Pray!

 “Is any among you afflicted? let him pray……” James 5:13

Believers are well acquainted with affliction and suffering. Becoming a Christian does not prevent us from being exposed to the same difficulties and trials which overall plague the human race. It is not in the avoidance or evasion of distress but in the manner of coping and dealing with it, that the saint of God has an edge and real means of surviving the anguish, sorrow and grief that life can bring. One of the weapons of an overcoming Christian life is prayer.

Prayer is the correct positioning of all flesh before God. It ought to be the most natural and obvious choice at all times and in all seasons of life, but particularly so when we are faced with difficulty. The Word of God directs those who believe, to pray when they are faced with the afflictions of life. This is not to say that we should pray only in the tough times of life, but that they are the times when our response should definitely be prayer! The reasons for this are many.

Prayer is the conduit that brings to us mere mortals, the power and blessing of the eternal and almighty God. It is the channel of communication with He Who is greater than us and can do all the things that are outside our control and ability. Afflictions, sufferings and infirmities remind us of how vulnerable and weak we really are. They help us remeasure and redefine in practical terms, our ever present need for God! They are also opportunities for us to build a stronger relationship with the Lord by leaning more heavily on Him and trusting Him beyond where we may have trusted before.

The more frequently we respond to life’s challenges with prayer, the more adept we become to pray, knowing consciously and from our life’s history how that prayer has aided us in connecting with the Lord and in receiving what we have needed in various trying or desperate circumstances. Taking the time to pray teaches us that prayer works and that, as James tells us in v16 of this same chapter, if it is the fervent and effectual prayer of a righteous person - it avails, benefits, profits and rewards a great deal! The testimony of millions, who have verified that there is power in prayer and amazing, unequalled benefits in all circumstances and conditions of life, is overwhelming as it is inspiring.

With this knowledge and evidence both from God’s Word and from the lives of those who in obedience have practiced the principles of prayer to secure its helps and rewards, we must ask ourselves why we don’t pray more!? In fact it would be very pertinent to analyse our heart and life dealings, to see whether prayer is the course of action we choose to take at all. Is it our first option in finding solutions to the woes of life? Do we resort to this Royal telephone line for input from God, ahead of relying on ourselves or seeking the opinion and assistance of others? If we do pray, do we so in faith and trust that God is able and available to answer us?

The prayer experience is sometimes reduced to just saying or repeating prayers in rote fashion, merely fulfilling a duty or ritual, but this is not true praying as the bible describes. The imperative of prayer in scripture, is evidence of God’s command that we perform this holy exercise and that we do so from the heart and soul not simply the lips. How deeply rewarding and satisfying it is to man, when in faith real prayer is made to the Almighty God! How great a deliverance we find and receive from the troubles and afflictions of life, at the hand of the loving Saviour! Jesus is looking for opportunities to provide rest, relief and blessing in all our difficulties of life, if only we would choose to make sincere prayer our first response and not our last resort!



See also:
http://dailybiblefocus.blogspot.com.au/
http://www.pentecostalfamilychurch.com.au/devotion

Stormy Weather

"The LORD is good, a strong hold in the day of trouble; and he knoweth them that trust in him." Nahum 1:7

The strong wind was bending the trees like a giant merciless hand. Through the window, I could see the yard grounds bloated with the rains that had been soaking into it, almost non-stop for days. The image before me was dim, cold and uninviting. I was glad to be indoors, sheltered in the relative comfort of the dry, warm and familiar surrounds of my home. Somewhere on the news were reports of storms hitting elsewhere, leaving some homes with damaged roofs while flash floods were impairing travel and generally making life difficult. Stormy weather!   

We all face the stormy weather of life. There are times when the gusty winds of life’s difficulties push us to the limit and the torrential rains of sorrow soak our heart and soul. Life’s storms do not exonerate anyone. They have no regard to age, and they do not select on any criteria whether it be education, culture, status or descent. We console one another with this general and vague knowledge that after all ‘everyone faces difficulties’ and that ‘life is meant to try us’. Some well-meaning comforter reminds us that ‘there is always someone worse off than we’, but somehow that doesn't really help us in our present struggle. Our best preparation, bravest courage and noblest mental attitude do little to shelter us from the blows and unforeseen challenges and trials that like those un-tethered winds, can buffet us, plague us and push us around.

Some of the troubled days we face, are of our own making, the result of poor judgement, disobedience or plain stupidity when we knowingly select to do or participate in those things that we know will expose us to distress and potentially harm us! Other times of trouble just seem to land at our door step, unsolicited by our choices and like a vexing blowfly, fly into our space clearly unwanted. These seasons of difficulty are very real and threatening as they absorb our time, mind, emotional strength and physical energy. They make us feel like we are walking up a downward escalator, for each step we take we seem to go backwards two. The unrelenting currents of trial push at us and would flush us downstream, requiring that we strain every mental and emotional sinew in our being, in an effort to stay on top.

Drained, floundering, and often feeling alone and wasted in our stressful experiences of life’s storms, we sometimes wonder how we can make it through and if there can ever be hope for a brighter, better tomorrow. We long to hide from the troubles that face us and long for shelter, reprieve and an end or at least a pause, in the struggle against the unseen forces that taunt us. Who truly understands? Where is refuge? Does anyone care?

To those who trust in the Lord it soon becomes clear that God is our only refuge. He is the strong place and high tower that can protect us in, and lift us above our troubles. He is the One who cares and can help us withstand the onslaught of life's turmoil. God is still God in times of crisis, and in the demanding, confusing times.  Knowing, loving and trusting Jesus is our strength and security at all times but particularly in the tough and challenging seasons of life. 

What's more the Lord knows those that trust Him this way and in such difficult situations! That speaks of a care and personal attention that is given by our loving God to those who in the midst of life's storms, when the billows of the oceans of trial toss and threaten, look to Him for strength, comfort and overcoming. Instead of relying on their own limited strength or the temporal camouflage of things or substances in futile attempts to survive, those trusting God know they can lean on Him, that He knows them and cares and that He is the answer! 



See also:
http://dailybiblefocus.blogspot.com.au/
http://www.pentecostalfamilychurch.com.au/devotion

Repetitive Reminder

"O give thanks unto the LORD; for he is good: for his mercy endureth for ever. O give thanks unto the God of gods: for his mercy endureth for ever. O give thanks to the Lord of lords: for his mercy endureth for ever." Psalm 136:1-3

The Psalm is a call to all who love the Lord and know the truth, beauty and power of His mercy to present worship, praise and honour to God.

He provides unending benefits and His mercy is an everlasting flow toward us. In turn, we ought to find a constant stream of thanks issuing from our soul, heart, mind and lips!

Our praise and thanks unto the Lord is an apt and joyful spiritual sacrifice firstly for the fact of ‘What’ He is!

He is good! He is perfect in goodness even as he is just in severity. In the same way that God is love and doesn’t merely ‘have’ love, He is good in the ultimate and completely perfect sense of the word. All of His acts, motives and principles reflect this quality and attribute. We benefit from this good and merciful God in so many ways that it is impossible for us to name or count them all! We may experience some goodness as we relate to each other in this human world and at times are surprised to find someone who shows us kindness or goodness,  expecting most of the time quite the opposite. This is not so with the Lord whose goodness is not merely a part or portion of His character, but who is actual goodness and love itself in all His dealings with us. From Him, if we come in humility, we can be sure to find goodness and this should bring out the most heartfelt gratitude and praise from our souls.

Secondly for the fact of ‘Who’ He is!

He is the God of gods and the Lord of lords! Idols and man-made gods are mere figments and fantasies, but if there could exist any creature or power worthy to be deemed a ‘god’, then Jesus would be the GOD of them! He is the supreme power there is no-one higher and no-one beside Him or equal to Him! As the ultimate and superlative Deity, He cannot be mistaken, misplaced or displaced. He doesn’t have to vie for position or prove His worth, for when all that exalts itself has come and gone He will remain and continue eternally! He is what the sun is to a candle, the ocean to a raindrop, the universe to a star!

Humanity has known many lords, kings and sovereigns of all kinds, reputations and influence, but of the best among them, none can even begin to compare to the One true and ultimate LORD! He is the potentate above all and when the lights go out on the last human ruler and the door closes on the last realm, this King of kings and Lord of lords will continue eternally in the reign which He has established and has existed forever.  

Thirdly for the fact of 'what' He does!

It is with these thoughts in mind that the Psalmist repeatedly encourages us to note and remember His mercy which endureth forever. Our great God 'does' great mercy toward us! Mercy is the motive and manner of His giving to us His creation. 

Everlasting mercy can only come from an everlasting God and such ever-present, enduring, persisting and sturdy mercy, merits our highest praise and thanks! This One who is Judge overall and will endure eternally is not limited in mercy as we are. He doesn’t run out or short, He determines the extent of His longsuffering love and does not measure as we mortals do. 

The evidence of His dealings with man over the past millennia shows a mercy, which in human terms really is not only ‘unending’, but also unparalleled, unsurpassed, unexcelled, unmatched and unequalled! We owe Him gratitude, honour and praise with every breath we take. Amen.



See also:
http://dailybiblefocus.blogspot.com.au/
http://www.pentecostalfamilychurch.com.au/devotion