Why pray? [James 5 v17- 18]

 Why pray? a good question,after all Gods knows,that's true,often we don't know what to pray,maybe you can add a lot more to the thought ,why pray?.Why pray?,because we are told to by our Lord,not only are we told to pray,but we are told not to give up praying[Luke 18v1].He also gave us a pattern as to how we should pray[Matthew 6v6-13],also we who follow
Jesus can and should follow His example,in that He prayed.We need to appreciate that prayer is not just about asking,it should be a time of talking as a man speaks with a friend[Exodus 33 v11],but of course we are speaking to God, who is to be reverenced,for He is God.We often sing that old hymn ,''What a friend we have in Jesus'',well He is our friend ,[John 15 v14],so talk to Him as a friend. Be honest with Him,tell Him how you feel,
always remember when it comes to prayer,honesty is the best policy.Yet prayer is about making our requests knowing unto God,some people feel they should not ask God for anything,wrong we should,because Jesus said we should [Matthew 7 v7].Will it make any difference if I don't pray?,
yes it will,''William Temple is reputed to have said, ''When,I pray,
coincidences happen,and when I don't they don't'',so pray.

                          What various hindrances we meet
                          in coming to the mercy seat,
                          Yet who,that knows the worth
                          of prayer,
                          But wishes to be often there.

                          Prayer makes the darkened cloud withdraw,
                          Prayer climbs the ladder Jacob saw;
                          Gives exercise to faith and love,
                          Brings every blessing from above.

                          Restraining prayer ,we cease to fight;
                          Prayer makes the Christian's armour bright:
                          And Satan trembles when he sees
                          The weakest Christian on his knees.
                              [Words by William Cowper]
                                              
                       
                                   

Not forgotten [Isaiah 49 v 14-16 ]

There I was about to preach,when I discovered I had the wrong sermon notes,with me.what was I to do?.Well it all worked out,my friend the pastor
nipped back to his home and brought me the right notes.Everything worked out fine.I envy those ministers who can preach without notes,when I used to sing I always had the words in front of me.A good memory is a wonderful thing ,Luther stressed the importance of a good memory if one was a preacher.When Joseph was in  prison[Genesis 39v19/40-41]he was in prison
for 13years,during that time he had interpreted two dreams,of  Pharaoh's
cup bearer, and his baker,these two men had offended Pharaoh,and so landed in prison.The cup bearer was told by Joseph he would be released and restored to his former position,the baker was told he would die.Joseph asked the cup bearer to mention to Pharaoh his plight,but he forgot.never giving him a thought.But God had not forgotten Joseph,and in His time He brought Joseph out,remember our times our in His hands.In fact God says as to His children ,''Can a woman forget her nursing child,that she should have no compassion on the son of her womb. Even these may forget ,yet I will not forget you''.[Isaiah 49v15].
                                            A  prayer
Dear God we praise You that none of your dear children are forgotten by You people may forget about us but you wont,we thank You in Jesus Name Amen.

Bitterness. [Ruth 1 v 19-21 ]

I have just finished studying the book of Ruth, David  Atkinson's book on this lovely story is very helpful.says,''If there is one theme more than any other which dominates the book of  Ruth ,it is that of the over-ruling providence of God,and our human dependence on Him.God is the source of
life,and its blessings ,are a gift from His hand''So we have two things that he mentions that are very important for us to bear in mind.As to the providence of God D A,writes of the certainty,delight,and the security of this wonderful
doctrine.Now in the book of Ruth,we have many sad things recorded, famine, upheaval,death, Naomi ,Ruths mother-in-law,experiences so much sadness,at one stage she delares call me not Naomi[meaning pleasant ],but
call me Mara[meaning bitter],but she does not stop there she declares,''For the Almighty has dealt  very bitterly with me''.She still believed in God
and His sovereign providence ,even though it was a bitter pill to swallow.
Do not be fooled by those who tell you a distorted view of what it means to be a follower of Jesus,it is the way of the cross that leads home.
                                            A prayer
Dear God help us keep believing and trusting in  our times when we experience that which is bitter in Jesus name Amen.

Purgatory [ Romans 10v 9-13 ]

Now back to William Tyndale, who lived for one purpose alone, that of translating the word of God into English.He succeeded in this,but at great cost,by being partial strangled,and then being burnt to death.Just before he died he prayed,that the king of England's eyes would be opened.He also had said,''that if God spared his life a boy behind a plough,would know more of
the scripture than the  Pope did''Europe was held fast in the tyranny of the Church of Rome,under the Pope scripture was hidden,and many ,many errors came into being.One of these errors was purgatory,which is not to be found in scripture,but was a twelfth century invention.It is a belief that we go to purgatory,when we die,to be refined in its flames,the church taught that this suffering could be reduced if a mass  was said,but of course a mass would cost money.In fact all it ever has been is a money making business.Henry V11,sought to avoid it by having ten thousand masses said for his soul at 6d a time. We owe so much to the likes of William ,and to all who translate  the scriptures,for as we are told ,faith cometh by hearing and
hearing by the word of God ,[Romans 10v 17]
                                           A prayer.
Dear God we thank for William Tyndale,and for all who translate the word of God,for a true knowledge of your word we will  be ensnared in error,
and never come to a true knowledge of salvation,by trusting in Jesus Amen.

Per Solam Fidem .[ Romans 4 v 3/5v1 ]

I have started to read again the life of Gods outlaw,William Tyndale the
great translated the word of God into English.At that time very few people had a Bible,most of the Bibles were in Latin,which very few could read.At
that time the papacy ruled,but not in truth,then God raised up Martin Luther,
a man who was a professor of theology.Brian Moynahan writes this ,''His life was earnest;he prayed,he fasted,he carried out penances and made lists
of his sins. 'And yet my conscience kept nagging,' he wrote.''It kept telling me;''You fell short there....You were not sorrybenough...You left that sin off your list,'' Redemption,he feared,was denied him. He sought to ease the pain in his soul with' human remedies,the traditions of men'.''All his religiosity
brought no relief until he read ,six words from the epistle to the Romans,
'' The righteous shall live by faith''Then he realised that nothing the then church prescribed ,or any thing he did could save him,The Christian was justified  per solam fidem,by faith alone,and so began what we now called the reformation.Now I started writing about William Tyndale,I will continue  with him next time.
                                       A  prayer.
Dear God we thank that You ,that through faith alone in Jesus we are saved
Amen

March on. [ 1 Corinthians 1 v26-31]

It was the time of the Judges,where we read,'everyone did as he saw fit'[21v25],unfortunately,this led the nation continually to go astray ,which means they did evil in the eyes of the Lord. The result was the Lord punished them,and caused their enemies to rule over them,and they oppressed them,then after a period of time they came to their senses ,they then cried out to the Lord for help,and He raised up leaders who laid them to victory. These leaders were mainly men,but there was one exception
Deborah[chap  4-5],who was a prophetess.The result was ,their enemies were defeated,and when the battle was over,she and a man called Barak sang a song of victory.One line of that song struck me as interesting,it reads
O my soul, march on in strength[Judges 5 v21].These words came  as a 
challenge to me,and I hope to you,consider again who was singing these words, Deborah  a women.That was going against the trend,where men lead
,yet God will use whom He will,be it a woman,or a child,or even you,or even me. But, we may say Lord I am weak,but God says to us afresh,  march on in my strength[46 v1], and if do you will know the victory,as Deborah did.
                                        A  prayer.
Dear God,we are weak,but in your strength we can march on ,and be victorious,in Jesus name Amen.

The eternal glories [ Hebrews 11v 8-16 ]

I can imagine standing in heaven,and thinking how absolutley wonderful that I did not miss this,and yet I could have.I can only imagine what heaven be like,we know there will be no suffering,of any kind,that every aspect of our exsistance will be perfect,yes we will be perfect.We will never be bored
we will all truly love each other,no more bickering,or fighting,no more
disappointments.There we will perfect communion with God,nothing between us to hinder our relationship,no guilt or failures,no accidents. In
1 Corinthians 2 v9,we read,''No eye has seen,no ear has heard,no mind has conceived what God prepared for those who love Him''now of course as he writes in verse 10,there are things God has revealed to us by His Spirit.But the glories and wonders that we will experience in heaven,is hidden from us,the apostle Paul having experienced a glimpse of Heaven,writes that,''
he heard unexpressible things,things that man is not permitted to tell[2
Cor  12 v4].Charles Hodge writes,''The vail which conceals the mysteries
 and glories of heaven God has not permitted to be raised.It is enough that we know that in that world the saints shall be made perfectly holy and perfectly blessed in the full enjoyment of God forever''
                                         A  prayer.
Dear God help us to keep the eye of faith on the eternal glories that shine afar,to remember we are aliens and strangers on earth, in Jesus name we ask this Amen