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Prayer is not meant to change God’s mind, but to change us and align our thinking with God’s.

When we begin our prayer with praise, we take the focus off of ourselves and put it on God. When we pray for God’s will to be done, we take the focus off our desires and put it on God’s desires for our lives.

Jesus taught His disciples to pray, “Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” For those who recite what we’ve come to know as the Lord’s Prayer on a regular basis, it is very important that we never take those words for granted or treat them like a doxology to a commonplace prayer. It is the cornerstone, the focus, and the ultimate purpose of prayer.

Jesus, Himself, prayed for God’s will to be done. In the Garden of Gethsemane, just before his arrest, Jesus prayed, “Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me.” His prayer was so intense, capillaries burst and droplets of blood trickled down his forehead. And yet, as much as He would have welcomed redemption in a way other than the cross, Jesus prayed, “yet, not my will but yours be done.” (Luke 22:42)

I am so thankful that God has not answered each of my requests with a “yes.” My life would be much different than it is today – and I don’t mean for the better. How thankful I am for my Heavenly Father Who knows what’s best for me! He has plans that are “above and beyond all that we ask or think.” (Ephesians 3:20) And in order to hear God speak through prayer, we must allow ourselves to think beyond our limited knowledge, to see beyond our limited vision, and to believe beyond our limited understanding.

Prayer turns our focus toward God and allows Him to rearrange our priorities. It is more than unloading our burdens and enumerating our desires. Prayer sets our agenda. Did you ever notice that Jesus didn’t set His agenda and then ask God to bless it? No! He did only what the Father told Him to do. He “had to go” to Samaria, to the next town, and to Zaccheus’ home for dinner. He also had to delay his journey to see his ailing friend, Lazarus until he had been dead for three days.

Prayer is more than telling God what we want. It is asking God what He wants and then following His lead.

Here is your copy of firstIMPRESSIONS, Volume 8.23. Live for God, on purpose, seeking His will, and then obeying His Word.

Accept No Substitutes!

Imitations. Knock-offs. Copies. Replicas. They are all around us! Instead of sugar, you reach for a pink, blue or yellow packet! Instead of diamonds, you can get cubic zirconia! When cooking, instead of the expensive vanilla extract, you get the bottle artificial vanilla flavoring.

These days, especially with the easy shopping of the internet, you can easily find copies and substitutes for anything you can think of. Often these copies are cheaper imitations of the real thing. And, unfortunately, people have often been cheated when they thought they were purchasing “the real thing” and later find out they have nothing but a worthless copy.

This concept isn’t limited to material goods! For far too many people, their faith walk has been deceptively overtaken as they are only all too willing to accept cheap knock-offs for a real, genuine relationship with our Lord Jesus Christ. There is an all-too-common thinking in modern systems of belief that has exchanged the truth of God for the lies off this day.

Paul said in 1 Corinthians 2:4-5 that his message and his preaching ”...were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit’s power, so that your faith might not rest on men’s wisdom, but on God’s power.”

We cannot afford to allow our faith to be built upon the wisdom of men, but rather upon the power of God! Be sure to join us this Sunday here at WFA as we examine many of the fallacies of today’s popular religion, and learn to “Accept No Substitutes” for genuine Biblical Christianity!

So Beautiful... So Dead

by Ron Hutchcraft

Flowers are always special. They just seem even more special in the winter. A lady who works in my end of our ministry offices had some flowers on her desk. I stopped by to pick up some work, and there I saw these beautiful flowers in a vase. That’s pretty significant. After all, how many times do the words “man” and “notice” ever go together in the same sentence, right? I actually noticed a few more times as I hustled down the hall past her door. Then I actually put on the brakes for a moment and I stuck my head in to smell the flowers on her desk. It wasn’t worth the stop. No smell. They’re fake!

Those flowers can sure fool you. They look so real, but they have no life. Just like so many folks who look like they really belong to Jesus Christ, but there’s no life there. Jesus warned us about this fatal difference in His story about God’s Kingdom being like a wheat field where wheat grows right next to another grass that looks just like wheat. Jesus said no man can tell which is the real wheat until harvest time, or Judgment Day. Then the “wheat” will be gathered into heaven and the wheat lookalike will be burned.

In another place, Jesus describes people who will come before Him on Judgment Day, talking all the right Christian words and beliefs and activities. But He’ll tell them, “I never knew you.” That’s frightening stuff. You can see why the Bible says in 2 Corinthians 13:5, “Examine yourselves to see whether you are in the faith; test yourselves. Do you not realize that Christ Jesus is in you – unless, of course, you fail the test?” The time to realize that you know about Jesus but you don’t know Him is now, not when you’re standing before Him, because then it’s too late.

Just like those artificial flowers that are so beautiful but so dead, it’s so easy to look like someone who belongs to Jesus but not really know Him. Especially if you’ve been around Jesus most of your life. You know the words. You believe the beliefs. You try to do the right things. You go to the right meetings. You give to the right things. And, quite possibly, everyone around you assumes you belong to Him except Jesus. And He’s the only one who matters. That “examine yourself” verse says to make sure “Christ Jesus is in you.” A lot of people have Jesus around them, but not in them because there’s never been a time when they consciously and personally really opened up their life to Him. He can be in your head, but not in your heart. Which means you will miss heaven by eighteen inches. That’s how far it is from your head to your heart. And God says, “It is with the heart man believes and is saved” (Romans 10:9).

One night I went into a church not married. The woman I wanted to marry came down the aisle. We stood in front of the minister. We walked out together, but I left still not married. It was the rehearsal. The next night, same woman, same man, same minister, same aisle, but this time I walked out married. The first night I was just going through the motions. The second night I committed my life to her. Maybe you’ve been going through all the motions of knowing Jesus. But somewhere, you’ve missed the step of saying, “Jesus, I know what you did on that cross was for me. And you’re my only hope. Beginning right here, beginning right now, I am Yours!” That’s when you commit yourself to Him.

If you know you’ve done that, you really do belong to Him. If you don’t know you’ve done that, you probably haven’t. But that could change this very day. And what a relief, what a difference there’s going to be when you are His for real. I want to encourage you to begin a relationship with Jesus Christ so you can be sure you belong to Him. There’s no more going through the motions, because this can be your personal Jesus-day!

The Word of the Concertmaster

Second only to the conductor in importance in an orchestra is the concertmaster, sometimes referred to as the first chair violinist. He sets the standard for the other string players in two regards: bowing and pitch. Before a performance, he decides which bow strokes will be used and annotates his music as such, from which copies are made for the others. And pitch: the concertmaster usually gets an A note from the oboist, and then plays that note as the standard to which the other strings tune their instruments.

Life is full of standards: weights, measures, time, color, and others. Think of what chaos would ensue if standards didn’t exist! There is a standard when it comes to truth as well. Jesus said it best, referring to God’s Word: “Your word is truth” (John 17:17). And the psalmist declared God’s Word to be “settled in heaven.” Because God’s Word is eternal and “settled,” the standard never changes. It remains the “pitch” to which our instruments must be tuned.

If your life feels a bit off-pitch at present, check and see if you are tuned to the pitch of the Concertmaster as revealed in His Word. All truth is God’s truth, and the Bible is the standard by which it is measured.

from Dr. David Jeremiah’s “Today’s Turning Point” daily devotional. www.TurningPointOnline.org

The Power of God

by Alan Smith

The story is told of a hospital’s Intensive Care ward where patients always died in the same bed, on Sunday morning, at about 11 a.m., regardless of their medical condition. This puzzled the doctors and some even thought that it had something to do with the supernatural. No one could solve the mystery... as to why the deaths occurred around 11 a.m. on Sundays.

So a world-wide team of experts was assembled to investigate the cause of the incidents. The next Sunday morning, a few minutes before 11 a.m., all doctors and nurses nervously wait outside the ward to see for themselves, what the terrible phenomenon was all about. Some were holding wooden crosses, prayer books and other holy objects to ward off the evil spirits.

Just when the clock struck 11... Pookie Johnson, the part-time Sunday sweeper, entered the ward and unplugged the life support system so that he could use the vacuum cleaner.

The story isn’t true (despite what you may have heard to the contrary). But the principle is an important one — where there is no power, the results can be deadly.

I am reminded of what Jesus said to the Sadducees when they came to him asking a question about the resurrection. They asked the question — involving a convoluted situation with a man who married seven women who all died — because they hoped to demonstrate to Jesus that there could not possibly be a resurrection from the dead.

Jesus response was this: “"You are mistaken, not knowing the Scriptures nor the power of God.” (Matthew 22:29).

Any time we deny (or limit) the power of God — denying what He can do if He wants to — we find ourselves on dangerous ground. The New Testament is filled with passages which emphasize God’s power. There is power in the gospel (Rom. 1:16), power in the message of the cross (I Cor. 1:18), and power in the resurrection of Christ (I Cor. 6:14).

If you’re noticing that others are spiritually dying around you (or maybe even that you yourself are dying), maybe it’s time to check the “power source.” Are you connected to the One through whom our power comes?

May you be filled with a knowledge of “the exceeding greatness of His power toward us who believe, according to the working of His mighty power which He worked in Christ when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places,” (Eph. 1:19-20). Don’t underestimate (or unplug yourself from) the great power of our God!

This article by Alan Smith, Senior Pastor of the Helen Street Church of Christ in Fayetteville, North Carolina. You can visit his site at http://www.TFTD-online.com

The Devil’s Beatitudes

If the Devil were to write his Beatitudes, they would probably go something like this:

Blessed are those who are too tired, too busy, too distracted to spend an hour once a week with their fellow Christians in Church – they are my best workers.

Blessed are those Christians who wait to be asked and expect to be thanked – I can use them.

Blessed are the touchy, with a bit of luck they may stop going to church – they are my missionaries.

Blessed are those who are very religious but get on everyone’s nerves – they are mine forever.

Blessed are the troublemakers ~ they shall be called my children.

Blessed are those who have no time to pray – they are easy prey for me.

Blessed are the gossipers – for they are my secret agents.

Blessed are those critical of church leadership – for they shall inherit a place with me in my fate.

Blessed are the complainers – I’m all ears for them.

Blessed are you when you read this and think it is about other people and not yourself – I’ve got you.

Moses at the Bat

In the Big Inning...

by Hyman Baras

While baseball is generally considered a “modern” sport, there are references in the Bible that could lead one to deduce that, in fact, there were Giants in those days as well:

And Abner said to Joab, “Let the young men...arise and play before us” (2 Samuel 2:14)
...[and] all the people rose up... (Exodus 33:8)

And Jehoshaphat the son of Ahilud was the recorder; and Sheva was scribe... (2 Samuel 20:24-25)

And they said unto Jephthah, “Come and be our [Captain]” (Judges 11:6)
...and he measured two lines... (2 Samuel 8:2)
And he set the bases... (1 Kings 7:39)

And they stood every man in his place round about the camp (Judges 7:21)
...behold, Rebekah came forth with her pitcher... (Genesis 24:45)

Ehud...the Benjamite, a man left-handed ... (Judges 3:15)
...the children of Israel ...said “Who shall go up for us first...?” (Judges 20:18)
...seek out a man who is a skillful player... (1 Samuel 16:16)
...Judah [shall go up] first... (Judges 20:18)

[And] Judah took... (Judges 1:18)
Three times... (Exodus 23:14)
...and...it was good. (Genesis 1:10)
...and Abram went down... (Genesis 12:10)
...out at the base... (Leviticus 4:18)

And Moses...smote... (Exodus 7:20)
...and... [it] became foul... (Exodus 7:21)

And Moses went out... (Numbers 11:24)
...and none came in. (Joshua 6:1)

And there was not a man left... (Joshua 8:17)

And Miriam was shut out... (Numbers 12:15)

And the children of Benjamin went out... (Judges 20:31)
...and went into the field ... (Numbers 22:23)

And...Aaron waved... (Leviticus 9:21)

And he looked this way and that way... (Exodus 2:12)
...and [he] delivered up... (Numbers 21:3)
...and they ran as soon as he had stretched out his hand... (Joshua 8:19)
...and they fell on their faces to the ground... (Judges 13:20)

Get thee up; wherefore now art thou fallen upon thy face? (Joshua 7:10)
...for it was an error... (Numbers 15:25)
...second and third... (Genesis 6:16)

And Joseph [spoke]... (Genesis 45:3)
...concerning the error which he committed... (Leviticus 5:18)
...make [an] atonement for thyself... (Leviticus 9:7)
Thou shalt fan them... (Isaiah 41:16)

Then Joseph commanded to fill their...sack[s]... (Genesis 42:25)
and...all the people saw it [and] they shouted... (Leviticus 9:24)
“Who can stand before the [Giants]?” (Deuteronomy 9:2)

and...Aaron waved... (Leviticus 9:21)
...and pitched on the other side... (Numbers 21:13)
...and suffered not a man to pass... (Judges 3:28)
...but...the seventh... (Exodus 31:15)
Gideon...smote... (Judges 8:11)
...Israel...at...first... (Jeremiah 33:7)
And Noah went in... (Genesis 7:7)

And there ran a young man ... (Numbers 11:27)
...he turned and went back... (Judges 18:26)
...unto the base... (Numbers 8:4)
...Noah walked... (Genesis 6:9)
Let us go and sacrifice... (Exodus 5:8)

And Moses lifted up his hand and smote... with his rod... (Numbers 20:11)
...the...hide... (Leviticus 20:4)
...a long blast... (Joshua 6:5)
...[outside] the camp... (Judges 7:17)
...[for] an ‘omer... (Exodus 16:36)
And the men of Israel and of Judah arose, and shouted... (1 Samuel 17:52)

as seen in the Smithsonian magazine, June 2008. Hyman S. Baras, a baseball fan and religious scholar, died in 2003. His son Larry Baras granted permission to reprint this essay, which first appeared on the Israel Baseball League Web site.

The Last Impression

On Sunday, the new young pastor arrived at church and found only an old farmer had shown up.

After waiting a while, the disappointed the pastor remarked to the old farmer, “Well, it appears no one else is coming, so we should probably cancel service today”

The farmer, dressed in his Sunday best, looked at the young preacher and said, “Well pastor, I don’t know much ‘bout preachin', but I do know something bout farmin’ and if I went out in the field and found only one cow, I’d still feed ‘em”

This excited the young preacher who preached for the next 45 minutes a fierce fire and brimstone sermon. Afterwards the pastor asked the old farmer what he thought.

The old farmer remarked, “Well pastor, I don’t know much bout preachin', but I do know somethin’ ‘bout farmin’ and if I went out in the field and found only one cow, I wouldn’t give ‘em the whole bale.”

What a tremendous joy and privilege it is to pastor WILMINGTON first assembly of God! But, interestingly, most of the subscribers to firstIMPRESSIONS are not members of WFA, and live quite a distance from Wilmington, Delaware. I want to extend a special “thank you” to each one of you for welcoming me into your “inbox” every week! As always, please feel free to forward your issue to your friends.

I regularly receive email from folks around the world who tell me that week’s issue had something just special for them! One brother writes to say that he uses the articles in firstIMPRESSIONS in his ministry outreach in a local prison. Recently at a ministers’ meeting, I was introduced to someone I had never met, and they looked at me and said “Your that guy that does those emails, aren’t you?!” I just laughed. But, he thanked me, and told me how he regularly uses the illustrations in his sermons.

For those subscribers who are part of our ministry here at WFA, I will look forward to seeing you this Sunday! And for everyone else, if you happen to be travelling down I95 sometime this summer, stop by and say hello! It will be our privilege to meet you face to face!