The Daily Breadcast

Tune in to our little roundtable discussion as Kevin, Kay and Lauren join me in discussing ways to incorporate prayer daily, how we learned how and when to pray and all that goes into developing the habit of regular prayer to our Father in heaven!

We are called to renew our minds so that we don’t conform to the patter of the world Romans 12:2

And the only way to renew our minds is to do what we can to draw closer to God then James 4:8 says he’ll draw closer to me 

I have come up with 4 ways to draw closer to God, in nor particular order:

• Read His Word
• Love & Serve Others
• Serve God
• Pray

Prayer is how we let God into our lives, and how we give our cares and worries over to Him.  Think about it from the most basic of actions… Simply stating what needs to be stated.  Getting something off your chest.  You could be a skeptic and say that the whole prayer thing is just a “religious” practice, but has no real merit. Ok… why don’t you voice your cares and concerns out loud for a few days, and see if you don’t feel a little better.   Then, maybe you’ll start to understand that when I give my cares and concerns to God, full belief knowing he cares for me 1 Peter 5:7, then I will have a peace that only God can provide through Christ Jesus Philippians 4:7

What does the bible say about Prayer?

We are to be:

• faithful in prayer Romans 12:12
• devoted in prayer Colossians 4:2
• Continual in prayer 1 Thessalonians 5:17

Faithfulness - Likened to:

• perseverance
• obedience
• trustworthiness

Jesus was faithful unto death, even death on a cross.

Revelation 2:10 - be faithful unto death and receive a crown of life.

Unfailingly Remaining Loyal - despite circumstances

Picture God’s face when we say

“I don’t need you, I can do it myself.”

“I can do this and it won’t be that big of deal.”

“I don’t need to talk to you.”

“I don’t need to listen to your words.”

“I don’t need people telling me how to fix my life.”

“I can all things I want and when I want”

“I hate you”

“I wish I was never born”

“It’s all your fault”

“I’m leaving”

Just picture the look of heartbreak and disappointment on His face.

Disputing

• Argue
• Discuss Heatedly
• Opposing Views Discuss in Anger
• Heated Argument Over Trivial Matters

Philippians 2:14 Do all things without complaining or disputing

Why - (vs 15) that you may become blameless and harmless children of God without fault in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world

What is the difference between being tempted and being tested, in your experience?

Tested something to see if you pass (builds the fruit of the spirit)

Tempted is something to see if you fail (encourages the works of the flesh)

Splitting hairs… Maybe

Tested is normally something you can’t control (financial struggle, family turmoil, loss of a family member, something that requires patience, love, peace, etc… to get through)

Tempted is normally something you can/should control (lust, pride, etc… that is a desire of your heart)

Tested

Trials test your faith - James 1:2-3 My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, 3 knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience.

Jesus was tested while he fasted 40 days in the wilderness without food, relying solely on God and his word to sustain him.

Tempted

James 1:13-14 - Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am tempted by God”; for God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does He Himself tempt anyone. 14 But each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed.

Jesus was tempted by the devil in the wilderness with food, immortality and power.

The devil was fooled… He thought Jesus was just a man. Which he was a man, but he was God with us - Matthew 1:23 (Isaiah 7:14)

You may remember the episode “Dealing with Disrespect” back on September 26th…

If you’re caught up, you also know about some things going on in my life that are less than ideal.

Don’t get me wrong, I also have a few things going on that are exciting and make my life complete.

But I wanna talk about things that I’ve had to deal with lately that have required me to apply this concept of dealing with disrespect.

Marriage - Public Education - Siblings

Can anyone relate to struggles in these areas?

Casting Judgment vs Discernment

You might feel that I’m splitting hairs with this one, and maybe I am.  

Too frequently people feel “judged” by others, probably most prevalent in the church.  Then they blame the judgment and hypocrisy for the reasons they leave a congregation, or stop going to church altogether.

What is this “judgment” that is being cast?

• Is it sending someone to hell, or saying they’re not going to heaven?
• Is it making a statement about something that needs to be addressed
• Modesty
• Bad language
• Something inappropriate??
• Is it hypocritical to make these statements like these?

When Others hurt

When you know someone is hurting…

• Loss of loved one
• Dealing with life struggles (anything that causes internal or external turmoil)
• Divorce
• Job loss
• Financial
• Familial
• Etc…

Most people when asked “How would you feel knowing _________ is hurting?”

They would want to know how they could help, what they could do, etc…

The experiences I have noticed is:

• Some use these words “if there is anything I can do…” 
• I’ve found that the people that give specifics
• I personally use “ask whatever you need, and if it’s in my power or ability…”

My christian walk is like picking weeds & trying to maintain a yard

The wind blows seeds, the rain allows those seeds to take root, Weeds spring up & before you know it, the yard is overgrown with weeds, shallow rooted (most of them) eye sores.

We all desire to have a manicured yard we can show off

What does that look like?

• No weeds - a perpetual task
• No dead spots
• No bald spots
• Proper & consistent height mowed
• Perfect edges
• Lush green
• Thick - walk barefoot - grass
• Maybe landscaping
• Tree circle(s)
• Flower bed(s)
• Bushes/Hedges

To get the things we all would like to have, you first need to address the things to eliminate