Thought For 2009

You don't have to worry about what lies ahead in 2009

because God is already there.

Prayer is our need cryig out for help. Prayer is the voice of faith to the Farther. Prayer is the living word in lips of faith. Prayer is the channel through which all good flows from God to man and all good from men to men. Prayer is a privilege, a sacred, princely privilege. Prayer is a duty, an obligation most blinding, and most imperative which should hold us to it. But prayeris more than a privilege, more than a duty. It is a means, an instrument, a condition. It is the appionted condition of getting God's aid. It is the avenue through which God supplies man's wants.
It is time to ask the question, What is prayer anyway? I have already said prayer looks out on three worlds. We shall deal with the nature of prayer from this vanage point. We will discuss prayer as worship, prayer as work, prayer as warfare.
Prayer as Worship
We should be reminded that prayer is not just ameans of getting thimgs from God but is the means whereby we may come to know God. Prayer, in this primary essence, its worship. Worship is the recognition of worth, the fitting of God into the over all picture of our lives in his proper perspective. The very act of prayer, weather we kneel, sit, lie on our face, or stand is an affifmation of the worthiness of God.
Without prayer there is no worship. By prayer we enter into God,s holy temple, and pentrate at once to the throne of grace. Prayer is not only the shortest distance to God,s mighty throne. It is the only way in. TO think that this supreme wonder could take place so suddenly with one bold, blood-brought step! There we see the Lord Jesus ever living to pray for us, and ready to give us of His own praying by His Spirit. Glorious discovery. He is only a prayer away! The veil of sense and space that hides Him within His temple- universe is suddenly removed as we pray. We enter silently into His temple, and lo, suddenly we are before His throne,Priests, before our great High Priest. There too we are in the presence of angels and archangels, and with all the company of heaven we worship and adore Him. only there do we discover the wonder of worship, that worship is before work, and that all His works are done in the spirit of worship. There are many church goers but few worshipers, because there are few pray-ers.
So as prayer looks toward God. It is worsship. This is its primary essence. There are only two ways by which we can get to know God, through His word and through prayer, But the fact is that while the word contains facts about God only through prayer and prayerful use of the word can we use it to get to know God.

We make choices. Somestimes wisely.Somestimes not.

God gives eternal choices, and these choices have eternal consequences .

You've made some bad choices in life, haven't you? you've chosen the wrong friends, maybe the wrong career, even the wrong spouse. You look back over your life and say if only I could make up for those bad choices. you can. One good choice for eternity offsets a thousand bad ones on earth. The choice is yours. Since Jesus came to earth, this eternal choice has been available to us. And yet we wonder how some can choose eternal life and some reject it. We wonder how two men can see the same Jesus, and one choose to mock Him and the other choose to pray to Him. I don't know how but they did. That's what happened at the cross. there were two crosses on the hill that day, the day Jesus died. Two criminals, suffering the same death. And those two crosses remind us of one of God's greatest gift; the gift of choice. One chose Jesus; the other merely mock Him. Scripture reveals a compelling part of the story: One of the criminals on the cross began to shout insults at Jesus: Aren't you the king of the jews? Then save yourself and us. But the other criminal stopped him and said, you should fear God! you are getting the same punishment he is. We are punished justly, getting what we deserve for what we did. But this man has done nothing wrong. Then he said , Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom. Jesus said to him, I tell you the truth, today you will be with me in paradise (Luke 23:39- 43, When one dying criminal prayed, Jesus loved him enough to save him. And when the other mocked, Jesus loved him enough to let him.

He allowed him the choice

He does the same for you.

1John 1:1-2:2; Galatians 2:8-

>The message in the first part of the letter is quite clear: Jesus was real human. The writer knows this to be true because he lived with Him, he saw Him, heard Him, and touch Him, He the writer wants others to share in this wonderful fellowship and in so doing one's joy might be complete. One can sense the ugency of this message- it was as if he was saying, My friends let me tell you that Jesus is real!"

As followers of Jesus, we too must be eager to declare to all what you have seen and heard. Tell them about how Jesus is real. Telling others about the Lord will bring youeven greater joy and fulfillment then you can imagine.

Prayer: Lord, give me the courage to stand

boldly and tell others about you.