Mladen Kekic

I was frustrated with the sins in my life. Why? Why do they keep flowing like blood in my veins? Why does sin constantly creep up behind me like a ghost at nighttime? It is not in my personality to desire to sin? Where then does this disgusting nature come from? Am I the only one that falls when tempted? How do I cure my disease? God give me the answers to my questions. Help me find a way to be strong and find Jesus when I’m in a state of corruption.

These were the kind of questions I asked God when I was meditating last. They were a lot more specific, but I hope you get the point. I was very frustrated. I couldn’t understand why at certain times I feel like God is sitting next to me and at other times I feel like my prayers don’t go past the ceiling. Then I just sat there an listened. In less the five minutes I knew what God wanted me to do. He wanted me to write down some values and disciplines that would help me with my struggles. He wanted me to look at them and practice them daily.

1. Submission- Live for God not for self. Do more for others then for self. Do things others want not the things I want. Learn not to care about self fulfilment. Be a servant.

2. Pray- Center life around prayer. Start day and finish it with prayer. Meditate and listen more so then pray. To pray is to understand. Belive with all your heart and soul that prayer works. Pray about anything and for everything.

3. Silence- The tongue is a powerful weapon, so be careful to choose words. Its better to stay silent then to speak when unsure and sometimes even when sure. A few words are always much more permanent. Actions speaks louder then words.

4. Listen- Focus when somebody speaks. Stay attentive. Show deep concern when spoken to. Listening will do the job. Giving advice can sometimes ruin job.

5. Confess- Confess when you mess up. Come clean with past. Be honest. It will build integrity.

6. Self-Discipline- Control urges by praying and opening God’s word. Remember that Satan know my weaknesses. Gain true holiness when realizing that sin is like spitting in God’s face. Self-Discipline will give you closeness with God.

7. Integrity- Be yourself wherever you are. Be an open book to everybody in life. You will never again worry about being caught in a lie. Use others as examples to learn from.

8. Witness- Find ways to spread God’s word and don’t be shy. Keep inventing new ways to do so. Integrity is most important at this stage. With integrity, the ones you are trying to reach will never expect anything other then love from you.

9. Leadership- Don’t wait for others to step up, be the one. Gain respect by showing true love for others. Serve those who are under you and those who are above you in rank. Integrity is the key here as well.

10. Set Goals- If you don’t know where you want to be 5 years from now and don’t do anything about it, you will remain where you are. Set goals for home, church, work, personal time with God. Have a plan and act on it.

11. Keep Commandments- Tithe, Pray, Meditate, and even Fast.

12. Love- Love everyone. By submitting and serving you will find values in people and will think of yourself less. Love the earth. What I do here could be killing someone in Africa. Love wildlife.

13. Praise- Praise God for everything. Never for a second think highly of myself. Think only of Gods grace. Don’t think I accomplished it. It wasn’t me, God just snapped his fingers.

Last night I had a very long talk with God. I say talk and not prayer because it was a conversation and not just a one way street. Don’t you just hate it when people talk, talk, talk and will not let you get in a word. It’s very annoying and I’m sure we all experienced it before. Well why don’t the same rules apply when we talk with God. Is it because God doesn’t have physical presence? Does it seem like you are talking to an imaginary friend? Well he is not imaginary and he can not be seen with the human eye. He is God though and he is our friend. If you truly are his friend then you would listen to him more then you would talk.

When we ask God for answers he has the solutions in the palm of his hand but is not willing to reveal it until you submit. He wants you to listen for the answers and not talk, talk, talk. Don’t be the annoying person, instead be the friend that listens with all of his ears, mind, heart, and soul. You will start seeing things and experiencing God on a different level.

Meditation has been discarded by our society as a whole. When we think of meditation we think of Buddhist and make connections with the eastern part of the world. Well, meditation was very alive and active in the bible. In Hebrew, 2 words are used to describe meditation, and together they are used approximately 58 times in the bible. The translation is to listen to God’s word. Why did we write off something so sacred. Abraham, Isaac, Eli, Elijah, Isaiah, Jeremiah all have set examples of meditation for us. A lot of the psalms speak of meditating. But if you don’t take note from all of them,  you should follow Jesus’ path. He withdrew himself to a lonely place to meditate more then on one occasion. 40 days and 40 nights are a prime example.

I have just recently realized the importance of meditation. It has made a difference in the depth of my understanding. When I’m in this state of mind it’s like things just click. I suddenly know the answers to my questions as if I knew them all along but my brain was getting mixed signals. In my next blog, I will reveal some of the answers that I got just from listening to God. I am not challenging anyone to compete to see who can get the most results. I just hope that you’ll try to listen to Him, if you don’t already do so. After all who do we really want to strive to be like? Jesus right.

Last Sunday we talked about our prayer lives and how the lack of it or the lack of how to can cause discouragement. Many of us are too busy to pray, too embarressed to pray out loud, so we do it silently. We have a hard time putting thoughts to words, and hope that others who are “Prayer Champs” don’t laugh inside when they hear us say Father, God over and over again. All of these factors combined can send our faith rolling downhill in a hurry. The result from lack of faith is simply “unanswered prayers”.

To pray is to change. If we are unwilling to change, we are saying that prayer is useless. Most of us know that we need to be more Christlike but yet we fail to notice our sins. Admitting that you sin and repenting is the first step. This is why prayer is so important. God will show you through prayer and meditation your faults and the path to change. The closer we get to God the more we realize that we need to desire the things he desires and to will the things that he wills.

Saying it and doing it are two different things unfortunately. It is hard to get in the prayer mode and to focus for a long period of time. We can’t just transform ourselves into the Michael Jordan of prayer, it comes with patience and learning. Try to find the most comfortable place and time for you to do so. I am able to focus much better in the morning when I’m wide awake and after I read my bible. Building your self confidence is the key and there is a new way to do so that I have never thought of before. The book “Celebration of Discipline” by Richard Foster awakened me.

I used to pray out of habit and because I knew I was supposed to. There were times when I really meant what I prayed about and times when I just wanted to get it done with and out of the way. Too bad that the even mixture is now blurring my vision and that there is no way for me to tell how many prayers got answered and how many didn’t. Reading “Celebration of Discipline” made me realize that I used to pray for the bigger things in life. Maybe that was the problem. Richard Foster says that success in the small corners of life gives us authority in the larger matters. Next time try praying for things like colds instead of cure from terminal cancer and watch God answer your request. There is no better way to jump-start your faith then seeing God answer prayers with your own eyes. Over time you can ask God for bigger things but remember to always have His will.

Thursday morning I prayed for a very long time. My prayer consisted of four small requests with the complete trust that God will make them come true. Two of them have already been answered. Number 1 was for for the members of The Patio to find a way to open up to each other and get to know one another better in order to glorify God. Who would have thought that a couple of hours later Mike, Stephanie, Christina and I went out to lunch and found out about wordpress.com. Mike and Lauren have done exactly what I asked God for. He has given us a place to post blogs like these, so we can follow each others spiritual and family lives.

Number 2 was for Christina’s and my friend Whitney to make a decision to move in with us. She had several options and could have decided on either one. On Friday she called and told us that she is moving in at the end of May. We are really excited to have somebody living with us other then Quincy. She is helping us and we are helping her, so its a win win situation. Right now I am pumped up to know God still has two more prayers to go. This is the first time in my life that I can truly point out that my prayers have been answered.