“In my distress I cried unto the Lord, and he heard me” ( Psalm 120).
The Almighty God reigns everywhere and even before we open our mouths He has heard our prayers. Jesus, once advised, “But when you pray, go into your inner room, shut your door, and pray to your Father, who is unseen. And your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words” ( Mathew 6:6-7). Certainly, there is a case for a quiet and reflective prayer.
However, there also those situations of deep agony, that one’s prayer cannot be one quiet appeal. Think of a plane that is going down and about to crash; of course, there are those who will pray quietly for rescue, but some others will open up their mouths and cry out to the Almighty for his deliverance.
Once when the disciples realized they were perishing at sea, as “a windstorm came down on the lake, so that the boat was being swamped, and they were in great danger. The disciples went and woke Him, saying, “Master, Master, we are perishing!” ( Luke 8:23-24). That could not have been a quiet and gentle plea. A childless Hannah wept bitterly as she pleaded to the Lord to bless her with a child ( I Samuel 1:10).
There are certain times and situations when our prayers cannot be quiet and reflective muses. A people under attack do not meow when lives are perishing. They rise up and call upon the Almighty to come for their deliverance. During the devastation of the sweeping Covid -19 pandemic many cried out for the deliverance of the Lord! And he heard their prayers!
What is the situation troubling you- individually or around you! Maybe it is of a nature where you indeed must rise and cry out to the Lord for his awesome deliverance!
Prayer to day: Lord Father God of Abraham, maker of heaven and earth, however challenging a situation I may face I cry out to you for your powerful hand of deliverance and let all the glory go to you, this I pray in Jesus’s name.
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08/05/2024 - 09/05/2024 All day“Thanks be to God for His indescribable gift!” (2 Corinthians 9:15)
The culture of sharing gifts runs through scriptures and is at the heart of the Gospel. Upon realizing that Jesus Christ had been born the three wise main did not just go empty handed. “On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh” (Mathew 2:11).
When Jacob decided to return to his country, he went with gifts to soften the heart of his twin brother Esau, whom he had left maddened at him for various wrongs. “Then he selected these gifts from his possessions to present to his brother, Esau: 200 female goats, 20 male goats, 200 ewes, 20 rams, 30 female camels with their young, 40 cows, 10 bulls, 20 female donkeys, and 10 male donkeys” ( Genesis 32: 13-15). The reason was, Jacob thought, “I will try to appease him by sending gifts ahead of me. When I see him in person, perhaps he will be friendly to me.” So the gifts were sent on ahead, while Jacob himself spent that night in the camp” (vv 2—21).
Esau was already a wealthy man and had no need of the gifts presented. But Jacob pleaded with him. “Please take this gift I have brought you, for God has been very gracious to me. I have more than enough.” And because Jacob insisted, Esau finally accepted the gift” (Genesis 33: 11). This symbol of good touched Esau, brightened his heart, burying the old acrimonious relation.
Taking after these two instances believers should be in the habit of sharing gifts. We should visit each other not empty handed but like the wise men with gifts, not so much that those we are gifting are lacking, but as a way of blessing them. Proverbs 11:25-26, says, “Whoever brings blessing will be enriched, and one who waters will himself be watered.”
Most importantly we bless each other with gifts because we have received the most important gift there is in life, the gift of salvation. “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16).
Prayer for today: Lord Father God of Abraham, maker of heaven and earth, today I thank you for the most precious gift of all that you gave me of eternal life through faith in our Lord Jesus Christ, and so I pray that I may not hesitate to share this gift and bless those with as much whom you enable me to meet, this I pray in Jesus’ name.
