“Keep your heart with all diligence, for out of it spring the issues of life” (Proverbs 4:23).
We may hear teaching about the need to pray, fast and study the Scriptures. And we may plead with God for a deeper hunger for him, a closer walk with him, and a greater passion for Jesus. But Proverbs tells us we must reckon with even deeper issues than these. This verse speaks of heart issues, hidden, secret things that determine the life-flow that comes out of us.
Jeremiah the prophet was a man who set his heart to seek the Lord, and the Word of God came to him. Over and over we read of the prophet, “The word of the Lord came to Jeremiah.”
Claiming power in Christ’s name is not some complicated, hidden theological truth. Libraries are full of books written solely on the subject of the name of Jesus which the authors wrote to help believers understand the deep implications hidden in Christ’s name. Yet, most of these books are so “deep,” they go right over the heads of the readers.
You may have had a situation you were praying about but you didn’t seem to get an answer. You may say, “I prayed in faith, believing God, but he didn’t hear me. I waited and waited, but he never answered. How can I surrender my life to God if he doesn’t answer my prayers?”
You may not be angry with God but you have certainly lost confidence, which keeps you from committing your heart to him fully. Therefore, you have stopped prayer and you don’t enjoy the fullness of his blessings anymore.
When I read about the exploits of godly men in the Old Testament, my heart burns. These servants were so burdened for the cause of God’s name, they did powerful works that baffle the minds of most Christians today.
One such saint was Ezra, a man of God who awakened his entire nation to God. Scripture says that God had his hand on Ezra, and Ezra testified, “So I was encouraged, as the hand of the Lord my God was upon me” (Ezra 7:28). God stretched out his hand, enveloped Ezra, and turned him into a different man.
As Jesus spent his last hours with his disciples, he said to them, “Most assuredly, I say to you, whatever you ask the Father in My name He will give you” (John 16:23). Then he told them further, “Until now you have asked nothing in My name. Ask, and you will receive, that your joy may be full” (16:24).
What an incredible statement! As this scene took place, Christ was warning his followers that he was going away and he wouldn’t see them for a time. Yet, in the very same breath, he assured them they had access to every blessing of heaven. All they had to do was ask in his name.
“Do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion, in the day of trial in the wilderness, where your fathers tested Me, tried Me, and saw My works forty years. Therefore I was angry with that generation, and said, ‘They always go astray in their heart, and they have not known My ways.’ So I swore in My wrath, ‘They shall not enter My rest’” (Hebrews 3:8-11).
Do you know Christians who always complain about how inadequate they feel? They constantly belittle themselves and compare themselves to those they admire, thinking, “I’m nothing like him. It’s hopeless for me.”
You may remember the Old Testament story of the Israelite spies sent to scout out the Promised Land. They came back saying, “Yes, it’s a land flowing with milk and honey, but it’s also full of giants and walled-up cities. We’re not able to go up against these people. Compared to them, we are mere grasshoppers” (see Numbers 13).
“Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour” (1 Peter 5:8).
The Bible tells us very clearly that in these last days, the Church of Jesus Christ faces the wrath of an enraged devil. Satan knows his time is short and he is bent on devouring God’s people (see Revelation 12:12). Where does the devil direct his wrath? He is taking aim at families all over the world and his goal is simple: bring ruin and destruction to every home he possibly can.
In the early years of the Church, a great persecution took place. During that awful period, the apostle John was taken prisoner and sent to Rome before being banished to the Isle of Patmos to die. Patmos was a small, desolate place inhabited by only a few other prisoners who had been exiled there.
When John disembarked at Patmos, he was left stranded, forsaken, isolated. He would later write, “I am banished to Patmos for the word of God and for the testimony of Jesus Christ” (see Revelation 1:9).