No double dealings. [ Psalm 66 v18 ]

As I am doing this blog I am wondering about the subject, unanswered prayer,I wonder what one means by this,in 1 Samuel 28 ,we read how when king Saul enquired of the Lord, the Lord answered him not [v6]. Now this a clear statement and the reason was Sauls disobedience, in fact he is told that the Lord had departed from him, and had become his enemy [16] How far we can apply this to the Christian in that if we are trully the Lords, he will always be with us, but even Christians can act in ways that can affect their relationship with the Lord. In Psalm 66 v18 we read,/ If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me/. A writer called Slade ,declares,/ There must be no double dealing with Jehovah/, and points us to John 9 v31,/ Now we know that God heareth not sinners/. cp also Matthew 6 v 14-15. We are to make sure when we pray, to examine ourselves, and if we have sinned,confess and repent, then the Lord will hear our prayer. There was a way for Saul to be heard, but unfortunately he did not take it.[ Dear God we confess our sins to you, forgive us and remove that which is a barrier to us being heard by you, in Jesus name we ask this. Amen ]

Unanswered prayer

I am having difficulties with signing in, I hope I have solved it we will see. Just to say that I made an mistake in dealing with my last blog , David did not pray about building the yemple ,he but mentioned his desire to the prophet. The things I mentioned are applicable to prayer . The subject of unanswered prayer I feel interests people, I would commend Philip Yanceys book on /Disappointment with God / as helpful.We will consider the subject of unanswered prayer DV tomorrow

Gods no.[2 Samuel 7 ]

In 2 Samuel 7 we have another case of a prayer request that was turned down, it happened to King David, he wanted to do something very noble, but God said no. I wanted to be a missionary, to go to Brazil, but God said no, in Davids case ,he was told clearly by Nathan the prophet, I was told by God shutting the door. It is only in looking back do I realize that God was saying no, because shut doors are just as much an answer from God as an open door, although we may not appreciate this at the time. Now what David requested was a noble prayer, to build a temple for God, as was my desire to be a missionary, but God said no.We may ask God for what we feel is noble, and right, God may say no, in Davids case, another would be given the task of building the temple, his son Solomon, David graciously accepted Gods answer. In 1 Kings 8v18, when the temple was finished, Solomon spoke these words about Davids desire to build the temple, /And God said....... thou didst well that it was in thine heart/. God honoured the desire, although he did not grant him his request, David at no time grew bitter about this, in fact he provided all Solomon needed for the task ,and he prayed for him. [ Dear God help us to accept Your no,help us not to grow bitter,and to accept Your choice as best, and let us rejoice that you honour our noble desires, in Jesus name Amen ]

Unanswered prayer. [Deuteronomy 3 v 25-26 ]

Unanswered prayer, there are four incidents that come to my mind in the Bible, [I am sure there must be more], when God refused to answer prayer, or when God said no. The first one we will consider, Moses the great leader, one used by God to bring His people out of Egypt. Now Moses found the task of leading Israel, difficult ,to say the least, often he cried out to God in despair. Just think about that if you desire to be a leader, it will not be easy, sometime you will despair, it is not easy being a leader. In Numbers 20,we read how the Israelites were doing their usual thing moaning, one of the reasons being ,they had no water, instead of praying to God,they choose to complain,so Moses sought the Lord, and the Lord answered,[oh yes He does also answer our prayers, but we have no problem with that]. Moses was told to speak to the rock, and water would come out, but what Moses did, he struck the rock, yes and water came out. If God tells us to do something in a paticular way, then we must be careful to do it, as He told us,if we dont then there will be consequences. The consequences for Moses was, he was not permitted to lead the people into the promise land, in Deuteronomy he prayed that he could , but God said no, and that was that. [Dear God help me to act as You tell me, help me to realize the importance of this, and the consequences if I dont, in Jesus name Amen ]

Pray for them.[ 1 Peter 5 v7 ]

Unanswered prayer, I was ministering last night, and a dear brother spoke to me ,and he mentioned his daughter who suffers from anorexia, an obsessional illness, to do with food, and feeling they are overweight, even though they may weigh very little. This illness is life threatening, and for this dear brother and his wife ,it is heartbreaking , as they try to support their daughter. How would you feel if your child suffered from this illness? put yourself in that brothers place, consider his pain. He asked me to remember them in prayer, and I have, and by Gods grace I will continue to pray for them, the girls name is Helene. Will you offer up a prayer for her,and her parents today, let us pray for those who are suffering from serious illnesses, and for those who care for them. We will deal with my opening words, unanswered prayer, tomorrow,but for today let us pray for people like Helene ,and those who are caring for them. [ Dear God we bring to You Helene,her mum and dad, and for all who suffering ,ungoing illness, be it physical or mental, and for those who care for them, in thy great mercy,grant them that neccessary grace they need, in Jesus name. Amen ]

Simple faith. [Acts 16 v31 ]

In Romans 4, the apostle Paul is teaching how we are saved by faith, and to illustrate the point ,he points us to Abraham. In v3 we read Abraham believed God, and it was counted unto him as righteousness, that is the simple truth of the gospel, we simply believe in Jesus to save us, that means we are not trying to save ourselves ,by good works[Ephesians 2 v 8-9 ], nor by works of the law.[Galations 3 v 11 ]. It all sounds to simple, to good to be true, but it is true, we make things very complicated, God makes it simple, so simple that even a child can understand it and embrace it. I trusted Jesus as my Saviour when I was a child, and so I believe in Child evangelisim, do not hesitate to tell children about Jesus, in fact do not hesitate to tell anyone about Jesus,because they are smart ,or not so smart. The smart people have to become like little children, the not so smart people, need not let there limatations be a barrier,to all who would be saved it is simple faith in Jesus, that saves.[ Dear God we thank You that You have provided salvation for all in Jesus Thy son, and we thank You that we can be saved simply by believing in Him . Amen ]

Everlasting love. [ Jeremiah 31 v3 ]

I found myself trying to sing an old song,/ Thirty pieces of silver, was the price they paid. Thirty pieces of silver, just the price of a slave. So my heart I have given ,to this Christ betrayed ,for I know just how much I love Him, by the price He paid/. Why am I a Christian ?and why do I continue to be a Christian after all these years?, because as John wrote, we love Him, because He first loved us [1 John 4 v19 ].The Christian relationship is a love one,it commences with love, is sustained by love, controlled by love, motivated by love. When love dies the relationship dies, we then just go through the motions,we are no longer in touch with our Saviour, and yet He still loves us,would seek to woo us back to Himself. The greatest example of this is in that meeting with Peter, the one who had denied His Lord in John 21. Mybe Peter felt His Lord did not love him anymore, but He did,mybe today you have failed your Lord like Peter,well the good news is He still loves you,repent and return to Him, and He will welcome you with open arms, and you will hear His words of love , I have loved you with an everlasting love. I finish with the words of a song by Keith Green, let them be our prayer. [ O Lord please light the fire that once burned bright and clear, replace the lamp of my first love ,that burns with holy fear . Amen ]