Discernment – Westchester Men's Ministry

Christmas Prayer Request

November 28, 2012 by nymensministry 1 Comment

I received this prayer request from one of the men in our ministry and he said that I could share it here. I would bet that we can all agree with the sentiments of this prayer. May the true meaning of Christmas shine through this season, for all of us!

Men,
My prayer is that coming into this holiday season, we not forget the true meaning of our celebration and that we guard our hearts and minds from distractions, subtle behaviors and not so subtle behaviors that could pull us away from God and grieve the Holy Spirit.

I know in the past, it has been very easy for me to conform to the world’s point of view and start setting up and worshiping idols. It is in these times that Screwtape gets a hold of me and says it’s okay to participate in certain behaviors and attitudes because it’s the holidays and it won’t offend the Lord. That leads to a very slow and steady decent into self deception and before I know it I am far far away from God.

“Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.” – Romans 12:2 NIV

Three wise men “Do not set foot on the path of the wicked
or walk in the way of evildoers. Avoid it, do not travel on it;
turn from it and go on your way. For they cannot rest until they do evil;
they are robbed of sleep till they make someone stumble. They eat the bread of wickedness
and drink the wine of violence. The path of the righteous is like the morning sun,
shining ever brighter till the full light of day. But the way of the wicked is like deep darkness;
they do not know what makes them stumble. My son, pay attention to what I say;
turn your ear to my words. Do not let them out of your sight,
keep them within your heart; for they are life to those who find them
and health to one’s whole body. Above all else, guard your heart,
for everything you do flows from it. Keep your mouth free of perversity;
keep corrupt talk far from your lips. Let your eyes look straight ahead;
fix your gaze directly before you. Give careful thought to the paths for your feet
and be steadfast in all your ways. Do not turn to the right or the left;
keep your foot from evil. ” -Proverbs 4:14-27 NIV

Christmas Prayer Request by Westchester Men’s Ministry is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.
Based on a work at http://nymensministry.com.

Filed Under: Christian Men, Christmas, Discernment, Husbands, mens ministry, Prayer Tagged With: Christianity, Christmas, christmas shine, Distractions, do not conform, eyes look straight ahead, faith, Fellowship, God, God's will, Jesus, Men's Bible Study, prayer, subtle behaviors, Temptations, true meaning of christmas, will

Journaling: Don’t give up!

November 15, 2012 by nymensministry 1 Comment

Don’t give up! You will face resistance in trying to spend time with God. The other day (day 2), I was attempting to spend time with God and the phone rang three different times, and our dog went crazy because someone came too close to our house. It was clear that satan didn’t want me to spend quiet time with the Lord. I persisted on this occasion but if you have missed a day, or haven’t started yet, why not start (or start again) tomorrow. Lamentations 3:21-23 says:

But this I call to mind, and therefore I have hope:

The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; His mercies never come to an end;

they are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness.

Journal Entry (Anonymous)

We will be posting entries that we have requested from people that are participating in this challenge throughout these 40 days. This is our first one from an anonymous person. I hope it is an encouragement to you.

Blessed Lord, who caused all Holy Scripture to be written for our learning: Grant me so to hear them, read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest them, that I may embrace and ever hold fast the blessed hope of everlasting life, which you have given us in our Savior Jesus Christ, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, forever and ever, Amen. (The Book of Common Prayer)

“I was glad when they said to me, ‘let us go to the house of the Lord… For there are the thrones of judgement, the thrones of the house of David.” – Psalm 122:1,5

“Sing praises to God, sing praises, sing praises to our King” – Psalm 47:5

“Rejoice heart and soul… shout for joy … Look your King is approaching, he is vindicated and victorious” – Zechariah 9:9

“Tell it out among the nations: ‘The Lord is King! He has made the world so firm that it can not be moved; He will judge the peoples with equity.'” – Psalm 96:10

Your throne, O God, Endures for ever and ever – Psalm 45:1-10

Hallowed be thy name, Thy Kingdom come. They will be done on each as it is in heaven – The Lord’s Prayer

“You must go through the trial before you have any right to pronounce a verdict, by going through the trial you learn to know God better. God is working in us to reach His highest goals until His purpose and our purpose become one. (Conforming my will to His) – Oswald Chambers

And He will protect me through it –

“For He shall give His angels charge over you, to keep you in all your ways.” – Psalm 91:11

“If you had eyes to see, you would perceive a bodyguard of angels always attending every one of the blood bought family.” – C.H. Spurgeon

“I have been young and now I am old, but never have I seen the righteous forsaken, or their children begging bread” – Psalm 37:26

Lord, I’m fearful, I’m anxious, I’m depressed. I’m worried about both getting a job and finding a job. I worry equally about the smallest things like my schedule and big things like a friend’s sister in ICU. I feel helpless at times when it comes to my marriage, my ministry, and life in general.

I know you are on the throne but as all of the readers of the Bible need to heat it, so do I (today and probably everyday). I know you are working your will into my life and it’s hard, it feels like dying. I feel like a failure although I’m probably just mourning the loss of my will.

I know you will protect me; I just don’t always see you working. I have absolutely no evidence of your unfaithfulness. You have always been faithful. You can’t not be faithful.

I don’t know how to pray – I ask for a closer walk with You during these 40 days and I ask that it be a blessing to others. In Jesus’ very precious name. Amen.

Journaling: Don’t Give Up by Westchester Men’s Ministry is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.
Based on a work at https://nymensministry.com/2012/11/15/journaling-dont-give-up/.

Filed Under: anxiety, Bible Study, communing with God, daily office, depression, Discernment, divine office, journaling Tagged With: anxiety, bible study, book of common prayer, Christianity, closer walk with God, communing with God, depression, fear, God's will, intimacy with God, journal, journaling, my will, praises to our king, quiet time, relationship with God, sadness, savior jesus christ, time with God, walk with God

Why You Can’t Predict the End of the World

May 21, 2011 by nymensministry Leave a Comment

Filed Under: Christian, Christianity, Discernment, God in control

Listening to God’s Word

March 23, 2011 by nymensministry 1 Comment

“Did not our hearts burn within us?” – Luke 24:32

From “My Utmost for His Highest” for March 22nd

“… the only test we should use to determine whether or not to allow a particular emotion to run its course in our lives is to examine what the final outcome of that emotion will be. … if it is something God would condemn then put a stop to it immediately …(but) if the Spirit of God has stirred you, make as many of your decisions as possible irrevocable, and let the consequences be what they will …

We can not kindle when we will the fire which in the heart resides, the Spirit bloweth and is still, In mystery our soul abides; But tasks in hours of insight willed, Can be through hours of gloom fulfilled.”
– Oswald Chambers

I’ve been journaling through Lent and I’m in a dry spot. I have been amazed by God’s word and upset that I haven’t written it down earlier. Then my oldest brother died and things changed. Over the last few days, it has been very hard to hear God. It seemed clear that I had piled my concerns, anxieties, list of tasks, and many other things on top of God’s word, crowding Him out.

The last sentence of this entry really got to me. We can’t control when God will inspire us and talk to us but we can control our faithfulness even when we can’t hear him “hours of gloom”.

God Bless!

image courtesy of: developingyourspirit.blogspot.com

Filed Under: Discernment, Prayer Tagged With: discernment, God, listening, prayer, will, word

How to Ascertain the Will of God

September 27, 2010 by nymensministry Leave a Comment

From “Answers to Prayer from George Müller’s Narratives”

1. I seek at the beginning to get my heart into such a state that it has no will of its own in regard to a given matter. Nine-tenths of the trouble with people generally is just here. Nine-tenths of the difficulties are overcome when our hearts are ready to do the Lord’s will, whatever it may be. When one is truly in this state, it is usually but a little way to the knowledge of what His will is.

2. Having done this, I do not leave the result to feeling or simple impression. If so, I make myself liable to great delusions.

3. I seek the Will of the Spirit of God through, or in connection with, the Word of God. The Spirit and the Word must be combined. If I look to the Spirit alone without the Word, I lay myself open to great delusions also. If the Holy Ghost guides us at all, He will do it according to the Scriptures and never contrary to them.

4. Next I take into account providential circumstances. These often plainly indicate God’s Will in connection with His Word and Spirit.

5. I ask God in prayer to reveal His Will to me aright.

6. Thus, through prayer to God, the study of the Word, and reflection, I come to a deliberate judgement according to the best of my ability and knowledge, and if my mind is thus at peace, and continues so after two or three more petitions, I proceed accordingly. In trivial matters, and in transactions involving more important issues, I have found this method always effective.

George Müller

Filed Under: communing with God, Discernment, Persistence, Prayer, wisdom Tagged With: direction, discern, discernment, God, God's will, hear, hearing from God, listening, listening to God, mueller, pray, prayer, praying, will

Recommitting to Prayer

March 21, 2009 by nymensministry Leave a Comment

About three weeks ago, we discussed prayer (see below post) and multiple people committed to trying to pray 3 times a day throughout Lent. Many have mentioned that they, just like me, have struggled to get into this rhythm of stopping, breathing, and spending time with God. Therefore since we are nearly exactly in the middle of Lent, we decided to recommit ourselves to this effort for the second half of Lent. Why not join us and let us know your thoughts by adding comments below.

(Image courtesy: www.treasureschristianbooks.com)

I thought I would share a few comments that I have shared with others over the last few weeks with the hope that they may be an encouragement to you as you attempt to get into the practice of communing with God. God Bless!

About the ninth hour Jesus cried out in a loud voice, ‘Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?’ – which means, ‘My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?’ – Matthew 27:46

Jesus was on the cross for 6 hours at this point. He had already been flogged, had nails put through his hands and feet, and has been insulted all throughout. Why would Jesus make this proclamation at this time and be silent through everything else? Have you ever wondered this? Well it is important to note that in Jewish tradition, the Passover lamb was slaughtered at the 9^th hour. So you see, Jesus is our Passover lamb. So at the ninth hour he became sin for us and was cut off from God. For the first time (in all time), he couldn’t commune with God and the loneliness and abandonment he felt made him yell out. I think this gives us some appreciation for the blessing we have in being able to commune with God. Jesus was cutoff so we wouldn’t have to be. I know I want to value that.

This hymn is from Claudia Hernaman:

“Lord, who throughout these forty days for us did fast and pray,
Teach us with you to mourn our sins, and close by you to stay.

As You with Satan did contend and did the victory win,
O give us strength in you to fight, in you to conquer sin.

As you bore hunger and your thirst, so teach us, gracious Lord,
To die to self, and chiefly live by your most holy Word.

And through the days of penitence, and through your Passion-tide,
Yes, evermore, in life and death, Jesus! With us abide.

Abide with us, that so, this life of suffering over-past,
An Easter of unending joy we may attain at last!”

Filed Under: Discernment, Lent, mens ministry, Prayer Tagged With: daily hours, mens ministry, prayer, quiet time, time with God