Conference yukon::christian_v7

    Paul:
    
    That was very intriguing, and convicting!!  Have you ever had those
    mornings when you would read the Word, but not pray, and yet patted
    yourself on the back because by reading, you feel you spent time with
    Him?!  I have on many occasions.  I will read the Word and sometimes
    feel proud of myself for getting through the whole Pentatuch or finally
    reaching the Old Testament, of finishing Revalation just to get to
    Genesis 1 again.  I actually do this often and, deceptively, feel like
    I'm doing God the favor when God is trying to reveal himself to me.
    
    Sometimes I have close fellowship with God, sometimes God is asking,
    What's wrong, and I ignore Him.  "Jack, why aren't you talking to
    me?!!"
    Am I the only one here with this behavior?!  Okay, it is vital to
    desire Christ, but How does one do this when one doesn't feel like it
    but they know they are supposed to?!
    
    Seems like my devotionals have to be approached with a different
    mindset.  How do you do this?!
    
    Peace,
    
    Jack

Hebrews 11:6
  6 But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he
  that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a
  rewarder of them that diligently seek him.
  ========              ==========

Sometimes the emotions and self get in the way.  But God
rewards those who dilligently seek Him.

    Jer. 30:13-14a:
    "And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all
    your heart.  And I will be found of you, saith the LORD...."

    Hi All:
    
    Very good verses.
    
    My QT's are a good time for me.  I do seek truth through His Word and 
    search more for Him.  As the Old saying goes however, "Revivals start
    on the knees", and a Daniel I am not!!
    
    Jack

    RE: .1
    
    >Am I the only one here with this behavior?  OK, it is vital to desire
     Christ but how does one do this when one doesn't feel like it but 
     they know they are supposed to?!
    
    No, you're not alone.  I think we all feel this way sometimes,
    we whine and say "I-don't-FEEL-like-it!"  But we aren't told to
    only do what we feel like.  Sometimes we have to go-through-the-motions
    and the desire will come after.  It's like, we can't see the light
    at the end of the tunnel, we think what we're doing is useless, we 
    think God can't hear us or has forgotten about us.  But He wants us
    to step out in faith and do the things He commanded, even when we 
    don't understand, and the blessing will come after we do that.
    
    I include myself in all the "we's" I used in the above paragraph.
    Many times, I don't read the Bible until I'm in bed for the night.
    I'll get comfortable and say, "Lord, please speak to me through
    your Word."  Well, at 11:00pm, after a full day of work & household
    duties, I'm pretty tired.  I'm only awake enough to read for 15-20
    minutes - how can I expect God to talk to me if I'm half asleep?
    I'm not giving him the "first fruits" of my time - I'm giving him
    the leftovers.
    
    There's an Amy Grant song (an oldie, "Too Late"), and part of it 
    goes like this:
    
    		"you may think you can live by your feelings
    		 different every night,
    		 but an emotional religion will crumble at our feet
    		 when we're made to stand and fight"
    
    To paraphrase a verse:  We are to live on every word that 
    			    proceeds from the mouth of God
    
    
    Karen

2 Chronicles 19:9 says of Jehoshaphat 

"And he charged them saying, Thus shall ye do in the fear of the LORD and
with a perfect heart" 

or in the NIV:

"He gave them these orders: "You must serve faithfully and wholeheartedly 
in the fear of the LORD.." 

That 'wholeheartedly' spoke to me.   What else is worthy of a place in our
hearts, when it is at His expence?  The hunger for Him seems to consume at
times, then it fades to something we can live with ....  And the latter is
the one which brings distress, for He is worthy of all I am, and to forget
that is to walk in death.  

His mercy teaches us to love Him, that we might begin to live in His love,
as we will live totally in His loive for eternity... 

That yearning appetite for Him which brings us desperate to the foot of the
Cross also brings us back to His feet, again and again, as He does His
great work within... 

"....He is altogether lovely..."  Song of Solomon 5:16b

							Andrew

    Hi Karen!!
    
    I enjoyed what you wrote and agree with it.  
    
    There is one thing that comes to mind, as I read this though, is asking
    "What or Why" am I feeling this way.   Many answers may come, it could
    be fatigue, stress, sin or rebellion [could be other things too].
    
    Obedience seems sometimes cold and unsatisfactory, when desire isn't
    part of the obedience.  My kids obey when the obedience involves
    something they enjoy doing or know the reward coming as a result of the
    obedience.  They have a much harder time obeying when it comes to
    undesirable tasks... such as, cleaning up after their dog in the
    backyard, or simple household chores which they find boring!
    
    In order to desire Christ, we must intimate our relationship with Him
    through what sometimes is that CHORE we just don't have our heart
    connected to... 
    
    Wow, so many examples coming in my head right now... 
    
    Obedience is doing *exactly* what the Lord commands and doing it
    *happily*... ACTION is the key, do it immediately, JOY you will
    receive, Obedience is the very best way to show that you believe!
    
    [Obedience, Patch the Pirate, kid's series]
    
    When I was stressed out to the max, during my separation and divorce,
    the *last* thing I wanted to do was teach Sunday School.  I knew I
    needed to *do* something, so I volunteered to set up chairs for Jr.
    Church, sweep floors, be a monitor, whatever Bro. Carey wanted me to
    do.  
    
    Bro. Carey, asked me to take the bus girls [the class I'm teaching
    still today].  I looked up at him, and said, "Okay." Just about as
    half-heartedly as I could, cuz it was half-hearted.  Then, all I
    thought about was quitting, saying I had spoke to hasty, etc.
    
    Then, Pastor preached a message entitled Keeping on Keeping ON!!!  So
    for the next 3 months... I OBEYED.. every week asking God to just use
    me, as I knew I couldn't do anything!!!
    
    It was through that *empty vessel*, that He could do *His* work.  I was
    unworthy, I was in the middle of a divorce, I was dirty, and I just
    kept coming back to OBEDIENCE.
    
    Now, 1.5 years later, joy is abundant, because of my obedience, even
    when I desired to quit.
    
    Another Nancy... soon-to-be-common,
    mind dump!
    
    :-) :-)
    

    Excellent Replies!!  Thanks alot for ministering to me!!
    
    -Jack

    Thanks Nancy and Karen.  
    
    Dave

	Jack,

	Our prayer life should not be a burden to us.

	I struggle in much the same way as both you and Karen.

	Fatigue, chores, etc. take precedence over quiet time with the Lord.
	
	I can pray and talk to him all day in the midst of other things
	(in the shower, driving), but when it comes to that quiet time
	at the end of the day...

	I had gotten into a viscious cycle at one time, where I felt
	I should pray, felt I couldn't pray, felt I was less in God's
	eyes for not praying, and round and round.  I felt praying every
	night was something I *had* to do.  It took on the form of a duty
	or a chore.

	Well, with the help of several messages from my pastor (hey, how'd
	*she* know what I was struggling with anyway?), I realized that
	required evening prayers is a work.  

	I should be praying because I desire the Lord, because I love
	Him and want to speak to Him, not because of some sense of obligation.

	So, I love the Lord, I love to speak with Him - why couldn't I get
	into a routine of praying ?  

	Mark 4:7 (Good News)

	Some of the seed fell among thorn bushes, which grew up and choked
	the plants, and they didn't bear grain.

	Nighttime prayer for me has always been what I do before bed.  That
	means after working all day, after dinner has been cooked, eaten,	
	and cleaned up, after the baby is in bed, etc.  The cares and the
	chores of the day are like thorn bushes choking the life out of
	the seed planted in me.  

	Slowly, things are improving, with a long way to go.  I'm learning
	to pray at other times during the day, not last thing.  I can walk
	out of the prayer closet and feel *so* refreshed in the spirit
	when I've put aside some time to pray that is of my choosing, not
	of obligation.

	Anyway, I guess this is a sort of mind dump, too, more to come
	as time allows...

	Karen