20120108: HeBrews : A cuppa of Prayer thoughts

Martha's biz and her reflections below received this morning kind of resonates in my heart.."ultimately it is God alone who decides if is going to work.  We can be good farmers and plant good seed but it is God who does the watering and  the growing.  Prayer is critical to me"

Of late I have been thinking of the prayer part. I am a bit like Martha "Prayer is critical to me". Attending corp prayers had always been on high priority list for me in the past.  Many pp thot that prayer is a kind of "highly spiritual matter" so many attend cells but when it comes for corp prayer, many skipped. Many confessed they cannot 'pray'. I used to wonder why as we know that the corporate prayer life of the church & it is the thermometer for the church. I too  used to "wowed' at those who woke up at 3 or 4 am and prayed for hours! But until today, I am not able to do this . So, unfortunately sometimes such notions where we are brought up after being saved - indeed created the fear factor in young believers and old ones continue to be deceived that this area too.

But prayer is a lifestyle thing. It is like breathing in and out - not localised in one area to a particular blocked out time like a corp prayer in church or a nation. It is not about the eloquence of the quantity of words uttered out but more of a quality of content coming from the heart. It is not always praying out of 'gimme' list but rather it is more of  "give them" & is a conversation of all sorts with our Creator God.  Out of the heart the mouth speaks.  The Lord does not look at the outer appearance but the heart. Else,why would Eph 6:18 (comes after we are equipped with the whole armor of God) exhorts us to ? "And pray in the Spirit ( inner heart)  on all occasions (ya everywhere, anything, anyhow) with all kinds of prayers and requests (yep- wide range communications) " Inserts are mine. Corporate prayers are merely intense sessions for the body of Christ.  But the Lord expects us to be in communion with him all the time in the personal capacity. If we were just to hold our breathe for a min, we would burst out in the last second. Try it. Have some fun. That lungs of ours just couldn't contain the air within.  We are made to breathe in and out naturally. Likewise is prayer - our conversation with God. Our body is the temple of the Holy Spirit.  Rom 8:26" We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express.  And he who searches our hearts know the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints in accordance with God's will.

Reflections

Like to be like Enoch? A man who walked with God? 

Yes indeed "Prayer is critical " to all of us. Let us be in syn at all times.

We are living in a rather tecnologically advance era. We tweet, we sms, we what's apps, facebooked, email - just one press of a button, it can become viral.

I used to wonder how the Lord process our prayers from earth to His ears. When I am bombarded with some mass chats at times, I was already overwhelmed. So how did God do it? I cannot reply instantaneously at times, processing through is no joke. Well, He can. He hears. He even acts in that split of a nano second. And we awed! 

My bread experiment in July 2010 - our words uttered - they are powerful. Prayer with the right words and intent - is therefore powerful too!

Beautiful song by Casting Crown : If all I have is just one breath...

Martha's Personal Letter 2 Corinthians 5:7 (KJV) For we walk by faith, not by sight. As we enter this year celebrating 25 years of Sew Beautiful publication, I have to marvel at God’s goodness in doing this monumental feat - allowing us 25 years to prepare it for you. And at his blessing this publication so much as to have it travel all over the world several times a year. I can assure you it is God who has known how to keep this business going when I had no clue what to do next other than pray. Truthfully, is there any other way to run a business? After all of the written plans, the networking, the “this and that and the other,” ultimately it is God alone who decides if it is going to work. We can be good farmers and plant good seed but it is God who does the watering and the growing. Prayer is critical to me. I am especially praying for the orphans and sewing ladies I met and saw in Rwanda last September. I marvel at the thousands of people who contribute financially so the Africa New Life Team can minister so beautifully to so many people. Simply amazing. But that is the way God works. In amazing ways. I am reminded of the famous evangelist George Muller (1805-1989) who was director of the Ashley Down Orphanage in Bristol, England. He cared for 10,024 orphans in his life and established 117 schools that offered Christian education to over 120,000, many of them being orphans. He was well known for never asking for financial resources but always praying. There is a well-documented story about one morning when not a speck of food or milk was on hand to feed the hundreds of hungry orphans breakfast. Mr. Muller prayed, “Father we thank Thee for the food Thou are going to give us.” There came a knock at the door and a baker stood there. The baker said, “I felt at 2am this morning that I should wake and bake some bread for you. Here it is.” A few minutes later another knock came at the door. A milkman said, “My milk wagon just broke down in front of your place. I must get rid of these cans of milk.” Mr. Muller testified over and over that thousands of times they were without food for even another meal and also without any money; however, God never failed to provide food. God has never failed me. I thank God for this magazine’s chugging along better than ever twenty-five years later. For still being in business. For all of my blessings. And I thank God over and over for you, my beloved sewing family.