When nothing is happening[ 1 Kings 19 v 1-18 ]

There are times when nothing appears to be happening, as I look at the church situation, nothing appears to be happening, then there are situations , things we pray about continually, and nothing appears to be happening.The invisible God really appears invisible, just silence, followed by silence. In this situation we can become like Thomas, who declared ,/unless I see, [ John 20 v25 ],I wont believe, I wont keep praying, I wont follow, I want to see answers, results,something, happening. I think of our Saviours words to Philip, / Have I been with you all this time[ John 14v 9 ],we are like Philip, we forget the things that have happened in our lives, we start leaning on our own understanding, we fall into the trap of living by sight, instead of by faith, and so we become discouraged, impatient, and loose sight of the fact that God is working His purposes out in our lives in the best possible way. Let us remember that God is working, when it appears He is not, let us not judge the Lord by our feeble senses, in His time He will reveal His purpose,so trust Him .[ Almighty God have mercy upon us, and grant us the grace we need , to trust You, when things dont appear to be happening, in Jesus name we ask this Amen ]

Answers to prayer [ Matthew 26 v 39 ]

Last Friday evening I suddenly developed a sore tummy, after trying various things I got no relief, so I cried unto the Lord, and as I did the pain eased , and I was able to go to bed and sleep. Praying for healing is a difficult area , I believe God hears and answers our prayers ,I have proved this so many times, and yet we know that at times,things dont appear to happen, a person we prayed for dies,situations do not appear to be resolved, doors have stayed closed. Prayer is a learning experience, in that experience God is teaching us valuable lessons, in the exercise of prayer, it is what God is doing in us that is important. Keep praying dont despair if things dont appear to be happening, God is listening,and will answer in the best possible way, let us remember God knows best, and whats best for all of us. [ Dear God we thank you for the privllege of prayer, You hear our cry, at all times, and always answer in the best way , in Jesus name.Amen. [I am going away for a short break I will be back Sat]

Unexpected faith.[ Luke 4 v 14 - 30 ]

It is Philip Yancey who writes of ,/ Faith appearing where least expected, and faltering where it should be thriving/, we see this throughout the bible, the religious esablishment often failed miserably to manifest faith, while the poor exercised tremendous faith, in fact the Bible tells us that God has chosen the poor who are rich in faith [James 2 v5 ]. Are the poor at greater advantage than those who are not poor?, I do not think so,and yet mybe they are ,in that they usually have no option other than God, they have no resources other than God, so in their need they look to God in faith,their minds are focused on Him, they know no one else can help them, so in the name of Jesus they pray, and God answers.While this is so , God is no respector of persons,it is not their poverty that qualifies them ,but their faith, so today let faith arise, let faith ask, let faith act. [Father in heaven You have saved us by grace through faith, and You have called us to live by faith, grant us the ungoing grace to fufill this, in Jesus name , Amen ]

Take up your cross. [ John 21 v 15 -23 ]

To be true to Jesus is not easy, and of course He never said it would be, I love the honesty of Jesus, it was Winston Churchill that told the people of Britian, in their darkest hour, that he had nothing to offer but,/blood, toil, tears and sweat/. Jesus says follow me, and that will mean taking up a cross, it will mean denying oneself , it will mean walking the narrow way.It will mean going on when it appears easier to give up, it will being faithful in situations in which you want to run away from,it will mean choosing Gods way instead of your own,it may mean, blood, sweat and tears, and having no one to wipe your tears. Am I exaggerating?. Whatever path we are having to travel in following our Master, remember He is with us, He will not forsake us,come what may,He will help us, and even fill us, with peace and joy, but most of all a sense of His presence, in the words of Ira Stanphill,/be faithful , weary pilgrim, The morning I can see, Just lift your cross and follow close to me.[ Dear Lord Jesus sometime we struggle as we follow You, sometimes we feel frustrated, and discouraged, today we ask that You will help us to be faithful to You, pour in Your grace into our lives, Amen ]

Trustworthy. [ Matthew 25 v14 -30 ]

Trust is one of the most important things in life, when trust is gone, then the relationship is in trouble. In marriage trust is vital,if you break that trust ,the marriage may not survive, it is possible it can ,and some marriages do.The question is ,am I a trustworthy person?,we like to think so, am I trustworthy with money?, if God has entrusted us with whatever, then He has done this for a purpose.Consider the person of Christ , He was intrusted with the salvation of mankind, and He proved totally trustworthy, if we are not saved , we can call on Him to save us, and He will prove true to His word, that whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved. One can trust Jesus not only with ones life but with ones eternal destiny.Today let us be like Jesus , let us be trustworthy, in all aspects of our lives, in the unexpected, or in the ordinary course of life. [Father we thank You , that You are trustworthy in all things, help us to be like You, in Jesus name we ask this Amen ]

Dont forget [ Philippians 4 v6-7 ]

In our busyness we are inclined to forget to pray, an old hymn had these words,/ ere you left your room this morning, did you think to pray?/prayer should not be a legalistic thing, it is a vital aspect in our relationship with our loving heavenly Father. God wants us to know a close personal relationship with Him, it is for our benifite, and prayer is important in the development of this. So today pray ,it will make a difference in your life, if you have a need then pray about it, ask and you shall recieve,if you are facing difficulties, pray about it, there is nothing to difficult for the Lord, He says call upon me in the day of trouble,I will deliver thee, and thou shalt glorify Me.[ Psalm 50 v15 ] So today , dont forget to pray. [ Dear Lord help us to pray, help us to see how important it is to spend time in prayer, grant us the grace we need to pray we ask this in Jesus name ,Amen ]

Look up. [ Psalm 121 ]

Many people when they are walking look down, there may be advantages in looking down, one may find the odd coin, the most I have found was twenty pounds, and of course when you look down, you wont trip up. Looking down may often reflect how we feel, it indeed may reflect that we are feeling down, that we are oppressed, it is called body language. In Psalm 121 we read, / I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills [Mountains],/ it does not stop there, if we stop at the hills or mountains, we will be overwhelmed, the mountains in our lives can cause us to despair, look beyond your mountain of despair, to your God in heaven,remember our help comes from the Lord . So today, right now ,look up to the one who is able, and willing to come to your aid, stop letting the enemy oppress you, and start believing in the one who said,/ Look unto me , and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth, for I am God, and there is none else. [Isaiah 45v 22 ][ Almighty God help us today to look up, beyond all our difficultes,beyond all our problems, and trust you to undertake for us, in Jesus name we ask this, Amen ]