Praying God's Promises

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And to Seth, to him also there was born a son; and he called his name Enos: then began men to call upon the name of the Lord. 

~Genesis 4:26

Why do we pray? Is it just because we think we should or are we praying for the things God has promised?


A friend of mine related how her pastor used the verse from Genesis 4:26 to help them see how God honors His promises. Seth was Adam and Eve's third son. In Genesis 3:15 God promised to send the Savior to bruise Satan's head though Satan would bruise his heel. Satan immediately began a plan to derail God's promise. God gave Adam and Eve two sons, Cain and Able. They taught their boys to make the blood sacrifice of an animal for the forgiveness of sin just as God had made the sacrifice for them. However, Cain felt his hard work should be good enough. When God rejected Cain's sacrifice of his crops, Cain was angry and in jealousy killed his brother. The righteous seed of Able was destroyed and Satan thought he had won the war early.


Adam and Eve did not lose faith in God's promise. Nor had God turned his back on his promise. Eve conceived again and Seth was born. Once again Adam and Eve taught their son to have faith in God's promise, to make the blood sacrifice for the forgiveness of sin. There is no mention of Adam and Eve's other children following the Lord except in a lineage of Godly men and their families to Noah. When all the world went their own way every thought was evil. But Noah believed God and found grace in his eyes.


When we pray today, do we hold to God's promises or are we simply making rote prayers in vain repetition like the heathen to their idols?

Remember your first prayer of faith in God's promise? 

For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. Romans 10:13

• We know we sin daily. What is God's promise? I John 1:0
• We pray for the salvation of our family. Do we stand on the promise of Acts 16:31?
• We pray for the sick. Why? James 5:16
• If we ask for healing does that always mean we are healed on this earth? The saved are winners either way. Psalms 116:15
• Do we pray for our leaders, even those with whom we disagree? I Timothy 2:1-4
• As conflicts arise more and more in the Middle East, do we love Israel enough to pray for her? Psalms 122:6

God makes us a promise of blessings with each prayer we pray. 

What an awesome God we serve.

Father God, we love you and thank you for your promises and blessings. May your kingdom come and your will be done on earth as it is in heaven (Matthew 6:10). In Jesus's name. Amen.

A Patchwork Country

 

Photo by Nathan Bang on Unsplash 

Turn us back to You, O Lord, and we will be restored.

Lamentations 5:21 NKJV

Quilts --- small colored pieces of cloth stitched together in a pleasing pattern to provide comfort, warmth, and protection against the cold. 

I'd much rather have a quilt than a blanket. If you've seen one blanket, you've seen them all. Not so many years ago, women saved their scraps from the family clothes to make winter quilts. Often those scraps held memories of family events or funny stories. Scraps were saved from baby clothes, men's jackets, and even mourning clothes. My Papa bought a bolt of white cloth so Grandma could make the family Easter clothes, a dress for their little girl, a dress for her, and a Sunday shirt for Papa. Without thinking, Grandma dyed the whole bolt --- pink!

Yes, Papa wore his new pink shirt with his overalls that Easter of 1925. Wouldn't a piece of Papa's shirt make a great piece for a quilt? Their little girl had recovered from infantile paralysis. Wouldn't a piece of her dress make another great square? 

Long Ago and Far Away

 

And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel. ~Genesis 3:15

Long ago and far away in a time when men wrote stories to empress the rulers, a story was written about a prince with a shield that bore a red cross. A princess searched for this prince because she and her kingdom were in danger of being eaten by a dragon, especially the children. Her parents locked the princess in a tower with them to protect her but she was brave. She knew she must find a way to save the children. 

The prince's intention was to reach the beautiful castle on the hill but first, he must cross the valley where the evil dragon lived. He was entreated by the princess to conquer this fire-breathing dragon. Three times he was almost killed by the dragon but each time he overcame the injury and wounded the dragon. The first wound was his wing. The second time the prince chopped off his hand. The last time he stabbed the sword into the dragon's mouth. He fell dead to the delight of the valley people. 

The princess introduced the prince to her parents. The gift to the dragon slayer was to be the hand of the princess in marriage. The two were wed but the prince had to return to serve the Fairy Queen for six years before his job was complete. 

What a fairy tale! One I had never heard or had I? It sounded vaguely familiar but the story I know is no fairy tale. My son's high school English teacher had made him aware there was a Jesus character in every good piece of Western literature. The Jesus figure would seem to be the underdog but by the end of the story, he would be the victor. 

Let's take a moment to analyze the importance of this story. St. George and the Dragon is part of Faerie Queene written by Edmund Spencer. When it was written, the printing press was a new invention. So the Bible was not yet printed in England and probably wouldn't have been well received by the Queen or the priests. Scripture was strictly reserved for the church hierarchy. So this tale could be printed and distributed in England especially if the author gave the story to the queen and made her think she was a heroine in the story. 

So thinking about the characters

• St. George the Conqueror who was almost conquered. - God told Satan he would bruise the woman's seed but the seed of the woman would bruise Satan's head. 
• Three times St. George was almost killed. - Biblically, three is the number of God. Many times Satan has tried to destroy the lineage to Jesus and to destroy Jesus himself; Herod's killing of the babies, the people took Jesus out to stone him but he passed through the crowd, and when Jesus was crucified. 
• Three times the dragon was wounded. Many times Satan tried to overturn God's plan but Nebuchadnezzar came to his senses and praised God, Haman was hanged on the gallows built for Mordecai and the Jews defeated their enemies, and Antiochus Epiphanies desecrated the altar by sacrificing a pig and attempting to destroy the Jewish religion.  But in the resurrection, Jesus conquered death and defeated Satan who now awaits his time. Oh yes, he still likes to wreak havoc, but his time is short. 
• The princess becomes St. George's bride. - The church is the bride of Christ awaiting his return for the wedding supper. 
• St. George must serve the Fairy Queen six years. - The universe was created in six days. One day is like a thousand years with the Lord. Did the author have a notion that maybe six thousand years would be an end to Satan? 

Heavenly Father, help us keep our eyes upon you and your word. Help us be aware of the spiritual warfare that goes on every moment and may we, the bride of Christ, put on the whole armor of God (Ephesians 6:11-18), and proclaim the faith until he returns. In Jesus's name. Amen.

Beginning the Year

                          

Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. II Timothy 2:15 KJV

Daily Devotional? Read through the Bible in a Year? How much time will these take out of my busy schedule? I thought I might take into account how much time I spend watching TV. I thought I'd also see how much screen time I use daily. Out of 16 waking hours, I spend ____  WHAT???WOW!!! 

If I give 10% of my income could I not give 10% of my time? WOW again, that would be over an hour and a half each day. So maybe if I skip 15-30 minutes of TV or screen time that would give me time to do a little Bible study. 

I use the S.O.A.P. method. It usually takes 15 -20 minutes. Then I do a five minute devotional. I'm often surprised how well they mesh together. 

Here's the journaling method I do with my Bible reading. Reading and journaling is usually about 20 minutes.

S. Scripture - I prayerfully read a chapter and allow God to impress one or two verses on my heart. I copy that scripture as the heading of today's reading. 

O. Observation - In my own words, I write my observations about the context of the verse. In other words, I retell the story. 

A. Application - How has God impressed upon me to apply these verses in my world? 

P. Prayer - I write my prayer about applying this scripture in my life.

The verse I chose today was from John 12: 1-11 with an emphasis on verse 9. Much people of the Jews therefore knew that he was there: and they came not for Jesus' sake only, but that they might see Lazarus also, whom he had raised from the dead. 

My observation was that people came to see Lazarus because he knew what it was like to be dead and then come back to life. They probably had questions like; "Did you go toward a light? Was it scary? Did you hover around and watch people as they mourned for you? Did you go to paradise or heaven?" One of the biggest takeaways I had was that Lazarus was a man just like the people and they wanted to see someone whose life God had resurrected from death to a new life.

My application became my Christian walk. I say I am a Christian and people watch me every day to see how God has changed me, how He has delivered me from a lost/dead state to a new/resurrected life in Christ.

Usually, folks don't really come to church looking for God. They come because someone invited them. People want to see how God can change us in such a way that we are new people/creatures in Christ. They've never known what it is like to have their lives completely changed. They are curious to see how it works. 

My prayer was of course personal and individual but here's my thoughts.

Heavenly Father, help me demonstrate my life in Christ every day so that others might see the wonderful change Jesus makes in my life because I have asked for forgiveness and salvation. May others be so affected by the change that it would cause them to turn to Jesus as well. In Christ Jesus's name. Amen

Hey Kids:

Paul wrote these words to young Timothy. And that from a child thou hast known the holy scriptures, which are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus. 

II Timothy 3:15.

You can use S.O.A.P. You may want to do your own study or find out where your parents will be studying each day. God may reveal something different to you that you can share at the family altar time. God has something for each of us no matter how old or how young. We'd love for you to share with us, but most importantly, share with your family and demonstrate Christ to others.