Psalms 34:4
“I sought the Lord, and he answered me; he delivered me from all my fears.”
INSIGHT
-David prayed to God when he heard what king Achish of Gath spoke about him, that Saul has slain his thousands but David his tens of thousands, as ran from king Saul. He pretended to be mad, drew marks on their gates and let saliva come out of his beard (1 Samuel 21:10-15). He prayed within himself in silence as his heart was throbbing. Sometimes we face such troubles and call to God for deliverance. David obtained great favor, as the Lord delivered him from all his fears and freed him from trouble and secured him from all evil. Joseph also trusted in God despite having been forgotten in the dungeon, the Lord delivered him from his troubles and made him great. In James 5:13 we read that, “Is anyone among you in trouble? Let them pray. Is anyone happy? Let them sing songs of praise”. Like David, God requires us to pray despite the challenges that are going through. This is the comfort that we have as Christians that the Lord answers our prayers and quiets our souls when we are in distress. God calls us to pray always and give thanks to Him all the time, that our mourning may turn to joy, for this is His will in Jesus Christ.
PRAYER
There is no other God but You Lord. There is none other but You Jesus in all the earth. Every knee shall bow and every tongue confess that You Jesus are the Lord of lords. We give thanks to You always for You are good and Your love endures forever. Thank You for loving us Jesus. Thank You for this far that You have brought us and the far that You are taking us. Thank You for protecting us, preserving us, providing for us, sustaining us, healing our wounds and giving us Your Holy Spirit. We extol You Lord at all the time and Your praises are always on our lips. We glory in You Lord because You our Lord of host. Let the afflicted hear and rejoice for only You are our Savior. Your body was broken for our sake Jesus heal all our wounds and deliver us from all trouble. You suffered for our sake Jesus and by Your stripes we were healed, heal us Jesus and make us whole. Your blood was shed for our redemption, forgive us all our sins and cover us with Your precious blood Lord our Savior. We humbly ask You to hear and answer our prayers. We seek You Lord that we may know You more, reveal Your face to us. We knock at Your door Lord, open for us and bless us indeed. We sought for You Lord, answer us and deliver us from all our fears. One day to You is like a thousand years and a thousand years like a day to You, we put all our trust in You Jesus. Turn our mourning into joy and comfort us, and exchange our sorrows with rejoicing, we humbly beseech You. Renew our strength and fill our hearts with joy as we begin this new week and increase our faith so that we may always rely on You Lord. Amen
James 1:5-8
“If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you. But when you ask, you must believe and not doubt, because the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. That person should not expect to receive anything from the Lord. Such a person is double-minded and unstable in all they do.”
INSIGHT
-When we pray, we must have faith that God hears us and answers us. In our lives we are called to have faith in Jesus, and if do not believe, we are unstable in everything we do. Let us not forget also that we are justified by faith and not works but faith without works is dead. The woman with the issue of blood believed in the healing power of Jesus and by only touching the hem of His garment, she was healed after twelve years of suffering and probably overlying on physicians. The ten leper’s called out to Jesus and were instructed to go show themselves to the priest and they were healed. One Samaritan came back to Jesus to give thanks and Jesus said to him; “arise go your way, your faith has made you well” (Luke 17:19). Cornelius the Italian regiment prayed always to God and gave alms generously. In a vision; he saw an angel who said to him “Your prayers and your alms have come up for a memorial before God” (Acts 10:4). It is wise then to know how to pray and to apply faith into it. We should also realize that a man is justified by works, and not by faith only (James 2:24). Let us then believe in God unconditionally and heed to His voice and through faith in Christ we are justified as His righteous children. Like little children who ask their parents for something and have confidence that they will get it, we too are called to be childlike in the kingdom of God, where we ask the Father having faith that our requests will be granted. For God to answer our prayers, we must have confidence in Him and trust in His providence and if we doubt we become double minded and miss our blessing.
PRAYER
Thank You Jesus for Your mercy and love upon our lives, families and nation. You have loved us with unconditional love, thank You for loving us. Like Abraham who had faith and it was accounted to him for righteousness, increase our faith in You Jesus despite our shortcomings. Like Cornelius who prayed always and gave alms generous, help us to have faith in You and put in works so that we may be justified. Like the woman who suffered for twelve years going to various physicians but did not submit her condition to You. Forgive us for the many times we have trusted in doctors, medicine, wealth and power which only offer temporary solutions and help us to totally surrender to You, and only touch the hem of Your garment Jesus that we may receive all our requests. Forgive us for the many times we have become double minded and have not believed in Your word that you may renew our minds and refresh our hearts that we may only look to You. Like the ten leper who You instructed to go show themselves to the priest and receive their healing, help us to trust in You and to always remember to give thanks to You. We humbly ask You Lord to fill us with wisdom and increase our faith in You so that we may never doubt Your power and providence. We humbly come to Your throne of grace that we may find mercy and grace at our times of need. Only You are God, only You are worthy of our praises, we worship and glorify Your holy name, now and forever. Amen
James 4:3
“You ask and do not receive, because you ask amiss, that you may spend it on your pleasures.”
INSIGHT
-King Solomon encountered God in a dream when he had gone to sacrifice at Gibeon. The Lord appeared to him and said, “Ask for whatever you want me to give you” (1 Kings 3:5). Solomon had the option of asking for all the pleasurable things that the world presents. He chose not to but asked for wisdom that he may govern God’s people well and God granted him wisdom, riches, honor, peace and long life. He knew his mission and sort to please God in that way. Sometime we are presented by the same opportunity to ask for whatever we want when we are in the presence of God. What would you ask for if God asked you the same question? We read that when we ask amiss we do not receive. It is therefore important to note that when we know the purpose for which we were created and ask in line with it, our prayers will always be answered. In John 15:16-17 Jesus discloses that,“You did not choose Me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit, and that your fruit should remain, that whatever you ask the Father in My name He may give you. These things I command you, that you love one another.” We see that the purpose for which Jesus chose us is love, we should then ask for anything in His name and we will receive it, that we may bear much fruit for the glory of His name. The motivation for our prayers should always be love and not seeking self, and God will be glorified through us.
PRAYER
Thank You everlasting Father for this new day that You have made, we rejoice and are glad in it. Thank You for this far that You have brought us, all glory and honor belongs to You. Like King Solomon who knew his purpose and asked for wisdom, grant us wisdom merciful Father so that we may always pray in accordance to Your will, to fulfill our purposes here on earth for the glory of Your name. Thank You Jesus for loving us and calling us to do everything with love, fill our hearts with love we humbly ask You. You have called us to multiply, be fruitful and fill the earth, give us the grace to bear much fruit according to Your will. You are the Vine and we are the branches Jesus, help us to bear much fruit for the glory of Your name. Journey with us Holy Spirit in this journey of faith and strengthen us until the end that our fruit may remain. Thank You for loving us and dying for our sins Jesus, so that we may have life and life in abundance. Thank Your for the gift of life and for the plans You have for us, plans to prosper us and not to harm us, plans to give us hope and a future. We praise You and glorify Your holy name, now and forever. Amen
Matthew 7:7-8
“Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.”
INSIGHT
-It is through prayer that we invite the presence of God, for Psalms 145:18 says that, “The LORD is near to all who call upon Him, to all who call upon Him in truth.” During this period of COVID-19, some people are not praying since churches are closed. Others believe that God dwells in the church building and thus remain prayer-less. The Bible says that our bodies are the temples of the Holy Spirit and it is probably the reason why the Jerusalem temple was destroyed. As the temple of the Holy Spirit, we should keep our bodies holy and always pray for His divine will to be done in our lives. The Lord promises us that when we ask, it will be given to us; when we seek we will find; and when we knock the door will be opened to us. For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened. Hannah prayed for a child when she was barren and the Lord gave her Samuel. It is vital to remember the important of prayer in our lives. Through prayer we communicate with God and He opens doors for us. We are all encouraged to pray always and God will hear and answers us according to His divine will.
PRAYER
Mighty and Everlasting Father, we come to You today with humility in our hearts asking for Your mercy and grace. Thank You for coming into our lives; to help and comfort us in all things. Thank You for making our bodies Your temples Holy Spirit and guide us to be holy because You are Holy Lord. Touch the hearts of all those who do not know You and give them the gift of salvation dear Jesus. You have instructed us to ask and we shall receive, to seek and we will find, to knock and we will find. Teach us how to pray dear Jesus and help us to seek You in truth. You are the way, the truth and the life, help us to get closer to You and to know You more. We submit all our burdens and cares unto You for You care for us, deliver us from all forms of barrenness merciful Father and open many doors for us. We ask that Your presence always go with us in everything that we do dear Jesus. Our Father who at in heaven; hallowed be Your name; Your Kingdom come; Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us. Lead us not into temptations but deliver us from evil; for thine is the Kingdom the power and the glory; forever and ever. Amen
John 14:13-14
“And whatever you ask in My name, that I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask anything in My name, I will do it.”
INSIGHT
-Jesus gives us the confidence to ask anything in His name and He will answer us so that the Father may be glorified in Him. The name of Jesus is glorified above every other name, and one of the objectives of answered prayers is for the glory of God. The prayer of a righteous man avails much, and we see Elijah a man with a nature like ours prayed earnestly and it could not rain for three years six months. He prayed again and the heaven gave rain and the earth produced its fruit (James 5:16-18). Abraham alike had faith in God and it was accounted to him for righteousness. We too are called to have faith in God and He will answer us for the glory of His name.
SUMMARY
The Hebrew word for prayer is Tefilah and it means to beg, beseech and implore. Our theme this week is a reminder that God answers prayers. This is a call for us to pray and without loosing hope and God will hear us and answer us. Despite the challenges that have come with the COVID-19 pandemic where most churches are closed all over the world, we should always pray because God is Omnipresent and dwells in us not in church buildings. Although some people have lost hope in God and feel that their dreams have been shuttered. We are called to wait patiently on the Lord and submit our plans unto Him and He will answer us according to His will. Like David who was confronted by king Saul, Joseph who was in the dungeon, Hannah who was barren, the woman who had an issue of blood for twelve years, Apostle Paul who had a thorn in the flesh and Jesus who sweat blood at the garden of Gethsemane, we should always remember to pray and the Lord will deliver us from all our fears. When we pray, we should have faith in God. Jesus died for our sins so that we may be victorious in all things and become His children. Through our faith in Him we are made righteous and our prayers avail much. When we ask in prayer and doubt we become double minded and should not expect to receive our requests. Like Elijah who prayed and it did not rain for three years six months and later on rained, we should always pray putting all our trust in God and He will answer us. In our prayer we should always pray according to the will of God in our lives otherwise if the motive is to use what we receive in our own pleasures, we ask amiss. King Solomon knew his purpose and prayed for wisdom and God gave him wisdom, honor, riches, peace and long life. The motivation for our prayers should be love and not self seeking interests. In everything that we do, we should do it with love and the Father will be glorified through our answered prayers.
PRAYER
We give thanks to You Lord our God, with all our hearts and glorify Your name forever. Only You deserve our worship and praises, only You deserve the praises on our lips. Teach us Lord how to fear You and to rely on You completely in all things. You are Omnipotent, Omniscient and Omnipresent Lord thank You for loving us Father. We love You Lord because You loved us first and glorify Your holy name for only You are holy and worthy to be praised. For all the nations will come and worship before You for Your righteous acts have been revealed to us. Thank You for protecting us, preserving us, providing us for us, sustaining us, giving us sufficient grace and peace in our families and nation. Thank You for the great plans for us, plans to prosper us and not to harm us, plans to give us hope and a future. All glory and praise belong to You Lord, now and forever. Amen