{"id":1905,"date":"2015-06-24T10:19:51","date_gmt":"2015-06-24T14:19:51","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/prayerplainandsimple\/?p=1905"},"modified":"2015-06-24T10:19:51","modified_gmt":"2015-06-24T14:19:51","slug":"a-prayer-for-a-reality-check","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/prayerplainandsimple\/2015\/06\/a-prayer-for-a-reality-check.html","title":{"rendered":"A Prayer for a Reality Check"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cThis is what God says: Why do you disobey the Lord\u2019s commands and keep yourselves from prospering? You have abandoned the Lord, and now he has abandoned you!\u201d \u00a0 2 Chronicles 24:20<\/span><\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

“If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.” John 15:5<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

That was a Word from God delivered by the prophet Zechariah. It’s a good idea take a look at this and apply it to our lives. Let’s ask ourselves: is there any area in which we find ourselves failing and floundering? The Hebrew word \u201cprosper\u201d means to advance, make progress, succeed, be profitable. Are you stalled in your marriage, finances, relationships, work or health? Then it’s time to reconsider your commitment to the Lord. If we are engaged in our faith wholeheartedly, our lives will work, and things will eventually prosper around us.<\/span><\/p>\n

Jesus took the 600 plus laws that the Jews were obligated to obey and distilled them down to one simple, foundational principle:\u00a0 <\/span>LOVE.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cYou must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind. Love your neighbor as yourself.”(Matthew 22:37-39)<\/i><\/b> <\/span><\/p>\n

If we walk in love with the Lord and with each other, we can keep the door open to our own well-being and to the progress of our lives down to the smallest detail.<\/span><\/p>\n

Father,<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n

Your call to me is not a part-time job, something I dabble in occasionally, once or twice a week in a church building, but rather it is a holy, holistic, habitual commitment. Please forgive my half-hearted attempts to seek you. Today I choose to follow after you with every part of me. To love you from my whole heart, my whole soul, and my whole mind. Renew and transform my mind; remove my stony heart and give me a new one. Help me to delight to do your will. Give me traction once again in my pursuit of you. Place me in a community of like-minded believers who will spur me on to good things. Thank you for your forgiveness, and I believe that I receive now what I am asking: a heart that follows you full-on, in season and out, night and day.<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n

In Jesus’ Name, Amen<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cThis is what God says: Why do you disobey the Lord\u2019s commands and keep yourselves from prospering? You have abandoned the Lord, and now he has abandoned you!\u201d \u00a0 2 Chronicles 24:20 “If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.” John 15:5…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":478,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14,15,7,4,25,3,1],"tags":[1199,498,1197,1741,1102,581,248,1196,1200,1198],"class_list":["post-1905","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-bible","category-bible-prayer","category-daily-prayer","category-god","category-jesus","category-prayer","category-uncategorized","tag-effort","tag-following-jesus","tag-habits","tag-love","tag-loving-god","tag-obedience","tag-prosperity","tag-reality-check","tag-seeking-god","tag-whole-hearted"],"yoast_head":"\nA Prayer for a Reality Check<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/prayerplainandsimple\/2015\/06\/a-prayer-for-a-reality-check.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"A Prayer for a Reality Check\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"\u201cThis is what God says: Why do you disobey the Lord\u2019s commands and keep yourselves from prospering? 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