THE BEST WAY TO RESPOND

MEMORY VERSE: And the Lord said unto him, Arise, and go into the street which is called Straight, and inquire in the house of Judas for one called Saul, of Tarsus: for, behold, he prayeth, Acts 9:11

BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: Revelation 4-6

The best way to respond to any challenges that comes your way is to pray. The best way to respond when things go out of hands is to pray. When i was young, mum will always say, “Everything requires prayer. When things are going as planned, you pray because you want God to keep it that way. When things are not going as planned, you pray because you want God to turn it around.” Back then, i did not understand what she meant but today i know better. If you are single, you need to pray. If you are married, you need to pray. If you are yet to have kids, you need to pray. If you have kids, you need to pray. When things are going well, please pray. When preparing for exams, please pray. In the exam hall, please pray before you start. When you finish, before submitting your exam papers, please pray. After submitting your exam papers, please pray. One may ask, is there a need to pray after submitting my exam papers? Yes! You need to commit your examiners into the hands of God. You do not want your examiners to mark your exam papers after an argument with their partner or after loosing something valuable. It is a proven fact that examiners tend to be generous with marks when they are happy. Before you visit your GP/ doctors, pray for the right diagnosis. If any member of your family is going for an operation, you need to pray for the surgeons and the nurses. No man is above mistake, doctors and specialist do get it wrong. Many a times they mis-calculate, so you need to commit them into the hands of the ‘One’ who has never made a mistake or mis-calculated.

If you notice that you and your wife/husband are arguing a lot, please pray about it. Before discussing any sensitive issue in your marriage, first of all pray so that it will not escalate into a big fight or argument. Moreover, please, do not always seek to win an argument with your husband/wife, you may win all the argument and loose a godly husband/woman. If God has called you into ministry and your wife is not as supportive as she should be, pray to God about it. Ask the One who called you to call her too. When Saul ran into problems on his way to Damascus, he prayed. Acts 9:11 says: “And the Lord said unto him, Arise, and go into the street which is called Straight, and inquire in the house of Judas for one called Saul, of Tarsus: for, behold, he prayeth.” Let us look at the last three words, “behold, he prayeth.” Not behold, he crieth or behold, he complaineth against God or worse behold, he saith there is no God. When Saul opened his eyes and found that he could no longer see, he responded by praying. When things do not go as planned, some of us respond by not paying our tithes. Some respond by staying at home instead of going to church. Some respond by quitting their post in the vineyard of God. Some respond by saying there is no God. Some respond by blaming people in their family. Responding to challenges of life in this manner will only prolong the problem not solve it. The only one who can solve that challenge is God, why not take it to Him and stop looking for people to blame. The reason why God sent Ananias to Saul is summarised in the last four words of Acts 9:11- “for, behold, he prayeth”. Saul received help because he responded to his challenges by engaging in prayers.

THOUGHT OF THE DAY: Remember to always start your prayers with thanksgiving.

PRAYER POINT: Father, please send help to me today.

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ENLARGING GOD’S SERVICE

Monday 9 July                            Bible in one year:Luke 4-6

Memorise : And i will very gladly spend and be spent for you; though the more abundantly i love you , the less i be loved.2 Corinthians 12 vs 15

When God is looking for those to call, He looks for hardworking people because He is not lazy. God cannot entrust things of eternal value into the hands of lazy people. One thing you can be certain about concerning the 12 disciples the Lord chose, is that they were all hardworking people.Is it Peter, John, James or Matthew the tax collector or even Judas who was their treasurer? Balancing the accounts is not an easy job for the lazy. How hardworking are you ?

Another criteria God uses in selecting those He will use is their determination to serve Him all the days of their lives.Some people serve God now because of their present circumstance,status or location. The day there is a change in any of these , particularly in a negative sense , it will affect their commitment. But there are those who decide to serve Him in all circumstances and until their last breath. In 2 Corinthians 12 vs 15 says:
And I will very gladly spend and be spent for you, though the more abundantly i love you , the less i be loved.
He also said in Philippians 3vs 7-8 that all his gains were counted as losses to enable him know Jesus more. Have you resolved to serve him to the end? Some brethren are asking God for an anointing to heal the sick and raise the dead while God is asking them “how many souls have won to me since i saved you ?” Grace meets you on the move, the idle fellow would therefore be bypassed. Paul made a great sacrifice to appreciate God’s salvation. Some people have never made a major sacrifice to the Lord since they got saved. By His grace i got saved in July 1973 . The following year , I was in my village. I did not have much but i repaired a shop  and agreed with the owner that what i spent in that renovations would be converted into renting the shop for church use. It covered for up to 17 years. We did not spend up to that when we built our own church. I also went everywhere preaching the Gospel. God’s grace is meant to be used for God’s kingdom. What are you doing for Him?

ACTION POINT: Take a stock of your achievements for the Kingdom since you got saved. Compare your findings with the goals you earlier set and see the difference.