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First of all it is against human nature to give control to God or anyone else in our live. We are a prideful people that want to do things our own way. We are also afraid of what we will find when God reveals to us what is hidden in our hearts. We don't always like what we find when we go probing into the depths of our souls and then it challenges us to change. The first time I prayed a pray of surrender was actually the prayer of salvation. I have prayed the prayer of surrender many many times and find myself needing to pray it again now. When praying for God to do anything - even to reveal that hidden part of my heart - I expect HIM to do just that. I also know that God is loving and patient and HE will not shatter my life but will be with me every step of the way guiding me and protecting me as GOD brings about a change in my life! Understanding that being a christian - born again - and being a genuine disciple are two differnt things - I believe a genuine disciple MUST pray this prayer.

If God was concerned about me before I was ever born then surely HE is concerned about me now! To know that He was there and formed every detail of my being. He knew the color of my hair, my eyes, my skin. He knew my personality strengths and weaknesses - before I was born while I was still in my mothers womb How wonderful to the mother to know that GOD himself is forming and detailing this child within her body! This can also Bring peace to her to know that God is in control and that there is nothing to fear. He is with her and the child he is forming inside of her. How awesome to know that HE care that much! For the Father of the child - again I would have to say peace in knowing that GOD knows what HE is doing. Our minds can not grasp the kind of love and care that GOD has for us! Words cannot express The fine detail of our lives that HE as an artist carves into us before we are ever born AWESOME and MIGHTY is HE!!

God's hand touches the psalmist by laying HIS hand upon him, hemming him in, guiding him, and holding him fast. Protecting, holding, guiding, loving, taking care of. What an honor to know that God has laid HIS hand upon us. Many times I have felt God's hand upon me. It brings me comfort, peace, lets me know everything is going to be alright. I have felt God's hand surround me in a time of great hurt and pain and a time I wanted to rebel but God held me fast and surrounded me and guided me and kept me from the traps and pits satan had laid for me. He has been my refuge when all around me fell and crumbled at my feet. God is always about my good. Even when He corrects and chastens me ilt is all for my good. He is a great and mighty God! How awesome to know that HE cares for me and has laid HIS hand upon me.

Sometimes we flee because we are not comfortable with God's constant presence. Sometimes it is because we have a desire to do that which is not pleasing to God. Sometimes it is because God is dealing with us about something we need to do for him that we feel we are not qualified to do - or because of conviction about something we need to quit doing. We imagine that God doesn't know what we are doing because we have bought the lie that satan tells us that God is too busy to be concerned about me. He even tells us that if we don't pray or complain that God will not notice the sins and shortcomings in our lives. Yes I have felt this way before but I know now that it is a lie of satan and that God is concerned with every aspect of my life and wants what is best for me in all areas. If I surrender to God then HE will mold me an make me everything that He wants me to be. Often times Surrender is a hard thing because we still think we can handle things ourselves. AKA Pride!

The basis for asking for his healing is that God had promised an heir through him (and this had not happened yet) and that God promise long life to those who had lived righteously before HIM (and Heaekiah had lived a righteous life.) The answer to both of these questions is James 5:16 "The prayers of a righteous man availeth much" Even though God is no respector of people and we are saved by grace, I know that the prayers of a righteous person can produce greater results. NOT self-righteous - but truly righteous. God is a rewarder of them that diligently seek HIM.

The nation was under attack and there was no one to succeed him. If Hezekiah died there would be no leader for the people, even if he assigned someone to take over the role of leadership they would have had no experience. Hezekiah was a part of the lineage of David and if he died without a son - then the lineage would have died with him and the promise God made to David would not have come to pass as it was promised.

Both show God as all powerful and awesome God. A brief realization of the fact that God is God - mighty, awesome, powerful, in control, and God of the universe! If you expect to receive any thing from God you must know who He is and what He can do. You must know His character and His abilities. Is any thing too hard for God. Of course not. But if you don't know HIM you don't know that fact. When you know who HE is then you have the faith to believe that HE loves you and can do all things.

Hezekiah is showing His total dependance on God and also realizing that it is not his fight but God's fight. The insult was directed to God. I believe the priciple is that no matter what the battle is - the battle belongs to God. It's His fight. Satan uses us to get to God and we need to just relax and know that God is in control no matter what the circumstances look like. When I try to fight satan in my own power I loose every time. When I allow God to fight for me I can't help but win! God is all powerful and all knowing and is in control of every situation.

A stingy heart will not give monetarily nor will it give praise to God or any one else If a person feels that what he has is all his and that he earned it, then they will not give God praise for it because they feel the deserve what they have because they worked for it and earned it. If it were not for God we would not have the health or the strength to work to acquire these possessions. It is God who rebukes the devourer from our goods. My relationship with my possessions are simply that I have what I have because the Lord has blessed be and has given me divine favor. It is all HIS I should be able to give and praise freely with gladness.

Oh God you are great and awesome, mighty and powerful, You are the Great I AM, my shield and my fortress. You are my protector and my guide. My strength, my healer. You are Lord of lords and King of kings. I love you Lord. You are my everything without you I am nothing, with YOU I can do all things. For thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory "How Great is our God" by Chris Tomlin "What a Mighty God we Serve"

Praise lifts up and edifies. Our praise to God lifts HIM up and lets HIM know that we know He is Lord of Lords and King of kings of whom none other is to be compared - high above all others We should exalt God because HE is GOD! In our praising HIM it builds up our faith. It reminds US of how great and powerful and loving GOD is. It should say that we know our place. That we know that God is God and we are HIS servants, and we owe all that we are, all that we have, and all that we ever will be to HIM

Our prayers of praise bless God because it shows HIM how much we appreciated HIM and how wonderful HE is to us. It is like our children saying thank you when a parent buys him that special gift. If that child can't say thank you, it may be a while before He gets another. Just to hear us say Thank you! God desires our love. Prayers of praise should tell HIM and show HIM we love HIM Prayers without praise is a Christmas list or a shopping list. A honey do list I need I need I need I want I want I want. I get tired of that from my kids I know God gets tired of it.

To have a broken heart and spirit is to be filled with remorse for the wrong you have done. To be crushed by the knowledge of having displeased God. If you are praying a prayer for pardon you need to be sorry for what you have done and for the breach it has caused in your relationship with God. This is a sacrifice of ourselves. Laying ourselves on the altar of God repenting and trusting God to restore you. We resist a broken and contrite heart because of PRIDE. Our pride keeps us from admitting we have done wrong. Our pride makes us resist saying IM SORRY or PLEASE FORGIVE ME. Pride says what I have done is no different from what any one else has done, its really no big deal. But it IS a big deal because it separates us from the love of God.

Yes it is possible to have a pure heart - The Bible speaks of it - so it is possible. God brings about a pure heart by the cleansing of our hearts with the blood of Christ. With that said with all the religious jargon in the world - exactly how a pure heart comes about is a hard question. I know this - that if I have two dogs and I feed one dog the good dog food and give him plenty of water and excercize and attention and give him good treats, - and I give the other dog nothing and I neglect the second dog and just feed him when it is convenient - which is very seldom - the the firts dog will grow and be strong and the second dog will be weak and eventually die. IF I feed my heart the Word of God and spend time in His presence, and am honest before HIM confessing my sins and my faults, and repent, then I will be doing all that I can to bring about a pure heart. WE MUST DO OUR PART - however IT IS GOD that actually does the purifying. My prayer almost daily is Create in me a clean heart oh God and renew a right spirit within me AMEN

No he does not seek to minimize or to maximize his sins. He is simply admitting to his sins. He is seeing it as it truly is before God. This acknowledgement of sin is essential because only when we can truly admit and confess how very wrong we are can we really be forgiven. So many times we try to hide a part of our sin, to cover it up, or to pretend that it really wasn't all that bad, or to rationalize our sin. We must realize that sin is sin and sin is a stench in the nostils of God who is holy righteous and pure. Thank God He is merciful and kind and forgiving, - but we must confess TO HIM and hold nothing back. We must be honest and up front with God - He knows it all any way. Healing comes from cleansing and in order to be cleansed we must see our sins as they are.

It requires faith to even go to God in prayer in any circumstance. This faith is based on the belief that God is kind and merciful, loving and forgiving. Knowing the Word of God is how one gains faith. Faith cometh by hearing and hearing by the Word of God. IF you have a relationship with God then you spend time in His Word - thus building up your faith. Experience is another teacher of faith. It is a costly teacher - but a good teacher nonetheless. If you have been in these shoes before then you can say God did it before and He will do it again.

He shows persistance by repeatedly petitionling God again and again. Persistence is necessary because 1. it lets God know you are serious about the situation and 2 it keeps you in close communion with God. Yes I have prayed through and it was wonderful. God doesn't always change the situation but He does give us the grace and strenght to endure. HE changes me.

Yes I think that Abrahams boldness pleased God. I'm sure it pleased God to know that Abraham cared enough about others to even petition God to spare them. I think God was pleased also because Abraham had a real relationship with God and that always pleases HIM. God is pleased anytime we come to HIM in prayer. I pray to HIM in the name of Jesus because I know that it is only because of the blood of Jesus that HE hears me at all. HE sees me IN Christ. I am nothing in myself but because I am covered in the blood He hears me and answers me. He delights in my coming to HIM because I am HIS child through and by the grace of Christ. I truly need to spend more time in prayer.

He repeatedly ASKED to speak once more. Repeatedly he let God know that he knew his place that - God was God and that Abraham was a servant of God. He was not demanding but persistant. If all we have is boldness we will overstep our bounds and make ourselves to be higher than we ought. Humans have a tendancy to try to be God in ourselves - but we must never forget that even though we are joint heirs with Christ - we are human and the only reason we are anything at all is because God has allowed it.

The basis of Abrahams argument was that if there were any righteous that God would spare them, and that He would not punish the righteous along with the wicked. He knew God was a merciful God.

God does not change and His Word is forever settled in heaven - however - as a result of our prayers HIS respose to man and mans sinful ways can vary in severity. When a parent is angry and disciplines the child out of anger - the discipline is different that it would be if you calm down and think things through and be rational. Often as a result of our prayers the situation changes and therefore God's reaction or response will be changed as well. God will answer a prayer out of the scope of HIS will with a resounding NO! If we are praying for something outside of the will of God then we need to repent and change the desires of our heart.

If we belive in predestination then there is absolutely no need for prayer because supposedly the outcome is is already determined and nothing you do or say will change it. A belief that our prayers don't matter is a LIE, a FALSEHOOD, a DECEIVING SPIRIT

We should emulate all of it. From reminding God that we are HIS people to bringing up HIS reputation among the unsaved, recalling HIS promises and HIS character and appealing to HIS mercy which endureth forever. Logically he tells God they are YOUR people and if you destroy them the egyptians will say the God is evil and had evil intent all along. To pray the promises of God is to know what the Word of God says about a situation, remind God of the promises, and remind satan as well because he sometimes forgets who he is messing with, remind yourself and therefore build up your own faith about the situation and believing that God will keep HIS word. You can't pray God promises unless you know what the Bible teaches about the situation. The Word tells us what HIS will is and if we pray what the Word says then we won't have to be concerned about whether it is God's will or not you will know by reading and studying and finding out what thus saith the Lord. Therefore doubt has no place and you can stand on the promises of God.

We should ask for forgiveness continually be cause we constantly do or say or think things that are not pleasing to God. we need to ask forgiveness every day for the things that we should have done that we did not do. No one is perfect and non is righteous. We fail and mess up all the time. God is a loving Father who wants to bless us and help us if we only ask. If we have unforgiveness in our hearts then we block the blessing of God. we become bitter and rebellious, and God cannot bless us if we refuse to forgive others. That is a major part of the Christian walk - to forgive those who have wronged us. Christ's prayer on the cross was "Forgive Them". The Word of God plainly says that if we do not forgive others He cannot forgive us. When we forgive those who have hurt us and wronged us then WE are actually the ones being set free. Pride and bitterness no longer have a hold on us once we CHOOSE to forgive.