Prevailing in Prayer!

“You will seek Me and find Me when you search for me with all your heart.”  Jeremiah 29:13

“Hear my prayer, O Lord, Give ear to my supplications!  Answer me in Your faithfulness, in Your righteousness!  And do not enter into judgment with your servant, For in Your sight no man living is righteous.  For the enemy has persecuted my soul; He has crushed my life to the ground; He has made me dwell in dark places, like those who have been long dead.  Therefore my spirit is overwhelmed within me; My heart is appalled within me.”  Psalm 143:1-4

It has been a long time since America has seen the glory of God on a nationwide scale.  It almost seems that evil is prevailing!  Does the Lord have a Word for us here in the early part of the 21st century?  As is often the case, the answer for today can be found in days gone by.  God spoke through His prophet Jeremiah to let us know that He does not respond to half-hearted attempts on our part to seek Him, but He requires our whole heart.  David modeled this truth, even in times of great opposition and adversity (Perhaps more so in such times) to break though to victory.  “Thou hast enlarged me when I was in distress.”  Psalm 4:1

David reminds us that the follower of Christ can prevail in prayer in spite of his worldliness!  He confessed to God, “For in Your sight no man living is righteous.”  Many years ago a wise man of God defined success in the Christian life in a way I have never forgotten.  He said, “Success for the Christian is when what has been written of you can be said about you!”  Think of the many things that have been written about the people of God in the Scriptures.  “We are more than conquerors through Him that loved us!”  Romans 8:37; “You are the salt of the earth…the light of the world.”  Matthew 5:13,14; “You have overcome the evil one.”  1st John 2:13; “God always leads us in triumph in Christ, and manifests though us the sweet aroma of the knowledge of Him in every place.”  2nd Corinthians 2:14; “You are dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus.”  Romans 6:11.  To the extent to what has been written of us can be said of us, to that extent we are successful.  Little wonder that David wrote that no man can be seen to be righteous in the sight of God apart from the grace of God!  Thank the Lord that by His grace, we are made righteous through faith in Christ (Romans 5:19).

David goes on to say that the Christ-follower can prevail in prayer in spite of his weakness.  He wrote of feeling persecuted, crushed, overwhelmed and appalled by the enemy.  Just as Jesus warned Peter that Satan had asked to sift him like wheat, we can be defeated by the devil when we face him in our own strength.  At such times, the temptation is to give in to distress and depression, but that very scenario can be the springboard to great triumph when we give our heart to believing prayer!

August Bartholdi spent ten years of his life designing a lighthouse for an entrance to the Suez Canal as he visited the pyramids, but there was no funding to build it.  Later, the country of France decided to give the United States of America his creation that would be known as the Statue of Liberty!  What seemed like a devastating disappointment ended up a magnificent success!

Confronting our weaknesses can either be a cause for pity, or a call to prayer!

Jon Moore

Jesus Loves Me!

As I sat with my grandson several years ago, I was singing this old familiar song, Jesus Loves Me.   I have sung that song so many times to all my grandchildren, as well as my own children when they were young.  It is a simple tune and has easy words, but the impact of this song has a powerful truth.  This song has been sung by children and parents all around the world.

Anna Warner wrote these words in 1860.  It was written for a man who was comforting a dying child.  William Bradbury set the words to music in 1861.

“Jesus loves me this I know, for the Bible tells me so; little ones to Him belong, they are weak, but He is strong.  Yes, Jesus loves me!  Yes, Jesus loves me!  Yes, Jesus loves me!  The Bible tells me so.”

What an awesome truth.  It would do us adults good to sing that song often and be reminded of the incredible love of God toward us.  Romans 5:8 “But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.”  Romans 8:35-39 “Who shall separate us from the love of Christ?  Shall tribulation or distress, persecution or famine, nakedness, peril or sword?  For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor anything present, nor things to come, nor height, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

Jesus loves you!!  Do you know this powerful truth?  I mean in the very depth of your soul, do you really know?

Joy

Phyllis

 

 

 

Overcoming Fear!

“For God has not given us the spirit of fear; but of power and a sound mind.” 2 Timothy 1:7

Every time we turn on the TV, radio, or read the newspaper there is more alarming news.  There is so much going on in the world today to cause fear and worry. Fear of failure, fear of the future, loss of jobs, loneliness, overwhelming debt, and so on, and so on we could go.  However, the Word of God says not to fear.  The Bible says not to let your heart be anxious.  Fear is a real emotion, but God gave us our emotions and with that gift, I believe, He can control them by the power of the Holy Spirit.  This is certainly not to say that He doesn’t use doctors, but truly God is the great Deliverer.

Given that every believer is alive in Christ and our souls are in union with the Father, why do we struggle with anxiety and fear?  In his book, “Freedom from Fear,” Neil Anderson states that the answer is two fold. “First, in a positive way, a certain amount of fear is essential for our safety and survival. Secondly, in a negative sense, our minds are programed to live without God.  Everything that we have learned before we became Christians is still in our memory bank, and there is no DELETE button.” The worry-some problems are everywhere and constantly assaulting our mind.   That is why Paul said in Romans 12:2 “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.” (By replacing what is of the old life with what is of your new life in Christ.)

Renew your mind in the truth of Bible scriptures and remind yourself that the God of this universe is your Father.  He created all things and in Him all thing consist.  God is covenant keeping and knows the end from the beginning.  The Lord is our Peace, our Counselor, and He is the Lord that will provide.  Ask Him to show you Himself as your “Strong Tower” in which you can run when fear assaults your mind and heart. “Peace I leave with you, My peace I now give you; not as the world gives do I give you.  Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.” John 14:27

Joy,

Phyllis

The Inspiration to Prevail!

“I remember the days of old; I meditate on all Your doings; I muse on the work of Your hands.  I stretch out my hands to You; My soul longs for you, as a parched land.  Answer me quickly, O Lord, my spirit fails; Do not hide Your face from me, Or I will become like those who go down to the pit.  Let me hear Your loving kindness in the morning; For I trust in You; Teach me the way in which I should walk; For to You I lift up my soul.  Deliver me, O Lord, from my enemies; I take refuge in You.”  Psalm 143:5-9

We live in a time when it seems that evil is winning the day.  David, the psalmist, experienced such times, yet he was inspired to pray until he prevailed.  Hopefully this passage will be an encouragement to every Christ-follower to pray for victory with a renewed confidence.

David was inspired to prevail in prayer as he remembered the Lord’s past works (vv 5-6).  We can learn from that!  There is spiritual strength in recalling the Lord’s past mighty works in behalf of His people in Bible times, in the history of the Church, in our personal life and in contemporary events.  We have a tremendous advantage over the old testament saints.  We have the record of the mighty acts of God in the Scriptures.  It is spiritually therapeutic to read, re-read and meditate on all these works of His hands.  It is also inspirational to read, re-read and meditate on the awesome works of God in the history of the Church.  Finally, it would benefit greatly every true follower of Christ to sit down periodically and make list of all the things the Lord has done to provide for and protect his or her life, as well as those of family and friends.

David found additional inspiration to prevail in prayer as he learned to recognize the Lord’s present ways (vv 7-9).  We can be reminded, as was David, that he was dependent on the Lord twenty four hours a day, every day of his life.  But we are not to stop there, but remind ourselves that we can always trust in the Lord’s faithfulness.  Regardless of the time, or situation, it is tremendously comforting and inspiring to be reminded that, “Faithful is He Who calls you, and He also will bring it to pass.”  1st Thessalonians 5:24  David said, “I trust in You!” (v 8), and “I take refuge in You!” (v 9), and we can say the same thing!

The ancient Chinese used to foster hope in their theatre by using a two-level stage.  The main play was on a lower stage while the final act was on a stage above.  As the people watched the actors on the main stage going through adversity and trials, they could see how things worked out on the upper stage.  Armed with this information about how things would work out, the people in the audience would shout encouragement to the actors on the main stage to keep going in spite of their trials, and how things appeared for the moment.  The people of God have the final act clearly set forth in the Bible.  Even though we are beset by what seem like overwhelming problems, that which is revealed about the Lord’s character and being in Scripture, and our ultimate victory with Him should be more than ample to inspire us to continue to prevail in prayer!

Jon Moore