Prayer

The God Who Hears

/ pastorpete51 / 2 Comments

I sought the Lord and He heard me and delivered me from all my fears Psalm 34:4

In my imagination I sometimes wonder just how soundly asleep Jesus really was during the storm at sea. I have thought that perhaps he was more aware of the circumstances than the disciples knew. Perhaps as He climbed into the boat that day He said something along the lines of,

“Okay while you guys start rowing us across Galilee, I am going to take a nap. Then as He borrowed a pillow and went to sleep He was saying to himself, “I know what is coming next, I wonder how long it will be before they wake me up?”

Then as the wind picked up and the sky darkened with storm clouds the disciples kept rowing as hard as they could. They didn’t want Jesus to have to worry about anything; after all they were all experienced fishermen. Then as the first wave or two sloshed over the side of the boat some may have begun to worry. Finally as wave after giant wave tossed the little boat up and down and it began to take on water panic took hold of their hearts.

“Master, carest thou not that we perish?” Mark 4:38b

p1020428

Just like us, they had come to the place where they wondered if God even cared about their fears. But Jesus is in our boat, to be our Immanuel through any storm. He listened to the disciples. He listened to King David. He is listening to you.

If today you are facing your biggest fear God is with you in your boat. He is waiting for us to cry out like David, like the disciples and like countless generations of believers. He is with us and He hears!

Sunrise or Sunset?

/ pastorpete51 / 1 Comment

Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord and the people whom He hath chosen for His own inheritance. 

Psalm 33:12

I have never been able to tell whether a photo is of a sunrise or sunset. I believe that only prayers will determine which it will be for our country. Let’s pray for God blessing and more importantly His will this Sunday. We need Him now more than ever before!

Effective Prayer Part Two

/ pastorpete51 / Leave a comment

February 23             Effective Prayer Part 2

Confess your trespasses to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much  James 5:16

If we prayed as earnestly for others as we have prayed for ourselves how different might our church be? In the garden of Gethsemane Jesus prayed so earnestly that we are told that “his sweat was as it were great drops pf blood” Luke 22:44
p1020539

No priest, no king, no father and no mother ever prayed with the earnestness of Jesus Christ. Yet for all His earnestness Jesus’ request was denied! The Father’s will remained unchanged and then three times our Lord ended His prayers with “not my will but thine be done”

 

And though apparently His request was denied yet the most earnest of all prayers continues to be answered for us today.  God still hears and has always heard earnest fervent prayers. The way He chooses to answer remains wrapped in the mystery of His Sovereign will. We change and our lives fade yet if we forever hold fervently to His promises lives all around us will be changed!