about whatever you ask

When we read this verse, we might think, in our selfish way of thinking, Christ is offering us some kind of blank check to grab anything we want. However, there is in this verse the word "believe." Belief is our path to God. Without belief, our path leads to Satan. We do have in Christ’s truth about the concept of belief, indeed, a form of a blank check. Belief is an action of the heart, mind, and soul. Where and how we point our belief is of utmost importance. What do we ask for in prayer? Do we ask for all the selfish things and "stuff" we want or do we surrender up ourselves in unselfishness? If we ask for selfish things we may receive them but we will not want them after we have them.

If we ask for unselfish things by not even asking for anything for ourselves but only for others, we will not have anything for ourselves, except the mighty blessings of God. For this verse is not so much about getting what you want. The verse is about the doubt in your heart. When the doubt in your heart is gone, when there is not a shred of a question about what God wants from you, there is left in your heart no request for anything for yourself. When all the doubt in your heart is gone so is all the selfish pride, all the selfish ambition, and all the selfish making of lists of what you might want God to provide. And that issue of moving the mountain? When your pride is gone, the mountain can stay where it is because you find God did not want it moved anyway, and when you find out God did not want the mountain moved, the mountain disappears.

about building a firm foundation and building up others

Matthew 7:24-27 "Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. 25 The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall,because it had its foundation on the rock. 26 But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. 27 The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash." (NIV)

God loves you. These three words express infinite power. The love of God, flowing down over you and into your heart calls you to live your life so everyone will receive what God has given you, from you.
The God that makes the rain and causes the earth to be filled with life, holds all life together and keeps all life moving.

• God provides the force for your breathing.
• God provides the force to keep your heart beating each minute.

Your mind, heart, and soul come from God's hand. The foundation of your life was laid down by Christ when Christ gave up His life on the Cross for you. This singular sacrifice changed history and changes hearts the world over every day. The reason and purpose for your life rests upon the Cross of Christ. What you give to God rests on the foundation of His sacrifice.

All that you have now, and all that you will ever have in the future depends upon the foundation of your life. God expects the very best from you. As you stand on His foundation, God expects you to make supreme effort to love, care for, forgive, and have compassion for others. When you do these things…when you make a supreme effort to love, care for, forgive, and have compassion for others…you not only build a firm foundation in your own life, you also help others to build a firm foundation in their life

Jeremiah 24:6 My eyes will watch over them for their good, and I will bring them back to this land. I will build them up and not tear them down; I will plant them and not uproot them. 7 I will give them a heart to know me, that I am the LORD. They will be my people, and I will be their God, for they will return to me with all their heart. (NIV

In every endeavor of your life, you can choose to build up or destroy. You can choose to build up or encourage all the persons around you.

• You can choose to build up the your fellow classmates and teammates.
• You can choose to build up the church where you find messages of Christ's love.

When you choose to build up all the persons, institutions, and parts of your life then you add to Christ's blessings on the earth.

• When you choose to build up, you bring peace to the world.
• When you choose to build up, you bring healing where there is sickness.

• When you build up, you show others the reality of Christ in a world where Christ is too often ignored.

Christ, God will shake your ego and when you are willing, He will push what you want aside. When you use each moment to build for Christ, the times of poverty become times of refreshing as you learn to treasure the outpouring wealth of His love and grandeur.

about our being called to be free

As difficult as it is to do (sometimes), we are to express our love for Christ…in all ways and in all things. As temptation places you in shackles and temptation tortures you because of your love and devotion to Christ, you can, even in chains, assert and claim freedom from the bondage of sin. We are free in Christ, no matter what our earthly circumstances might be. In our freedom in Christ, God pleads with us to serve and love others rather than ourselves. In freedom that comes from Christ, we do not suffer from the dark shadows that lurk over the heart like those who do not love Him. In this freedom in Christ, we can and must share His light and love with others who are in the darkness.

Because we have pledged our lives to Christ, we are free from the lies and deceit that infect the mind and soul of those who have not surrendered their life to Him. In His love, God asks us to shine His light into the hearts of those persons caught up in the lies and deceit that imprison hearts and souls in denial. As persons who strive to be holy and devout, we are free of the chains of fear and anxiety about the future after we die…for we can see the mansion Christ has prepared for us. We are called to share the love of Christ with the world so the world will not be held in the bondage of fear. With a surrendered heart in Christ, we are free of the need for worldly things and attachments. In Christ, we find freedom from the chains of earthly things. He supplies us with all we need, because He knows our every need before we ask.

about wrestling in prayer

There can be a misconception about times of prayer. The Lord needs us to be in prayer regardless of how we feel physically, emotionally, or spiritually. There are times of prayer when we must have the spirit of a warrior for there are times when we distinctly do no feel like praying. In some person's lives, if they waited until they felt "good" to come to God in prayer, they might never pray, for they are in battles of various kinds all the time.

What God wants when we pray is effort. If we are in a state of physical, emotional, or spiritual hardship we must still pray in spite of the hardship. The Lord wants us to wrestle with those things that keep us apart from Him. The Lord wants us to never shrink back from sending up prayers and petitions no matter what the cost might be to us, because the Lord loves the person who is a warrior…a prayer warrior battling against the dark forces. Adversity of many kinds tries to kill the spirit of prayer but we must not shrink back. When attacked by the dark forces we must come to the Lord with a humble heart. If we face physical pain in our prayer time we must push on and surely know the Lord understands our difficulties. If we are faced with threats or punishments that distract us from being with our Lord in spirit and in truth, we can extend our hand to Christ while we speak to Him…and He will help us.

When we do not receive answers we feel we so desperately need, we must persevere and keep calling upon the Lord to touch our heart and enable us to do His will and not our own. When it seems that we are out of contact with the Lord and we are only speaking to ourselves when we pray, we must seek His healing love. When we seek His healing love, we must open our hearts to His overflowing hope…an overflowing hope that fills the silence. In all ways and in all times we must remember the power of His hand brings love, compassion, and mercy.

about always affirming

As a race of beings, humankind loves to marvel at his great achievements, his great mind, his great works, and his great power. We brandish our weapons of mass destruction at those we call our enemies because those we call our enemies brandished their weapons of mass destruction at us. We give ourselves praise for building great structures only to see them fall in minutes during an earthquake. We marvel at our great cities only to fear living in them for the crime and violence that infests them. We are puffed up and arrogant about our art and culture when our art and culture are full of pornography. We are puffed up and arrogant about our power when we use our power for many wrong things.

What we too often miss in our puffed up hearts and minds is that what we boast about is nothing before God. Before God, the Great Wall of China is not even a speck. Before God, the great Pyramids of Egypt are not even a wisp of thought. When we boast, let us only boast about how much God loves us and about how much Christ has given to see us in Heaven some day. Someday, our world of substance will all be gone in an instant, and what remains will be only the enduring love of our Master Builder, He who provided the materials for all these things we think we own.