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.
_____________________
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.
____________________
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
_________________
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.