Never Stop Praying!

A great friend of mine wrote this and sent it to me. It was so good; I just had to share 🙂

NEVER Stop Praying!!

“Fervent prayer IS a very important part of spiritual warfare. In fact, it IS the Lifeblood of those who seek to be Victorious in Jesus Christ. That’s why the evil one would like nothing better than to keep you from praying, so he sends distractions, delays, and disappointment (he is a master at these fiery darts). If for instance, you have two productive days of watchful prayer, the evil one might let you believe that you have finally mastered the discipline of prayer. Then, on the third day when you fail, he will tell you that you’re an utter failure, that you’ve completely blown it, and that there’s no use trying any further. If you miss one day in fruitful prayer, he will try to convince you that you are beyond help and hope – that you need not try again. Do NOT believe these lies!! The Good News IS, there’s a secret to overcoming this deception. As with any other area of spiritual life, if you fail, the thing to do IS begin again – Renewed and Refreshed by the Holy Spirit! There is NO permanent failure in learning to be a faithful disciple of Jesus. If you have a bad day in your prayer life – do NOT give in to the evil one’s tactics that are designed to keep you from praying. NEVER stop praying!!!”

“The enemy wants to keep you from developing a relationship with the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, which he knows will bring Joy and Peace to you. SO, by the Mercy and Grace of your Heavenly Father, you need to commit to keep on praying! Only in the process of praying, will you find the meaning of life: a Dynamic, Personal Relationship with the Creator, the Living Lord, the Babe of Bethlehem, the Savior of the cross, the Resurrection-morning Victor, the Only One who IS Life to you. A well-known Billy Graham story is about a woman who wrote that she had pleaded in prayer for ten years, for the conversion of her husband, but that he was more hardened than ever. Mr. Graham advised her to keep on praying. One day he received another letter. The husband had been gloriously saved. “Suppose she had stopped after only ten years,” said the evangelist. Then he added, “NEVER stop praying – not matter how dark and hopeless your case may seem.”

Prepare, Pray & Be Ready!

Trinity

Father, Son and Holy Spirit. The Trinity.

For many, the concept of the Trinity means many different things. However, one way to think about the Trinity is to think about God our Father, Jesus Christ His Son and the Holy Spirit as all having One Will. In other words, they all always want the same thing 🙂

Prepare, Pray & Be Ready!

God’s Judgement!

“Hear the word of the Lord, O children of Israel, for the Lord has a controversy with the inhabitants of the land. There is no faithfulness or steadfast love, and no knowledge of God in the land;”

 “there is swearing, lying, murder, stealing, and committing adultery; they break all bounds, and bloodshed follows bloodshed.”

“Therefore the land mourns,     and all who dwell in it languish,
and also the beasts of the field and the birds of the heavens, and even the fish of the sea are taken away.” – Hosea 4:1-3

We like to think about God’s Love and Mercy for us. It comforts us and gives us Hope. And well it should.

But God is also Just.

Prepare, Pray & Be Ready!

The Intercessor

Behold, the Lord’s hand is not shortened, that it cannot save; neither his ear heavy, that it cannot hear: But your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hid his face from you, that he will not hear.-Isaiah 59:1-2

Later in Chapter 59, God does save them, but God asks an important question:

“And he saw that there was no man and wondered that there was no intercessor”-Isaiah 59:16

The Intercessor between God and man is Jesus 🙂

Prepare, Pray & Be Ready!

Those Who Do Not Truly Know Me…

We have been told so many times that Jesus did not condemn anyone, He didn’t even talk about sin. But that is just not true!

Jesus talked quite a bit about sin and about the need for repentance! And about the consequences if we don’t repent! And there are consequences:

 “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. 22 On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ 23 And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’”-Mathew :21-23

There are many who claim to know and accept Jesus, but the truth is those who truly know Jesus-Follow Jesus. And isn’t that the least we can do?

Prepare, Pray & Be Ready!

Our Hope Is In God :)

“Violence shall no longer be heard in your land, Neither wasting nor destruction within your borders; But you shall call your walls Salvation,
And your gates Praise. The sun shall no longer be your light by day,
Nor for brightness shall the moon give light to you; But the Lord will be to you an everlasting light, And your God your glory.”-Isaiah 60: 18-19

We look around the world, indeed our own country, and we see violence and destruction in it daily. And it all weighs on our hearts. We can’t help but wonder just what kind of world our children will inherit.

But then we turn to the pages of God’s Word and we are reminded that our Hope is in God, not in this world. And one day, we will return home and worry no more. And our children will have that same path way open to them! 🙂

Prepare, Pray & Be Ready!

We All Sin – But God Forgives Us :)

“Now the word of the Lord came to Jonah the son of Amittai, saying, “Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and cry out against it; for their wickedness has come up before Me.” But Jonah arose to flee to Tarshish from the presence of the Lord” – Jonah 1:1-3

Jonah did his best to flee from God. He knew it was wrong, but he did it anyway. But God forgave him and Jonah went on to become the prophet he was meant to be and to help the people of Nineveh.

We all make mistakes. Sometimes we even sin just outright and on purpose; we are disobedient. But God forgives us anyway, that’s why Jesus came 🙂

We need not fear to turn back to God when we have sinned; God loves us and He is waiting for us. And God will be filled with joy when we turn back to Him 🙂

Prepare, Pray and Be Ready!

We Can Share Our Faith Right Where We Are :)

“How each of us can identify with Jonah! We have been told to “go ” also and speak to the world about the great wickedness that that has come before God. We may identify with the prophet, but God forbid that we sh0uld imitate him. He fled “from the presence of the Lord”. A fish would do better to try and flee from the presence of the ocean…God is omnipresent.”- Author Unknown

Less than two percent of believers in this country ever share their faith in Christ with others.” – Dr. Bill Bright, Founder of Campus Crusade

To “go” for God does not necessarily mean we have to go somewhere as missionaries do. We can also be a “missionary” right where we are. We can “bloom where we are planted” and we can share our faith in Jesus right where we are. Just as we can warn those around us of the “great wickedness that has come before God.” And if we haven’t done that, we can start today 🙂

Prepare, Pray and Be Ready!