I Am Afraid

For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind. 2 Timothy 1:7 (NKJV)

  

Alot of times we are afraid of the unknown, we are afraid to step out, we are afraid to come out of hiding. God has not given us a spirit of fear but of power and of love and of a sound mind. So many times we hear and repeat this scripture but do we truly know what it means? Do we believe it when we have to come out of our comfort zone, when we have to speak in public, when we have to do something that seems like the impossible for us.

God has called us to do many things and I believe if He has called us, He has already equipped us. God has given us talents and He has chosen us because He saw the potential and He knows what we can do. If God believes in us, why then don't we believe in ourselves? Why then don't we believe in the ability that God has given? Why then don't we believe in our potential?

Now is the time to arise. It will take time to step out without fear but it is a process. It is a process of recognising that you can't do it on your own, you can only do it with God. We never get to the place where we don't need God to help us through that song or to help us through that speech. We will always need Him but we will always need to step out in faith.

Step out in faith today and do what God has called you to do. Now is the time to spread those wings and fly out of those comfort zones. 

This post is a part of the Five Minute Friday community by Kate Motaung where brave writes gather together to write for five minutes on any word.

Out of Hiding

Come out of hiding, you're safe here with Me. There's no need to cover what I already see.

Come out of hiding. I'm here with you.

Come out of hiding. I go before you.

I created you for this time and this season.

I created you for a very good reason.

The talents, the gifts I placed within you

Is not for dormancy but for intimacy

I placed them within you, for you to give Me glory

I placed them within you, for you to give me praise.

No longer will you hide in the shadows of the night

No longer will you hide in the shadows of the curtains

It's ok to come forward, it's ok to step out

I was with Moses, I was with David

And I will be with you

I already see your potential, I already see your worth

Words may speak saying you are not worth it

You can't do this, you will make a fool of yourself

What will they say, what will they think

These words may herald for a time 

But My word remains forever

My word says that you are fearfully and wonderfully made

My word says that you are a chosen generation

My word says that you were created in My image

My word says that you are peculiar and unique

My words says I love you

I love you in spite of your insecurities

I love you even though you think you are not worth it

I love you to the extent of sending My Son to die for you

I love you even though you hide in the shadows

Come out of hiding. I'm here with you.

Come out of hiding. I go before you.

I created you for this time and this season.

I created you for this very reason.

Are My Prayers Really That Important?

For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous, and His ears are open to their prayers. 1 Peter 3:12 (NKJV)

Are my prayers really that important? Yes they are. Our prayers are important to God and His ears are forever inclined unto us. We are called to pray without ceasing (1 Thessalonians 5:17) but the truth is we are never really consistent with our prayer life. One week, we get up and pray every morning, the next week, we can't even get up.

But what is prayer? Sometimes we think the only time we can pray is if we have a set time and place. We can pray at any time and any where. A prayer is an expression of thanks towards God. It is a conversation that we have with Him. Hearing our prayers and hearing our voice is important to God (Song of Solomon 2:14). God wants to hear us!!

It is true that Jesus forever makes intercession for us and that the Holy Spirit makes groans that cannot be uttered but it is also true that God wants to partner with us. One of the ways that He does that is through prayer. We are heirs and joint heirs with Christ and we have been given the opportunity to make an impact in the earth. Whatever we loose on earth, will be loose in heaven and whatever we bind on earth, will be bound in heaven.

So I sought for a man among them who would make a wall, and stand in the gap before Me on behalf of the land, that I should not destroy it; but I found no one. Ezekiel 22:30 (NKJV)

The enemy understands the power that we have when we pray. This is why he tries to stop us from praying and tries to put everything in our way to hinder us from spending time with God. We have to understand the power and the authority that God has given us. Life and death are in the power of the tongue. Life and death is in the power of your tongue. We just have to speak a thing and see it come to pass.

⁹ In this manner, therefore, pray: Our Father in heaven, hallowed be Your name. ¹⁰ Your kingdom come.Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. ¹¹ Give us this day our daily bread. ¹² And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. ¹³ And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one. For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen. Matthew 6:9-13 (NKJV)

Our prayers are important but how should we pray. In Matthew 6, Jesus gives the disciples a model of how to pray. He begins by acknowledging God, acknowledging who He is, acknowledging His sovereignty. In verse 11, He goes on to say 'give us our daily bread'. Give us understanding and wisdom as we would read Your word daily. Give us a spirit of revelation that we would understand what You are saying to us through Your word.

He then goes on to repent and to ask God for forgiveness. Lead us not into temptation. Keep us as we go along our day. Keep us, sustain us, strengthen us. At the end, He goes back to recognizing who it is all about. It is all about God. It is all about His kingdom, His power and His glory.

There's no one way to pray. Prayer is talking to God. It is telling God what is on your heart and it is agreeing with His heart concerning the things in the earth.
 

³ Then another angel, having a golden censer, came and stood at the altar. He was given much incense, that he should offer it with the prayers of all the saints upon the golden altar which was before the throne. ⁴ And the smoke of the incense, with the prayers of the saints, ascended before God from the angel’s hand. ⁵ Then the angel took the censer, filled it with fire from the altar, and threw it to the earth. And there were noises, thunderings, lightnings, and an earthquake. Revelations 8:3-5 (NKJV)

When we pray, we must remember that our prayers have power. We have a role to play, we can impact what happens in our families, in our government and in our nation.

The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much.