again on prayer

Today I've been camping out in the Psalms. This is a rich book-full of truths, praises, prayers and so much more. Over the past sevearl years, and since moving to Honduras, God has revealed to power of prayer. Not only my own prayer but the prayer of others as they share with me their prayers and the answers God gives. He always gives an answer. There is never such a thing as unanswered prayer, sorry Garth Brooks. God gives answers, not only do we see it in our lives, but it's in scripture:

I sought the LORD, and he answered me
and delivered me from all my fears. (Psalm 34:4, ESV)

So, how do we pray? Do we pray and believe that God hears us? Do we talk to Him (which is all prayer is) in the same way we talk to our best friend? He made us. He knows us even better than our best friend. He knows what we are thinking and wouldn't it be nice for Him to hear us tell Him what we are thinking? It's like this: He can hear what we are thinking, and then He can hear us say to ourselves "God doesn't care, He won't listen, He won't answer." And the enemy will continue to feed us that lie because it will keep us from communicating with our Father. So let's start expecting something more:

In the morning, O LORD, You will hear my voice;
In the morning I will order my prayer to You and eagerly watch. (Psalm 5:3, NASB---hey that rhymes)


When we pray, let's watch eagerly and expectantly. He will answer. He always answers, and from my experience, there are several different answers: yes, no, not now, not yet, in my timing, not your way but mine, or yes--because your way and my way are the same. So let's have confidence that He will answer:

I call upon you, for you will answer me, O God;
incline your ear to me; hear my words. (Psalm 17:6, ESV)

Will he answer overnight? He has. Will He wait several days? Sometimes. Will He wait several months, even if there is pain? Probably. Will He even wait as long as five, ten, fifteen, or fifty years? Yes. But HE WILL ANSWER, we just need to remember paitence, as it is a fruit of the Spirit (see Gal. 5:22).

I waited patiently for the LORD;
he inclined to me and heard my cry. (Psalm 40:1)


We cry out to Him. He hears our cry along with our praise. He answers and He waits. He teaches us patience along the way. We wait, eagerly and expecting an answer.

Praise you Father for you are good, merciful, gracious, and faithful to strengthen us and encourage us through our prayers as you answer them and teach us the reason for your answer.

3am

I am a hard sleeper. I usually sleep through most nights, without waking up. Last night was different. I've been battling this head/chest cold for over a week now. Just as I thought I was getting better, I wake up last night at 3am, with a terrible, terrible sore throat and a clogged nose. I was miserable. I took meds before going to bed, so I couldn't take anymore until I woke up. I was wide awake! I sat on the edge of my bed, holding the box of medicine, comtemplating if I should take another med and risk an overdose. I decided that would not be the best idea, so I laid back on the bed----light on, eyes WIDE open, with nothing to do.......... then I remembered some words from Ada. Once, she told me that sometimes she wakes up in the middle of the night and can't sleep. She told me that when that happens, she often prays.

So, 3am, wide awake, what else was there to do? I was too lazy to get the computer out, so I just laid there, head propped up, cause that seemed to help with the pain in the throat, I started praying, talking to Him. Then I got sleepy. I think I finally shut off the light and rolled over and fell asleep.

Since I've been sick over the past week, it's been so hard to get out of bed, but not this morning. And get this, my throat was not even sore. Ok, so I had a headache, but that's easily cured with some Alieve. Now, yes, the throat is a bit sore, but not nearly as bad as last night. I thought I was dying, ok, not really, but kinda........

Werid hu? It's kinda like God wanted me awake to talk with him for those few minutes. Ok, so God has His way in His timing, even if it's at 3am.

the church

a church is more than a mere building. the building is simply a place of meeting for the church. the church is the people. God's people. Paul says it best in

1 Corinthians 1:2 ---

"To the church of God which is at Corinth, to those who have been sanctified in Christ Jesus, saints by calling, with all who in every place call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, their Lord and ours."

as the church we are

1. sanctified by Jesus Christ
2. called saints, its our name!
3. we call on God by the name of Jesus Christ

He's your God and mine, if you believe in Jesus Christ.

let these images of "churches" represent the building itself. know that the church includes the people.

want to know more about the church that God created and a model He desires for us to follow.

check it out:

http://www.unionchurchhonduras.com/sermon_archive.htm

Because Hezekiah prayed....

Hey check it out! Does God hear our prayer and change His mind? Sure. Is He surprised that He changes His mind? Nope.

Um, so I was taken back at first thought of God changing His mind. He's God right? He's not suppose to change His mind. He's God, He should know ahead of time and not have to change His mind. The thing is, He knows that He will change His mind, hum, thought provoking. Ok so turns out that I am the one confused, not God!

The reason we see that we can stand on the truth and know that God does change his mind when we pray is because He tells us that He does: more than once He tells us. For example Hezekiah. We see it told in Isaiah 38.

God sent Isaiah to Hezekiah to tell him "Set your house in order, for you shall die and not live." Ok, see it, God tells him HE WILL NOT LIVE, BUT DIE. So, just incase Hezekiah was confused, God was sure to tell him twice: you will NOT live, you WILL die!

What does Hezekiah do? He didn't wait, not one second, but quickly turned to pray:

Then Hezekiah turned his face to the wall and prayed to the LORD, and said, "Remember now, O LORD, I beseech You, how I have walked before You in truth and with a whole heart, and have done what is good in Your sight " And Hezekiah wept bitterly.

Then God tells Isaiah to go BACK to Hezekiah and tell him His message: (side note: I wonder what Isaiah was feeling?)

God tells Hezekiah through Isaiah: "I have heard your prayer, I have seen your tears; behold, I will add fifteen years to your life."

AHHHH!! Look, yes, this good stuff in right in your Bible! God adds 15 years to his life! Not a few days, not 5 years, even more than 10..... 15!!!!!

So, how then, will we pray?