Sunday, February 13, Pastor Ed’s continues the series, bring Your Faith Into Focus. Faith is like a lens through which we view life. If your faith is focused, your spiritual life has direction, purpose and clarity. If your faith is not focused, your good intentions never become good works, and you run in circles instead of straight to the goal. Get inspired to “run the race to win!” There will be resources available to help you grow spiritually and opportunities to apply the messages to your life in practical ways.
… where you can be yourself, where the dress is casual, and the atmosphere is relaxed and contemporary, then Montclair Community Church just may be the place for you.
Shape Your Worried into Prayers
How do we move from fear-filled living to faith-filled living? One key way is instead of looking ahead to the future, anxious about tomorrow and beyond, we need to first look up to God.
Don’t fret or worry. Instead of worrying, pray. Let petitions and praises shape your worries into prayers, letting God know your concerns. Before you know it, a sense of God’s wholeness (peace), everything coming together for good, will come and settle you down. It’s wonderful what happens when Christ displaces worry at the center of your life.
~ Philippians 4:6-7, The Message.
This scripture encourages us to let God do the worrying for us, and in this, we find peace. This verse also points out four aspects of prayer:
1. PRAYER – refers to prayer in general. Prayer is stopping to remember who God is and factoring God into the equation of your circumstances.
2. SUPPLICATION – emphasizes the desperate need and inability of the supplicant to meet the need. Supplication is recognizing your need and inability to do it yourself. It is resigning as General Manager of the Universe and coming to God as a humble supplicant.
3. THANKSGIVING – expressing thankfulness. Gratitude and praise is the atmosphere of prayer. Prayer and petitions should be liberally seasoned with thanksgiving.
4. REQUESTS – to confidently ask, to make a specific request. Prayer is asking confidently and specifically with the expectation that God is willing to answer prayer.
What will it take for you to embrace God’s willingness to answer prayer?
What specific worries and fears do you need to give to God today?
Those who are righteous will be long remembered. They do not fear bad news; they confidently trust the Lord to care for them. They are confident and fearless and can face their foes triumphantly.
~Psalm 112:6-8 NLT
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