Lockdown

Lockdown
Panic
Overwhelmed
Make a plan
Masks create revenue
Find God amidst the storm
Learn to trust Him for daily bread
Learn to trust for provision
Learn to live one day at a time
Learn…
Learn that my fears are nothing
Learn to put my hand in His hand
Learn that my pride stands in my way
Learn to be dependent only on Him
God uses people to provide
But He is the provider
He is the source
He is my source
He is my shelter
He is my protector
He is the Alpha and the Omega
The same yesterday, today and forever
The song in my heart started as a stifled sob
Rising tentatively, daily
Resisting the fear that lurked in the shadows
Rising to a symphony of praise
I understand that God provides
In spite of my unbelief
In spite of my small faith
In spite of my stumbling steps
I have cast my burdens onto Jesus
My load is light
My heart is overflowing
My daily walk is my worship

The Table

Psalm 78:19, Yes, they spoke against God:

They said, “Can God prepare a table in the wilderness?

This is what the Israelites said after they escaped the Egyptian army by walking through the Red Sea on dry land. Definitely one of the greatest miracles of all time.

Of course Psalm 23:5 says, You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies;

Obviously God can prepare a table in the wilderness. Why wouldn’t He be able to.

This verse is so profound. I realize that we do it all the time! We don’t believe that God can rescue us from the situations we are in. We live through miracles but the next time something comes against us we want to give up and start questioning whether God even knows of our existence. We doubt His provision and His favour. We doubt that He has a plan for our situation. But He does because He always does.

Our unbelief is what stops Him from doing the miracles we want to see. We all want to see miracles bur we aren’t always prepared to believe that the miracle will happen. There are so many reasons that we tell ourselves why God isn’t going to come through for us. And by ‘us’ I’m referring to believers. Children of God. Sinners who have been washed by the blood of the Lamb. Forgiven, redeemed and made righteous. But we tell ourselves all kinds of lies, plus we believe the lies that the enemy tells us.

I’m going through difficulties because God is punishing me;

God really wants to teach me a lesson by letting me suffer so I just have to suffer;

I don’t deserve good things because I have done some bad things in my life;

I’m not sure that God has forgiven me for my sins;

Numbers 23:19, God is not a man, that He should lie,

Nor a son of man, that He should repent.

Has He said, and will He not do? Or has He spoken, and will He not make it good?

Psalm 103:12, As far as the east is from the west, So far has He removed our transgressions from us.

If God says our sins are forgiven and removed from us, they are! No questions asked, no correspondence will be entered into and we aren’t allowed to think about them again. Gone forever!

We are righteous because we have been bought with the blood of Jesus. We are forgiven. All we need to do is ask God and He forgives us. I’m not totally sure of the Grace message that says we’re forgiven anyway and we don’t need to ask. I now that if I have done something wrong it makes me feel a whole lot better if I confess my transgression to God and ask Him to forgive me. But I have to do it with the absolute belief that I have been forgiven and I have to put it behind me and go forward in the knowledge that I am righteous. We mustn’t do any of this, “I can’t really know if I’m going to heaven, nobody knows for sure.” That is another lie from Satan. If we believe in our hearts and confess with our mouths that Jesus died for us and that He is the only Son of God, then we are saved. End of story.

As people who are righteous we have a right to stand before God and to put our prayers and petitions to Him. We can ask with as much confidence as the next person because God doesn’t have favourites. No matter what we might think, He loves all of us equally. If we don’t believe that we have to go back to basics and remind ourselves of the truth. Maybe we are believing the lies the enemy is telling us.

Isaiah 40:4, Every valley shall be exalted

And every mountain and hill brought low;

The crooked places shall be made straight

And the rough places smooth;

Isaiah 50:7,  For the Lord God will help Me;

Therefore I will not be disgraced;

Therefore I have set My face like a flint,

And I know that I will not be ashamed.

If this is what God is saying to us we can believe with confidence that He can prepare a table in the wilderness. Take a seat at that table and receive the blessings He is giving you.

Abraham’s Faith

How much faith do we have? How long can we believe God, take Him at His Word, believe what He has promised us before we take matters into our own hands? I think faith must be the most difficult part of being a Christian. Faith is not just believing for a while, faith is using blind trust, regardless of the circumstances, until whatever it is you’re believing, happens.

The dictionary definition of faith is :

1. complete trust or confidence in someone or something.
2. strong belief in the doctrines of a religion, based on spiritual conviction rather than proof.

Romans 10:17, So then faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God.

Hebrews 11:1, Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.

Hebrews 11:6, But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.

God spoke to Abraham and told him that his descendants would be as many as the stars in the sky. God gave Abraham some really amazing promises of blessings to his descendants. God made this promise when Abraham did not have any children. Because he and Sarah were getting old it was a bit hard to believe. Sarah told Abraham that he should have a child by her Egyptian servant, Hagar in order to continue his name. Ishmael was born when Abraham was 86 years old, which means Sarah was already 76. Slightly beyond child bearing age. The birth of Ishmael did not solve any problems, in fact it made everything much worse. Then when Abraham was 99 years old the Lord appeared to Abraham again and told him that he and Sarah would have a child within a year. He and Sarah reacted by laughing. I think anyone of that age will think that such a thing would be laughable. Yet, Sarah bore a son and called him Isaac, which means He laughs.

Even though Abraham laughed, he never stopped believing that God would do what He said. He did misjudge the methods slightly, and tried to make his own plans, but he kept believing.
I’ve heard people give new believers the advice of resigning from their jobs, and then praying for provision so that God can prove that He will take care of them. Please don’t do that!

2 Thessalonians 3:10, For even when we were with you, we commanded you this: if anyone will not work, neither shall he eat.

We are supposed to work. We are not supposed to be beggars who rely on the goodness of people who feel sorry for us. We have to do our best to look after ourselves. There are situations where people genuinely cannot find jobs and I believe God will take care of people if they don’t have a choice and if they rely on His provision. I have also seen many people who profess to be relying on God but are in fact subtle, and sometimes not so subtle beggars. God does provide and I can testify of that, but I do not think we ought to stop working because we are lazy and say that God is going to provide.

God provided well for Abraham because he trusted God and the blessing that God gave Abraham was not just for the Jews but also for us. God gave Abraham the promise that he and his descendants would be blessed before he was circumcised.

Romans 4:13,16 For the promise that he would be the heir of the world was not to Abraham or to his seed through the law, but through the righteousness of faith. Therefore it is of faith that is might be according to grace, so that the promise might be sure to all the seed, not only to those who are of the law, but also to those who are of the faith of Abraham, who is the father of all of us.

The promises of blessings and prosperity which were given to Abraham are applicable to us if we stick to our faith in God. We have to start practicing to take God at His word and believe beyond the shadow of a doubt that He is who He says He is and that He is going to do what He says He is going to do. Then we can claim the blessings of Abraham.

Confusion

Yesterday I witnessed a person under the influence of a spirit of confusion. During a meeting this person kept confusing the issue and it was so tiring. I know that different spirits or demons attach themselves to people and even possess people. It’s not always plain to see though. This time it was absolutely crystal clear. We have to realise that even Christians can be influenced by all kinds of deceiving spirits that want to lead us astray. The bible says that in the end times people won’t be sure of the truth.

2 Timothy 4:3-4, For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, because they have itching ears, and they will heap up for themselves teachers; and they will turn their ears away from the truth, and be turned aside to fables.

All of us have heard or at least heard of people who call themselves preachers of the Word but who twist the scriptures to suit themselves. That can be incredibly confusing if we aren’t familiar with the Bible. And by familiar, I mean we have to know the Bible properly. The only way to know the Bible properly is by reading it, or by hearing it. We really have to be well enough acquainted with the Bible so that when a preacher, or anyone else for that matter, says something that isn’t true, we can immediately pick up on it. I don’t think that this is really negotiable if we are serious about our faith.

Romans 10:17, So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.

If, for any reason whatsoever, you cannot read the bible, then you have to listen to it. Let someone read out loud to you, or use an audible bible on the bible app which you can download onto your cell phone or computer. There are also CD’s available where the bible has been recorded being read out loud. Never before has technology made the bible so available to everyone, and I’m guessing that never before are so few people actually making use of it. The devil, who is your enemy, doesn’t want you to read, or listen to the bible, so he is going to try and divert you, and distract you, and keep you so busy that you aren’t going to have time for it.

1 Peter 5:8, Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he might devour.

Even though the devil isn’t a lion; he is LIKE a lion, he is still going to devour you.

The dictionary gives the meaning of ‘devour’ as:

To eat something eagerly and in large amounts so that nothing is left, and

To destroy something completely.

Unfortunately the enemy isn’t stupid. He knows what we’re doing and even though he can’t read our thoughts (well, that’s what I’ve heard) he can certainly plant thoughts in our minds. Those thoughts are so well disguised as our own that we have to be extremely vigilant and discerning. If we don’t know our bibles we aren’t going to be able to discern a lot of the time. This verse says be sober. Does that mean we shouldn’t drink alcohol and get drunk, or does it just mean we should have presence of mind? I would say both, because I don’t think a person who is drunk with alcohol has much presence of mind.

There are three things that are going to help us. The first is faith:

Hebrews 11:6, But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.

The second is prayer.

Ephesians 6:18-19, Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints- as for me, that utterance may be given to me, that I may open my mouth boldly to make known the mystery of the gospel.

The third is resistance.

James 4:7, Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you.

Friends, we cannot allow the devil into our lives at this time. If you are confused about your faith or your salvation please speak to your pastor, or another Christian that you trust. Now is the time to stand and be counted.

Be like a child

What if Jesus came down to earth physically and stood right before you? Right now. Would you be able to look him in the eye with a clear conscience? Would you fall down and worship Him? Would you run and try to hide? I don’t think any one of us knows exactly what our reaction will be if it should happen. What is the point of my asking this question? The point is that a lot of the time we act as if God can’t see us and doesn’t know what we’re thinking. We do and say and even think things that are so totally not what we profess to believe in that it’s a bit scary. I don’t think that we should be looking over our shoulders all the time in fear of what God will think of us though. I think we need to get to a place where everything we do will reflect Jesus in our lives. We should be praising our way into heaven when we die.

But now we live on earth and we live with all kinds of people who don’t share our faith or our point of view. We are being constantly accused by the devil in the courtroom of Heaven. I try to remember that it’s only Christians who are going to be accused. The devil is definitely not going to be accusing his followers. And his followers aren’t only Satanists, anyone who isn’t a Christian is a follower of the devil.

John 8:44-47, You are of your father the devil, and the desires of your father you want to do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own resources, for he is a liar and the father of it. But because I tell the truth, you do not believe Me. Which of you convicts Me of sin? And if I tell the truth, why do you not believe Me? He who is of God hears God’s words; therefore you do not hear, because you are not of God.”

Here Jesus is speaking to the Jews who wanted to kill Him. Not to Gentiles or Heathens. As far as I am concerned there are two kinds of spirits on earth that can influence us. There is the Holy Spirit who comes from God and there are the demon spirits who assist the devil in his mission to draw us as far away from God as he can. Therefore if we aren’t under the influence of the Holy Spirit, we will be influenced by the devil.

John 14:6, Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.

There aren’t any other ways to God. No other religion serves the living God. If they think they do then they have been deceived by the enemy.

Revelation 12:10-12, Then I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, “Now salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of His Christ have come, for the accuser of our brethren, who accused them before our God day and night, has been cast down. And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, and they did not love their lives to the death. Therefore rejoice, O heavens, and you who dwell in them! Woe to the inhabitants of the earth and the sea! For the devil has come down to you, having great wrath, because he knows that he has a short time.”

At least there is light at the end of this tunnel. We will one day live in Heaven with Jesus, and God and the angels and it’s going to be really, really wonderful. But first we must overcome the world. We can do it if we are aware of the challenges and if we are willing to give our whole heart and our whole life to Jesus. Every teeny weeny little bit of it. Even the bad and embarrassing bits, especially those bits. We must become like children. A child loves unconditionally and trusts unconditionally. That is how we have to be.

Matthew 18:3-4,  “Assuredly, I say to you, unless you are converted and become as little children, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven. Therefore whoever humbles himself as this little child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.”

Our faith must be pure and simple and we mustn’t try to complicate things. If Jesus comes and stands before us we must be able to do what any child would do to the one he loves and give him a huge hug.

My faith in a nutshell

I am going to try to put into words what my faith means.

My Father is the King (of the Universe). He adopted me because I accepted the redeeming love of His only Son, Jesus. God (The King and my Father) planned my existence before the beginning of time and has a plan for my life which I can choose to accept or reject.

Ephesians 1:4-6 just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love, 5having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will, 6to the praise of the glory of His grace, by which He made us accepted in the Beloved.

He loves me so much that He sent his only Son, Jesus to die for me, to take all the sickness, pain, suffering and poverty of the world onto Himself so that, by accepting Him, I can receive eternal life. I can spend eternity with Him after I die.

John 3:16 For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.

If I reject Him I will be condemned to eternal suffering in a very real place called Hell.

Romans 3:23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,

Now, because I have accepted the sacrifice of Jesus I have also received the Holy Spirit who is constantly with me to guide me daily and to comfort me in times of trouble. Because God is my Father I have access to Him at all times, even though my life isn’t always perfect. I have been made righteous through the blood of Jesus and therefore I can appear before God.

John 16:13 However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come.

I can share anything and everything with God because He is my Father. He is omnipotent, omniscient and omnipresent. Omnipotent means that He has unlimited power.

Omniscient means that He knows everything.

Omnipresent means that He is present everywhere at the same time.

Even if I don’t share everything with God He still know it. It will not help me to try to hide anything from God. He knows everything we do and everything we think and everything we feel. Trying to hide things from Him is just playing a dangerous game.

1 John 3:20 For if our heart condemns us, God is greater than our heart, and knows all things.

Not only is God my Father, He is also the Judge in the courtrooms of Heaven.

Psalm 75:7

But God is the Judge:

He puts down one,

And exalts another.

The devil, who was an angel who rebelled against God and got thrown out of Heaven, is the accuser in this court and Jesus is my advocate.

1 Peter 5:8 Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.

Revelation 12:10 Then I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, “Now salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of His Christ have come, for the accuser of our brethren, who accused them before our God day and night, has been cast down.

When I am accused of something by the devil, God cannot dismiss it or rule against it just because I am His child, His integrity is so perfect that He has to make a fair decision. Jesus will always try to defend me and that is where my prayers, my offerings, my sacrifices and my obedience come into play.

1 John 2:1-2 My little children, these things I write to you, so that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. And He Himself is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the whole world.

If God is obliged to make a judgement against me because, for instance, I have not forgiven someone, it doesn’t affect my relationship with Him. He is still my Father and I am still His child. He will always love me. For me to come back into righteousness I have to repent of whatever it is I did and He will forgive me and I will once again be righteous.

Romans 2:11 For there is no partiality with God.

I struggled to understand how intercession worked until I learned about heaven having a courtroom. I should have realized how it works because the Bible is full of verses that speak about it, but it didn’t dawn on me. If I pray for someone I am actually making representation for them in the courtroom. This makes so much more sense to me and it inspires me to pray more fervently for people who are in need of grace.

Ephesians 6:18 praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints.

This is what I believe, in a nutshell.

Ascension Day

Today is the celebration of the ascension of Jesus to Heaven about 1986 years ago. As we know Jesus died because of crucifixion, was laid in a tomb, rose from death on the third day, spent 40 days walking of earth talking and teaching his disciples of what was coming. Then He ascended to Heaven. The bible says in Acts 1:9 – 11 Now when He had spoken these things, while they watched, He was taken up, and a cloud received Him out of their sight. And while they looked steadfastly toward heaven as He went up, behold, two men stood by them in white apparel, who also said, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand gazing up into heaven? This same Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will so come in like manner as you saw Him go into heaven.”

So Jesus was standing there and He started to rise up off the ground. How incredible is that! I can just imagine all the gaping mouths. I would certainly have been shocked if I was there. I think they couldn’t believe what they were seeing. The disciples knew from what Jesus had told them that He would be going to heaven and they hoped that He would be restoring Israel as a country. At that time Rome was governing Israel and the Jews had believed that the Messiah would come as a military hero to restore Israel which obviously didn’t happen. Now the disciples still held onto the hope that He would be making this happen.

Acts 1: 6 – 8  Therefore, when they had come together, they asked Him, saying, “Lord, will You at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?” And He said to them, “It is not for you to know times or seasons which the Father has put in His own authority. But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”

Jesus was telling them that it was more important for them to listen to Him and follow His instructions than to be worrying about when Israel would be restored. There are times that have been ordained for everything to take place and those times are not for us to know, or to get anxious about. We need to be following what Jesus said and not be following our own agendas.

The promise He did make that the Holy Spirit would be poured out on the believers and that we would receive power. The other promise that the angel made when Jesus had gone to heaven was that He would return in the same what that He left.

We have so many promises that we can hold onto. We have the whole Bible which is full of promises but we often forget all about it and complain bitterly about how unfair life is and how disadvantaged we are and how difficult everything is. We put personal feelings and culture and all our other idols before the word of God and then we complain that we aren’t being blessed. I just wonder how God must feel when His heart is so full of love for each one of us, that He made uniquely and with purpose, when we forget all about Him and clutch at all kinds of straws when we are in trouble. If we put ourselves in God’s place and if our children were to treat us like we treat God, how would we react? But God says in Hebrews 13:5-6 Let your conduct be without covetousness; be content with such things as you have. For He Himself has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.” So we may boldly say:

“The Lord is my helper;

I will not fear.

What can man do to me?”

We forget that God is so big and people are so small. Let us remember this day that Jesus went to Heaven and left for us power and promises and let us rejoice about it. But we shouldn’t just do it once a year, we should remember it every single day.

Revelation 7:12 “Amen! Blessing and glory and wisdom,

Thanksgiving and honor and power and might,

Be to our God forever and ever.

Amen.”

Are you good enough for God’s Kingdom?

Are you good enough? Do you measure up? Measure up to your family’s expectations, to the media’s propoganda,to the worlds standards? No, you don’t and you never will. You never will because the criteria keeps changing. As soon as you’ve got something perfected something new of different appears. You will always be too short, too tall, too thin or too fat. You will have too little compassion or too much. You will be under qualified and the next moment overqualified. You are not going to win, not ever, if you are trying to be part of the world’s system. You can’t, and you aren’t supposed to.
Rather try being part of God’s system. The rules are a lot different. Obviously you will fit into the world system even less then, but the rewards are far greater than anything the world has to offer.
In my study Bible it gives the conditions of entrance into the Kingdom of God:
Humility, Sympathetic Service, Perseverance, New Birth, Endurance, and Faith and Love. Now these are definitely not character traits that the world puts much store by. These are often interpreted as signs of weakness and aren’t supposed to take you far in any business pursuits. Humility will be seen as allowing people to walk all over you and you are supposed to be able to look after yourself and fight your own battles. Sympathetic service is also just not putting yourself first. After all you have to make provision for the future and you have to look after your own interests above all else. If you don’t who is? Perseverance isn’t something you have to do. Sell out to the highest bidder. Don’t be loyal, don’t stay with any job, product or idea that doesn’t put you first. New Birth? Well that’s just listening to the mumbo jumbo that gets preached in some churches and that stuff is so old fashioned. Endurance is called striving and once again looking after your own interests. Not persevering in hardship, but continually striving to get to the top. Faith and love definitely don’t fit in unless it’s faith in your own abilities, your intellect, your money. And love has to be carnal love.
So why does the Kingdom of God look so different to the world? Because the devil is in charge of the world.
2 Corinthians 4:4 In their case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.
Ephesians 2:1 – 2 And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience.
So in what way is it going to profit you to follow the Kingdom of God instead of the world?
Daniel 2:44 And in the days of those kings the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that shall never be destroyed, nor shall the kingdom be left to another people. It shall break in pieces all these kingdoms and bring them to an end, and it shall stand forever.
Daniel 7:14 And to Him was given dominion and glory and a kingdom, that all peoples, nations, and languages should serve him: his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom one that shall not be destroyed.
1 Corinthians 4:20 For the kingdom of God consist in talk but in power.
Luke 1:32 – 33 He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. And the Lord God will give to Him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.
2 Peter 1:11 For in this way there will be richly provided for you and entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.
You will never be good enough for the world but you will always be and have always been good enough for the Kingdom of God. Jesus died so that you could get your citizenship of the Kingdom. All you have to do is confess Him as Savior. No waiting period, no entrance exam, no screening. Just give him your heart.
And if you are already serving Him and you are a part of the kingdom you are going to be able to testify of its goodness. The world is going to be able to see that you look different, speak different, and live differently to the rest of the world because you have made the better choice.

Answered prayer

I receive prayer requests daily, as I am sure most people do. Some of them are not even legitimate. There are fake reports that have been going around the internet for years and every so often keep cropping up again. I will whisper a quick prayer to some requests and for others I will take time and intercede. I am just wondering, when I see how many prayer requests there are, if people actually pray, and if they do, do they believe that their prayers will be answered. Do we believe that our prayers are powerful or do we just have a faint hope that maybe God will hear them? Here are a few facts about prayer:
Our prayers are precious to God.
Revelation 5:8, And when he had taken it, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb. Each one had a harp and they were holding golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints.
Revelation 8:3, Another angel, who had a golden censer, came and stood at the altar. He was given much incense to offer, with the prayers of the saints, on the golden altar before the throne.
God commands us to pray.
1 Chronicles 16:11, Look to the Lord and His strength; seek His face always.
Hosea 14:2, Take words with you and return to the Lord. Say to Him, “Forgive all our sins and receive us graciously, that we may offer the fruit of our lips.”
Matthew 7:7, Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.
Matthew 26:41 Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing but the body is weak.
Luke 18:1 Then Jesus told His disciples a parable they should always pray and not give up.
This is the parable in Luke 18:1-8 The parable of the persistent widow.
John 16:24 Until now you have not asked for anything in My name. Ask and you will receive and your joy will be complete.
Ephesians 6:18 And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints.

1 Thessalonians 5:17 pray continually.
James 5:13 Is any of you in trouble? Let him sing songs of praise.

Did you notice that James 5:13 said ‘sing songs of praise’? If prayer is speaking to God, then surely singing praises to God is also prayer. Communication with God is prayer. It is just in another form. There are worship leaders who sing out the most beautiful prayers to God spontaneously. Whatever form our prayers take, we have to pray.
If you read through the Old Testament there are so many examples of prayer that was answered. Moses, Gideon, Hannah, Samuel and Solomon, to name but a few. In the book of Acts there are many examples of answered prayer.
Acts 4:31 After they prayed, the place was shaken. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God boldly.
In Acts 3:1-10 is the account of Peter and John healing a crippled man. Acts 5:12-16 tells of many people being healed by the apostles. In Acts 12 Peter miraculously escapes from prison.
Luke 11:9 So I say to you: Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.
John 15:7 If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be given you.
As we can clearly see, the bible is full of accounts of prayers being answered, and also of commands to pray. God wants us to communicate with Him. He wants to have a relationship with Him. If we believe this, then why do we so often doubt that our prayers will be answered? We pray and then we allow doubt to creep in and that’s how the enemy subtly steals our faith. Before we know it, we’ve stopped praying, stopped believing that prayer is going to make any difference at all. It’s so sad. Perhaps we’ve been so badly let down by the people that we trusted to make a difference in our lives that we put God into that same category and don’t want to trust Him either.
Psalm 37:5 Trust in the Lord and do good; dwell in the land and enjoy safe pasture.
Psalm 118:8 It is better to take refuge in the Lord than to trust in man.
Proverbs 3:5 Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding.
I would like to put a challenge out there. Start praying with faith and trust. Believe that God is going to provide what He promises to. Don’t doubt, and see what the Lord is going to do.

Wait on the Lord

We’re celebrating Easter and as we all know it’s all about Jesus being crucified. And the value of Easter being in the fact that Jesus rose again on the third day. Which is really amazing. If I try to think about the resurrection in human terms, there’s no way that is could have happened.
Matthew 28:1 – 10,”Now after the Sabbath, toward the dawn of the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to see the tomb. And behold, there was a great earthquake, for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven and came and rolled back the stone and sat on it. His appearance was like lightning, and his clothing white as snow. And for fear of Him the guards trembled and became like dead men. But the angel said to the women, ‘Do not be afraid for I know that you seek Jesus who is crucified. He is not here, for He is risen like He said. Come see the place where He lay. Then go quickly and tell his disciples that he has risen from the dead, and behold, he is going before you to Galilee: there you will see him. See, I have told you.’ So they departed quickly from the tomb with fear and great joy, and ran to tell his disciples. And behold, Jesus met them and said, ‘Greetings!’ And they came up and took hold of his feet and worshipped him. Then Jesus said to them, ‘Do not be afraid; go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee, and there they will see me.’”
If this was a fairy tale or a work of fiction, it might be hard to think of as being plausible. It outrates the most dramatic soap opera. Superman, Batman and Spiderman don’t have a chance of coming anywhere near this story. Jesus is the ultimate super hero. There is not one single logical thing about the resurrection. When the soldiers went to tell the story, the elders bribed them to say that the disciples had stolen Jesus’s body. The whole thing didn’t make the least sense to Thomas either.
John 20:24 – 29 , “Now Thomas, one of the twelve, called the Twin, was not with them when Jesus came. So the other disciples told him, ‘We have seen the Lord.’ But he said to them, “Unless I see in his hands the mark of the nails, and place my finger into the mark of the nails, and place my hand into his side, I will never believe.’ Eight days later, his disciples were inside again, and Thomas was with them. Although the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, ‘Peace be with you.’ Then he said to Thomas, ‘Put your finger here, and see my hands; and put out your hand, and place it in my side. Do not disbelieve.’ Thomas answered him, ‘My Lord and my God!’ Jesus said to him, ‘Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.’” So here Jesus not only knows what Thomas said, he also walked through the wall!
If we confess to being Christians, believers, followers of Jesus, then we have to totally believe what’s written in the Bible. If the Bible says Jesus appeared, and if He walked through the wall or just appeared out of nowhere, it doesn’t matter, we have to believe it. It’s as simple as that. But is it as simple as that when our faith is tested. Is it simple when we’ve been praying and trusting God for a miracle and it hasn’t happened?
Isaiah 40:28 – 31, “Have you not known? Have you not heard? The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He does not faint or grow weary; his understanding is unsearchable. He gives power to the faint, and to him who has no might he increases strength. Even youths shall faint and be weary, and young men shall fall exhausted; but they who wait on the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint.”
And what shall we do while we are waiting on the Lord?
Colossians 4:2, “Continue steadfastly in prayer, being watchful in it, with thanksgiving.”
That’s the answer, keep on praying and praise God. Even though nothing makes sense, God hears your prayers and He loves you so much He sent His only Son to die so that you can be saved.