Did you think to pray?. [ Proverbs 3 v 5-6 av ]

Did you think to pray?, so goes the words of a hymn,it is so easy to forget to pray, we are busy people, always in a hurry, and suddenly we find ourselves in difficulties. We read in Joshua 9 how Israel , faced with a decision, did everything, they listened to what was said, examined the evidence, made their decision, and here is where it all went wrong,/but they did not consult the Lord/[ Joshua 9 v14]. We have all failed like Israel to pray about certain things even the most prayerful of us, and then we discover we are ensnared in something we shouldnt be. What can we do? we can be honest enough to acknowledge our mistake, before God,tell Him we are sorry, and ask Him to overrule, and most of all learn from our mistakes. [ Dear God forgive us for our forgetfulness in rushing into things without consulting You, help us ackowledge You in all things , in Jesus name. Amen ]

Small prayers.[ Matthew 6 v5-14 ]

Will my prayers make any difference?, I found myself asking this question, in relation to a disaster in the Philippians, such a small prayer, for such an enormous problem. Jesus said we are not heard by babbling on, the worth of our prayer is not in its length,or correct grammar, the worth of our prayer is weighed by God.Our prayer may be small but we are praying to a great God, who loves to hear His children come into His presence, and talk to Him. When we pray ,God has not got a score board , giving us marks from one to ten. In Proverbs 15v8 we read,/ The Lord........delights in the prayer of the upright, there are things that hinder our prayers,wrong attitudes, sin, these can be barriers, that need dealt with, if our prayers are to make a difference. Let us pray even when we dont feel like praying, let us pray to our loving heavenly Father even small prayers,they can make a difference. [Dear loving heavenly Father teach us how to pray in Jesus name . Amen ]

Feeling flat [ 2 Corinthians 4 v7-10]

While most of us dont believe the world is flat,but often we feel flat[ not fat], we seemed to be drained of energy,physical, and spiritual, it is like someone has pulled the plug out. Mybe the reason is we are tired,we need rest, we need a holiday, the work we are doing may be demanding, there are many reasons, but one thing we dont need is guilt. What we we need to do, is to be honest with God,honesty is always the best policy with God, the most important thing to remember God understands, He knows how weak we are, He remembers we are only dust.[ Psalm 103v14]. So let us not today, add that extra burden of guilt upon ourselves, let us ask God to to enable us to press on in our Christian walk. It was William Cowper who wrote,/Sometime a light surprises, The Christian while He sings, It is the Lord who rises. With healing in His wings. When comforts are declining, He grants the soul again, A season of clear shining, To cheer it after rain./ [ Lord we ask that you would help us in our various moods, and that You would enable us to press on in our walk with you, and in thy great mercy, grant us a season of clear shining,to cheer us, in Your precious name we ask this Amen ]

Redeemed [ 1 Peter 1 v 18-19. av ]

I found myself singing an old hymn this morning which goes,/ Redeemed how I love to proclaim it, Redeemed by the blood of the Lamb, Redeemed through His infinite mercy, His child, and forever I am/. Throughout the Bible we have this idea of redemption,it has a number of meanings , [1]Buying back something that was sold,[2] Of purchasing a slave with a view to their freedom.The best illustration of this is Israel in Egypt , they were slaves, God had to redeem them, by the slaying of the passover lamb,and the shedding of its blood, when this was done they were freed.[Exodus 11-12].This is a picture of what took place on Calvary, when Christ was crucified, His sacrificial death was redemptive, by His death He was paying a price to buy those who are slaves to sin[ John 8 v34], and set them free. This is a wonderful truth, to all, it offers hope, to all who are in bondage to sin, that they can be set free, by trusting in Jesus who paid the price of redeeming sinners. [ Dear God thank You for Jesus who died to redeem sinners. Amen ]

Let God.[ 2 Chronicles 20]

Let God,sometimes there are situations we cant do anything about, we try to resolve them, yet the more we try, the worse it seems to get, nothing changes,and we just experience more pain. So what does one do , let God. Yesterday we thought on Joseph, when he was in prison he thought that the cup bearer would , speak a word in high places and have him released, but he didnt, he forgot about Joseph. It is often the case that we have to stop our struggling,our manoeuvring, and let God take over, a person can only be rescued when he submits to their rescuer. The Israelites were in great danger of being destroyed, God spoke through Moses/Dont be afraid. Just stand still and watch the Lord rescue you today,[Exodus 14v13], and He did. Today let us be still and know that He is God[Psalm 46v10 ], to have confidence,trust, and Faith in Him, who can make a way ,were there is no way, to Him who can provide, a job, a wife/ husband, a home, a family , a friend.[ Dear God help us to understand what we have to do in every given situation, help us to realize that there are times when the best thing we can do is simply be still and to trust You to work on our behalf, in Jesus name Amen ]

God really does have a plan.[ Romans 8v 28. av ]

One of the most instructive stories in the Bible is in Genesis chapters 37-50, it is about a man called Joseph , a man loved by his father but hated by his brothers.These brothers treated him very badly, they wanted to murder Him, but instead they sold him into slavery , and he ended up in Egypt. In Egypt he was accused falsely of attempted rape, thrown into prison and forgotten about, there was a monent when it appeared that he would be released,but it didnt happen, then suddenly everything changed, he was released,and became second in command to the Egyptian Pharoah. The great lesson we see in all this is the sovereignty of God, many years before this God declared to Abraham that He had a plan for his decendants, [Genesis 15v13-14] in order to fulfill that plan Joseph had to go through his trials.Mybe you are experiencing a trial today,it appears unjust, and even cruel, consider the life of Joseph and learn from it, and hold unto this vital truth God is in control, and has a plan, and will cause everything to work out for your good. [ Romans 8 v28 ], and His glory.[ Dear God help us to trust you in every difficulty, to have faith in your Sovereignty, to believe that all things are working together for our good, in Jesus name. Amen ]

Doing good. [ 1 Corinthians 3 v 10 -15 ]

Do all the good you can, In all the ways you can,In all the places you can, At all the times you can,To all the people you can, As long as ever you can.So wrote John Wesley. We can do this in many ways, by praying for people, helping in practical ways, by showing them Jesus in our lives, and by telling them about Jesus. In Acts 10v 38 we read that Jesus went about doing good, so in doing good we are following in His footsteps. In Galations 6 v9 we read,so let,s not get tired of doing what is good,we may feel discouraged in doing good, we get no thanks, people can be so ungrateful, let us remember that God will not forget,and He will reward us in a coming day.[Hebrews 6v10] So today let us do good to everyone, especially to those in the family of faith. [Galations 6 v10 ] [Father in Heaven grant us the grace today, to follow in the footsteps of Your dear Son, by doing good. Amen ]