Category: Prayer

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Psalms 146:5

“Blessed are those whose help is the God of Jacob, whose hope is in the Lord their God.” Psalms 146:5 NIV

The psalmist in this verse is encouraging everyone who reads this verse or hears it to put their trust and hope in God. We often put our hope in other people, whether they are people we know or people we look up to. The challenge with this is that they are people, human and as people and humans we are not perfect. We let others down, others let us down. By placing our hope in others and not God, we are setting ourselves up to be disappointed, hurt and discouraged.

When we place our hope in God, we are placing it with the only perfect being. We could argue that even when we place our hope in God, we can be disappointed or discouraged. However, if we are willing to look at what is going on, what we are disappointed or discouraged about, we usually find that our disappointment or discouragement is occurring because we wanted a certain outcome and we didn’t get what we wanted.

Since God is perfect, not us, He knows what we need and what is the perfect outcome for each one of us. The result we are looking for may not be the best result for us and since God knows that, He gives us what we need, what is best for us. Those who place their lives, their decisions, their hopes in God are blessed and they will tell you they are blessed, if asked.

Where do you place your hope, who do you want help from, others or God?

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Light of the world

“When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” John 8:12 NIV

When we first look at this verse, many people focus on the ‘light of the world’ part of it. I want to focus on the ‘I am’ part of the verse to begin with. When God was speaking to Moses on the mountain at the burning bush, He told him to tell the Israelites that I AM sent him. That’s because I AM was the explanation of Who God was and still is. God is and has just always been. Jesus is using I AM in the same way here, He is and has always been.

When He added ‘the light of the world’, He was conveying that He was the way to salvation. The Jewish people considered light to be goodness, intellect and salvation. He is in essence saying ‘I am and have always been and I am the salvation you need.’

For the Gentiles that may not have had the idea of goodness connected to light, it is important to acknowledge that when Jesus spoke these sentences into existence, it was during a festival. Festivals, back then and even today, are known for the different lights that are present throughout them. Most people like going to festivals at night because the lights create a welcoming environment. There were not as many different styles of lights in Jesus’s time as there are now, but still the idea of light is welcoming. You can see everything that is lit, there are no surprises because you know what is in front of you.

When the Israelites were in the desert, God provided a pillar of fire to lead them during the night as they were walking. Jesus wants everyone to know that as ‘the Light of the world’, He illuminates everything and is the One we should follow. He is telling us that He is not just any light but the light.

Jesus illuminates the darkness that is present everywhere in our world. By following Jesus we will not walk in darkness any longer. If we choose to step away from Jesus we will return to the darkness, but as long as we choose to follow Him, remain close to Him, we will walk in light.

The question then is, do you choose light or darkness, Jesus or the world?

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Light has dawned

“The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of deep darkness a light has dawned.” Isaiah 9:2 NIV

Isaiah is talking about the Messiah, Jesus Christ. Even though he wrote this centuries before Jesus came to earth, Isaiah was telling the Israelites that a wonderful Light was coming. A light that was going to shine in the darkness, even the darkness where light has not been for a long time. There is nowhere that this light cannot shine.

It will be up to the people walking in darkness then to decide if they are going to choose to follow the light or remain in darkness. From the teachings that are provided throughout the New Testament, it is evident that not everyone chooses to follow the light when they see it. The important question for each one of us today, knowing that the Light has dawned, is have you chosen to follow the Light or to continue to walk in darkness?

Only you can answer that for yourself, and when you do, remember to be honest with yourself. No one else on earth may know what is in your heart but God knows. He wants you to choose the Light, but He won’t drag you to Himself kicking and screaming, it has to be a voluntary choice to have a relationship with Him.

The Light has dawned, which do you choose……Light or darkness?

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First or last?

“So the last will be first, and the first will be last.” Matthew 20:16 NIV

This is a very vague statement that is made by Jesus when He tells the parable of the workers in the vineyard. This is the last verse for that parable. There are several interpretations of this statement. All of these interpretations have one thing in common and that is that they are all based on the individuals Jesus is talking about having accepted Jesus as their Lord and Savior.

Some people believe that the statement is meant to let everyone know that regardless of what we, as humans, have decided is worthy of reward, that in the end it is up to God and His grace. He will decide who gets what rewards, and who gets those rewards first and who gets them last. Those who we believe are the least deserving of rewards in the kingdom of heaven, may actually be first to receive God’s grace because God chooses to give it to them first. Others who we believe are the most deserving of rewards may be last to receive them. It is all God’s decision.

Other people believe that Jesus is telling those who are poor, by the world’s standards, that they will be rich in heaven and those who are rich, by the world’s standards, that they will have less riches in heaven.

The third interpretation that some people believe is that Jesus is telling the Israelites that even though they were the first to be included in God’s family, they were among the last to come to faith through Jesus. Gentiles believed in Christ as the Messiah before the Israelites came to believe in Jesus and who He was.

It is all up to interpretation and could mean all three of them. Only Jesus knows what He meant when He said it. No matter what it means, the only way we enter heaven is through believing in Jesus, accepting His gift of salvation and declaring Him to be our Lord and Savior.

So have you done that?

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Seek First

“But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.” Matthew 6:33 NIV

As with a lot of the direction and guidance given by Jesus, this verse is misunderstood and misquoted a lot of the time. There are people who use this verse to say that God will provide any materialistic thing you ask for if you seek Him first. That is not what this verse means at all.

Even though the meaning of “these things” in this verse is our basic needs such as food and clothing. Jesus has taught His disciples and believers that we are not to live with our minds filled with worry about how we will make sure we have food and clothing but instead He tells us to trust God the Father. By looking at the beginning of the verse, we need to realize that seeking God’s kingdom and righteousness first, is what our minds should be focused on.

When we use our time to explore God’s word, ask for His will to be done in our lives, trust that He is in charge and wants what is best for us, we come to realize how much God values us. This should be our priority, making sure that we are open to hearing what God wants us to do to fulfill His will and then being obedient to the call to do our part. By making this our priority, we are not just adding it to our list of priorities for the day or week or month, but we are to live with this priority of seeking God as our main priority.

The idea of seeking God’s kingdom and His righteousness means deciding to live in a state of continual repentance because of our sin. This can lead us to live a life that is devoted to God. Seeking God’s kingdom and His righteousness is making sure our heart is in the right state. One that is devoted to God, that wants what God wants for us. God will make sure that we have what we need to fulfill His will as long as we are sincerely seeking to do His will for our lives. Our motives matter.

Take time today to examine why you ask God for the things you ask God for. Are they things that will fulfil His will or your will?

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Have you asked?

“Until now you have not asked for anything in my name. Ask and you will receive, and your joy will be complete.” John 16:24 NIV

This verse is part of the conversation Jesus was having with His disciples on the night He was arrested. Jesus had had many conversations with them but this one is the first time, according to my research, that Jesus told them to pray ‘in’ His name. By doing this He is giving them the knowledge that He is the mediator between them and God, that His will can be done because He has the authority to make things happen.

When we practice asking ‘in’ Jesus’s name, we are acknowledging that we are unable to do anything without Jesus. Once we accept this it becomes easier to realize that we need Him for everything. Jesus is the mediator between us and God. He is the only one who can go to God on our behalf and we definitely need someone to go to God on our behalf because of our sinful nature.

The last part of this verse says ‘Ask and you will receive’. I want to emphasis that it is not telling us that whatever we pray for we are going to receive. That is not what this verse says because that is not how it works. We need to understand that praying ‘in’ Jesus’s name is different than praying and simply using Jesus’s name at the end of the prayer. When we pray ‘in’ Jesus’s name, we are to be doing it in unison with God’s will. If we are not in union with God’s will then we should not expect to receive what we are asking for. We need to remember that God knows better than we do what we need. After all, He is God!

When we accept that we can do nothing, that we have the One who can do everything on our side, we can give it all to Him. He was willing to the cross for us, He is willing to be our mediator and give us what we ask for as long as when we do it in His name we are doing it in unison with God’s Will.

Are you asking for things simply using Jesus’s name at the end of your prayer or are you seeking God’s Will and asking for things ‘in’ His name?

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Be on guard

“Be on your guard; stand firm in the faith; be courageous; be strong. Do everything in love.” 1 Corinthians 16:13-14 NIV

In 1 Corinthians 16:13-14 Paul has a lot to say. He is encouraging the believers in Corinth on several fronts and that areas he is encouraging them about rely on each other. First he is telling them to be on guard, to be watching around them, knowing what is going on in their community, church and family. Sometimes people like to overlook things so that they don’t have to admit them or address them. Paul is telling the church in Corinth and I believe us as well since we are followers of Christ too, to be alert to our surroundings. The believers in Corinth were going against their culture and customs in some areas and knowing what was happening around them enabled them to not return to those ways using the reasoning of ‘not knowing what was going on’.

The second thing is to stand firm in our faith. This means to not give up. The believers in Corinth were very new to the faith and this way of living. Paul was encouraging them to not lose heart but to remember that Christ was there for them, that their faith was worth dealing with hard times. There are going to be times when things get hard for us as well, and we should expect that because being a follower of Jesus does not give us a guarantee of a life without problems. Actually, it sometimes initiates some problems because not everyone else is a follower of Jesus. No matter what, we are to stand firm in our faith, don’t let life’s problems or hard times, shake our faith that Jesus Christ is our Lord and Savior. He didn’t let hard times stop Him from standing in His faith that His father in heaven was with Him.

The third thing is to be courageous. As I said, these areas go together, and being courageous is made stronger by remaining firm in our faith, knowing Who we have on our side. In addition to making hard choices in life, being courageous or brave can also mean keeping our word or promises. When we follow through with what we have said we would do or not do in the face of adversary, we are being brave and courageous. This is especially challenging for new believers, which is what the believers in Corinth were dealing with. It is hard because not everyone around them believed what they did and challenged them, probably daily. We go through this same challenge as we begin to develop our walk with God and become courageous.

The fourth is to be strong. Strong, as Paul is talking about here, is not just physical strength, it is also emotional strength. The male population of Paul’s time were not very good at acknowledging emotional needs or strengths. They were better at exercising self-control than admitting that they couldn’t do something. So for us, when we recognize that we can admit when we are wrong, that we can exercise self-control, we are showing that we are being emotionally strong. Again, this can be built on knowing what is happening around us, being willing to remain in our faith and being courageous. By building those areas up in our lives, we are able to admit a weakness and it not destroy us as a person.

The fifth is to do everything in love. Paul writes in a later chapter of this book, that love is the greatest of 3 things, hope, faith and love. Love truly ties everything together. He was letting them know and letting us know that without love that our awareness of what is happening around us is dulled, our ability to stand firm in our faith is weakened, our willingness to be courageous is challenged and our committed to Christ, overall, is not strong.

Paul is reminding all of us that love is the greatest weapon against evil, against our enemy. Without love we are not as powerful as believers in Christ as we can be. Let’s not let our enemy have any kind of upper hand in our lives. Let’s practice and build, each and every one of these areas, each and every day of our lives so that our enemy has no foothold on us.

Heavenly Father, thank You for being our Lord and Savior. Thank You for always giving us what we need to be able to do Your Will, and be the warriors of our faith that You know we are capable of being. Because of You, Lord, we are able stand strong in our faith and show our enemy everyday that we are Your children. Please be with us as we continue to walk out our faith, growing stronger each day. In Your Son’s most precious name, Amen.

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Ever present help

“God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea, though its waters roar and foam and the mountains quake with their surging” Psalms 46:1-3

As we begin this new year, I encourage you to keep this idea in the front of your mind……God is always with you, God is your refuge, God will give you the strength to go through anything that He is asking you to go through. As we look at these 3 verses, it is evident who the sons of Korah, who wrote this psalm, were focused on. God is who they were looking to in this time when their nation was facing mounting challenges. This wasn’t written when everything was going great and they were happy with what was happening in their lives, no, it was during struggles.

Just like the writers of this psalm, we can look to God to be with us not only during times of prosperity but also during times of struggle. God is always with us, His children, and we only have to reach out our hand to know that He is there. The challenge is that we move away from Him or don’t remember to reach for Him when we should. I encourage each one of us to be as close to God as we can get. No matter what you or I face this year, I pray that we keep God as close as possible. Remember, God loves each and every one of His children and wants to be there for us, if we let Him.

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Where is your hope?

“Blessed are those whose help is the God of Jacob, whose hope is in the Lord their God.” Psalm 146:5 NIV

Verses 3 and 4 in this chapter are filled with warnings about placing hope and trust in anyone other than God. We are not perfect, we all have sinned, we all break promises at some point in our lives and we all are bound to make mistakes, but God does not. God doesn’t break promises or make mistakes for He is perfect.

The author of this psalm is warning in the verses 3 and 4 about this but then is able to turn this psalm from a psalm of sadness or negativity into one of hope and assurance. Blessed are those whose help is in God. Blessed, not cursed. This is wonderful.

The word ‘blessed’ in the Bible means to find favor with God and to have inner peace. This peace is a peace that no one else can offer or anything else can produce, it only comes from God. When we place our hope and source of help in God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit, we are placing it in the only place that is guaranteed.

When we look to God for our help and place our hope there as well, we are favored by God because He wants us to come to Him for help. He wants us to place our hope in Him because He is our creator and wants to be close to us. He will not force Himself on us because being loved by us when we have no choice is not truly being loved. Love comes as a freewill choice of the person giving it. God made it that way so when we choose to love Him, it would be because we want to love Him not because we have to love Him.

Where do you place your hope?

Where do you go for help?

I pray both of your answers are…God, but if they are not then I invite you to change where you place your hope and where you go for help. I invite you to choose to place your hope in the One True God. Lord over everything, in heaven and on earth, our Creator. Ask God to be your Lord and Savior, accept Him into your heart. Know that the place you can go to for help is the only true place where you are guaranteed to be heard. God hears you and wants you to willingly come to Him for help. God wants to help His children.

Where do you want to place your hope?

Where do you want to go to for help?

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Our lifeline

“Then you will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.” Jeremiah 29:12-13 NIV

The prophet Jeremiah was completed his book during the time that the Israelites were in captivity in Babylon. They were in a foreign land and could not perform their religious ceremonies. Yet God was talking to them through Jeremiah and wanted them to know that when they call on Him, come to Him and pray to Him, that He will listen.

At that moment, the ceremonies and rituals didn’t matter. Their desire to be connected to Him is what mattered, so He was willing to listen to them if they sought Him, came to Him and prayed to Him. Their commitment to wanting to be connected was important in this relationship.

As we celebrate Christmas and remember the first arrival of Jesus to earth, we are not bound by religious ceremonies or rituals either when it comes to seeking God, going to God and praying to God. We can be connected to God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit when we genuinely seek God.

God knows our hearts and when we place value on our relationship with God, going to Him, He will listen. I am not saying that having traditions is a bad thing, it is a great way, but don’t let the idea of not being able to complete a tradition, ritual or ceremony get in the way of connecting with God. This is the time of year when we are to remember that Jesus left His heavenly kingdom and came down to us as a helpless babe who would grow up to save the world.

Remain connected to Jesus, He is our lifeline.