For Such a Time as This

However, no one knows the day or hour when these things will happen, not even the angels in heaven or the Son himself. Only the Father knows.
Mark 13:32 NLT

The Bible makes it clear that no one knows when the last day will be except God; even, Jesus chose not to tap into that side of His divinity when asked in Mark 13:32. It was not important for the disciples to know the exact date, just as it is not important for us to know the exact date. The information we need to live godly lives and spread the gospel has been revealed in God's Word. Deuteronomy 29:29 says, "The secret things belong to the LORD our God, but the things revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may follow all the words of this law." The Holy Spirit gives us the strength we need each day to accomplish the tasks and opportunities before us. Though we don't know the exact date or need to know it, we can still pray about various aspects of the end times. There's so much we can be praying for...

Guest author: Meg Bucher

Father,
           You go before us. You are the God of our past and our present. By Your hand we were all created for unique purpose to be realized in the days of our lives on this earth. Though we have no way of knowing what is coming our way, we are guaranteed that life this side of heaven will be hard. We know we have an enemy set to destroy us. Give us the boldness we need to operate in the power of Your Holy Spirit, to discern the lies of the enemy and recall and remember the truths in Your Word.
            Jesus is the story of our salvation. There in the beginning with You, Father, and now seated at Your right hand. You pray for us, and never leave us. Jesus, empower us by Your grace to love the people in our lives well, even though the ways of the world are pushing against us. Our mistakes are rampant. We’re not getting it right all of the time. We’re succumbing to pride and discord, when You set an example of and commanded us to love above all else.
            Holy Spirit, stir conviction in our souls like never before. Give us lessons in humility, coach us in encouragement, and mentor us in peaceably and gracefully asserting our faith into the brokenness of this world. Infuse a durability in us that is unworldly. Bless our lives to persevere, and to run the race marked out for us with full steam to the very end. Until the tape breaks and we’re called home. In Jesus’ Name,  Amen.

David's Prayer

Bend down, O Lord, and hear my prayer; answer me, for I need your help. Protect me, for I am devoted to you. Save me, for I serve you and trust you. You are my God.

Psalm 86:1-2 NLT

Let's pray and praise in unison as David prayed and praised the one true God.

Be merciful to us, O Lord, for we are calling on You constantly. Give us happiness, O Lord, for we give ourselves to You. O Lord, You are so good, so ready to forgive, so full of unfailing love for all who ask for Your help. Listen closely to our prayer, O Lord; hear our urgent cry. We will call to You whenever we're in trouble, and You will answer us.

No pagan god is like You, O Lord. None can do what You do! All the nations You made will come and bow before You, Lord; they will praise Your holy Name. For You are great and perform wonderful deeds. You alone are God.

Teach us Your ways, O Lord, that we may live according to Your truth! Grant us purity of heart, so that we may honor You. With our whole heart, we will praise You, O Lord our God. We will give glory to Your Name forever, for Your love for us is very great. You have rescued us from the depths of death. from Psalm 86 NLT

Prayer:

O Lord,
             You are a God of compassion and mercy, slow to get angry and filled with unfailing love and faithfulness. Look down and have mercy on us. Give Your strength to us; save us, O God. Send us a sign of Your favor. Then those who hate us will be put to shame, for only You, O Lord, help and comfort us. In Jesus' Name we pray, Amen

Persistent Faith

Then the Master said, “Do you hear what that judge, corrupt as he is, is saying? So what makes you think God won’t step in and work justice for his chosen people, who continue to cry out for help? Won’t he stick up for them? I assure you, he will. He will not drag his feet. But how much of that kind of persistent faith will the Son of Man find on the earth when he returns?”
Luke18:6-8 The Message

When we pray, do we pray believing? What about if we don't get an immediate answer? What if it's a month later - do we start to lose fervor? Maybe not, but what if it's longer - 6 months? A year? Even longer?

I saw an ad for a shirt the other day that read, "It's not the will of God if it goes against the Word of God."  If what we are praying and believing for does NOT go against the Word of God, why do we give up? Do we think God said, "No"? Or worse, do we think He's not listening? Or ignoring us? Will we continue to believe when we know we are praying according to God's Word? 

When Jesus returns to take us home, will He find us full of persistent faith?

Prayer:

Father,

          Revive us, O Lord! Restore to us the joy of Your salvation. Breathe life into our dry-bones faith. We want to be found full of persistent faith and faithful to You only when You return. In Jesus' Name we pray. Amen

Blessed to be a Blessing - written by Pr. Alan Neel

If you are faithful in little things, you will be faithful in large ones. But if you are dishonest in little things, you won’t be honest with greater responsibilities. And if you are untrustworthy about worldly wealth, who will trust you with the true riches of heaven? And if you are not faithful with other people’s things, why should you be trusted with things of your own?
Luke 16:10 -12

We are privileged to be conduits of God's blessings, not creators of our own wealth. As followers of Jesus Christ, we should understand that everything given to us is a test of our gratitude and faith. 

Our worldview is undoubtedly different because we find God’s purpose in every area of our lives, including our finances. We are called to be like our heavenly Father, constantly pouring blessings to demonstrate His love! Never do we believe that God blesses us for our selfish pleasure. We have been blessed to be a blessing!

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Prayer:

Father,
           Thank You for Your faithfulness of provision for our needs. Thank You also for giving us the desire of our hearts as we DELIGHT ourselves in You. Thank You for ALWAYS providing so that we can provide for others. Open our eyes, Father, to see those in need around us so that we open our hearts and our hands to BE the blessing You've created us to be. In Jesus' Name we pray. Amen

A Parable about Serving

Suppose one of you has a servant plowing or looking after the sheep. Will he say to the servant when he comes in from the field, ‘Come along now and sit down to eat’? Won’t he rather say, ‘Prepare my supper, get yourself ready and wait on me while I eat and drink; after that you may eat and drink’? Will he thank the servant because he did what he was told to do? So you also, when you have done everything you were told to do, should say, ‘We are unworthy servants; we have only done our duty.’

Luke 17:7-10 NIV

We find it hard to relate to this parable. For those who have not been raised in a culture of servitude, it can be difficult to grasp the concept of only doing one's duty and not receiving any kudos for doing what one was expected to do. It is, however, a clear illustration of how "We should serve God because of who he is and because he is worth serving. If a good slave does his duty for his master faithfully, how much more should God’s children, as those loved by him, serve him faithfully? Service, obedience, and duty are not rights we negotiate with God to exercise. They are the natural outgrowth of appreciating his act of grace in saving us, so we might bring honor to him." 1 

As servants of Christ, we are to follow His example to do everything the Father tells us - even unto death - trusting His Grace to see us through whatever He brings us to. It's not always easy and it rarely coincides with our humanistic view of what we deserve (as a reward) for having gone through it. We want to present our case for special consideration, but we would do well to study the writings of the Apostle Paul to learn what it means to be a servant of God. 

Remember that while we humbly submit and enthusiastically perform our duties, Scripture is clear that God will honor faithful service. Luke 12:27, Blessed are those servants whom the master, when he comes, will find watching. Assuredly, I say to you that he will gird himself and have them sit down to eat, and will come and serve them.

Prayer:

Father,

          Forgive us for those times we thought we should be rewarded or highly regarded for doing only what we should've done anyway. You are El Shaddai, our Adonai, and we are so grateful for Your Mercy and Grace. Help us to better understand our place in relationship to You. In Jesus' Name we pray. Amen

1 NIV Application Commentary Copyright © 1996 by Darrel L. Bock.

Hope Anew

Psalm 78:1-7 NLT A psalm of Asaph.

O my people, listen to my instructions. Open your ears to what I am saying, for I will speak to you in a parable. I will teach you hidden lessons from our past - stories we have heard and known, stories our ancestors handed down to us.

We will not hide these truths from our children; we will tell the next generation about the glorious deeds of the Lord, about his power and his mighty wonders. For he issued his laws to Jacob; he gave his instructions to Israel. 

He commanded our ancestors to teach them to their children, so the next generation might know them - even the children not yet born - and they in turn will teach their own children. So each generation should set its hope anew on God, not forgetting his glorious miracles and obeying his commands.  

Prayer:

Father,

           We ask Your Holy Spirit to bring all things to our remembrance as You promised. We do not want to forget any of Your goodness and mercy and kindnesses toward us. Let us never take for granted the cost of our salvation and provision. Give us the words to speak to those who walk with us and who follow after us so that they will receive Your instructions and obey and set their hope anew on You. In Jesus' Name we pray. Amen

Friends' Favorite - Shut Him Up!

 10 Then I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, “Now salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of His Christ have come, for the accuser of our brethren, who accused them before our God day and night, has been cast down. 11 And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, and they did not love their lives to the death.

Revelation 12:10-11 NKJV

Oftentimes, phrases such as "Power in the Blood," "Blood of the Lamb," "Plead the Blood," are heard and maybe even used, but many times without true understanding. I wonder what would happen if we truly understood the power in the shed blood of Jesus the Christ.

The purpose is to cleanse us from ALL our sin and unrighteousness - to proclaim God's authority in our lives and over our lives. How do we have victory over the accuser of the brethren? By the Blood of the Lamb (Jesus shed His Blood on the cross for us) and the word of our testimony. In other words, we declare the Truth about the redemptive work of Christ's Blood in our lives! We are forgiven. We are set free. KNOW WHO YOU ARE in Christ - a NEW creation! 

We can shut the mouth of the accuser by the power of the Blood of the Lamb (Jesus), because by the Blood of the Lamb, we won't be giving the enemy of our soul anything to talk about! Let's shut him up! 

Prayer:

Father,
         Open our spiritual eyes of understanding to see and to know the Truth of the power in the shed Blood of Jesus. Remind us to daily apply it to the doorposts of our hearts. In Jesus' Name we pray. Amen