The weight of our prayer

Philippians 4:6 (NIV) 

Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.

I read this story a while and came across it again today. When we pray how much weight is in that prayer. So we trust God for the things we need?

There is a story of a grocery store owner who tried to weigh a prayer. A tired-looking woman came into the store and asked for enough food to make a dinner for her children. The grocer asked her how much she could spend. The frail woman answered, "I have nothing to offer but a little prayer."

The storekeeper was not very sentimental nor religious, so he said, half-mockingly, "Write it on paper, and I'll weigh it." So she did. The grocer placed the prayer on the weight side of his old-fashioned scales. Then he began piling food on the other side; but to his amazement, the scale would not go down. He finally became flustered and gave the woman a large bag of food.

The grocer never saw the woman again, but he treasures the slip of paper upon which the woman's prayer had been written; "Please, Lord, give us this day our daily bread."

Dear Lord, thank You for giving us our daily bread. Help our prayers be faithful to You in all that we ask for. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

The Christian on his knees sees more than the philosopher on tiptoe.

Job 28:28 (NIV)

And he said to the human race,

    “The fear of the Lord—that is wisdom,

    and to shun evil is understanding.”

In early 1994, Ramona Callaway of Alberta, Canada, began suffering horrible seizures. At first she was convinced she had contracted Huntington's disease because her father and siblings had contracted it. But tests showed that her genes were normal.

Her husband Phil, the editor for the Christian Magazine "Servant", didn't know what to say when his young children asked if Mommy was going to die. Hundreds of friends and relatives prayed, but Ramona's weight eventually slipped to 90 pounds. Medical specialists tried everything, but by the fall of 1996, the seizures were occurring daily, sometimes hourly.

Phil rarely left Ramona's side. He wondered if she would even make it to her 30th birthday. One evening, when things looked utterly hopeless, Phil paced their dark backyard, and then fell to his knees. "God!" He cried out. "I can't take it anymore. Please do something!"

Suddenly a doctor's name came to mind. Phil called the doctor, who saw Ramona the next morning and diagnosed a rare chemical deficiency. Within a week, Ramona's seizures ended. Her eyes sparkled again. The miracle was so incredible, Phil says, "God gave me back my wife."

It is often in brokenness and in worship that the Lord grants us wisdom. As I read this story it brought back to mind a quote I read while at Moody Bible Institute by D.L. Moody "The Christian on his knees sees more than the philosopher on tiptoe."

Dear Lord, we praise You that when we are humble before You, You will grant us Your wisdom. Help us today to humbly come before You with the cares and concerns of our heart. In Jesus’ Name, Amen. 

Happy Easter - The Tomb is Empty

John 20:1-18 (NIV)

1 Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene went to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the entrance. 2 So she came running to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one Jesus loved, and said, “They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we don’t know where they have put him!” 3 So Peter and the other disciple started for the tomb. 4 Both were running, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. 5 He bent over and looked in at the strips of linen lying there but did not go in. 6 Then Simon Peter came along behind him and went straight into the tomb. He saw the strips of linen lying there, 7 as well as the cloth that had been wrapped around Jesus’ head. The cloth was still lying in its place, separate from the linen. 8 Finally the other disciple, who had reached the tomb first, also went inside. He saw and believed. 9 (They still did not understand from Scripture that Jesus had to rise from the dead.) 10 Then the disciples went back to where they were staying. 11 Now Mary stood outside the tomb crying. As she wept, she bent over to look into the tomb 12 and saw two angels in white, seated where Jesus’ body had been, one at the head and the other at the foot. 13 They asked her, “Woman, why are you crying?” “They have taken my Lord away,” she said, “and I don’t know where they have put him.” 14 At this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not realize that it was Jesus. 15 He asked her, “Woman, why are you crying? Who is it you are looking for?” Thinking he was the gardener, she said, “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have put him, and I will get him.” 16 Jesus said to her, “Mary.” She turned toward him and cried out in Aramaic, “Rabboni!” (which means “Teacher”). 17 Jesus said, “Do not hold on to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father. Go instead to my brothers and tell them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’” 18 Mary Magdalene went to the disciples with the news: “I have seen the Lord!” And she told them that he had said these things to her.

Little Philip, born with Down's syndrome, attended a third-grade Sunday School class with several eight-year-old boys and girls. Typical of that age, the children did not readily accept Philip with his differences, according to an article in Leadership magazine. But because of a creative teacher, they began to care about Philip and accept him as part of the group, though not fully. The Sunday after Easter the teacher brought Leggs pantyhose containers, the kind that look like large eggs. Each receiving one, the children were told to go outside on that lovely spring day, find some symbol for new life, and put it in the egg-like container. Back in the classroom, they would share their new-life symbols, opening the containers one by one in surprise fashion. After running about the church property in wild confusion, the students returned to the classroom and placed the containers on the table. Surrounded by the children, the teacher began to open them one by one. After each one, whether flower, butterfly, or leaf, the class would ooh and ahh. Then one was opened, revealing nothing inside. The children exclaimed, "That's stupid. That's not fair. Somebody didn't do their assignment." Philip spoke up, "That's mine." "Philip, you don't ever do things right!" the student retorted. "There's nothing there!" I did so do it," Philip insisted. "I did do it. It's empty. the tomb was empty!" Silence followed. From then on Philip became a full member of the class.

He died not long afterward from an infection most normal children would have shrugged off. At the funeral this class of eight-year-olds marched up to the altar not with flowers, but with their Sunday school teacher, each to lay on it an empty pantyhose egg.

What a great reminder that on the first Easter the tomb was empty and our Lord was risen and alive. Let us not fail to remember not only this Easter day the fact that our Lord is alive but every day.

Dear Lord, thank You for dyeing on the cross for our sins being buried then rising form the dead conquering death. Thank You that we can call upon Your name and ask forgiveness for our sins because of what You did for each of us. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

The prayer of a righteous person.

James 5:16 (NIV)

Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective.

When Dr. Paul White was serving in a bush hospital in East Africa, a schoolteacher named Yamusi Cikata came to him, carried on a stretcher from a nearby village. Parasites and disease had attacked his feet, swelling them to twice their normal size. He was no longer able to walk or even stand.

"The disease is very bad indeed," Dr. White told him, following an examination. "The only way to save your life will be to cut both your legs off above the knee."

The man's face fell. "But there's no place for a man in our tribe who has no feet. How can I cultivate? How can I look after my garden and my cattle?"

Pulling a worn Testament from his scant clothing, Yamusi turned to James 5:16 and said, "Read this." Dr. White, unable to read the tribal language, asked his assistant to translate it. The very strong prayer of a man who is right with God is most effective.

"Do you believe that?" Asked the patient. "Yes, Yamusi, I do."

"Do you believe it enough to stake my life on it?"

The doctor pondered the question. "That depends on you as well," he finally replied. "It says in the Book, `If two of you shall agree in anything that you ask, it will be done."' Together the two men made a covenant, the doctor kneeling by the man's bedside. The prayers were accompa­nied by months of hot foot baths, injections, therapy, and treatment. After seven months, a slight improvement was seen, and the two men knelt together thanking God and asking for more progress.

One morning, Dr. White found Yamusi hobbling around the ward, beaming; and before the year was out he was able to walk without pain.'

God doesn't always say yes to all our requests, but He listens with unusual attentiveness when two or three gather in united prayer-and He responds in His own way and time with power and wisdom.

Dear Lord, thank You for always being there and listening to our prayers. Give us the faith to believe that You are listening even when we don’t get the answer we want. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

It's Friday! But Sunday is coming.

John 19:30 (NIV)

When he had received the drink, Jesus said, “It is finished.” With that, he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.

Jesus’ pain and abuse and death on that cross was because of me… because of you… because we chose to turn away from God and go our own way. Jesus died instead of us, because the death of a perfect sacrifice was the only way to restore us to perfect fellowship and healing with God Our Father.

The sins we commit, even those we take so lightly cost Jesus His life. It is wonderful to know that when we confess our sins, God will cleanse and forgive us.

Reading the story of Jesus’ arrest, trial and crucifixion today, we have the benefit of knowing that it’s all leading up to the triumph of Easter. But to the Jesus-followers present at the scene, it must have seemed that the world as they knew it was falling apart.

It is difficult to empathize with its participants of that first Good Friday. From our perspective, the Easter crowds seem insanely fickle; Jesus’ disciples seem utterly clueless; the members of the Sandhedrin contemptibly evil; Pilate laughably corrupt.

Those things are true. Nobody except Jesus behaves well in the Good Friday story. But it’s these very people—fickle, clueless, evil, corrupt—that Jesus died for.

The truth is that we have much in common with the fools and villains of Easter. The wonder is that Jesus loved them, and us, enough to submit to foolishness, injustice, and death. The miracle is that three days later, he rose from the dead to offer us salvation. Hallelujah, what a Savior!

Sometimes we need to be reminded of Grace, and sometimes we need to be reminded of the weight of our sin, and of the value and high cost of our forgiveness that came our way that first Easter.

Dear Lord, we thank You for what You went through so that we may have complete forgiveness for our sins.  Help us never take that lightly. In Jesus’ Name, Amen. 

God's healing power

Psalm 107:28-30  (NIV)

28 Then they cried out to the Lord in their trouble,

    and he brought them out of their distress.

29 He stilled the storm to a whisper;

    the waves of the sea were hushed.

30 They were glad when it grew calm,

    and he guided them to their desired haven.

Middle East—Akbed didn't know what to do next after numerous visits with doctors and witches to make his sick wife well. He heard there was a group of Christians quietly meeting in a Bible League-trained worker's home. He thought he would go to them for prayer, but knew he would be treated with contempt by his family and neighbors. There were no options left.

His belief about Christians:

All his life Akbed believed Christians were evil—that their Bible was flawed and corrupt. He was taught to disdain those who follow this Christian God. Now he had no choice but to visit the man in charge named Danil.

"If you pray she will be healed," Akbed pleaded. Danil responded, "It is my principle that you need to come to the church meeting in order to receive prayer."

He risked everything to try and save his wife:

Risking his reputation but realizing his wife was more important than what his fellow Muslims thought, he brought her to the church meeting and they received prayer. They also learned of God's love through the teaching of His Word during the meeting. Their minds had been changed about Jesus and their lives would change as well.

God healed her:

Through the prayers of God's faithful in this small village, Akbed's wife was healed in body and soul. Akbed says of his wife, "She's a new creature in Christ; God has changed her into a new woman!"

There is power in prayer. Pray for those around you so that they can see the power of the Lord.

Dear Lord, we thank You that we can talk to You through prayer. We are amazed at the power of prayer and are thankful for what You do. Help us to believe and continue to come to You through prayer. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

With God all things are possible

Luke 1:37  (KJV)

For with God nothing shall be impossible.

"Is anything too hard for the Lord?

 In June 1926, Raymond Edman, a twenty-six year old missionary was in the Andes Mountains of Ecuador. He and his wife had been married for just over a year and had an eight-week-old son when Raymond was stricken with typhoid fever and given up to die. Raymond's legs had grown cold and he lapsed into a coma. His wife and friends were so sure of his imminent death that his wife, who didn't have a black dress, dyed her wedding dress black for the expected funeral and a friend purchased a coffin in which to bury him.

But while these events were taking place in Ecuador, a Bible conference was taking place in Massachusetts 3,500 miles away. Dr. Joseph Evans, one of the leaders of that conference, began to feel a deepening burden to pray for Raymond. The group left off their study of the scriptures and began to engage in earnest prayer. They knew nothing of Raymond's situation. They prayed through the lunch hour and into the middle of the afternoon until Evans exclaimed: "Praise the Lord! The victory is won!" Indeed, the victory had been won. Raymond regained his health that very day and lived forty-one more years and went on to become the fourth president of Wheaton College.

What difficulty are you wrestling with this day?

Dear Lord, we give You all of our problems to You today. We praise You that nothing is too hard for You. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.