Repeating prayers is for us, not for God. He’s not forgetful, He’s not old. He does not have dementia. He cannot be confused. He can remember even if we just pray it one time; repeating them is for us it helps us but, just because we have only prayed it once does not mean it will not be answered.
Luke 18:1-8 NASB
18 Now He was telling them a parable to show that at all times they ought to pray and not become discouraged,
2 saying, “In a certain city there was a judge who did not fear God and did not respect any person.
3 Now there was a widow in that city, and she kept coming to him, saying, ‘Give me justice against my opponent.’
4 For a while he was unwilling; but later he said to himself, ‘Even though I do not fear God nor respect any person,
5 yet because this widow is bothering me, I will give her justice; otherwise by continually coming she will wear me out.’”
6 And the Lord said, “Listen to what the unrighteous judge said;
7 now, will God not bring about justice for His elect who cry out to Him day and night, and will He delay long for them?
8 I tell you that He will bring about justice for them quickly. However, when the Son of Man comes, will He find faith on the earth?”
Jesus was saying to pray without ceasing (1 Thessalonians 5.) Always live with open communication, your line always open. Walk and talk with God so that any given moment you can listen to His guidance through the Holy Spirit speaking directly to your heart. We can utter a thanks for the beauty of His creation we see or hear. We can utter a request, an urgent plea. We do not have to wait to dial up and be connected. There is no buffering or slow internet speed. Your line is always up and running.
God hears our prayers. It does not matter if they are spoken aloud or in our heart. He answers immediately. God has no time. It is answered. We wait in our time for the answer. The answer shows up in time, on time, according to His plan. Many times the answer is to wait upon Him and His plan to unfold. Many times we do not like the answer and refuse to see it. we keep praying for the answer we want, not His will.
14 This is the confidence which we have [a]before Him, that, if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. 15 And if we know that He hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests which we have asked from Him.
1 John 5:14-15 NASB
In His will, not ours. To simply end with, “The will be done” will not help. We have to really have our heart open for God’s will and pray according to His will.
Are you willing for His will to be done?
John 16:33NASB
“These things I have spoken to you, so that in Me you may have peace. In the world you have tribulation, but take courage; I have overcome the world.”
Social media is swamped with everything from pity and woe, to beware and be scared. It is not that I do not understand these emotions, these fears, I do.
I have lost loved ones too soon. The list is long. I lost a sibling tragically. I did not understand. I was not asked to. I know death up close and personal. I have watched it suffocate. I watched my dad crash. I watched his lung suctioned. Scripture asks me to trust. Obey. Faith.
I have walked through hard times of jobs lost, savings and retirement gone, car and home lost. No income. It is hard. It is devastating. But, God had a plan. I was not asked to like the circumstances I was passing through, just to stand on His firm foundation and trust His plan. It does not matter if I ever understand the reason this side of Heaven. I am asked to trust. Faith.
Seniors are missing end of year memories. It is hard, I know. I did not go to homecoming or prom. I had worked all summer with 8 girls; made them 3 uniforms each. Those 27 uniforms saw little use when my senior year world was turned upside down. A boy was stabbed in the heart in front of me. Memories? I was 16 years old. My brother turned to protect me and push me out of the way of the five boys attacking. The police took four of us as witnesses. They let my brother stay with me. It was an away game. Cell phones were not invented. My parents met the busses, heard there was a stabbing. My brother and I did not get off the bus. Someone told them we were ok and I was a witness. They had to go home and wait for a call. They caught all but one of the five that night. The guy that stabbed the boy in the heart got away. They lined them up in front of us and we pointed them out. No two way mirrors, face to face. Three days later I came face to face with the guy that stabbed the boy in the heart. Fear unimaginable. I got the detective. He got him. The threats came on the phone in the middle of the night. Dad took the phone off the hook. The threats and more came at school then. The school was suspended from all extra curricular events. My 17th birthday came and went. Two witnesses dropped out due to threats. The nightmares. The trial was horrible. The tranquilizers didn’t help. The stress and fear were overwhelming. I alienated friends, and eventually my high school sweetheart. Senior year? We got back activities after dad and another father threatened to shut down all 64 high schools if superintendent did not lift ban. Our teams, band, chorus, drama, etc., were able to do some events. I graduated. It is a blur. All the years of dreams gone. In the next six months dad had lung cancer. Senior year. It is not good for everyone. Focus on the good circumstances and memories you had and be thankful. You do not like the circumstances but, God has a plan. Grow. Look for the His plan. I did not at first. I dwelled on disappointment and lost dreams. I was grounded in faith, found I was still on His firm foundation. He carried me through. People look to see how you handle these circumstances if you are a Christian. You may never understand. Will you learn anything? Will you grow? Do they see faith?
These current circumstances are no different. Life is hard. Are these the end times? Does it matter? We entered the end times with the fall of Adam. There are no new trials or circumstances, no new sins. We should always live as this is the last days. Never take for granted our Lord’s grace and mercy. The Romans persecuted Christians in arenas for sport. The idol temples were filled with debauchery and sins unimaginable for profit. Plagues and famines have been recorded since Pharaohs’ days. Only the Holy Spirit can bring someone to salvation. You cannot scare them into it. So point to God’s sovereign love, mercy and grace. Show them trust and faith in your Lord, not fear of circumstances.
This too shall past. Be steadfast.
Psalm 26:12 NASB “My foot stands on a level place; In the congregations I shall bless the LORD”
RBGreenDesigns.com 2020
As only a child would think he voiced, “Let’s go find the rest of it!” Simple logic. He knew it was all there…. somewhere, and he wanted to go looking. If only we had the faith of a child.
Matthew 18:2-4 New (NASB) 2 And He called a child to Himself and set him before them, 3 and said, “Truly I say to you, unless you are converted and become like children, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven. 4 Whoever then humbles himself as this child, he is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.
God’s Word has the whole picture, all the answers. Unfortunately, as we grow up in The Lord, we tend to forget where to look for the answers. We forget our lessons learned and fail to return to study and search more. We have read so many devotions and been to so many Bible studies; heard so many preachers that we act as though we have heard it all.
We never see all of the rainbow. That is because of what is on the horizon, it blocks the whole view. We never know all about God either. Our view is blocked by our horizon, our life on earth. Sin has corrupted the view of God on earth. Our earthly minds are too small to grasp all His truths and plans. Even if He showed us all of His plan, we could not grasp it, much less even remember all the details. So we must trust His plan and have faith. We hear it all the time but we cannot even grasp that concept.
God made us, so He knows us. He provided His Word for us to know Him and the Holy Spirit to help us. We decide we have heard it all before and read it all. We close ourselves all up and are in a spiritual room with no doors or windows. We take our last spiritual breath and try to hold it. Then we become spiritually dead. There is always more if we return to the Source. Open His door, His Word and breathe again. You cannot breathe it all in so quit trying. One breath at a time is all you need.
Knowledge of God comes bit by bit. The wisest man I ever knew was 97 years old when he died. David Fant read God’s word every day. As an engineer he would stand in front of his engine at every depot and read God’s Word to the passengers as they went by him. He was known as the engineer-evangelist, God’s “Ambassador On Rails”. He had a brass plate on the front of his engine shaped like a Bible with “The Word Is Truth” inscribed. We in the church called him “Dad Fant“. He is responsible for finding the land and helping establish Tocooa Falls Bible College. I never new a finer Biblical scholar or Godly man. He never stopped seeking to know God more. No matter how much he understood or knew there was always more for him to learn. He knew that there was always more to know about God and he would never be finished.
We grow physically older and mature. We are never as old as the last breath we breathe. Our spiritual life is no different. We will only know Him more each day we breathe in His Word. Each breath should make us younger and more childlike in our faith. We may forget Scriptures we have memorized as we age and our minds fail, but, we trust Him. We know we can stand on His Word and truths, His promises. They will never fail. His Word never returns void. Once we have read and heard His Word it never fails us.
Isaiah 55:11 “So will My word be which goes forth from My mouth; it will not return to Me empty, without accomplishing what I desire, and without succeeding in the matter for which I sent it.“
May we all return to humble, childlike faith and keep searching for Him breath by breath.
RBGreenDesigns.Com 2019
Peace is sought everywhere. No matter the continent or country, people are looking for peace. Of course, there are those that destroy peace, but most want to find some sort of common ground and get along. According to the Merriam Webster dictionary:
The Meaning of Peace. In English, the word “peace” conjures up a passive picture, one showing an absence of civil disturbance or hostilities, or a personality free from internal and external strife.
Some want peace in their personal lives, between family members like siblings, etc. Others want peace at their school, or job. Maybe peace is needed in a church or neighborhood. No matter what kind of peace, it all starts with you.
First, and most importantly, you must have the Prince of Peace in your life, or all your efforts will be futile.
Secondly, you have to daily seek peace. Sometimes it may even be a moment by moment, standing on His promises to get you through the situation.
Finally, you need to understand there’s a reason we say “Peace like a River”. Not a lake, or the ocean … a river. That thought struck me this past week. I did a little research on what the Bible says.
Isaiah 66:12a NASB “For thus says the LORD, “Behold, I extend peace to her like a river, And the glory of the nations like an overflowing stream;”…
Isaiah 48:14 NASB “If only you had paid attention to My commandments! Then your well-being would have been like a river, And your righteousness like the waves of the sea.”
A lake is a body of water, mostly still. The ocean goes in and out against the shore. But, a river, a river takes a journey. Life is a journey, peace is a journey. Daily going forward, putting the day before behind you. God always says it just right doesn’t He?
He will be with you on your journey, and His peace is there for you. There are many verses in the Bible about peace.
John 14:1 NASB “Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God; believe also in me.
John 14:27 NASB “Peace I leave with you; My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Do not let your heart be troubled, nor let it be fearful.”
THIS ONE SHOULD GET YOU UP SHOUTING PTL AND PTA: (That’s Southernese for “Praise the Lord” and “Pass the Ammunition”. ‘Cause we know when you win one battle, another is just around the corner and you need to reload the ammunition. But, we also know, HE HAS ALREADY WON THE WAR at Calvary!)
John 16:33 NASB “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”
John 20:19 NASB “On the evening of that first day of the week, when the disciples were together, with the doors locked for fear of the Jewish leaders, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!”
John 20:21 NASB “Again Jesus said, “Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.”
John 20:26 NASB “A week later his disciples were in the house again, and Thomas was with them. Though the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!”
Philippians 4:7 NASB “And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.“
Colossians 3:15 NASB “Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful.”
May your life this year be peace like a river; a journey moving you forward.
thoughts to guide on the rough seas of life
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