Today’s Scrip-Bit   23 March 2024 James 5:16b.

23 Mar 2024 Leave a comment

by randyobrien50 in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

James 5:16b.      The effectual (effective) fervent prayer (supplication) of a righteous man availeth much.

It’s a winter’s wonderland! Yes friends, this penultimate lazy-day Saturday in March has opened white and snowy, with a blinding sun shining down on the heavenly white precipitate. And is that ever a beautiful sight…when it is unsullied by man! I’m sorry for all those who had already put away their snow shovels and snow blowers, they now have to get them back out. And if you don’t have to go out in the snow, then it’s a perfect way to spend a lazy-day Saturday; meditating, lazing and admiring God’s beautiful handiwork. (smile) 

Now, let’s sincerely offer up our Lazy-Day Saturday Prayer, seeking God’s eternal peace, His amazing LOVE and His awesome presence in our lives. Altogether: ‘Lord, I want to be with You now. Please slow my thoughts and quiet my soul. Let my muscles relax, my breath deepen. You are here with me – Your peace and LOVE are present. I marvel to think You can’t be contained, that Your LOVE both surrounds and fills me. Thank You for this tenderness, Lord. I praise You for Your unceasing nearness. Increase my awareness of You today, that I may know You all the more. Amen!’ 

And with those few, simple words of prayer, the Spirit of God’s peace, LOVE and presence manifest themselves in our spirits. It just shows the importance of sincere prayer that’s according to God’s will. And He will never reject a heartfelt plea for His LOVE, peace and presence! Let’s remember that, for when times get rocky and rough and our souls and spirits are in turmoil over the world’s circumstances. That brings us to these wise and fiery words of James, Jesus’ brother, on the importance of prayer in the believer’s life. 

He writes: ‘Is any among you afflicted (suffering)? let him pray. Is any merry (cheerful)? let him sing psalms. Is any sick among you? let him call for the elders of the church: and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord: And the prayer of faith shall save the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up; and if he have committed sins, they shall be forgiven him. Confess your faults (trespasses) one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. 

The effectual (effective) fervent prayer (supplication) of a righteous man availeth much. Elias (Elijah) was a man subject to like passions as we are (with a nature like ours), and he prayed earnestly that it might not rain: and it rained not on the earth by the space of (for) three years and six months. And he prayed again, and the heaven gave rain, and the earth brought forth her fruit.’ (James 5:13-18) 

Now those verses of scripture can cause a lot of confusion if not properly understood. Prayer is of the utmost in any and every situation, but God doesn’t respond as we would like Him to in every one of those situations. It all depends on the Lord’s will and desire for each particular situation. In every situation, whether we use oil and prayer like in the olden days, or modern medicine in these times, it’s always the Lord who will perform the healing. And yes, some of great faith have not received the answers they desired for their prayers, while some of little faith have done so. 

But it’s nonetheless very important that we grow our faith and pray in each and every situation, for we know not what the Lord has in mind for that particular circumstance. It’s like the scholars explain: ‘Elijah experienced this prayer of faith, because he knew God’s Word and will, and so, persistently prayed (1 Kin. 18:36-37; 42-46). Faith is people acting in accordance with God’s known purpose (1 John 5:14)’ Now that verse says: ‘And this is the confidence that we have in him, that, if we ask anything according to his will, he heareth us.’ 

The scholars then continue: ‘The prayer of faith does not include a gift of healing. It does not exert extraordinary spiritual strength (Acts 3:12); otherwise all spiritual Christians would be healthy. Nor does it merely involve the ritual of verse 14 (anointing and praying). The prayer of faith discerns God’s will and perseveres until it is accomplished. God’s will, however, is not to heal in every case, and true faith can discern and accept that (Rom. 8:26-27).’ 

And those verses tell us: ‘Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities (weaknesses): for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. And he that searcheth the hearts knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit, because he maketh intercession for the saints according to the will of God.’ (Rom. 8:26-27)  In other words, when we don’t know what or how to pray, the Holy Spirit intercedes on our behalf, by taking the interpretation of our inner feelings that we cannot put into words and taking them to the Father according to His will. 

Meanwhile, that other reference to Acts 3:12, is all about when Peter and John healed the blind man that sat at the temple door and the people marvelled and looked at them as though they had healed him through their own power. ‘And when Peter saw it, he answered unto the people, Ye men of Israel, why marvel ye at this? or why look ye so earnestly (intently) on us, as though by our own power or holiness (godliness) we had made this man to walk.’ (Acts 3:12) 

Then he told them about Jesus’ wrongful crucifixion. ‘But ye denied the Holy One and the Just, and desired a murderer (Barabbas) to be granted unto you; And killed the Prince (Author) of life, whom God hath raised from the dead; whereof we are witnesses. And his name through faith in his name hath made this man strong, whom ye see and know: yea, the faith which is by him, (comes through Jesus) hath given him this perfect soundness in the presence of you all.’ (Acts 3:14-16) 

In other words, it seems that John and Peter discerned the Lord’s will to heal this man and thus manifest His glory, so they prayed earnestly and the man was healed. It wasn’t necessarily because of their faith and righteousness. So, let’s hope that we all now understand a little more than we did before about the importance and effectiveness of sincere prayer highlighting God’s will in our lives, as well as the Holy Spirit’s wonderful intercession on our behalf when we don’t know what or how to pray. Much LOVE!

…discernment of God’s will…should be one of our everyday prayers…

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Today’s Scrip-Bit 11 March 2021 Ephesians 3:20.

11 Mar 2021 Leave a comment

by randyobrien50 in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Ephesians 3:20.     Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us,

And then, rather quickly, it was Thursday, the penultimate day of the work week, and our lives are still somewhat confused by the pandemic and racial unrest. However, despite how things may appear, regardless of all the worries and pain, if you believe that your life is in Almighty God’s hands, then those problems will become very surmountable! Yes friends, once you are in God’s hands, problems never seem as worrisome and problematic! 

Oh, you will still have them, because that’s just a part of life on this planet, but once you’re walking with Him, once you are a follower of His wonderful Son, our Sacrificial Lamb, Jesus Christ, He’s always there to help and comfort you through His Holy Spirit that indwells all His followers! 

Wow! What awesome comfort and assurance! No other Deity can provide such emotional relief and trust, because no other Deity is alive and well and powerful like the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. But the important thing is that we have to embrace all the promises and benefits that the Lord has provided. They don’t come to us automatically. We have to make the decision to come to Christ and accept that He is Lord and Saviour. 

And today, what we’re going to look at is the first act in that action. (smile) It’s called prayer, or talking to God in reverential awe; humbly, but with confidence, as Hebrews tells us: ‘Let us therefore come boldly (confidently) unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.’ (Heb. 4:16) 

Now, prayer is not only asking God for stuff we want, or think we need, it goes much deeper than that. It is in essence a communing of our spirit with that of the Father, who originally breathed His Spirit in us to give us life. And when we accept Christ as Lord and Saviour, His Holy Spirit comes to dwell within us to lead and guide us and to help us commune with the Almighty. Part of the Holy Spirit’s job is also to help us in prayer. 

Bruh Paul puts it like this to the church at Rome. ‘Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities (weaknesses): for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. And He that searcheth the hearts (God) knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit, because he maketh intercession for the saints according to the will of God.’ (Rom. 8:26-27) 

Yes precious people, the Holy Spirit interprets our innermost feelings that we cannot put into words and aligns them with God’s will. For remember, before the Lord grants our requests, He looks at the motives of our hearts, to see if they’re selfish, greedy and outside of His will. 

But getting back to actual prayer. Let’s look at how Bruh Paul prayed for others. It’s strange, but he didn’t usually pray for people’s troubles to go away and that sort of thing, he mostly prayed that they would have inner growth, and thus be able to handle the problems from a point of greater maturity. Here’s how he prayed for the Ephesians, the church at Ephesus. 

‘For this cause I bow my knees unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, Of whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named (derived). That he would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner man; That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye being rooted and grounded in LOVE, May be able to comprehend (understand) with all saints what is the breadth (width), and length, and depth and height; And to know the LOVE of Christ which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fullness of God.’ (Eph. 3:14-19) 

Oh, I know that it seems like a long and complicated prayer, but in essence it’s fairly simple. Here are some explanations from the scholars. ‘3:16-19. In these verses Paul makes three prayer requests for the addressees: (1) That they would be strengthened with might by his spirit (vs.16), that is, they be divinely enabled to successfully live the Christian life. (2) That the readers be able to comprehend…the LOVE of Christ , that is, to better understand the enormous LOVE Christ has for them. And (3) that they might be filled with all the fullness of God, that is, that the life, character, and virtues of God Himself may be fully developed in them.’ 

Oh my people, doesn’t that sound like a complete prayer? It surely does! When we are strengthened by the Spirit, then we can understand Christ’s LOVE, then live the way He desires us to live, through strong and mature faith, ‘rooted and grounded in LOVE.’ And there’s no other way to live the Christian life my friends. 

But Bruh Paul wasn’t done with his prayer. He continues: ‘Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us, Unto him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end. Amen.’ (Eph. 3:20-21) And the scholars tell us: ‘3:20. In making the three above petitions (vs. 16-19) Paul has not asked for too much. For he prays unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that he can ask or think.’ 

And that’s the gospel truth my brethren! Our God is omnipotent, omniscient and omni-present, that means He can do all things, knows all things and is everywhere at the same time! And that’s why He is GOD! So let’s try to adopt some of those prayer principles that Bruh Paul established nuh. Let’s not just pray for troubles to be over, or success to be gained, but for us to receive what we need to grow and mature in the faith, have our inner man strengthened. We will all end up better off and living a more complete Christian life. 

And now, since it’s Thursday, let’s go home declaring (yeahhh!) our Thursday Blessings, which the Lord has magnanimously bestowed on us to do His earthly work. Altogether now, in strong and sincere voice: ‘I declare that I am blessed with God’s supernatural wisdom and receive clear direction for my life! I declare today that I am blessed with creativity, courage, talent and abundance! I am blessed with a strong will, self-control and self-discipline! 

I am blessed with a great family, good friends, good health, faith, favour and fulfillment! I am blessed with success, supernatural strength, promotion and divine protection! I am blessed with a compassionate heart and a positive outlook on life! I declare that any curse or negative word that’s ever been spoken over me is broken right now in the name of Jesus! I declare that everything I put my hands to will prosper and succeed! I declare it today and every day! Amen!’ 

Oh friends, it’s time for us to now share those blessings with others, just as generously as the Lord shared them with us! Much LOVE!

…Christ came as a servant…and He expects the same of His followers…