OUT OF THE BOX

  I am sharing here a list of prayers I have found meaningful and helpful over many years. Each one is based on specific Bible verses, which means they are inspired by the Holy Spirit. I recommend you read the Bible verses themselves and use them as springboards to prayer. Psalm 90:16-17 Let Your work appear to Your servants and Your glory unto our children. Let the beauty of the Lord be upon us and establish the work of our hands upon us. Exodus 33:13 Teach me Your ways that I might know You. Psalm 139:23-24 Search me, O God, and know my heart. Try me and know my anxieties; and see if there be any wicked way in me and lead me in the way everlasting. Jeremiah 10:23-24 O, Lord, I know the way of man is not in himself; It is not in man who walks to direct his own steps. O Lord, correct me, but with Your understanding. 1 Kings 3: 7-9 Give Your servant an understanding heart to discern judgment. John 12:28 Father, glorify Your name.

When I was about 14 or 15 years old, I had my dad’s old single-shot 12-gauge shotgun. To shoot it, you had to cock the gun by pulling the hammer back. At that point it’s ready to shoot. Just aim and pull the trigger. However, if you decided not to fire the gun, you had to carefully un-cock it by following these steps: Step one: Use your thumb to hold the hammer back. Step two: Pull the trigger while still holding the hammer back. Step three: Ease the hammer forward slowly to its un-cocked and safe position. I was about to shoot at some doves that were flying by. I cocked the gun by pulling the hammer back but decided not to shoot. So, to safely un-cock the gun, I went through the safety procedure as follows: Step one: Pull the trigger. Step two: BOOM!! Step three: Look at that big hole in the ground just against the edge of my toes! It pays not to be absent-minded when you’re messing with a shotgun. I am thankful to the Lord that HE gives His angels charge over us to keep us in all our...

  I took this photo while standing on a roof in Florida. The photo gives the image of heaven and earth in harmony, which to me is a "Thy kingdom come" prayer. The trees and clouds seem to be performing a duet, and the top of the tree line seems to mirror the lining along the top of the clouds. I was also struck by the obviously bright light of the sun that is hidden behind the clouds. It is as if the trees shaded in darkness are reaching up to touch the glory of the sun whose rays and beams are breaking past the clouds. The trees mirroring the clouds remind me that the earthly tabernacle and its rituals were only shadows of the true, which is the heavenly. The same is true for our existence. The earthly is only a shadow of the heavenly. The glory and beauty that is ours in eternity will be so much more wonderful than we can imagine now. The apostle Paul spoke of being caught up into paradise and hearing and seeing things that are inexpressible. Jesus told the thief on the c...

  Billy Long Ministries P.O. Box 147, Longs, SC  29568 www.billylongministries.com https://blongoutofthebox.blogspot.com The Bible says a word in season is good for him who is weary. Below is a letter I sent to a friend who was going through a rough season being wrongfully accused and hurt by those from whom he least expected it. This word was tailored to my friend’s specific circumstance, but may also encourage others. Billy Long     A Letter to a Friend ]   Dear ______,      I know that there are no simple answers or quick solutions to your perplexity and pain in this situation. But I think the Lord has given me a word that will at least give a little comfort until you complete this particular phase of your journey into the Lord’s purpose for you.      During my prayer time this morning I was reading Jeremiah 15: 15-21 and realized there might be a word here for you.      I believe the Lord did lead y...

If you take vengeance into your own hands, in that case the person already has his punishment, and you have left no room or place for God to administer his wrath.   Rom 12:18; Prov 24:17-18. If you forgive the person, you are not letting him “off the hook” or lightening God’s discipline in his life. But if you hate and resent him, you are not making God’s discipline any more intense.    If your motive is to receive the praise of man, then you already have your reward…and probably will receive no more from God.                                                                           Matthew 6:1-8 Popularity will b...

  I want to encourage my readers to order copies of my books.  SPIRITUAL POWER FOR EVERYDAY LIVING : Encountering the Holy Spirit Like the Early Christians. This book gives clear and understandable exposition of the supernatural work of the Holy Spirit in the New Testament church. FAITHFUL ENDURANCE : Christ-Centered Encouragement to Help You Fight the Good Fight of Faith. You can order these books at my website site: www.billylongministries.com. Or you can order from : amazon.com

People who are into porn and public nudity often proclaim that the human body is good and we should not be ashamed to show it. They also charge that Christians, because they believe in modesty, think the sexual aspect of the human body is evil. But to the contrary, Christians frown on public nudity and pornography because sex is sacred, not evil. After all, God created male and female, and said “it is good.” There are two things the scripture forbids us to flaunt in public—that which is evil and that which is sacred. The evil is forbidden because it is evil. The sacred is to be treasured. It is not for the public eye because it is precious and not to be treated as common. Sex should be reserved for the intimacy of a man and woman in marriage, and not displayed as a public spectacle. God is not an old fogy who sees sex as evil. A reading of Song of Solomon will show that the sexual aspect of marriage is God’s gift to mankind. Man did not create sex when God was not looking and then surp...

The Gospel of the kingdom proclaims God’s rule as well as His love. The nations are angry at God because they are deceived, and because they do not want His rule. Rebellion hates authority. Although God is love, He is also absolute power and authority. In Ps 2 the nations are angry because they reject His rule and want to be free to do their own will. In Revelation 11:17-18 they are angry because He has taken His great power and imposed His reign, which in this case also means judgment on rebellion and wickedness. Man going his own way in rebellion will resent the message of the kingdom of God. He will even reject the idea of God’s love. So how do we communicate the kingdom of God to a culture in which there are so many who are hostile to it. We must have faith that our communication when done in wisdom and love will reach those who are really looking for God. And we must also be prepared for those who will hate us and reject the message no matter how it is packaged. But still, there...

When the load cannot be lightened, we must be strengthened. The mark of spiritual strength is perseverance and endurance, not glory clouds and glitter. We are strengthened for war, not for exhibition. The enemy can not destroy and lay waste to the church unless the church has first laid aside the word of God and the testimony of Jesus Christ. If the Bible is lost in a culture, it is because it was first lost in the house of God. If the Bible is to be returned to the culture, it must first be found in the house of God. To face the perplexities, anomalies, and enigmas of life, we must hold to our faith in God’s love and kindness, and His power and greatness. We must also trust His infinite wisdom. He is perfect in all His ways and righteous in all His judgments. Christians tend to naively believe they will have victory without battle, but when faced with adversity they tend to skeptically think they will have battle without victory. Unbroken and spiritually unresponsive people will not r...

To my visitors from Singapore, I have been blessed to see that I have had more than a thousand page views from readers who live in Singapore. I thank you so much for visiting and reading my blog. And I pray that you have been blessed by them. It would be a blessing to me if some of you would click the comment button at the bottom of this message and let me know who my new reader friends are and how they happened to find my blog. You can also email me. My address is below. Thank you again for visiting.  God bless you, Billy Long broblong@gmail.com