Fear God (3)

Matt 21:13 And He said to them, “It is written, ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer,’ but you have made it a ‘den of thieves.’ ” When Jesus saw people buying and selling in the temple of God He was angry, how much greater will be His anger when He sees a wide spreading of doctrines of men in the pulpit today. So many have no fear nor respect for the word of God, My house shall be called a house of prayer! Then this word came to me;

Psalm 90:11-12 Who knows the power of Your anger? For as the fear of You, so is Your wrath.
So teach us to number our days, That we may gain a heart of wisdom.

Does anyone disagree with this word of God? How many want to pray verse 12, “So teach us to number our days, That we may gain a heart of wisdom“? Where are the people who have wisdom?

Isa 5:20-21 Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil; Who put darkness for light, and light for darkness; Who put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter! Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes, And prudent in their own sight!

Isa 24:1, 3-6 See, the LORD is going to lay waste the earth and devastate it; he will ruin its face and scatter its inhabitants. …… The earth will be completely laid waste and totally plundered. The LORD has spoken this word. The earth dries up and withers, the world languishes and withers, the heavens languish with the earth. The earth is defiled by its people; they have disobeyed the laws, violated the statutes and broken the everlasting covenant. Therefore a curse consumes the earth; its people must bear their guilt. Therefore earth’s inhabitants are burned up, and very few are left.

House of prayer

Here is an example of what is a house of prayer;
It is written, Rev 3:17-18 You say, ‘I am rich; I have acquired wealth and do not need a thing.’ But you do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked. I counsel you to buy from me gold refined in the fire, so you can become rich; and white clothes to wear, so you can cover your shameful nakedness; and salve to put on your eyes, so you can see.
Rev 3:20 Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with me.

Those who fear God will take His word seriously, get together in His house and pray to the Lord in a way similar to the psalms;

Show me your ways, O Lord, show me how to buy from you gold, white clothes and salve, because I am not so sure we have all of them.
Teach me your paths, teach me how to become rich, cover my shameful nakedness and see, for you are God my Savior, and my hope is in you all day long.
Guide me in your truth and teach me, to hear Your voice and open the door, so that You will come in and eat with me, and I with You.

In this way, a lukewarm believer may learn from the only one teacher Christ and hear His voice with his heart. As Jesus promised; John 10:27 My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. This is the way to do God’s will by hearing His voice of instruction. It would be dangerous if God’s children do not hear His voice, in this case we should still pray, as the instruction was written in the word;

Ps 13:1-3 (NKJV) HOW long, O LORD? Will You forget me forever? How long will You hide Your face from me? How long shall I take counsel in my soul, Having sorrow in my heart daily? How long will my enemy be exalted over me? Consider and hear me, O LORD my God; Enlighten my eyes, Lest I sleep the sleep of death;
Ps 28:1 To you, LORD, I call; you are my Rock, do not turn a deaf ear to me. For if you remain silent, I will be like those who go down to the pit.
Ps 143:7-10 Answer me speedily, O LORD; My spirit fails! Do not hide Your face from me, Lest I be like those who go down into the pit. Cause me to hear Your lovingkindness in the morning, For in You do I trust; Cause me to know the way in which I should walk, For I lift up my soul to You. Deliver me, O LORD, from my enemies; In You I take shelter. Teach me to do Your will, For You are my God; Your Spirit is good. Lead me in the land of uprightness.

And we need to imitate Paul’s prayer, as he imitate Christ;
2Cor 13:7, 9, 14 (NIV) Now we pray to God that you will not do anything wrong. Not that people will see that we have stood the test but that you will do what is right even though we may seem to have failed.
We are glad whenever we are weak but you are strong; and our prayer is for your perfection.
May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.

Eph 1:16-20 I have not stopped giving thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers. I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better. I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in his holy people, and his incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is the same as the mighty strength he exerted when he raised Christ from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms,

Eph 3:14-19 For this reason I kneel before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its name. I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.

Phil 1:9-11 And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless for the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ—to the glory and praise of God.

Col 1:9-10 For this reason, since the day we heard about you, we have not stopped praying for you. We continually ask God to fill you with the knowledge of his will through all the wisdom and understanding that the Spirit gives, so that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God,

1Thess 3:12-13 May the Lord make your love increase and overflow for each other and for everyone else, just as ours does for you. May he strengthen your hearts so that you will be blameless and holy in the presence of our God and Father when our Lord Jesus comes with all his holy ones.

1Thess 5:23-24 May God himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through. May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. The one who calls you is faithful, and he will do it.

If Paul had not prayed, what would happen to them? Jesus said, Luke 22:31-32 “Simon, Simon, Satan has asked to sift you as wheat. But I have prayed for you, Simon, that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned back, strengthen your brothers.” In the same way, if we don’t imitate these prayers our faith may also fail and perish in the end. Besides, we have to remember Paul prayed many many times as he wrote, “I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation”, that means we have to keep asking as well.

Since we rarely see people pray like this, we don’t actually know how many have perished already! Although many deceased person are said have “went to be with the Lord”, but these are only personal opinions. Many visible churches can not be called a house of prayer. Some are men’s church. Some may resemble the lukewarm church in Laodicea which the Lord said, Rev 3:17 You say, ‘I am rich; I have acquired wealth and do not need a thing.’ But you do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked.

Many leaders are blind, they know doctrines of men. But they don’t seek God’s will, as they can’t hear His voice. Therefore let’s focuse the Lord’s word, Rev 3:18-22 I counsel you to buy from me gold refined in the fire, so you can become rich; and white clothes to wear, so you can cover your shameful nakedness; and salve to put on your eyes, so you can see. Those whom I love I rebuke and discipline. So be earnest, and repent. Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with me. To him who overcomes, I will give the right to sit with me on my throne, just as I overcame and sat down with my Father on his throne. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.”

Now let’s pray psalm 62 to 64 (NKJV) ;

TRULY my soul silently waits for God; From Him comes my salvation.
He only is my rock and my salvation; He is my defense; I shall not be greatly moved.
How long will you attack a man? You shall be slain, all of you, Like a leaning wall and a tottering fence.
They only consult to cast him down from his high position; They delight in lies; They bless with their mouth, But they curse inwardly. ​
My soul, wait silently for God alone, For my expectation is from Him.
He only is my rock and my salvation; He is my defense; I shall not be moved.
In God is my salvation and my glory; The rock of my strength, And my refuge, is in God.
Trust in Him at all times, you people; Pour out your heart before Him; God is a refuge for us. ​
Surely men of low degree are a vapor, Men of high degree are a lie; If they are weighed on the scales, They are altogether lighter than vapor.
Do not trust in oppression, Nor vainly hope in robbery; If riches increase, Do not set your heart on them.
God has spoken once, Twice I have heard this: That power belongs to God.
Also to You, O Lord, belongs mercy; For You render to each one according to his work.

O GOD, You are my God; Early will I seek You; My soul thirsts for You; My flesh longs for You In a dry and thirsty land Where there is no water.
So I have looked for You in the sanctuary, To see Your power and Your glory.
Because Your lovingkindness is better than life, My lips shall praise You.
Thus I will bless You while I live; I will lift up my hands in Your name.
My soul shall be satisfied as with marrow and fatness, And my mouth shall praise You with joyful lips.
When I remember You on my bed, I meditate on You in the night watches.
Because You have been my help, Therefore in the shadow of Your wings I will rejoice.
My soul follows close behind You; Your right hand upholds me.
But those who seek my life, to destroy it, Shall go into the lower parts of the earth.
They shall fall by the sword; They shall be a portion for jackals.
But the king shall rejoice in God; Everyone who swears by Him shall glory; But the mouth of those who speak lies shall be stopped.

HEAR my voice, O God, in my meditation; Preserve my life from fear of the enemy.
Hide me from the secret plots of the wicked, From the rebellion of the workers of iniquity,
Who sharpen their tongue like a sword, And bend their bows to shoot their arrows–bitter words,
That they may shoot in secret at the blameless; Suddenly they shoot at him and do not fear.
They encourage themselves in an evil matter; They talk of laying snares secretly; They say, “Who will see them?”
They devise iniquities: “We have perfected a shrewd scheme.” Both the inward thought and the heart of man are deep.
But God shall shoot at them with an arrow; Suddenly they shall be wounded.
So He will make them stumble over their own tongue; All who see them shall flee away.
All men shall fear, And shall declare the work of God; For they shall wisely consider His doing.
The righteous shall be glad in the LORD, and trust in Him. And all the upright in heart shall glory.

Pray without ceasing

It is written; 1Thess 5:17-18 (NKJV) pray without ceasing, in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. Now I realize we have to keep praying (include waiting on the Lord) and meditating all the psalms and Paul’s prayers all the time, because our body and spirit have been contaminated by the world. 2Cor 7:1 (NIV) Therefore, since we have these promises, dear friends, let us purify ourselves from everything that contaminates body and spirit, perfecting holiness out of reverence for God.

The more I repeat the psalms, the more understanding I get from the scriptures. That suggest my heart and mind get purified more. Now I can see that reading, praying, meditating and obeying the word of God is the way to get ride of all contamination of the world. For it is written; 1Pet 1:22-23 Now that you have purified yourselves by obeying the truth so that you have sincere love for your brothers, love one another deeply, from the heart. For you have been born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable, through the living and enduring word of God.

This born again is a process which take quite some time. I just learned more on this subject today, it’s the phrase “being saved”, meaning a gradual transformation to be Christ like. It appeared three times in Acts 2:47, 1Cor 1:18 and 2Cor 2:15. Paul described it; Gal 4:19 My dear children, for whom I am again in the pains of childbirth until Christ is formed in you, I have to write it in the next post.

Pray without ceasing is the cross I have to take everyday in order to hear the Lord’s voice, but I failed so many times. I still have difficulty in identifying the Lord’s voice correctly, and still have to learn how to inquire of the Lord. Despite I prayed this verse many times, Ps 27:4 (NKJV) One thing I have desired of the LORD, That will I seek: That I may dwell in the house of the LORD All the days of my life, To behold the beauty of the LORD, And to inquire in His temple. But don’t know why I am still not serious about the word I pray.
May our Savior have mercy on me.