“And we are confident that he hears us whenever we ask for anything that pleases him.”
1 John 5:14 NLT
Prayer and trust go hand and hand. If we trust God enough to pray to him, shouldn’t we trust him enough to believe he will answer our prayers the best way he sees fit? Remember that God sees what we cannot. If we truly think about some of the things we have prayed for over the course of our lives we should be grateful God did not say yes to everything we asked.
Prayer and devotional life doesn’t have to be on your knees next to your bed at given times in the day. This is definitely an important habit to have but to limit prayer life to these confines could be limiting the depths to which God can reach you and change your life.
Recently I attended a women’s conference for prayer. We practiced several different and creative methods for meditating on God’s word and speaking to Him. It was illuminating, restful and invigorating to commune with God in these different avenues. I want to share some things I have picked up along my Christian sojourn.
At the moment I have a cold. It’s the third virus I have had this season so I am no stranger to a blocked nose and all that goes along with it. Sleeping is difficult when you can’t breathe. Added to that I am pregnant and my large belly is making breathing difficult. (And unable to take decongestant!)
“Blessed are those who can breathe freely…” are words I would not usually think to say. However when something so vital, so ingrained, so normally ubiquitous and under-recognised suddenly disappears we are rendered helpless.
There is another sort of ‘breath’ that is so vital, ingrained, ubiquitous and under-recognised. The Spirit.
Historically, God always surprised by doing powerful, miraculous, creative things that challenged, inspired and awed humanity. Do we still expect great things from God? Are we open to the new ways He may be working now?
Do you ever feel like you’re inconveniencing God when you ask for help? Or do you feel like you shouldn’t be asking for help in certain situations? What does God think about our requests for assistance? We will be exploring Mark 2 this weekend to answer these questions.
Micah had an asthma attack last night. It was around midnight, and he was crying that he couldn’t breathe. I rushed into the room with his inhaler and tried to calm him down so that he could get the ventolin puffs. But he was too distressed to take a good deep breath in. I tried to stay calm, but I was also panicking, because if he didn’t breathe in the much-needed medicine, he could literally run out of breath.
"But those who drink the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life." John 4:14
Could it be that you are where you are becuase of prayer? Someone is praying for you – find out who.
How do we pray? How can we know God is really listening?
It is a constant of modern living that we always seem busy. running here, running there, running everywhere! It amazes me just how much humans can do at one time. I have witnessed many a student listening to music, reading information from a computer screen and taking notes all at the same time. I am guilty of perpetuating this in my classroom – filling every spare moment with some kind of educationally valuable activity.
I’ve been going through a weight-loss program called “Noom.” Truth be told, I did really well the first 2 weeks (lost 2 kgs) but then it was my birthday weekend, we had our father-in-law with us for 3 weeks, and many more excuses later I’ve gained back everything and then some. But while I haven’t been 100% committed to the nutrition, exercise, and sleep recommendations on the program, I have been reading the daily tips pretty faithfully.
“Noom” provides psychological, scientific and practical tips each day to help you modify your thinking & behaviour.
Today, it told me the physiological effects of stress (that includes weight gain) and reminded me to start each day with a smile and enjoy JOMO (joy of missing out). It also told me to forget my to-do list and start the day with a “done” list. Huh?
"But those who drink the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life." John 4:14
