Thursday, November 30, 2006

A Man's Heart Plans His Way

A MAN'S HEART PLANS HIS WAY, BUT THE LORD DIRECTS HIS STEPS. Proverbs 16.9.

Some years ago, my wife and I took the two thousand-mile drive from Seattle, USA to Jasper in Canada through the winding Rocky Mountain Parkway and back in just seven days. It was quite a challenge! As we drove along the never-ending mountainous pathway, for no apparent reason, I heard myself singing the words of the well-loved hymn by the famous blind Christian song-writer, Fanny Crosby:

“All the way my Saviour leads me—What have I to ask beside?Can I doubt his tender mercyWho through life has been my Guide?Heav'nly peace, divinest comfort,Here by faith in him to dwell—For I know, whate'er befall me,Jesus doeth all things well.All the way my Saviour leads me,Cheers each winding path I tread,Gives me grace for ev'ry trial,Feeds me with the living Bread.Though my weary steps may falter,And my soul athirst may be,Gushing from the rock before me,Lo, a spring of joy I see!”

I have a feeling that the words of this song came to my mind because I was trying to accomplish the impossible task of enjoying the wonderful scenery while trying to drive along safely on those precipitous roads! It was quite a feat and the left-hand drive which I was not used to, compounded the danger.

You and I are daily continuing on our pathway of life, full of the unknowns and the unexpected. Yes! Our hands may be on the steering but it is not we who drive! Often we think that we are in control but we are not! It is God who controls our lives through all the ‘good and bad!’

Blessed are those who have realised and acknowledged it, and go on in life singing, “All the way my Saviour leads me!” The Bible says, “A man's heart plans his way, But the LORD directs his steps” (Pro 16.9).

Pray and practise with me: Dear Lord, I thank You for it is not I who is in control of my life but YOU! You cannot and will not make a mistake! I commit my life to You! Amen.

Glorious Appearing of Jesus

LOOKING FOR THE BLESSED HOPE AND GLORIOUS APPEARING OF OUR GREAT GOD AND SAVIOUR JESUS CHRIST. Titus 2.13.

The way everyone lives today gives one the impression that we are going to be here forever! No one thinks there is an end to life even though death is staring at us all the time; nor is there an end to the world though it is never rid of troubles! If we go by what we see and hear, the last thing anyone, including Christians, is looking forward to is “the glorious return of our great God and Saviour Jesus Christ!”

The Lord had talked to the disciples specifically about His return. When He ascended into heaven, it was told again to the disciples by two angels that appeared to them. Here is the story: “When Jesus had spoken these things, while they watched, He was taken up, and a cloud received Him out of their sight. And while they looked steadfastly toward heaven as He went up, behold, two men stood by them in white apparel, who also said, "Men of Galilee, why do you stand gazing up into heaven? This same Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will so come in like manner as you saw Him go into heaven” (Acts 1.9-11).

This made the early church look forward for the ‘return of the Lord Jesus Christ’ with eager expectation.

Let me suggest to you 2 blessings that will accompany those who keep expecting the return of the LORD, which many believe today is imminent.

You will purify yourself from sin and worldliness. The apostle John wrote, “We know that when the Lord appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. Everyone who has this hope in him purifies himself, just as he is pure” (1 Jn 3.2,3). Dear friend, if you are living in sin or you are immersed in the world and have become worldly, remind yourself that ‘the Lord is coming!’ You don’t know when. But it is nearer, much nearer than in the first century. It could be any day! The thought of the Lord’s appearing will help you purify yourself and make yourself ever ready for Him! That’s what prophet Amos cautioned us long ago, “Prepare to meet your God” (Amos 4.12).

You will receive a crown of righteousness. The apostle Paul tells us, “There is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day--and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for his appearing” (2 Tim 4.8). This is absolutely fantastic! If you keep longing for the Lord’s appearing, you will receive a crown of righteousness! Do you know why? Because you will try to do what is good and upright!

Pray and practise with me: Dear Lord, I thank You for the promise of Your coming. Help me to long for and prepare myself for Your coming, doing what You have given me to do in the meanwhile. Amen.

Monday, November 27, 2006

Let Us Run With Determination

LET US RUN WITH DETERMINATION THE RACE THAT LIES BEFORE US. Hebrews 12.1,2.

The longer I minister to the Christians, the more I see that many have no proper concept of the ‘life to which God has called us in Christ Jesus!’ The people accept Christ and join the church and that is most encouraging to all ministers! When they come in, there is great jubilation and celebration! Why not! For Jesus said, “I say to you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents" (Lk 15.10). When ‘the going is good’, they stick on! Many enjoy the church and regularly attend services. Some even take part in the church activities. That’s all Christianity means to many.

The problem is that most church members don’t seem to have made any serious ‘life-long commitment to Christ and to the church!’ We labouriously bring in people through the front doors of our churches but many are walking away through our back doors unnoticed! One of the greatest tragedies of today is that when about 100,000 are reportedly added to the Church daily, we have no clue as to how many are deserting the Lord!

In my book, QUIT BEING A SUNDAY CHRISTIAN! BECOME A DISCIPLE!, I compare commitment to Christ and His Church to an ideal marriage – life-long! No desertion and no divorce! When Jesus called His disciples, beginning with Peter and Andrew and James and John, He said, “Follow Me and I will make you fishers of men” (Mt 4.19). The gospels say, “They immediately left their nets and followed Him” (v 20). At another time, Jesus said to his disciples, ‘If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me’ (Mt 16.24).

You have a choice to make, either to ‘follow Jesus’ or ‘not to follow Him!’ If anyone decides to follow Jesus, it has to be a life of self-sacrifice or denial of self and self-interests, and a life-long commitment to follow Him through sheer determination!

Dear believer, it is your decision! No one can force you to follow Christ for He Himself forced none! Once you decide, then you must follow Him day by day, with a dogged determination all your life. Don’t be like those whom I happen to meet in the market-place now and again. I ask them, “Where have you been? What happened?” They say the same thing, “Oh! Too busy!” or “I just lost interest!”

God doesn’t want such a calamity to happen to you. The Bible cautions and challenges you, “Let us run with determination the race that lies before us”. It tells you how you can do it. “Let us keep our eyes fixed on Jesus, on whom our faith depends from beginning to end”.

Pray and practise with me: Dear Lord, let me hear Your call loud and clear, “Follow me..” O! Holy Spirit, help me to follow Jesus closely, my eyes fixed on Him alone! Let not the world cause me to desert You, ever! Amen.

Friday, November 24, 2006

Amen

AMEN. Matthew 6. 13.

To conclude the prayer Jesus taught us to pray, He added the word, “AMEN”. To all the various petitions that are made to the Father in heaven, we are taught to affix “our AMEN”. Amen is a word of Hebrew origin expressing consent or strong agreement. It means “verily, certainly, so be it.”

“Our Amen is in the token of our desire and assurance to be heard. Amen refers to every petition going before, and thus, we are taught to knit up the whole in one word. “It is good to conclude our prayers with some warmth and vigour, that we may go from them with a sweet savour upon our spirits” (Mathew Henry). It was the practice of old, as we will see below, to say, Amen, audibly at the end of every prayer. It is a commendable practice, provided it is done with understanding, liveliness, and inward aspirations that correspond to our outward expression of desire and confidence.

It began with the old Testament people of God, Israel, as we see in the Psalms. After making a petition for the nation and praising God, the psalmist who wrote Psalm 106, called on the people, saying, “Let all the people say, ‘Amen! Praise the LORD”. It is probable that this word was used by the worshippers in the synagogue to signify their assent to the prayer that was offered by the priest or the rabbi. It was so continued in the early Church. Remember, the apostle Paul taught and exhorted the Corinthian believers not to indulge in the public usage of ‘the gift of tongues’ without interpretation. He said, it would only lead to confusion and lack of understanding and participation. Therefore, he said that the hearers could not say “Amen!” to their words or prayers! (1 Cor 14.16). It shows that the members were used to saying “Amen” to the prayers that were offered in their midst.

It has become the common practice of most Christians and churches to end their prayers with the word, “Amen”. Some say it in their hearts and minds. Some just whisper. Others shout it heartily, loud and clear for all to hear! It is definitely an encouragement to the one who prayed to hear and know that all were in agreement to all that he asked of God in prayer on their behalf! It would even spur those who pray to make their prayers audible and clear to all so that they too could share inwardly and audibly too and say ‘Amen’ at the end! No doubt our Father God who hears all this, would heartily enjoy our unity in hearts and exuberance in words.

Dear believer, be attentive to every prayer and join heartily in loud ‘Amen’ for God and man to hear. Wouldn’t it be wonderful that even if all may not offer prayers, that everyone could actively participate in the petition to God by joining to say “Amen” in culmination? The next time a prayer is made to God, don’t be afraid to say a loud ‘Amen’ with conviction!

Pray and practise with me: Dear Lord, be moved in mercy and grace towards our prayers and avenge us, Your elect, who cry out to You day and night. Answer speedily as we unite in hearts and minds to say ‘Amen’.

Do Not Keep On Babbling

WHEN YOU PRAY, DO NOT KEEP ON BABBLING LIKE PAGANS, FOR THEY THINK THEY WILL BE HEARD BECAUSE OF THEIR MANY WORDS. Matthew 6.7.

We should all know what to pray and how to pray! That is why Jesus taught us how to pray at the request of the disciples. We should all be praying the right way the Lord taught us and get answers from our Father. If we do not get answers, it should not be because of our wrong way or words. But if God does not answer because it is not His will, then we need to learn to submit to it.

We are learning about the second mistake that you and I may make when we pray. Let us look at how the different translators put it in our various versions so that we can grasp the general idea for our benefit. Here they are: “do not keep on babbling like pagans” NIV; “don't talk on and on as people do who don't know God” CEV; "do not use a lot of meaningless words, as the pagans do, who think that their gods will hear them because their prayers are long” GNB; “do not babble vain words, as the nations” MKJV; “do not heap up empty phrases as the Gentiles do” NRSV; “do not use vain repetitions as the heathen do. For they think that they will be heard for their many words” KJV; “do not use meaningless repetition, as the Gentiles do” NASB.

Praying to God is like going to our father and telling him what you need! Simple and straightforward! Perhaps you may add words to express the urgency. That is all! Should you babble, talk on and on, or vainly repeat the same thing in different ways? NO!! Many of the prayers of the Bible are very short and the Lord’s own prayers are the shortest!

Why then do we make a show of our vocabulary and a farce of our requests to our Father in heaven? He already knows our needs. He doesn’t need to be coaxed! He is only too willing to give good gifts to His children. Often Christians make a ‘hoo-hah!’ about simple things, taking ten to fifteen minutes just to pray for a straightforward need. Have you heard the joke about unnecessarily long prayers? Someone said, “I asked so and so to pray for my safe journey. He took so long to tell God all about the journey from start to finish that I missed the bus!”

Imagine a fellowship meeting where there are twenty people, each one with a need. If each prayer takes 10 minutes, the prayer session alone would take 200 minutes or three hours and twenty minutes! Someone has said about public prayers, ‘If anyone prays for one minute, pray with him; if he prays two minutes, pray for him; if he prays for three minutes, pray against him!’ Even if people do not pray against him, it wouldn’t be surprising if they are ‘not with him!’

The prayer that Jesus taught us to pray included worship, petitions, confession, requests and praise and has only 66 words and takes less than 60 seconds to pray! Let your public prayers be short and without frills and our private prayers ‘all night if you are serious’, like the Lord’s!

Pray and practise with me: Dear Lord, You know everything, even better than I. Teach me not to lengthen my prayers for the sake of making them long. Amen!

Wednesday, November 22, 2006

Go Into Your Room & Pray

WHEN YOU PRAY, GO INTO YOUR ROOM, AND WHEN YOU HAVE SHUT YOUR DOOR, PRAY TO YOUR FATHER WHO IS IN THE SECRET PLACE. Matthew 6.6.

We have spent about a week studying “the Lord’s Prayer’ and its implications and practice. I trust it has been of value to you and that you have begun to pray daily.

Before we leave the Lord’s prayer, let me stress on some of the important issues related to prayer which the Lord highlighted for us to take note of and act upon. They will help you and me in pursuing prayer effectively and to expect a positive response from our Father in heaven.

When the Lord began teaching His disciples ‘to pray’, He started off by saying “When you pray, go into your room, and when you have shut your door, pray to your Father who is in the secret place; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly”. You may ask, “Every time I pray, should I get into my room and shut the door and pray secretly to God?”

This reminds me of asking a brother in ‘full-time ministry’ with whom I was associated, about his prayer life. By the way, all responsible pastors and leaders should not leave things to chance as to how the believers fare in their spiritual life! This brother told me, “I am always praying!” That sounded wonderful. The Bible commands us to, “pray without ceasing or continually” (1 Thes 5.17). But on further enquiry, he told me that he has no “special time or season of prayer fellowship with God!” What a tragedy!!

It is not easy to have a ‘special time of prayer’ daily, especially today when all are busy and loaded with more things than we can accomplish in our 24 hours! BUT, when Jesus tells you to do something, ‘you better obey, whatever the cost or how difficult it may be!’ He knows what is best and necessary for you. What the Lord asks you to do, He will help you to do! ONLY YOU MUST HAVE THE WILL TO DO!

Let me suggest to you ‘3 Ds’ which will help you to obey Jesus and pray as He taught. Wait to see what wonders it will do in your life!

1. DECISION. Say to yourself now, “I WILL DO IT!”

2. DISCIPLINE. Fix a convenient PLACE AND TIME! (Gradually try to offer at least half an hour in your 24 hours for God! Mind you, one tenth of all you have is God’s. That is 2 1/2 hours a day!! Read Malachi 3.8-10).

3. DETERMINATION. Stick to your schedule and NEVER GIVE UP. Failing for one day is no reason to stop forever but to start again and again and again!

Pray and practise with me: Dear Lord, if You asked me, “when you pray, go into your room, and when you have shut your door, pray to your Father who is in the secret place”, it is because I need to do it! Forgive me for not obeying you. Help me to start doing it today and to never stop! Amen.

Monday, November 20, 2006

Don't Be Like The Hypocrites

WHEN YOU PRAY, YOU SHALL NOT BE LIKE THE HYPOCRITES. Matthew 6.5.

You may know ‘what to pray’ but be ignorant of ‘how to pray’. When Jesus taught His disciples how to pray in response to their request, it is interesting to note that He prefaced it with certain instructions as to ‘how to pray or how not to pray’. He did it because He noticed the pitfalls in prayer of the religious people.

Pay attention to what Jesus taught about prayer so that you do not make the same mistake and lose God’s answers that you desperately need! Here is the first of those instructions. “When you pray, you shall not be like the hypocrites. For they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the corners of the streets, that they may be seen by men”.

Do not fall into the trap of ‘wanting to impress your hearers by your ability to pray’! Your prayers are for God’s ears. If you are praying with others, they too need to hear to join in your request and say ‘Amen!’ You can be loud but not haughty; bold about not arrogant. Do not make the mistake of addressing our prayers to men rather than to God. Prayer is pleading to God and not a sermon to the people. Jesus warned of such prayers saying, “Assuredly, I say to you, they have their reward” - peoples’ praise but not God’s attention or answers.

Do not search for flowery words and high-flown clichés’ to impress people and hear them say, ‘it was a good prayer!’ Pray in order to please God and seek His favour for you and others. Let there be humility and no traits of arrogance and pride that would intimidate people and even God! However, everyone should learn to articulate and pray well, especially using or claiming God’s own Words and promises, as you mature in your spiritual life.

Dear child of God, read and learn some of the prayers of the saints of the Old Testament. They are simple yet sublime and full of humility and honesty before God. The prayers of the New Testament, especially that of the apostle Paul, are inspired and magnificent. There are times when we are led by the Spirit of God and we cannot but help to intercede as He helps us (Rom 8.26). That is when we may burst into ‘sublime and superlative prayers’, like the apostle Paul praying on behalf of the believers and for them (Col 1.9-14). Learn to pray ‘right’ to receive your reward!

Pray and practise with me: Dear Lord, I thank You for teaching me ‘how to pray’ and get answers from the father’ and ‘how not to pray’ and lose my reward. Amen.

Friday, November 17, 2006

Yours Is The Glory Forever

FOR YOURS IS THE GLORY FOREVER. Matthew 6.13.

Our prayers often tend to be a list of things we need! We go to God with that list as we go to the supermarket! But Jesus taught us to begin and end our prayer to our Father in heaven with praise and worship. On our own, you and I would never have been able to do it with such awesome and exalted words of worship and praise. Jesus knew this and so He taught us. See how He concluded the prayer by saying, “For yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen”.

We are to acclaim, “For Yours (God’s) is the … glory!” You and I haven’t witnessed the ‘glory of the Lord’ like His Old Testament people, Israel. It was Moses who first saw the glory of the Lord and the account goes like this: “There the angel of the LORD appeared to him in flames of fire from within a bush. Moses saw that though the bush was on fire it did not burn up. So Moses thought, “I will go over and see this strange sight--why the bush does not burn up.” When the LORD saw that he had gone over to look, God called to him from within the bush, "Moses! Moses!" And Moses said, "Here I am." "Do not come any closer," God said. "Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy ground." Then he said, "I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob." At this, Moses hid his face, because he was afraid to look at God” (Exo 3.2-6).

How I wish I could see the glory of the Lord for once! Then, I would know how distanced I am from Him because I am sinful and He is holy! When we take off ours sandals of sin and filth and stand alone on our holy ground, we will hear the Lord saying, “I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob”. What confidence it would inspire in us as we make our requests to Him.

Every time Moses and Joshua entered the tent of meeting (with the Lord) in the wilderness, we read, “Then the cloud covered the Tent of Meeting, and the glory of the LORD filled the tabernacle. Moses could not enter the Tent of Meeting because the cloud had settled upon it, and the glory of the LORD filled the tabernacle” (Exo 40.34,35).

Dear believer, if you desire to see the glory of the Lord, like Moses, you too must go to and enter ‘our Tent of meeting’ with the Lord. It’s that place Jesus described to us before He taught us the Lord’s prayer. “But you, when you pray, go into your room, and when you have shut your door, pray to your Father who is in the secret place; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly”(Mt 6.6.).

Oh! Let the reality of God make you and I hide our face like Moses before Him. By faith let us know that He is also our Father in heaven to whom we have been praying. Let us assure ourselves and declare that He is the Lord of glory and He can and will answer our prayer!

Pray and practise with me: Dear Lord, I thank You for You have promised to meet me in my secret place. Let your glory be shown to me. I thank You for your promise to reward me openly! To You be the glory forever. Amen.

Thursday, November 16, 2006

Yours Is The Power

YOURS IS THE POWER. Matthew 6.13.

Everyone likes praise. Our God delights in our praises, the Bible says. It is not that He needs our praise but He knows that it is good for us to be grateful and express it! It will keep us humble and enable us to acknowledge that we are nothing and we have nothing and all we have is from God, even our very existence. We are still with the closing doxology (praise / worship) in prayer the Lord taught us. “For Yours (God’s) is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen”. Today we will try to understand why the Lord wanted us to pray ‘For, Yours (God’s) is the…power!’

Jesus taught us the things we should ask in prayer to our Father in heaven. Some are temporal but others eternal. Some are mundane (earthly) and others spiritual. Whatever the nature of our requests or however difficult it seems to us, Jesus taught us to trust in God’s power to accomplish them. So, Jesus wanted us to conclude our requests with words that affirm our faith in our Father and in His power to answer us.

A dear friend of mine, a good young Christian, is in severe financial difficulty. He has an incapacitated child too! He has lost jobs; tried businesses without success and now is unable to meet the needs of his family. Friends have tried to help him. His church home fellowship has done their bit and given up. He is still in bad shape. I am doing my best in different ways to solve his problems. But, I don’t have the power to help him out of his situation! But it is nothing impossible with our heavenly Father. For his is the power!

Power belongs to God, the Bible says. The psalmist says, “God has spoken once, twice I have heard this: That power belongs to God” (Psalm 62. 11). King Solomon prayed, “Yours, O LORD, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the majesty and the splendor, for everything in heaven and earth is yours. Yours, O LORD, is the kingdom; you are exalted as head over all. Wealth and honor come from you; you are the ruler of all things. In your hands are strength and power to exalt and give strength to all” (1 Chr 29.11,12). In Revelation we read, “I heard what sounded like the roar of a great multitude in heaven shouting: "Hallelujah! Salvation and glory and power belong to our God” (Rev 19.1).

Dear child of God, He has all the power to answer all my prayers! And that of the whole world which is in need! Do you believe it? Then tell it to God, your Father in heaven. Jesus has encouraged you to believe that God is a far better and much greater Father to you than your earthly father who loves you and wants to do everything possible to help you out of all your troubles but does not have the power to do so! (Mt 7.11).

Pray and practise with me: Dear Lord, for You have the power to answer all my prayers. Lord, I believe, help my unbelief! In Jesus’ Name. Amen.

Wednesday, November 15, 2006

For Yours Is The Kingdom

FOR YOURS IS THE KINGDOM. MATTHEW 6.13 (MKJV)

There are about two hundred independent nations in the world today. We see more and more kingdoms of men being established on earth and their will being done in every nation. In these times, we Christians should not only pray, “Your (God’s) kingdom come’, but be asserting in our hearts, ‘Yours (God’s) is the kingdom’. If we are not careful and consistent in doing so, we will be overwhelmed by what is happening around us and in the world. We will lose our faith in God and the hope that one day soon, He will establish His kingdom on earth.

The kingdoms of the earth belong to the Lord God Almighty. But strangely, God has given authority to Satan for a time. He is setting people against God and ruining their lives through self-will and sin. The Bible calls Him, ‘the prince of this world’. Remember, once he tempted Jesus! “The devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor; and he said to him, “All these I will give you, if you will fall down and worship me.” Jesus said to him, “Away with you, Satan! For it is written, ‘Worship the Lord your God, and serve only him’ ” (Mt 4.8-10). Though the devil had the power to offer Jesus ‘the kingdoms of this world’, Jesus knew that God had the ultimate power and say. He is the only One to be worshipped, even by the Devil.

You and I are to live as citizens of the kingdom of God. To submit to the devil and to give in to his deception is to bring defeat in your life! Instead, you must keep asserting that the kingdom belongs to the Lord - “Yours is the kingdom!” Our declaration will build up our confidence in God and His authority in the world and in our lives. Then, whatever happens in the world, or even to us by the evil devices of the devil, will not shake our faith in the ultimate victory that is ours through our Sovereign Lord God Almighty.

In the book of Revelation we read - The seventh angel sounded his trumpet, and there were loud voices in heaven, which said: “The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ, and he will reign for ever and ever” (Rev 11.15).

Dear believer, even as you are assailed by the temptations and evils of the devil each day, keep affirming “Yours in the kingdom”. You will build up your confidence and trust in God and His will, and overcome evil.

Pray and practise with me: Dear Lord, I acknowledge that Yours alone is the kingdom. May You reign in me and make me do Your will. Amen.

Tuesday, November 14, 2006

Deliver Us From Evil

DELIVER US FROM EVIL. Matthew 6.13.

Once I went over to visit a Christian family who wanted counselling and prayer. They were obviously attacked by the Evil One! Describing the behaviour of their grown up son, both the parents told me that when he is in a rage, he looks and acts like a ‘devil’.

The Lord faced many situations like that during His ministry. It is no wonder He taught us to pray to the Father in heaven, “deliver us from evil”. Many new versions have it as “deliver us from ‘the Evil One’”, as it seems to convey the concept in the original. To me, both deliver me from ‘evil’ and the ‘Evil One’ are equally important. It is the ‘Evil One’ that brings ‘the evil’ on you and me. He is the ‘One’ who makes you and I do evil too!

Everyday, you and I and the whole world are inflicted by the Evil One with all kinds of evil – violence, crime, sickness, calamity, pain and even death. Whether some of them are committed by people or due to natural causes or calamities and disasters, the Bible reveals that they are all through the instigation or initiative of the Evil One. The sad story of the righteous man Job of old is proof enough of this.

Once during a flight home after a ministry trip, when I was high up in the clouds, my thoughts turned to the dramatic scene in heaven where Satan contended with God. He got God’s permission, not once but twice, to unjustly inflict Job! Suddenly I realised that through the story of Job, God was graciously opening the heavens for a little while and letting us witness things beyond our common sight and hearing. God was showing that it is not He but Satan who is the author of all evil.

For His own special reason and in His divine wisdom, God allows Satan to inflict evil on us. Nevertheless, Jesus encourages us to pray to our Father to deliver and protect us from the Evil One and all evil. My wife and I pray this prayer every day as we witness the tragedies of people around us and in the world.

Dear believer, you and I and the whole world need to be delivered from the evil that people commit and also that Satan inflicts on us. Our heavenly Father has the power to deliver us. You should pray daily so that you and others may escape from all evil and especially the Evil One, with the Father’s help.

Pray and practise with me: Dear Lord, deliver and protect me from evil. Amen.

Monday, November 13, 2006

Do Not Lead Us Into Temptation

DO NOT LEAD US INTO TEMPTATION. Matthew 6.13. (MKJV)

Notice today’s text in the New King James version. It says, “Do not lead us not into temptation”. This would give you the impression that it is God who leads you into temptation! But the Bible teaches us clearly that, “when tempted, no one should say, ‘God is tempting me’. For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he tempt anyone” (Jas 1.13).

The apostle James explains ‘how and why’ we sin? “Each one is tempted when, by his own evil desire, he is dragged away and enticed. Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death” (Jas 1.14,15).

While God doesn’t lead you into temptation, the Bible teaches that He can both ‘allow you to be tempted or keep you from being tempted!’ Look with me at today’s text in two other versions of the Bible which make these principles clear: ‘Don't allow us to be tempted. (GOD’S WORD VERSION) ‘Keep us from being tempted’ (CONTEMPORARY ENGLISH VERSION). Both are in God’s power and so we pray, “Do not lead us into temptation”.

Think of some sin that you have committed in the past. You told a lie, stole money, or committed adultery. Had circumstances been different, you wouldn’t have been tempted and committed those sins. Think of Achan not having seen ‘the tempting gold bar’ (Jos 7.21) or King David not having spotted ‘the tempting bathing beauty, Bethsehba!’ (2 Sam 11.2). Here lies the importance of praying to our Father every day, ‘Lead us not into temptation’ or ‘Don't allow us to be tempted’ or ‘Keep us from being tempted’! Don’t take this prayer lightly. Jesus wouldn’t have asked us to pray this prayer if it wasn’t for our safety. Keep praying it without ceasing and you may stay away from sin!

One other point of importance to us is: The word ‘temptation’ is translated ‘trial’ in some versions. Trials are our common experience. They may be severe at times. The Lord teaches us that we can and we need to pray to our Father in heaven to ‘keep us from trials’ or not to allow them in our lives! Surely He will deliver you from many.

Pray and practise with me: Dear Lord, I thank You for teaching me to pray daily, ‘Lead me not into temptation (and trials)’. Hear my prayer O, Father, Amen.

Give Us Our Daily Bread

GIVE US THIS DAY OUR DAILY BREAD. MATTHEW 6.11

The whole world is labouring for its daily bread. It had been so from the beginning and it will be so to the end. Only that the sweat and struggle for it are increasing day by day. Our forefathers worked for their bread during day and rested at night. But today, with the advent of artificial lights, we are now truing our nights also into day and toiling twenty-four hours to feed our stomachs and pamper our tastes for luxury. No wonder, it is taking its toll on our lives and we live shorter lives and unhealthy ones too.

The time has come for everyone, especially we Christians, to re-think the philosophy of life. Instead of following the ‘herd instinct’ of our present times we need to re-define the purpose of our lives and the reason for our labour. During the days of the Lord Jesus on earth, he noticed that everyone, the Jew and the Gentile, the believers and the pagans alike, were living hectic lives labouring for their daily needs.

Jesus cautioned His disciples and said, “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? .. So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them” (Mt 6.32,32).

Dear friend, while we all have to work for a living, we do not have to live to work day and night to feed our appetite for wealth. We must work hard and earn enough for us and to share with others in need, the Bible says. The Bible clearly teaches, “He who has been stealing must steal no longer, but must work, doing something useful with his own hands, that he may have something to share with those in need” (Eph 4.28). If you do not work, you should not eat, the apostle Paul said.

Dear believer, if you have little or no time to read your Bible and pray each day, to attend your church on Sundays, spend time with your spouse, children and friends, pursue your hobby or exercise your body, then you are too busy! It is time to say to yourself, ‘Enough is Enough’. Stop killing yourself working for money that will perish with you and start living and enjoying what you already have!

Jesus told His disciples, “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes?” He told them to set priorities in their lives and trust their father in heaven for all their needs. He said, “Seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well”( Mt 6.25, 33,34). Jesus was talking about your Father in heaven providing your daily needs.

Pray and practise with me: Dear Lord, help me to set my priorities in life right and live and work with divine wisdom, trusting in Your goodness and not in my labour. Amen.

Your Will Be Done

YOUR WILL BE DONE ON EARTH AS IT IS IN HEAVEN. MATTHEW 6.10.

You look around and what you see everywhere in the world is that people are doing whatever they ‘will’. No one is concerned whether what they do is right or wrong, good or bad for themselves or others! Do you know that all this started with the first man, Adam and his wife Eve, in the garden of Eden? God had told them clearly what was His will for them and that it was good for them. “The LORD God commanded the man, “You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it you will surely die” (Gen 2.16,17). The Lord gave them a beautiful and bountiful garden full of trees with all kinds of fruits which they could freely eat. But He did not allow them to eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil because He knew that knowledge would only destroy them!

But Adam and Eve decided to carry out their own will through the deception and encouragement of Satan. They disobeyed God’s will. It brought pain, sorrow and death for them and for all their progeny! For from that day, people began to follow their own will in defiance of God. The outcome is the destruction we are bringing on ourselves through our individual and collective pursuit of self-will and disobedience to God’s will!

But from the day man fell in sin through self-will, God has been making provision to save us from self-destruction. By the sacrifices of animals through the centuries, and ultimately the One Eternal Sacrifice on the cross by Jesus Christ God’s Son, He put away sin and death for all those who were and are willing to believe in Him and obey His will.

Dear believer, let us be honest. You who pray, “Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven” can expect it to be happen only if you increasingly allow the will of God be done in your life. The more you pursue your own ways and the less you follow after the will and ways of God, you will not see God’s kingdom come on earth as it is in heaven. But when you increasingly submit to God’s will and help others too to do it, His kingdom will advance on earth.

Remember Jesus. Not in Eden but in another garden, Gethsemane, Jesus was faced with the greatest trial and struggle of His life. There, He set us an example to follow. He prayed, “Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done” (Lk 22.42).

Dear believer, be willing to pray like Jesus everyday. With His help, begin to obey God’s will and do the things that please Him and not yourself.
Pray and practise with me: Dear Lord, forgive me for doing things my way and not according to Your will or even against Your will. Help me to want to do Your will and not mine and give me the strength to do it! Amen.

Your Kingdom Come

YOUR KINGDOM COME. MATTHEW 6.10.

I am sure you have prayed now and again, “Your kingdom come”, as I have. Let us pause for a moment and think about what we have been praying for. Are we really concerned about the kingdom of God? Do you really want and expect God’s kingdom to come? Or are you too involved with this world that you don’t have any time to care about God and His Kingdom? It may be quite natural because what you see is what you are concerned about and what affects you is what is important to you. But we, as God children and people of God, need to develop a Kingdom perspective. If not, it is meaningless to profess that you are a Christian!

Jesus came “proclaiming the good news of the kingdom of God. “The time has come," he said. "The kingdom of God is near. Repent and believe the good news!” We have repented and believed the good news. Therefore our lives are to be different from the people of this world. Our priority should be ‘the kingdom of God’ and not this world. Jesus saw that the Jews, the ‘then people of God’, were as anxious and as involved with the things of this life as the pagans who had no God. He warned them and said, “Do not worry, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?' For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own. (Mt 6.31-34).

Jesus wants us to live our ordinary lives in this world. But He wants us to be God’s kingdom-minded and involved in it. Before He ascended to the Father, He prayed, “My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one. They are not of the world, even as I am not of it. Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth. As you sent me into the world, I have sent them into the world” (Jn 17.15-17).

You might not have been mindful about the Kingdom of God because of your preoccupation with this present world. But the very reason why the Lord included, “Let Your kingdom come”, in that short model prayer, compels you to make it the priority of your daily life. Remember, Jesus as a boy of twelve told His mother Mary, “Did you not know that I must be about My Father's business?"(Lk 2.49). It is time that you take heed and do things that show you belong to God and not to this world!

Dear believer, you will never be a loser if you obey the Lord and begin to seek first the kingdom of God and start living as its citizen doing God’s will. When you do that, the promise of the Lord to you is “all the things you need in this world will be given to you” – for your Father knows what you need.

Pray and practise with me: Dear Lord, in the midst of all the hurry burry of this life, help me to be mindful of the fact that I belong to Your kingdom and that I must always be careful to do things to please You and advance Your kingdom. Amen.

Hallowed Be Your Name

OUR FATHER IN HEAVEN, HALLOWED BE YOUR NAME. MATTHEW 6.9.

Our prayers would have been so self-centred and mere mundane requests had it not been for the Lord teaching us to pray! How privileged are we because the Lord Jesus opened the windows of prayer and showed us how sublime and extended it could be, that it would reach all heaven and the earth.

Prayer is defined in the ‘dictionary’ as simply ‘asking or making a request’ - to God. But in the model prayer, the Lord taught that before we approach our Father with our pleas we should seek first, God and His glory! What a revelation! He emphasised this to the disciples further by telling them that before they seek their own earthly needs, they should “seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these (worldly) things will be given to you as well” (Mt 6.33) It is ‘the Kingdom principle’ by which you are called to live as the disciples of Jesus.

So, the Lord taught us to begin our prayers ‘by hallowing’ the Father’s Name! It is to glorify the Father’s Name. Many Christians are unfamiliar with this aspect of our faith and spiritual life. The Christian creed and catechism clearly state that the first and foremost purpose of our existence is to glorify God our maker. That should be the chief aim of your life.

Some of the important prayers of the Bible either begin or end (or sometimes both) by hallowing or glorifying or exalting God . The apostle Paul’s prayers excel in praise and glory to God the Father. “To our God and Father be glory for ever and ever. Amen” (Phil 4.20), is a frequent expression in his prayers. The prayer of the apostle Jude is a classic example for us to follow, “To him (God) who is able to keep you from falling and to present you before his glorious presence without fault and with great joy-- to the only God our Savior be glory, majesty, power and authority, through Jesus Christ our Lord, before all ages, now and forevermore! Amen. (Jude 1.24,25).

So it was in the best tradition of the saints and based on the fundamental principle of our faith and according to the passion of His own life that the Lord taught us to begin our prayers ‘glorifying our Father in heaven’. It will do well for you therefore to spend a little while praising God and glorifying His Name before you venture into your own requests. After all, when you think of it, the things that we need and what we are going to ask for are ‘nothing impossible’ to our Father, who is the Sovereign Lord God Almighty, who is the maker of heaven and earth and the sea and all that are in it!

So, dear believer, take time to sit still in the presence of your Father in heaven and let your mind concentrate and your thoughts centre on Him and His greatness and glory, and thus hallow His name. It is not through the mere mouthing of the words , “Hallowed be your name”, as a magic phrase that God is glorified but in the devotion of your heart, mind and body. Let Him be pleased with you to answer your prayers.

Pray and practise with me: Dear Lord, be pleased as I sit still in Your presence and centre my thoughts on You and offer You glory, praise and honour. Please answer my humble prayers. Amen.

Our Father IN HEAVEN

OUR FATHER IN HEAVEN. MATTHEW 6.9.

We are so privileged that the God to whom we pray, after all, is also our Father. Jesus taught us that He is in heaven. He is also our ‘Heavenly or Divine’ Father. Unlike our ‘earthly fathers’, who the Lord said are ‘evil’, the Father in heaven is ‘all together good’.

In the New Testament, the Lord Jesus repeatedly asks us to pray and assures us of answers from the Father who knows our needs. “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened. “Which of you, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!” (Mt 7.7-11).

Heaven is the dwelling place of God our Father. He is enthroned in heaven and worshipped by myriads of angelic hosts who obey His commands and minister to us. Unlike your father on earth, your heavenly Father, because He is God Almighty, knows all your needs and that of all the peoples of the earth. He has the power to meet them. Do you know that from heaven He sees you, hears your prayers and comes down to answer you? Listen to what God had to say to Moses about His response to the cry of His people who were slaves in Egypt. The LORD said, “I have indeed seen the misery of my people in Egypt. I have heard them crying out because of their slave drivers, and I am concerned about their suffering. So I have come down to rescue them from the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them up out of that land into a good and spacious land, a land flowing with milk and honey..” (Exo 3.7,8).

Though our Father in Heaven responds to our cry, sometimes, answers do not come quickly and the way we expect. It is not just our own experience but it had been so for God’s people before us. The great prophet Isaiah once cried out to God, “Oh, that you would rend the heavens and come down, that the mountains would tremble before you! …Since ancient times no one has heard, no ear has perceived, no eye has seen any God besides you, who acts on behalf of those who wait for him. You come to the help of those who gladly do right, who remember your ways” (Isa 64 1-5).

Dear believer, keep praying to your Father in heaven. For He sees all things, hears everyone, and comes down from heaven to answer your prayer! Jesus told his disciples a parable (of the widow and the unrighteous judge) to show them that they should always pray and not give up! For Jesus also said, “Will not God bring about justice for his chosen ones, who cry out to him day and night? Will he keep putting them off? I tell you, he will see that they get justice, and quickly” (Lk 18). Don’t give up! For you are praying to God who is your Heavenly Father!

Pray and practise with me: Dear Lord, You are my Father in heaven and You are my God. You know all things. You are Almighty. You are merciful and kind to hear my cry and answer me. Amen.

OUR FATHER In Heaven

OUR FATHER IN HEAVEN. Mat 6.9

A young businessman who had recently accepted Christ through a crisis, once told me that he ‘didn’t know how to pray’. He said that he was intimidated because his Christian friends could pray ‘long and fantastic prayers!’ I had to tell him to forget about his friends and learn to talk to God ‘as you would talk to your own father’. Only now, you are talking to ‘your Father in heaven!’

The disciples saw Jesus praying in a certain place. When he finished, one of his disciples said to him, "Lord, teach us to pray, just as John taught his disciples." Dear believer, no one might have taught you to pray, like they did in those days. But don’t be disheartened. You have “The Spirit who helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express.” (Rom 8.26). The Spirit also helps you to pray. He also enables you to call God, Abba Father!” (Rom 8.15).

Jesus told the disciples, “No one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal him” (Mt 11.27). He came to reveal God our Father to us. Jesus taught the disciples how to pray. He taught them to call on “their Father in heaven” and pray to Him and tell Him the things He taught them to say.

Jesus knew that prayer was the means to be in touch with God His Father. Hence, praying was important to Him. Jesus constantly prayed. He prayed early in the morning, during the day, at night, and at times, all night. It is interesting to note that often Jesus addressed His prayer to ‘the Father’, while in the Old Testament and the New Testament people called on ‘God Almighty’. What a difference! The mention of God inspires awe – fear, but addressing God as our Father endears Him to us and removes all fear. That is why even a child can pray.

How important to you is your prayer? Are you accustomed to praying to the Father regularly? Or do you call on Him only when emergencies turn up or you have some great need? You don’t wait for a crisis to go to your father to talk to him, do you? Prayer is your privilege and honour. It puts you directly in touch with your Father God in heaven - not sermons or even church attendance! I lost my dear father over fifty years ago. I lost my privilege to talk to him. But I will never have to lose touch with my Father in heaven, as long as I have breath to pray. Use the means of prayer and be in touch with your Father, as often as you can. You don’t need time and space to call on Him. But don’t neglect to find a place and the time to pray everyday.

Pray and practise with me: Dear Lord, thank You for revealing God Almighty as my Father in heaven. Thank You for making prayer as simple as making my requests to my Father. Amen.

Lord Teach Us To Pray

LORD TEACH US TO PRAY. Luke 11.1.

Once I had the wonderful privilege to witness to one of my patients! She had some ‘Christian background’ but didn’t know what it was to accept the Lord Jesus Christ as her personal Saviour. I gave her a Gideon New Testament which I carried in my pocket (that is one of the privileges of becoming a member of the Gideon International!) and showed her the ‘way of salvation’.

She was ready to accept the Lord. I asked her to pray a simple prayer. She said, “But, I don’t know how to pray?” I led her in a short and simple prayer accepting Jesus as her Saviour, following the pattern in the Gideon Bible. She was happy. I told her to keep reading the Bible and praying daily. Again she said, “But I don’t know how to pray?” She wanted me to teach her a simple prayer which she could pray daily. I did and she wrote it down in her New Testament.

Some people can pray lengthy prayers and sometimes repetitive ones too, though Jesus said that these do not impress God or get us His hearing! Jesus said, “When you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words. Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him” (Mt 6.7,8).

Once when the disciples saw Jesus praying, they asked Him, “Lord teach us to pray”. (Lk 11.1). He taught them a very simple and short prayer of ‘minimum’ words, in five small verses. He said, “Pray in this manner”. It is best known as “The Lord’s Prayer”. It doesn’t mean that we should repeat that prayer only, though it may be a good thing to do now and again because Jesus asked us to do it. In addition, many, pattern their prayers after it, or build up on those ‘basics’, adding their own thoughts and words to God in prayer.

Dear believer, take some time to read, meditate and pray that prayer the Lord taught us to pray! You could be certain that our Heavenly Father cannot but hear it and answer it! We have made it a part of our family and private prayer. The Denominational churches have the Lord’s prayer as part of their worship while many Independent churches have ‘put it aside!’, to their own loss! Don’t be a loser by neglecting what Jesus taught you to pray!

Pray and practise with me: “Our Father in heaven, Hallowed be Your name. Your kingdom come. Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our sins, as we forgive those who sin against us. And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from evil - the evil one. For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.

I Have Never Been Eloquent

O LORD, I HAVE NEVER BEEN ELOQUENT, NEITHER IN THE PAST NOR SINCE YOU HAVE SPOKEN TO ME. I AM SLOW OF SPEECH. Exodus 4.10.

Once you become a child of God, you expect Him to do wonders in your life. And He does! You become a ‘new person’ in Christ. By God’s Spirit you are able to get rid of your sinful habits and begin to lead a righteous life. However, most Christians are obsessed only with the physical and material blessings from God. You wish to become wealthy, healthy and happy forever – like in the Cinderella story! But unlike our prosperity prophets, the calling of Jesus Christ to all is, “Take up your cross daily and follow me!” You can be sure that with the cross, you will also experience its accompanying glories too!

Observe the lives of our heroes of the Bible and you will find that though life was great it never was rosy for them! Moses met God or rather God met Moses at the burning bush in the desert of Midian. He was in deep distress and so were his people. Moses was yearning for the God of his fathers and seeking deliverance from the slavery in Egypt. To a soul who seeks Him diligently, God will show up sometime, somewhere in someway!

God told Moses that He had heard the cry of His people, Israel, and seen their distress and He was going to send Moses to deliver them! God gave him miraculous powers to prove to the people of Israel and the Egyptians that it was He who sent him (Moses).

But there was a great problem. Moses was a stammerer! He complained about it and argued that he couldn’t possibly do the deliverance job for God and His people. He was saying in effect, ‘if You’re such a mighty God and You can do great miracles and You want me to do this impossible task, why is it that You cannot stop my stammering – a small impediment?’

Aren’t we asking God the same questions today? You are the great and mighty God who did all the miracles in the Bible. Why then am I suffering from all kinds of distresses and diseases and deprivations? Why can’t You do something to stop all this so that I can be free and happy to serve You? Instead of instantly healing Moses, God told him, “Now go; I will help you speak and will teach you what to say." Then the Lord offered Aaron, his brother to speak on Moses’ behalf.

I have often asked God, “Why can’t You just heal me of all ailments and keep me fit always so that I can do Your job better!” But the Lord’s way is not our way. The Lord didn’t heal Moses. But the Lord helped him to speak up to the great Pharaoh’s face, in spite of the stammering! The Lord did numerous miracles through Moses and he even parted the Red Sea! The Lord did not heal the apostle Paul of his painful sickness but sent him all over Asia and Europe as a missionary. Sometimes, it is the only way God can keep us humble and use us!

Dear believer, the Lord may be doing a similar thing with you right now! Trust in God and keep on doing what you have to do. God can achieve His purposes in you without doing the miracle that you expect! But, God often condescends to do that miracle that you ask of Him! His ways are past finding out!

Pray and practise with me: Dear Lord, You have said, ‘As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts’ (Isa 55.9). Help me to trust You and accept that Your ways are always higher and more blessed, whatever it be. Amen.

God Makes Me Eager

THE SOVEREIGN LORD HAS TAUGHT ME WHAT TO SAY, SO THAT I CAN STRENGTHEN THE WEARY. EVERY MORNING HE MAKES ME EAGER TO HEAR WHAT HE IS GOING TO TEACH ME. Isaiah 50.4. (GNB)

I go for a quiet morning walk as often as I can, which is as much for exercise as it is for listening to what God has to teach me! The Holy Spirit lets all kinds of thoughts flood my mind. My own personal experiences and that of people from the Bible come alive in my mind and I ponder over them. I begin to grasp firmer the truths contained in the Word. I grapple with the issue of applying these to my life so that my life becomes more and more aligned to God’s Word. I pray that the Word may indeed become a light to my path and a lamp to my feet.

I pray that “the Sovereign LORD may teach me what to say”, so that I can strengthen the weary; teach those who are eager to learn; give counsel to the distressed; encourage those who are faltering; sustain the ones failing; stir up all to go forward in faith and knowledge and grow in the fellowship of the Lord and the saints.

It is a matter of great concern that God’s people, the young and the old alike, do not discipline their lives and devote time to ‘spend with the Lord and His Word!’ The other night, I was conselling a fine young Christian who used to spend much time serving the Lord in various ministries, when he was freer. Now that he is busy with his family and work, he finds just enough time to read the Bible from the internet!

The pity is that many such believers are really fine Christians who love the Lord. Some may even be devoting time to serve the Lord. God may be blessing them much and they may be strictly giving their tithes. But, there is a great hidden folly in this kind of spirituality. You are not hearing God everyday and living a life of obedience as He teaches you from His Word.

Listen, what the prophet said in today’s verse about the Lord Jesus Christ, “Every morning the Lord makes me eager to hear what he is going to teach me”. The psalmist also tells about Him, “My voice You shall hear in the morning, O LORD; In the morning I will direct it to You, And I will look up” (Psalm 5.3). If our Lord needed it, how much more you need it!

Dear believer, in our day when many Christians are satisfied with superficial spirituality, you need to seek genuine spiritual reality in your life with God! It comes only through growing in grace and the knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ through the daily reading of God’s Word and prayer.
Pray and practise with me: Dear Lord, if You needed to hear God the Father every morning I need to much more! Lord, make me want to hear You each day. Help me to make time to seek You, whom I say ‘I love!’ Amen

Do Not Cast Me Off

DO NOT CAST ME OFF IN THE TIME OF OLD AGE; DO NOT FORSAKE ME WHEN MY STRENGTH FAILS. Psalm 71.9.

There is nothing more certain than old age, frailty and demise! Once I spent an hour or two with a young man, counselling and praying for him. He told me that he was turning forty and needed to work hard to provide for his old age and for his family!

In our large church, predominantly of young and middle-aged members, we met an elderly couple. The husband was 98 years old and frail. But they were full of joy for they were saved and baptised not too long ago! Thank God that both were in reasonably good health.

Old age can be a most difficult time for many, even for us, children of God. There are millions of older believers and even younger ones who are desperate in life. A great number are sick and bedridden. So many are facing all kinds of difficulties in life.

King David once prayed to His God, “You have been my hope, O Sovereign LORD, my confidence since my youth. From birth I have relied on you; you brought me forth from my mother's womb. I will ever praise you. In you, O LORD, I have taken refuge; let me never be put to shame” (vs 4,5,1).

Dear believer, King David’s prayer is a wonderful prayer to pray, not only when you are old or getting old, but even when you are young! Even though we know that God will not “cast us off in old age and forsake us when our strength fails”, still it is good to pray David’s prayer regularly, right through life.

Pray and practise with me: Dear Lord, I pray, bless me and give me strength equal to the days You have allotted for me and make me a blessing to others. Keep me and all Your people from evil so that it will not cause us pain all our life. In the Name of Jesus. Amen.

You Are My Fortress

YOU ARE MY FORTRESS, MY REFUGE IN TIMES OF TROUBLE. Psalm 59.16.

We often have torrential rains and thunder storms. Many parts of the city get flooded. There are several hours of traffic jams. Many cars on the road get submerged in muddy waters. Worse still, thousands of homes get water-logged. Often, the damages are great and the loss untold!

I have no doubt that many Christians also have suffered the same fate as others. I had been contemplating on today’s text, “for the LORD is my fortress, my refuge in times of trouble” for some days and these flood incidents complicated my perceptions and puzzled me much. I found myself asking the LORD, “Could Christians say truthfully with David, ‘the LORD is my fortress and my refuge’ when going through times of trouble?”

The circumstances in which David wrote and sang today’s psalm caught my attention. King Saul had sent men to kill him. David cried out, “Deliver me from my enemies, O God; protect me from those who rise up against me”. As he did so, he also expressed his strong and unwavering faith and confidence in the LORD.

I don’t know whether there ever was a man like David who had so much trouble in his life-time and yet continuously expressed his fullest confidence in the help and deliverance of his God. ‘David was a man after His own heart’, the Lord said. He was anointed by the LORD to be the king over His people. There were times when the LORD delivered him from his enemies and he praised the LORD. But at other times there was no help or deliverance. He still praised the LORD, often with music and singing and with shouts too!

Pray and practise with me: Dear Lord, like David, in times of trouble, rather than doubting You, I will sing of Your strength. In the morning I will sing of Your love. You are my fortress, my refuge in times of trouble. Amen.

In God I Trust

IN GOD I TRUST I WILL NOT BE AFRAID. WHAT CAN MAN DO TO ME? Psalm 56.11.

A morning newspaper reported, ‘A sixteen year old lad, bright in his studies, obtaining ‘As’ in all subjects, was found hanging in his university hostel by his friends’. The authorities suspect he committed suicide in desperation because he couldn’t get admission to pursue the course he wanted!

Often you and I succumb to our circumstances. Our experiences can be most frustrating, painful, distressing or even devastating. A good family friend, a good Christian leader who had been a help to many, suddenly died of a fatal brain hemorrhage. He left behind a wife and growing children, one of whom is severely incapacitated. Most people have complaints about discrimination and disadvantages in the schools, universities, government, jobs, business and in many other areas of life.

My son asked for advice and help to bail out a Christian friend who has no steady job and a sickly wife and 2 children because he has run into increasing debts he cannot clear or even keep up the interest payments. Another friend wept and asked for prayer because her husband suddenly lost his job and they have no other income.

You and I are ‘in distress all day long’ and ‘are afraid’, as the psalmist King David said in his psalm. What can we do? We must find answers and soon too! If not, desperation and discouragement will lead us into depression. It will make us drop out of the race and waste our lives. A few unstable ones may go mental or even commit suicide!

Dear believer, in this beautiful psalm, David tells us what we can and what we should do in times of distress and even calamity. Notice he describes his predicament ‘when the Philistines had seized him in Gath’.

David cried out to God who alone could help him. He tells how he confronted his impossible situation in life. He determined, ‘When I am afraid, I will trust in you’. He praised God for His Words of promise. In spite of the terrible present, he remembered God’s past goodness and deliverances. He vowed to God, “I will present my thank offerings to you, ‘for you have delivered me from death and my feet from stumbling, that I may walk before God in the light of life’”.

Pray and practice with me: Dear Lord, when I am afraid, I will trust in You. In You whose word I praise I trust; I will not be afraid. Nothing can harm me without Your knowledge or permission. Amen.