PRAY EXPECTANTLY

Posted on by

Do you pray expecting God to answer? In this prayer, note what David says after pleading his case; he watches expectantly. David expects God to respond.

“Listen to my words, Lord; consider my sighing. Pay attention to the sound of my cry, my King and my God, for I pray to You. At daybreak, Lord, You hear my voice; at daybreak I plead my case to You and watch expectantly.“ Psalms 5:1-3

Notice how specific David’s prayers were and how specific God’s replies.

“And David inquired of the Lord, “Shall I pursue after this band? Shall I overtake them?” He answered him, “Pursue, for you shall surely overtake and shall surely rescue.” 1 Samuel 30:8

After this David inquired of the Lord, “Shall I go up into any of the cities of Judah?” And the Lord said to him, “Go up.” David said, “To which shall I go up?” And he said, “To Hebron.” 2 Samuel 2:1

God always prepares His servants, His people to do the job He calls them to do. Note, how God prepared the people to follow Joshua just as they did Moses. Likewise God will prepare you and all those that are to work with you, to do the job He has called you to do.

“The Lord said to Joshua, “Today I will begin to exalt you in the sight of all Israel, that they may know that, as I was with Moses, so I will be with you.” Joshua 3:7

Just as God had Moses part the Red Sea to allow the Israelites to cross, he also had Joshua part the Jordan River to allow the Israelites to enter the Promised Land.

“Then Joshua told the Israelites, “Come closer and listen to the words of the Lord your God.” He said: “You will know that the living God is among you and that He will certainly dispossess before you the Canaanites, Hittites, Hivites, Perizzites, Girgashites, Amorites, and Jebusites when the ark of the covenant of the Lord of all the earth goes ahead of you into the Jordan... When the feet of the priests who carry the ark of the Lord, the Lord of all the earth, come to rest in the Jordan’s waters, its waters will be cut off. The water flowing downstream will stand up in a mass.” Joshua 3:9-13

There is power in prayer. When men work they work but when men pray, God works,

Just as David is a great example of how to pray correctly, sadly he also shows us what happens to our relationship with God when we sin as grievously as David did. First, we notice it separates us from God. God uses Nathan to tell David about the extensive consequences of his sin of killing Uriah and taking his wife Bathsheba.

“Now therefore the sword shall never depart from your house, because you have despised me and have taken the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be your wife.’ Thus says the Lord, ‘Behold, I will raise up evil against you out of your own house. And I will take your wives before your eyes and give them to your neighbour, and he shall lie with your wives in the sight of this sun. For you did it secretly, but I will do this thing before all Israel and before the sun.‘ David said to Nathan, “I have sinned against the Lord.” And Nathan said to David, “The Lord also has put away your sin; you shall not die. Nevertheless, because by this deed you have utterly scorned the Lord, the child who is born to you shall die.” 2 Samuel 12:10-14

Note this prayer of thanksgiving by David well after the grievous sin involving Uriah and Bathsheba. He had learnt an important lesson: “kept myself from sinning“.

“He (Lord) rescued me from my powerful enemy and from those who hated me, for they were too strong for me. They confronted me in the day of my distress, but the Lord was my support. He brought me out to a spacious place; He rescued me because He delighted in me. The Lord rewarded me according to my righteousness; He repaid me according to the cleanness of my hands. For I have kept the ways of the Lord and have not turned from my God to wickedness. Indeed, I have kept all His ordinances in mind and have not disregarded His statutes. I was blameless before Him and kept myself from sinning. So the Lord repaid me according to my righteousness, according to my cleanness in His sight.” 2 Samuel 22:18-25

THE POSTSCRIPT TO ALL PRAYERS

Posted on by

“Father, if you are willing, remove this cup from me. Nevertheless, not my will, but yours, be done.” And there appeared to him an angel from heaven, strengthening him. And being in agony he prayed more earnestly; and his sweat became like great drops of blood falling down to the ground.” Luke 22:42-44

This is the most challenging prayer of all. Here we have Jesus asking His Heavenly Father to remove the coming experience of suffering and death on The Cross. Thank goodness Jesus added the postscript, “not My will but Your will be done” otherwise all of us would be consigned to Hell on Judgement Day.

When the German Christian mystic Meister Eckhart would pray he would qualify whatever he brought before God with the following words. “Lord, give me nothing but what you will and do Lord whatever and however you will in every way”.

I was reluctant to quote Eckhart as much of what he had to say has been picked up and misquoted by New Age thinkers but this quote is Biblical.

According to Eckhart therefore, none of our prayers can insist that God give us this virtue, or this thing, or this way of life but rather “Lord give me nothing but your will, and do Lord whatever and however in every way..”

We truly have learnt how to live the Christian life when we come to the knowledge that we are not in control and that God is working out His plans and purposes on His earth. Moreover, in the Bible, His written Word, He has given us a history of His world from its beginning and with prophecy, what He is doing now and will do right up to its end. Our prayers need to get in step with what He is doing on this earth, particularly in our sphere of influence. All prayers need to have the postscript “Not my will but yours be done” and probably our greatest prayer is a simple “Thank You“.

BELIEVE AND OBEY, BOTH NECESSARY

Posted on by

There is no doubt Jesus accomplished all we need to be righteous before God our Father. Salvation is available for all those that repent of their sins and believe in Jesus as both our Saviour and Lord.

“For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes,” Romans 1:16

“But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it— the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe.” Romans 3:21-22

“We are justified by His grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus,” Romans 3:24

“And he said to the woman, “Your faith has saved you; go in peace.” Luke 7:50

It is a done deal, however the following verses also indicate that Jesus calls us to action.

“And he said to them, “Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.” Immediately they left their nets and followed him.” Matthew 4:19-20

“As Jesus passed on from there, he saw a man called Matthew sitting at the tax booth, and he said to him, “Follow me.” And he rose and followed him.“

“To another he said, “Follow me.” But he said, “Lord, let me first go and bury my father.” And Jesus said to him, “Leave the dead to bury their own dead. But as for you, go and proclaim the kingdom of God.” Luke 9:59-60

“Then Jesus told his disciples, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.” Matthew 16:24

“For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.” Ephesians 2:10

Jesus has put us in right standing with our Heavenly Father and made it possible for our Father to send the Holy Spirit to enable us to live the Christian life, to be our Counsellor, our Comforter and Teacher so the question now is are we truly obeying His call to follow Him and to do the good works He has prepared for us?

EVOLUTION?

Posted on by

What we believe drives what we do.

If you believe in evolution as taught in our schools and universities (universe caused by Big Bang and evolved) then there is no basis for meaning or purpose in your life and there is no basis for the moral laws of right and wrong. In fact, without God there is no basis for the objective moral values that do exist.

Is it any wonder we are seeing “lawlessness abound” as the Christian basis for our society is being jettisoned.

According to evolution, this wonderfully designed Cosmos and more specifically this earth with its finely tuned attributes came into being by random chance. And yet, earth’s atmosphere contains all the ingredients for life. It possesses the exact cocoon conditions necessary for life on Earth. Design by an intelligent Creator is in fact the only plausible explanation but it cannot be considered by humanist scientists because it involves the supernatural.

Dr Scott Todd, a well known evolutionist professor (immunologist) stated in “Nature 401 (September 30, 1999) “Even if all the data points to an intelligent designer, such a hypothesis is excluded from science because it is not naturalistic.“

Cosmic Constants: Stephen Hawking has admitted: “The remarkable fact is that the values of these numbers [the constants of physics] seem to have been very finely adjusted to make possible the development of life.” (A Brief History of Time, p. 125) 

  1. Gravitational force constant
  2. Electromagnetic force constant
  3. Strong nuclear force constant
  4. Weak nuclear force constant
  5. Cosmological constant
The Atmosphere is composed of five layer, each of which plays its role in protecting and nurturing Earth … the perfect cocoon
picture of earth from space, the astronauts were struck by its beauty

What about humankind, where did our intelligence come from: matter and energy? Information requires an intelligent source and is ample proof for the existence of our Creator God who has made Himself known, ultimately through God, the Son, coming to earth to redeem us, to restore us back into a right relationship with our Heavenly Father, our Creator.

Our ability to recognise beauty, to communicate, to create and utilise technology to make computers, the internet, artificial intelligence, robots is evidence for design of the highest order. In fact, God tells us we are made in His image so it makes sense we have the ability to create and make and do all of these amazing things.

You can know the truth about this world. God has revealed it to us through the design in His created world, through His prophets (inspired Word of God, Bible), through the nation He established, Israel and ultimately, through God, the Son, Jesus, coming to earth to redeem us from the curse of SIN and through God, the Holy Spirit coming to indwell all who repent and put their trust in Jesus as their Lord and Saviour.

It is the Holy Spirit indwelling believers that truly reveals the truth about this world. You cannot live the Christian life without the Holy Spirit as your Counsellor, Teacher and Comforter.

Have you been born again and have the Holy Spirit indwelling your Spirit? He is the one that produces the fruit of the Spirit in the lives of all believers: love, joy, peace, faithfulness, gentleness, goodness, kindness, patience and self control. He is also the one that provides the gifts of the spirit for ministry, gifts of faith, words of knowledge, words of wisdom, words of prophecy, gifts of tongues, interpretation of tongues, gifts of healing , miracles, gift of discernment of spirits. If the fruit of the Spirit is not evident in your life and you are not operating in some of the gifts of the Spirit then you need to seek out believers that are, so you can repent and they will baptise you (total immersion) so you can come up a new person totally forgiven of your past sins and if needed demons cast out.

SIGNS OF JESUS SECOND COMING

Posted on by

What signs dramatically point to the end of this age and the soon return of Jesus Christ? Find out with guest Pablo Frascini and Nathan Jones of the Lamb & Lion Ministries evangelism team as they provide their Prophetic Perspectives.

This is just an 8 minute video that focuses on the key elements of what we see unfolding in the world today that lines up with “end times” Bible prophecy. God is raising up people and ministries that believe God’s Word is inerrant and that the many Bible prophecies of Jesus return to this earth to rule and reign for 1000 years are being fulfilled now.

BIBLICAL PROPHECY REVEALS COMING CHAOS AND TRIBULATION PRIOR TO JESUS TRIUMPHANT RETURN

Posted on by

Fulfilled Biblical prophecies are proof the Bible is God’s Word that reveals not only the true history of His world but it reveals how He will end the story.

There are more prophecies about Jesus second coming to this earth to rule and reign for one thousand years than there were for His first coming to earth and there were more than three hundred of those that were all fulfilled to the letter.

That’s why biblical prophecy is so important. Each prophetic verse in the Bible is another brick in the tower of HOPE that God wants to build in our minds and hearts.

“For whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction, that through endurance and through the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope.” Romans 15:4

Biblical prophecy never leads us down dark pathways. It leads us past chaos and tribulation to Christ Himself, who is over all victorious. Those without Christ will feel ill at ease when reading God’s plans for the future. But those who walk with the Lord should rejoice whenever our mind learns something more about the “glory which shall be revealed”

“For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us. For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God. For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of him who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to corruption and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God.” Romans 8:18-21

The writers of the Bible viewed the End Times as the opening curtain for the return of Christ, and they anticipated the scene.

Peter told us we should be “looking forward to these things”.

“Therefore, beloved, since you are waiting for these, be diligent to be found by him without spot or blemish, and at peace… take care that you are not carried away with the error of lawless people and lose your own stability. But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. To Him be the glory both now and to the day of eternity. Amen.” 2 Peter 3:14,17-18

And Jesus said,

“Now when these things begin to happen, look up and lift up your heads, because your redemption draws near” Luke 21:28

“They came to life and reigned with Christ for a thousand years. The rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were ended. This is the first resurrection. Blessed and holy is the one who shares in the first resurrection! Over such the second death has no power, but they will be priests of God and of Christ, and they will reign with him for a thousand years.” Revelation 20:4-6

Biblical hope is sure, certain, and inexorable—promised by the decrees of God, guaranteed by the resurrection of Christ, and confirmed by the indwelling Holy Spirit. 

GOD ANSWERED PRAYER FOR OUR NATION – REPORT FROM CANBERRA DECLARATION

Posted on by

Last Friday, the Canberra Declaration (Protecting our Australian Values) launched the October Month of Prayer and Fasting for Family and Nation. The same day, Gladys Berejiklian resigned as NSW Premier. This was not an outcome we had specifically prayed for or foreseen. As far as Australia’s premiers go, we would have said that Berejiklian was one of the better ones.
Nevertheless, Berejiklian chose not to use her voice for the voiceless when it needed most. Almost exactly two years before her resignation, she had waved through horrendous abortion legislation that made abortion-to-birth legal in NSW. As Silvana Nile this week wrote, “It is a sobering reminder that we serve a God of Justice. He hears the cries of our hearts and He hears the cries of the blood on our land.”

On the 2nd of October, our 25-hour prayer event concluded. On the same day, the media began reporting that the most likely successor to Berejiklian would be Dominic Perrottet. Though the corporate press sought to smear him for his Catholic faith and large family, that is not God’s assessment.

Dominic and Helen Perrottet with five of their six children

Perrottet has an excellent track record on Christian values: he voted against the abortion bill and is a strong opponent of the euthanasia law that members of his party are seeking to push. New South Wales can only benefit from having a man of faith, a loving husband, and a father of six children at the helm.
Over the following two days, the Deputy Premier John Barilaro and senior cabinet minister Andrew Constance also resigned from the NSW parliament. Both of these men had been strong proponents of both abortion and euthanasia. As leader of the NSW Nationals, Barilaro oversaw an egregious erosion of values in what was once a Christian country party. We’re not sure how to summarise these events but to say that God has been cleaning house.
Early this week, Dominic Perrottet won his party’s ballot 39-5 to be confirmed as the 46th Premier of NSW. Normally we don’t comment in such detail on state politics, but it is hard not to see the hand of God as we have fasted and prayed for breakthrough in Australia and for Australia’s families.

Surely, this is enough evidence to encourage all Prayer Groups to persevere in prayer for their nation. I am confident that Kurt and Warwick of Canberra Declaration (www.canberradeclaration.org.au) are, as are their growing number of prayer warriors.

QUEEN ELIZABETH SPEAKS OF “LIVING FAITH”

Posted on by
Queen Elizabeth II

Queen Elizabeth II, head of the Church of England, thanked BBC’s long-running TV series “Songs of Praise,” which celebrated nearly 3,000 episodes on its 60th anniversary Sunday, for presenting Christianity as a “living faith.”

“For 60 years, Songs of Praise has drawn together congregations and BBC viewers throughout the United Kingdom in collective worship,” the queen said in a message for a special episode of the show Sunday, The Telegraph reported.

“During that time, the program has shown Christianity as a living faith not only through hymns and worship songs, but also by featuring the many people who have put their faith at the center of their lives,” the 95-year-old queen continued.

“I congratulate ‘Songs of Praise’ and all those involved in the program on its 60th anniversary,” she added.

Aled Jones, who has been a “Songs of Praise” presenter for over 20 years, called it “one of the biggest joys of my life.”

“It is an honor to be able to share uplifting stories of faith with our dear audience and to gladden hearts with music that means the world to me. Here’s to a future filled with wonderful ‘Songs of Praise!’” Jones was quoted as saying.

On Saturday morning, while opening the new session of the Scottish Parliament at Holyrood, the queen spoke publicly about the Duke of Edinburgh for the first time since his death in April, The Sunday Times reported.

“I have spoken before of my deep and abiding affection for this wonderful country, and of the many happy memories Prince Philip and I always held of our time here,” she was quoted as saying. “It is often said that it is the people that make a place, and there are few places where this is truer than in Scotland, as we have seen in recent times.”

A church leader close to the late Prince Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh, revealed in a media interview back in April that he had “persuaded” the queen, his wife, to talk more about her Christian faith ahead of her Christmas broadcast in 2000.

From my post PRINCE PHILIP’S FINEST HOUR:

Prince Philip wanted his funeral service to be a testimony to His Triune God. There was no eulogy. He wanted the total focus to be on His God and on all three persons of the Trinity. This he did by his choice of Scriptures that were read. He also wanted all to know, particularly his family and friends, that he had total confidence his eternity was in the hands of the God he wanted to be made known through the funeral service he had planned.

HOW WE FIND SPIRITUAL REST

Posted on by

How Can We Find Spiritual Rest? | by Samuel Annesley (c. 1620–1696)

How can we live with a conscience that is brought to a place of peace/tranquillity by the shed blood of Christ?

Christians, be persuaded to practice these:

1. Deal with SIN, count no sin small.

2. Know the healing and practice of repentance.

available on Amazon or from me ron@bakb.com.au

3. Live Eternal Now, ready for Jesus return. You cannot deceive Him, for He is Infinite Wisdom; you cannot fly from Him, for He is everywhere; you cannot bribe Him, for He is Righteousness itself.

4. Be serious and frequent in the examination of your heart and life. This is necessary to the getting and keeping of a right and peaceable conscience, that it is impossible to have either without it. 

5. Be in prayer, in all manner of prayer, but especially in private prayer. 

6. Let your whole life be a preparation for serving in Jesus soon coming Millennial Kingdom. Divest yourself of today’s religion and its practices. Pleasures may tickle you for a while; but they have an heart-aching farewell. You may call your riches good; but ultimately what good will they do you? Men may flatter you for your greatness; but with God your account will be the greater. 

7. Live more upon Christ than upon inherent grace. Do not venture upon sin because Christ has purchased a pardon; that is a most horrible and irreverent abuse of Christ. 

8. Be, every way, nothing in your own eyes. It is the humble soul that thrives exceedingly. “And, indeed! what have we to be proud of?

9. Entertain good thoughts of God. We never arrive to any considerable holiness or peace till we lose ourselves in His divinity and all that encompasses.

10. Do all you do out of love for God. Spiritual love-sickness is the soul’s most healthy constitution. When love for God is the cause, means, motive, and end of all our activity then the soul takes flight towards rest.

O my soul, you are so little, why won’t you open all your little doors; why wont you extend your utmost capacity, that you may be wholly possessed, wholly satiated, wholly ravished with the sweetness of so great a love? 

O, therefore, my most loving God, I implore you, tell me what may most effectually draw out my love for you, considering all that you do for me, the positive good things I receive from you, infinite in greatness, infinite in multitude!

Extracted from an article by Puritan Samuel Annesley (1620-1696). The English has been update (thou and thee and some words e.g. impious changed). I amended 6. from preparation for heaven to preparation for serving in Jesus soon coming Millennial Kingdom.

ALWAYS REMEMBER WHO IS IN CONTROL

Posted on by
“And the Lord said, “If you had faith like a grain of mustard seed, you could say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be uprooted and planted in the sea,’ and it would obey you.” Luke 17:6

“Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” Philippians 4:6

The Apostle Paul says that in every single circumstance, we can tell God what we are feeling and, as a result, the Lord will protect our hearts and minds from the weight of this world.

“In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us through wordless groans.” Romans 8:26

Here Paul makes it clear that the indwelling Holy Spirit helps us communicate our requests to God. We can rest assured He is advocating for us in our confusion and lack.

“Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things.” Colossians 3:1-2

Paul reminds us that our lives are not determined or controlled by forces on this earth. Our security is in Jesus, and that should guide our thinking.

“If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will He not much more clothe you — you of little faith?” Matthew 6:30

Even if His provision doesn’t look the way we think it should, God can be trusted to meet our greatest needs. How much more can God care for you, for whom He sent His Son, Jesus, to die?

“Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is — His good, pleasing, and perfect will.” Romans 12:2

While we certainly ought to engage in the world, Paul warns against becoming so consumed by its trappings that we begin to mirror it. Instead, we should set boundaries and see the temporary circumstances around us through the lens of our renewed minds, which come through sanctification as a result of salvation through Jesus.

The Lord is eager to meet us in every situation and circumstance, including when we’re overwhelmed by the constant flow of information fed to us by our newsfeeds. Take some time today to turn off your phone and focus on our priority: Jesus.

Remember as long as Peter kept his eyes fixed on Jesus, he was able to walk on the water. Live eternal now.