It's Time to Pray!

      By Tim Cameron

When I say it's time to Pray

what type of praying am I talking about? The kind that is very self centered that it seems that everyone prays? "help me God with this, help me God with that?"

I understand there are times when we get so busy and an issue pops up into our life and we act in that moment and cry out ...believe me I have my moments of crying HELP

But what I'm talking about is a "dedicated season of sacrifice"

what would you be sacrificing? TIME

Time is one of our greatest treasures and there are so many things that want to steal our time....many of them are NOT bad things but they do STEAL time away from OUR First Love

The Lord said "where your heart is there will your treasure be" I guarantee you ..that all of us make sure to keep "time slots" open for things we treasure...shoot I even have a DVR to make sure I can SECURELY know I have something I treasure ...saved to see at a specific TIME

Whether it's a hobby (golf for me) or watching the Dallas Cowboys , Or whatever it is in your lives...We have things we SET ASIDE TIME for

and so saying that...Jesus answered them this question.."what is the Greatest Commandment" "TO LOVE THE LORD YOUR GOD WITH ALL YOUR HEART, SOUL AND STRENGTH"

Now, I with my lips on every occasion will shout "I love the Lord" "He is my first Love!"...but in all truth there are many "times" I don't back that up with the TIME I spend

The Proof of my profession is in my pursuit...whatever You Love YOU WILL PURSUE

Ladies, if it's chocolate...you'll make sure you get it..lol If I have to have chips n salsa..I am the Mexican restaurant that night...I pursue what is in my heart to pursue. NO?

PURSUIT

SEEK THE LORD

We have been told by our Lord to "ask to seek and to knock" ...To Pursue Him that He is a rewarder of those who Diligently Seek HIM!!!

The Apostle said "That I Might KNOW HIM"

Jesus Said this is Eternal Life..."To Know The Father and His Son"

How can our Knowledge and Love for God truly grow without spending special "set apart..dedicated TIMES" in Prayer???

It Can't!!!!!

If you have any relationships that can...tell me?? If I didn't spend TIME with My wife.. "special time" set apart to be nothing but about her and loving her ..then my marriage and that relationship will suffer

my son, If I don't spend "set apart time" playing catch or basketball or just talking...It won't be a healthy relationship

and HOW MUCH MORE should that apply to the One who said our GREATEST commandment is to LOVE HIM WITH ALL Our Heart???

TO KNOW HIM

In the OT (old testament) ....God set forth a pattern that the Children of God and Priesthood of Isreal were relegated to follow to achieve a yearly atonement with God

atonement means to be "at one with"...ONE ON ONE....PERSONAL

Before Sin, God walked ONE on ONE with Adam ....Adam had no knowledge of any kind of weakness or nakedness, UNTIL He stepped OUT of that ONE ON ONE place into INDEPENDENCE and "disobeyed" a single command given to him

If you read the story of what happened at the FALL you will see Adam went outside of His commission and disobeyed and betrayed his relationship with our God ..The Creator and the very moment He did...He realized how very NEEDY he was and how very exposed and naked he was and instantly went and HID....FROM GOD and THE WORLD......HE BECAME FAKE

The next thing to Happen was an ALL KNOWING GOD came and asked this ?....."Where are You?".....It wasn't that God didn't already know the answer

It was He wanted Adam to answer.......

Adam's reality was that he was in hiding ..HIDING FROM GOD

So many of us fail to realize that God is calling us and asking this ? ..."where are you?"

is it because God doesn't know? NO, it's because God is wanting US to realize we are Hiding from Him

in Mathew 7:21-23 Jesus said there would be those who at the Judgement would face this account

21 “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. 22 Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’ 23 And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’

How can an ALL KNOWING GOD look at someone and say "I NEVER KNEW YOU" ?????

It's because those people never came out from HIDING...they NEVER GOT REAL...THEY lived behind a mask instead of being real and honest....they lived a lie

God the Father is seeking a people who will "come out from amongst them" and Be REAL and Seek HIM ....that will take a special set aside (holy) TIME

a time that we will turn off TV sets and iPods and Xbox's and say LORD....this world is screaming for my attention but I'm taking this TIME to set it apart ONLY FOR YOU

I'm going to get alone...I'm going to a quiet and secret place ...where It's ALL ABOUT YOU and I'm going to SEEK YOU

but HOW? HOW DO I CONNECT WITH YOU GOD?

In Old Testament Times, BEFORE CHRIST (BC)....the ONLY way to God was through sacrifices of doves, goats, sheep, cattle .... without blemish but those sacrifices only made atonement for that particular years sins..but did NOT grant personal access to the Father's personal ONE ON ONE presence

NO,, that was reserved for ONLY ONE PERSON on planet earth at the time..THE HIGH PRIEST

but even before HE could enter into GOD'S PRESENCE...there was a very stringent task that had to be performed

A TABERNACLE had to be built!!!!! A Place of Meeting

That tabernacle was built in three sections

THE OUTER COURT, THE HOLY PLACE OR INNER COURT, and THE HOLY OF HOLIES


The ENTRANCE was called The Gate OR The WAY.....There was NO OTHER ENTRANCE TO THE TABERNACLE than through THAT PARTICULAR GATE

The Bible declares in Psalms that WE must Enter His Gates with "Thanksgiving in Our heart"

If YOU want to enter into a "special time" of prayer....YOU CAN'T do it without first starting with THANKSGIVING

and there is NO BETTER place to start saying "thank You" than realize that JESUS IS THE WAY...He's THE GATE....HE's THE WAY, The Truth and the LIFE....and without HIM ...you'd have NO ACCESS TO THE FATHER...

so when You truly want to touch God and want to come out from HIDING...start by saying "thank You"

In the Outer Court ..there was an altar and there was a place to make "sacrifices" for sins

In Psalms ...David asked this ?

who may ascend unto the Presence or the Hill of the Lord?

He who has clean hands and a pure heart

If You are sincere in Pursuing "special" (HOLY) times with God, You can't do it without confession and repentance of sin

You have got to lay down SIN that's currently RIGHT NOW in your life in confession and saying LORD please forgive me and please deliver me

He will HEAR and HE WILL FORGIVE YOU and HE WILL CLEANSE YOU OF ALL UNRIGHTEOUSNESS

Like in any relationship, If there are "things" between you, you need to get them out in the open and taken care of....

An Altar signifies death

when you pray ...when you Confess Sins and weaknesses, we need to do it with "death" in mind....we need not only confess those sins but also do so with a mindset that we are laying down those things on an altar to be dealt a harsh and deathly blow


So many times this where we camp out in our prayers and never progress because we FEEL so condemned and unworthy

But that's why it's so important to know What God's Word says...

If we confess our sins, HE IS FAITHFUL to cleanse us from ALL OUR UNRIGHTEOUSNESS ....It's Under the Blood

"therefore their now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus"

From This point God beckons us to move past a point of guilt and condemnation into a time of KNOWING our Sins are forgiven and then just fellowshipping with the Lord

In Revelation Jesus says to the Churches..."behold I stand at the door and knock, to them who open I will come in dine with them and them with Me"

He's not talking to the Lost but to the Church

Our God is an Omni Present God, there is No place we can go and hide, BUT for some reason when we decide to Pray we are convinced we have to do something extra special to get His attention

BUT in all Honesty, it's the other way around......all day long, 24X7 He's trying to get Our attention

He desires our undivided attention because He's Jealous for Us, but not in an insecure way...He's Jealous for us In that He knows we were Made IN HIM....as was a fish to water, we are made to live in His Presence NOT JUST VISIT sometimes

He wants Us to LIVE in constant communion with Him, KNOWING sincerely that He Never Leaves US

JUST THINK OF THAT FOR A MOMENT

"There is NO TIME that He isn't with us!!!"

The first few months my son was born, I was sitting in a comfy chair holding him and looking upon him with such love....Overwhelmed really

and while I sat their studying his attributes and feeling such emotion ...I heard these Words...."I Love You MORE!"

Love is not something that we are ... BUT .IT IS something GOD IS....and something He allows to flow through us and experience.....

and He wants us to experience that revelation in a growing way

but again ..How can you ENTER INTO HIS PRESENCE?

by turning off the things that would try and distract you, by setting aside a TIME and creating an altar so to speak...a special place away from anyone else's attention and then saying, I'm not letting any sin or failure to stop me anymore, so Lord I thank You that You are here, ...here's my check list of sin's I know I need to confess

I'm going to take every thought captive ....I don't care if this TV show's on, I don't care if my cell phone's buzzing ..I'm setting this time to seek YOU and YOU ALONE...Make a conscious effort ...It will take one

Once you've told Him Thanks for the many things you would think of and Once You've begun to Praise Him ...HE WILL INHABIT Your Praise...He will be there...It's a PROMISE!!!

It's during these times that I begin to just sing To Him....not about Him or "Christian songs" but rather TO HIM

"I love You Lord, and I lift my voice ...to worship You" .......or "there is None Like You, No One else can touch my heart like You do" and it's during those times...my "christianese" is laid down...all the churchy church talk seems shallow....

I begin to "get real"

Oh Father, thanks for being with Me, I love you so much Lord, I feel so undone, so desperate for You...I need You Lord, I don't trust myself on any level, Please Be at Home with Me, Please Heal this area or set me free here..forgive my timidity"

why does that happen here AFTER I've already confessed my Sins earlier??

Because Once You become aware of His Very Near Presence You can't help but to be exposed and vulnerable and realize How Needy and Undone You are in your own self...It's not really a time of confession but a Time of Growing In HIM....Your realizing Your need to Decrease That He might Increase" in Your Life

and boy will He

The Longer you stay in this place of humility and neediness....He will take your cries and exchange Himself for Your areas of weakness

He will GROW In YOU

and what will that look like?

Every time You Fellowship..."Hang Out with God" and You allow Him to work on You, in no short order He will begin to work Through You...He will take your neediness..."Lord I need this or that" ..He will take that AWAY...and in it's place pour IN His Heart that will Always turn Your eyes off yourself and ONTO Him and then as You are looking to Him...He will put someone else on your heart"

In Genesis Chapter 19....

God was about ready to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah...

On His way to the city ..He stopped and met with Abraham and "dined" with him

during their Visit the Lord said this "Shall I hide anything from Abraham of what I'm about to do to Sodom?"

AMAZING!!!!

During their time...God decided to reveal what was on his own heart...His Wrath was going to be poured out....

what was Abraham's response?? He began to Intercede..."Lord if their be fifty righteous, will You spare the city?"

Now let me ask you this question? Did Abraham have more mercy than God???

NO WAY!!

He had been GIVEN God's Heart of Mercy to Intercede

anytime we "dine" or spend time with God ...He's going to put into our Hearts and lives a heart to intercede for somebody or something

But that ONLY flows out of the most Secret Place....that time Alone with God

When God saves us it's for One reason...To KNOW HIM, but There's Only one reason He Leaves us HERE while we grow in that Knowledge

To allow Him to work through us to reach others

That's why Jesus said when asked "what is the greatest commandment"

"TO LOVE THE LORD YOUR GOD AND TO LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF"

Everybody.....It's time to Pray and Seek the Lord while He may be found...and While we are seeking ..Know He wants to pour out His Heart and Spirit in us and through to us to a lost and dying world right there around us