MORE!

Thursday, July 8th, 2010

Today's Passage: Luke 11: 1-13
Memory Verses: Lk 11: 9-10

As I got on the elliptical and began my workout this morning, I couldn't help thinking about an experience I had on the way to a Jaguars football game last season.  My husband, myself, and two of our friends had to park quite a ways from the stadium.  So when we began the trek, we saw a few people being transported on bikes and decided we wanted to try it.  I didn't think the guy who stopped to transport us could possibly carry all four of us.  Until I got on and watched as he practically stood up while he pedaled.  I noticed that he applied more force every time.  The fact that he was able to carry four adults at least a half a mile is still a mystery to me.  But as I battled the mountain of resistance 10 on that elliptical machine, I got a good idea of what that guy had to do to get us to the game.

With every revolution of that bicycle, he asked his muscles to supply more power.  The more weight applied, the more force he commanded.  And despite my unbelief in what he could do, we got to the stadium in a few short minutes with no problems.  No wonder that in today's passage, we receive an invitation from Jesus Himself to ask for more from our Father.  In a world that is filled with so much evil, it would be so easy to just give up and be swallowed up in despair.  Why would God want to be involved with people who couldn't care less about Him and His Word?  But this is exactly why God wants us to pray for more of Him and His Will in and around us.

We are the only connection this world has to God.  We are His hands, feet, and mouthpiece.  Were it not for the fact that we've been given the privilege to walk by faith and not by sight, we would not be able to see what He wants to bring to this earth.  Where there is death, He wants to give eternal life.  Where the enemy has instituted bondage through terror, He's made freedom available.  Where only strife and confusion abide, He wants to give peace that's filled with His wisdom.  And where there is so much hurt as a result of worldly, conditional love, He is the only One Who can bring His true love.  So when Jesus tells us to keep asking, seeking, and knocking, we need to do exactly as He says.

The harder it is to find evidence of God on this earth, the harder we need to press in to seek Him.  That's just the enemy's resistance to what God wants to do in and through us.  So no matter how hard it seems to be to keep praying that things are going to change around us, know that there is even greater reward in our persistance.  Did you notice how Jesus compared our Father's response to our own response as parents?  I love my children so much that, when they ask for something that I know will make their lives better, I'll move heaven and earth to get it for them no matter how long it takes.  How much MORE will God respond to our earnest request for MORE of Himself in us!  Keep praying, saints.  Keep seeking.  Keep asking for His glory.  I have a funny feeling that we're about to see such an outpouring of Him like never before.  And all because we dared to ask for more.

Prayer: Father, we need more of You in our lives.  The only way our hearts, homes, jobs, and everywhere we go can be impacted by Your glory is if You flood us with more of You.  Holy Spirit, we specifically ask for You to pour out of Yourself into us.  Fill us, possess us, and use us to do the Will of the Father in this end-time harvest.  And all the glory will be Yours for every life that is changed.  In Jesus' Precious Name, Amen.