Answers to prayer. [Jeremiah 29 v 12-13]

A Christian friend told me about a wonder answer to prayer,years ago he
needed a car,so one evening he asked God to provide him with a car. The next day a friend he not seen for a good while,phoned him,he was pastor,  his church had paid for him to purchase a car. Then he said ,the Lord told him to give his old car to my friend,this he did. a wonderful answer  to prayer. In answer to our prayers God in his will,can provide us money,can get us a job,can heal,can deliver,can save us and set us free,will guide I stress in His will,better not to get what we prayed for if it is not his will.Also prayer may not be answered right away,it may,our faith may  tested,of course faith will always be tested.Elijah that great man of
faith prayed and it stopped raining ,but when he prayed that it would rain again, he had to pray seven times[1Kings 18 v43-44].Could be we may be the answer to that prayer we pray,possibly God will not respond till we change cp 2 Kings 5 v 12-14.Our very behaviour and atitutude may be hindering our prayer being answered.
                                      A prayer.
Dear God we thank you for the many, many answers to prayer,so right
now we lift our voices to you,and ask that in mercy and will you will answer our prayer in Jesus name Amen .

Healing [James 5 14-15]

I must confess I am never sure whither God will heal a person or not, I was at a friends recently. He spoke of a man who was not a Christian ,and how his daughter prayed for him and God healed his cancer.He mentioned other
incidences ,of people being healed,in the church in which I was a minister,
two of my members told of healing's ,one was very badly scalded ,she was prayed for,the other told of her father being healed of cancer.Now I have mentioned it before my first wife died of cancer,I did pray,but she died,so you see how I am not sure whither God will  heal a person or not.  God can heal,but may not,but he may,Paul's experience,is an example of this [2 Corinthians 12].Jesus healed many but he did not choose to heal everybody,
we must not think that He has to.Recently while visiting a Christian lady,
she told me that she had cancer,a severe type,it had a high number ,that indicated ,that was very bad.That evening I read James 5 v14-15 ]which tells us to call for the elders anoint the person with oil,and pray in faith,and the person would get well.This was done,she did not become well at that time,but the treatment she is having,appears to be dealing with the cancer.
                                          A  prayer.
Dear God we know that with you,nothing is impossible,help us not rule out
your healing power,in Jesus name Amen.

Whats important. [ Matthew 16 v26 ]

Leon Morris writes,/When men concentrate on the trivial they are apt to overlook the important/.As we read the life of our Saviour He was continually saying to those He met to consider what is really important.To seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness [Matthew 6 v 33 ]. His words to Peter come as a challenge to all of us ,/do you truly love me more than these things [John 21 v 15].If you are not saved it means you are concentrating on the trivial it means that you have not realized that you are selling your soul like Judus for 30 pieces of silver.When he realized what he had done he went out and hung himself,alas for him,for he had a dreadful end,a lost eternity.What are you trading your soul for?,the words of an old gospel hymn comes to mind ,/if I gained the world but not the Saviour/.Is that you? what is the world you are seeking for? ,it  can be different for all of us.For some they are blinded by lust ,success,things,popularity,the list is endless,whats on your list?.There was a great king who tried everything wealth, pleasure,he had the means and the power.He had hundreds of women,and when he considered all he had achieved and accumulated he declared, everything was meaningless,a chasing after wind[Ecclesiates [2 v11].Let us, not  be a fool,let us get our priorities right,choose Christ and then everything will fall into place.
                                          A  prayer.
Dear God help us to see, that knowing Christ as my Saviour is by far, the most important  thing in all the world Amen.
                                    

Go. [ Matthew 28 v 18ff]

Every year in our country we hold remembrance services for those killed in wars,in the 20th century there have been many wars.Britain has had a long history of wars,and as we look at the world today,we still see so many conflicts,and one would love to see the end of war.It is amazing that humanity has not destroyed itself,our Saviour in Matthew 24v6ff spoke about wars and rumours of wars,of nations and kingdoms in conflict ,but then He adds ,but the end is still to come.So when will the end come?, well Jesus tells us,/ The gospel of the kingdom will  be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations,and then the end will come /.He does not give us a date,but simply what must take place before the end comes,and that's where we come in,therefore says Jesus ,go and make disciples of all nations.We can never take the go out of the gospel,the challenge for all believers is to obey what Jesus told us to do,to be His witnesses to a world in conflict a world that is intent on self destruction.We have been given a task,ours is not to question why, we know the why, Jesus has told us,there must be unquestioning obedience.The end will come,it is not for us to know
times or dates,but simply to go and be witnesses for Christ,in the power of the Holy Spirit.[Acts 1 v 7-8]
                                      A  prayer
Dear God forgive us our foolish curiosity as to the end times,help us to simply obey your command and tell other about our Saviour, Amen

Whispers of Eternity. [ Isaiah 42 v 1- 3 ] ]

There was Elijah,going through a rough time,totally discouraged wanting to get out of all,he felt a failure. He found himself under a tree,exhausted,full
of fear. We would not like people to know that we feeel like Elijah at times, I must confess there are times when I feel a lot of like Elijah,I am not happy all the time.Now as I started to write there was Elijah,he had moved from the tree to a mountain [1 Kings 19v1 ff ],and there God spoke to him,not with a thundering voice.One of my favourite movies is the wizard of Oz ,Dorothy and her three friends travel on the Yellow brick road,and arrive at Oz,were they are ushered into the presence of the wizard of Oz,well they don't see him,but by golly they surely hear him, as he thunders at them,frightening them.Well God did not thunder at Elijah and frighten him,no he spoke with a gentle whisper,yes a gentle whisper.I read these words,whispers of eternity,that is what Elijah heard,whispers of eternity.It is the great prophet Isaiah who prayed for God to rend the heavens and come down[ Isaiah 64],He did come down in the form of a little baby,and in that little child we have ,whispers of eternity.I remember a colleague,telling  me she had prayed to God ,she was not a Christian,and she said nothing happened,the Jews prayed for a sign,God is the God who so often speaks in a gentle whisper,and that whisper is a whisper of eternity.
                             Our blest Redeemer ere He breathed,
                              His tender last farewell,
                               A guide a comforter bequeathed,
                             With us to dwell.
                              And His that gentle voice we hear,
                              Soft as the breath of even,
                               That checks each fault that calms each fear,
                               And speaks of Heaven.
                                 [Words by Harriet Auber]

Count your blessings.[ James 1 v17 ]

Start up companies are rebooting the quest for clean energy's holy grail:
fusion,when one reads a little about what it means,it appears a step to far,and yet who knows.Man has been endowed with a wonderful brain capacity to invent and discover. Looking back on my life,I have witnessed
so many amazing things , things I could never imagined.I just have to look around my home, my wonderful TV,and the amount of channels I can receive,my computer.Think of the advances in science,in ,sat naves,the treatment of the sick.Also the standard of living that many of us enjoy,is way beyond what our fore fathers could ever have imagined.Man has advanced in so many ways ,and much is good,but in saying man,we appear to have forgotten,the one we owe it all to,even God. In James 1 v17
we read,/Every good gift,and every perfect gift is from above,in other words it is God who has blessed with so many good things.
                   Count your blessings, name them one by one,
                    Count your blessings,see what God has done,
                   Count your blessing,name them one by one.
                     And it will surprise you what the Lord has done.
                                 [Words by Johnson Octman]

13 Billion sins.[ 1 John 1 v 7]

I wonder if we could count the many sins we have ever committed,this may appear a silly thing to write,but think about it,it is not possible,considering
the wrong words we have uttered,the wrong thoughts,the wrong,I am sure
you get the. idea. Well of course God knows,he as it were has a record of
every sin we have committed,nothing is hidden from Him,with Him there is
no exaggerating,he see's it as it is.It is perfect record of our imperfect lives,
yours and mine,we may say, so what no ones perfect,very true,but it would surprise us to really see how imperfect we all are. This is not very happy reading I know,and what is even more serious, sin will be judged by Jesus.
What I am writing is bit like what many people say about news,there is no good news.But there is for we are told, that the blood of  Jesus Christ
cleanseth us from all sin [1 John1 v7 ],now consider that I had  committed
 13 billion sins, surly there would be no hope for me,13 billion sins, that's a lot,surly all that awaits me is judgement,but consider those words in 1 John 1v7,the blood of Jesus Christ cleanseth from All Sins. No matter how many times we have sinned,people  may have given up on us,they may think the worst of us,after all 13 billion sins.That may be so but God has not given up on us,he will forgive all our sins,for He is merciful.
                                        A  prayer.
Dear God you know how many sins we have committed,even it was 13 billion sins ,you will forgive us all our sin when we trust Jesus as our Saviour, Amen.