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Are we Connected with the Lord?

Discussion in 'General Baptist Discussions' started by Salty, Aug 11, 2015.

  1. Salty

    Salty 20,000 Posts Club
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    From another thread:
    So then Meet and Greet what else should we be doing to have a closer intimacy with the Lord.
     
  2. Use of Time

    Use of Time Well-Known Member
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    Where are these churches that have "stopped" praying as a means of worship?
     
  3. Salty

    Salty 20,000 Posts Club
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    They might be praying - but only out of habit. As I said - I have recently been at two churches recently that fall into this category.

    Are Christians taking to hear what Bob Jones III said ( see my signature quotes)
     
  4. Revmitchell

    Revmitchell Well-Known Member
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    Here is a related question:

    What is the goal and purpose of prayer?
     
  5. Servent

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    Better question? What are you doing as an individual doing to change it.
     
  6. wpe3bql

    wpe3bql Member

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    Nehemiah displayed what I consider to be a man who had very good prayer connection with God.

    When he heard of the tragic condition into which Jerusalem had deteriorated, he prayed to God, but first he repented--even though up to that time he'd never even set foot in Judah. He vicariously included himself as a participant in the sinful ways his ancestors and contemporaries practiced & thus God's already-warned righteous judgement fell upon the Jews.

    Moreover, he took his time before acting on what he believed God wanted him to do. He was no rash person with a knee-jerk reaction rather than seeking God's advice before acting. Many well-meaning Christians have been side-tracked in doing what they only thought was God's will when, in fact it either wasn't His will or it wasn't God's timing. Paul wanted to go back to visit some of the churches he founded in Asia Minor & places even more eastern than that. God's HS prevented him from doing what he sincerely wanted to do. Instead, the HS directed Paul to visit Macedonia in Europe, & thus opened the way for the Gospel to be preached in a whole new continent.

    Nehemiah didn't even trust the native Jerusalem residents at first until he was certain they too were behind his wall-building plans. Even then, some of the regions big shots didn't seem to think he should be meddling in the affairs of a city in which he'd never previously set foot. Then there were non-Jews who first sought to belittle his plans, then sought to fight against them. All during this stage, Nehemiah prayed to God for bravery to confront His enemies both within and without Judah. And some of these non-Jewish men were brazen enough to erect images of their own false gods and insist the residents of the Jerusalem environs not only worship these pagan idols, but also allow God's enemies to make room for them in what was left of the Jerusalem Temple!

    In my studies of those who finally did agree to help erect Jerusalem's walls, I found that a good portion of the city's walls were built by people who expected to build their own houses close by where they were busy working on the walls. That's a pretty wise choice. After all, it's only human nature that a person normally would want to do a better job erecting a wall that's pretty much all that stands between him & his own house.

    But even when the city's walls started to take shape, Nehemiah was still confronted with opposition within & without. Some leaders accused him of being a covert rebel against the Persians by charging him with taking people under his authority & initiating an usurpation against Persia.

    In all this, Nehemiah went to God in prayer. God subsequently over ruled the plans of His opponents, the walls were built & God was again worshipped as He deserved to be.

    Nehemiah concludes his book with this prayer: "Remember me, O my God, for good" (Neh. 13:31). I'm inclined to believe God did remember Nehemiah for good.

    Perhaps that's one of the reasons that we, some 2,500 or so years from the time Nehemiah lived, can read his many prayers, and God's many ways He prospered Nehemiah--once a cup bearer in the pagan King Artaxerxes' court.

    Although Nehemiah isn't specifically mentioned in Hebrews 11, he sure fits the criteria of a man whose life was lived by faith in a realprayer-answering God. If we seek after a man whose life was centered on a close prayer-related God, IMHO, we could do no better than to emulate the life of Nehemiah.
     
  7. Reformed

    Reformed Well-Known Member
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    This is one of those topics that can take off in a myriad of directions. Because a local church is made up of many members, we use all encompassing terms to describe the spiritual health of the church, but they may not be indicative of each member. For instance, we may say that a church is not friendly, although there may be individuals in that church who are very friendly and vice versa. But friendliness, or the lack thereof, is the public face of the church on a Lord's day morning.

    Salty is asking, "are we connected with the Lord?" Connected how? If by connected we mean walking in obedience to Christ's commands, then it will take more than a cursory look at a local church. Is the local church in question doing those things that Christ and His Apostles commanded? Is it truly loving one another? Are members bearing one another's burdens? Are they confronting (in love) their fellow brethren when they sin? Are they building into each others lives (discipleship)? Are they fulfilling the Great Commission locally and abroad? Are they fervently praying for God's kingdom to come and His will to be done? I can go on, but I think you get the point.

    I think the Apostle Peter summed it up nicely:

     
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