Can't Live...

There was a song I liked a lot back in the hayday of the 70'sung by Harry Nilsson called "Without You." Mariah Carey sings it nicely. Listen to her rendition. It is a song that could be sung about our relationship with Jesus. We "can't live if living is without Him..."

I spent 48 hours a month ago with many of my staff in prayer and fasting. We spent from morning till evening praying, studying and discussing things about God and prayer. We spent time walking through Andrew Murray's book "Prayer Power." We didn't eat a thing and food fell into the quiet and unnecessary place. It was a supercharged time with the Lord.

Have you ever spent a long time with the Lord, without interruption, just you and him? Have you ever made the investment of building your relationship with him? Do you take time regularly to be with him so that you are changed and transformed? Jesus did this with his Father. He modeled clearly what is needed most.

Have you heard of the Sin of Prayerlessness? Yes it is a sin! Think about it. Prayerlessness basically says, "God I will run my life on my own terms. I don't need you. I can do this all by myself." This is right where the enemy wants us. Remember when you, as a little child, said this to your parents? I'm really glad that my parents didn't buy that reasoning from me.

Prayer is not merely coming to God to ask for something or to get him to do something or just to find out what his will is. It’s not just about filling God in on the details. Prayer is more about Him than us. It is fellowship with God through Jesus Christ, in the power of the Holy Spirit. It is coming into his presence to sit and listen, to ponder and meditate, to be transformed by his love and holiness. It is to come and allow Jesus to have full rule over our entire being. It’s coming to receive power and direction to live right. It is to ask God to do what he already said he would do.

Prayer is for developing intimacy with God. Do you want to know Jesus better? You must pray. Praying will result in love, obedience and worship to God. It results in a stronger family and a stronger church. It results in a greater passion for the lost, leading them to know Jesus personally and bringing them into the church family, where they will grow a maturing relationship with Him. By being close to Jesus we see his passion for needy people who are in darkness and need help. We were created for relationship with God. We must be impacted by Jesus daily.

Sometimes we think that skipping a meal is true fasting. It is fasting from something but the greater reason for fasting is to fast from something so that you can get closer to God. So it's stopping this for that. There's the purpose of stopping one thing that is needed so that you can do another thing that's even more needed.

We forget the great cause of God in our lives. He wants to rescue us from ourselves. He wants to redeem us from sin and Satan. He wants to give us New Life, True Life, Abundant Life, overflowing from life to life into all eternity. When we encounter Jesus, everything changes. Our hearts become FULL and running over. We have a whole new outlook on life. We can live a FAITHFUL life, one that matters. We will receive power from on high to speak our story of Good News. We can now live a FRUITFUL life impacting others for good, for eternity. We become a living spring overflowing, from life to life, unto all eternity.

Why do we think we can do this on our own? We can't live without Him.

May you realize by the time you get to the end of this blog that you need Jesus more than ever. May you determine to get near him right now and in every day. May your life become a bright shining light in this dark world. May it be obvious that you have been near Jesus. Please don't wake up someday and say what Jacob said, "God was in this place, and I did not even know." Genesis 28:10-19.