WAITING ON GOD FOR ANSWERS TO OUR PRAYER

Scripture makes it clear that our heavenly Father hears and answers prayer. Yet we all experience times when, though we pray for God to act right away, He does not. What are some reasons for the delay?

At times the Lord sees that our attention is misdirected. Our relationship with Him should have priority over any earthly matter (Mark 12:30). Yet minds and prayers can become so fixed upon a need that our gaze shifts away from Him. The Father may delay His answer until we refocus on Him. In other situations, God waits because the timing is not right for granting our request. Perhaps certain events must happen first, or people’s thinking needs to be changed.

There are also seasons when the Lord wants to stretch and grow our faith. One of the ways He accomplishes that is by having us watch for His response. The Holy Spirit will work in these times of waiting to mature us and bring forth righteous fruit (Gal. 5:22-23).

Other reasons are a wrong motive for our request (James 4:3) and the practice of habitual sin. We all fall short when it comes to God’s standard of holiness, but some of us persist in a lifestyle of disobedience. The Lord may delay His answer so He can prompt us to confess our sin and turn back to Him.

Waiting on the Lord isn’t easy—faith and trust are needed (Heb. 11:1). If His answer is delayed, check that 1) your focus is on Him, 2) your motive for asking is God-honoring, and 3) you aren’t practicing habitual sin. Then believe that His response will be for your good and His glory.

Credit: InTouch Ministries

WHY WORRY?

That is life. Sometimes, I think its funny but it is worth thinking off . It is nature and this is what I call the mystery of life. I have never stopped to think but it unfolds every second. Some of which we are witnesses, others we only hear on the world news networks.

In this world;
Whiles bush burning is becoming the order of the day in some countries, natives of other countries are busily planting trees with the aim of greening their environment.

Whiles companies are laying off because of credit crunch, others are employing.

Whiles some people are sad, others are busily making merry.

Some relationships are broken whiles others are busily falling in love.

Whiles people are afraid to build because of the earthquake in Haiti, Dubai now boast of the world tallest building.

Whiles there are wars in some countries, other countries are busily signing peace agreements.

There are shortages of water in other countries whiles others experience flood and are fed up with God.

People are being taken to the morgue or mortuary whiles others are happily returning home from the maternity ward with their newly born bady.

Whiles some married couples are childless and their marriage is about to hit the rock, another couple have about six to eight children but they are all disrespectful and a nuissance to the community in which they live.

Others are dying whiles new ones are being born.

It can go on and on and on but never forget that whiles man continue to sin, God keeps loving us and forgiving us.
That is life. What we need is patience and trust in God.It may not go well for you today but trust God for a better tommorrow.
Its nice to wish for something but don't worry if you dont have it because you don't know what having that might have done to you. Trust God. He knows what you need at each and every second to put that smile on your face.

Why worry? Leave all to God and stop the thinking. God bless you.

NOT JUST FOR THE FUN BUT LESSONS AS WELL. (PART 1)

We thank God for a successful world cup for the first time on African soil. Which ever stage your country got to, I say congratulations. I hope we were not just following it for the fun sake but learning lessons as well. This post seems to bring our attention to the lessons that appeared indirectly before and during the game and see how we can learn from it as much as possible.

First, do you remember how France qualified for the world cup? I don't know how much involved you are in football but please for the sake of our studies find out how they qualified to play at this year's world cup. They qualified with a controversial goal when they played against Ireland. Now that was before the world cup. When they came for the world cup, it was a disgrace. They did not even win a single match and there were so many reports of confussion at their camp. This tells us that Gods time is the best. We should learn to do everything fairly. We need not to rush in life to get things at all cost. We may be pushed to use evil ways and after we've had what we want the disgrace that follows will be unbearable. When its not your time, simply wait. God knows best and why. No need to rush or lean on your own understanding. Do not cheat or steal your way through. In all your dealings, be free from cheat. If I were to be a player of Ireland playing with France by then, I can't imagine my reactions after Thiery Henry himself confirmed the handball.

In life, things that were attained through foul means always disappear into thin air with no trace and sometimes or usually they come with their own troubles but never leave with them. The disgrace they carry along is huge. The shame is heavy. God knows best. All we need is patience. When it is your time, why not, you will get it. It happens everywhere whether in the bus, school, in our homes and more especially at our various work places when we need promotion etc. We do everything including telling lies etc about people so that we can get the chance to get to the top position when they are eventually sacked. Life is a step-by-step affair. No need to rush my sister or brother and also on the other hand when you are robbed off something, it hurts but never curse the one who robbed you or say eveil about him or her but thank God because for all you should know, God is saving you from a calamity or trouble that lies ahead. When God opens the door, no one dare shut it!!!

To be continued...............

THE CHRISTIAN AND LONG SUFFERING

The fruit of the spirit as spelt out clearly in Galatians 5:22-23 are Love, Joy,Peace, Temperance,Meekness, Faith, Goodness, Gentleness and Longsuffering.
Longsuffering in other words mean patience or bearing something or a condition usually negetive for a long time. To me, it has been one of the fruits we always find difficut to bear, eat or make manifest in our lives.
We all have needs and I agree some are very pressing but we should have patience. Sometimes, we get angry at God when we present our needs to Him through prayer and does not receive answers immediately. We must learn to be patient, endure and wait upon God. Sometimes we must just wait a little longer. The word the Bible used was not shortsuffering for us to say the time should be short but the Bible said longsuffering. We may need any of the following; money for school or to pay rent, marriage, children or even a neighbour may be hating you for no cause and everything may seem to go wrong but we must learn to endure and when the positives are not coming despite our fervent prayer through fasting, we must still wait. The fact that the Bible says God will supply our needs according to His riches and that silver and gold are His does not mean when you are a christian, you will never face difficulties. At what age did Abraham and Sarah have a son? One thing we should know as christians is that, God has a time table for averyone. Unlike the time tables we have for our college lessons, God's time table may be slow but He is sure to cover everything in it concerning our lives. Even God has patience for us whenever we go wrong (Psalm 145:8-9).All we must learn to do is to have patience for after the suffering like the picture of Christ on the left which is a perfect example is abundant joy.
stay blessed.