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Recently, a friend of mine was listening to an old tape of me from the eighties, preaching a message I called "Opportunities." She reminded me of what I said and it blessed me.

At that time, the Lord was speaking to me about the fact that He is always giving us opportunities to move up into higher places with Him. He is always giving us opportunities to mature and expand spiritually. If we take them, we'll go on to greater places in God. If we pass them by, we won't.

And the greatest opportunity God gives us each day is the opportunity to spend time with Him.

Think of that! Every day you have the opportunity to go higher in God. You don't have to wait for a prophet to come prophesy great things over you. You don't have to wait for some specially anointed preacher to come give you a special revelation. All you have to do is take the time to go into the throne room of God and fellowship with Him.

Tend To The Basic Things
You know, as pray-ers, we have to watch ourselves and make sure we don't make the same mistake the church at Ephesus made. We have to be careful as we go higher in God and our prayer anointing and assignments increase that we don't get too big for our spiritual britches. (Do you know what that means? It means to get prideful and think you're too important to tend to basic things.)

We have to make sure that we don't start thinking we've outgrown the need to simply draw near to our Father and fellowship with Him. Because if we neglect the personal relationship with Him that got us where we are today, we will lose that place. We will do just what the Ephesians did and fall from the heights we have attained.

That loss may not show up first in your prayer life, either. It may show up first in your day-to-day dealings with other people. Listen to me, dear one. As praying people, we ought to be the kindest, gentlest, most loving people in the world. We ought to be growing daily into the picture of the 1-Corinthians-13 person.

If we're truly walking in a place of power with God we'll be patient and kind, not jealous or prideful. We'll be considerate of the feelings of others, not rude. We won't insist on our own rights or our own way. And we won't be touchy, fretful, or resentful. We'll hardy even notice a suffered wrong and we'll always believe the best of others.

So let's check up on ourselves. Are we more loving in our relationships with friends and family than we have been in the past? Are we growing in the fruit of the Spirit?

Are we abounding more and more in love, joy, peace, patience, gentleness, goodness, and faith? If not, we're fooling ourselves to think we're growing more powerful in prayer.

Changed in His Presence
Back in 1993, the Lord said something to me that bears repeating. I printed it in the front of my first book, "The Master Is Calling," so you may have read it before. Even so, I think it will bless you to read it again.
"I said you'd be changed in My presence," saith the Lord. "If you have not experienced change in your life, if your old ways are still prevailing, if your old man is still in evidence, you have not spent the time with Me that I desire. It isn't a matter of self-control or disciplining your flesh with no help from Me," saith God. "If you'll spend time in My presence, you will be changed. Your pattern of life will be changed. Your old man will begin to pass away. Your new man will begin to rise in the image of My Son. Your life will begin to bear much fruit. The evidence of your walk with Me will change as a result of spending much time in My presence.

"If you're having trouble getting rid of an old habit, if you're having trouble with your marriage, if your family relationships aren't changing, you're not spending the time with Me that would enable that change to come to pass. Your desire and the motivation of your heart to walk uprightly before Me is a product of becoming so close to Me that you do not want to bring hurt to Me.

"In natural relationships, when you love someone you want to do the right things for them. You don't want to hurt them. Well, as you spend time with Me," saith God, "as you spend time in My presence, we'll develop a relationship that is closer than any earthly relationship. It will shape the pattern of your living. You'll want to conform your ways to My Word simply because it's the desire of your heart. Your life will change, but it will be a product of your spending time with Me."
Until I write you again, keep falling more in love with Jesus through fellowship with Him and remember that you are deeply loved!

Copyright © Mac Hammond Ministries
All rights reserved. Used by permission.

Author Biography

Lynne Hammond
Web site: Lynne Hammond Ministries
 
A teacher and an author, Lynne publishes a newsletter called Prayer Notes, has written numerous books, and currently serves as the national prayer director for Daughters for Zion. Her passion for inspiring and leading others into the life of Spirit-led prayer continues to take her around the world to minister to believers whose heart cry, like hers, is “Lord, teach me to pray!”
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