The Russian Connection

Ever NOT Known What To Pray?

“The Spirit also helps in our weaknesses. For we do not know what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered.”

-ROMANS 8:26

Only the Spirit of God knows God’s perfect will and thoughts and for that reason we need Him to intercede for us and lead us in our prayers.

In order to pray according to God’s will we need to know what God is thinking and what He wants.

Many times, we can’t perceive those things, but the Holy Spirit does, so He intercedes on our behalf.

• I usually first pray the Word and everything I know to pray in English, and then when I feel like I’ve prayed everything I know to, I pray in the Spirit knowing that He covers all areas I’ve missed.

What a comfort it is to know that God has sent His Holy Spirit to help us in everything, including prayer!

• There is no situation that He cannot work for good as long as we keep praying, loving God and desiring His will! Rom 7:28

 TODAY: 

Ask the Holy Spirit to help you pray.  Even if you’re hurting so deeply that all you can do is groan, the Holy Spirit can even articulate that accurately to God and bring your answer.

 You have a Divine Helper Who is with you all the time,
Call on Him!

THE BEST FRIEND YOU’LL EVER HAVE

 "There is a friend who sticks closer than a brother"
-Proverbs 18:24

1 of the most important keys to effective prayer & an intimate relationship with God
is approaching Him as His friend.

• When we go to God knowing that He sees us as friends, it changes-- everything.

    -It opens up the door to freedom & boldness, which are both extremely necessary to effective prayer.

If you go to God unsure if you’re His friend, or vice versa, you’ll not be confidant enough to really share with Him what’s on your heart, inc all your desires, hopes, fear and wants.

If you have a stiff, distant relationship with God, your prayers can be legalistic.

    --But if we go to Him as our friend, but still keeping that reverence and awe for Him, our communication with Him will stay fresh, exciting and intimate.

A real friendship involves loving and being loved. It means knowing that someone is on your side, wanting to help you, cheering you on and always keeping your best interest in mind. 

It’s someone you value, a comrade, a partner, someone who you want to spend time with and someone you enjoy.

• You become someone’s friend by investing time in them and with them, and by sharing your life with that person.

 TODAY: 

I encourage you to treat God with respect & honor, but treat Him as your friend and learn to communicate with Him as openly and easily as you would with anybody else you’re close to.

He’s the best friend you’ll ever have!

WHEN JESUS SAW THE WOMAN STANDING AT THE WELL DRAWING WATER......

JOHN 4:13, 14 

He answered and said unto her, “Everyone who drinks of this water will thirst again; but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him shall never thirst; but the water that I will give him will become in him a well of water springing up to eternal life.”

Just like our physical bodies need water to live,
our spirits need living water to survive.

  Jesus is the water needed by the spiritual part of man.
-Without Him the soul will eventually die.

 Our souls are thirsty and will try to search for satisfaction and refreshment in many different places, which may quench it for a while, but will eventually leave us thirsty again. 

The truth is that the world can never truly satisfy what only Christ can give you.

• The world will always try to offer you pleasure and promises of fullfilment, but compared to Jesus, it is all just a temporary conterfeit!
  

His Living Water, is the total package of salvation, healing, restoration, joy and everything else that He came to give!

- IT IS A NEVER ENDING SUPPLY OF ABUNDANCE OF HIS GOODNESS & MERCY TOWARDS US WHEN WE INVITE HIM INTO OUR LIVES.

John 7:38- "He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water."

REMEMBER:

The LIVING WATER your soul is looking for
can only be found  in Jesus!

THE 1 DAY CHALLENGE-
CAN YOU DO IT?

PHILIPPIANS 4:6

⁶ Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.

 God responds to a thankful heart just like He responds to praise & worship.

It’s something He loves, something that warms His heart.

Anytime we give God delight like that, our intimacy with Him increases- and that makes for a better relationship with Him.
If we are not thankful for what we have,
why should He give us something else to murmur about?

On the other hand, when God sees that we genuinely appreciate and are thankful for the big and little things, He is inclined to bless us even more!

• According to Phil 4:6, everything we ask for should be proceeded and accompanied with thanksgiving.

A good habit to develop, is that every time we pray, it is full of thanksgiving!

An EX. of this would be “Thank you Father for all you have done in my life. You are awesome and I really appreciate You!!”

• I encourage you to examine your life, to pay attention to your thoughts and your words, and see how much thanksgiving you express.

Develop an attitude of thanksgiving in every situation. In fact, just become overly thankful- and watch as your intimacy with God increases and as He pours out greater blessings than ever before!

TODAY’S CHALLENGE!

Can you go through the whole day without making even 1 complaint?

1 PETER 2:9

"YOU ARE A CHOSEN GENERATION, A ROYAL PRIESTHOOD, A HOLY NATION, HIS OWN SPECIAL PEOPLE, TO PROCLAIM THE PRAISES OF HIM WHO HAS CALLED YOU OUT OF DARKNESS INTO HIS MARVELOUS LIGHT. "

With every generation, there is a change that takes place.  

There is an uprising that carries something new with it and has an effect on our society.

We've seen everything from technology and knowledge to medical information increase all over the world.

&& with it God has a plan for every new generation.

• You've got to seek God for His will for your own life.

• You've got to get His specific plan for you and not follow a plan that someone else has mapped out for your life.

God chose you for this time, because He has a purpose for you, and a reason why you are here at this moment.....

So even when there are times when you might not understand why things are the way they are, trust God that He knows what He's doing, and will lead you in the right direction where you need to go!

TODAY:

Pray & seek God

Aask Him to reveal to you your purpose, and your call for your generation.

FROM SOUR TO SWEET

 CHANGING THE PERSPECTIVE OF YOUR SITUATION

Perspective is a very powerful thing.

It all goes back to seeing the glass half full instead of half empty.

Utalizing the power of perspective can help to bring peace of mind in the middle of conflict.

In hard times, many people resort to a pessimistic outlook on life, whereas in good times, it's common to have a happy-go-lucky outlook; but nothing could be more damaging to the ability of overcome tough times!

• The reality is that we have the ability to choose our perspective on life,

-which means that it doesn't have to be a mere reflection of the moment we are currently experiencing.

Especially in times of duress, it is paramount that we understand and harness the power of perspective.

-Turn your perspective into a tool to over come rough moments, not a tool to perpetuate them.

When we see things from the right perspective, we don't give any way to exaggeration or inflation.

•              Problems no longer seen as big and
  
•              Situations don't seem as overwhelming

  TODAY: 

God has given you everything you'll ever need to overcome & be successful in His Word.

What are you going to choose to believe today?

 

THE STAREDOWN OF LIFE

Is life playing the intimidation game with you?

It’s easy for it to look a little overwhelming & frightening at times.

-But the good news is that it doesn’t have to be.

Comfort can be one of our greatest friends.....
but also one of our biggest enemies.

• It can help to bring serenity and good feelings, but if we’re not careful it can also hinder us from ever stepping out or exploring new things.

Helen Keller once said,

“Life is either a big adventure or nothing at all.”

There is so much that God created for us to see and enjoy, and we should make the most of every day, living it to its full potential.

• If we begin to rely too much on solely comfort, we can start becoming like that the same way spiritually.

If you’re not used to relying on God for different things through out your day, when He asks us to step out and do something out of our comfort zone, it’s going to be a lot harder to do it & really trust Him than if we’d been practicing even in the small things every day.

TODAY:

I encourage you to reach out to someone you might never of met before. Do a random act of kindness for a stranger, introduce yourself to a neighbor you’ve never met.

Life is all about experiencing new things, and learning new things with God as we go!

Living "Weekend To Weekend"

  “They who seek the Lord shall not be in lack of any good thing. “

-Psalms 34:10

There is a famous saying, “living from paycheck to paycheck” when you only have a certain amount to get by with until your next break.

For many people, weekends can be the same way.

-They are a means of escape from the realities of the week.

But you don’t have to feel like the weekends are the only thing carrying you through life.

Christ desires for you to enjoy every part of your life, it’s just the Devil who tries to get you upset and out of joy.

(The weekend countdown!)

The busy activities of today's society can make life seem like a blur.

Most people have a lot of stress, continuous pressure, and really too much to do.

But help yourself by setting priorities.

Start your day with God.

• Before your feet hit the floor in the morning, thank God for the new day!
                                                 or
• During breakfast take a minute and read a scripture to begin your day!

Be determined to make time for God, and you will enjoy every day of your life—not just on weekends, vacations, or sunny days when the weather's perfect.

TODAY:

Walking with God will give you pleasure and relaxation even when you're at work, even while you're not on vacation and even while you find yourself in the middle of the week!

Let Christ invade your every day, and the weekends will no longer be your only source of encouragement!

1 PETER 1; 3

"His divine power has granted unto us everything pertaining to life and Godliness through the true knowledge of Him who has called us by His own glory and excellence. For by these He has granted to us His precious and magnificent promises, so that by them you may become partakers of the divine nature. "

Many times as Christians we can associate Christianity with the wrong kind of humbleness.

We can confuse being humble.......
as not having anything and living a very desolate life.

But the truth is that God wants us to be blessed!

He's provided everything that we'll ever need out of His great love for us so that we'll never have to hurt or live a life of lack ever.

• Through the finished work of the Cross and infilling on the Holy Spirit, we were given all authority and the spirit of God on the inside of us.

So when you're born again, we are filled with the same creativity as the Creator of this Universe, we have the mind of Christ and the Bible says that we are partakers of His divine nature!

It's not just a matter of sitting around on the couch and waiting for gold to start raining down in your living room, it's about applying the principles Jesus talked about in your life and God will bless what you put your hands to!

DEUTERONOMY 8:18 says

"You shall remember the LORD your God, for it is He who gives you power to get wealth!"

TODAY:

Trade in your "poor" mentality for the richness of life that Jesus came to give you- Life, and Life more abundantly!!

IT'S INDEPENDENCE DAY!!!

HAPPY 4TH OF JULY!!!!

It's one of the most fun times all year.

It's the time when America celebrates It's freedom and independence.

July 4th is always filled with everything from fireworks, parades, barbecues, carnivals, fairs, picnics, concerts and baseball games to family reunions, everything that makes America so great!

It's one of the biggest traditions commonly celebrated in the United States.

This year we are doing a BBQ at the house and just having some family over.

I am excited to have the privilege of spending it with my family.

I hope you have a WONDERFUL day and enjoy it to the max!!

Despite it's recent ups & downs, hardships & struggles, 
praise God for such a beautiful country.

-Mikel