Prayer

A Little Talk With Jesus

/ pastorpete51 / 6 Comments 
Peter said to him, “Lord, why can I not follow you now? I will lay down my life for you.” Jesus answered, “Will you lay down your life for me? Truly, truly, I say to you, the rooster will not crow till you have denied me three times.
John 13:37-38 ESV

While the other gospels just tell us that Jesus went from the Last Supper table to the Garden of Gethsemane; John allows us to listen in to His conversation. Jesus had just finished telling the disciples that He was going to be betrayed and that He was leaving them, and they were shocked. Peter then volunteered to die before he would let that happen. But, instead of saying, “Wow that’s great. I know I can always count on you! Jesus turned and told Peter that he was about to deny even knowing him! Try to imagine Peter’s thoughts. “What could possibly happen to make me deny knowing Jesus? Where in the world is He going? Why is He telling us this?” Just as most of us would be pretty discouraged if our best friend told us this, the disciples were both astonished and dismayed to hear Jesus’ words. But Jesus wasn’t telling them this to discourage them. Instead, in order to tell them the wonderful news of God’s plans, Jesus needed to begin by showing them that nothing would depend on them. And just like with those disciples, God knows about our personal failures, lack of faith and sins, and yet, He still loves us. His plan is in no way dependent on our success, ability, or reputation. Jesus specializes in saving lost people, and even those who sometimes deny faith. He not only loves us, but He has come to give us strength, and forgiveness, so that we can be saved, and that God will get all the glory!

If You feel far from God – Guess who moved?

/ pastorpete51 / 5 Comments

This week at Life Care was an interesting experience and a perfect example of why we must expect, the unexpected. Today we were looking around wondering where half of our faithful friends were as the meeting began. Then we discovered, halfway through, as they briskly wheeled several of them back, that they had been with the podiatrist getting their toenails clipped! That made me laugh, but it also made me realize that all the planning in the world, can’t foresee everything, and sometimes we just need to go with the flow! I do hope you like our rendition of “Just a Closer Walk”. This song reminds me of the question my stepmom used to ask anyone who would listen. “If you feel far from God, guess who moved?” Of course the answer is that God is right where He has been all along. 

 And bring the fatted calf here and kill it, and let us eat and be merry; for this my son was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’ And they began to be merry.
Luke 15:23-24 NKJV

The blessing is that when we come to Him (or come back to Him), God is willing to receive us and accept us into His family. In the story of the prodigal son, the first thing the father did was to have them kill the fatted calf. That calf was a special animal which was reserved for a celebration. That calf going to the barbeque grill irritated the older brother because of the expense, but it cost God far more than a calf for us to come to Him. It cost Him the life of His only Son. Thank God that the blood of Jesus That is certainly a prayer which God loves to answer!

God Answers Prayer

/ pastorpete51 / 1 Comment 
And behold, a woman of Canaan came from that region and cried out to Him, saying, “Have mercy on me, O Lord, Son of David! My daughter is severely demon-possessed.”  But He answered her not a word …Matthew 15:22-23a

Did it ever feel like God wasn’t paying any attention to you? That is undoubtedly the feeling that this woman experienced in today’s verse. She cried. She begged. She fell to Jesus’ feet. But nothing she could do or say seemed to touch the Lord. Her story reminds me of the Bangladeshi people I met on a mission trip to Northern India. They could only find work breaking up gravel from the river banks in that city, because they were Muslim and not Hindi. Most of the local people would not hire them and so they were forced to take the lowest, most menial jobs. The way they were treated was a lot like this woman at first appears to have experienced. Yet, though she didn’t realize it at first, Jesus made His only mission trip abroad in answer to her prayers. 

So if it seems as if Jesus is not listening and no one else seems to care if our prayers will be answered, we have to decide whether we will continue to believe or go away? Will we continue praying or will we give up? For all of us, there comes that moment when we must decide what to do with God’s silence. This woman who appeared to have no religious background, no friends and no encouragement, gives us a wonderful testimony, of humility and patience. She shows us that not only is God listening, but that He also cared enough to send Jesus on His long trip to earth, just for you!