praying effectively: Hear and Listen (Micah 1)

(Micah 1:1-3)  The word of the Lord which came to Micah of Moresheth in the days of Jotham, Ahaz and Hezekiah, kings of Judah, which he saw concerning Samaria and Jerusalem.

2 Hear, O peoples, all of you; listen, O earth and all it contains, and let the Lord God be a witness against you, the Lord from His holy temple.
3 For behold, the Lord is coming forth from His place. He will come down and tread on the high places of the earth.

Reminder:  "praying effectively" involves knowing God's will.  When we pray in His will (in His name), He may choose to not answer those prayers in the time period that we would like, or HOW we would like - but He will answer those prayers!

It is God's will:

- that we all hear and listen (1:2)

- that we become believers so we have God as our defense attorney as well as our just judge (1:2)

Today's prayer:

Dear Lord Jesus, thank You for being my defense attorney.  Because of that, there is nothing that can separate me from You and salvation.  And when I stand before You as my Judge, You will not judge me by my sins, but by my good deeds, because You have forgiven me and have chosen to remember my sins no more.  

The good deeds that stand the test of fire are the ones which have been done with the right motives - and I will be rewarded for those.  The right movies are the good deeds done in Your love.  This is all because of You.  You deserve all the glory.  

You will also act as judge to everyone who is not a believer.  You will one day judge them according to their sins, and bring true justice to the world.  Convict the hearts of the unsaved so that they can see their need for Your salvation.  And not just salvation, we need Your guidance everyday.  

Help us continue to grow in our faith, and fill us more and more with Your love, so that the things we do are done with the right movies in order to live in Your will and bring glory to You.  Amen.