Rejoice always

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Today’s Bible reading: 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18
Rejoice always,
pray continually,
give thanks in all circumstances;
for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.

A lesson from sea glass 5th January 2023

We have a new picture at the top of the home page which is pieces of sea glass arranged to make the word Prayersharers. Last year we moved  to the island of Sheppey, Kent, and the shore near our house always has sea glass to be found. It’s not all green, some is white and occasional pieces of blue, red or pink, but the majority is white and green. Pieces that are not quite ready we put back in the sea.

It is formed from broken pieces of glass which have been worn down by the action of the sea, sand and pebbles grinding it smooth. It has no sharp edges and is frosty in appearance. We had never heard of it until we moved here!

I was thinking what the Lord might teach us from sea glass. First of all it is broken, then it is honed to a new shape and purpose. This speaks of the new life we have when we die to ourself and have a new life in Jesus Christ, by the Holy Spirit. (Romans 6 4-8)

Secondly, it is repurposed as what may have been a bottle becomes a small piece of frosted glass which can be used for art, for making jewellery, or simply collected. God only uses sinners for His purposes, as we are all flawed and he has no one else to choose from. We are all sinners.

Thirdly, it is honed by the abrasive treatment it receives. James 1 2-4 says “Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.”

So let us thank God that He accepts us as we are, sometimes broken, always sinners, and in saving us from our sin, he repurposes us, reshapes us and hones us through adversity.

Heavenly Father, We thank You for your gift of Salvation through Jesus Christ. We thank you for Your Grace and we thank You for lessons we can learn from everyday events and objects. Help us to listen to Your voice, and give us the courage to follow where You lead. Through Jesus Christ we pray.
Amen

Be encouraged

Yesterday we were doing decorating work in a bedroom of our new home when, out of the blue, an email arrived from a lady who used to live in Spain, at the same time that we did, twenty years ago. At that time we were meeting in a house church and involved in small projects, praying for the people who lived in our area and for those who passed our house in rural Arboleas.
This email said that at a time she needed support, she feels that there must have been people praying for her, as events showed that God was leading her.

When we look to the Bible regarding prayer we often refer to James 5:16:
Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.
We are made righteous, of course, only through the Father and by his Grace and Spirit. We pray in faith, with the knowledge that those prayers WILL be answered. What an encouragement to hear from someone after many years to know that God was working to answer our prayers in the lives of real people and in real situations.

PRAYER
Loving Heavenly Father, we thank You for the encouragement that comes from messages such as these. We take this as motivation, in obedience to You to continue praying for friends, family, and neighbours to turn to Jesus Christ and seek the Father in all that they do. In Jesus Name we pray. Amen.

Covid-19

PRAYER DIARY 9th June 2020

I have been following this viral infection with interest since January this year when the virus was only thought to be in China. As Christians we are told to “Watch and pray” and that is what we have been doing. The spread of the virus has been rapid, affecting most countries in the world to a greater or lesser extent. At present Mexico and South America are worst affected. In the United Kingdom over 40,000 people have died with this virus, most of those already had illnesses which put them at greater risk.

Various commentators have different takes on the virus. Some say it was spread deliberately, others that it was an escape from a laboratory, others that it was a purely incidental transfer between an animal and human. Conspiracy theorists posit that the virus is being used as an excuse by governments to exert control, to bring in a cashless society, to restrict movement and create a one world government.

Some Christian commentators who say they are prophets are saying this is a sign of the end times. However, all I will say is that we are 100 years closer to the end than 1918-1920 when a bad influenza virus killed about 50 million people worldwide, many of them young and healthy. Only God knows the timetable for when “that day” arrives.

Remember these verses:
1 Thessalonians 5 vv 16-24 says:
Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus. Do not quench the Spirit. Do not treat prophecies with contempt but test them all; hold on to what is good, reject every kind of evil.
May God himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through. May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. The one who calls you is faithful, and he will do it.

Each one of those deaths, each statistic is a cause of grief to friends and family of those that have passed away and we can pray in faith that our loving Heavenly Father takes each of those grieving people into His arms to give them peace and comfort in their hour of need.
As Christians, in the midst of an easing lock-down we can be assured that there is nothing that can separate us from the love of God.

Romans 8 vv 37 to 39 is quite clear:
No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

This virus cannot separate us from the love of our Lord Jesus Christ. We can be assured that whether we live or whether we die it is with the Lord, and our salvation and ultimate wellbeing lies with Him.
Without the Lord we are nothing.

Romans 14: vv 7-9 declares:
For none of us lives for ourselves alone, and none of us dies for ourselves alone. If we live, we live for the Lord; and if we die, we die for the Lord. So, whether we live or die, we belong to the Lord. For this very reason, Christ died and returned to life so that he might be the Lord of both the dead and the living.

We must never look at those verses as if they are in any way negative, as they are the basis of our whole being in Christ our Saviour. Our faith gives us the confidence to pray for this situation, knowing that God will use all things for His purposes and His Glory.
Let’s lift this whole situation to our loving Lord:

Loving Heavenly Father, we thank You that whatever the situation, You are always there for us and listening to our prayers. You are always with us and you are always faithful, even when we are not.
Lord, we lift this disease up to You knowing that you are already aware of all that is going on. You created all things and we know that You can learn nothing from us.

Father we pray for those suffering the loss of loved ones, husbands, wives, friends – we lift them to You and pray that they will know the Peace that passes all understand and the comfort of Your Holy Spirit in their lives. We pray for the sick, that they may know Your healing hand.

Most of all, we pray that people of all nations will look again at their frailty and mortality, to realise that their first hope is faith in the sacrificial death and resurrection of Your son Jesus Christ. Father, we acknowledge that there is no other way to You, but by Your saving Grace and the love that you extend to “whosoever believes” in Your Son – will be brought into the Kingdom of Heaven and have eternal life. We accept that gift of salvation and give You the greatest thanks we possibly can.

We pray this through Jesus Christ our Lord, Amen.

Prayer diary 31st October 2019

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Today’s Bible reading: 1 Timothy 2 vv 1-4
I urge, then, first of all, that petitions, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for all people – for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness. This is good, and pleases God our Saviour, who wants all people to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth.

United Kingdom

Once again we have come to a promised political deadline in our country, one which was supposed to see us leaving the European Union, with a negotiated deal. We have been at this point 3 times before and the latest deadline is 31st January 2020. Whichever way you voted, or did not vote, I feel that we must pray to God and ask Him to support our leaders in their task of governing the country.

Heavenly Father,  we give thanks that You are a great and powerful God, full of Grace and Mercy, giving wisdom to those who seek Your Will and giving Salvation to all who believe in Your Son Jesus Christ.
We lift up to you Boris Johnson, our Prime Minister, and pray for him in the difficult task he has taken on. Lord, we pray for our Parliament, as it comes to an end dissolving to make way for an election on 12th December.
Father, we pray for the resolution of the main issue facing our government, the withdrawal of the UK from the EU.
We thank You for the peace and the freedom which exists in our country, including the freedom to vote to choose our representatives in government.
We pray that the election campaign will be honest, serious and peaceful, informative and giving voters a proper choice.
Lord, help us to choose people who are upright, honest, noble and Godly. May we we given wisdom to select the best candidate for both the country and for the issues that it faces.
Above all we want the Name of Jesus  to be glorified in our country.
We pray in Jesus’ Holy Name,

Amen.

Israel

Whilst on the subject of government, in Israel the elected politicians are finding it difficult to agree on a governing coalition.

Heavenly Father, We pray for the precious country of Israel. We ask that You will intervene in talks to ensure that a strong, stable and just government emerges from these talks.
As Israel always faces threats from the borders, we pray that You will watch them and protect them from evil.
In the Precious Name of Jeshua.  Amen.