A balanced prayer ( Psalm 62 v 10)

Last but not least we finish on the prayer by a man called Agur,he has asked God not to give him riches nor poverty,he was concerned that if he was poor with no money,he would become a thief.No one wants to be so poor tthat they may be driven to yield to temptation and steal,the  law tells us to steal is a sin.(Exodus 20 v 15) Bridges comments he is not asking for the bare necessities but for enough in accordence with where God has placed him. He refers to the manna that God supplied in the wilderness,they had it every day,in Exodus 16 v 18 we read, 'the one who gathered much, did not have too much,and the one who gathered little did not have too little. Everyone had gathered just as much as they needed.In Philippians 4 v19 the apostle Pual writing to believers encouraged them with this wonderful promise ,'And my God will meet all your needs according to the riches of His glory in Christ Jesus'.A Bishop Hall wrote,''I am both thankful and indifferent; so as,while I am rich in estate,I may be poor in spirit; and while I am poor in estate,I may be rich in grace'.

Money (1 Timothy 6 v 10) 2

Let us continue to consider Agur and his prayer for God to help him and keep him from his evil weaknesses, he highlights falsehood and lies,but he doesn't stop there,he goes on to mention the following.'give me neither poverty nor riches,but give me only my daily bread (NLT . Give me just enough to satisfy my needs) Bridges comments on 'give me not riches',is scarce the prayer of one in ten thousand'.I have a friend who worked in a major bank in London,he was asked to go and speak to someone who was higher up in the bank.he made his way up in the lift to the floor the person was on,when he arrive he noticed how luxurious everything was.so he went into the persons office.The man dealing with him was offering him promotion to a far better paid job,in fact it would make his present salary look like pittance.My friend asked him what it would involve,well one of the things he was told was he would have to be pepared to work till ten in the evening.My friend mention about his family,and he was told that was part of the job,in the end he did not accept the job.Later on he was told a higher up person said he was a fool.'Agur could see the pitfalls of riches, my friend could,people sell their souls for money,people become a slave for money,and pay a cost as regards their family and their relationship with God.

Be honest ( Romans 7 v14ff)1

 There are three very important verse's that we should all read Proverbs 30 v7-9 the writer highlights two things in his prayer to God ,the first one reads,'keep falsehood and lies far from me'This chapter of the book of Proverbs was not written by Solomon but by  a man called Agur,he is very honest about himself ,v2 -3 he acknowledges his fallen condition,he is a man of God but he is still in a body flesh which we all are,so when  we come before a holy God there must be honesty. Next he recognises his need for God to help him to overcome his weaknesses,so he prays to God and he asks two things of God,first that God would keep him from 'falsehood and lies,keep them far from me he cries. He is so conscious that he could yield to such things,we all without acceptions if we are honest have things in our lives in which we could easely yield to,sinful things.Our Saviour knows that,and so he taught us to pray,'And lead us not into tempation,but deliver from evil,'(some translations have the evil one.)We are not meant to face evil or the evil one on our own,so let us pray continually for God to help us.

Love is a battlefield. (John 3 v16)

 Someone said ,'Love is a battlefield', people for love of country have died on the battlefield,many who answered the call of  God,in love laid down their lives  for the souls of sinners.Bringing up Children is a big challenge especially when the children are difficult and the relationship becomes like a battlefield, why do they they stick with that child ? the reason, they love him.Some marriages  can be difficult,but the couple battle on why? because of the love they have for each other. Christian G. Rossette wrote,'Love came down at Christmas',yes the Son God came into a world contaminated sin by and it was a battlefield of love from the word go,one long battlefield. The final battle took place on a cross ,where Satan and all his forces fought to keep captive hell bound sinners under their control,but love won the battle through Jesus, yes love won the battle.

                                                         'Such love,pure as the whitest snow;

                                                          Such love, weeps for the shame I  know;

                                                           Such love,paying the debt I owe;

                                                            O Jesus,such love.

                                                                   Words G Kendrick

When God says no ( Exodus25 v 9)

He was one the greatest prophets,the one who challenged Pharaoh,Moses,and yet he had his failings,we read about it in Numbers 20 ,Israel had fallen on hard time and were complaiming as they usally did. They  were in the wilderness and there was no water,So they went and quarrelled with Moses,so Moses took the problem to the Lord,the lord  told him to speak to the rock,and water would come out. This was the second time this had happened  Cp Ex 17 v1-7.there Moses was told to strike the rock with his staff.But the second time he was told to speak to the rock, they got the water but God was not pleased with Moses for instead of speaking to the rock he struck it with his staff. When God tells us what we must do,we must do it exactly as He said.Moses left God out of it,one writer says,'he acted out of bitterness and failed to see things God way'Israel got their water ,but Moses was told that he would not lead the people into the promised land.This pained him greatly and later on he tried to get God to change his mind, after all he was Moses,but God is no respecter of persons, if God says no He means it.

Keep on knocking (Luke 18 v1ff)

In Matthew 7 v 7 our dear Saviour speaking as regards praying said the following,'Ask and it will be given to you;seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you'.A Jewish Rabbi said the loveliest things about prayer,'God is as near to his creatures as the ear to the mouth''Human beings can hardly hear two people talking at once,but God,if all the world calls to him at the one time, hears their cry' We need to hear that, God cannot be crowded out,he hears your faintest cry, and he deligths to hear his children come to him in prayer.Now let us think about this verse,were there are three things stressed.'Ask,Seek,knock'.in relation to your prayers, it is stressing that we should not give up,in Luke 18 v1 Jesus tells a parable to show that we should always pray and not give up.A widow came to a judge for justice,he neither feared God nor cared  what people thought.He kept putting her off,but in the end she would not give up,and in the end he saw to it that she got justice .God is not like that judge he gladly hears our prayers,and will answer them according to his will,but  we need to be persistent,we should keep knocking on heavens door,could be he wants to test our faith,so don't give up.

Meaning ( Mark 8 v34-37)

 Charles W.Colson  a 'Attorney and former White House Counsel,became known as President Nixon's hatchet man,was sent to prison for his involvement in the Watergate scandel.But the good news he came to know Jesus as his Saviour,he later became the founder of ''Prison Fellowship'' ministeries.He had a very successful law firm,at the peak of his power he said,'I found the good life empty and meaningless.He goes unto say,'What do you do when the party is all over? In our heart of hearts,all of us understand that there has to be something more to life than money and fame.We have to see these counterfeits for what they are- fool's gold'.