Prayers That Changed History

“This is the confidence we have to approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us”

(I John 5:14).

 The film starred by Jimmy Stewart, “It’s a Wonderful Life” teaches the value of a man who gives up his dreams and looks after the affairs of others. The life of “George” was a life that changed history because of his unselfish desires for others. Lives were saved, families were made whole, and individuals were elevated to better personalities and jobs.

 What about praying to God? Praying is asking Him for a certain thing. Praying is allowing God to change your heart to match His. Praying can be done anytime, anywhere. The more we pray according to God’s heart, the more we are changed. The more we are changed, the more we impact the world. Praying changes things, starting with us. When we pray, our prayers can also change history.

 “What can happen when I pray?” That’s a “Wonderful Life!” You’ll never know all that happens when you pray, but the results are often bigger than you think or imagine. Lives are different. Prayers of people, just like us, ordinary people, opened the doors to God’s work. And your prayers can do the same.

 

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  • Victory Over Vindication

    “And it came even to pass on the third day that, behold, a man came out of the camp from Saul with his clothes torn, and earth upon his head; and so it was, when he came to David, that he fell to the earth, and did obeisance” (2 Samuel 1:2).

    This man that came to Ziklag thought David would enjoy the news that Saul was dead. He knew of the trouble between Saul and David. But the surprise was that David did not have a quarrel with Saul. Because of David’s human nature the Amalekite thought he could invoke a position with David and he lied to the future king.

    It took three days, approximately eighty miles, for the Amalekite to arrive from the battle scene of the Philistines against the Israelites to the camp of David. So when he stepped in front of David he was confident. There was no question the Amalekite was at the battle scene for there he took Saul’s armband and crown or gold chalet from his helmet and presented them to David. But look what took place–as David stood in that burnt city of Ziklag David’s own heart was not burned or charred.

    Friend make sure that you do not have a quarrel with anyone. Cleanse your heart from all grudges and bitterness. If you will do just that then you can lead people with the integrity of your heart. David had a heart that was undivided with God. “So he shepherded them according to the integrity of his heart, and guided them by the skillfulness of his hands” (Psalm 78:72).

  • Standing on the Promises

     

    “And I sent messengers unto them, saying, I am doing a great work, so that I cannot come down. Why should the work cease, while I leave it, and come down to you?”  —Nehemiah 6:3

         Have you heard the music boxes that plays music after it is wound up? There is one box that plays that old song “Standing on the Promises.” When it is wound up to full strength it chimes with vibrant enthusiasm. The song and sounds are beautiful.

        After a while the music box begins to wind down. It can stop even before the tune is finished. Instead of playing the familiar song all the way through, it no longer is standing on the promises; it is now sitting on the premises! So many christians mistake the one for the other! Standing for sitting

         It is possible to stand on the promises in such a routine manner that we become so orthodox in our teaching, living, and behaving that we really are sitting on the premises. No longer resting in the promises and living day by day in the strength of God’s Word and prayer, we slow down and finally stop. I don’t want to run down in the middle of the song or in the middle of life. I want to stand on the promises of Christ my Lord. What about you?

  • Don’t Falter

    “But we hoped that it had been he who should have redeemed Israel; and, besides all this, today is the third day since these things were done” (Luke 24:21).

    A.B. Bruce said, “If crosses would leave us alone, we would leave them alone, too.” The Lord Jesus took up His cross and followed completely the Father’s will. It was the will of the Father for His Son to die upon the very tree that He had planted years before.

    Why do we find it hard to believe that taking up our cross and following Jesus is not the way for us? Why do we not believe that as we die daily to the world and our desires that it is best? We are men just like the ones on the road to Emmaus who did not believe in the resurrection power of Christ.

    We can be so slow of heart and foolish not to believe all that the Scripture gives to us. When we follow our own desires and refuse the intuitive desire of God in us we refuse His life. Hope in the Redeemer of Israel and believe that the third day is the power of resurrection in you. Don’t disregard your cross for today. Report to God ready for His will as a good soldier of Jesus Christ.

  • The Third Day

    The Offerings

     

    “But the remainder of the flesh of the sacrifice [peace offering] on the third day shall be burned with fire” (Leviticus 7:17).

     

    God spoke to Moses out of the Tabernacle of the congregation (Leviticus 1:1). The offerings were now of worship and witness of Himself. Five offerings were given to Moses as God called out to him, not from Mount Sinai but from the Tabernacle.

     

    The first three offerings were “Dedicatory Offerings.” It spoke of the value of Christ’s death. They are called the burnt offering, the meal offering, and the peace offering. The offerings prefigured Christ as a “sweet smelling savor” to God, rather than as a sin offering.

     

    The burnt offering speaks of the value of Christ’s death in terms of his “devotion.” The meal offering speaks of the value of the death of Christ in terms of its “perfection.” The peace offering speaks of the value of Christ’s death in terms of His “communion” (Leviticus 3; 7:11-13; Romans 5:1; Colossians 1:20). This was not an offering to make peace, but celebrated and rejoiced in the peace already made.

     

    The power of the third day is that you and I are to experience communion in the Lord Jesus Christ daily, the same day the offering is made. Our communion in Christ ought to take us to tomorrow and then we start over again. To become stale is to lose our freshness and reality in our communion with Christ, and is meant to be cut off from fellowship. This applies not only to our quiet times, but to the holy celebration when we come together for the remembrance of the Lord in His death, until He comes.

     

  • Every Family Needs A Moral Relative At The Helm 

    “My son, forget not my laws, but let thine heart keep my commandments” (Proverbs 3:1).

    The best time to tackle a minor problem is before he grows up. The Christian world is in a deep sleep. Nothing but a loud voice will awaken them out of it.

    Loose wires give out no musical notes, but when their ends are fastened, the piano, the harp, the guitar,  or the violin is born. Free steam drives no machine, but harnessed and confined with piston and turbine, it makes possible the great world of machinery. An unhampered river drives no dynamos, but dam it up and you can generate sufficient power to light an entire city.

    Strings that are tightened, steam which is captured, rivers that are harnessed, and children that are disciplined can produce astonishing results. Roy Lessin said, “Rules for children are like a pole that is placed alongside a tall plant growing in the garden. The pole is not  there to stop the plant’s development, but to help guide it into maturity and productivity.”

    Fathers are commanded to put those poles in place. It gives him the joy of watching his sons become mature and productive in his old age. What a tragic waste of potential when fathers do not “bend” their children toward God. Without a plumb-line there is no real joy. History teaches us that the very survival of a nation can depend upon a child having a father who is a moral relative. A dad who is a moral relative knows how to draw the lines in the necessary places.

     

     

     

     

  • Wealth: Is It Worth It? 

    “There is a sore evil which I have seen under the sun, namely, riches kept for the owners thereof to their hurt” (Ecclesiastes 5:13).

    There have been many that have made it big with their money. They have worked hard and spoke loudly of the way they live by the money they make. Maybe the words aren’t loud, but the spending is.

    After a certain amount of time the money flows and the items are bought and the road continues…until. It looks as if all is going well. Then it happens. Darkness falls. The children grow up. The dad and mom have done so much together, but the grave calls.

    Now the children are seated in a funeral home, alongside their dad. The mom is gone. The aged father is not thinking of their gain. The hurt is very real. Time is gone and nothing seems the same. The things accrued, the times spent, are a distant memory. What are we to do to ensure we feel fulfilled and contented when the time comes and death beckons?

    Wealth is given by God so that we can give it to others. Children and others need to understand that dad and mom love God more than they love money. Who gives the money anyway? Who gives the ability to earn? Who owns it all? Is it not the God that gave His only Son?

    We need to own the needs around us and toward distant lands, and distribute that wealth to help others into the kingdom of God. There is “A time to get, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to cast away” (Ecclesiastes 3:6). God in his sovereignty has allowed us the choice. Through our disobedience we bring forth sin into the world, and death by sin (Romans 5:12).

    There are way too many memorial services which are empty and void. Why? Because most lived for gain and not for giving.  It is an emptiness that does betray the soul. Why? Because money and stuff can never fill the soul. But that which is given does. Whether rich or poor may we give away that which is not ours to keep.  Moses esteemed the reproach of Christ greater than the treasures of Egypt. And he has his reward.