to do as it says. As we seek God’s heart, God will transform us. As He transforms more and more of us individually, our church will be transformed, and we will better reflect who He wants us to be.
John 15:5 (NLT) says; “Yes, I am the vine; you are the branches. Those who remain in me, and I in them, will produce much fruit. For apart from me you can do nothing.” In one of the recent devotions on this Scripture that I read from Henry & Richard Blackaby’s Experiencing God Day by Day, they wrote, “He (Jesus) cautioned His disciples that if they ever attempted to live their Christian life apart from an intimate relationship with Him, they would discover that they ceased to produce significant results.”
An intimate relationship with Jesus means we must spend time with Him, we must communicate with Him. In other words, we must pray. Prayer is communication with Jesus. As I have said before, I spent years praying to the Lord, not understanding He wanted so much more. He wants to talk with me. I am to talk to Him, but I am also to listen to Him. An intimate relationship takes place when two people talk with each other; both talk, both listen.
As we grow in our faith, we grow in our desire for intimacy with Jesus. To sit at His feet and learn from Him, and then to go and serve Him. It is so easy to get so involved in a ministry, to one person or to hundreds, that we get distracted from spending quality time with the Lord. As we spend quality time with Jesus, our prayer lives move from a duty we are supposed to do, to a time of intimacy and joy with Him, a time of learning and growing in faith. The Lord changes us so that we grow more and more like Him. If you would like a resource to help you grow in prayer, in your intimacy with Jesus, please contact me at church. I do have resources available that are very beneficial.
We must continue to not only pray for our own life transformation, but also for the church’s transformation, and for the new Senior Pastor God desires to lead The Naz as He desires.
Praying and seeking God’s heart with you,
Pastor Gary
