LEARNING HOW TO OPEN YOUR WINGS AND FLY Part 6

EAGLETS COMMUNICATE AS THEY FLY

“As an eagle stirs up its nest, hovers over its young, spreading out its wings, taking them up, carrying them on its wings. So the Lord alone led him, And there was no foreign god with him.” Deuteronomy 32:11

Do you still want to fly? Or are you exhausted with the flight lessons? We cannot even think of finishing without speaking about prayer. Prayer is communication. How will we master the art of flying if we cannot communicate? The eagles up there; as a form of communication, the young ones have a modest cry that is characteristically understood by their mother. They cry when they feel a little insecure; they also cry when they enjoy themselves up there. Every time a distinctive sound is made, their mother will give attention; either to rescue or to give moral support. 

This is what happens with prayer. We pray to call God’s attention about our insecurity, our needs, and uncertainties. When we are not sure of what decisions to make we pray; we call on Him. We make that peculiar noise - that little cry; and God comes to our attention. When things go well and we enjoy the flight lessons, we also pray. Remember, your life and my life are flight courses. We will learn to fly for as long as we are alive. There is no stage in life where we will not need our Tutor any longer. Judah made this terrible mistake of turning away from God and His prophets. The consequence of such reckless self-confidence caused him to crush into the backyard of Babylonia. Israel learned nothing from his brother’s foolish self reliance. He found themselves in Assyrian captivity.

We cannot follow the example of Judah and Israel. It is too dangerous to walk in such rebellious footsteps. We will not grow weary of these flight lessons. 

As we said, prayer is communication with God. Through prayer we communicate with Him for various reasons. We  may praise Him, worship Him, make our petitions known to Him, seek direction from Him, dedicate things or even ourselves to Him in prayer. We can also fellowship with God through prayer.

I assume that we agree that the preliminary modules in our flight course are; reading and studying the Word of God. We ponder as we study and meditate as we do so. We cannot emphasise enough how important it is to read and study the Word of God prayerfully. As we read or study; we pray. This is how one can incorporate prayer in his reading or studying of the Word.

First; pray before you start reading or study the Word. Ask God to give you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him. Ask that the eyes of your understanding may be enlightened to the truth in the Word. Ephesians 1: 17-18. We cannot understand the Word of God unless He helps us. Wise people of this world say it sounds fooling and contradictory. I understand because this always happen when we try to understand the Word with our minds. Human mind cannot make sense of the Word of God. The Word of God is spiritual while the human mind is intellectual. The two are operating on different networks. Spiritual things are spiritually discerned. “But the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned” 1Corinthians 2:14.  

Many people try to understand the Word with their minds and they end up concluding that the Bible contradicts itself. No wonder the Bible teaches that the Word is spiritually discerned.

Pray as you read. Every time you come across a verse that speaks to you; pause and ask for understanding. Thank God for what He says in that verse. Ask Him to let the word impress His will upon your heart. Ask Him to teach you how to apply it in your day to day life. Praise Him for it. Take time to meditate on it and just enjoy the wealth of knowledge God is revealing to you. You will begin to love the Scripture and appreciate God even more. Just feast in there before you continue. I know, you know what I am talking about. You’ve done this in the past maybe without realising it. It is a festival in the presence of God.

Pray after reading or studying. Thank God for what you have learned from His word. Ask Him for wisdom in application. Ask Him for guidance in your day’s activities and in decision making. Ask Him for wisdom to discern between what is good and what is evil. Ask Him for patience to wait for the answer. Ask Him for faith to hold on to the promises of God in the Word.

If you do this, your reading and studying of the Word of God will anchor you on a solid foundation. You won’t waiver with doubt and unbelief in time of storms and challenges of life. You will know what God says in His word about your circumstance and you will pray according to the Word. Many times we say we are praying and yet we are not praying the Word. How many times have we complained that God does not answer prayers only to realise that we have been praying our mental confusion and not the Word? Prayer is not complaining to God. Prayer is our expression of faith in what He promised us in His Word.