Wot about 2007?

Interestingly the sermon at church was on time but ended with the word that we need to trust in him this year for he will not fail us!

wot about 2006?

I think the one word that sums up this year is the word trust. I hope that will not lose sight of this in the new year.

Advent is over but we continue to remember

They say say puppies are for life not just for Christmas: In the Christian expereicence we remember Jesus all year round not just at Christmas. Let me close these set of thoughts that we have had over the December with this line from Matt Redmans song entitled "Befriended":

"Determined, determined now to live this life for you.
You're so worthy my greatest gift would be the least your due"

Lets make this a prayer as we look forward to the breaking in of 2007.

Happy 2nd Birthday Catriona (25th Dec)

Happy Birthday to our daughter who is two on Monday. Doesnt the time fly.

Just came accross this which Morven and I wote after her birth.

"Never say Never!

As we have look forward to the birth of our child, many people would ask questions, many of them were pretty standard! Nearer the end I remember one of the questions being to us both: Is there a time when you wouldn’t like the baby to come? We said that Christmas Day for obvious reasons. Well looking back on it I learn that when you are walking with the Lord you should never say never!
Over the December period, we often reminds ourselves afresh of how the Christ child was born. We will often think of Mary and Joseph who had to prepare for their new arrival. They would have known that the tiny little one who had been born in the stable was one who had come to be God in the flesh.
This is a message, which hit home to us on Christmas day . We received an unexpected Christmas Gift on Christmas Day. Our first child, Catriona Mary was born on the 25th December two weeks early at 7 llbs 9oz. We should have known to have never said never. For we praise God for this gift of new life into our lives and for reminding us afresh of the true meaning of Christmas. We pray that there will be a day when Catriona Mary counts it a privelege to share her birthday with the day that we remember the birth of Jesus. "

Why did Jesus come?

Maybe you have asked this question before or maybe someone has asked you this question. 1 John is not often a book we might hear preached about it in this season of advent. But yet it for me has alot to say about the son of God who came in flesh.
So let me ask myself that question again:
Why did Jesus come?
1 John 3:8b gives us this answer:

"The son of God appeared appeared for this purpose to destroy all the works of the devil"
This is a really cool verse to remind ourselves as we approach the Lord in prayer.
We know this to be true and really give us a clue that the birth of Jesus is only a part of purpose. God is purposes continued to be revealed through his son after the birth. Right throughout his earthly ministry he continued to destroy the work of the devil. The final enemy to be defeated was death. Christ arose!

I came accross these verses within Luke within Zacharius' song, (John's father). It says:

Luke 1:74-75
"To grant that us that we being rescued from the hand of our enemies. might serve him with fear, in holiness and righteousness before him all our days"

Zacharius came to praise the God who had a taste of salvation.

Anna devoted to prayer

Last night was writing here about Anna and just noticed not long after I had posted the verse before that she was a lady devoted to prayer

Luke 2:37b
She never left the temple serving night and day with fastings and prayers.

I've waited my whole life for this!

Have you spent your whole life waiting for something. The worshippers Simeon and Anna had waited their whole life for the day that Jesus who was their salvation to be born. In fact Simeon was promised that he would tasted death until Jesus the messiah was born.

Anna was a servant of the Lord, a prophetess and notable again for her worship:

Luke 2:38
And at that very moment she came up and began giving thanks to God, and continued to speak Him to all those who were looking for the redemption of Jerusalem.

Prayer: Lord give me that real spirit of anticipation as I seek to grow in you and indeed anticpate the 2nd coming.

distracted?

Following was taken from advent blog (glasgow) and you can view the original here


shhh…

I’ve been trying to get your attention, but you’ve been distracted.

You need to stop!
stop thinking
stop planning
stop worrying
about presents
about parties
about trimmings
about turkey
about travelling
about Christmas cards
about your gift-list
about your wish-list
about credit cards
about where you’re going shopping after this
none of that compares to the true wonder of this season
“For unto you is born, in the city of David, a Saviour, which is Christ the King.”
Be silent
Be calm
Be still
and know that,
He is God!

Mary Worshipped

Again this title lost in wonder, lost in worship is staying with me this advent. So many of folks in the infant narratives came to worship Jesus.
Mary sang the praises of the God who was able.

Luke 1:46-47
And Mary said:
My Souls exalts the Lord,
And my spirit has rejoiced in God m saviour.

When she heard how the Lord was going to use her, her heart turned to God who is mighty to worship him.

Read Reflect Renew

It is nearly that time of year again. Time when people have a wee bit more time to read reflect and renew. Again prayer is a theme we need to remind ourselves of and to re- understand prayer.

One of the books that I have set aside (if I have the time!!) to read is this book on prayer [RE] UNDERSTANDING PRAYER writing by Kyle Lake. Reading the following link for a review of the book click here. Look forward to gleaning fresh insights from prayer on this book. More to follow on this one!

Phil

prepare your heart

This advent my heart and prayer is that I would be lost in wonder, lost in worship. It is therefore important that I prepare my heart!

The following speak about preparing the way of the Lord:

Isaiah 40:3-5
"Listen! I hear the voice of someone shouting, Make a Highway for our the LORD through the wilderness. Make a straight smooth road through the desert for our God. Fill the valleys and level the hills. Straighten out the curves and the rough spots. Then the glory of the LORD will be revealed and all the people will see it together. The Lord has spoken"

Old Testament prophets often prophesied about this Messiah. They were living in the anticipation of this messiah coming. There was really something to Look forward to. John the Baptist preached about message of repentance and forgiveness but he was not even worthy to tie the straps of Jesus' shoes, the gospel Mark tells us. Why was John the Baptist preaching? To prepare the hearts to welcome the new born King!

My prayer would be that many hearts would be prepared to hear this message. I would pray that this message of Jesus would always burn in my heart.

Gods purposes seen throughout Advent

In number times in this blog, I have reflected that God's purposes work out! Long time before Jesus was born, he was being prohesied about. People were living in real anticipation a messiah who was coming. He came and in new Testament we often see OT scripture quoted to show that God's purposes were being revealed in their midst.
Hopeful Imagination has a post on this theme:

"How good are you at planning ahead? I am not a last minute person. I like to be organised but I have learnedthat carefully laid plans can be altered in a minute by unforeseen circumstances or pressure of work.

This isn't true of God, however, His plans have been laid since before the beginning of the world. His plans are eternal and will come to pass. " to read more click here

An Advent blog

I dsicovered this blog this evening which we will be bringing reflections as we move through this time of advent!
HopefulImagination

Stuart Blythe from The Word at the Baricades will be contributing a couple of times.

Advent is Coming!

Well December has come and that is not the only thing: Advent has come invite us to remember the arrival of Jesus who came into the world to live and move amongst us. It invites us to remember not only the first coming but the fact that Jesus is coming again.
So easy to get lost in the tinsel, shopping, eating, presents etc that we do not get lost in wonder, lost in worship! The wise men said that they desired to worship the new born king! We want to come back to basics!

Thomas Kinkade Quote

"Rather than set aside daily time for prayer, I pray constantly and spontaneously about everything I encounter on a daily basis. When someone shares something with me, I'll often simply say, 'let's pray about this right now.' "

Oswald Chambers Quote

"We have to pray with our eyes on God, not on the
difficulties"

Prayer & Faith

Yesterday the sermon at church was on Faith looking at the classic chapter on faith and being encouraged to look forward in faith and to tell our story of faith.

Hebrews 11:1
Now Faith is the assurance of the thing hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.


Faith needs to be exercised in prayer and as we feel led to take action we exercise faith again. But yet in both it is the fear of the unknown as accrostix points out: "Forsaking all, I trust him". Praying Lord, I do not know every single detail but I do trust you.


James 1: 6
But he must ask in faith without any doubting, for the one who doubts is like the surf of the sea, driven and tossed by the wind.

"God opens the door"

Colossians 4 tells us that it is God that would open this door of opportunity! While God uses men and women it is God that causes anything to Grow as Corinthians points out. What does this mean we keep trusting the Lord to open the right doors of opportunity to present his word.

Prayer, Vision, Action!

Just finished reading the book entitled An Irregular Candidate: Jackie Ross of Blythswood written by Irene Howat. It tells the story of Jackie Ross who founded Blythswood 40 years ago and also involved in church ministry and community work in Locharron. Irene took to speak to Jackie, his family and friends and many others he worked alongside. While staying locally I did not meet Jackie Ross. Reading the book Mr Ross was an inspiration too many. He was man who saw a need and carried it out to completion. He had what many in the book might call "Tunnel vision". If he was envisioned to do something he had the perserverence to carry it on to completion. Many found encouragement from the fact that he wasnt just a visionary but was prepared to work alongside others in getting their hands dirty for the sake of sharing the gospel in a practical way.
I was reminded of Nehemiah who begun out with prayer then a vision then action and this is how it should be
Prayer>Vision>Action (All the way seasoned with prayer!)

Keeping Alert in Prayer

Having been kept on drawn to these first couple of verses in colossians 4. Praying for opportunities is a daily exercise but how do we keep alert in praying? Colossian 4 tells us that it is by coming with a attitude of thankfulness.

Wrong Motives (James)

What are our motives in prayer?
This is what James speaks:
James 4:3
When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures.

What does this verse say? It says that we should pray according to his will and not in order to fuflfil our own selfish desires. This is a struggle as this world tells us to be independent and professional.

Lord we pray that you would help us to pray "let your will be done!"

Prayer for Opportunities.

Paul the apostle was not stand alone apostle attempting to do things on his own strength. Paul needed prayer too. He needed prayer that there would be doors open to share the gospel message and not only that he would present the message of Christ clearly. As we go about activities that we normally go about we should be praying for open doors to present Christ clearly. Sometimes this might be by the way we live our lives.

Colossians 4:3-4
praying at the same time for us as well, that God may open up to us a door for the word, so that we may speak forth the mystery of Christ, for which I have also been imprisoned; in order that I may make it clear in the way I ought to speak.

James & Prayer

Having spoken about James & camel knees - what does James have to say about prayer? There is a few things which speak prayer:

James 1:5-6
If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him. But when he asks, he must believe and not doubt, because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind.

James 4:3
When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures

James 5:13-18
Is any one of you in trouble? He should pray. Is anyone happy? Let him sing songs of praise. Is any one of you sick? He should call the elders of the church to pray over him and anoint him with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise him up. If he has sinned, he will be forgiven. Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective. Elijah was a man just like us. He prayed earnestly that it would not rain, and it did not rain on the land for three and a half years. Again he prayed, and the heavens gave rain, and the earth produced its crops.
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Other posts on James:
James & his camel knees
No Resentment!

James & his camel knees!

You are maybe wondering what this post is going to be about with a title like that. James is a book in the Bible. According to tradition, James had camel knees . Camels (dessert animals) are said to have thick calluses on knees from all the kneeling that they do. According to traditions, James was constantly kneeling before the Lord in prayer. Tommorrow night, our church homegroup will begin looking at this wee book of James. It is amazing that there is many a pearl of wisdom in this wee book. Lots of things for us to chew over, think over and ultimatley hope that we are changed by the reading and studying of this book.

God's purposes and answered prayer

Proverbs 16:9 (New International Version)
In his heart a man plans his course, but the LORD determines his steps.

Since June I keep being drawn back to these verses in proverbs which speak about God's purpose. Not only that I know it as a reality as God works out his purpose in my life. In June my wife, accepted a post and I have now during this past week accepted a postition which will mean my wife will be staying at home and I will be going back to work.
In the answered prayer (you will see a link to post below) I noted that we continued to seek to keep our ears open to what the Lord would say to us. We do not want to be in the path of least resistance but hopefully trying to actively hear what the Lord has to say to us.
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Brian Robertson has a post on the theme of The path of least resistance

Other posts on purposes:
Purposes, Purposes, Purposes (October 24th)
God's purpose will prevail (June 30th) details the verses in Proverbs about God's purpose.
Answered Prayer (June 22nd)

Worth more than sparrows!

Matthew 10:29-31
Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from the will of your Father. And even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. So don't be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrow.

The insignificant detail shows us how God cares for the world intimately. The two sparrows were sold for a penny. Not very valuable! But only if it be God's will - will these sparrows fall to the ground. If God cares so much how can we say thay God doesnt care. How can we say we are not valuable. We are worth more than many sparrows! As we come to him we need to remember that he is an intimate God who is in control.

How many hairs are on your head?

Estimation is that there is on average about 100,000 to 200,000 hairs on each humans head. But I guess this is not something that we go about counting. To us, it is probably useless piece of information that we dont spend too much time thinking about. I was thinking about the following verses from Matthew:

Matthew 10:29-31
Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from the will of your Father. And even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. So don't be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows.

Your heavenly father knows how many hairs are on the top of your head. To him it is not a useless piece of trivia. It shows us that he knows us inside out and back to front.

So, are you afraid?

You Father knows you intimately and desires to hear you come with your requests.

Flooding

It has been quite a wet couple of weeks here in Dingwall and some areas of Dingwall have hit the news with flooding with no trains running to the north or to kyle of Lochalsch. Dave has a clip on this over on his blog
*Update* More footage is on Dave's blog regarding the flood here in Dingwall (These clips have made its way to BBC. )

You can see the BBC article on the floods here

Thank God for Creation

Picture taken from Limone, Lake Garda, Italy (Friday 6th October)

Being Honest with God

Heard a few sermons recently looking at being honest with God. When used we say we argue with God - this doesn't sit well when we speak about promises and purposes of God. The Psalms often start out arguing with God. But then remember God or realise that they are blessed to find themselves in God. It is amazing to see the turnaround in Psalm. The Change of outlook. Piper has a sermon on this theme on "How to Argue with God" from Psalm 143 and can follow it here
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To view more on this theme you can view a previous post entitled Just be yoursel in Prayer

Purposes, Purposes Purposes!

As well as knowing about the promises of God - we need to know that we have a purpose. Esther was told in Esther 4:14:

For if you remain silent at this time, relief and deliverance for the Jews will arise from another place, but you and your father's family will perish. And who knows but that you have come to royal position for such a time as this?"

Esther is told that she is here for a purpose - such a time as this. She was used in the position of queen. When we come to Him in prayer we need to remember that we too are here for a purpose - such a time as this.

________________________________
Speaking on Esther, Just discovered that there is a movie to come out speaking about the story of Esther entitled One Night with the King . Does anybody know if there is a showing in the UK? Has anybody reading this seen the film?

Promises, Promises, Promises!!

Promises, Promises, Promises...we are always making promises. We settle down to do something or have our dinner then the phone rings. Somebody phones promising you a deal that in their eyes is not worth missing! Only problem with some of them is that the deal is only available today during the phone call. They want you to make an instant decision and you want time to see how their changes will affect you and indeed whether there is any small print to these deals.
Politicians make promises. It is so easy to make these in a lead up to some election or in opposition. But what happens when they come to the reality of governing. They may find that they have to break promises but hope we will not notice.

Why all this talk about Promises? We need this sure confidence of knowing that as we speak to God that is promises are indeed true. I know for sure that I can come to God trusting his promises because I have not known him to break them I have just posted these verses as verses for this week.

2 Corinthians 1:20-22
"For no matter how many promises God has made, they are "Yes" in Christ. And so through him the "Amen" is spoken by us to the glory of God. Now it is God who makes both us and you stand firm in Christ. He anointed us, set his seal of ownership on us, and put his Spirit in our hearts as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come."

We are still learning about his promises and comprehend them but never the less it is good daily to remind ourselves of these promises. It is interesting that the Hymnwriter of the tradtional hymn "Standing on The Promises" actually had these verses in mind as he came to write the hymn.
It says to us that the God of the Old Testament is the God of the new testament. As Gods Son Jesus Christ was revealed, we see that the promises God made were yes and amen in him. Then we see the work of the Holy Spirit. He serves as your guarantee of what is to come. The Holy Spirit lives, moves and breathes in us giving us a glimpse of what is to come.

Christianity Todays Interview with Philip Yancey on his book on Prayer

"Philip Yancey is known for asking hard questions about the Christian life. Bestselling classics like Disappointment with God, The Jesus I Never Knew, and What's So Amazing About Grace? have made him one of the contemporary church's most compelling voices. In his new book, Prayer: Does It Make Any Difference? (Zondervan), Yancey once again explores a profound subject from the perspective of a curious and candid observer. Today's Christian recently chatted with the author about Prayer and his journey as a writer."

To see this written Interview on the Christanity today site click here

Come Holy people!

I have been reading this book Red Moon Rising (Story of 24-7 prayer) Written by Peter Greig and Dave Roberts. I have really enjoyed the passion for prayer and desire to follow in God's ways of those who have written the book. The story is told by Peter Greig who in obedience to what God was saying to him answered his call. He tells the story of setting up prayer rooms in the unlikely of places over the world. They marvel at how God has put things together and put people in place. But it isnt without the difficulties even Peter, the founder went through a difficult time when they had discovered that his wife had brain tumour. At that time a number of the other members were going through difficulties of a great scale. But they kept going!
What struck me? It has been known to pray "Come Holy Spirit" or even Lord will you bless my plans? Have ever asked God what are you doing and how can I be a part of it? Peter reckoned that as they moved forward it is the Holy Spirit saying "Come Holy People". It is so true we dont want to miss what the Lord has for us. So when hear the call lets obey the gracious invitation.

No resentment!

A new verse for this week has been posted:

If you need wisdom - if you want to know what God really wants you to do - ask him he will gladly tell you. He will not resent you asking - James 1:5, New Living Translation

Chose the new living translation as it mentions the fact that God does not resent us coming into his presence and asking. I feel this came over well in Philip Yancey's book.

Philip Yancey & Prayer: Does it make a difference?

Yip I have completed the book and really enjoyed this devotional and challenging book. The book is birthed from feedback of readers of his previous books that have struggled with this issue of prayer. In fact in this book contains various letters about readers who have wrestled with prayer.
Philip does not set out to be an expert in prayer. In fact probably finds himself in the same boat as the reader. He too struggles with prayer. He doesnt have all the answers. So often we want these straight answers and quick fixes.
I feel that Philip definiely makes us think about these things we dont understand about prayer.
He even talks about unanswered prayerand reminds us that Jesus were seemingly not answered - Jesus had asked that if it be his will the cup be removed from him if it were to be the Fathers will. The biggest impression was that it is okay to be honest or even wrestle in prayer. I didnt just feel like I was reading a dry book on prayer but a book that spoke and gave me a fresh perspective on prayer..

Soren Kierkegaard on Prayer

Well as I read Philip Yancey's books on prayer I discovered a quote from the philosopher Soren A Kirkegaard about Prayer:

"Prayer does not change God, but it changes him who prays" (Soren A Keirkegard) for more info on Kierkegard check out Brian's blog on Kierkegaard here

This is one of points that Philip Yancey brings out well in his book. We should never expect to be changed but we can expect as the pray-er to be changed. For me just coming to him really changes the focus of the pray-er.

Batteries Recharged!

There is nothing like a holiday to recharge your batteries. Morven, Catriona & I have enjoyed our time in italy in the cliffs as we have explored some of the towns of Lake Garda & Verona & there will be more of that on our italy blog.
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I had the opportunity to complete Philip Yancey's book on prayer and will be saying more on that over the course 0f the next couple of days as I find my feet again! Suffice to say that I really enjoyed considering the various thoughts on prayer.
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Another book which I have mentioned I was hoping to read - I have now started Red Moon Rising (story of 24-7 prayer) and am enjoying the passion with which it is written!
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More to follow soon ----- watch this space!!!!

In Christ alone..

A couple of years back I brought a new song worship CD. Rather than rush to put on the CD, I thought I would take a wee look a the words to see if any of the songs stuck me as one I wanted to learn. At this point I had never heard of the song In Christ Alone but the words of the song struck me. It speaks to us about Christ, his life and death and ressurection. It has spoken to many folks as they have gone through difficulty. In recent iraq war, it spoke to a soldier who was going through the pain, emotion of the war. As I have written these posts over these past days, the final verse of this song kept coming to mind. I have underlined a phrase here.

No guilt in life, no fear in death,
This is the power of Christ in me;
From life's first cry to final breath,
Jesus commands my destiny.
No power of hell, No scheme of man,
Can ever pluck me from his hand;
Til he returns or calls me home.
Here in the power of Christ I'll stand!

Stuart Townend & Keith Getty, 2001

Wow these are amazing words and worth remembering! Lets turn back to praise!

A Beautiful Transformation is coming soon!

This headline from a interflora junk email subject line! They had emailed to let me know that they were under going a beautiful transformation in their range of gifts etc and that they would keep me informed in a hope that I might order!!!!!!!!!
Anyway when we come to God, boldy approaching that throne room - I know that I am under construction - I am being changed being made ready for glory - God is working a beautiful transformation.

Romans 8:28
And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.

Thank God for Creation

A way back we had a wee series of pictures entitled God's creation. What can we Jot down as a promise? Our God is the creator God and if you look out and around at all creation God is the creater. This time the picture is from Italy and it is the Dolomites which are in the North Italy. Morven, Catriona & I will be somewhere near when we go to Italy in October. There will probably be more pictures from italy later on in October so you will have to wait a wee while.

Isaiah 40:27-31
Why do you say, O Jacob, and complain, O Israel, "My way is hidden from the LORD; my cause is disregarded by my God"? Do you not know? Have you not heard? The LORD is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He will not grow tired or weary, and his understanding no one can fathom. He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak.Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall;
but those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.

JOT-A-PROMISE

Just as I posted the last post - I had a thought - Why not JOT-A-PROMISE? What do I mean by this? Write down on a "sticky" or a scribble pad something about who God is and stick it somewhere you might see it! So whenever you see this promise you can turn back to praise......

Has God Forgotten You?

Sometimes we get that feeling when we come to him in prayer. The young women in Philip yancey quote had a wee niggle I wonder if God is really hearing me? She was resassured that God hadnt forgotten. Came across these couples of verses:

Isaiah 49:14-16

But Zion said, "The LORD has forsaken me, the Lord has forgotten me." "Can a mother forget the baby at her breast and have no compassion on the child she has borne? Though she may forget, I will not forget you! See, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands; your walls are ever before me.

The baby is so dependent on her mother for that loving care in those early days. NO matter where that mother is she cannot forget him/her even long after the baby begins to get independent and having to make their own choices. They call it "mother instinct". For some this verse is difficult to handle for they know that their own mother has seemed to forget about them and neglected them. But take encouragement from this verse Gods compassion for you remains the same! He will never forget about you!
Did you ever get in trouble for writing on your hand? Well it is still something I do. For some it serves as a reminder. Again we see that zions name is engraven on his hands. It cannot be removed.

In the difficult times remind yourself afresh God is interested in you. He is a good and faithful God. Lets turn back to praise...........

Just be yoursel in prayer

Are you yourself in your daily communication with God? A couple of things have reminded me about this recently. Heard a sermon recently on Psalm 42. Preacher suggested that it was important that we are honest with God - if we are feeling good we should say we are feeling good and if we are feeling bad again we should Lord I'm feeling bad about a particular situation. I have been reading Philip Yancey's Prayer Does it make any difference?

Philip Yancey brings to us a story about a young women and honesty:


"I was teaching a class at a church in chicago when a young woman raised her hand witha question. I knew her as a shy, conscientious student who attended faithfully but never spoke. The rest of the class seemed surprised as well, and listened attentively. ' I'm not always sincere when I pray,' She began. 'Sometimes it seems forced more like a ritual. I'm just repeating words. Does God repeat those prayers? Should I keep going even though I have no confidence I have no confidence I'm doing right?'
I let the silence hang around the room for a moment before attempting an answer. 'Do you notice how quiet around it is in here?' I said. 'We all sense your honestly. It took courage for you to be vulnerable and you touched a nerve with the others of us in the room. You seemed sincere, unlike a salesman, say who gets paid to give a spiel. We tuned in, listening, respectful, becuase you are authentic. And I imagine it's the same with God God wants your authentic self'"
Taken from Philip Yancey Prayer: Does it make a difference, chapter 3, p31

William Sinclair's Baptists

At the end of the last month had a post entitled Small beginnings and on there was a picture of Keiss Baptist Church. This work was started by the landowner William Sinclair and Brian has posted a post on Sir William Sinclair on Highland Praise. You can also view more pictures on http://www.caithness.org/atoz/churches/photogallery/thumbs.htm?0?0 (copy & paste into browser)

Nooma's "Noise"

Hi guys,
have been aware of this series entitled Nooma for a while but not had the opportunity to see one. It is a ten minute devotional presentation whichs speaks into a particular life issue. The speaker on each is Rob Bell, the founding pastor of Mars Hill Bible Church. About three months ago I had a post which was entitled God Speaks Through Silence . The Nooma entitled Noise addresses this issue precisely. At beginning of the presentation you get a short talk on Noise and how it is a part of our everyday life. Silence isnt something we can easily deal with but this is where God speaks often. Rob appeals to Elijah - God didnt speak to him through the things he expected but God was in the silence - He spoke through the silence. The rest of time, there is no sound and the message comes up on type on the screen. I thought it helped teach on silence but not only that with it being demonstrated on the DVD, I felt it would help to put it into action.

The Assurance ~ 1 John 5:14-15

This is a new verses for this week or so. What does these verses say to you? what do they mean for your daily communication with God.

1 John 5:14-15

This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. And if we know that he hears us-- whatever we ask-- we know that we have what we asked of him.

Pray for Scotland's connecting Scotland

Scotland as ever needs prayer! Pray for Scotland, a national prayer network are planning a National prayer walk in 2007 running from the 8th April to the 27th April. They have just recently launched their website & have entitled this initative "Connecting Scotland"
To find out more about it & how you can get involved click here

PrayerFirst

A new blog started in June 2006 which has an emphasis on prayer hence the name Prayer First. To discover for yourself click here

What are the wicked & evil man to do?

What does the following verse say to you?

Isaiah 55:7
Let the wicked forsake his way and the evil man his thoughts. Let him turn to the LORD and he will have mercy on him, and to our God for he will freely pardon.

Seeking & Calling

What does the following Verse say to you? (please reply with your comments)

Isaiah 55:6
Seek the LORD while he may be found; call on him while he is near.

Small beginnings

This is a picture of the oldest organised baptist Church in Scotland - Keiss Baptist Church in Caithness, the North of Scotland (taken by my wife).
I think it is amazing to think that a land laird started a Baptist Church in this small corner of Scotland over 250 years ago.
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It is good to know that when we come to God in prayer he can do far more than we think. Lets be expectant as we look to see what He will do!

Book on Prayer I will read!

Over the next month or so I am hoping to read the following books and will let you know about them when I get through them!
1)
Philip Yancey Does it make any difference?

2) Peter Greig/Dave Roberts Red Moon Rising (The Story of 24-7 Prayer)

New Verses for the week ~ Isaiah 55:6-7

"Seek the LORD while he may be found; call on him while he is near. Let the wicked forsake his way and the evil man his thoughts. Let him turn to the LORD, and he will have mercy on him, and to our God, for he will freely pardon"

Praying through the news!

We often wonder how we can pray so often without being informed. But away of beginning to pray is listening to/watching the news. One of the countries that is coming alot at the moment is Lebannon.
Operational World has a focus on them...here

Morning is coming!

Psalm 130:6
My soul waits for the Lord more than watchmen wait for the morning, more than watchmen wait for the morning.

We often wrestle with this thing called waiting. It is a British thing to do! Waiting is something the watchman has to do. The night time can be a long time but one thing that is certain is that the morning will come.
Our soul waits for the Lord and yearns for it more than the watchmen waits for the morning! There is a certainty that the Lord will meet with you!

Out of the depths ~ Psalm 130

Do you ever come to the Lord in prayer feeling just out of the depths. We can feel out of the depths for many reasons: Illness, depression, homesickness, guilt etc. David, the psalm writer often writes out of these depths. Yesterday I posted psalm 130:5-6 as the verses for this week. In this Psalm, again David is writing out of the depths and this time it is from guilt. As he comes to wait upon the Lord, he has assurance there is forgiveness in him and he also had the hope of the Word.

Verses for the week ~ Psalm 130:5-6

"I wait for the LORD, my soul waits, and in his word I put my hope. My soul waits for the Lord more than watchmen wait for the morning, more than watchmen wait for the morning."

Open & Honest Prayer

2 Chronicles 7:14-15, the verses I have chosen for this past week are often used to encourage us to pray. There is a real condition here... If my people will do xyz then I will hear from heaven etc! The writer speaks about about a people who are called out by his name.

But what are these people to do?

1) humble themselves (to neither have high view or a low view but
a modest one!)

2) Pray & seek his face!

3) turn from wicked ways : Psalm 66: 18 says If I had cherished sin in my heart, the Lord would not have listened . This really speaks about then importance about confessing our sins in prayer. But not only that to have a real life change.

Prayer is about a conversation. This means for us too we need to listen and allow the Lord to mould and shape our lives and the lives of those around.

So what happen as The Lords people turn to him in prayer. He will forgive them! Not only that but Lord will be attentively listen to their prayer and be prepared to act upon it!

Prayer quote from Billy Graham

“To get nations back on their feet, we must first get down on our knees.”
Billly Graham

New verse for the week: 2 Chronicles 7:14-15

If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land. Now my eyes will be open and my ears attentive to the prayers offered in this place.

New Move of Prayer for A new Move of God!

Our churches are dying - even for all that we try new ideas etc! We need to wait upon God to seek his will - in fact we need to get on our knees! Then once we have conversed with Him, we need to converse with one another and be prepared to submit to God and one another.

Prayer in the Good and the bad times

Another hymn which speaks about prayer is Father hear the prayer we offer; written by Love Marie Willis. I like the fact that the hymn writer acknowleges that there is up times and down times. Here is one of the verses:

Let our path be bright or dreary,
storm or sunshine be our share;
may our souls , in hope unweary,
make thy work our ceaseless prayer.

Love Marie Willis (1824-1908)

Prayer is the Soul's Sincere Desire

This is a name of a hymn written by a Moravian James Montgomery. James was a poet writer and again like "What a friend in Jesus" was later put to Music. In this classic hymn, there is about 7 or 8 verses in that describes what prayer means. I like the following verse which tells us that prayer is very much a neccessary part of the Christian:

"Prayer is the Christian's vital breath,
The Christians native air,
His watchword at the gates of death;
He enters heaven with prayer."

Prayer is the Soul's Sincere Desire, James Montgomery (1771-1854)

Pray without Ceasing

The Hymn "What a friend in Jesus" was originally written by Joseph Scriven as poem which was entitled "Pray without ceasing". It wasnt until he was on his deathbed that his carer discovered the the poem and was later put to music by Charles Converse (1832-1918) . Joseph knew trials and tradegy as he was nearly married twice but the twice the bride died a day or so before the wedding. This hymns is a real encouragement for us to bring all to such a faithful friend:

What a Friend We have in Jesus
All our Sins and griefs to bear!
What a privelege to carry
Everything to God in prayer
O what peace we often forfeit,
O what needless pain we bear
All because we do carry
Everything to God in prayer!

Have we trials and temptations?
Is there trouble anywhere?
We should never be disocuraged:
Take it to the Lord in prayer!
Can we find a friend so faithful,
Who will all our sorrows share?
Jesus Knows our every weakness
-Take it to the Lord in Prayer!


Are we weak and heavy laden,
cumbered with a load of care?
Precious saviour still our refuge!
Take it to the Lord in prayer!
Do thy friends despise forsake thee?
Take it to the Lord in prayer!
In His arms he' ll take and shield thee
Thou wilt find a solace
there!

Joseph Scriven (1819-86)

Remember Your Encouragements!

Came accross this post from Brian Ingraham, leader of RE:HOPE in Glasgow about need to remember our encouragments when we go through down times. To view it click here

Vision by Prayer: Remember to Pray on The Dot When You See The Spot!

Vision by Prayer: Remember to pray on the dot when you see the spot!

Remember to pray on the dot when you see the spot!

mmm... What is all this about, I hear you say! We have different ways of remembering things like tie a knot in a hankerchief. Yesterday's sermon at church was on prayer & action. We were given a gimmick to remind us to pray! We were all given sticky spots to stick somewhere that we would see and then it would remind us to pray for folks from our prayer list. You can stick it on your watch or your thumb. So hence the title of this post - Remember to pray on the dot when you see the spot!

Take My Life and Let it Be!

This is the title of the Hymn written by a lady by the name of Frances Harvergal. Looked up the background of this hymn the other day. The hymn writer is offering all that she was unto the Lord whom she loved. She had been through trials, tribulation and pain. Even long after she had written the hymn, she still prayed through each line in this hymn seeking to make it a reality in her life. I want to bring your attention to verse 4:

Take my silver & my gold,
not a mite, I would I withold;
take my intellect and use
every power as thou shalt choose.

As Frances wrote & indeed Prayed "Take my silver & my gold" she was I'm sure seeking God to see how she could take action. She did take action. She took her 50 fine pieces of Jewellry and gave them to the Womens Missionary Society.

Lets give all that we are unto God but be prepared to take action.

Listening & Speaking

I came accross this quote from Mother Theresa and for me speaks profoundly about prayer...

"The beginning of Prayer is silence...God speaking to the silence of the heart.
And then we start talking from the fulness of the heart. And God listens.

The beginning of prayer is scripture...we listen to God speaking again
from the fullness of our heart. And God listens.

That is really prayer.
Both sides listening and both sides speaking."

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To view another recent post on God speaking through the silence click here

God's Purpose Will Prevail!

Over the past wee while I have been drawn to Proverbs. Moving from chapter 16 and a couple of the chapters that follows it says of how regardless of the x amount of plans we make God's purpose will prevail.

Proverbs 16:9
In his heart a man plans his course, but the LORD determines his steps.

Proverbs 19:21
Many are the plans in a man's heart, but it is the LORD's purpose that prevails.

Proverbs 20:24
A man's steps are directed by the LORD. How then can anyone understand his own way?

God Speaks Through the Silence

God doesnt always speak in a loud voice - often he speaks through the silence. These words from the hymn writer John Greenleaf Whittler who writes Dear Lord and Father of Mankind have often struck a chord with me:

With that deep hush subduing all
our words and works that drown
The tender whisper of thy call,
as noiseless let thy blessing fall
as fell thy manna down

Dear Lord and Father of Mankind, John Greenleaf Whittler 1807-1882

Does God Hear?

We have prayed and we say sometimes God hasnt really heard what we are saying or the answer seems to be a long time in coming! If you feel this then these words are appropiate from Exodus!

Exodus 2:23-25
During that long period, the king of Egypt died. The Israelites groaned in their slavery and cried out, and their cry for help because of their slavery went up to God.
24 God heard their groaning and he remembered his covenant with Abraham, with Isaac and with Jacob.
25 So God looked on the Israelites and was concerned about them.

The Israelites may have well been seen to be putting their complaints and groans before God for a long time but note God did take action. There is indication of an active God.

God hears

God remembers

God looks

God is concerned!

These verses appear at the end of chapter two but as you move on God is going to act on their behalf. He sends Moses to be their leader. God demonstrates his power through signs and miracles which ultimatlety point to their freedom/salvation.

The First Step

Well congratulations to our little daughter, Catriona who took her first steps towards mummy yesterday with me looking on! It has taken a long time in coming. I was discussing this with someone recently. It must be something for a little one like Catriona to take her first step. It feels for us like a long time coming but we have waited paitently. We suspect that for a while she has known what she has got to do but yet gradually we have seen her putting it altogether like moving from holding with two hands to one then none! For us who have been walking it becomes a part of our normal life but for a little one it is the first big step!

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Without being too spiritual about it, we often pray for things but yet we know sometimes what we are meant to do and just need to take that first step of faith. God is always there granting us the strength to carry out what we have been called to do. While this blog is entitled a "Prayer Blog" - prayer should never be an excuse for no action.

Answered Prayer

So easy to say what the bible says about prayer - isnt it exciting when you see answered prayer! Everyday, I guess you see evidence of God at work. We are thankful as a family for providing a job for us this past week after a number of months applying for stuff and waiting on God to provide! This doesnt mean that we are going to stop praying for his will. But rather how much more do we day by day need to know his will for us as a family.

Praying For your Town or City

Througout this post you will see pictures I recently took of the town I live in:


















Do you ever sit back and pray for the town/village/city etc that you stay in? What effect would it have on our towns etc someone signifcant in the life of that community were to make a decison to follow Christ?
It is good to pray for our towns and many do this individually or as a couple. Many have prayed in the old tried and tested idea of prayer triplets. There is also other ways of praying such as Christians getting together to pray for their town /street /workplace.


Newham is a borough on the edge of London and stands to benefit from development as result of the olympics coming to London. Christians there are encouraged to pray for their street or block. These are entitled Neighbourhood Lighthouses and Workplace lighthouses. To view more about the Transform Newham click here

Obstacles Crowding the View?

Well today, I took up painting today after a number of years - I attended a local watercolour class. In watercolour and any kind of painting, it is important that we have a focal point and to have just one thing as the main focal point. Otherwise the person looking on to the painting which has many focal points trying to compete to catch the viewers eye. And often we can be distracted from the thing which is realy meant to be the main focal point.
How does this all relate to prayer? We are part of busy lives and we have to make sure that we keep Jesus as our main focal point.

Colossians 3:1-2
Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things.

Lord's prayer

This now comes to the end of postings on the Lord's prayer. There is 11 postings with it beginning on the 19th May and ending yesterday (9th June). It is so easy to pray this prayer so rigidly. It is a prayer that looks forward to being united with the Heavenly Father.

Temptation

Matthew 6:13

And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one. '

Does God lead us into temptation? By no means what so ever! Why does the author pray such prayer? Please note that when it is speaking about temptation here it is referring to testing.
Jesus who is teaching them to pray has experienced testing. Before he went into the ministry he was tested in the wilderness but yet he did not give into it. Jesus brings up the matter of temptation in the wilderness. Jesus knows that these disciples will not go through their Christian lives with facing testing and temptation. But yet Jesus knew no sin! What are we saying when we pray this prayer? We are asking Jesus to be Lord over every situation that we come accross.
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To view a post on the theme of temptation click here

Forgiveness From God and Forgiveness From Others

Matthew 6:12
Forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.

Verses later expand upon this

Matthew 6:14-15

For if you forgive men when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.

Does this mean that we have to work for our Forgiveness by forgiving others? No but having said that it important that we come before God right with our fellow man. In the incident, God forgives us and what amazing lengths he has gone to forgive us. He sent his only son to die for us. That is his mercy for us. Should we not follow his example and be a merciful people? Looking at it another way does God limit his forgiveness to one and not the other.

Matthew actually encourages us to be right before our brother. He says that if we have come to place of worship to offer and are not right with our brother, we should first go to our brother and make things right.

Our Daily Bread

Matthew 6:11
Give us today our daily bread

Today we get paid monthly and possibly weekly or fortnightly but it is very rare that we might earn daily. Essentially, in those times they worked today for tomorrow's keep! Praying this petition means that we have to trust the Lord for his provision.
All these recent phrases about Lord's kingdom coming in and His will to be done are looking forward to the future and in a sense this is too. Psalm 23, the Shepherd Psalm, we see how our shepherd and companion prepares for us a banquet in the presence of our enemies. By recieving today's daily bread we get a foretaste of that final day in glory when the King of Kings will prepare a feast for us.

The Father's Will to be Done!

Matthew 6:10
your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven

Having prayed for His Kingdom to come, he now prays that the father's will would be done. The Father's perfect will for us is modeled in heaven as the Father, Son and Holy Spirit relate to one another. As we see the trinity relating to one another so perfectly, so we want to pray that this would be modeled on earth.

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to view a previous post on the father's will click here

Looking Forward to the Kingdom!

Matthew 6:10
your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.

The next phrase prayed in the Lord's prayer is to pray that the Lord's Kingdom would come. The coming of the Kingdom was something which was often prophesied about in the Old Testament. John the Baptist preached about it and was looking forward to its coming.

Matthew 3:2
In those days John the Baptist came, preaching in the Desert of Judea and saying, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near."

As Lord was teaching the disciples to pray, the idea of the kingdom was something that the disciples were still coming to grip with. Jesus later on teaches in parables (matthew 13) so that those who are able to hear will hear what he has to say on the kingdom. Those who are spiritually hard of hearing will be closed to what he is saying. To those who were receptive and accepted the message which Jesus brought they will begin to live in the Kingdom, where Jesus is the messianic King. But yet there is a future element which we will never truly know or experience til we are reunited with the Lord in glory. So we pray Father let your kingdom come!

I Will Honour the Father's Name

The phrase I want to look at within this post is "hallowed be your name" in the Lord's Prayer. Hallowed means to honour his name - recognising that the heavenly Father we have addressed in prayer is holy. This means we do not take his name in vain (like the 10 commandments speak about) but lift his name on high. From day to day to we see demonstration of His Lordship and in return, we should turn and honour his name. A couple of verses from Ezekiel, demonstrate this:

Ezekiel 36:22-23

"Therefore say to the house of Israel, 'This is what the Sovereign LORD says: It is not for your sake, O house of Israel, that I am going to do these things, but for the sake of my holy name, which you have profaned among the nations where you have gone. I will show the holiness of my great name, which has been profaned among the nations, the name you have profaned among them. Then the nations will know that I am the LORD, declares the Sovereign LORD, when I show myself holy through you before their eyes.

Abba Father

Do you know the Father? The one which the Lord's prayer is addressed to? If you look at Matthew 6, you will find if you tally it all up that the Word "father" is mentioned 10 times from v1-18 0f this chapter. Notice that He is our Father in heaven and indeed, he is reffered to as Heavenly father in verses throughout Matthew.

The prayer addresses Abba Father. It is probably either translated to best fit our language as "Daddy" or "Papa". It speaks to us of Father who we have a close intimate relationship with yet we respect/fear him. Those who have respect for their heavenly Father will not want to try and manipulate him or seek their own way/glory.
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Ephesians 3 is another prayer which addresses the father, there is a posting on this to view click here

Will I be Heard Because of my Many Words?

Simple answer is not neccessary but lets read further into this passage of the Lords prayer to see the answer to the proposed question.

Matthew 6:7-8
"And when you are praying, do not use meaningless repetition, as the Gentiles do, for they suppose that they will be heard for their many words. "Therefore do not be like them; for your Father knows what you need, before you ask Him.

Pagans and Jews alike thought they could be heard because of their many words. To do this they used what the prayer describes as "meaningless repetition". We need to hold on to this thought that it is not requirement for us to pray long lengthy prayers in order for us to be heard.

The encouraging thing is that before you come to him surrendering yourself in prayer, the Father in Heaven knows what you need. So it is not even the case we need to pray long in order to inform him of the full story. It is good to know that the Father is waiting for us to surrender ourselves in prayer to him.

In prayer, we do not look for praise from others nor are we trying to manipulate God so that we get our own way. This is why we pray Father, let your will be done in the Lord's prayer!

God's Creation IV

The Secret and Corporate Place of Prayer!

Matthew 5:5-6
"And when you pray, you are not to be as the hypocrites; for they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and on the street corners, in order to be seen by men. Truly I say to you, they have their reward in full. "But you, when you pray, go into your inner room, and when you have shut your door, pray to your Father who is in secret, and your Father who sees in secret will repay you.

When we read these verses they come with a disclaimer: Jesus is not banning corporate prayer but rather speaking about people who pray to be noticed, they pray in public to impress. These are the kind of people Jesus is calling Hyprocrites. They are like actors who pretend to be something they are not!

There is nothing like the quiet place when you spend that time in prayer getting to know Jesus more and it is to be commended and particularly needed if you find yourself in a period of busyness. Yes, Jesus is present even in that secret place.

There is nothing like the corporate place of prayer when we spend time together praying and sense the Spirit moving and the Spirit is showing us the direction! But our corporate prayer times shouldnt turn into a showmanship!

Jesus Help us to Pray!

2,000 years on we still long to be taught how to pray! Back to basics, we must go. The disciples asked Jesus to teach them how to pray. The Lords prayer gives us key things to pray for! Yet within these statements made to the heavenly father there is some content. We will look at some of these over a few postings.

Matthew 6:5-13
5 "And when you pray, you are not to be as the hypocrites; for they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and on the street corners, in order to be seen by men. Truly I say to you, they have their reward in full.
6 "But you, when you pray, go into your inner room, and when you have shut your door, pray to your Father who is in secret, and your Father who sees in secret will repay you.
7 "And when you are praying, do not use meaningless repetition, as the Gentiles do, for they suppose that they will be heard for their many words.
8 "Therefore do not be like them; for your Father knows what you need, before you ask Him.
9 "Pray, then, in this way: 'Our Father who art in heaven, Hallowed be Thy name.
10 'Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done, On earth as it is in heaven.
11 'Give us this day our daily bread.
12 'And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.
13 'And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For Thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever.
Amen.'

Jesus & Prayer

Mark 1:35-38
And in the early morning, while it was still dark, He arose and went out and departed to a lonely place, and was praying there. And Simon and his companions hunted for Him; and they found Him, and *said to Him, "Everyone is looking for You." And He *said to them, "Let us go somewhere else to the towns nearby, in order that I may preach there also; for that is what I came out for."

I was just studying Mark and found these couple of verses. Talking about being still and being busy - here is Jesus taking time out to pray. People were seeking him out but he needed to spend time in prayer with his father. Luke also records on a number of occassions how Jesus often withdraws to spend that alone praying with his father.

Be Still in Prayer!

Psalm 46:10
"Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.

A famous verse, we often turn to, there is a number of songs with this theme! To "be still!" is a command. In busy busy lives, there is not really a second when we get chance just to "Be still" .

What happens when we take that opportunity to be still?
We are free to listen
We recognise who God is
We recognise that our God is at work and he is moving in the nations and the earth!

Be still!

Depths of his Mercy

Romans 11:34-46
Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable his judgments, and his paths beyond tracing out! "Who has known the mind of the Lord? Or who has been his counselor?" "Who has ever given to God, that God should repay him?" For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be the glory forever! Amen.

Wow! Do you ever sit and wonder at God's mercy Paul, the Apostle certainly did. He am I sure marvelled at how God had been merciful to his very own people.
God out of his mercy sent his son to die for us, demonstrating his love for us.
When we consider what he has done , we can never thank him enough!

Gods Creation III

Lift your eyes and look to the heavens: Who created all these? He who brings out the starry host one by one, and calls them each by name. Because of his great power and mighty strength, not one of them is missing. Isaiah 40:26

Gods Creation II

Internet Evangelism Day 7th May

Today is Internet Evangelism Day. This Sunday, around the world, Christians are focusing on the potential that the Web gives us to communicate the good news. Please take time to look at the Internet Evangelism Day website, and find how God is using this new medium. You may have the gifts to be involved in web evangelism yourself – and surprisingly, you do not need to be technical! To find out more click here

Thanks for...

What do we say when we see wondrous Creation? we sit back amazed at what has been created? What do we do in response? Say thank you to the creator! We are called as Colossians says to be a people "overflowing with thankfulness".

God's Creation

Operation World

If Matthew 9 tells us to pray for labourers to be sent into the harvest field. One way of praying for the harvest field is to begin for praying for various countries. Came accross the website for the book "Operation World" Which gives various statistics for various countries. If you go on to the website, they have a different country to pray for each day. If you want to begin to pray for various countries then this may be a good resource to follow up. I have added this to the links on the right but you can also click here

Philippians Prayer: Fruits of righteousness

It is now time to look at the final verse. It speaks about being "filled with the fruit of righteousness".

Verse 9-11
9 And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight,
10 so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless until the day of Christ,
11 filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ-- to the glory and praise of God.

What does it mean for us to be filled with the fruit of righteousness? In Galatians 5, Paul has spoken about the fruit of the Spirit (eg love, joy peace etc) but here he is speaking about the fruit of righteousness. Fruit seems to speak about bearing fruit. Rightesousness speaks about the way we live our life? Do we have a living life in the right way. Romans 3 tells us that no can obtain righteousness by what they do themselves. It is appropiate then that here that Paul makes clear that you can only be filled with the fruit of righteousness through Jesus Christ. It is good to know that God is the source of all righteousness.

The prayer ends like the previous prayer we looked at in Ephesians with a doxology. While this is a phrase which may be used in a Jewish prayer, the prayer recognises that all the praise and glory is to go to God like the previous doxology. To view that post click here

Philippians Prayer: Discernment

Verse 9-10 (NASB):
9 And this I pray, that your love may abound still more and more in real knowledge and all discernment,
10 so that you may approve the things that are excellent, in order to be sincere and blameless until the day of Christ;

As well as love and knowlege, we need discernment. Other translations used "depth of insight", "understanding" "all judgememt" "all insight". We could describe it as something we need to percieve. Why do we need to be able to discern? We find the answer in verse 10. We are told that so that we are able to approve. When we are speaking of approving, we need to be able to test if something is genuine or not. Someone going through the process of checking metal does the same thing. We need to be able to test to see that what is being presented before us is indeed genuinely of God, that they are of excellence. We need to be able to discern so that we can live sincere and blameless lives until the day of Christ.

Father, help us have the love and the knowlege and discernment so that we approve things of excellence and live lives of sincerity and free of blame.

Phillippians Prayer: Love and Knowlege

Verse 9-10 (NIV) :
And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless until the day of Christ,

In this post, I want to focus on verse 9 and the theme that "your love may abound more and more in knowlege". I believe that Paul is saying here that our love must be overflowing. Not only that be connnected and accompanied by knowlege. With Knowlege we are able to make moral discernment. Pauls prayer for them must be that their love would lead them to a fuller and deeper knowlege of the Christian Gospel. Does the love we have lead us to desire to grow closer to the Lord?

To view a prevous post on the theme of love and knowledge being accompanied by each other click here

Philippians Prayer: Special Place in my Heart

I titled these next couple verses as " a special place in my heart" as New living translation translates verse seven as Phillippians having a special place in Paul's heart.

Verses 7-8 (NIV):
It is right for me to feel this way about all of you, since I have you in my heart; for whether I am in chains or defending and confirming the gospel, all of you share in God's grace with me. God can testify how I long for all of you with the affection of Christ Jesus.

Paul in these verses has desribed for the reader the feeling he has for these partners in the gospel at Philippi. Paul tells them that they have a special place in his heart. Why? Becuase they have continued to share with Paul whether he was in prison or he was defending the gospel. In verse 8, he calls God as a witness, the affection he feels for those at Philippi. Paul knew that they were supporting him in whatever he was doing in the Lord service. If you have been called to do something by the Lord - isnt it encouraging when you know there are others walking along side you supporting you along the way.
In the verses that follow, he shares with them the prayer he has for them. We will look at these over the next couple of posts.

Philippians Prayer: He will continue the good work

Verse 6 (New living translation):
And I am sure that God, who began the good work within you, will continue his work until it is finally finished on that day when Christ Jesus comes back again.

Having prayed with joy, Paul also has confidence in the Lord (see also Phil 2:24). Paul is saying to them that despite suffering they experience, God is not going to stop working. He has been at work in them through the act of salvation. But he doesnt stop there, he will continue working till the day that Lord Jesus Christ returns again.

Praise be to God that he is always at work and will continue in his work until the day of Jesus Christ.

Philippians Prayer: I thank God for you!

Verse 3-5
I thank my God every time I remember you. In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now,

Who do you thank God for? Is there someone you thank God for when you remember them? Paul in his regular set times of prayer was compelled to remember the gathering at Phillipi. When talking about prayer here, he is praying for someone who is lack something. He is praying because he knows that the Lord can fill that need. Notably Paul prays with joy! If you know this particular book, you will know that joy & rejoicing is something that is mentioned throughout the book. We know that joy is not dependent on our happenings like happiness may be. Joy sees past the events of the day to God who is working out his will for us. When Paul prays for them, he remembers how they are his partners in the gospel, they have contended with him for the cause of the gospel. He remembers how they had given him financial support. Not that he was looking for this as he had learnt to be content in any situation as we see in chapter 4 of this book.

Father, help us always to see past the events of the day and pray with joy.

Philippians Prayer

Last week I looked at a prayer of Pauls from Ephesians, here is a prayer Paul makes for the church at Philippi. Over next number of posts, we will look at Pauls prayer for the partners in the gospel.

Philippians 1:3-11:
I thank my God every time I remember you.
4 In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy
5 because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now,
6 being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.
7 It is right for me to feel this way about all of you, since I have you in my heart; for whether I am in chains or defending and confirming the gospel, all of you share in God's grace with me.
8 God can testify how I long for all of you with the affection of Christ Jesus.
9 And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight,
10 so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless until the day of Christ,
11 filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ-- to the glory and praise of God.

Corrie Ten Boom on Prayer

Here is a what Corrie says about prayer:

Don't Pray when you feel like it. Have an appointment with the Lord and keep it. A man is powerful on his knees

Corrie Ten Boom

To view more about Corrie click here

24-7 prayer

You will spot a new link in the prayer link section. 24-7 includes a section a operational world section which you are able to see various countries to pray for. You can view it here

Should I pray?

I recently spotted an article which was reporting how folks had undergone research to see if it makes a difference whether or not someone who is sick is prayed for or not. They come to the conclusions that for person that prayed for it causes more complications.

You can view the article here

I do not know what you think but I do not agree. When we bring our requests to prayer, we are approaching a sovereign God. In the Ephesians passage, we saw how Paul is still praying while around this passages he is speaking about the sovereign purposes of God. Paul believed and I believe that God answers prayer. Just like the theologians in this article I dont believe that we can subject God to such research. God works out with our control! And I am so glad he does because he knows best.

Passages on Prayer

I dont know about you but I have been encouraged by the these two passages I have been looking at here in this blog (Luke 22 & Ephesians 3). Is there passages about prayer that you have been encouraged about that we could maybe interact with here? Please feel free to leave a comment.

Paul's Prayer for The Ephesians Part 5

NO Limits!
Have you ever tried to compartmentalise God? This is what we try to do in so many areas of our life and before we know it - we are doing it in our prayer life with our heavenly Father. Below is the doxology (closing lines of praise & glory you could call it):

Verse 20-21:
Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever!Amen.

I wonder what do you ask God for or what do you imagine he can do? Paul is telling us He is well and truly able to do more than we can think or imagine. I can come to prayer BUT come out with a different result. Why because Father whom the whole family derives its name knows the best for his family.
In these closing verses, he acknowleges three things:
1) God will work out his plan for you
2) His power will be at work in us!
3) the church should work only for His glory

Prayer:
Father, I pray you would work out your plan for me, that your power would be at work in me and that I would always seek your glory in all that I do.

Paul's Prayer for the Ephesians Part 4

Love of Christ:

Verses 17b-19 is another prayer petition being made in this prayer to the Ephesians speaking about the love of Christ. The New Living translation brings out the theme for me.

Verses 17b-19 NLT:
May your roots go down deep into the soil of God's marvelous love. And may you have the power to understand, as all God's people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep his love really is. May you experience the love of Christ, though it is so great you will never fully understand it. Then you will be filled with the fullness of life and power that comes from God.

The Love of Christ is so deep that we will never fully be able to grasp it. I dont think that Paul is by any means trying to be demeaning when he says that we will never fully be able to understand it. We will only ever be able to get a glimpse of the love of Christ in this world. But yet Paul asks that Ephesians would be able to recieve power from God the Father to begin to taste the length, breadth of this love.

Prayer:
Father I pray that you would overwhelm me with the love of Christ. We have seen how you so loved the world that you sent your son in love to die for our sins. Thank you for your love so freely given,
Amen

Paul's Prayer for the Ephesians Part 3

Having addressed the Father, Paul now goes on to make is first request lets look at it here:

Verse 16-17a:
I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, 17a so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith.

What is Paul praying/What should I pray?
Paul is praying that those who are at Ephesus will be stengthened from out of the Father's glorious riches in their inner being with power through the Holy spirit. We have seen in Ephesians 1 that the Fathers mighty power was used to raise his Son, the Lord Jesus from the dead. It is encouraging to know that same power at work in the act of the resurrection can be at work within us. So we are strenghtened with power through the spirit. Why do we need to be strenthened? So that even if we face a trial or difficult time - we know that we will be equipped to face that time.
Not only does the spirit strengthen our inner being but Christ lives/dwells/resides in our hearts - How? Through Faith! If we go into our own home we will make ourselves feel at home. If we have a guest then we will say to them "Just make yourself home" etc. So as the spirit Strengthens, so the Christ will be at home in your heart. Does Christ feel at home in your heart?

Prayer:
Father, thank you today that I am a part of your family and no matter what I can know that by your Spirit I can be filled inwardly and pray that Christ would feel at home in my heart.
Amen

Paul's Prayer for the Ephesians Part 2

Address the father is often a way in scriptures that prayer is begun. Lets see what these first two verses say to us:

Verse 14-15
For this reason I kneel before the Father,from whom his whole family in heaven and on earth derives its name.

It is significant that while Pauls has been talking about the sovereignty and also the purposes of God, he still is turning to prayer. In verse 14, There is a real sign of submission. It was more normal for the people to stand or to lie but not to kneel which would indicate for us a deep emotion.
If you were not going to surrender to someone you would not kneel before them. There is a recognisation that you are kneeling before the father. What does it say in the Lords prayer?

Matt 6:9
'Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name,

The Father who is being addressed is the father of those on heaven and earth and it is from him they derive their name. The father was one who created the world.


Verse 14-15, New Living Translation:
14 When I think of the wisdom and scope of God's plan, I fall to my knees and pray to the Father,
15 the Creator of everything in heaven and on earth.


Other verses which speak about the Father: Ephesians 2:18, 4:6, Romans 8:15-17

Pauls Prayer For the Ephesians Part 1

I have drawn a lot of encouragment from the prayer of Pauls which we find in Ephesians and like last week we will look at these verses over a couple of postings.

Ephesians 3:14-21
For this reason I kneel before the Father,
15 from whom his whole family in heaven and on earth derives its name.
16 I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being,
17 so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love,
18 may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ,
19 and to know this love that surpasses knowledge-- that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.
20 Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us,
21 to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.

New Life for the Highlands

What do you think of at spring time? New life. A calf is born, Egg cracks open and out comes a little chick.
It is significant that the christian community celebrates Jesus' death and ressurection at spring time. Jesus death and ressurection indicates for me new life. The simple way of looking at it is men, women and children have been separated from God. Because of Jesus death and ressurection there is no longer that separation but man can be united to God.
Is this something you can believe in? I believe it! For it is an event that has changed history forever.

John 3:16:
For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.
Men and women if they believe in him will have life everlasting.
Men and women in the Highlands and beyond can know this new life that I have spoken about.


if you have interest in Churches networking together in please click on the following link:
Hi-land P-raise/

Happy Easter

Happy Easter and trust you will be able to celebrate this day and every day the fact that Jesus Christ died and rose again on the third day.

Luke 22:39-46

We have looked at this passage over the past four postings. If you have any questions you want to discuss here - please feel free to leave a comment.
May our prayer be this weekend that Lord would bring to our remembrance the agony he had to go through for you and I.

Holy week, prayer & temptation part 4

In the passage we have been looking at over the past couple of posts, Luke records Jesus requesting the disciples to pray so that they are not led into temptation. Essentially Jesus is saying if they pray they will not be led into temptation The following verses record it:

Luke 22:40
On reaching the place, he said to them, "Pray that you will not fall into temptation."

Luke 22:45-46
45 When he rose from prayer and went back to the disciples, he found them asleep, exhausted from sorrow.
46 "Why are you sleeping?" he asked them. "Get up and pray so that you will not fall into temptation."

The disciples will remember how Jesus had taught them to pray and what was one of things that was being prayed there:

Matthew 6:13
And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one

Holy week, prayer & temptation Part 3

Continuing in this Garden of Gethesmane Theme Luke 22:44 says:

And being in anguish, he prayed more earnestly, and his sweat was like drops of blood falling to the ground.

The anguish which Jesus is going through here would often be described as a extreme strain, anguish or sensitivity. Again the sweat which was like blood indicates for us the intensity of feeling that Jesus has at this point. What is that strong feeling that he is bearing? He is bearing the agony of the sins of the world. Even though he feels this strong feeling, Jesus continues in prayer and not only that but in earnest. As I have said in previous post - While Jesus enemies thinks they are plotting his death and to get rid of him once and for all, Jesus knows that he has to go through this for a reason!

Holy week prayer & temptation Part 2

We often pray that the Father's will be revealed to us. Jesus prays at the garden that the father's will would be done. The Jews were plotting to kill the Father's Son. But yet it was father's will that that the Son would be sent to the cross. Yet for the father it meant more he was sending his Son to defeat death and to conquer sins once and for all time! Jesus recognised that it was the Father's will to be done!

Holy week, prayer & temptation Part 1

Looking at the story of easter, I was interested to note that there is a passage on prayer and how Jesus requests that the disciples do not allow themselves to be led into temptation:

Luke 22:39-46

Jesus went out as usual to the Mount of Olives, and his disciples followed him.
40 On reaching the place, he said to them, "Pray that you will not fall into temptation."
41 He withdrew about a stone's throw beyond them, knelt down and prayed,
42 "Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done."
43 An angel from heaven appeared to him and strengthened him.
44 And being in anguish, he prayed more earnestly, and his sweat was like drops of blood falling to the ground.
45 When he rose from prayer and went back to the disciples, he found them asleep, exhausted from sorrow.
46 "Why are you sleeping?" he asked them. "Get up and pray so that you will not fall into temptation."

Prayer link

You will notice in the link section a number of links to Christian prayer sites, if you know of any others you would like to recommend - please feel to post these here and I can add them to the link section.

Encouraged by prayer?

Over this past wee while, I have been encouraged by the book of Nehemiah in scripture. Nehemiah in the Old Testament, a man of vision spends about 3 to 5 months in prayer. He then proceeds to build the walls in Jerusalem. God throughout that time God is answering his prayer. Please take the opportunity to respond if you have story of a time when you were encouraged by way the God, the lord of heaven answered your prayer.

New blog

Again welcome to this new blog, I am away from home over these next few days but please come back next week.
Phil

VisionBYprayer

Welcome!