PRAYER

“Evening and morning and at noon I will pray, and cry aloud, and He shall hear my voice" (Psalm 55:17 NKJV).

As believers we all need to pray and this verse is a good exhortation to pray. It speaks about the periods of prayer, the passion in prayer, and the promise for prayer.

Periods of prayer - “Evening and morning and at noon I will pray.” While most folks have trouble praying once a day, this verse speaks about praying three times a day. For some folks, three times a day seems too much. Yet Daniel, a high official in government prayed three times a day (Dan. 6:10). Folks can find time to watch television, read books, newspapers and magazines, but make excuse for praying.

Passion in prayer - “Cry aloud.” The phrase “cry aloud” tells us that these times of prayer were earnest and not casual. Earnestness needs to be part of our prayer life if we are going to pray effectively. Jam. 5:16 says “the effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much.” Further, James goes on to tell us that Elijah, though “a man subject to like passions as we are” but he “prayed earnestly” (Jam. 5:17) and as a result, got things done for God. If we are not earnest in our praying, we cannot expect God to be earnest in response to our prayers.

Promise for prayer - “He shall hear my voice.” This promise means God will answer our prayers. A holy God in heaven hears our prayers and will respond to them; we do not pray in vain. It is a tremendous encouragement to know that Almighty God, the creator of the universe, will hear our prayers and respond to them. Though lowly and humble God still hears our prayers. We may not be able to get government officials to hear your pleas, but someone bigger than any government official will hear us.

(Adapted from Butler Daily Bible Reading)

Soli Deo Gloria (To God Alone Be The Glory)

Quotation of the Week

“Prayer is the one weapon the enemy cannot duplicate or counterfeit!”

Anonymous

Word Study

Disputes

In Titus 3:9 we read, “But avoid foolish disputes, genealogies, contentions, and strivings about the law; for they are unprofitable and useless” (NKJV).

Disputes is the is the Greek word machē (μάχη = makh'-ay). It means a fight, quarrel, battle, conflict. This word is used for physical combat, especially military. Literally, machē refers to physical combat or a contest fought with weapons. The idea is a serious clash or conflict, and can be either physical or non-physical. It pictures violent personal relationships. In Classical Greek machē is used to denote both a physical combat and contest as well as verbal dispute. In the New Testament, it is doubtful that machē signifies any physical fights. However, its usage in 2 Cor. 7:5 suggest that Paul may have been exposed to physical threats.

Prophecies Fulfilled by Jesus

Old Testament Prophecy – Messiah was to be forsaken because of sins of others (Psalm 22:1)

New Testament Fulfillment – 2 Cor. 5:21

Bible Facts

The Bible prophesied about people turning from God’s Word in the end times (2 Tim. 4:3-4). The time will come when people will not listen to the truth. They will look for teachers who will tell them only what they want to hear. They will not listen to the truth. Instead, they will listen to stories made up by men.

Bible Quiz

What is the name of the day when the Holy Spirit came upon the disciples?

**Answer to last week’s trivia: According to Paul, what can separate us from the love of God? Nothing (Rom. 8:38-39).

That’s in the Bible

"Wars and rumors of wars”

"And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not troubled; for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet” (Matt. 24:6 NKJV).

“Wars and rumors of wars” - The expression “wars and rumors of wars” represent to actual war or news of it. Wars, real and rumored, should not frighten believers in the Lord Jesus since such disturbances do not signify the end. Rather, these are merely the first stages of the Messianic woes to come upon the world.

Did You Know – Christian History

Mary Jones was born December 16, 1784 in Llanfihangel-y-pennant, United Kingdom. She was a Welsh girl who, at the age of fifteen, walked twenty-six miles barefoot across the countryside to buy a copy of the Welsh Bible from Thomas Charles because she did not have one.

Mary Jones was from a poor family, the daughter of a weaver. Her parents were devout Calvinistic Methodists, and she herself professed the Christian faith at eight years of age. Having learned to read in the circulating schools organized by Thomas Charles, it became her burning desire to possess a Bible of her own.

Wales had experienced revival, but there were not enough Bibles for everyone. Fifteen year old Mary Jones saved her money and walked twenty-five miles to see the Reverend Thomas Charles who sold Welsh-language Bibles. He had just sold his last copy, but was so impressed with her diligence that he gave it to her anyway, telling her the other buyer would just have to wait. The impact of Mary’s visit also led Charles to propose to the Council of the Religious Tract Society the formation of a Society to supply Wales with Bibles. On March 7, 1804, The British and Foreign Bible Society was formed.

The British and Foreign Bible Society began an immediate and useful work. It funded trailblazing missionary William Carey in his translation work. When Morrison began to turn the Bible into Chinese the Society generously assisted him, as it did Henry Martyn, who was working on a Persian translation. The Society backed Translation of the Gospel of John into Mohawk. As far away as the Pacific, the Society funded a translation into Raratongan (Cook Islands).

Together with the Welsh hymn writer Ann Griffiths, Mary Jones became a national icon by the end of the nineteenth century, and was a significant figure in Welsh nonconformist movement. Mary died in 1864 and was buried at the graveyard of Bryn-crug Calvinistic Methodist Chapel.

Wherever Christian missions spread around the globe, the Society could be found, lending a hand. Within a hundred years it had distributed over 200 million pieces of literature. By 1962 four fifths of the inhabitants of the globe had the Bible in their own tongue, although 2000 small language groups remained without any translation.

A Little Humor

Little Annie was reprimanded by her mother for giggling during prayer. “It’s okay, mom,” she explained. “I was just sharing a joke with God.”

Thought Provoking Church Sign

“Religion is man trying to do something for God - salvation is God doing something for man!”