Consider now, for the Lord has chosen you to build a house for the sanctuary; be strong, and do it. 1 Chronicles 28:10
In part 3 of this Bible study, we will begin to study the seven priorities of life in more detail. This is the list the Lord gave me back when I was first establishing my ministry in the Philippines, many years ago. In part 1 of this Bible study, we discovered that when God gave Joshua marching orders for leading His people Israel with strength and courage, it was a command, not a suggestion
(Joshua 1:5-9, 18). In part 2 of this Bible study, we discovered that Biblical strength can be defined as consistency of our actions. We also listed the seven spiritual priorities of life which we are to be consistent with every day. If we wish to become spiritually strong and stay that way, we need to attend to these seven priorities of life daily. They are: 

1. Worship. 2. Praise. 3. Prayer. 4. Confession. 5. Meditation. 6. Study & Reading. 7. Sharing.
When the Lord gave me this list of spiritual priorities, He also told me they were listed in descending order of importance. One is more important than two, which is more important than three, on down to number seven. Doing all seven consistently is critically important, but in relation to one another, there is this descending order of importance. From God’s perspective, doing them in this order isn’t necessary, but it is necessary to understand why they’re in the order they’re in. The next thing I learned from the Lord was that these seven spiritual priorities of life are divided into three groups. Group One consists of priorities one, two and three. Group Two consists of priorities four, five and six. Group Three consists of priority seven.  
Group One deals with our relationship with God. That’s why its number one. Before we can learn from God or do things for God, we must develop a vibrant, tangible, working relationship with the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. We must enjoy consistent communication with the Godhead. Its most important because Hosea 4:6 tells us that God’s people perish for lack of knowledge. One major reason why Christians perish (become useless to God and fodder for the devil) is right here – they have no knowledge of Who God is, how He thinks, how He operates and finally, how He communicates. As a result, they can’t stay steady and ready for battle with anticipation, excitement and expectation. Their emotions are all over the place! One minute they’re in faith, the next in fear. They are truly the double-minded believers James spoke about
(James 1:2-8). They may love the Lord with all their heart, and they may have relationship with Him in the sense of being born-again, but because they have no intimate, daily communion with the Lord, they can’t be trusted with critical ministry assignments, and they can’t be trusted under enemy fire. As they say, they’re always a day late and a dollar short. The Apostle Paul knew this, that’s why knowing God was his top priority in life and ministry (Philippians 3:10).  
This is the reason Group One consists of the first three priorities of life. Relationship with our Heavenly Father starts with worship, followed by praise, followed by prayer – in that order of relative importance. 
Because life’s problems come our way in various forms and at various times, it doesn’t mean we can’t praise God before we worship or pray before we praise. It simply means we understand why worship is more important than praise, which is more important than prayer.  
Worship is recognizing God for Who He is. Praise recognizes God for what He does. Prayer (other than praise, which is one form of prayer in itself) keeps the lines of communication open between the throne of God and our born-again spirits. Worship supersedes praise because it recognizes and acknowledges Who God is – and that’s where everything starts when dealing with our Creator - period. Listen! If God never did anything, does anything or will do anything for us – He still deserves to be worshipped because He is the Creator of all things, including us. He exists from eternity past to eternity future – therefore He is to be worshipped. We acknowledge His essence through worship.  
Praise comes next because it’s our vehicle to acknowledge the works of the Lord in our lives. Praise is the echo of our confessions of faith. It’s the natural by-product when we are calling things that be not as though they are
(Romans 4:17-20). It’s the water that gives life to the seeds we plant when we choose to believe and apply the promises of God in our lives (2 Peter 1:3,4). It’s the purest way we say “thank you” to the Lord for the great things He has done (Mark 5:19), is doing and will do for us (2 Chronicles 20:18,19). If we really believe God is for us, as the Bible says that He is (Romans 8:31-39), praise should be on our lips constantly. Study the book of Psalms to find out why David is called a man after God’s own heart (Psalms 138:1/Acts 13:22). The entire book testifies to this, especially Psalms 145 to 150.  

Finally, our prayer life is the greatest exercise of our dominion on earth (Genesis 1:26-28). It opens consistent, vital lines of communication with our Heavenly Father. It becomes the information highway between heaven and earth that guarantees our success in life and ministry, because God always has the answers to our questions, and He’s never too busy to reply
(Psalms 138:3). Prayer provides us with all the divine guidance, inspiration, instruction, exhortation, encouragement and correction we need to navigate the problems we face living on a cursed planet run by a renegade spirit called the god of this world (2 Corinthians 4:4). The Bible says we have not because we ask not (James 4:2,3). If things don’t go our way scripturally, it’s never because God failed to be God in our lives. It’s because we failed to approach the throne of grace boldly in prayer to plead our case and ask for His help
(Hebrews 4:16/Isaiah 43:26).
There are many types of prayer outlined in the New Testament, so Christians need to study to know what kind of prayer applies to any given situation. We also need to study to understand the rules and guidelines that each prayer has. We can’t just lump all prayer together in one basket, shake it and see what comes out! No! There is the prayer of faith, which is different than the prayer of agreement, which is different than the prayer of consecration, etc. Then there is prayer in other tongues, which unfortunately, is the one prayer most Christians ignore and never take advantage of, either through ignorance or false teaching. That’s tragic because when the Holy Spirit gives you the words to speak (tongues) we know our prayers are accurate and timely - every time.  Right from the beginning, the early leaders understood how important it was to have a vibrant prayer life. 
Therefore , brethren, seek out from among you seven men of good reputation, full of the Holy Spirit and wisdom, whom we may appoint over this business; but we will give ourselves continually to prayer and to the ministry of the word. Acts 6:3,4.  
Several things to note from this passage. First, they gave themselves to prayer. That means they disciplined themselves to pray because the flesh never wants to pray. We must make our flesh pray and give ourselves to the time and energy required. Second, they gave themselves continually. There is our definition for spiritual strength once again – consistency of our actions. Its not enough to pray occasionally. We must learn the discipline of praying consistently. Third, they were looking for people who were full of the Holy Spirit. This describes Christians filled with the Holy Spirit with the evidence of speaking in other tongues, who would then boldly represent Jesus without apology (Acts 4:29-31). Once again, notice the early church leaders knew the importance of being filled with the Holy Spirit. (So, if you’re Spirit-filled, pray in tongues daily. If you’re not yet filled with the Holy Spirit and pray consistently in other tongues – get filled – asap!)

In part 4 of this Bible Study, we’ll examine Groups Two and Three. For an exhaustive study on this all-important subject, I recommend getting the first book I ever wrote: BE STRONG! STAY STRONG! Order hard copies through our website www.mkmi.org, or if you prefer, on EBOOK format through Amazon (Kindle), Barnes & Noble (Nook), iTunes (iBook) or KOBO. 
 
Never forget this truth: Consistency of our Actions is a choice. Every day, we make the choices that make us strong and keep us strong for God. It’s always up to us!  
This is Who We Are. This is What We Do.
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Now more than ever, Christians need to know what they must do, say, and tell others. This book identifies eight biblical mandates we must address and fulfill in these last days. These mandates are not God’s suggestions or requests. They are His commands. Therefore, they must be made top priority each day. By doing so, we allow God to be great in our lives, providing us with all the blessings to be prosperous, protected, and successful. 

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