Real Change.  That has been the subject that is going through my heart.  How do I have it and how do I as a pastor help other people receive it or go after it?  One thing I believe very strongly is that real change doesn’t just come to you.  Like, you just wake up one morning and you are a more loving person or you wake up and you are 50 pounds lighter or you wake up and you are more spiritually mature.   No, Real Change only happens when we receive the truth about who we are and recognize we need to Change. 

 

I have found one tool that God has given all of us to have real change and that is prayer.  I can’t describe in words how powerful prayer is.  I don’t know all of what happens when we pray, but I can tell you when I pray my heart seems to be laid open bear and some how I see clearly the area of my life that needs change.  It is crazy.  I have been praying for God to change others and before you know it I am asking God to forgive me and find myself making plans to apologize to someone else.  I am like, “God, no, I came here to talk to you about someone else, not me.”  I have always heard the saying that prayer changes things and I agree with that but more importantly, prayer changes me.  I have never found the change that God has shown me to be harmful to me. Sometimes it hurts my pride, but when I receive what God shows me in prayer and take steps to act on what he has shown me, I have Real Change.

 

James 5:15-16 (NIV)   And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise him up. If he has sinned, he will be forgiven. Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective.

 

Here are a few things that try to keep me from praying

 

• The devil
• Busyness
• Stress
• Worry
• Fatigue 

If you are finding this blog helpful, give me a shout back!