The thoughts, experiences and views of the unique person God knows as me
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God is worthy of praise. He does so much for us everyday. Many of the things He does for us, we take for granted...our homes, food, friends, family, nature. We may not always like the way God answers our prayers, but He has a plan for our lives, and everything He does for us is part of His plan for us. Give God thanks today for all He does for you.
When your struggling through difficult times in your life, who do you turn to?
Within the bible we're told that Habakkuk had somewhere to go and someone to listen to him when he was perplexed. He went to his "watchtower", his place of prayer, where he was confident that God would meet him and give him some answers.
Habakkuk 2:1 NIV What's God going to say to my questions? I'm braced for the worst. I'll climb to the lookout tower and scan the horizon. I'll wait to see what God says, how he'll answer my complaint.
We don't need to be a prophet like Habakkuk to have a watchtower. We can be a mother, a father, a wife, a husband, an executive, a homemaker, an MP or a homeless person...in fact it doesn't matter who we are, God has made a watchtower for each us us so that we can climb into it whenever we want. From that watchtower (place of prayer) we can begin to see what God sees and we can wait for Him to answer our questions.
God doesn't always answer us directly, He often sends us messengers in different forms. He may send us His message through the words of a friend, a minister, book, radio or TV.
When we believe in God we have somewhere to go and someone to listen to us, our watchtower or place of pray where we can wait on God to answer our questions and give us rest from our frustrations.
Sometimes all we need is someone to talk to. It may not change the direct our life is going in but may just remind us we're not going through it on our own.
The Answer to the Question by Tree63 I'm growing tired of a mouth shut tight when all I want to do is tell the whole world about the Man sitting at the right hand of the One in Heaven how could I sing about anything but Him
He is the answer to the question He is the cure for the infection He is all He says He is He is the ultimate reflection of holiness and true perfection He is all He says He is
How can I not cry watching as the world dies without a prayer They look to their own construction bound to the living God of Earth and Heaven How could they sing about everything but Him, yeah, yeah
He is the answer to the question He is the cure for the infection He is all He says He is He is the ultimate reflection of holiness and true perfection He is all He says He is
I'm so tired of a mouth shut tight All I want to do is tell the whole world about the man sitting at the right hand of the One in Heaven How could I sing about anything but Him
He is the answer to the question He is the cure for the infection He is all He says He is He is the ultimate reflection of holiness and true perfection He is all He says He is
Do you believe you can get something for nothing? Are you sceptical when someone tells you you can have something for nothing?
It's true I'm sure that there are some things in life that you can get free of charge. Well that includes salvation, as God tells us:
The Spirit and the bride say, "Come!" And let him who hears say, "Come!" Whoever is thirsty, let him come; and whoever wishes, let him take the free gift of the water of life. Revelation 22:17 (NIV) Please do not be sceptical, although eternal life does not come to us for free, it simply means that someone has to pay the price...and that someone was Jesus! He has paid the ultimate price for us on the cross - "He paid a debt he did not owe; I owed a debt I could not pay".
When we accept Jesus as our saviour, God transferred our sins to his account. In other words our debt is taken from us because Jesus paid our debt in full! And that is why He can offer us eternal life free of charge!
So stop trying to pay the debt yourself, just come to God.
Come is such a simply word but it's the only one required to invite you to God...Come!
I found this simply prayer on the internet, please use it to invite God into your life today: Lord, I'm coming, I'm coming to Christ. I'm coming to say I'm sorry that you had to die to pay the punishment for sins you didn't commit - mine! Thank you, Lord Jesus. Lord, I'm coming. I'm coming to say I'm done with trying to "buy" influence with you. I've run out of currency - I'm bankrupt. "nothing in my hands I bring. Simply to your cross I cling". Jesus, I've come - here I am - forgive me, come into my heart, enter my life, and give me eternal life. Thank you Lord Jesus! Amen
Everything God has done was just so you would come to Him...
What do you think of when you hear the word "prayer"?
Someone kneeling in prayer?
God?
Now consider what you think the word prayer means...
Time to talk to God? Time to ask God for all you need/want?
What about time to listen to God?
John 10:27 (New Living Translation) My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me.
Not only is prayer our time for reverent petition to God, it's also our time to listen to God talking to us. Prayer should not be a one way monologue with God, it should be two way dialogue between us and God.
How would you feel if one of your friends talked to you all the time, and you never got a chance to speak to them in return? It wouldn't be very nice would it. Well God is no different, He wants a two way conversation with you so give Him the chance to talk to you...but most importantly be willing and ready to listen to what he wants to say to you!
Remember to be willing and ready to hear what God wants to say to you. Don't make prayer a one way conversation from you to God.
Phillipians 4:6-7 (The Message) Don't fret or worry. Instead of worrying, pray. Let petitions and praises shape your worries into prayers, letting God know your concerns. Before you know it, a sense of God's wholeness, everything coming together for good, will come and settle you down. It's wonderful what happens when Christ displaces worry at the center of your life.
When we pray, we invite God to enter into our heart and guide us through each day. Prayer is our way of connecting with God, of talking directly to Him.
Bur don't ever forget, that we don't have to pray to let God know how we are feeling or what we need, because God knows what's in our heart. God made each of us with His own hands, so He already knows everything about us, He knows our every thought and our every feeling, even before we know them ourselves!
When we are struggling or facing difficult times, that's when we often plead with God to listen to our prayers. Why do we plead with God? Is it because we think He isn't listening to us, or doesn't care about it? Far from it, as I said earlier, God knows what we are needing before we even ask Him, so He's not forgotten us. God cares about us more than anyone else, so He would not desert us in our hour of need.
God knows everything about you - He knows your every fear and your every need.
This week at work, has felt like 2 weeks, however the days themselves have flown by as I’ve been very busy. That however hasn’t dimmed my frustrations in the last few days. The project I’m currently working is on is nearing it’s implementation, however in these last few weeks we just seem to be hitting one problem after another.
Yes, I am frustrated by it all particularly as many of the issues could and should have been avoided and saved us many hours of chasing to try to resolve things or find someone who can!
At the end of the day, this is only about work and when I leave work at night, I leave these frustrations behind me. They are still there the next day, but at least I can forget them while I’m not at work.
So how do you deal with frustrations?
Certainly as far as work is concerned I try to leave my frustration at work when I leave each day. It’s not so easy to put to one side other frustrations we face in life as often they have arisen from something that is a core part of our life and with us all the time. E.g. Health concerns, martial problems, concerns about our children etc.
Whatever your frustrations, take them to God, he’s there to help you through thick and thin.
One thing that often discourages people from praying is their fear of doing it wrong.
So here are some basic instructions that someone passed to me a number of years ago, about how to pray:
First, we must come in faith, believing that there is a God who will hear us and reward us (Hebrews 11:6)
We must must willingly let God examine our hearts (Psalms 139:23-24), confess our sins (1 John 1:9), and then repent (Acts 3:19).
Even when we feel our faith is small, we can still pray (Matthew 17:20).
Do we have any relationships that need to be mended. If so, we should try to mend them (Matthew 5:23-24)
Ask yourself, "would the answer to this prayer honour Jesus' name, or extend the work of God's kingdom?"
If your prayers don't currently follow these instructions, don't worry it doesn't mean God hasn't been listening to your prayers. Try to pray regularly, and try to keep the things I've mentioned in mind when you pray.
If you open your heart to God and let Him in, there is no limit to what He can do in your life.
Somebody's praying for me...to those of you who have been praying for me, and continuing to do so, a very big thank you from me.
Does God hear and answer prayers of those who don't believe in Him? Yes! Think about it, every one of us was once an unbeliever but God listened to us when we prayed to Him to forgive us of our sins and enter our lives.
God hears the prayers of westerners and easterners, blacks and white, men and women, rich and poor, old and young, good and bad - He hears all prayers.
When Peter when to Cornelius and his family, he told them in Acts 10:34-36,43: "I see clearly that God doesn't show partiality. In every nation he accepts those who fear him and do what is right. I'm sure you have heard about the Good News for the people of Israel - that there is peace with God through Jesus Christ, who is Lord of all. He is the one all the prophets testified about, saying that everyone who believes in him will have their sins forgiven through his name."
Those who are unbelievers need to hear God's message of love and forgiveness. They need you and me to tell them!
I'm sure we all have family and/or friends who are non believers, why not make a pledge today, to talk to them about God and tell them the Good News of Christ.
Life can be like a ball of string - some times we're wound up so tightly we feel we might break if one more thing pulls our "string" any tighter; other times we can feel the complete opposite, feeling completely worn out by everything life has flung at us we're more like an unravelled ball of string!
So where am I going with this ball of string? Well to keep our lives from getting unravelled or wound up too tightly, we need to have an active prayer life.
Prayer will help us to wind up the unravelled ball of string or release the pressure on the over tight ball of string. But that can't just happen without our cooperation - we must find a place and a time when we can be alone with God in prayer, to talk to Him but also to listen to Him.
InPsalm 5:3the psalmist says"Listen to my voice in the morning, Lord. Each morning I bring my requests to you and wait expectantly".Do you spend time each morning waiting on God? We all have such busy lives these days, so you may find it impossible to find a regular time/place to spend in prayer. So can I make a suggestion? Put time in your diary or calendar to spend with God in prayer - it has allowed me to spend much more time in prayer than I was previously doing when I was just trying to fit it in when/where I could - that doesn't work - God needs and wants you to spend quality time with Him.
So whether you're feeling wound up tight or completely unravelled and desperate to spend time alone with God, make a cup of tea or coffee, get your calendar and mark in your appointments with God, your "God time".
Do you know what a "crisis prayer" is? It is often one we make when we are at rock bottom, when we are desperate and feel we have nowhere else to turn.
The prayers we utter at a time of crisis are just as legitimate as any other prayer, and they can often bring fantastic results. However, we should not pray only when we are in crisis. In other words, our crisis prayers should be bourne out of our regular prayer life.
Nehemiah 2:4-5 (New Living Translation) The king asked, "Well how can I help you?". With a prayer to the God of heaven, I replied".
To be able to pray in a crisis, we must be in the habit of talking to God even when there's no crisis.
God alone will help us whenever we instinctively turn to Him, so make praying to God your routine, not just a reaction during a crisis.
Are you one of those people you is up the second your alarm goes, or are you like me, turn over and go back to sleep again for as long as you can get away with?
So having got up, what do you do next - Bathroom, shower, breakfast, feed the cat/dog, get the kids up/dressed?
Now my "big" question -on average, how long does it take you after getting up, before you say your first prayer of the day?
Just a few minutes, hours or you're not sure as it just depends when you get free minute to pray - These are just a few of the answers you might have come up with.
Start your day with God. Make Him part of your day right from the moment you wake. If you invite God to be part of your day right from its commencement, what could possible make your day any better!
Make God part of your daily routine. Make prayer part of your daily routine.
So how many of you just came to read this blog because of its title?
Even if it was just the title that got you here, I hope you read on...
I've spent some time in the last few days, rereading some of my previous posts, and found myself focusing on my post entitled DVD Players versus Bibles.
While that post was all about how many DVD players we have in relation to the number of bibles we possess, I got thinking about how much time we spend in prayer.
So, on average, how long do you spend watching the television each day? Now be honest, as I think if you are like me, you might be embarassed about how much time you spend watching the TV!
Have you done your calculations? Are you surprised how much time you send watching the television? I certainly was! I then wondered how many of programmes that are on when you're TV is on, that you actually watch! I know in our house, the TV is often on, but niether of us are actually watching it - it's just there as a noise in the corner!
So where am I going with this? Given the amount of time we spend watching the television, I wonder how that compares with the amount of time we spend in prayer. So, some questions for you to consider:
Do you spend time praying each day? How much time do you spend praying each day? Do you watch the TV more regularly than you pray? How often do you listen to what God is saying to you?
Now I've thrown a number of questions at you, what's your reaction to your answers? I was quite shocked by my answers to the above questions. We spend a lot of time these days watching tv, dvds, playing computer games, using pcs/laptops, but do we spend enough of our time reading our bible and praying?
Because of my own answers to the above questions, I'm re-evaluating how I spend my time, do you need to do that too?
Enjoy the music but also acknowledge the message presented in the following video: "Pray" by Rebecca St James
Philippians 4:6-7 (New Living Translation) Don’t worry about anything: instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. If you do this, you will experience God’s peace, which is far more wonderful than the human mind can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.
The video which follows features a talented young man called Connor Deal singing the beautiful Rebecca St. James song "A Cradle Prayer". It's a beautiful song with special words, made all the more speacial as Connor Lee Deal died at the age of 12 on Feb 17 this year (2009).
Connor sang this solo as part of the Amarillo South Church Christmas production in December, 2007 when he was 11 years old. I know it's only May just now, but the music and words of this song are special too me, and Connor's performance touched me when I heard it earlier this week, so I make no appologies for featuring a nativity scene in May.
A Cradle Prayer (Music by Charles Garrett & Words by Rebecca St. James)
Jesus I love you my Lord my life Where would I be without you Here in the quiet, the still, the night I am in awe of you Trials may come and friends they may go What really matters is you my Lord Beautiful Savior my God, my friend I am in awe of you Lord I am in awe of you Trials may come and friends they may go What really matters is you my Lord Jesus I love you my Lord my life Where would I be without you Here in the quiet, the still, the night I am in awe of you Why would you, Creator and King Come as a baby for all, for me Beautiful Savior, my God, my friend I am in awe of you I am in awe of you
I had planned on posting about something entirely different tonight, but having received a prayer request to pray for someone who who has gone back into hospital today for further cancer treatment, it put my other thoughts way to the back of my mind.
Cancer is still one of the major killers in the UK, despite the advances in early diagnosis and treatment methods. I think everyone of us at some time in our lives have either known or known of someone who has been diagnosed with cancer. Many of us will have lost friends or family to cancer.
So today I ask your prayers for Andy who is currently going through a course of chemotherapy to treat cancer in his lungs. In a little over a year he has already had a course of chemo, a knee replacement due to bone cancer and radiotherapy. Read more about Andy or checkout Andy's own blog.
Please also pray for all who are fighting against cancer and for their families and friends who are supporting them through their illness. In addition pray for the doctors/nurses/hospital staff who care for those with cancer.
And finally, support one of the many cancer charities by giving of your money, your time...whatever you can, every little bit helps.
I'm married to Sandy, we have no children but we do have a cat called Tigger who we've had since he was 6 weeks old (he was a wedding present - we got him on our 1st anniversary).
I'm a christian and have attended the Salvation Army all my life. I play trombone in the Bellshill Salvation Army Band. I'm also the webmaster of the band's website.
Please do not be sceptical, although eternal life does not come to us for free, it simply means that someone has to pay the price...and that someone was Jesus! He has paid the ultimate price for us on the cross - 
