“Hitting the Ceiling”

Have you ever felt like your prayers were hitting the ceiling and then coming back down? Have you ever spent time praying and got up and felt that your prayer never left the room you where in? Well this is a common feeling that many Christians share. Some of the greatest men of the Bible have struggled with this same feeling of separation and disconnection to the Throne. David felt this same thing in Psalms 13.

So how do we overcome this feeling? Well.... I can’t speak for everyone but I feel a disconnect when I know I haven’t been consistent in my prayer time. Every good relationship is launched off the platform of communication. One of the most dangerous things we can do in a marriage is stop talking. The truth is God delights in hearing from his children. In fact God wants us to give him no rest when it comes to prayer Isaiah 62: 7.

I have also found that praying for myself to much stagnates my prayers. Again I’m not sure how your wired but as for me I feel a real connection to the Throne when im praying for others. James 5:16 “Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective.” When I was young in the faith all of my prayers where centered around me, as I continue to grow im finding that my best prayers are prayers for others. Have you every prayer for someone else and you needed the same thing? That’s the type of prayers I like to pray.

Another hindrance is my motive behind the prayer. Are your prayers for a show or are they a means to reach our Heavenly Father? Praying so you can sound spiritually deep can hold your prayer back. When Christ began to teach about how to pray in Matt chapter 6 notices he starts out with how not to pray. Matthew 6: 5&7 “And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by men.” “And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words.”

Then there are times that we think our prayers hit the ceiling when really God heard them and probably answered them. Here is an example: If a man ask God to help him with his anger, do you think God removes the anger or does he put the man in a situation that normally will make him angry? Or if a man ask for God to help him with his finances does God drop money in his lap or does God provide opportunities for him to take advantage of. Just because your answer isn’t packaged the way you want it doesn’t mean it went unanswered.

My prayer today is that you will not treat God as a vending machine, or as a genie is a bottle, but that you will love him with everything in you. Prayer strengthens your faith; the more you pray the more faith becomes activated in your life. Your prayers should always line up with Gods perfect will. The prayer “Not my will but Your will be done” is not a lack of faith prayer but a prayer that is humbled before a sovereign God.

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"Image Of The Invisible God"

Colossians 1:15 “He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation.”


Many of us desire to have a better understanding of Gods nature. We search the Old Testament and the New Testament trying to understand our creator. While our finite minds can never fully understand an infinite God, I believe through this one scripture we capture a piece of Gods Sovereign nature.

Jesus is described by so many names through out the scriptures. Redeemer, Judge, King, Savior, Lord, High Priest, and Son of David, just to name a few. One description that I believe we don’t hear enough about is Jesus being the Image of the invisible God. This is such a powerful statement made by Paul. As I have stated in a previous blog no man has ever seen God. So, in the person of His Son (Jesus), God took upon Himself flesh so we could behold Him.

If we view God the Father through his Son Jesus we get a glimpse of God nature. You could never understand God without looking at Jesus Christ life. Let’s be clear Jesus was a man but he was also God in the flesh. So what does Gods nature look like? Well in order to answer that question we must look at scripture concerning Jesus Christ.

Compassionate:
Mark 6:34 When Jesus landed and saw a large crowd, he had compassion on them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd. So he began teaching them many things.

Cares for the Hungry:
Mark 8:2 I feel compassion for the people because they have remained with Me now three days and have nothing to eat.

Cares for the sick and afflicted:
Mark 1:41 Moved with compassion, Jesus stretched out His hand and touched him, and said to him, "I am willing; be cleansed."

Has power over Creation:
Mark 4:39 And He got up and rebuked the wind and said to the sea, "Hush, be still." And the wind died down and it became perfectly calm.

Has Power over life and death:
John 11:43-44 When he had said this, Jesus called in a loud voice, "Lazarus, come out!" The dead man came out, his hands and feet wrapped with strips of linen, and a cloth around his face. Jesus said to them, “Take off the grave clothes and let him go."

Sensitive to the broken hearted:
John 11:33 When Jesus therefore saw her weeping, and the Jews who came with her also weeping, He was deeply moved in spirit and was troubled.

Forgiving:
Luke 23:34 Jesus said, "Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing." And they divided up his clothes by casting lots.

Knows our heart:
Luke 9:47 But Jesus, knowing what they were thinking in their heart, took a child and stood him by His side.

By looking at the life of Jesus we can see the attributes of God the Father. I would encourage you to continue praying & studying God through this lens. This will lead you in experiencing God in a whole new way. So if you ever want to try and understand the “Invisible God” look at the “Visible One” that walked this earth JESUS.

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3 Reasons Salvation Isn’t By Our Works

I want to discuss in today’s blog what I consider to be a major misunderstanding in many church theologies. In fact this may be the most important topic in all of Christian theology. This topic was the cause of the Reformation, the split between the Protestant churches and Catholic Church. The question that many people ask is “Am I saved just by believing in Jesus, or do I have to believe in Jesus and do certain things”? And the answer is that your belief in Jesus is enough. Because if you truly believe in Christ that your life will be transformed.

Many people will say “Well Faith without Works is Dead”, and they quote that scripture as if believing in Christ isn’t enough. That is a complete misunderstanding of what James is saying. When Paul claims that we are "Justified by faith apart from works of the law" (Rom. 3:28) he is arguing against those (Jews) who claim they do not need faith because their works are sufficient. James, on the other hand, argues that we are "justified by works and not by faith alone" (James 2:24) because works are the result of faith. So really both are saying the same thing but have different vantage points. James is not contradicting Paul teachings, but rather complementing it. Paul's perspective speaks to where justification begins, whereas James's perspective speaks to where justification ends. These two men are saying Salvation is by Faith alone (Paul) and our faith demonstrates its authenticity by our works (James). Martin Luther & John Calvin (whose teachings I endorse) said Faith alone saves, but the Faith that saves is never alone. Salvation is always accompanied by good works.

So I though it would be great to list out 3 reasons why salvation can’t be by our works and back them up with scripture references.

1. History has proven that the works system is a failure.

Man has already been under two different works systems, and both have left man condemned. First was Gods command to Adam found in Gen 2:16-17 “And the LORD God commanded the man, You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it you will surely die." Well we all know how this story ends and it didn’t work out to well for mankind.

The second works system was of course the Law of Moses. If you look in the Old Testament you will see that the Israelites could by no means keep the Law. Romans 3:23 is clear that “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God”. There is only one man that lived a perfect life and that was Christ Jesus.

2. Mans best works still fall’s short of God's standard of justice.

Isaiah 64:6 “All of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags; we all shrivel up like a leaf, and like the wind our sins sweep us away.”

3. Salvation cannot be by our works because Jesus has already done the work in our place.

Jesus Christ came into the world to solve man's fundamental problem (Sin). 1 Timothy 1:15 “Here is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners” Christ took our sins and gave us access to eternal life, if we believe in him.

So as we close today’s blog we need to ponder in our hearts, and ask our selves are we trying to live by rules or by Gods Grace. Christ said that he is the door, His Blood gives us access to the Father if we believe in him. If you have not received Christ into your life don’t take another breath until you do (Yes it’s that important). Psalm 95: 7-8 “Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts”. Give Christ your life.

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