PRAYING WHEN YOU DON’T KNOW WHAT TO SAY…

I GUESS WE HAVE ALL BEEN TO THAT PLACE MANY, MANY TIMES. You have  situation you don’t have a clue as to how to help, solve or even talk to God about it. I can’t say I have any definitive answers, even enough of an answer to satisfy myself. I do know this…the solution lies with us, not HIM. For instance, there is a situation in our family, (bet you have at least one too,lol) that there appears to be no answer to, on a human level. To just blithely say, “oh, just give it to God” is silly, our minds won’t let us. One morning as I was praying for my family with my Bible open on my lap, I saw this verse, “Reflect on what I am saying, for I the Lord will give you insight into all these things.” 2 Timothy 2:7. God can’t lie…that is a statement with no conditions except to reflect…think…meditate…consider…ponder. And, then there is the BIG part, WAIT. God will bring to your mind the insight you need. In my experience, that could be an hour, day, month, or years, since He isn’t only working on you and your view of the problem but you don’t know how many other people are involved in some way,that He is dealing with. We don’t think of that. And, of course that’s why God is so interested in our learning to fully trust him! I found years ago that the Lord taught me many basic character qualities as He walked me through lessons that could only be learned in times of stress and difficulty. It sounds trite but patience learned (or learning) leads endurance and longsuffering. Worry was a big flaw in my character. Learning to trust when I was so prone to worry and fretting  was a big issue that took Him years to break me of, but He did, I’ve become convinced most professing believers do not allow the Spirit of God to make the changes in us that are imperative if we are to show a fallen world Christ. And that is a great pity!

Another aspect of what I call the “how to pray syndrome.” The Scripture tells us to pray for the peace of Jerusalem. Here we are in the last days, Israel stands almost completely alone, America is about to turn it’s back on her, the Arabs/Palestinians/Muslims refuse to view history as it is recorded in truth but have their own version which is almost entirely erroneous. And of course no one wants to believe the Biblical version except a remnant of us…Israel and the Israeli’s are His! And…He goes into great detail about what He will do to those who come against His people as almost all are doing now. I know enough about prophecy to look at our world and its leadership and put it together…and it ain’t good! Back to praying for Jerusalem, how do I/we pray for this situation when we know the horrors that are about to befall the world, and especially Israel and the Middle East? The only solution I have come up with is to pray back to God a part of the prayer the Lord taught His disciples…”Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done, on earth as it is in Heaven.”

I’m sure you have situations in your life and family that you wonder how to pray. I think the best “rule of thumb” is a word from the verse in Psalms I quoted above…reflect…God speaks to us in a small voice, usually but not always from His Word and gently will lead us where to go or what to do. Wait…Trust..and pray.

THINKING, LOVING AND CARING ABOUT ISRAEL

I am a Bible believing Christian, every jot and tittle, I follow and read about prophecy, I also follow and read about current events. I’ve been a Christian, a very committed one, for 37 years, got right with the Lord through reading Hal Lindsey’s Late, Great, Plant Earth in 1974. I had been properly instructed in the Scripture as a child so I knew what he was talking about was true, and probably coming about soon. I remember either watching or hearing the UN voting on Israel’s partition. I remember Abba Eben  speaking before the UN as they debated what to do. At the time, I didn’t know what was going on but for some reason, I had a sense of “history.” I remember President Harry Truman making a speech stating our nation’s recognition of Israel as a nation. I wasn’t very old so I don’t remember too many details but after my experience with the Lord in ‘74, I remembered, and gave it a great deal of thought. I’ve been “thinking out loud” about Israel and her place in God’s world and ours. I consider it a great privilege to be alive now, in this time period, when I believe God’s final dealing with Israel as well as His wrath with mankind will be happening. There is a saying, “I’m not expecting the undertaker, I’m expecting the uppertaker!”

These last couple of years have been incredible in light of Bible prophecy. People say they can’t understand Revelation or Daniel or any other of the Prophets…hogwash…they don’t want to. The speed with swift…the Bible uses the term, “suddenly.” Who, 40 years ago would have thought the Arabs/Muslims would be taking over as they have these last years. Who would have thought the nations would be aligned as they are, with everything moving in the direction of one, great big world, governed by a few liberal radicals or that Christianity a we have known it would be almost totally wiped out! It is happening so fast it almost takes your breath away. Jesus told us, warned us, begged us, and still we don’t listen…then or now. The show is about over and we are soon to see the finale.

If President Obama turns us away from supporting Israel and being her greatest ally…it’s all over. There are more verses of Scripture that speak to the issue of “those who love Israel/those who hate Israel” than I can record on this blog but take my word for it, these are A LOT! God loves Israel and her people with an undying, unconditional, unexplainable love. And we as a nation had better think about that. But I doubt the powers that be will give it any thought and eventually we, Israel’s last important friend, will turn on her and she will be all alone. The big BUT here is this: they are never alone, Israel’s God will never leave her or forsake her, no matter how stiff-necked she is. Watch!!! We are about to see the greatest event in human history, the curtain falling on the drama of God and His creation of and love for humanity.

ENCOURAGERS VS DISCOURAGERS

Have you ever come away from a conversation and wondered to yourself, “what did he/she mean by that? Then you mull it over in your mind, and after awhile of doing that it seems larger than life…you find yourself either angry or hurt. I’m sure I am not the only person in the world who has and will do this very thing many times. It is not a very good practice, wouldn’t you agree? The question is, what do we do with our minds when we have created a “loop” of anxiety…

There are tons of verses that speak to this issue, which indicates to me that God very well knows all about our minds and its loops. I have always particularly liked Psa 34, where we are told three times, “fret not thyself…” and that is only the beginning of Scripture that addresses this issue, some of them I will put at the bottom of this blog. God knew when He graciously brought me to Himself, that I was a champion worrier. If I didn’t have something to worry about I could find something. He also knew the type of ministry He had planned for me to take part in…counseling inmates…so the worry thing had to go. When I was first born again I had plenty to worry about, a husband that was a drunk, a business he had started and was in the process of finishing with his drinking. We were almost bankrupt and he had a heart attack! It’s a long story I won’t tell here but rest assured I had plenty to worry about and no real resources.  I had recently read a book entitled Late, Great, Planet Earth by Hal Lindsey, a prophecy book. It reminded me of all I had learned as a child and young adult…and walked away from in my late teens. I did a 180* turnaround, repented and was never the same. Let me tell you, when God wants to teach you something, He really pours it on. Trouble upon trouble upon trouble. Of course I worried, my usual habit. However, now I had a new habit, reading bulk amounts of Scripture and good, solid commentaries to go with it. So much of what I read spoke to the goodness, the mercy, the loving kindness of God. In so many places it said don’t fret, don’t be anxious, He cares for you, bring your burden to Him. I knew He was serious, and I knew I had a problem that would get me nowhere, and probably keep me from hearing Him, and making wise decisions about the problems I was facing. So…I got myself a small notebook and began to write down what I believed He was speaking to me from His Word, and meditating then memorizing the verses. As I did this, I noticed the concentration on memorizing “broke” the loop of worry…interesting…I realized what my mind was focused on dominated my thinking! PTL…God could control my mind and my tendency to fret. I have never stopped memorizing Scripture…not in 35 years. I still have bouts of fretting and I still get anxious especially over change as I have gotten older but now I know what to do about it. I cannot thank Him enough for this wonderful gift. One last thing…I had read George Mueller’s life story, how he trusted God completely for everything and spent his entire life taking care of orphans in 16th century England. He trusted God so completely that He never asked a living soul for anything and in decades, God never let him down or the orphans do without. I read that and said to God that if He ever entrusted me with a ministry, I wanted to trust Him like George Mueller did. A few years later, He led me to begin Wings of Eagles, a ministry to prisoners and their family members, not exactly the most popular kind of ministry. He reminded me of what I asked Him about trusting Him as George Mueller did Wow! That was awesome! But, I promised I would. That was in 1981, He has never let me down, supplied my every need, never early and never late. He is indeed a good God, I love Him very much and thank Him with all my heart for teaching me to lean on Him, to trust Him and obey Him. Next time I’ll tell you how He “cemented” in my heart the fact that money would never be a problem for me. I wouldn’t have a lot but I would always have what I needed. And…I would always have Him!

Having the Mind of Christ, con't

I am old enough to remember listening with my father, the goings on at the UN, asd Israel was voted into becoming a nation. My father was an uneducated man but widely read and was fascinated by the history of the Jews. He was also a new Christian, I think that had something to do with it. His excitement and interest was contagious, and I've never lost my interest all things Israeli. The Bible makes it very clear, at least to me and soome others, just how much God loves Israel and does not at all enjoy chastening her. But He has, for her own good. After Israel was declared a nation in early May 1948, she was invaded by her immediate neighbors the very next day...can you imagine????? Remember, the arabs declined the offer of the UN for a place of their own...no one seems to remember that these days...and those same nations that invaded Israel and were pushed back by them, refused to allow the arabs in that area to come into THEIR countries!!! Imagine that! Remember also, Israel's land was a desert, nothing grew, thee people there lived like nomads. Now, the arabs erected places to live in and turned it into a ghetto. The US, the day Israel was born, acknowledged her existence thanks to then Preident Harry Truman. We began sending them lots and lots of money (the arabs) to assist them to make something of themselves. European countries also gave money...we are talking millions and millions here. And guess where the money went? Into the pockets of the leadership at the encouragement of the other arabs to keep them fom prospering and bacoming content. Israel built "kabutzes"...small settlements where people lived, and worked. They worked the ground and in due course, the land began to bloom! And...they offered to teach the arabs how to farm and give them the supplies they needed to move forward. Of course they were told "no thank you." All of these statements are provable by reading the many, many books written by those involved in this process plus observers. It is not a myth, it is fact, just as the Bibe said...in Ezekiel. The Us has been Israels main ally and friend all these years...until the present administration took over and began to cut of the relationship with Israel we had always had. Of course this will be our undoing since God promised to "bless those who bless you and curse those who curse you. To Be Con't......