Do you find yourself needing a renewal in your life? Has your relationship with Jesus been in a spot of a slow decaying process? One of the biggest temperature gauges of our need for renewal is our prayer lives. Our prayer lives tend to reflect where our relationship with the Lord is. It’s like looking into a mirror and seeing the reflection of the true condition of our inner man. Are you in need of newness or freshness in your relationship with Jesus? Renewal is the answer.
What if is said, “It is God’s will and desire to bless but you won’t see it if you don’t pray.” The Lord is ready to pour His blessings forth but we will never see them if we don’t tap into the life-giving power of prayer. I have experienced this afresh this last month. As a community, we started 2017 with a 21-day fast knowing that as we give Him the first of our year, it will set the course for the remainder of the year. It is a first fruits principle. Before we started, I had the overwhelming sense that the Lord was calling me to pray for two hours a day or a personal and corporate renewing grace. Little did I know how much He would do in those 21-days and how it actually wasn’t just for that period of time. I am living in a prayer renewal in my own personal life.
Do you need a prayer renewal in your life? How much time do you spend worrying? We all handle fear in different ways, some internally and some externally by working harder in their own strength. The Philippian church were coming under the power of great fear and worry. Paul exhorts them, and us:
Philippians 4:6–7 (ESV)
6 do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. 7 And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
The Philippian saints were habitually worrying. Paul exhorts them to stop it. The word “nothing” is literally “not even one thing.” Some of us spend ten minutes worrying about something verses using that ten minutes to go into prayer. He calls us to come to Him in prayer and give it over to Him. The Message translation tells us that when we do this, “a sense of God’s wholeness, 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” (:7). Do you need your inner man to be settled down? Go to the Lord and, “Cast your worry on Him because you are His concern” (1Peter 5:7).
Relinquishment is the principle of handing something over to God and not picking it back up. It is rooted in trust knowing that the Father has heard your cry and is moving on your behalf. True relinquishment takes place when, through prayer, we come to the Lord and entrust Him with the person or situation we are carrying. To live free, this must stay with the Lord and we must resist the temptation to pick it back up because we are not seeing something shift that instant. He is answering. He is answering and has our best in mind. “The Lord takes thought for me. You are my help and my deliverer…” (Psalm 40:17).
“Lord, I give you full control to do what You desire to do. I am not afraid of this. Nor do I need to understand all of it or even any of it. I bring this to you and declare I will follow in faith. I declare you are trustworthy and will lead me in the ways of everlasting life. Now Lord by your Spirit bring me through to the other side and strengthen me to not pick it back up. I pray this in the name of Jesus, Amen.”