Prayer and Riches.

In Luke 6:12,after the confrontations with the Pharisees, Jesus went off alone and spent the whole night in prayer. Have you ever spent as long in concentrated prayer? I haven’t though I do find if I am awake at night, which happens fairly regularly to me, it is a good time to pray, right there where I am. We might wonder what Jesus was praying about. Was he praying about the opposition he was experiencing and the hardness of people’s hearts? Was he seeking the Father for strength for what he knew lay ahead of him? Maybe it was both. … Continue reading

The Blessing of Prayer

How wonderful to know others are praying for you! One of the great things about family and friends is they way they jump on board when I am doing something. Like this morning I was the speaker at our ladies breakfast. As of Wednesday night I had no idea want I was going to talk about. The only thing I had written was in my opinion a disaster. I was starting to panic. At bible study I raised it as a prayer point. The next day I was still no further advanced and resolved to go and play tennis and … Continue reading

A Helpful Strategy for Prayer?

At school we teach the children prayer is simply talking to God and it is, so why do many of us find it hard? But we do. That’s why I think it is always helpful to have some strategies in place to help us. Have you tried praying over the activities of each day? I have found it a great help in organizing my time and priorities. I was excited to see someone else thought so as there was a link to it on this blog. Here is another prayer suggestion sent to me recently by a member of our … Continue reading

Stepping Out in Prayer

One of the most encouraging things we can do for others is to pray for them. It is also encouraging for us knowing others are praying for us. The other writers and I who were part of the 40 day prayer covenant, found it hard sometimes to make time for praying for each other. Yet we were so encouraged by our participation in the 40 day prayer covenant and the answers to prayer we saw, that we opted to continue praying for each other on a regular basis. A person a day on a daily basis. It’s a lovely feeling … Continue reading

A Prayer For Each Day

In the film ‘Friendly Persuasion’ Eliza Birdwell’s response to the challenge, thrown out by Major Harvey, for the Quakers to become involved in the war, was to pray ‘The will of God be revealed and we be given the strength and grace to follow Thy will.’ This is a prayer each of us could each use to start each day. For like it or not we are all involved in a war. Our war is not against a flesh and blood enemy. Our war is ‘against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the … Continue reading

Have You Considered a Prayer Covenant?

Prayer – how important a part does it play in your life? And how other person focused is your prayer? Or are you mostly concerned with your own needs? Recently a fellow writer suggested that a number of us online, most of us writers, form a 40 day prayer covenant, the idea being that each day everyone on the list would pray for the person nominated for that day. We were asked to each give three brief points, the first a point of praise and the other two requests. Prayers could be changed as they were answered and new ones … Continue reading

God Wants Workers not Shirkers

‘God wants workers not shirkers,’ that’s what a visiting minister told us one day in his sermon. Sadly, the case in too many churches is that too much is left to too few workers. This was never the way it was intended to work. Paul tells us in 1 Corinthians 12:4 that there are varieties of gifts and God expects us to use them. There are varieties of ministries, 1 Corinthians 12:5. Some people have a real knack for one to one relationships and welcoming people, but ask them to play the piano or do some up front job and … Continue reading

The Bible is a Book of Contrasts

Don’t you love how the bible presents us with contrasts? Take the examples in Mark 10:32-52. Here we see two lots of different people with two distinctly different requests. In the first, John and James, after learning about the impending death of Jesus in Jerusalem, reacted perhaps not as we might have expected. Rather than concern for Jesus, their focus was on themselves and what might happen to them and what they wanted to happen. They tried to coerce Jesus into answering their request before he even knew what it was, verse 35. Jesus makes it clear he needs to … Continue reading

Praise God in the Hard Times?

You’ve got to love children and the things they come out with. Here’s an example from the praise board in the Sunday school room of the local churches. ‘I praise God for making crabs and I’m going to get one.’ Don’t you just love it! It was interesting the other night when at choir to sit and read the things children praised God for. It reinforced what I’d been talking about the other day about how ready children are to praise God and how we can learn from them. Another one I saw recently was from a young woman who … Continue reading

Praise God in the Hard Times?

You’ve got to love children and the things they come out with. Here’s an example from the praise board in the Sunday school room of the local churches. ‘I praise God for making crabs and I’m going to get one.’ Don’t you just love it! It was interesting the other night when at choir to sit and read the things children praised God for. It reinforced what I’d been talking about the other day about how ready children are to praise God and how we can learn from them. Another one I saw recently was from a young woman who … Continue reading