Crossroads Community Church notes

November 7, 2013 · 0 Comments

A spirit of praise filled the air on this beautiful crisp November morn, we were ushered into God’s sanctuary and Pastor Don prayed. We remember the families who mourn loved ones this week; the Coe and the Whale families, we pray for comfort and peace during their time of sorrow. Worship was joyous and uplifting, we feel blessed to have a great worship leader in Bob.

Pastor Don’s morning message was on persistent prayer. Have you heard of the Acronym P.U.S.H.? Pray Until Something Happens; this is the approach to prayer I want to share with you. Jesus had much to say on prayer during the infamous “Sermon on the Mount”, “When you pray, don’t be like the hypocrites who love to pray publicly on street corners and in the synagogues where everyone can see them. I tell you the truth that is all the reward they will ever get. But when you pray, go away by yourself, shut the door behind you, and pray to your Father in private. Then your Father, who sees everything, will reward you. “When you pray, don’t babble on and on as people of other religions do. They think their prayers are answered merely by repeating their words again and again. Don’t be like them, for your Father knows exactly what you need even before you ask him,(Matthew 6:5-8).

Although there is a time where group prayer in God’s house is necessary to bring encouragement, hope and healing for those present there is great benefit in private prayer in our intimate time with God and it honors Him. Jesus prayed in public when He held up the 2 fish and the 5 loaves humbly asking God for a miracle to feed over 5000 men, (Matthew 14:18-19.) However he soon retreated to pray privately,(Matthew 14:23). Persistent prayer involves praying without losing hope, never giving up, always keeping God at the forefront of our needs and challenges. Jesus gave a good example in the parable of the persistent widow,(Luke 18:1-3). She kept asking the judge for justice day after day until she was answered. The judge had no choice but to give her want she consistently requested because he was irritated. In our approach to prayer we should have the same persistence. The widow displayed tenacity and courage in a time where society had little regard for widows and orphans who bore a heavy lot in life. In the Old Testament God teaches us to consider the needs of the less fortunate and give them support,(Isaiah 1:17). In the New Testament also in 1 Timothy 5:3, God wants us to be compassionate to the destitute even today for His love is constant, the same yesterday, today and tomorrow.

A lesson to retain from this widow is not giving into worry, she was certainly in a position where it could have been her response but she was determined and persisted instead. God wants us to be persistent in prayer instead of worrying. Worry is not healthy and it is like a water leak, it begins with a trickle when doubt creeps into our minds, if allowed to persist, it becomes a stream of fear which brings upon a pond of paranoia and overflows to a river of distress turning into a torrent of tension and before you know it, a flood has carved a Grand Canyon in your mind. In life when unforeseen situations arise, we have two choices, lose heart and let worry control us or kneel and pray to God who loves us and cares for us,(1 Peter 5:7). Praying requires our faith in the One who answers and action by submitting to Him who controls all circumstances. God answers out of genuine love unlike the judge who answered out of irritability, (Luke 18:6-7).

Jesus practiced what he preached. When he was in the Garden of Gethsemane the night He was betrayed and arrested to be crucified, filled with anguish He fervently prayed to the point of sweating droplets of blood after which God sent angels to minister to him and strengthened Him by his Holy Spirit, (Luke 22:42-44).

It is wise not to doubt when praying. If we believe God is good and just then we also believe that He will answer fairly at the right time and in the appropriate way. He loves us and wants what is best for us. Our aim when praying is to be in line with His will and not give up, (1 John 5:14-15). He gives what is right in His timing but will He find us having kept the faith? (Luke 18:8).

Beloved let us boldly approach God in prayer, we are never closer to Him than when we humbly kneel before Him and present our requests. He has great plans for us to bless us and prosper us. As we wait for the answers let us remember that His delays are not denials and when we persist in prayer we will grow in Christlike character. Have a prayerful week, Asherey Shalom!

To learn more visit www.shelburnecrossroadschurch.ca