The "I"

“‘Therefore, come now, and I will send you to Pharaoh, so that you may bring My people, the sons of Israel out of Egypt.’ But Moses said to God, ‘Who am I, that I should go to Pharaoh, and that I should bring the sons of Israel out of Egypt? And He said, ‘Certainly I will be with you, and this shall be the sign to you that it is I who have sent you.”
Exodus 3:10-12

One of the warning signs of a self-made man is his self-destructive sense of direction. He tends to overuse the letter “I” to tell his story. Moses was a man with “I” trouble, and in danger of missing God. When He heard God’s new sense of direction for his life, he evaluated his prospects based upon his past experiences, not God’s personal Presence.

"Who am I?"
Moses

The wise man is a humble man who understands that his story is actually a part of HIS story. He doesn't hide behind false modesty and pious posturing. He obeys God, and gives the glory to Him for any and all he accomplishes, without taking credit for any of it. Moses was a broken man, when God called him to the greatest mission of his life. He responded with a question for God, not immediate obedience to Him. He revealed a heart filled with the fear of man and the fear of failure, not the fear of God.

Moses had been looking down on himself without looking up to God. Intimidated by his past failures, Moses lost sight of God in the present tense. It resulted in counting himself worthless in the future tense. The Presence of God is always the remedy for “I” trouble. The church is a vision center. When preaching focuses on building up the self-esteem of selfish children rather than focusing their eyes on The Father, it is time for vision correction.

NOTE TO SELF: Your vision will not be restored, by examining the lint in your own navel. Look up and focus on God. When “I” dominates your praying it becomes prideful posturing. The overuse of "I" in your preaching, makes you the subject, focusing the message on the messenger, not The Master. When you insert “I” into your parenting, without praying with your children, it invites the proverbial “Eye” roll of your children. Prayer practices The Presence of The Father in the name of Jesus. No matter who you think you are, believe Him when God tells you, “I will be with you.”

TALK LESS! PRAY MORE!

The Struggle

"Our struggle is not against flesh and blood..."
Ephesians 6:12

The esprit de corps of prayer warriors is not based upon wearing the same uniform, marching in a parade under the same banner, or singing the same war songs. It is a spirit of steel bonds forged in fire, and exists only between warriors who have shared the relentless struggle together against a common foe.

NOTE TO SELF: Prayer is not designed for you to flaunt as a symbol of your spiritual devotion. It is provided as a weapon for spiritual warfare. When you wear prayer like a medal, the enemy does not fear it. When you use it like a weapon, the enemy trembles. Use it.

TALK LESS! PRAY MORE!

The Hate

"The fear of the Lord is to hate evil."
Proverbs 8:13

NOTE TO SELF: Pride, arrogance, the evil way & the perverted mouth have these two things in common. They are hated by The Wise and valued by The Fool. Don't be a fool. Fear God & hate evil.

TALK LESS! PRAY MORE!

The Legacy

Praying for, with and over your children puts God's hand prints all over them. My father, Don Miller, was born March 9, 1922. Before he died in 2015, he could still remember the first time his father prayed over him and his family in 1929.

Dad recalled, as a seven years old child, "I never heard anything like it in my life. I can remember it like it was yesterday."

Dad's father, George Washington Miller, was saved at a Methodist Revival meeting. The same night he got saved, my grandfather gathered his family around the kitchen table and prayed over them. Dad said, "I felt like everything was going to be alright."

NOTE TO SELF: Parents build a lasting legacy in the lives of their children when they pray over them. Do it today.

TALK LESS! PRAY MORE!

The Dipper

NOTE TO SELF: The preacher is a steward, not an owner. Prayer minimizes what is “MINE” and values what is “THINE.” It is the purifying agent and the driving force in the heart of every serious preacher. Praying preachers are reminded daily that they are like a hand in a pail of water. God inserts them and removes them at His will. Remember you are in His grip, not The Big Dipper.

TALK LESS! PRAY MORE!

The Tune

"For it was the Father's good pleasure to have all the fullness dwell in Him, and through Him to reconcile all things to Himself."
Colossians 1:19-20

"Do not have your concert first, and then tune your instrument afterwards. Begin the day with the Word of God and prayer, and get first of all into harmony with Him.”
Hudson Taylor

Reconciliation comes through Jesus Christ, and brings peace with God. Prayer maintains, and sustains the peace of God. You need both.

To reconcile means to restore completely to a former state of harmony. When you are not in harmony with God, it is impossible to compose yourself. Turn your eyes upon Jesus.

When it comes to prayer, you are not a spectator sitting in the audience, or a critic evaluating the score that has been written by The Composer. You are playing an instrument, and seeking an audience with The Composer.

NOTE TO SELF: Toot your own horn, but don't become a "Johnny one-note" in the band. Yield to The Composer's direction, protection and correction.

TALK LESS! PRAY MORE!

The Victor

He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For by Him all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities – all things have been created through Him and for Him. He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together. He is also head of the body, the church, and He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, so that He Himself will come to have first place in everything.”
Colossians 1: 15-18

Jesus is a person, not a perpetual expletive. Hollywood has often shown a fondness for using the name Jesus, as long as it is framed as a curse word.

The success of Christian films has put a dent in the Hollywood freight train, but has not knocked it off the track. The real money is still put into films that curse the name of Jesus or delete it altogether. Cursing Jesus is the new politically correct F-bomb. But I digress.

Jesus is not a curse or a concept. He is The Champion. By praying to God, in the name of Jesus, His Spirit takes believing prayer and moves Jesus out of the past tense of a religious victim, and into the present tense of a triumphant Victor.

NOTE TO SELF: Praying in the name of The Champion raises Jesus to first place in your eyes, and drives His enemies crazy. Through prayer, you no longer see Jesus as a victim, but The Victor who…
   • REVEALS GOD TO MAN “…the image of the invisible God…”
   • LEADS THE WAY “...the firstborn of all creation…”
   • LIVES TO CREATE “…by Him all things were created…”
   • BRIDGES HEAVEN & EARTH “...In the heavens & on earth…”
   • PRECEDES ALL LIFE “…He is before all things…”
   • HOLDS LIFE TOGETHER “…In Him all things hold together…”
   • LEADS THE CHURCH“…head of the body, the church…”
   • BEGINS ALL LIFE “…He is the beginning…”
   • CONQUERS ALL DEATH “…the firstborn of the dead…”
   • REIGNS AS CHAMPION “...first place in everything.”

The religious system or your own self-centeredness can overshadow The Savior. Prayer magnifies Jesus. Talk elevates yourself. Magnify Him. Get over yourself.

TALK LESS! PRAY MORE!

The Rescue

"For He rescued us from the domain of darkness, and transferred us to the Kingdom of His beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins."
Colossians 1:13

The Prayerful let go of their sin, taking joy in knowing God no longer holds it against them. The Prideful pretend sin never happened, or if it did, it wasn’t their fault.

The Prayerful aren’t interested in coming down on the right side of history. They embrace HIS story of redemption, and humbly agree with God on what He views is right and wrong. The Prayerless attempt to appear generous, by devaluing the price tags God placed on the cost of their sin. They want to have a relationship with the King, by being transferred into His kingdom, without being under His authority.

The Prayerful humbly ask forgiveness from God, and receive redemption from sin. The Prayerless pridefully claim an exemption from their sin, and miss their redemption from it.

NOTE TO SELF: Your rescue from sin came with a price. Jesus paid it all. You didn't deserve God's forgiveness of your sin. You were rescued from it. Show some humility. Don't change the price tags.

TALK LESS! PRAY MORE!

The Brightness

"We have not ceased to pray for you and to ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, so that you will walk in a manner worthy of the Lord to please Him in all respects, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God; strengthened with all power, according to His glorious might, for the attaining of all steadfastness and patience; joyously giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified us to share in the inheritance of the saints of Light.”
Colossians 1:9b-12

Paul’s prayer will never make it on a throw pillow, or T-shirt. It can’t be squeezed onto a bracelet or a bumper sticker. It won’t be found on the laundry list of most prayer meetings, because it doesn’t ask for health or wealth. Pray it anyway.

Planting a seed in the lives of others spurred Paul to pray for the fruit of love to continue to grow in their hearts. Follow his lead.

NOTE TO SELF: Talking about the darkness falls short of thanking God for the brightness of The Light.

TALK LESS! PRAY MORE!

The Vigilant

Some Christians believe turning the other cheek means keeping a stiff upper lip while yielding ground to a bully. Wearing a "grin and bear it" grimace, these silent saints suffer under a self-imposed exile in their own nation.

They have not lost their voice in the public square from a hoarseness that is derived from a spirited debate. They have been silenced by a self-imposed gag order. There are many well-meaning voices offering misplaced mercy and ill-advised counsel to the church. They attempt to convince Christians that mobilizing their base to vote is a form of bullying. It is not. It is a valid resistance to the actions of a bully. When the church speaks with a clear voice from the Word of God, and mobilizes their people to vote, it is not expressing hate speech, or bullying. It is showing compassion.

NOTE TO SELF: Once you take your God-given rights lightly, you will give them up easily. Deluded expressions of benign piety, and a misguided spirit of self-resignation are poor substitutes for vigilant Christian citizenship.

TALK LESS! PRAY MORE!