Praying the Bible

The heart of 614 Vancouver is prayer. It is our hub. It is our energizing ability to move forward in God's strength and Calling. Everyday we begin by praying the Bible. We need to meditate on God's word so that we are strong and courageous, that we don't let his word depart from our lips [hearts and minds]. We PTB so that we are careful to obey everything that is commanded us.

Today we cleaned house. We took an examination of our hearts Ps 139, because God looks at our hearts [1Sam16:7]. We recognized that our carnal heart is deceitful [Jer 17:9, Matthew 12:34] and that we need God to renew our hearts/minds [Rom 12] as we take captive our thoughts and subject them to Lord Jesus [1 Cor 10]. We asked that we would have the attitude of Christ and unity in the Spirit [Php 2] and that our words would reflect our hearts of pure love [James 3, Proverbs?]

We then looked at Psalm one [NLT] and the trajectory of the heart leading to action.

1 Oh, the joys of those who do not
follow the advice of the wicked,
or stand around with sinners,
or join in with mockers.
2 But they delight in the law of the Lord,
meditating on it day and night.
3 They are like trees planted along the riverbank,
bearing fruit each season.
Their leaves never wither,
and they prosper in all they do.
4 But not the wicked!
They are like worthless chaff, scattered by the wind.
5 They will be condemned at the time of judgment.
Sinners will have no place among the godly.
6 For the Lord watches over the path of the godly,
but the path of the wicked leads to destruction.

The downward spiral that leads to destruction begins with not praying the Bible. The wicked begin listening to counsel other than God and God's people [sheperds, prophets, apostles evangelists]. They don't submit to God's authority or the authority of whom He apoints as overseers. They listen to people from other faiths, other communities, Oprah, false teachers, those who tickle their ears: people who enter from the back door, sneak in over the fence and are not approved as God's workers [John 10].
Watch out for the next step! -  from walking with the Lord to standing with sinners - Identification with others than the body, stagnancy of faith, losing joy. The sin here is APATHY!!!

Apathy shows up as the fruit in our hearts with lack of participation, lack of sacrifice, lack of fellowship, lack of Bible reading, lack of prayer, and lacking in the fruit of the Holy Spirit... one being self-control. Essentially full blown sins. These are sins of commission and omission. Sounds like Romans 7 to me. "I do what I don't want to do... I don't do what I want to do."

The third step is the scariest: Sitting in the seat of mockers. This is a complete dissassociation with the Body of Christ, or the congregation to which one belongs. [You can couch the heart of sin through judgement and church hopping]. Some lose their faith entirely while others slip out of the fight, become critics disguised as Holy people with lots of concern but not the fruit of creating disciples, serving the poor and  internal holiness. God's hand of blessing has departed your life. The sturdiness of Christians in the Word is lacking and your emotions, reactions and impulsive thoughts have control over your life. You may be doubting and tossed around the sea with every wave of trouble, persecution or sacrifice that comes your way. What you do is not fruitful and is chaff, blown away and burned in the eternal fires of judgement.

What must we do?

God purge our hearts! [Ps 51]

7 Purify me from my sins,^[c] and I will be clean;
      wash me, and I will be whiter than snow.
 8 Oh, give me back my joy again;
      you have broken me—
      now let me rejoice.
 9 Don’t keep looking at my sins.
      Remove the stain of my guilt.
 10 Create in me a clean heart, O God.
      Renew a loyal spirit within me.
 11 Do not banish me from your presence,
      and don’t take your Holy Spirit^[d] from me.

 12 Restore to me the joy of your salvation,
      and make me willing to obey you.

Amen!

JE