Category: Prayer

How Normal People Hear From God-

Lisa M. PriceLeave a comment


The righteous cry out, and the Lord hears- Psalm 37:17 NASB 

Hearing from God.

It’s a bit of a controversial subject. 

Even amongst Christians.  Most non-Christians and some Christians believe only really weird people actually hear from God. Others (both Christian and non-Christian) believe they hear from God all the time concerning every imaginable subject. However, it could be argued some of those messages are questionable at best. 

Sigh. 

God does speak. 

God speaks most often, most directly and most clearly through His word (Hebrews 4:12, 2nd Kings 22:8-11). God frequently speaks through His people (Acts 2:18, Psalm 37:30). Sometimes God speaks in a still small voice that pierces our heart and makes us aware of His leading in a particular area (1st Kings 19:12). Occasionally, God still speaks through dreams (Daniel 2:1-3, Acts 2:17), and every once in a while, God speaks audibly (Luke 3:22, Genesis 16:13).   However, even in the Bible the audible voice of God seems to be more of an exception to how God speaks than the rule. Nonetheless, it does still happen. 

All that being said. 

For all sorts of reasons, most Christians would like to hear God’s voice a little more often.  Hearing from God is how we get direction. It’s how we know we are on the right path and doing the right thing. When we hear the voice of God we feel seen and loved by God. The Bible is unequivocal: God speaks to all His people, not just the weird ones. Sometimes, God even speaks to people who aren’t His people.

The question for those of us who want to hear Him is “what can I do to better hear His voice?”. 

Thankfully, God wants us to hear Him so He doesn’t overcomplicate the process. Following are four simple, basic things anyone can do to get in better tune with God so we hear His voice more often and more clearly. 

It all starts with:

Nurturing and growing our faith-

Believing in God is not requirement for hearing from God. God speaks to atheists, agnostics, heathens and pagans (Genesis 31:34, Jonah 3:3-5, Acts 2:36-38). If He didn’t no one would ever come to know God. That said, believing in God ups the odds of hearing from God substantially. The more faith we have in God the more likely we are to hear God when He does speak. A foundation of faith also helps us to understand what is directing us to do when He speaks. We grow our faith by becoming rooted in Christ (Colossians 2:7). Spiritual roots grow deep through the regular practice of hearing and reading the word of God (Romans 10:27) and through regular prayer. The more we know the Bible and spend time with God the better acquainted we become with Him. Once we are personally familiar with God and how He operates it is much easier to discern what He’s saying and what He wants us to do with His message.  

Wanting to- 

Okay, so, admittedly this one is bit of a given, however it’s worth stating anyway. God will only speak in an intimate, friendly way to those who sincerely want to hear from Him. If we want clear communication with God we have to keep our hearts open to God. It is possible for our heart to close God without our knowledge or awareness because humans are often self-deceived (Obadiah 1:3, Zechariah 7:12). The best way to keep self-deception at bay and our hearts open to God is to practice regular self-examination and deal with our sin decisively (2nd Corinthians 13:5, Matthew 5:29-31).

Fostering fear of God- 

In the ESV version of the Bible Psalm 25:14 says that “friendship with God is for those who fear Him. He makes His covenant (promises) known to them”. Other versions say God “confides in those who fear Him”, still others say “the secrets of God are for those who fear Him”. They all means the same thing: God speaks most clearly and most intimately to those fear Him. Fearing God doesn’t mean we cower in dread of Him. It does mean we believe what He says enough to do what He tells us to do.  Fearing God also means we understand and embrace the “otherness” of God. Much of today’s teaching concerning God makes Him out to be a slightly bigger, smarter human. This teaching makes God out to be a really nice guy who never gets worked-up about anything. It’s true, God is kind. Kindness is fundamental aspect of His character. However, God is more than just nice. He is also holy, just and righteous. People who fear God embrace all aspects of God’s character not just the ones that give us good feels.  

And finally:

We must obey what we do hear. 

The speediest most effective way to get God to stop talking is for us to ignore His instruction and choose to do our own thing for our own glory. When we quit obeying, the Bible no longer make sense and the still small voice of God goes from still and small to radio silence. Thankfully all we have to do to get God talking again is go back to the same obedience we practiced in the beginning of relationship with God (Revelation 2:4-5). The simple act of repentance brings immediate joy, reopens the channels of communication with God and reestablishes closeness with God (Acts 3:19). 

Breaking Through God’s Silence-

Lisa M. Price3 Comments

The secret things belong to the Lord our God, but the things revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may follow all the words of this law- Deuteronomy 29:29 NIV 

Okay. I’m going to get really real for just a minute and say the quiet part out loud.

Sometimes God feels distant. Really distant.

Like radio silence distant.

This experience can get emotionally and spiritually messy really quickly because a Christian derives comfort, peace and security from knowing God sees their needs and hears their cries (Psalm 61:1-3, Psalm 28:2). Whether it’s through answered prayer, a Bible passage that speaks to our situation or a still small voice that guides us through the complexities of life, anyone who really loves God wants to hear from God (Psalm 63:1, John 10:27).

This is even more true when the going gets tough and life gets challenging, uncertain or just plain hard and sucky.  Radio silence in these moments is beyond discouraging. It can challenge our belief God is good. (Psalm 13:1-6, Psalm 42:9, Psalm 43:2, Psalm 22:1).  It just gets worse when we feel like we are doing our level best to keep the lines of communication open and still—nothing, zero, nada. That still small voice that guides and directs our steps is painfully quiet. 

Sigh. 

Nothing is gained and much is lost anytime we give into the very human temptation to give up our faith, get angry or place all of the blame on God in these moments, nor should we turn to sin or worldly methods of coping to fill our empty places, dull our pain or relieve our frustration in these seasons.  The best thing we can do when we feel God is far away is to keep our hearts open and use our situation as the jumping off place for some self-examination and perhaps some healthy transformation. There are a whole bunch of really good reasons why we don’t feel the presence of God or hear His still small voice, some of those are: 

We don’t want to- 

Sometimes we think we want to hear from God but we don’t. Not really—mostly because deep down in our heart-of-hearts we have a niggling little hunch God might just have something to say to us we have zero interest in hearing.  Most of us have been guilty at some point of desperately wanting to hear from God in one area of our lives while we entertain some ugly sin in another area of our lives. Truth-be-told God usually addresses the sin that’s holding back our spiritual growth before He blesses us with a clear direction or a deep sense of spiritual peace (Hebrews 12:1-2). It’s critical we remember our pride is not worth stunting our spiritual growth over or shutting down communication with the God of the universe (Matthew 5:30, 1st Corinthians 15:34). It’s just not.   

We do and we don’t like what he says- 

Alas, we are all human, and sadly, one aspect of being human is an inclination towards moments of stupidity, pride, willful blindness and obstinacy. Sometimes we do hear from God and we don’t like what He has to say so we ignore Him (Hebrews 12:25). Typically, what happens in these situations is God wants us to forgive someone we don’t want to forgive (Matthew 6:15, Ephesians 4:31, Hebrews 12:15), or He wants us to repair a relationship that would be personally embarrassing for us to deal with. Other times God wants us to look at our own actions in a situation where we have chosen to lay the blame on the actions or attitude of the other guy. Whatever the case may be, it is always in our best interests to ask God if there is something we’re just not seeing when He feels far off.

We’re just too dang busy-

Okay, so this is a big one, because many Christians and almost all Christian leaders have made busyness into badge of honor, an indication of righteousness and a weird little idol in our Christian culture. Busyness in none of those things. The Bible is clear, we are least likely to connect with God when we are spinning around in a flurry of frantic over-activity. Conversely, we are most likely to connect with Him when we slow down and seek Him in a spirit of quiet trust (Isaiah 30:15, Psalm 37:7, Psalm 46:10, Hebrews 4:1). Sometimes all we have to do to reconnect with God is take a day off from our striving and make Him our priority (Jeremiah 29:12-14).

We want to be in charge of how he communicates-

Most of the time God speaks through His word (the Bible) or in a still small voice that leaves an impression on our spirit that we should do or not do something (2nd Peter 1:3., 1st Kings 19:12). God rarely communicates verbally and when He speaks through other people it’s usually just them talking in a wise way that hits home with our situation (Matthew 10:20). It’s fairly rare for a person to get a bold prophetic proclamation that clears up all their confusion concerning a matter. As a general rule we should always look to the “normal ways” God communicates rather than demanding He be dramatic in His communication.

All that being said: 

 God is always with us even when we don’t feel His presence, hear His voice or understand what exactly is going on (Joshua 1:5, Psalm 91:3-4, Hebrews 13:5).  He never leaves us or forsakes us. God is always moving us towards the end goal of being more like Jesus and sometimes the road to that end is a bumpy one where we feel alone even when we’re not (1st Corinthians 15:49, 2nd Corinthians 3:18, Colossians 3:10). In those times must remind ourselves that God’s love never fails and He never walks away. 

Even when He’s quiet. 

The Engine that Fuels Spiritual Warfare-

Lisa M. PriceLeave a comment

 Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus- 1stThessalonians 5:16-18 NIV

Most commentators and teachers agree there are a total of six weapons named in the “warfare passage” found in Ephesians six. 

I respectively oppose the conventional tally.

The traditional weapon count is: the belt of truth, breastplate of righteousness, shoes of the gospel of peace, shield of faith, helmet of salvation and the sword of the spirit (the Bible). 

In my humble opinion:

The Bible is not the final weapon listed in the passage. It is for sure not the end of Paul’s teaching on the subject of spiritual warfare. Verse eighteen begins with an “and”. Grammatically and practically speaking, “and” is never the end of the topic. It is always the continuation of the topic. 

 Here is the text of Ephesians 6:18-20:

And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people. Pray also for me, that whenever I speak, words may be given me so that I will fearlessly make known the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in chains. Pray that I may declare it fearlessly, as I should- Ephesians 6:18-20 NIV

 Prayer. 

Prayer is the final weapon named in Paul’s instruction on spiritual warfare. If the sheer number of times prayer is mentioned is any indicator, and it probably is, then Pastor Paul believed prayer is of the upmost importance (Romans 12:12, 1st Corinthians 7:5, Philippians 4:6, Colossians 4:2,1st Thessalonians 5:17). Nowhere is this truer than when it comes to spiritual warfare. 

The total number of times Paul mentions prayer in this particular context clues us into exactly how fundamental prayer is when it comes to dealing with the dark forces at work in our world (Daniel 10:7-21, Ephesians 6:10-13). Attempting to do battle on spiritual level without prayer is a fool hardy endeavor. Without prayer we lose connection with Jesus who is the spiritual head of the body of Christ (Colossians 2:18, Ephesians 1:22-23). When we lose connection with Jesus we have no one wiser or better leading us. We are forced to lean on our own understanding (Proverbs 3:5-6). Without a vital connection to Jesus our flesh takes over and we live in the natural rather than spiritual (Romans 1:26-32). When we are disconnected from Jesus spiritual discernment becomes impossible and wisdom is a pipe dream. Without the spiritual covering prayer provides we quickly become sitting ducks for the enemy. Satan is relentlessly searching for Christians wandering around without their armor on so he can deceive and devour them (John 8:44, 1st Peter 5:8) 

Yikes. 

Each piece of armor empowers Christians in some way. When we have the full armor on we walk in Spirit and are able to thwart the plans the enemy has for us. Walking in the spirit also empowers us protect and guide others on a spiritual level. In some cases, we are even able to snatch unsaved people from the fire (Jude 22-23). 

Here’s how it works: 

The belt of truth empowers us to know and understand what is true about ourselves, God and other people. The belt of truth protects our most vulnerable emotional, spiritual and psychological parts from the lies of the enemy. The simple act of putting on the breastplate of righteousness reminds us daily that even the best and brightest of humans have literally zero righteousness of their own (Isaiah 64:6).  However, the breastplate does more than remind us of our weakness. The breastplate empowers us to walk in step with Jesus so we can be like Jesus, think like Jesus and do the things Jesus did (Matthew 10:19, Matthew 17:20, Matthew 10:8). 

The shoes of the gospel of peace remind us sharing Jesus is our mission. It’s what we were made for (Matthew 28:16-20). The shoes empower us take the presence of Jesus and the word of God with us everywhere we go. The shield of faith enables us to remember who God is and what He is capable of –even when life is hard and our path feels dark and uncertain (Isaiah 64:5). This knowledge puts out Satan’s flaming arrows of doubt. Every. Single. Time. The helmet of salvation allows us to practice discernment so we can think like Christians in a world filled with hollow and deceptive philosophies intended to lead us away from simple faith in Jesus (Colossians 2:8). The word of God gives us the spiritual knowledge we need to live as productive members of God’s family. 

Here’s the bottom-line truth: 

Prayer is the engine that powers each piece of armor. Without regular prayer and the intimacy with Jesus that prayer provides, a Christian has no spiritual protection, no spiritual power, no practical holiness, no wisdom, no peace of mind and no spiritual discernment (Matthew 26:41, Mark 9:29.  Without intimate connection to the Almighty we will struggle to grow in our knowledge of God (Hebrews 5:12-14). 

We are a flaming-hot defenseless mess. 

And yet.  

Prayer is the spiritual discipline most believers neglect. The average Christian spends slightly LESS than three minutes a day in prayer. That means most of us are asking God to bless our food, our commute to work and maybe our kids. 

No wonder our lives lack power. 

If we want spiritual wisdom, victory over sin, protection from the enemy and to tear down the spiritual strongholds that keep people from Jesus we have to pray (2nd Corinthians 10:4). It really is that simple. Pray. Just start. Go to God and ask Him to show you who He is and who you are in Him. Ask Him to transform you.  Storm the gates of heaven with your requests and petitions for other people (Romans 12:12, Colossians 4:2, 1st Thessalonians 5:17).  Ask, seek and knock (Matthew 7:7-12). You will see things change.

Because a regular practice of prayer will transform people and situations you never thought in a billion years could transform. 

It’ll blow your mind. 

I promise.

What is the Helmut of Salvation and why is it Critical to our Success as Christians?

Lisa M. PriceLeave a comment

Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things- Philippians 4:8 ESV

I am convinced all Christians should make a regular practice of “praying on” the armor of God found in Ephesians 6:10-18.  

However.   

 We have to understand: the armor of God is not some magical incantation or spell we say that shields us from Satan or his schemes. Nor, is it meant to be a rote prayer we pray in hopes of keeping the devil at bay. 

Words in and of themselves do nothing to defeat the dark forces at work in this world (Ephesians 6:10-12).  The “spiritual warfare” passage only contains power if we understand what it’s instructing us to do and then do those things as a part of our regular spiritual routine. We need to pray on the armor of God daily because it is a powerful reminder of how God wants us to live. Praying the armor on tells God we are serious about doing what He wants us to.

Here’s an example: 

Let’s say, I made a regular practice of asking God to put the shield of faith in my hand (Ephesians 6:16)). However, rather than doing the things I know will grow and cultivate my faith, I passively do nothing, or worse—I actively avoid doing things that will help me to grow in my faith.  In that case, asking God to put the shield of faith in my hand is a pointless exercise, a waste of my time and God’s.  Words without obedient action have zero power (Luke 6:46-48, 1st Thessalonians 1:5, 1st John 3:18). 

Seriously.

In order for the armor of God to work we have to understand what each piece is, what it does and what we have to do to possess it. Then we have to actually do the things that make us spiritually strong and give us protection from the schemes of the enemy (Ephesian 6:10-12, 1st Peter 5:8). 

This reality is perhaps truest of the helmet of salvation.  Ephesians 6:17 tells Christians to take hold of or to put on “the helmet of salvation”. Christians NEED the helmet of salvation because our world is literally plagued with disinformation and deception that can render us unable to think biblically (Colossians 2:4, Galatians 1:7-9).

When our minds our protected from the lies of the enemy we are empowered to think like God thinks. We know what’s real and true in a world of disinformation, propaganda and deception (Isaiah 5:20). The helmet of salvation gives us discernment (Malachi 3:18, Proverbs 10:13). Discernment keeps us from being sucked into all the insane worldly philosophies that have literally taken our world captive in the last decade (Colossians 2:8). Philosophies like sexual hedonism, run-of-the-mill hedonism, radical gender ideology, the death movement, Marxism and progressive Christianity. 

When we have the helmet of salvation we see through all the corrupt and faulty ideas our world’s system is built on (Psalm 119:125, 1st Corinthians 3:19-20, 2nd Corinthians 1:12).  Many of the philosophies popular today SOUND good, sensible and compassionate, some appear on the surface to be life-giving and beneficial.  Nonetheless, because these beliefs and values are a byproduct of a fallen world they will inevitably lead a person to hell, literally and figuratively (Romans 1:18-32). 

Sigh. 

When we have the helmet of salvation in place we think biblically, we reason through the issues and problems of life from God’s perspective rather than with worldly wisdom (1st Corinthians 3:18). We have the mind of Christ (1st Corinthians 2:16). The helmet of salvation provides us with the spiritual eyes to see through lies of the culture. When we see the world clearly, we automatically have the power to walk in holiness. The helmet of salvation empowers us to think clearly about God, life and eternity. Then we are able to effectively share those beliefs with the unsaved people God places in our path (1st Peter 1:16-17). 

Here’s the thing though: 

Sadly, few Christians today posses the helmet of salvation and therefore most do not think biblically or see life, people and situations the way God sees life, people and situations.  Christian cannot put on the helmet of salvation unless they make some intentional choices about how they live their lives and what they allow into their minds. This is because the helmet of salvation is a result of wise and righteous living. We get it when we ask God to give us discernment about the things we hear, see and are exposed to. We reap the power of the helmet of salvation when we sow the spiritual in our lives (Bible reading, prayer, obedience) and shun worldly, carnal activities and entertainment. 

We take hold of the helmet of salvation when we choose to believe what the word of God says rather than what our hearts tell us or the world says (Proverbs 3:5-6).

Alas:

We live in a time and a place where we are constantly bombarded with choices and ideas that make it very difficult to think biblically. Possessing the helmet of salvation is as much about what we choose not to do as it is about what we do. The shows we watch, the music we listen to, the books we read, the popular media we consume all impact how we think and what we believe to be true. 

If we wish to possess this particular piece of armor we must make hard choices about what we allow into our hearts and minds. 

When we choose wisely God puts helmet of salvation in place. Our ethics and values are shaped by the word of God and the Kingdom of God.  God’s will is done in us and we are empowered to live out the gospel in such a way God is glorified in us and the Kingdom is furthered through us (Matthew 5:14, Matthew 6:10-11) 

There is no greater reward than that.

How to Process Your own Personal “Day of Evil”-

Lisa M. Price3 Comments

Therefore, take up the full armor of God, so that you will be able to resist on the evil day, and having done everything, to stand firm– Ephesians 6:13 NASB

Ephesians 6:10-18 is, in my humble opinion, one of the most interesting and useful passages in all of New Testament. It focuses on the spiritual realities of being in Christ. Paul wants Christians in every age to understand we are living in a world at war. There is a battle raging all around us for the hearts, minds and souls of people. 

This battle the apostle Paul describes is real. 

It’s not metaphorical or allegorical or symbolic.

There is an actual war taking place all around us in a spiritual realm we cannot see or touch but is every bit as real as the world we can see and touch (Daniel 9:12-14, James 2:19, Mark 1:34). Paul wants Christians to understand that at some point in our Christian walk this war will land on our doorstep in a very personal and painful kind of a way.  

In verse thirteen Christians are instructed to put their armor on and pray diligently because at some point in our lives we are all guaranteed to experience a personal “day of evil”.  The words Paul uses in the phrase “day of evil” poneros (evil) and hemere (day) when used together mean a time (season, period, term) full of trouble, sorrow, evil, affliction and calamity. 

A “day of evil” is a personal attack from the enemy of our souls that will hit us out of nowhere in places and in ways that will cause us extreme difficulty, anxiety, pain, confusion and possibly even create a crisis of faith. If we go into our “day of evil” unprepared due to a lack of prayer or lack of information we will almost surely become casualties of the war. 

It’s that serious. 

Every Christian’s own personal “day of evil” is uniquely theirs. The book of Job tells the story of one man’s “day of evil”. Like Job, our “day of evil” may involve any number of ugly and uncomfortable events that could include but are not limited to:  personal loss, financial loss, betrayal by a friend, spouse or fellow Christian, abandonment, a personal illness or the death or illness of a loved one (Job 1:1-22). A “day of evil” typically involves a whole lot of really awful things striking in quick succession. Every day feels like a new hit. 

It is possible to survive a “day of evil” with our faith intact. In fact, if we handle it right there is a really good chance we will come out of the whole ugly muddle stronger, wiser and with an even deeper understanding of our faith (1st Peter 1:3-9).

However. 

In order to make that happen there are a couple of things we have to keep in mind. First, you cannot allow yourself to fall into the trap of trying to figure out what exactly you did to “deserve” whatever weird and horrible situation you’re dealing with.

 You won’t figure it out.

 Job never did and you won’t either (Job 42:1-5). The harder you try to make sense of why this (whatever “this” is) is happening to you the more confused and bitter you will become. Besides, the answer is probably “nothing”. The enemy will remind you of every awful thing you have ever done in your life.  Remember, Jesus paid for all that so you wouldn’t have to.  It’s also absolutely critical you understand GOD IS NOT TRYING TO PUNISH YOU. That’s not His gig. He doesn’t punish His children for things they don’t understand. 

God is not a jerk. 

You are experiencing whatever it is you are experiencing because you live in a fallen world and terrible things happen even to Christian people in a world as fallen as ours. Compounding that reality, you have an enemy who hates you. He wants to destroy you emotionally, psychologically and spiritually. Satan wants to hurt you so badly you are rendered useless for the Kingdom of God. He knows if he can bring enough discouragement, pain and unfairness into your life in a short enough period of time, there’s a pretty good chance your faith in the goodness of God will collapse like a house of cards in a hurricane (Luke 8:11-14). So, stop trying to figure it out. Asking “why” is a pointless waste of time. 

Instead, of asking God why questions spend time with Him every day and ask Him some what and how questions:

What do you want me to learn from this, God?

How can I be molded into the image of Jesus through this? 

What do I need to understand so I can grow right now?

How can I become more compassionate as I go through this?

 God does not cause horrible things to happen. However, He will use EVERYTHING we experience in this life (good or evil) for our growth and His glory as long as we are willing to cooperate with Him through the pain and confusion (Romans 8:28). 

Remember:

God does not call us to do great things in our “day of evil”. All He really asks us to do is “stand” (Ephesians 6:13). We do that by running to God with our pain and confusion instead of running from Him.

Satan’s Diary- September 2022

Lisa M. PriceLeave a comment

The Lord said to Satan, “Where have you come from?” Satan answered the Lord, “From roaming throughout the earth, going back and forth on it.” Job 1:7 NIV

Dearest Diary,   

 I recently received third-quarter reports from all regions and I’m pleased to report all is well on earth and in hell. 

Seriously.

2022 has been good to me so far.

There are two “pet projects” I decided to prioritize this year and both are off the charts successful. The first is the one I like to call “lies about life”. 

It’s going splendidly! Just splendidly! 

I have convinced the younger generations having a child is the very worst thing that could ever happen to them. Young adults have been raised to believe seeking pleasure is the highest value and self-sacrifice is for idiots. It was beyond easy to convince them parenthood is worse than cancer and prison combined.  Because so many believe this lovely little lie I concocted, those short-sighted chumps will do ANYTHING to maintain the right to kill their own offspring. It warms my icy heart to watch them march around wearing their “I Hate Babies” tee-shirts at their silly little rallies. Such fools! They don’t have a clue! They are so determined to keep abortion lawful they repeatedly vote for bungling and corrupt politicians simply because those politicians have vowed to keep abortion legal. They literally love abortion so much they willingly accept economic ruin to keep it. 

I AM A LITERAL GENIUS! I TELL YOU. LITERAL!

It is now fashionable for firms in the U.S. to provide “comprehensive abortion coverage” for their female employees. Companies pay for both an abortion and the traveling expenses to have the abortion. This as a major win for me AND for the company. The woman is damaged emotionally and spiritually by the abortion (whether she recognizes it or not). This damage is likely to lead to self-loathing and all sorts of other goodies for me, such as addiction, promiscuity and self-harm. 

I just adore addiction and self-harm. 

The corporations who participate in this ghoulish little practice win because they get to promote themselves as do-gooders and champions of women’s rights WHILE they weasel out of paying for the insurance costs for the birth of the baby, maternity leave and insurance coverage for the little parasite after it’s born.  I have no words for how much I adore corporate greediness disguised as good deeds! 

 Some fear losing the “right” to abortion to such a degree they are voluntarily choosing to have hysterectomies or vasectomies. Most are in their prime childbearing years. Such a win! Apparently, those morons haven’t heard of this little thing called birth control! I’m literally laughing out loud as I write this! I literally cannot wait until the day these fools realize what they’ve done all in the name of virtue signaling. 

LOVE!

Speaking of cutting off healthy organs. 

My absolute favorite most treasured project of all time “gender affirming care” is going better than I could have imagined.

It’s beautiful really. 

If a child shows the slightest bit of discontent with their biological gender then an army of school teachers, medical professionals, social workers and trans-activists swoop in to convince the child what they really need to do is explore the “gender spectrum”. 

I just adore the gender spectrum. It’s the best thing I ever came up with. Seriously. I’m a friggin genius. 

The child starts out by “transitioning socially” They choose their preferred pronouns, a new name and begin wearing clothing that matches their new gender identity. It’s very common for the child to decide they really are the gender they have been identifying as. I love this. Seriously, It’s so destructive to the child. It’s beautiful. 

At this point a teacher, counselor, doctor or social worker will suggest the child go on puberty blockers to “pause” natural puberty. The short-term side effects of “pausing puberty” include fatigue, menstrual disruption, headaches, insomnia and muscle aches. The long-term effects are my personal favorite. They can include loss of bone density, loss of fertility and loss of I.Q. So good.

SUCH A WIN! 

Most children who begin taking puberty blockers later take cross-sex hormones. Side effects of cross sex hormones include cardiovascular disease, sterility, cancer, mood swings and psychosis (WIN). The next step is having their sex organs cut off (BIGGER WIN!). Whatever they decide later, these children are left disfigured for life from this “medical care”. If anyone tries to object to this course of action they are assured the child will commit suicide if they are discouraged from transitioning. 

I just adore bullying. 

The child is left infertile by this little social experiment, which will cause them to become bitter towards all the adults who encouraged this idiocy once they grow up. As an extra added bonus they will never experience the emotional growth and maturity that comes with parenting a child! 

WIN! WIN! WIN!

Thanks to abortion, aggressive trans activism, government meddling, a failing economy, divorce, pornography and rampant sexual sin, the family is in tatters. I literally could not be more thrilled with this development. There is nothing I despise more than a happy, healthy, stable family.

Thankfully, most Christians don’t want to hear anything about any of it. It’s just too terrifying and icky. Most are too distracted by their own problems to care about the state of the world (winning!). Few tell others about Jesus. The vast majority have no clue what’s going on in their child’s classroom and more than half of them refuse to vote, the ones who do vote seldom think about or pray about what or who they’re voting for. 

Some don’t even attend church!

LOL! As if they’re going to survive without Christian community and fellowship! If this continues I will be running the whole place in no time! 

Until next time my dearest diary,

Satan 

Six Spiritual Missteps that will give the Devil a Foothold in Your Life-

Lisa M. Price2 Comments


Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour– 1st Peter 5:8 NIV

For a good part of my Christian life I preferred to just sort of ignore the devil and demons.

It’s not like I didn’t believe in those things, but, like most post-enlightenment Christians I simply preferred to focus on the “less weird” aspects of the spiritual realm. Jesus, God, the Holy Spirit and angels were my jam and I would have been perfectly happy to keep it that way indefinitely.

But, then the world went to hell. 

Literally. 

Right before my very eyes.  People began believing the most crazy-town stuff imaginable. People everywhere from every walk of life started claiming there is no such thing as objective truth. People actually started to say out loud we all have our unique little truth we are entitled to believe even without any evidence to back up the existence of our “truth”. However, if your “truth” includes saying or believing the “wrong thing” you would be “cancelled” and lose your reputation, livelihood a the right to live in “polite” society.  Full-grown adults bought into the notion that gender is “fluid” and therefore changeable. Universities began offering free tampons to men having their periods. Parents and teachers stopped telling kids that boys have penises and girls have vaginas. Instead, educated people began encouraging kindergarteners to discover their “true” gender.  People were willing to throw a perfectly good country out the window because the founders of that country were fallible human beings who behaved just like everyone else in their era.

Sigh.

Everything went to hell in a handcart and Ephesians 6:12 is only plausible explanation for the madness that has engulfed the world. 

It says: 

“For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.”

 The devil is real. 

He is a created being who turned against God (Luke 10:18). He hates those who love God and it’s absolutely critical we understand his tactics. Satan wants to steal our ministry opportunities, turn us against God and eradicate our influence in this world. He does this through attacks where he plants lies in our minds and tempts us to behave in ways that steal our effectiveness, kill our love for God and destroy any positive influence we have (John 10:10). Satan waits for just the right opportunity to attack us (1stPeter 5:8). We give him the opportunity to do so when we do the following:

We don’t pray, we suddenly stop praying or our prayers focus only on the shallow-

I do not understand everything there is to understand about prayer. However, one truth I do understand is that regular prayer provides a powerful form of spiritual protection (Matthew 26:41).  When we stop praying regularly or never really form a habit of prayer or we only pray perfunctory prayers we give the devil an opportunity to gain a foothold in our thinking (Ephesians 4:27). Once the enemy has traction in our minds he can plant all sorts of foul seeds that eventually grow into deception, dissatisfaction with God and curiosity about sin.   

We wander where we don’t belong-  

There are some places God’s people simply do not belong. Watching other people sin dulls our spiritual sensitivity and can awaken a desire within us to sin. Therefore, serious Christians ought to avoid any entertainment that presents sin as normal or healthy behavior. Being around Christians who are willfully and proudly sinning breaks down the natural desire all Christians have to remain holy and please God (1st Corinthians 5:11). It is spiritually strategic to avoid anyone or anything that makes sin appear attractive (Matthew 13:41, Matthew 18:6-7). 

When our primary sources of information come from the world-

In Colossians 2:8 Christians are warned they can be “taken captive” by “deceptive philosophies”. This is most likely to happen when we get most or all of our information on life, current events and how to do life from those who don’t know God or understand how Christians are to live in this world. There is nothing wrong with an occasional secular book, podcast or seminar. That said, getting all or most of our “how-to” information on living life from worldly sources (including secular counselors) gives Satan ample opportunity to take our thinking captive. Once our thinking is captive our behavior will always devolve (Colossians 4:5, Ephesians 5:15).

When we have the wrong kind of self-focus-

There are two types of self-focus. The first is when we think endlessly about making ourselves happy, being successful and getting our own needs met. The second is when we put our attention on where we need to grow and how we can become emotionally healthier, godlier, wiser versions of ourselves so we can glorify God and make the world a better place. The devil loves the first kind of self-focus but hates the second because the first inevitably leads to self-destruction and a life of sin. While the second always leads to a life of profound joy that inevitably points others to faith in Jesus (Matthew 5:19, Colossians 3).  

When we haven’t submitted our lives or some part of our lives to Jesus-

Seriously. Disobedience and rebellion and refusing to acknowledge or repent of sin are open doors the enemy will always walk through. Deal with those issues (Ephesians 4:27, James 4:7, 1st Peter 5:8). Pronto. 

We refuse to forgive- 

Refusing to forgive leads to bitterness and bitterness makes us more open to sin (Acts 8:23). Satan would be a fool not to take advantage of that kind of opportunity to plant bitterness, rage and every other kind of evil in our lives (Hebrews 12:15). Forgiveness is never easy but is is the most spiritually freeing thing we can do. It is more than worth the effort. It is essential to our spiritual survival (Matthew 6:14-15, Luke 11:4).

For too long most Christians have lived as if the devil is a joke, a fantasy or an exaggeration.

This has resulted in a feeble church, worldly Christians and a world in crisis. We must endeavor to live lives that thwart the enemies plan and take back ground for the Kingdom.  We do that through constant prayer, a commitment to forgive quickly, submission to God, becoming the best version of ourselves and looking to the Bible and other Christians, not the world for answers to life’s questions.  

How to turn the Spiritual Tide-

Lisa M. Price2 Comments

 The hour has already come for you to wake up from your slumber, because our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed.  The night is nearly over; the day is almost here. So, let us put aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light- Romans 13:11-12 NIV

My week began on a spiritual high note.

  Sunday, I attended one of the most moving church services I have ever been a part of. It was a sweet reminder that God is and people are still being transformed by His presence in their lives.

 It was all kind of downhill from there.  

 The rest of the week was mostly just a series of weird and unpleasant reminders life is short, the world is still a dark place and there is no shortage of spiritual work to be done.

 One such reminder came via a long conversation with an individual who was, from a biblical perspective one of the most tragically ignorant people I have ever interacted with. The whole discussion was frustrating, mostly, because this obviously lost individual is fully convinced they already know everything they need to know about God and the Bible. In reality, all they really know is what other ignorant people have told them and precious little of it is accurate or nice.

 Sigh.  

 My heart is still broken for that person. Nothing is sadder than someone who thinks they know everything when they really know nothing.  I was reminded once again that there is a battle raging—not a physical battle— we are not literally at war with anyone. Christians are supposed to be fighting for the hearts, minds and souls of people who do not know Jesus (Philippians 2:25, 2nd Timothy 2:3-4, Ephesians 6:10-17). The shocking number of biblically ignorant individuals in the Western world indicates that we have lost more battles than we have won in recent years. 

 We are losing because EVERY professing Christian, regardless of age, gender or denominational preference is a soldier called to fight.  However, some of our soldiers appear to be woefully ignorant of their status and calling. Others understand there’s a battle but are too busy arguing about stupid, trivial stuff to be of any use to anyone. Still others are simply not in any kind of spiritual shape to fight. They are simply too spiritually weakened due to sin to be of any use whatsoever. Others are so busy chasing worldly squirrels they don’t have the focus needed to fight even the tiniest battles effectively (1st John 2:15). 

Sigh.

 A course correction is desperately needed in our ranks. If we all commit to making a few changes in what we do and how we view the world Christians would become far more effective very quickly. It all begins with:

 Understanding the times we live in- 1st Chronicles 12:32

 Americans live in a culture that is rapidly becoming post-Christian. This is a complex issue but basically it means Christianity is irrelevant at best and stupid at worst to the majority of people in our culture. Furthermore, most churches have done a sloppy job of teaching church-goers what the Bible teaches about most issues. The churches primary responsibility right now is to help both the saved and the unsaved to understand individuals CAN choose to live their lives anyway they wish. However, there is such a thing as “best practices” when it comes to relationships and life choices. Those “best practices” are found in the Bible.  It’s time for Christians to stop majoring on minors and start leading people to the knowledge and kind of living that leads to abundant life in Jesus.  

 Getting in fighting shape-

 This means dealing with the sin in our lives decisively and doing our best to live a holy life (Matthew 5:29 Colossians 3, 2nd Peter 1:3-11, 1st John 4:9).  Getting in shape spiritually means committing serious blocks of time to prayer and learning as much as possible about the Bible and what it says about life. It means knowing ourselves. Every Christian should have a complete understanding of their own strengths so they can be used effectively for the Kingdom. Believers must also have a clear understanding of their own weaknesses so that they are not destroyed by them.

 Aligning yourself with the right people-

 Christians should love everyone but only align themselves with those who believe in inerrancy of the Bible and are willing to live out its principles.

 Putting your armor on-

 Every believer should study Ephesians 6:10-18 in depth and have the entire passage committed to memory. It should be a prayer we pray daily.  For a sample of what I pray click here-

 Engaging the right way-

 It is imperative Christians make a regular practice of getting into the world and interacting with the people in it (Matthew 5:13-16, John 3:17. It is equally critical we do it the right way. Christians should never bully, intimidate or make people feel like anything less than a person made in God’s image.  That said Christians should never be afraid to speak the truth of the gospel with passion.

 We are where we are mostly because too many of us have been spiritually complacent for far too long. It is time for all of us to set ourselves aside and get into the game.

 

Nine Crazy-Bold Prayers Christians Should Pray Everyday

Lisa M. PriceLeave a comment

Lord my God, give attention to your servant’s prayer and his plea for mercy. Hear the cry and the prayer that your servant is praying in your presence- 2ndChronicles 6:19 NIV

It does not take any exceptional insight or wisdom to see that our world has morphed into a flaming-hot-dumpster-fire of a mess in what feels like record time. 

Human life does not have the value it did just a few years ago. Poor neighborhoods in larger cities have morphed into war zones with weekly body and injury counts. One out of every three children conceived is aborted and the body parts of many of those children are peddled for profit under the guise of “science” and “improving life”. The market for sex slaves is booming. Millions of boys and girls are bought and sold for the pleasure of adults who have no regard for anyone or anything including vulnerable children. 

Everybody hates everybody. Name-calling and character assassination are the new normal. One wrong word either spoken or written and the thought police is unleashed. No one is exempt from the hate and nothing is too outrageous to say anymore. Words that were once earmarked for truly dastardly people with proven track records of actual evil, words like racist, white supremacist, Nazi and fascist are now lobbed around with casual indifference at anyone foolish or brave enough to offend the thought mob. Those who hold to a conservative view of morality and truth are hated and no group is more despised than Bible-believing Christians.  

Sigh. 

These are times that are sure to test even the best and brightest of God’s people (Matthew 24:9-13).  Christians should strive to remember two truths about the time we live in. First and foremost, God promised this day would come (2ndTimothy 3:1-5, 2ndPeter 3:3).  There is nothing we are seeing or experiencing that should come as a shock to anyone with even a casual familiarity with the New Testament. Secondly, Christians are told to stand against evil. We are not to run or hide in our bunkers or curse the darkness on social media. Rather we are told to do what we can to fight the evil and then stand brazenly against it (Ephesians 6:13).  The way we stand is through prayer. I believe God is calling His people to pray some crazy bold prayers these days. Following are ten hard prayers every Christian should consider praying every day. 

Pray for the delusion to be lifted- 

2ndThessalonians promises that there will come a day when people will hate truth so much that they will consciously reject God and refuse to be saved (2ndThessalonians 2:10b-11). The result of this reckless rejection of God and His truth is that a powerful delusion will come on the earth causing people to hate truth (all truth, not just spiritual truth) even more.  Christians should do their best to be as much like God as humanly possible. This means we should want people to be saved and we should never, ever delight in the death of a wicked person (John 3:16, Ezekiel 33:11).  Pray the delusion is lifted and people will embrace truth.

Pray for an end to lawlessness- 

A natural consequence of the above-mentioned delusion will be a level of lawlessness that will be unlike anything the world has seen since the days of Noah (1stJohn 3:4, Genesis 6:11). The rise in violence, sexual-slavery, hate groups and the upsurge in attacks against the police are natural consequences of human beings willfully choosing spiritual rebellion over spiritual obedience.  

Pray for genuine racial healing- 

All human beings are made in the image of God. Conflict between the races breaks the heart of God (1st Corinthians 12:13, Galatians 3:28, Colossians 3:11). Furthermore, we will not move forward as a nation without authentic racial reconciliation. 

Pray church leaders will rethink how church is done- 

In recent decades there have been radical changes in the way Christians do church. Church has shifted from a member model designed to train Christians to evangelize unbelievers into a seeker model designed to attract unbelievers to church services. Intentions were noble but outcomes have been less than stellar. There have been very few lasting conversions in recent years and many “Christians” are leaving the faith altogether. Most alarming of all, most believers freely admit they do not feel adequately equipped to reach the lost. We must return to a model of church that attracts non-Christians to Jesus (John 13:35) and teaches and trains Christians to do the work of ministry (Ephesians 4:11-15). 

Pray God will show you your junk- 

Every single person, Christian or non-Christian has junk. Junk is our stupid, sinful and weird ways of relating to God and people.  Junk is bad because it hurts other people and holds us back from maturing into the person God wants us to be. Pray fervently that God will show you your junk so you can repent, change and become the man or woman God needs you to be at this point in history. 

Pray for a movement of repentance in the church- 

God moves when people repent (2ndChronicles 7:14, 2ndCorinthians 13:5). We need God to move, so, pray for repentance. 

Pray for the crazy person who is convinced you’re a racist or a meanie or whatever- 

There is literally nothing worse than being falsely accused of something awful and nothing easier than loathing the people who accuse us falsely. Pray for the haters. There’s a lot of them out there and they need our prayers more than they need our judgment.

Pray for transparency in government and that duplicity will be revealed- 

Seriously. 

Pray for boldness, wisdom and spiritual strength-

What the world needs more than anything is Christians who will use wisdom and sound biblical theology to boldly and lovingly reach out to their friends and neighbors with the good news that Jesus really does love them. People need to know God has the power to transform them into something infinitely better than they are right now.  

Six Reasons Christians Need to Start Preparing for an Uncertain and Possibly Ugly Future-

Lisa M. Price4 Comments

There will be terrible times in the last days. People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God— 2ndTimothy 3:1-4 NIV

I am not someone who worries excessively about the world falling to pieces because my Christian faith enables me to be an optimist, in spite of challenging circumstances. I believe with all my heart God is on His throne is firmly in control of even the messiest and most troublesome of situations (Romans 8:28). 

That being said.

Only a fool would attempt to argue that life is somehow getting less weird and scary than it was just a few short years ago. Just last week my Mother-in-law and I were cracking each other up remembering how we used to wring our hands about how bizarre, awful and generally sinful the world was back in the early 1990’s.

As if. 

We were convinced at the time that there was simply no way the world could get any weirder, meaner or more sinful. We were wrong. The world is far weirder, meaner and more sinful now and the Bible makes it clear that tough times could be ahead (2nd Timothy 3:1-5, 2nd Peter 3:3, Matthew 24:4-14).

We are not there yet. However, it appears that we just might be headed in that direction. There are things every Christian can and should be doing to prepare for that eventuality (more on that later) but first are six reasons every Christian ought to be concerned enough to pray: 

Sixty-four percent of Pastors feel they cannot speak out on social issues-

According to the Barna Research Group most pastors do not feel “safe” speaking out on thorny social issues.  I am not sure if their fear is grounded in experience or if we have all just devolved into a bunch of timid simps. I do know that the church is called to be salt and light in this world (Matthew 5:13-16). I also know that pastors are meant to be the mouthpieces of the church in this world. If sixty-four percent of pastors feel they cannot speak out about abortion, sin, sexuality and issues of fairness without suffering some sort of personal backlash then the world will quickly lose even more of its preserving (salty) influence. 

Socialism/Communism has made a major comeback-

 Despite nearly a century of utter failure communism is being ballyhooed as the salvation of the masses. A lot of people are buying into that line of thinking. This development does not bode well for the church. Communists and socialists have never been big fans of Christianity nor have they had a lot of use for Christians. 

Politics are headed in a dangerous direction- 

In some ways the political climate FEELS slightly safer than it has in the past but political rhetoric is quickly becoming incendiary and scary. Complicating things further, the vast majority of folks vying for power right now are socialists who happen to be very open about their plans to centralize governmental control and squash opposition. The political situation that is emerging right now is bad for anyone whose values do not align with the existing political and social orthodoxy. This includes most Christians.   

Libertarianism is rapidly becoming the new conservatism-

Libertarians believe that nearly everything (drugs, hardcore pornography, etc..) should be lawful and widely accessible for adults (1st Corinthians 8:9). A cornerstone of libertarian dogma is that there should be no laws that hinder an individual’s personal choices (1stCorinthians 6:12, 1stCorinthians 10:23).  This would be a sensible viewpoint if every adult were wise, mature, moderate in their behavior and possessed at least a smidgeon self-control (Romans 3:23). Sadly, in our broken and fallen world a lot of people don’t possess any of those things.  In recent years many conservatives, even some religious conservatives have begun adopting a libertarian mindset. As a result, it is quickly becoming unacceptable even in conservative and Christian circles to say that some things are simply wrong or bad for society.  

The Western Church has lost its moral authority-

We have no one to blame but ourselves. Moral compromise, the prosperity gospel, pathetically feeble preaching and a lack of evangelism have caused the Western Church to lose its moral authority. This has left most of the Western world without a reliable moral compass. Most of Western culture has already bought into the notion that issues of morality are best left up to people to figure out on their own. It is only a matter of time before this view takes an uglier turn than it already has.  

Common sense is now a form of hate speech- 

It is now immoral to say (or even think) that some behaviors are wrong, dangerous or sinful. This development has and will continue to undermine the notions of free speech and free thought. Unless something changes it will eventually become unlawful to speak biblical truth simply because a small minority finds the truth offensive.  

Preparing spiritually for whatever the future might hold begins with accepting that Christians should not expect to be “safe” in this world. Christians are promised trouble, persecution and oppression in this life (John 16:33, Matthew 13:21, Romans 8:35). If by some chance we are not experiencing any of those things we should thank God for that blessing daily. 

As Christians we must learn to fight the ever increasing battles of this world with prayer, righteous living and truth rather than simply depending on the political system to save us.  We will never do that successfully without a healthy relationship with God and other Christians. It is time for Christian people everywhere to band to together, pray like crazy and seek God like we’ve never sought Him before.