Grace Quilt Pt2

Robyn Small is a master quilter and Bible Studier, and today she has combined her skills into one of her beautiful quilt chats.  You can find part one of this study here.

One day my Dad read 1 Corinthians 15: 10 "But by the GRACE of God I am what I am." And as he read that verse Dad had this sudden awesome understanding that he could not take credit for anything good that was in his life. The whole thing was a gift of God's GRACE. That revelation really changed Dad as he realized that there was nothing in his life which he could look back on and say, “I achieved this because of my great intellect or hard work or cleverness.  Every good thing in my life has been a result of God’s grace.”

From then on, so often his eyes would fill up with tears and his face would go all soft and radiant, and he would say, "Oh, the GRACE of God." Now I know my Dad. He was always a godly man of great wisdom, and with a real heart for God.  But that revelation of GRACE softened him somehow.   

That does not mean we sit back and bask in that grace.  The rest of that verse goes on…

“And His GRACE to me was not without effect. No, I worked harder than all of them - yet not I, but the GRACE of God that was with me."

 Hard work is still needed, but our work will be fruitful, which is why this lady is climbing the mountain.  We don’t treat God’s grace casually. 

The gift of our salvation was total grace.  But that does not mean that we can then sit until heaven and expect a front row seat. 

Jesus said that if we become apathetic and lose our first love for Him, then He will spit us out of His mouth. (Rev 3:16)

A few years ago I was speaking to a young man who had been through Chrysalis and been really touched by God.  He even went back to be part of the team on another Chrysalis Flight. 

He was laughing as he told me that he has certain posters on his bedroom wall that he takes down if he knows a Christian friend is coming to visit, and he puts them back up when the Christian is gone.

That troubled me, grace is not cheap, we mustn’t take it casually, Jesus paid a deep price for it. 

In the book of James there is a description of a person who tries to live for God in one area of his life and himself in all the others.

 He is called ‘double minded’.  In James 1:8 it says,  ‘a person like that must not think that he will receive anything from God’, 

Jesus told enough parables about people who expected to get into heaven but were instead, thrown out into outer darkness, to give us a strong warning that we need to take our salvation seriously.

Some of the parables Jesus told about who would not make it into His kingdom are very alarming.

Matthew 22:12 there is the man who wore the wrong garments to the wedding feast. 

Matthew 25 has some scary stories:

V10 five virgins missed out on heaven, not because they were evil, but because they were foolish and did not plan ahead.

V30 The lazy servant was called wicked and went to hell because he didn’t have enough gumption to get out and work with what he had.

V46.  People went to hell because they were indifferent to the people around them.  Didn’t visit, didn’t care.

Mark 11:26, Matthew 6:14

God has said that if we don’t forgive people who sin against us, then He won’t forgive our sins!  That is a pretty serious warning.

But there is GRACE to overcome our own evil tendencies. James 4:6  - “But He gives us more and more grace (power of the Holy Spirit, to meet this evil tendency and all others fully). That is why He says, God sets Himself against the proud and haughty, but continually gives grace to those who are humble-minded enough to receive it.”

James has just finished describing the evil tendencies that are still a part of our nature: Fights and quarrels, anger, envy, selfishness, friendship with the world and hatred towards God. Even in Christians! 

God wants to help us meet every evil tendency that is in us.

He wants to give us the grace to overcome our wrong motives and intentions, if we will be humble enough to ask for it and receive it rather than trying to handle everything ourselves by our own power and in our own way. 

Most of the letters that Paul and Peter wrote to the early church begin and end with a prayer that the people they are writing to will have more and more GRACE in their lives.

Because you can miss the GRACE of God. 

GRACE is a precious commodity, not to be taken lightly, but to be treasured and respected.

It is not cheap.  God is not a sweet loveable old sugar daddy who we can smooch into giving us whatever we want.

Hebrews 12:14f tells us to make every effort to live in peace with each other and to be holy. It says, "see to it that no one misses the GRACE of God and that no bitter root grows up to cause trouble and defile many."

And it goes on to speak against sexual immorality and of treating God lightly. 

What we do with our sexuality, how we treat each other, and our attitude towards the things of God, all have potential to cause us to miss out on the GRACE of God.

And in v 17 it speaks of Esau who was unable to get back into God's blessing, even though he sought with tears. Serious stuff to miss the GRACE of God. 

Galatians 2:21 tells us to not set aside the GRACE of God. The Amplified Bible says, "I do not treat God's gracious gift as something of minor importance and defeat its very purpose. I do not set aside and invalidate and frustrate the GRACE of God.' 

2 Cor 6:1 (Amp) says, “We plead with you not to receive the GRACE of God in vain - that merciful kindness by which God exerts His holy influence on souls and turns them to Christ, keeping and strengthening them, do not receive it to no purpose.”

But, if we have been going through a time of operating outside the grace of God, then there is a place where we can get that sorted out.  The directions are given in Hebrews 4:16. 

“Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.”

The throne of grace is where we receive His mercy, His forgiveness, His blessing, His wisdom, His instructions.

Ephesians 4:29 - our words build GRACE into others. "Let no corrupt word proceed out of your mouth, but what is good for necessary edification that it may impart GRACE to the hearer." 

2 Peter 3:18 - "But grow in the GRACE and knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ."

Hebrews 13:9 - "....for it is good that our hearts be established (strengthened) by GRACE”. 

And, may the GRACE of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit, be with us all.  Amen.

Grace Quilt Pt 1

Robyn Small is one gifted writer and quilter who combines her

skills to present in depth Bible Studies sewn into quilts.

Her quilt chats are full of Scripture and inspiring testimonies to encourage your faith journey.

She co-pastors a church in Toowoomba, QLD with her husband Alan.

Years ago, Alan and I used to help out in a Christian bookshop, and there was one book on the shelves that I often took down and flipped through because it had such a catchy title. "Grace is Not a Blue-eyed Blonde.” 

But I could never get interested enough to actually read that book.

I like books with lots of stories, and this one was just about this nebulous, theological quality called GRACE. I really wasn't interested in learning about something so dull, I liked stories about people.  So I never read that book, though the title always stayed in my mind.

But then, about ten years before he died, my Dad had a revelation about GRACE, which changed his life. Dad had always loved the Lord and been a strong man of faith but this revelation of grace just softened his heart. From then on you couldn’t be in his company more than ten minutes and he would say ‘It’s the grace of God, it’s the grace of God’. Seeing the change in him caused me to start to investigate this subject.

So when he died I went through the Bible and wrote out in longhand every single scripture about grace.  I asked God to show me about his grace. The revelation I’ve received is different to  the one Dad received but it still blessed my heart. 

So what is this GRACE?

Grace is who God is. 

It is the unearned, undeserved favour and blessing of God so that when God looks at us He is not looking in anger or annoyance, but He’s looking with a heart attitude of how He can help us and bless us.  That’s His heart.

 It is God’s nature.  The Bible describes Him as "the God of all GRACE". (1 Peter 5:10)

 Thirty times in the Old Testament God is referred to as ‘gracious’.

That means He has an attitude of compassion, generosity, good will and kindness towards us. 

 In His own description of Himself to Moses, (Exodus 34:6) God said,

"I am The Lord, the Lord, the compassionate and GRACIOUS God, slow to anger and abounding in love.”

 Just one example of that is when we read in Isaiah 30 of a time when God's chosen people had turned their backs on Him. They were rebellious and obstinate and refused to seek God for direction. They were in a bad way with an enemy approaching and instead of turning to God, they went to Egypt for help.  

So God spelt out the disaster they would suffer as a consequence. But in verse 18 we read, "The Lord earnestly waits, expecting, looking, and longing to be gracious to you, and therefore He lifts Himself up, that He may have mercy on you and show loving kindness to you…"  Amplified. 

Remember, this was spoken to people who were rebellious and deceitful and unwilling to listen to God. God's response to them was still the offer of GRACE. 

God’s attitude to us is the same.  He likes us! He wants to see us get it right! He longs to be asked to help.  He longs for opportunities to be gracious to us.

Salvation is total grace.

“It is by grace we have been saved, not by works. It is the gift of God.” Ephesians 2:8

If it were not for the grace of God we would all be trapped in the hopelessness and darkness and depravity of Satan’s kingdom, without any way of life ever being any different. 

But - It was totally the GRACE of God, before we ever gave Him a thought, that pursued us, guided us, protected us, and wooed us into a relationship with Him.

Last night I was thinking of the story of John Newton, the man who wrote Amazing Grace and that man was a horrible man, he was sent to sea as a little boy after his mother died and so he grew up in a rough atmosphere.   He rose up through the ranks, and was so mean and nasty, that one day the captain of the ship couldn’t stand him anymore and left him on an island, with the native people.   On this island, he was still so mean and nasty that the natives got sick of him and chained him to a tree and treated him like an animal and he was there for years. 

Back in England his father heard what had happened to him and sent a ship to rescue him, and he was still a mean nasty person.  Then this ship got into a storm and he was washed overboard, he feared for his life and cried out to God and was a changed person.

Ephesians 1:4 (GNB)"Because of His love, God had already decided that through Jesus Christ He would make us His children- this was His pleasure and purpose. Let us praise God for His glorious GRACE, for the free gift He gave us in His dear Son! For by the blood of Christ we are set free, that is, our sins are forgiven. How great is the GRACE of God which He lavished on us in great measure." 

We can’t take credit for our own salvation, it’s all the grace of God. 

Romans 8

For what the law of Moses could not do because of the weakness of our sinful nature, God did by sending His son in a body, just like the body we sinners have, and in that body He declared an end to sin over us by giving His Son as a sacrifice for our sins.  He did this so that the just requirements of the law could be satisfied in those who no longer follow their sinful nature but follow the spirit instead.

BLOCK 3.  

We now live in a time that has been called the Age of GRACE.

 In the Old Testament in was all law.  There were all these laws that the people had to follow to be right with God.   If you did something wrong you had to sacrifice, this and if you did that wrong, you sacrificed this.  There were even sacrifices you did for things you didn’t realise were wrong.

Most of the 38 references to grace in the Old Testament are about people finding grace in the eyes of the Lord, or of another person.

 The New Testament speaks of grace 128 times, but it doesn't mention that phrase. 

Its first mention of grace is to say that “Jesus was filled with wisdom and the GRACE of God was upon Him”. (Luke 2:40)

 And,  "From the fullness of His grace we have all received one blessing after another. For the Law was given through Moses, but GRACE and truth came through Jesus Christ.”  (John 1:16)

THE REASON?

It is a really interesting reason.

The GRACE of God is not just to bless us.

It is to bless God.

And it is to honour GRACE.

God wants His grace to be recognised as precious.

It is a gift to be treasured, not treated lightly.

There is no such thing as cheap grace.

To be gracious to us cost God a high price.

At the end of the age God wants to put us, and all the church, on display to show off the richness and the wonder of that GRACE. 

 Ephesians 2:6 “And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with Him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, in order that in the coming ages He might show the incomparable riches of His GRACE expressed in His kindness to us in Christ Jesus.” 

 I wondered who He would want to show us off to?   God treasures His grace and is proud of it. 

The answer is found in Ephesians 3: 10. It is to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly realms.

 These are the same heavenly realms that we do spiritual warfare against - Eph 6:12.

The same ones over whom Jesus has been given a higher name - Eph 1:20. 

God is going to show off to the heavenly realms the wonders of His GRACE, and He will do it through us, and our response to that GRACE. 

God honours His grace.  He treasures it!

GRACE is God's power for us to get the job done, to do whatever He has called you to do.  We receive it and wrap it around us like a cloak 

Ephesians 2:10 “For we are God's workmanship created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do” 

God has prepared jobs for each of us to do. 

2 Cor 9:8    “And God is able to make all GRACE abound to you, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work.” 

But He hasn’t chosen us for our specific tasks because of our unique gifts or abilities.  If He has called us to do something, He will give us empowering to do it, even if it is something we aren’t naturally good at.  In fact it is often just the opposite. 

Three times Paul pleaded for a change in his life but God's response was: 2 Corinthians 12:9 - "My GRACE is sufficient for you, for My power is made perfect in weakness." 

 Grace is the enabling from God to do what He has called us to do. Grace makes it possible for His power and strength to be released into the situation.

 Allan’s parents were beautiful people and had never treated me with anything but love and kindness, but when they were in their early  80s they both had dementia and came to live with us and I was really thrilled to have them.  I wanted to repay for them for all the blessings they had poured into my life, but it was much harder than I’d ever expected.  Dementia is a horrible disease and it made these two beautiful Godly people become very angry and I remember at times holding Charlie, up trying to get him to the toilet, with poo running down his legs and all over me and him swearing and banging his walking stick around. 

I was crying out “God this is not what I signed up for and I can’t cope with this.” 

Then Jean, Allan’s mum, her dementia took the form of repeatedly asking the same questions over and over for hours.

Don’t try and do it on your own but go cry out to God ‘I need your grace.’  It was amazing how often He would help me when I was ready to give up. 

Sometimes we can do things out of habit and we might start a meeting and it is wonderful and has God’s anointing on it, but after a while it becomes a duty and a burden.  God’s grace has lifted off that task and it’s time to step back and evaluate if it’s time to move on from that.   It might be time for someone else to step in.

Years ago when I was going through burn out, after a time of extreme business, the thought used to come to my mind that God wouldn’t love me while I wasn’t doing anything, that I always needed to be busy for Him.  He just wanted me to sit and stare in His face.   There is grace to rest.

Even Jesus needed GRACE to do the job He came to earth to do - Hebrews 4:9.....so that by the GRACE of God He might taste death for everyone."  

Some of the tasks for which grace has been provided:

* Grace to preach the Gospel.  Ephesians 3:7. “I became a servant of this gospel by the gift of God's GRACE … this GRACE was given me: to preach to the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ.”

* Grace to equip the church.  Ephesians 4:7 “But to each one of us GRACE has been given as Christ apportioned it, to be apostles, prophets etc to prepare God's people for works of service so that the body of Christ may be built up.” 

* GRACE to be generous givers - 2 Cor 8:1-7

* GRACE to be powerful witnesses. Acts 4:3 3 -  “With great power the Apostles continued to testify to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and much grace was upon them all.”

*  GRACE  to discern Grace in others.  Gal 2:9 Paul wrote “James, Peter and John... gave me and Barnabas the right hand of fellowship when they recognised the GRACE given to me.”

 To Find Part 2, follow me over here. 

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Quilt Chats: Prayer

Here is another of Robyn's Quilt Chats.  You can find out about these by clicking on Quilt Chat page tab up on the toolbar. 

God wants us to talk to Him, to involve Him in all that is going on in our lives.  

And that really is the basis of prayer.  To know that when we pray we are talking to someone who loves us and is interested in us, and our concerns, and who delights to bless, who has a heart attitude towards us of kindness and grace.  

The short answer is that God listens!  He enjoys our company.  He likes us to talk with Him.  He says, ‘Call to me and I will answer you.  I will tell you great and unsearchable things that you do not know.’  Jeremiah 33:3

You get the picture that if you don’t call to Him in prayer, you won’t see the great and mighty things.  Prayer is important.  We can come boldly because of Jesus, enter right into His throne room and seek His wisdom. 

It seems built into us to pray.  Even people who don’t know God, when they get into a tight spot, they seem to pray. 

Prayer is about a heart to heart relationship.  It is knowing that God loves us and has a plan for our lives that is good, but we discover that plan, and gain wisdom for that plan, when we spend time talking to Him, and learning to hear what He has to say.

Hebrews 4:16 tells us to approach the throne of grace with confidence, knowing that there we will find love and mercy and grace to help us in our time of need.

Matthew 7:11.  “If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the Father give good things to those who ask Him”.

It is a fact – prayer works!  I was interested to read a study a few years ago in Time magazine about a survey undertaken in American hospitals by doctors who conducted tests on the results of prayer.  They had patients with similar problems divided into two groups, without either group knowing which was which, and one group was prayed for and one group was not.  And the doctors were amazed to discover that the ones prayed for recovered much more quickly and with less negative after effects of the surgery, than those who were not prayed for.

Isn’t it interesting that in the world of science the amazing power of prayer is being investigated?  And why not?  It is powerful stuff.

We need to really believe that.  I remember one time I was leading a Bible study on the subject of prayer, and I had carefully prepared all my notes, but as I was about to leave for the meeting, I couldn’t find them.  So I frantically turned the house upside down, searching everywhere for those notes.  And then I remembered what it was I was looking for.  So I stopped searching and prayed for God to reveal where those notes where and within a few minutes I had them in my hand.  Prayer does work.

That is the truth.  But sometimes the reality is not so simple.  Even though prayer is a natural response that God has built into us, sometimes prayer has been a real puzzle to me, and there are lots of facets to it that can make us want to avoid it more than we feel we should.

So why should we pray? If God is God and in charge of everything, why should we bother to ask Him to change His plans for us?  Again it comes back to developing that relationship with God.  Prayer is our way of communicating with Him.  And He wants us to do it. 

1 Timothy 2:1.  I urge you then, first of all, that requests, prayers, intercessions and thanksgiving be made for everyone.

What if we don’t know how to pray?  God knows that we sometimes feel like that, and He has the answer.

The Holy Spirit prays through us.  Romans 8:26-28.  He is our Helper, our Teacher, our Guide, our Comforter, our Counsellor.

Sometimes when we pray in church we can be a bit self conscious of needing to sound right and cover all the bases, but prayer is really the Holy Spirit praying through us.  We can just ask the Holy Spirit to help us. 

When we pray we need to expect supernatural intervention.  God is not limited to logic.  Matthew 17:27

This angel is to remind me of the time when four of us went to India.  This was our fourth trip and every trip had been effective and fruitful and we knew that we were to return, but the money for this trip just didn’t come in.  So on the day when we were to leave, once we had paid for our tickets all we had left was $80 between us.  So off we went in great fear and trepidation but believing God had said to trust Him.  When we go to India, we don’t just pay for ourselves, we pay for the hire of the vehicles, usually two, one for us and one for all the guys that come with us, we pay for all the food and give blessings to the churches we go to.  We are considered the rich westerners and we wanted to bless.  Every couple of days we were down at the internet café and ATM looking to see if any of us had any money coming in, and it would and be enough for the next few days. 

Then the day came when there just wasn’t any more left and we didn’t know where it was going to come from. None of us could figure out any avenue for money.  We were staying at a hostel where people who worked in the local steel factory lived.  It was very basic accommodation and every 3 days the man at the reception desk would ring us and say, “You must come and pay for the next three days,” and we would respond, “Oh yes, we’ll come in the morning.” Then we would start praying for money.

On this particular day we were quite desperate crying out to God.  That night I had a dream that was so real.  An angel came and stood beside the bed and he had a clipboard in his hand.  He was very official, marking off his to do list. He said, “the Father knows you have need of these things.”  This great peace came.  The next morning we went to the internet café and there was a message from our church saying that the old generator we had in the shed on sale for years had finally sold and they had deposited $1,000 into our account.  That took care of the rest of the journey. 

Answers to prayer can take a long time or they can be instant.   In my first year of high school I really wanted to go to the social, and Mum said, “I would love you to go, Robyn, but I just don’t have money for the dress.”  And I knew that but I still wanted to go to the dance.  Mum told me to get the Bible and we would see what God said.  I went out and got the big family Bible and I put it down on the ironing board and it fell open and the first thing I looked at was Matthew  6:25-34. “Why do you worry, saying what shall we wear?  Consider the lilies of the valley, they toil not, nor do they spin, yet not even Solomon in all his glory was arrayed like one of these, so why do you worry about your clothes?”

Mum and I were amazed.  That very day the postman put a card in the letterbox to say we had a parcel at the post office and I jumped on my bike and treddled down to the post office.  There was a big parcel waiting there for me and I brought it home to Mum who opened it up.  There was this beautiful blue dress, straps over the shoulders, lace underskirt, fitted me perfectly.   

The note that came with the dress said that this lady in England had the dress made for her daughter to wear on the ship as they travelled to Australia, but on the ship the daughter ate too much and got fat and couldn’t fit into the dress.  So when they arrived in Australia this lady enquired if there was anybody who would like this dress, and a friend of Mum’s knew that she had four daughters and sent it to us, and it arrived the very day we prayed, and I went to the social feeling very beautiful. 

That was an instant answer and we all love those, but I have found the majority of answers aren’t instant.

 
This here represents Revelation 5:8 where it talks about in heaven there are golden bowls, full of incense and the incense is the prayers of the saints.   At the end of the age, the angels are going to tip those bowls out.  Now I don’t really understand what this means but I’ve been pondering on it and maybe those prayers are the ones that store up when we’re not getting an answer but we worship and praise and thank and trust God.  It all comes back to our heart to heart relationship, do we trust Him?


Psalm 50:14.  Sacrifice thank offerings to God, fulfill your vows to the Most High and call upon Me in the day of trouble and I will deliver you, and you will honour Me.

Psalm 50:23.  He who sacrifices thank offerings honours Me, and he prepares the way so that I may show him the salvation of God.

1 Thessalonians 5:7-8.  Pray continually.  Give thanks in all circumstances, for this is Gods will for you in Christ Jesus.

Sometimes our prayers take a long, long time to get answered. This is a picture of Elizabeth and Zechariah. When they got married, Elizabeth would have probably been in her mid to late teens and they would have expected that the next stage of the journey was children.  After a little while I imagine, they would have been asking God to send them children.  More years would go by and that prayer would get quite desperate, and perhaps it became a trial.  More and more years went by and Elizabeth would have got to the place of menopause and I guess about then they started to think there was no point praying anymore.  Then she got through menopause and would have been considered an old lady, and they would have given up.  It was then, when they were old, the angel came to Zechariah and said, “Your prayer has been heard, you will have a son.”

I like the tense, your prayer has been heard. No wonder, Zechariah said, “What? I’m old.”  He didn’t respond with faith, and the angel said “Right, you’ll be dumb until this baby is born, because you didn’t believe.”   After all their prayers, their son came, John the Baptist, sometimes we do have to wait a long time.   

This is a question mark because I’ve had prayers that I’ve prayed and believed for in faith and really expected miracles, and they haven’t happened. Again, it comes back to this relationship.  Sometimes we have to be part of the answer.  Paul said he pleaded with God to remove the thorn in his flesh but God said His grace was sufficient for him.

I know I’ve had times when I’ve been angry at God because He hasn’t.  I’ve gotten impatient and disappointed, but it comes back to our relationship. 

Prayer really does need persistence.  When Jesus talked about prayer in Matthew 7:7 He said, “Ask and keep asking, knock and keep knocking, seek and keep seeking.”

The instant answers are wonderful but God wants us to persist because prayer is often warfare.

I was reading Daniel in chapter 9, where he fasted, pleaded and repented and three weeks went by and nothing seemed to be happening but then the angel came and said, “The first day you prayed, your prayer was heard, but I have been battling in the heavenlies with the prince of Persia, and in the end Gabriel had to get the angel Michael to come, and with that reinforcement they were able to get through with the answer.

When we are persisting in prayer, there is warfare happening.  Sometimes our prayers can be declaring the promises, thanksgiving for what God is doing behind the scenes.

Sometimes I believe God is more interested in working in us, than He is in answering our prayer immediately.  The process of waiting and not giving up is an important part of our growth in our relationship with God.  

Luke 18:1 ‘Pray and don’t lose heart.” V.7.  ‘Call to Him night and day’.

Romans 4:18.  Abraham did not waver through unbelief but grew strong in his faith, believing that God had the power to do what He had promised.

Epaphras wrestled in prayer for the church….  Colossians 4:12.

“The effectual, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much.”   James 5:16.

Love is a vital ingredient in empowering our prayers, enabling us to persist, when common sense says we should give up.  Eg David.  “Power in the prayers of a mother”

Jeremiah 24:6 claimed on 4.3.90.  My eyes will watch over them for their good and I will bring them back…..

We have to pray for our children and grandchildren that they will find God’s answers.  I love and frequently use the words that Jesus taught us to pray, ‘Deliver them from evil.  Lead them not into temptation.”  Luke 21:36, 22:40 & 46.  And I was able to tell her that she and her sister would not escape God’s purpose for their lives because I was praying for them both.

We hear so many testimonies of people who came to faith, and always in the background there is someone who prayed for them.  Our praying for people is vital.

 

We need to pray out of  faith, not fear. Matthew 6:6.  “But when you pray, go into your room and when you have shut the door, pray to your Father who is in the secret place, and your Father, who sees in secret will reward you openly.”

I know when David and Lee were first getting their driver’s licences, sometimes it would be late at night and he wasn’t home.  I would be begging God to keep him safe but I’ve learnt to ask myself whether I am praying out of fear or faith. 

A great way to pray is with Scriptures and declare them over situations.

I had an arthritic toe and it was very painful to walk around particularly doing the grocery shopping and I would declare over my toe:  ‘The Sovereign Lord has made my feet like the feet of a deer, He enables me to go on the heights.’  2 Sam 22:34

Now it doesn’t trouble me anymore. 

Another way we can pray is with the power of blessing.  To bless someone is to speak God’s purpose and intention into their lives.  Jesus told us to even bless our enemies.   Instead of complaining about a situation we can bless the person causing the trouble to become peaceful if they are angry, joyful if they are sad, etc.

 

This one is about prayer eggs.  I heard a lady talk about how when a hen is broody, it’s sits on eggs that are fertilised, and it just sits there not moving.  It doesn’t take them out and shake them and try and see what is happening because it would kill that chicken.   Sometimes our prayers  need to be like that and we hand them over to God and trust Him with them.

That is a different facet to the Scripture about knock and keep knocking but there are times for both. 

 “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything with prayer and petition with thanksgiving present your requests to God and the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your heats and your minds in Christ Jesus.“  Phil 4:6

Psalm 91:4.  “He will cover you with His feathers and under His wings you will find refuge.”

Psalm 37:7.  Be still in the presence of the Lord and wait for Him to act.

 

Prayers of agreement are powerful.  ‘When two or three are gathered together in my name…..’ Matthew 18:19-20.  

Even when there are only two or three people agreeing together, it can change the world, like when two elderly ladies gathered together to pray diligently for a change in their nation of Wales, and the Welsh revival began.  

In Australia we pray at 12noon the Lord’s Prayer for God’s kingdom to come in our land.  We set our alarms for midday and then wherever we are we pray the Lord’s prayer.  I was thrilled to talk with Lyle Shelton from the Australian Christian Lobby recently who said that there are suddenly many Christian politicians rising up in Australia.   When we all raise up together and start praying it has got to have an effect, and in America sometimes the noon prayer will take over a whole shopping mall as everyone’s alarms go off and people stop to pray. 

Did you know that it is as natural to pray as it is to eat and drink.  We are created to talk with God.  And at times we go through seasons when talking with God is so natural, and just a delight and joy, and we see answers and feel empowered and effective.  

But at other times prayer can seem like an intrusion and a nuisance and we feel guilty that we haven’t spent the time in prayer that we think we should, and at those times prayer can seem like just a burden, and yet the longing for it is still built into us.  

Prayer is not meant to be a burdensome duty.  It is meant to be an ongoing constant talking with a Father who loves us.  Prayer without ceasing.

Tennyson wrote, “More things are wrought by prayer than this world dreams of, therefore let thy prayers rise like a fountain night and day.”