Going into your Prayer Closet PART TWO by Elaine Davenport ( Monday, September 3, 2007)

This is Part Two of a series; Part One can be read in the prior posting.

I walked out of my prayer closet into a fight. I continued to pray in a quiet inaudible voice. I stood in the middle of the fight. The fight broke up almost as if the parties had never been angry. That was four years ago. The two people have been best friends who mutually respect each other ever since. THIS IS TRUE!

* WHEN I TELL PEOPLE THAT I AM A PRAYER WARRIOR. THEY LOOK AT ME AS THOUGH I SAID I'M A LIBRARIAN. Smile. We all like librarians, realize the need for them admire their diligence but we don't want to be one because we question our ability to be patient and sit for long time periods in a quiet environment.

I started a prayer life because I longed to get close to God and know Him. I decided that no one could do it for me. There was no work involved. I thought there would be. A family member told me once: "I don't believe people can really hear from God." I didn't have a response out of respect except to say: "It's true inmost cases."

Maybe what you hear today isn't for today, but when you need it it will be there for you. That's why Jesus talked about the importance of not building a house on a foundation of sand. Let's look at what the message bible says:
21-23"Knowing the correct password—saying 'Master, Master,' for instance— isn't going to get you anywhere with me. What is required is serious obedience—doing what my Father wills. I can see it now—at the Final Judgment thousands strutting up to me and saying, 'Master, we preached the Message, we bashed the demons, our God-sponsored projects had everyone talking.' And do you know what I am going to say? 'You missed the boat. All you did was use me to make yourselves important. You don't impress me one bit. You're out of here.'

24-25"These words I speak to you are not incidental additions to your life, homeowner improvements to your standard of living. They are foundational words, words to build a life on. If you work these words into your life, you are like a smart carpenter who built his house on solid rock. Rain poured down, the river flooded, a tornado hit—but nothing moved that house. It was fixed to the rock.

26-27"But if you just use my words in Bible studies and don't work them into your life, you are like a stupid carpenter who built his house on the sandy beach. When a storm rolled in and the waves came up, it collapsed like a house of cards."

28-29When Jesus concluded his address, the crowd burst into applause. They had never heard teaching like this. It was apparent that he was living everything he was saying—quite a contrast to their religion teachers! This was the best teaching they had ever heard.

Matthew 7: 21-29

Habitat for Humanity builds thousands of homes across the nation. It is an incredible undertaking. They have a book on How To Build a House which cost $24.95. It's a bargain. There is a whole lot involved to housebuilding. You've got materials, codes, those things that make me impatient; they make things level, you need manpower. There's a lot of stuff. Despite all of that Jesus is talking about the location. This carpenter chose to build his house on the sand; perhaps for the sake of scenery; without regard for the risk. Maybe it was cheaper, maybe it was free. Obviously it was easier.

It is certainly easier to come to church once a week if then and hear the Word and get charged up for a short time. However in Mark; it says that The Sower sweth te Word and four different things can happen:

The sower soweth the Word. (THE WORD GOES FORTH; YOU HEAR IT)


15And these are they by the wayside, where the Word is sown; but when they have heard, Satan cometh immediately and taketh away the Word that was sown in their hearts.




16And these are they likewise which are sown on stony ground who, when they have heard the Word, immediately receive it with gladness;


17but they have no root in themselves, and so endure but for a time. Afterward, when affliction or persecution ariseth for the Word's sake, immediately they are offended.


18And these are they which are sown among thorns, such as hear the Word,


19but the cares of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches, and the lusts of other things entering in, choke the Word, and it becometh unfruitful.


20And these are they which are sown on good ground, such as hear the Word and receive it and bring forth fruit: some thirtyfold, some sixty, and some a hundred."


If you read and seriously meditate upon these; it will show you why you can't afford to just come to church on Sundays but that you have to deliberately set out to hear the Word of God and build up your faith and establish yourself in prayer. When an emergency comes for you or someone that you know, you don't want a battery that won't work, you want to be charged up. AMEN.

Just something to think about. There is real power in prayer.