The First and the Last
Isaiah 41:4
4"Who has performed and accomplished it,
Calling forth the generations from the beginning?
'I, the LORD, am the first, and the last...I am He.'"
God is both the question and the answer. He is the beginning and the end. When I seek God in prayer, I must seek him in this order. He is the first and the last. The Alpha and the Omega.
When I put me first I am truly not seeking God. Even when I put me last, I am truly not seeking God. I must understand that it is His will that I should be accomplishing through my prayer. And that requires the prayer to acknowledge that God's desired will for my life is the first and the last.
There is no value to selfish prayer. In fact, there is danger to selfish prayer. For God may listen and grant what I prayed for, yet in the end, it may be disastrous. His permissive will allows us to insist of our will at times and then when folly strikes, we want to blame Him when in truth we ourselves are to blame.
Allowing God to be first and last in our lives is allowing the Spirit of Love, Truth, and Forgiveness to be first in last in our lives, for that is the nature of who God is.
4"Who has performed and accomplished it,
Calling forth the generations from the beginning?
'I, the LORD, am the first, and the last...I am He.'"
God is both the question and the answer. He is the beginning and the end. When I seek God in prayer, I must seek him in this order. He is the first and the last. The Alpha and the Omega.
When I put me first I am truly not seeking God. Even when I put me last, I am truly not seeking God. I must understand that it is His will that I should be accomplishing through my prayer. And that requires the prayer to acknowledge that God's desired will for my life is the first and the last.
There is no value to selfish prayer. In fact, there is danger to selfish prayer. For God may listen and grant what I prayed for, yet in the end, it may be disastrous. His permissive will allows us to insist of our will at times and then when folly strikes, we want to blame Him when in truth we ourselves are to blame.
Allowing God to be first and last in our lives is allowing the Spirit of Love, Truth, and Forgiveness to be first in last in our lives, for that is the nature of who God is.