May 23, 2013
“One day Jesus was praying in a certain place. When he finished, one of his disciples said to him, ‘Lord, teach us to pray, just as John taught his disciples.” (Luke 11:1)
When the disciple’s asked Jesus this request they were not just asking Him the ‘how to’ of prayer. They were amazed at the large amounts of time Jesus prioritized for prayer. They were asking something like ‘teach us what you know about prayer that we obviously do not know that causes You to spend so very much time in prayer.’
STEP NUMBER THREE: Spend much time in prayer.
When you must know the will of another human being, what is the first step you take? Our first thought is usually that we must meet with that person and have a conversation with them. When a man is in love and decides he wants to marry a woman, his first thought is that he must meet with her and have a conversation with her.
When we seek to know the will of God, our first thought should be that we must meet with God and have a conversation with Him. Prayer is a conversation with God. If you do not know how to pray, think of prayer as simply meeting with and having a personal conversation with God.
Jesus responded to the apostles with a prayer that was not as much a prayer as it was an instruction about how to pray. When you are alone, use that prayer as an outline for your conversation with God. You will find yourself applying the second and third steps I have shared with you for knowing the will of God when Jesus instructs you to pray:
“Your kingdom come; Your will be done.”
2 Comments | 
Uncategorized | Tagged: conversation with god, Disciples Prayer, Divine Guidance, Faith trusting God, Jesus, knowing the will of God, prayer, religion, Spiritual Discernment, spirituality, the Our Father, the will of God | 
Permalink
Posted by Dick Woodward
May 20, 2013
“If any man wills to do, he will know.” (John 7:17)
STEP NUMBER TWO: Be willing to do the will of God.
When Jesus taught His disciples how to pray, He taught them to say, “Your will be done.” When Jesus modeled this, He sweat drops of blood as He prayed, “Not My will, but Your will be done.” (Matthew 6:10; 26:39; Luke 22:42-44) Jesus gives us a principle that shows us how we can know His teaching is the teaching of God. This principle also applies when we are seeking to know the will of God in the marketplace.
The principle is simply this: If any man wills to do, he will know.
The Living Bible paraphrases Psalm 139: 16 to say God had every day of David’s life scheduled before David existed. David writes there that God is with him in such a way that it is impossible for David to escape God’s personal interest in every move he makes. This intimacy with God is obviously not only the experience of David, but can and should be the experience of every child of God.
According to Jesus and Paul, knowing the will of God for our lives does not have to be complex. God does not deliberately obscure His will. The complexity is not in the will of God, but in your will and my will. As Paul tells us how we can know “the good, acceptable and perfect will of God,” he begins his prescription for knowing God’s will by telling us to throw up our hands and offer an unconditional surrender of our wills to the will of God (Romans 12: 1-2). Our unconditional surrender to God will significantly un-complicate our quest to know the will of God.
2 Comments | Uncategorized | Tagged: christianity, Divine Guidance, faith, God's will, intimacy with god, Jesus Christ, knowing the will of God, Psalm 139, Spiritual Discernment, spirituality, surrender to god | Permalink
Posted by Dick Woodward
May 18, 2013
“Prove in practice that the plan of God for you is good, meets all His demands and moves towards the goal of spiritual maturity.” (Romans 12:2 JB Phillips)
When someone questions me, a pastor, about the will of God, they might be referring to a fork-in-the-road decision or sometimes the issue has been the broader question, “How can I know the will of God for my life?” While answering that question many times over many years, I have come up with twelve steps I believe you should take when you are seeking divine guidance. These twelve steps are not a precise formula that will immediately and clearly lead you to the specific will of God, but they do focus some issues that should be visited, or bases you should touch, when you are trying to establish an alignment between your will and the will of God.
THE FIRST STEP: Believe there is such a thing as the will of God for your life.
“Every time a tiny sparrow falls dead from a tree, God goes to the funeral!” Observed a preacher from another generation, referring to the teaching of Jesus that not one tiny sparrow falls dead from a tree apart from the Father’s plan. The application Jesus makes is that since two sparrows are sold for a penny and we are of far greater value to God than a sparrow, if God has a will regarding the details of the life and death of a sparrow, then we can be sure He has a will regarding every detail of our lives (Matthew 10: 29-31).
According to the Bible, God is our Shepherd and our Father. God is personal and has a plan for our life we can know and experience.
2 Comments | Uncategorized | Tagged: faith, God's will, knowing God's will, living by faith, religion, Seeking God, Spiritual Discernment, spiritual guidance, spiritual maturity, spirituality, the will of God | Permalink
Posted by Dick Woodward
April 16, 2013
“We don’t know what to do but our eyes are on You.” (2 Chronicles 20:12)
No matter how gifted we may be, sooner or later we will hit a wall of crisis where we simply do not know what to do. The Scripture quoted above is taken from an historical context when the people of God were overwhelmingly outnumbered and they simply did not know what to do.
The earthly half-brother of Jesus wrote that when we do not know what to do we should ask God for the wisdom we confess we do not have (James 1:5). He promises us that God will not hold back but dump a truckload of wisdom on us.
Years ago I received a telephone call from my youngest daughter when she was a first year student at the University of Virginia. With many tears she informed me that she had fallen down a flight of stairs and was sure she had broken her back. At the hospital they had discovered mononucleosis and seriously infected tonsils that needed to be removed. She concluded her “organ recital” litany: “Finals begin tomorrow and I just don’t know what to do, Daddy!”
Frankly, I was touched that my very intelligent young daughter believed that if she could just share her litany of woes with me and tap into the vast resources of my wisdom I could tell her what to do when she did not know what to do.
According to James that is the way we make our heavenly Father feel when we come to Him overwhelmed with problems and tell Him we just don’t know what to do. That’s why a good way to begin some days is:
“Lord, I don’t know what to do but my eyes on you!”
1 Comment | Uncategorized | Tagged: 2 Chronicles 20:12, faith, Faith in Crisis, religion, Spiritual Discernment, spirituality, Trusting God, Wisdom | Permalink
Posted by Dick Woodward
October 5, 2012
“‘Who told you that you were naked?’ the LORD God asked.’” (Genesis3:11)
We have confessed, climbed and conserved to apply the jet pilot’s compass. We must now apply the most critical points on his compass and ours. Just as the jet pilot must communicate with his carrier, we must communicate with God.
We all know that we can communicate with God through prayer. In the familiar story from the book of Genesis we learn that God communicates with us and He wants us to know that He communicates with us.
In a psychiatric hospital a man told his psychiatrist that he was Napoleon. The psychiatrist asked him “Who told you that you are Napoleon?” The man responded, “God told me.” The man in the next room shouted, “I did not!”
In Hebrew the question God asked is literally: “Who made you know that you were naked?” You may be uncomfortable telling people that God told you to make a decision like a career change. Would it be more comfortable to say God made you know that you were to make a certain decision? Do you believe God can make you know what He wants you to know and do?
It is exciting to know that we can communicate with God through prayer and even more exciting to know He communicates with us. Just as the last two points on the pilot’s compass are the most critical, it is critical for us to be in two-way communication with God.
God communicates with us in many ways but the most important is when we are reading His inspired Word. We should open the Bible with this prayer: “Let all the voices be stopped. Speak to me Lord, Thou alone.”
Leave a Comment » | Uncategorized | Tagged: book of genesis, communication wtih God, Faith in God, Genesis 3:11, jet pilot, listening to God, prayer, Spiritual Discernment, spirituality | Permalink
Posted by Dick Woodward
October 4, 2012
“Search me, O God, and know my heart;
Try me, and know my anxieties;
And see if there is any wicked way in me,
And lead me in the way everlasting.”
(Psalm 139: 23, 24)
Applying the compass of a jet pilot to our personal compass of life we next need to ask what it means to conserve when we think we may have lost our way. The familiar prayer of David in Psalm 139 is one answer to that question. We can assume that David is facing challenging decisions about the way he needs to go. We might also assume that he is aware of what this translation lists as his ‘anxieties.’
He is asking God to take the lid off his mind, heart, thoughts and motives along with his anxieties and show him what should not be there because he wants to walk with God in the everlasting way. By example and precept David is teaching that we should be conservative when our anxiety is letting us know that we have lost our way.
We should not make big decisions when we are down or on an emotional high. We should move ahead steadily when what God shows us under the lid of our heart and mind is in alignment with His will and the way He wants us to go with Him.
My friend, the squadron commander, told me about a rookie pilot who radioed his carrier: “I’m lost somewhere over the South West Pacific Ocean but I’m making excellent time!” When we know we are lost that’s not when we are to be making excellent time. That is the time for us to be conservative and pray this prayer of David.
Leave a Comment » | Uncategorized | Tagged: faith, faith and stress, Faith Compass, listening to God, personal compass, prayer of King David, Psalm 139, religion, Spiritual Discernment, spirituality | Permalink
Posted by Dick Woodward
July 1, 2012
“Then the Lord God called to Adam and said to him, ‘Where are you?… And He said, ‘Who told you?’” (Genesis 3: 9, 11)
A police officer on a motorcycle noticed a large enclosed truck driven down Sixth Street, in Los Angeles, California. The driver stopped every few blocks, got out of the truck, and beat around the sides of the truck with a large baseball bat. After observing this for some time, the officer turned on his siren, flashed his lights and with strong hand signals ordered the driver to pull over. The policeman asked the driver, “Mister, as far as I can tell, you’re not breaking the law. But I just gotta know, what are you doing?”
The truck driver explained, “Officer, this truck here has a capacity of five thousand pounds. But, you see, I got six thousand pounds of canaries in this truck. So, I gotta keep a thousand pounds of canaries up in the air all the time!”
When you begin reading the Bible it may surprise you to discover that the first four things God says to us are questions. Why would the creator God ask questions of the man He has created? I’m convinced God does this because He knows His creature is up in the air about life. God loves us too much to leave us without a definition of life and some direction. He wants to dialogue with us so He can bring what he calls salvation into our life.
Are you up in the air about your life? Because He loves you God would like to greet you with that question “Where are you?” and follow it with the question “Who told you?” when you respond to Him.
2 Comments | Uncategorized | Tagged: faith, Genesis 3, God the Creator, spiritual dialogue, Spiritual Discernment, spiritual questions, spirituality, the Creation, where are you? | Permalink
Posted by Dick Woodward
March 30, 2012
“… the just shall live by his faith.” (Habakkuk 2:4)
The prophet Habakkuk lived in one of the most difficult times in Hebrew history. God gave him a prophetic message to preach when the Babylonians were about to conquer God’s people. The watchtowers were manned with soldiers who were listening for the dreadful sounds of the Babylonian army. This little prophet had witnessed the terrible ways the great Prophet Jeremiah was treated when he preached his message. Being a simple choir director he could only imagine how he would be treated if he assumed the role of a prophet.
He therefore came up with a very clever literary form. He proclaimed that he was going to build a spiritual watchtower and ask God all the difficult questions that were on their hearts at that time. Questions like, “Why will you use a people more sinful than we are to chasten us?” He told them that when he heard from God he would tell them what God said in answer to these and other questions. His literary form was like a talk show in which he was the host and God was the Guest being interviewed.
God’s answer was that the wickedness of the Babylonian would be their undoing, but the just would live by their faith. Originally this meant faith in the prophecy of Jeremiah that they would return from the Babylonian captivity. By application these seven words, which are quoted three times in the New Testament, were used to inspire the great protestant reformation.
People say God does not speak today as He did then. The truth is we do not listen for God as this prophet did. Do you have a spiritual watchtower? Do you listen for God and expect to hear from Him?
1 Comment | Uncategorized | Tagged: Christian devotional, faith, Faith in God, God's faithfulness, Habakkuk, hebrew history, justice, listening to God, prayer, prophetic message, protestant reformation, Spiritual Discernment, spirituality | Permalink
Posted by Dick Woodward
January 9, 2012
“… The Jewish leaders sent priests and Temple assistants from Jerusalem to ask John, “Who are you?” He came right out and said, “I am not the Messiah.” “Well then, who are you?” they asked. “We need an answer for those who sent us. What do you have to say about yourself?” (John 1: 19-22 NLT)
According to the Bible there is somebody God wants us to be, there is some place we are to be, and there is something we are to be. We will therefore never be fulfilled or happy until we have the right answers to questions like “Who are you? What are you?” and “Where are you?”
God confronts us with these questions because He loves us and wants us to be fulfilled and happy. The priests and religious leaders asked John: “What do you have to say about yourself?” Perhaps a better way to ask the question would be to ask you what God has to say about yourself. Then that question should be followed by the question: “Do you and God agree on what you say about yourself?”
It would be foolish to want and try to be more than God wants us to be. But, life is too precious to be less than who and what and where God wants and has equipped us to be. Jesus said John the Baptist was the greatest man ever born of woman. I’m convinced that was because John the Baptist had the right answers to these questions.
You can also have the right answers to these great questions. I challenge you to pursue God until He finds you and shows you who and what and where He wants you to be. This the best way to have a truly happy New Year.
2 Comments | Uncategorized | Tagged: answers to questions, Faith in God, John the Baptist, religious leaders, Spiritual Discernment, Trusting God, who we are meant to be | Permalink
Posted by Dick Woodward
December 30, 2011
“Where have you come from, and where are you going?” (Genesis 16:8)
The last days of the year are a good time for reflection and resolution. Have you ever had a year that was so bad you could not live with the idea of another year of the same? Are you there now? If you are, you could be ready to hear the question quoted above that God likes to ask people from time to time.
This is the consummate question of direction. It implies that if we do not have a crisis that changes things, we are going where we have come from.
Sometimes we are the thing that needs to change. Jeremiah actually mocks us for trying to change ourselves: “Why do you gad about so much to change your ways? … Can the Ethiopian change the color of his skin or the leopard its spots? Then may you also do good, who are accustomed to doing evil” (Jeremiah 2:36; 13:23).
There is a big difference between trying to change ourselves and being changed by God. Unless we are changed by God, or God changes what only He can change, we’re trapped in a cycle of going where we have come from.
With great spiritual discernment David asked God to create in him a new heart and God answered that prayer for him (Psalm 51:10). God can do that today. We’re not doomed to that cycle of going where we have come from. We can be changed and God can change the things that must change so we will not go where we have come from next year.
Confess that you can’t change yourself or your circumstances, but believe God can as you enter the New Year… then watch at God work in 2012.
Leave a Comment » | Uncategorized | Tagged: Faith in Crisis, Faith in God, Genesis 16:8, God at Work, God changing you, Hope, New Year's Questions, Spiritual Discernment | Permalink
Posted by Dick Woodward
4SpiritualSecrets 