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IP:
I learned that God doesn't always use the best of us, but he can use all of us.
I noticed in your post that you ended your prayer in Gods name, in The Bible,
John 15:16, Jesus said,
" You have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that you
should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain: that
whatever you shall ask of the Father in my name, he may give it you. 17 These
things I command you, that you love one another. "
We are to pray to the Father, in Jesus' name, also in John 16:23-27 he
elaborates.
23“And in that day you will ask Me nothing. Most assuredly, I say to you,
whatever you ask the Father in My name He will give you. 24Until now you have
asked nothing in My name. Ask, and you will receive, that your joy may be full.
25“These things I have spoken to you in figurative language; but the time is
coming when I will no longer speak to you in figurative language, but I will
tell you plainly about the Father. 26In that day you will ask in My name, and I
do not say to you that I shall pray the Father for you; 27for the Father
Himself loves you, because you have loved Me, and have believed that I came
forth from God. 28I came forth from the Father and have come into the world.
Again, I leave the world and go to the Father.”
The Bible says, We have been chosen and appointed to bear fruit (John 16:15)
and also promises "We can be confident that the good works God has begun in us
will be perfected" (Philippians 1:5) also that "We can do ALL things THROUGH
Christ, who strengthens us" (Philippians 4:13) also that "We cannot be
separated from the love of God" (Romans 8:35-39)
Lately The Lord has really been working in me, this is going to be a little
long but it's worth the read. I've been saved since I was 13, but I never
really sought or had a personal relationship with him, I would pray and from
time to time I would think he would answer my prayers, but not all of them. I
really wasn't living to the fullest he had planned for me. I'll be straight up,
I was lustful, from time to time I would watch porn, not willingly but in
moments of weakness I would succumb and feel awful after (Conviction, not
Condemnation), but I never understand what to do, or how to change it, I was
still smoking weed, having bad thoughts and just pretty down and depressed. It
wasn't until I hit a point where I got on my knees and prayed to the Father in
Jesus' name, that I would surrender all I am, all my ways, all I think, and all
I am to him, to be honest I would ask for forgiveness and say 'I repent' but
its not saying you repent of your sins, its the action. When he started working
in me, the first step was conquering lust, I learned to just suffer the flesh
and eventually it stops complaining about what it wants when you just ignore
it, and meditate on scripture, on things Jesus said, I just kept remembering
how Jesus said, 'If you love me you follow these things", he doesn't want me to
just tell him I love him, he wants to see it in my actions, in my following of
what he asked of us, and in moments of weakness I would "Bring every thought
into captivity unto obedience in Christ" (2 Corinthians 10:5). From that moment
on (were talking the last month, thats how new this is for me) but from then on
every day is so amazing, I never knew, me OF ALL PEOPLE, could actually have
such joy, a joy in The Lord that others had, that I so badly wanted, and from
there I kept seeing and hearing teachings on renewing my mind, I was in a bad
habbit of getting mad at people for the littlest things, I would let it go but
the fact that someone would wake me up early on accident and in my head I would
say stuff like "This MF'er", I had to work on renewing my mind and 'Bringing
every thought into captivity unto obedience in Christ', when I started doing
that and had success, my sights were set on weed, and I'll be honest, the first
day I did good until about noon when the test came and I failed miserabley, I
got mad and got some weed, smoked, felt convicted, but I was determined to try
again the next day, and I did, and almost at the exact same time as the day
before I was tested, but I put my faith in The Lord, in his promises, he said
he is our Helper, our Stength, our Refuge, our Fortress, and I would combat the
temptations with scripture, (I also had my mom praying in the Spirit --- Thank
you so much Lord), but with all those things, I was actually able to pass the
test, literally after my weakest moment when I was just sitting on the floor in
my kitchen fighting the flesh, I felt I had to stand up and go outside, and
from then on I started to feel really good and I was like wow, He is helping
me, he is my Strength, and this is comming from someone who tried to quit
smoking weed a million times, but it wasn't until I relied on Him, and His
strength that I was actually able to make change, (Last Thursday was the day I failed, so on Friday I tried again, and that was the day I, with Him, succeeded), I haven't smoked, nor had the
desire to, (I live with someone who still smokes, but I am confident the goods
works God has begun in him WILL BE PEREFECTED). Since then I have been able to have Joy in all things and Its amazing, I can't even do justice in describing the difference between how I was and where I am now, and thats only in a week! But something cool that helped me was, at one point David from the bible, had just gone through some pretty hard stuff, I think he thought his wife was murdered and his village burned but instead of questioning The Lord, getting angry, he prayed and praised him, and little did he know, he was 8 days away from becomming KING and being reunited with his family ( I heard this little teaching two weeks ago, kinda funny, I never knew, I was 8 days away from the amazing changes God has made in, so you never know, just TRUST IN HIM)
Sorry that was really long but I know someone out there may find comfort in knowing they aren't the only one struggling. Also anyone who wants to laugh or mock, thats fine, even you, I wrote this for.
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