I have had enough. [ Psalm 42 ]

I  wonder have you ever felt that you cannot go on?,well there are a number
of people in the Bible who felt like this.I think of Jacob and Elijah.Let us consider Jacob ,he had to leave home because his brother Esau was threatening to kill him,he ended up working for his uncle Laban ,who treated him,very unfairly. God spoke to him to return home,but he lived with the tension of how his brother would react,in the end he welcomed him home. Jacob had twelve sons and one daughter.The sons caused him concern,but he had a son called Joseph,he loved him more than all his children.Because of this his sons hated Joseph,and when they saw their opportunity,they sold him as a slave.They lied to their father ,telling him that an animal had killed  Joseph,Jacob was overwhelmed with grief.Later when his sons returned from Egypt with the news that Simeon was in prison,and that the ruler there,demanded that they return with their younger brother,it all became to much for Jacob.In his distress he cried out, all these things are against me[Genesis 42v36 ]This was to him the last straw,he had reached the end of himself,but of course that was not the end of the matter,for God had a plan for Jacobs life,and soon his sadness would be turned into joy.Dear child of God like Jacob you may have come to the end of yourself,you feel  you cannot go on ,here is a word for you,/Weeping may endure for a night,but joy  cometh in the morning[Psalm 30 v5]. You may feel like giving  up,but God has not given up on you.
                                        A  prayer.
Dear God have mercy upon  us when we feel like giving up,help us to see that inspite of the difficulties ,you have not given up on us.and that You will
undertake for us.we ask this in Jesus name Amen.
.

We know not what to pray. Romans 8 v26-27]

As I was praying ,I found myself repeating the following,/Guide me by your
Spirit Lord/.I am very conscious how much we need the Holy Spirits help,
and guidance. A verse that keeps coming to me  is Romans 8 v 26./So to the Holy Spirit comes to our aid and bears us up in our weakness,for we do not know what prayer to offer nor how to offer it worthily as we ought/,do we not all feel like this,we know what God can do,but is it His will,we can pray as  James 4 v3  tells us,we ask amiss. Yet let us not despair ,for we read ,/but the Spirit Himself goes to meet our supplication and pleads on our behalf with unspeakable yearnings and groanings too deep for utterance./[Amplified Version] .In v27 we also read,/the Spirit intercedes in  behalf
of the saints according to and in harmony with Gods will./ So we have a helper when we pray ,Leon Morris writes, /Paul is giving encouragement to the humblest of God's people.They may be dissatisfied with their praying ,
but they have a powerful intercessor and one who prays for them in accordance with the will of God/
                                      A  prayer.
                             Holy Spirit, prompt us,
                              When we kneel to pray;
                             Nearer come,and teach us
                             What we ought to pray.
                              Holy Spirit, help us
                              Daily by Thy might,
                              What is wrong to conquer,
                               And to choose the right.
                                [Words by W H. Parker]

I have had enough [ Psalm 43 ]

We considered Jacob yesterday ,now let us consider Elijah the prophet we read about him in 2 Kings 17ff. Yes he was a prophet,and a mighty prophet,
he was used by God to  challenge a king,that was no mean thing,for the king could have put him to death, and there times he sought to.Elijah challenged a king and a backslidden nation,he had been so brave and courageous.But there was a woman behind the throne called Jezebel,who sent him word that she was going to have him killed, this became to much for Elijah he fled for his life ,and ended up under a juniper tree, and he prayed for God to take away his life. He had,had enough,he had given up,there was no point of going on,he felt a deep loneliness, and worthless,in spite of all that God had accomplished through him.Yet the fact was God had not forsaken him,God heard his prayer, He fed him and and led him to the mount of God.On that mount Elijah, experienced being in a great storm,and an earthquake,these
elements typified how he must have felt.This was the darkest moment in his experience,and it was at that moment God gentle spoke to him,in a still small voice.It was not a voice of condemnation,a heartless pull yourself together voice,no its very tone was non threatening,and reassuring.Like Elijah we may have come to end of oneself,we want to give up,God understands,and would gentle reassure you that you are not on your own,
and that He loves you,that you are not worthless,that you are precious to Him.
                                    A  prayer.
                              Dear loving Heavenly Father.
                             Drop Thy still dews of quietness
                              till all our strivings cease;
                              take from our souls the strain and stress,
                              and let our ordered lives confess
                              the beauty of Thy peace.
                                 In Jesus name Amen.
                           [Words by J G. Whittier ]

Unquestioning submission. [Revelation 14 v 12 ]

Shakespeare wrote, /Have patience and endure/,the Bible has much to say on those two things,patience and enduring.In the book of Revelation we have patience mentioned a number of times,in 13 v 10 and 14v12,we read of the patience of the saints. These words were written to Christians who were suffering,and the necessity for them to patiently endure,to obey Gods commandments and remain faithful to Jesus.One commentator translates the word patience as steadfastness,he writes the following ,/This does not mean passively bearing things,it means ; it means courageously accepting the worst that life can do ,and turning it into glory/[W  Barclay].We all have need of the grace of God to cope,and endure, whatever trials ,difficulties
come into our lives.Be it an illness,a difficult marriage,loneliness, the slings and arrows of outrageous misfortune.All these and more ,if God so ordains ,in His sovereign purposes,then like our Saviour we bear patiently
and in that process glorify our Saviour.Kiddle writes of'' unquestioning submission to Providence,and trust', yes trust in one who will not suffer his children to shed a needless tear.
                   What though clouds are hovering o'er me
                    And I seem to walk alone,
                    Longing,mid my cares and crosses,
                    For the joys that now are flown,
                    If I've Jesus, Jesus only ,
                   Then my sky will have a gem;
                    He's the Sun of  brightest  splendour,
                    And the star of Bethlehem.
                     [Hattie M. Conrey]  

Moved with compassion .[Matthew 15 v32ff ]

Let us consider the miracle of the feeding of the 4000, [Matthew 15 v32ff ]it starts with Jesus saying to his disciples,'I have compassion on the mulitude'. Whatever   He did ,He did out of a heart of love and  compassion, never acting out of a cold indifference.He had been ministering previously to this multitude,performing many miracles, of healing, they had been with Him three days.He had helped many, but now He was going to feed a multitude,it is nothing to help with many or a few.I pray for many individuals,one group I pray for is my grandchildren,I have 13,I mention them all by name,and I end by asking to save them all.I have compassion on the multitude ,let us not judge,but let us act out of hearts of compassion,to all.They had been there three days,whatever food they may have had was gone,being poor they more than likely never had to much to eat, one never gets used to being hungry.Somehow in the providence of God the disciples found some fish and bread,Possible bread and fish would have been the stable diet of the people in Israel.From this meagre  amount Jesus would perform a miracle,the little we have if surrendered to Jesus, can be a blessing to many. Joseph Scriven only wrote one hymn,/What a friend we have in Jesus/,yet that one hymn has blessed millions of Gods children.
                                        A  prayer.
Dear God gave us a heart of compassion for all who are in need,help us to use whatever resources,we have at your disposal, in Jesus name Amen .

No reason [ John 15 v 18ff]

In  John 15 v 18, Jesus said,if the world hates you,keep in mind that it hated me first.Each day I pray for Christians who are suffering ,I often hear people say , words like this,they are suffering just for been a Christian,as if  this should not happen ,and that it is unreasonable and does not make sense.If you read John 15 v18ff you see that this should come as no surprise,because of what our Saviour taught,and experienced,in spite of all the good He did,he experienced continual hurt,and opposition which ended with Him being put on a cross,He summed it up ,they hated Me without reason[25]. Bruce Milne writes,' Being identified with Jesus makes opposition inevitable' Samuel Rutherford  experienced imprisonment as a Christian ,wrote,' God has called you to Christs side, and the wind is now in Christ's face in this land; and since you are with him you cannot expect the sheltered or the sunny side of the hill' I must confess I have not experienced little persecution or suffering for Christ,but if I do I need not be surprised
 ,because Jesus said it would happen.
                                       A  prayer.
Dear Lord you who suffered the awful hatred ,for no reason,help us not to be surprised if we likewise suffer, Amen.

Greater things.[ Ephesians 3 v 20 ]

Before our blessed Saviour would leave his disciples,one of the things He said ,/I tell you the truth,anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing,he will do even greater things than these,because I go unto my Father. And I will do whatever you ask in my name so that the Son may bring glory to the Father. You may ask me for anything in my name,and I will do it/[John 14 v11-13 ] Now how should we look at these words,can we
do greater things than Jesus?.Well the Pentecostal people would say we can,but most commentators would  would see the greater things,in the future evangelization of the world. In other words in the conversion of souls,as B Milne writes ,/There is no greater work possible than the conversion of the soul/.Now I would agree with that,and yet it seems to me that our Saviour is leaving us with a challenge not only to evangelise,but to
also to believe that we should aspire,to pray prayers of faith,and actions of faith,in other words not to limit God ,[C P.  14 V14/15V7V16].
                                        A  prayer.
Dear God help us not to limit You,we ask that we may see answers to our prayers in evangelisim,answers in relation to difficulties,in relation to needs being met,in relation to sickness,whatever,in Jesus name Amen .