Month: March 2015

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Ask, Believe and Receive

6th March

 “Keep on asking, and you will receive what you ask for. Keep on seeking, and you will find. Keep on knocking, and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks, receives. Everyone who seeks, finds. And to everyone who knocks, the door will be opened.”

Matthew 7:7

Part of praying is believing that what you pray for will happen. That is called faith. Faith is not found in prayers of eloquent words or in prayers that have been prayed for long periods of times. Faith is quite simply knowing who it is I am praying too, and knowing that if I ask in His Name and in accordance with His will, it will be done.

Jesus reminds His disciples that an effective prayer is one that believes and receives. If you ask, receive what you are asking. If you are seeking, then you will find and if you are knocking, the right door will open for you. The key is simply believing and receiving in faith. God knows what you need even before you ask. That is why He has already prepared your answer, even before you pray. Yes there are sometimes, when God allows us to make our own decisions based on common sense and God living in us. Yet, when we need divine inspiration, healing, break through, guidance and wisdom, Jesus is at hand to answer our prayers of faith.

The good news is that no prayer is too big or small for our loving Heavenly Father to deal with. He wants what is best for us every time. All we need to do is believe and receive. Don’t lack because you haven’t asked for it. Trust God and He will provide. Trust God and He will guide you.

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Speak Lord, Your Servant Is Listening

5th March

“Suddenly the Lord called out, “Samuel”.” Yes?” Samuel replied. “What is it?” He got up and ran to Eli. “Here I am. Did you call me?” “I didn’t call you”, Eli replied. “Go back to bed.””

1 Samuel 3:4-10

When God speaks do you listen? Can you recognise His voice?

We can rest assured that not everyone gets it the first time. Samuel eventually became one of the Old Testaments most prolific priests, honoured by men and by God. It was his anointing and commission that gave King David his priestly role. Yet if we rewind time to when he was just a boy, we see that it was not always like that.

Hannah, his mother, finally gave birth to a son after many years of tears and agony. She promised God that when she finally had a child she would dedicate him to God and for God’s service. This is where we pick up the story in 1 Samuel 3. Samuel was now living in the temple with Eli the priest. One night, the Lord spoke out to Samuel. Yet Samuel thought Eli was calling him. Again the Lord called Samuel, yet “Samuel did not yet know the Lord because he had never had a message from the Lord before.”

It is so difficult to discern something you do not know or have not heard before. Samuel couldn’t recognise the voice of God because he had never heard it before. Do you sometimes feel like that? Yet just as much as God wanted to talk to Samuel, so He wants to talk to us. Our response should be the same as Samuels. “Speak, Your servant is listening!!” Part of listening to God, is practicing discerning His voice. Our response when we think we can hear God’s voice should be “I am listening”. God wants to talk to us. Our challenge is whether we take the time to listen and discern what He has to say.

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You Are Not Alone…!!

4th March

“And as Elijah stood there, the Lord passed by and a mighty windstorm hit the mountain…. but the Lord was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake. And after the earthquake there was a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire. And after the fire there was the sound of a gentle whisper. ”

1 Kings 19:11-13 

There are very few people that were or are full of so much faith that can rival that of the Old Testament prophet, Elijah. What a man of God. Elijah saw some of the most miraculous events and wonders that were to ever take place in the Bible. Yet he found himself here in this passage running away from the call God had on his life, through the fear of an evil leader. This same Elijah had just been given supernatural strength to run faster than a chariot, was fed by ravens, made bread from a tiny bit of oil and flour, and called down fire to burn a water soaked altar. Yet this man feared a human being, the evil ruler, Jezebel.

So often in our lives we can witness God move in such powerful ways, yet as soon as a situation comes up where we feel tried, lonely and tested, we hide away and forgot the wonders God has done in our lives. However, it is often in the stillness of our storms, when we take time to sit in the presence of God, that we really hear His voice. Elijah, although he saw God move in great power through him, was fearful of death, fearful of Jezebel and Ahab and tried to hide from what God had called him to do. Yet God, in His loving, gentle, kindness embraces Elijah and meets him where he is at; not in the raging storms, earthquakes and fire, but in the still, small and peaceful voice.

If the storm is raging and you feel alone, know that God will meet you were you are and give you strength. Whatever the challenge, God is with you, it’s a promise!

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Have You The Heard The Voice Of God?

3rd March

 “My sheep listen to My voice; I know them, and they follow Me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish. No one can snatch them away from Me.”

John 10:27-28 

What does the voice of God sound like? Have you ever heard it? The truth is, is that God speaks to us in so many different ways; through the still small voice in our minds, through creation, through His word and sometimes even audibly.

However, the underlying truth is this… We must all be able to discern and hear the voice of God. Why? Well, the obvious answer is, that if we are to engage in any type of relationship with God Himself, then we need to be able to have a conversation with Him. Any relationship is a two-way communication. Simply put, if you can’t hear from God, then it becomes a one-way conversation. God has so much to share with His sheep, so much to share with YOU! In hearing God’s voice, your identity in Him is secure. You know that you are His. You know that you can follow His voice and His guidance. There is richness and fullness of life in His words.

Yet so often, our minds are clogged up with so many others thoughts and voices that we find it hard to hear what God is saying. Even David, the friend of God, sometimes had moments in his life when he felt distant from God…”My God, my God, why have you abandoned me? Why are You so far away when I groan for help? Every day I call You, my God, but You do not answer.” (Psalm 22:1-2) In fact Jesus Himself, repeated those words as He was hanging on the cross. Although the context of these two examples might be completely different from what we face, the fact of the matter is, is that sometimes things get in the way of us discerning and hearing God’s voice. Sometimes, we do feel far from Him. Sometimes, we do feel abandoned. Yet God is always there. He always wants to talk to us.

If we are to follow Him, then we need to remove any obstacles that hinder our walk with Him and be free to have a real, living and free relationship with our Master. Do you hear the voice of your Shepherd?

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The Gate To A Full Life

2nd March

“The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.”

John 10:10 (NKJV) 

I recently came across this quote and it really challenged my perceptions of what life in its fullness really is.

 ‘I asked God for His blessings so I could enjoy life.

He gave me life so I could enjoy His blessings’

So often Christians are branded with a boring brush, living by long sets of rules and regulations, of do’s and don’ts. Yet the most fulfilled people on this earth, the people who live life to its fullest, should be those who have accepted Christ. Why? Because Jesus came to give us life. He came to give us life in its fullness. A life that is as the NLT version puts this verse, “rich and satisfying”.

Yet so often we look for God’s blessings in order to satisfy our desires to have a good life. We think we need money to have a better life, more friends, a bigger house and to be socially accepted. Yes, all those things are great, yet we can have all of those and still be living an empty, unfilled and lacking life. The fullness of life comes not in material possessions or in things that can be measured. It comes from the knowledge that you are loved by the Creator of the entire universe and everything in it. Life in its fullness is knowing that because of Jesus, you have hope in hopeless situations, joy where there seems no joy, peace in raging wars, and purpose where there seems no direction. It is the knowledge that you can have nothing, yet everything at the same time.

Life in abundance is enjoying life in Christ. It is knowing who you are in Him and all that that holds for your life.