- Where should God be praise? Everywhere
- Why should we praise God? for Everything
- How should we praise Him? in Everyway
- Who should praise Him? Everyone
Sunday, 3 December 2023
Let There Be Praise
Sunday, 10 September 2023
Day By Day
Sunday, 3 September 2023
Praying In The Spirit
Weakness and inadequacy in the art of prayer are not surprising to God. He never intended that prayer should be left to our own unaided faculties. So He gave the Holy Spirit to instruct, inspire, and illumine our hearts and minds. Unaided by Him, we would be likely to pray for things not only contrary to God’s will but injurious to ourselves.' (Ref 1)
We all do struggle with praying as noted by Andrew Murray. Don Moen also experienced the distance from God as he struggled to find the inspiration to write songs. He said that in that struggle, God led him to write this song 'I will Sing, I will Pray'
Ref 1: J Oswald Sanders Praying in the Spirit 2004https://www.cslewisinstitute.org/resources/praying-in-the-spirit/
Sunday, 26 March 2023
Somebody's Praying For Me
'I urge, then, first of all, that petitions, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for all people.... that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness.' 1 Timothy 2:1-2
Lionel
Sunday, 26 February 2023
Facing God
Facing God |
- Plea for God's mercy, be humble enough to plea for God's help.
- Recollect God's goodness
'Lord, I have heard to your fame; I stand in awe of your deeds, Lord. Repeat them in our day, in our time make them known; in wrath remember mercy.' Habakkuk 3:1-2
'But in my distress I cried out to the Lord; yes, I prayed to my God for help. He heard me from His sanctuary, my cry to Him reached His ears.' Psalm 18:6
- Proclaim God's greatness
- Recollect God's glory, what He has done in your life.
'His glory covered the heavens and His praise filled the earth. His splendor was like the sunrise. He stood and shook the earth; He looked and made the nations tremble.' Habakkuk 3:3a,4 and 6a
- Pledge to God's praise
- Recollect God's provision
'Yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will be joyful in God my saviour. The sovereign Lord is my strength; He makes my feet like the feet of a deer, He enables me to tread on the heights.' Habakkuk 3:18-19
In the face of God, a penitent Habakkuk accepted that the will of God will prevail,
'Though the fig-tree does not bud and there are no grapes on the vines, though the olive crop fails and the fields produce no food, though there are no sheep in the sheepfold and no cattle in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will be joyful in God my Saviour.' Habakkuk 3:17-18
shall humble themselves,
shall humble themselves
and pray.
If My people
which are called by My name
shall seek My face
and turn from their wicked ways
Then will I hear from heaven
then will I hear from heaven,
Then will I hear
and will forgive
forgive their sin.
If My people
which are called by My name
shall humble themselves,
shall humble themselves
and pray.
I will forgive their sin,
I will forgive their sin,
I will forgive their sin,
and heal their land.
Lionel
Sunday, 18 December 2022
God Answers Prayers
'I prayed to the Lord and he answered me. He freed me from all my fears. Those who look to Him for help will be radiant with joy; no shadow of shame will darken their faces.' Psalm 34:4-5 (NLT)
Sunday, 3 April 2022
The Inner Room
The Dolomites - Falzarego Pass |
'But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to the Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.' Matthew 6:6
- Not to grandstand.
- Not to make a spectacle of our prayer
- Not to let our prayers become long speeches
- Pray quietly
- Pray in secret
- Pray as a conversation with God
Behold us, Lord, a little space
From daily tasks set free,
And met within Thy holy place
To rest awhile with Thee.
Around us rolls the ceaseless tide
Of business, toil, and care;
And scarcely can we turn aside
For one brief hour of prayer.
The Inner Room does not have to be a space, it can just as well be the inner self. It is more the our attitude during prayer that Jesus emphasised as illustrated by this parable in Luke 18:10-14
Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee stood by himself and prayed, "God, I thank you that I am not like other people - robbers, evildoers, adulterers - or even like this collector. I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get."
But the tax collector stood at a distance. He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, "God, have mercy on me, a sinner."
Jesus said
"I tell you that this man rather than the other, went home justified before God. For all those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted."
Inner room prayers can be silent prayers or contemplative prayers. Jesus instructed that instead of making a show of it, this quiet time is where we begin to experience the transformation power of God.