I found more promises!!


"Lift up your heads, O you gates!  And be lifted up, you everlasting doors!  And the King of glory shall come in.  Who is this King of glory?  The LORD strong and mighty, The LORD mighty in battle.  Lift up your heads, O you gates!  Lift up, you everlasting doors!  And the King of glory shall come in.  Who is this King of glory?  The LORD of hosts, He is the King of glory.  Selah" (Psalm 24:7-10)


"And whatever we ask we receive from Him, because we keep His commandments and do those things that are pleasing in His sight."  (1 John 3:22)


"Now this is the confidence that we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us.  And if we know that He hears us, whatever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we have asked of Him."  (1 John 5:14-15)


"The LORD is near to all who call upon Him, To all who call upon Him in truth.  He will fulfill the desire of those who fear Him; He also will hear their cry and save them."  (Psalm 145:18-19)

One more verse sent from a friend who reads my blog:  "And it shall come to pass, that before they call, I will answer; and while they are yet speaking,  I will hear."  (Isaiah 65:24)


Thanks, Geneive!

I write a Prayer for Prodigals each week that goes out to people on a mailing list and is used in a time of prayer that we host after Wednesday evening services.  Included is a promise, a name or attribute with which to praise the Lord, and a prayer based on scripture.  Some of you may be on the mailing list.

Today I was looking through some of those prayers, and I found some outstanding promises from God's Word.  They bless me, and I thought they would bless you, too.

"O LORD God of our fathers, are You not God in heaven, and do You not rule over all the kingdoms of the nations, and in Your hand is there not power and might, so that no one is able to withstand You?"  (2 Chronicles 20:6)

"Why art thou cast down, O my soul? and why art thou disquieted in me? hope thou in God:  for I shall yet praise him for the help of his countenance."  (Psalm 42:5)

"He shall not be afraid of evil tidings:  his heart is fixed, trusting in the Lord.  His heart is established, he shall not be afraid, until he see his desire upon his enemies."  (Psalm 112:7-8)

"Jesus saith unto him, Go thy way; thy son liveth.  And the man believed the word that Jesus had spoken unto him, and he went his way."  (John 4:50)

"I sought the LORD, and he heard me, and delivered me from all my fears."  (Psalm 34:4)

"Fear not, little flock; for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom."  (Luke 12:32)

"I have seen his ways, and will heal him:  I will lead him also, and restore comforts unto him and to his mourners."  (Isaiah 57:18)

"The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me;  because the LORD hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek; he hath sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound."  (Isaiah 61:1)

"And it shall come to pass, that as I have watched over them to pluck up, to break down, to throw down, to destroy, and to afflict, so I will watch over them to build and to plant, says the Lord."  (Jeremiah 31:28)

"And the LORD said unto Moses, I will do this thing also that thou hast spoken:  for thou hast found grace in my sight, and I know thee by name."  (Exodus 33:17)

These are just a few.  Perhaps in a few days I will post more.  

Don't stop praying!  God is working.  He promised!!

Addendum to my last post:  There are times we should "pray through" for situations in our lives, for our unsaved loved ones.  We should be like the widow who pestered the judge until he answered her petition (Luke 18:1-7).  Sometimes we are to "stand in the gap."  (Ezekiel 22:30 says:  "And I sought for a man among them, that should make up the hedge, and stand in the gap before me for the land, that I should not destroy it:  but I found none.")  Sometimes we are to pray fervently.  (James 5:16 says:  "The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.")  Sometimes we are commanded to not be weary in well-doing.  (Galatians 6:9 says:  "And let us not be weary in well doing:  for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not.")

I felt clarity was in order.  Thanks for humoring me!

I read a devotional this week, and I want to share it with you.

 

Coming Back

 

by Luann Prater

 

" 'Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you.  I am no longer worthy to be called your son.  Treat me as one of your hired servants.' "

 (Luke 15:18-19 ESV)

 

"Kay was a prodigal.  She had been stunningly beautiful, but now her beauty was hollow and worn.  Downcast with shoulders slumped, she walked throught the doors of her childhood church.

 

"Heads turned and whispers hollowed her as she made her way to the front of the church during an invitation to come forward for prayer.  She fell to her knees at the altar.  A group gathered around her and prayed for what seemed like an eternity.  She slowly rose to her feet and was asked, 'Did you pray through?' to which the weary wanderer replied, 'I think so.'

 

"I don't remember seeing Kay back in church again.

 

"In my church, the phrase 'pray through' was synonymous with striving, staining, and working to find grace and deliverance.  When I became a prodigal myself and wanted desperately to find answers and deliverance, I remembered Kay's forlorn look and decided to keep wandering.  It just seemed easier than trying to 'pray through.'

 

"Have you been wandering, looking for answers?  Do you long to return to the Father after being far away but hesitate, wondering how you will make it back to Him and what it will cost you?

 

"When coming 'back home' we often have the same mentality as the prodigal sone (Luke 15:18-19).  Feeling worn down and unworthy, we come to our Father thinking we have to work like hired servants to earn our place.

 

"After many years, I discovered that forgiveness and salvation aren't chores for us to labor over.  They are free gifts from an amazing God!  Jesus offeres these gifts to all who believe in His name. 

 

"Jesus says, 'Come to me.'  Period.  It really isn't any more complicated than that.  He loves you.  He has been waiting for you and He welcomes you with open arms.  We don't have to work for forgivenss or 'pray through' like those well-meaning people in my childhood church felt the need to do. 

 

"God's heart for us is the same as the father's heart for his prodigal son:  'But while (the prodigal son) was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him' (Luke 15:20)."

 

This is the bulk of it.  I hope it gives hope.

 

 

 

 





There is no telling how many times I have read this verse, but today a part jumped out at me, and I felt I should share with you.


Many of our lost loved ones are deceived someway or another.  Either they do not see their need for a Savior, perhaps because they are such good people, or they do not believe in the infallibility of the Word of God, or they have bought into some part of the current ideas on the creation or homosexuality or God's judgment instead of what the Bible says.  Or perhaps they do not feel they can ever be forgiven for the sins they have committed or that God would answer their prayers.  Deception comes in all shapes and sizes.  But Job 12:16 address that:  "With him is strength and prudence.  The deceived and the deceiver are His."


And that's that! 

I know this is my second post of the day, and this is less a raindrop and more of a realization, a dawning, an Aha Moment.  I simply had to share.


Christians seem to throw the word saved around easily, so much so that it has lost its real meaning.  But lately, I have been aware of just how much that word means.


I have been spending time with someone who is very bound by satan, whose life is enveloped in darkness, who is so very lost.  It hit me:  this person needs to be SAVED:  saved from the darkness; saved from the deception; saved from the bondage; saved from being lost.  This person needs to be SAVED from satan and his plans.  This person needs to be rescued, delivered, SAVED!!!! 


I am praying this scripture over this person:  "Cause __________ to call on Your Name, LORD, and save him/her."  (Romans 10:9, 13)


Keep on praying.