Answered Prayer

On Tuesday, I will have/had hand surgery. Nothing major, however, it will prevent me from making posts for a week or so. I usually write my blog articles on Tuesdays and scheduled them to be posted on Thursday mornings at 2:00 am. This week, I’m writing this on Monday and scheduling it to be posted on Thursday. I don’t know when I will be able to post again but I’m aiming for a couple of weeks.

I’ve been reviewing some key passages of Scripture with a friend the last few weeks. With that review comes Scripture memory review of some foundational verses. The first one is entitled “Assurance of Salvation.” I shared that verse last week in my article about how to do Scripture memory. This week the verse is “Assurance of Answered Prayer.” John 16:24 says, “Until now you have asked for nothing in My name; ask and you will receive, so that your joy may be made full.” The key is in asking according to His name and abiding by His standards and will. When we ask for the things He’s promised us in the Scriptures, He will answer. When we ask for things that are actually good for us, He will probably answer (however, sometimes the things we think are good for us may, in fact, be harmful for our walk and worship with God). When we ask for God’s will to be done, and trust He will work things out according to His plan, He most definitely will answer.

I’ve found the promise in this verse to be true. When we ask in His name, my joy is made full. I find peace and contentment in my life. I find things for which I am thankful. I am abundantly filled with rejoicing and praise. My life is grand and there is so much to look forward to. I wait expectantly to see just exactly how God answers my prayers.

There’s another reason I wait expectantly for the “answers.” Romans 8:26 tells us that the Spirit is praying for us when we don’t even know what to ask: “In the same way the Spirit also helps our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we should, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words.” Since I don’t even know what to be praying for, and the Spirit is praying for me, I may get answers I never expected.

So, I will do what John 16:24 says and pray in Jesus’ name. Then I will wait expectantly to see the grand answers God gives me.

Laughter

I don’t laugh enough. Not for my mental health and, according to some research, not enough for my physical health, either. According to a recent reading in Joy Breaks: 90 Devotions to Celebrate, Simplify, and Add Laughter to Your Life [Clairmont, Johnson, Meberg, Swindoll], laughter is also good for our spiritual health.

The physiological effects of laughing are similar to the physiological effects of exercise. It increases the heart rate, raises blood pressure, stretches muscles in the face and throughout the body, and causes us to breath more quickly sending oxygen to our brains. [Web MD] All those things are good for our physical health. Laughter also burns calories – not enough to give up the stationary bike, but if done enough and for lengths of time, it aids in burning calories. One study showed that laughter raised the heart rate after one minute of laughing as much as 10 minutes of aerobic exercise. I know it stretches muscles because at times (mostly in the distant past) I’ve laughed so hard and so long that the muscles in my abdomen hurt the next day.

The mental effects are readily apparent. While laughing, it is hard to be depressed or angry. The increased oxygen flow may account for the clearer thinking I seem to have after a good laugh. I have a different perspective on the happenings in my world after some belly laughs. I’m able to be more alert and attentive to others after a good laugh. I’m less tired emotionally, too. I seem to have more capacity for other people in my life. Maybe that’s a product of the good feelings I get from laughing with other people. When I’ve been in the mental hospital, the therapists would sometimes try to get us laughing or concentrating on something besides our problems. Amazingly, the problems seemed less important, at least while we were doing something else. Whatever the case, I’ve noticed a change in my mental status after laughing.

The spiritual effects of laughing are talked about in Scripture. Proverbs 17:22 talks about having a joyful heart. It says, “A joyful heart is good medicine, But a broken spirit dries up the bones.” [NASB] And even Job was told, “He will yet fill your mouth with laughter, And your lips with shouting.” [Job 8:22] Ecclesiastes 3:4 tells us there’s “A time to weep, and a time to laugh.” And, what is there to be so joyful about? “what we have seen and heard we proclaim to you also, that you also may have fellowship with us; and indeed our fellowship is with the Father , and with His Son Jesus Christ. And these things we write, so that our joy may be made complete.” [1 John 1:3-4] The fellowship and salvation offered to us by God is reason enough to rejoice and be happy. And laughter is a natural outpouring of great joy.

I’ve been trying to develop a “laugh lifestyle” (Marilyn Meberg) – a lifestyle that is firmly rooted in the joy of Christ. Marilyn’s prayer at the end of one devotion in the book reads as follows: “Lord Jesus, without you our laughter would quickly become hollow and meaninglessness. But you give us reason for being, you give us significance in being, and you fill our being with the awesome assurance that we have been cleansed and forgiven of all sin. Because of the cross, we have been reconciled to you for now and all eternity. Because of that truth we do indeed break forth with rejoicing and shouts of joy. Amen.” If I can keep these truths in mind, laughter will come more easily.

Joy

My prayer for my children today was that they would have joy. The card I have stated the prayer this way: “May my children be filled with the joy given by the Holy Spirit.” The verse given is 1 Thessalonians 1:6, but I also found some good advice in verse 7:

“You also became imitators of us and of the Lord, having received the word in much tribulation with the joy of the Holy Spirit, so that you became an example to all the believers in Macedonia and in Achaia.”

I had two questions in reading this passage. First, how to we gain “the joy of the Holy Spirit?” I think part of the answer is found in the passage: “You also became imitators of us and of the Lord.” As we imitate the people in our lives that have a strong relationship with Christ (as Paul and the other missionaries did), we will gain a sense of joy that comes from knowing God and His plan of salvation for us. This passage also talks about having received the word in much tribulation. Does that mean that unless we experience the hardships we face in this world, we won’t truly know what joy is? I think there’s some truth to that. In my experience, if I feel depressed, sad, angry, dejected, alone, persecuted, etc., it means I’m feeling something. And that means that I’m able to feel and experience things. That leaves the door open to experiencing the “good” or “positive” emotions also. Without the hard times, how would I recognize the good times?

Second, why do we need to experience the joy of the Holy Spirit? This passage also answers that: “so that you became an example to all the believers . . .” Our joy is an example to others of the good God has for us. This is a challenge to me in that I am more often an example of despair than of joy. I need to learn, as my children do, to feel and express joy in my daily life. I am working on that, especially right now as we approach the holiday season. I want to have good memories to share with my children and I want to have joy in my Lord and Savior in such a way that they can see the joy of the Holy Spirit. I hope that will encourage them and cause them to seek after the Savior.

Even as I write this, I’m struggling to be joyful. But then I remember all the things I have to be thankful for and I begin to see my spirit changing. However, thankfulness is a good topic for next week, so I will wait on that for now.