Today’s Scrip-Bit 6 May 2019 Psalm 109:4.

Psalm 109:4.   For (in return for) my LOVE they are my adversaries: but I give myself unto prayer.
 

Well at long , last, yesterday we had a sunny and dry day from begin to end! Glory Be! Let’s hope today will be the same. But who knows what the finicky weather will do these days eh? Anyway it’s Monday… and you know what that means – to labour, to labour, and yet to labour! 

Yes, it’s unfortunate that we need to labour, and labour so much and so often, (smile) but the truth of the matter is if we don’t labour, we won’t eat, nor have a roof over our heads. And having settled the question of labouring, (smile) let’s get on with life, get ourselves together and go out and labour, in Jesus’ glorious name. 

And yes, some of us will always have problems on a Monday morning, but thankfully we have this wonderful antidote for all of Monday’s ills, called our Monday Morning Battle Hymn; a crying out in prayer, in confidence, to our heavenly Father, who’s faithfully promised to hear and answer us whenever we come to Him humbly and reverently outlining our needs.  

So let’s do just that right now nuh; call on Him as one: ‘Oh Lord God Almighty, Creator of the universe and all therein! We, your humble servants, praise your Holy Name and thank you that this Monday morning we have jobs to go to; jobs we don’t like, jobs that are unfair, difficult and even dangerous, but which serve a useful purpose here on earth; keeping lives and families together. 

We also thank you Father for the renewed vitality and enthusiasm you’ve wrought in our weary souls over the last two days. It’s that rejuvenation of Spirit which allows us now to sally forth with confidence into the evil, ungodly world that surrounds us, to begin a new week of work, constantly buffeted and bombarded by the enemy’s wicked taunts, wiles and lies. 

But heavenly Father, we’re not afraid, for we know we’re invincible, sure conquerors, once we’re wearing your powerful, protective spiritual armour. We surrender our all to you, and humbly ask that you let your incredible aura of LOVE, the Holy Spirit, lead and guide all your servants as we go out to meet the enemy in battle. 

Fill us with steadfast faith, so that we can make worthwhile inroads into the enemy’s ranks, and thereby further your glorious kingdom. We pray this in the Holy Name of your Son, and our Saviour, Jesus Christ. AMEN!’ 

And as always, our heavenly Father answers by getting the Holy Spirit, which dwells within us, to ramp up His efforts of positive production in our souls so that we can step higher and lighter, throw our shoulders back with confidence and enthusiasm, while a holy fire lights up our eyes! Yes friends, we’re now ready to go out and do victorious battle against the enemy, all in Jesus’ name! 

Never doubt the power of prayer…neither the faithfulness of our omnipotent God! That’s why Bruh David made this immortal statement: ‘For (in return for) my LOVE they are my adversaries: but I give myself unto prayer.’ Oh friends, we could never go wrong by declaring (steups – wrong again!) that same statement in sincerity and heartfelt truth. For like Bruh David, we ought to know where our bread is buttered…at the throne of the Most High God Jehovah! 

And Bruh David reinforced all of that with this other immortal statement: ‘O thou that hearest prayer, unto thee shall all flesh come.’ (Ps.65:2) Ah mih people, our God does hear prayer! That’s the way He set up communications with us, and we should be wise and knowledgeable, and mature enough in faith to go to Him with ALL problems, because that’s exactly what He desires. 

And Jesus, as He is ever wont to do, states it so clearly and plainly: ‘And all things whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive.’ (Matt.21:22) Now that’s not me, but the Son of God making that bold statement! And if anybody should know about prayers and having them answered, it should be Him! 

But please note the one stumbling block in His statement; the word ‘believing.’ Yes mih people, when making those prayers to Almighty God, we have to believe that we will receive what we pray for. And Jesus is not talking about, frivolous, greedy, selfish prayers either, but serious stuff that we truly need.  

And that wasn’t the end of His wonderful advice either. Listen up, as Luke informs us: ‘And he (Jesus) spake a parable unto this end, that men ought always to pray, and to not faint (lose heart).’ (Luke 18:1) There again friends, if the Son of God makes such a definitive pronouncement, who are we mere sinful mortals to disagree eh? 

And we all know Jesus’ other famous pronouncement on prayer: ‘Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you. For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened.’ (Matt.7:7-8) 

I don’t know about you nuh my fellow believers, but that is sweet music to my ears! Just keep on asking and seeking and knocking in prayer and I will be rewarded! I know to some of us it sounds too good to be true, but please remember Jesus is not a man to lie or make false promises, so if He says so, it is so! Matter fix! 

And just for good measure, as a lagniappe or brawtha, (not sure about that last spelling) (smile) here are a couple of admonitions from Bruh Paul on the subject. To the Thessalonians he said in no uncertain terms: ‘Pray without ceasing.’ (1 Thess.5:17) And to Timothy, he exhorts: ‘I will therefore that men pray every where, lifting up holy hands, without wrath and doubting.’ (1 Tim.2:8) 

So that seals the matter; we ought to keep on praying, anywhere and all the time in true belief, never get tired or give up! Much LOVE!

…sincere prayer…truly nectar for our souls…

 

 

 

Today’s Scrip-Bit 13 January 2014 Psalm 5:3

Psalm 5:3.    My voice shalt thou hear in the morning, O Lord; in the morning will I direct my prayer unto thee.
 
And now Friends, it’s Monday… Easy now…easy does it… No cursing…no temper tantrums. So you overdid the weekend, and now your mental and physical states are not what they should be. As a believer you ought to know better, but it’s too late to worry about that now. Just take a deep breath and control yourself…
 
Now release it and thank the Lord for allowing you to see another day on His glorious planet earth, and ask for His guidance and blessings. Regardless of your mental or physical state, you know you have to get up and go to work, so why not do it the easy and smart way eh, by communicating with your heavenly Father?
 
Oh mih people, I’m still trying to get us to awaken joyfully, instead of right away  developing a crass and miserable demeanour when the alarm goes off, especially on a Monday morning. And we’ll keep doing it until victory is achieved! (smile) Until then…and even after that, we’ll continue to sing our Monday Morning Battle Hymn to get our adrenalin flowing and our motors properly revved up.
 
So as one harmonious choir now, let’s sing: ‘Oh Lord God Almighty, Creator of the universe and all therein! We, your humble servants, praise your Holy Name and thank you that this Monday morning we have jobs to go to; jobs we don’t like, jobs that are unfair, difficult and even dangerous, but which serve a useful purpose here on earth; keeping lives and families together.
 
We also thank you Father for the renewed vitality and enthusiasm you’ve wrought in our weary souls over the last two days. It’s that rejuvenation of Spirit which allows us now to sally forth with confidence into the evil, ungodly world that surrounds us, to begin a new week of work, constantly buffeted and bombarded by the enemy’s wicked taunts, wiles and lies.
 
But heavenly Father, we’re not afraid, for we know we’re invincible, sure conquerors, once we’re wearing your powerful, protective spiritual armour. We surrender our all to you, and humbly ask that you let your incredible aura of LOVE, the Holy Spirit, lead and guide all your servants as we go out to meet the enemy in battle. Fill us with steadfast faith, so that we can make worthwhile inroads into the enemy’s ranks, and thereby further your glorious kingdom. We pray this in the Holy Name of your Son, and our Saviour, Jesus Christ. AMEN!’
 
Awright mih breddren, that wasn’t a bad rendition, though we’ve done better. It didn’t get us a standing ‘O’ in heaven, but the applause was polite enough. (smile) But seriously Friends, I can’t impress on us enough, the utmost importance of prayer in a believer’s life. Remember yesterday we saw Jesus tell His listeners a parable about how men ought to pray and not faint, not lose heart? (Luke 18:1) Now if He says so, then of a truth, it must be so!
 
Bruh David takes that a step further though. In Psalm 5, his prayer for protection, he solemnly declares these sentiments. ‘Give ear to my words, O Lord, consider my meditation (groaning). Hearken unto the voice of my cry, my King, and my God: for unto thee will I pray. ‘My voice shalt thou hear in the morning, O Lord; in the morning will I direct my prayer unto thee.’ (Ps.5:1-3)
 
In our Bit there, Bruh David proclaims that in the midst of his suffering, he will make his supplication to the Lord early in the morning. And that’s excellent advice Friends, whether you’re in the midst of suffering or not!
 
As we said yesterday, and I advised right at the beginning today, it’s always best to start our day with prayer, because it starts us off in a positive frame of mind, gives us the necessary spiritual strength to face the day. And the good thing is that it doesn’t have to be an overly long session for the Lord knows how busy we are, but acknowledging Him as soon as we wake, certainly pleases Him.
 
And if you don’t believe me, then listen to these inspiring words from the Good Book. ‘And in the morning, rising up a great while before day, he went out, and departed into a solitary (quiet, deserted) place, and there prayed.’ (Mark 1:35)
 
Yuh know who Mark’s talking about there Friends? It’s our own beloved Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, while out on His first preaching tour!
 
So my people, fellow believers and otherwise, if our wonderful, wise, fearless and courageous Leader, the Son of God, could get up early to pray, why can’t we eh? Because we’re too lazy, or just don’t believe that early prayer is valuable, or just don’t believe in prayer at all, who knows? The truth of the matter though my brethren is that prayer is extremely important, and praying as soon as we awaken is best.
 
Anyway, here is an interesting note on that verse from the scholars. ‘Mark emphasizes that it was a great while before day. Showing that Jesus began each day of His earthly ministry with prayer is only the secondary intention of this verse. The primary aim is to show how Jesus made important decisions: by earnest, persistent prayer. Here Jesus stands at the crossroads of decision.
 
His first year of public preaching (vv. 9-20) has borne little visible fruit. But His miracles of healing are drawing huge crowds (vv.31-32) and bringing Him recognition (v. 28). So the question is whether He should continue to put the stress of His ministry on the preaching of the gospel for the healing of man’s diseased soul, or place the stress of His work on the more popular performing of miracles for the healing of man’s body. To make the proper choice, He seeks by prayer the Father’s wisdom.’
 
And that my people, is the truest and highest state of wisdom that exists! So please, let’s ponder all that we’ve learned today, then, as always, get the Lord to help us make the necessary changes in our lives. Much LOVE!
 
…again I ask…if it was imperative for Jesus…the Son of God…to seek guidance through prayer…why should it be any less so for us…sinful mortals that we are…