Give me neither poverty nor riches!
“Two things I ask of you, Lord;
do not refuse me before I die…give me neither poverty nor riches,
but give me only my daily bread.
Otherwise, I may have too much and disown you
and say, ‘Who is the Lord?’
Or I may become poor and steal,
and so dishonor the name of my God.(Proverbs 30:7-8 NIV)
My mother often recited the words of Agur.
Why would anyone pray not to be rich?!
I have often thought about this … Although Agur derides himself saying “Surely I am only a brute, not a man; I do not have human understanding. I have not learned wisdom, nor have I attained to the knowledge of the Holy One (Proverbs 30:2-3 NIV)”; was he really that stupid? History suggests otherwise..
The relative prosperity of the once-wealthy, once-Christian Europe led many to become arrogant and turn away from God.
Secularism, atheism, agnosticism and godlessness have thrived on the soil of wealthy decadence;
leading to Europe’s fall from grace, influence and throwing it into an economic recession.
Paradoxically, the suffering of the very poor in France and Russia led to violence, bloodshed and… (interestingly) an alienation from God.
Communism and anti-theism flourished against the background of extreme relative poverty…
…and Agur begins to make sense…
Hearing from God
I read or listen (using an audio-version) to the Bible everyday. I try and cover about 10 chapters of it a day. But once a week, I set aside time to study the Bible in depth. God speaks to me more that day, than any other day of the week.
I have been reading the Bible since the age of 13, and have read it over 30 times cover to cover…and yet it never ceases to surprise. It is THE book of God. No doubt about it!
God speaks from it. He speaks through it. He shares his infinite wisdom. He makes himself known through it – as the kindest, most caring and forgiving God. That he is entirely approachable – thanks to Jesus. That he knows what you are thinking…so don’t bother hiding! Come clean…open up your heart to him…He is not looking to judge you, but to draw you close.
I am convinced after trying so many things…that the most effective way to hear from God is through studying the Bible.
What do you think?
…the Word was God
(John 1:1)
Do you teach your children to pray…about EVERYthing?
My 7 year old looked worried…he came up to me and said “Please pray with me. I am worried about…”
Long after I have left this earth … and am not around any more for my children, God will still be their father.
The greatest lesson I learned from my mother, a highly educated career woman, an excellent wife and wonderful mother…was the power of prayer.
My mother woke up early…everyday.. to pray for her family and make time for her God. She fasted every week for us. Long after she died, a prophetess told me that she had prayed over every day of my life, before passing away. What a great inheritance!
My mother prayed me into the kingdom of God. She prayed me out of trouble, and bad relationships. She prayed me into University…
Whenever life took us to crisis point, the simple answer of this intelligent, practical woman; was to pray.
Pray about everything (Philippians 4:6)
The power of the word “sorry”
‘Please forgive your brothers for the great wrong they did to you—for their sin in treating you so cruelly.’ So we, the servants of the God of your father, beg you to forgive our sin.” When Joseph received the message, he broke down and wept.
Genesis 50:17
Jacob apologises to his son Joseph on behalf of his sons (Joseph’s brothers). His brothers had violently attacked Joseph, and sold him into slavery. Their motive was envy.
Jacob as a great leader humbles himself and apologises to his own son. This simple act of acknowledging to Joseph that he had been wronged; and a humble request for forgiveness, moves Joseph to the point of tears. He cries.
For years Joseph had suffered the consequence of his brother’s wrongs. He had been displaced from his home, lost everything – material and familial. He had lost his freedom and rights – and become a slave.
He had done no wrong; nothing to deserve any of this…and yet a simple apology opens the floodgates of healing to his soul.
Finally someone who knew what he had been through, the pain he suffered, had acknowledged that he was wronged. That he had a right to feel angry and feel aggrieved. That the hurt of this great wrong was still causing him pain …”their sin is treating you cruelly”.
The sincere apology brought with it an overflow of God’s grace and healing; more than any act of retribution against his brothers would have.
So why don’t people just say sorry when they have hurt you?
Let’s do “more” than pray!
“Let’s do more than pray”
I have never understood this comment. Perhaps you can explain it to me.
Prayer brings us into the presence of God, who is All Powerful and full of love and concern for ordinary people. What “more” can we do than pray to this God?
Prayer changes lives, communities and nations.
About 15 years ago, I was in prayer meetings in India when people where making ridiculous requests of God! They were asking him to save India, and to bless it’s economy!
Today India is one of the fastest growing economies; and the gospel is spreading at record speed through this nation.
Prayer changes everything – because God is, and he answers prayer. Nothing is too difficult for him.
So what “more” can I do than pray?
I am the one who answers your prayers and cares for you (Hosea 14:8, the Bible NLT)
The happiest people in the world!
I recently met a fairly well-known Christian, who has done a great deal of good to many people. He found out a year ago that he was suffering from a terminal illness. As a result, after many years of hard work, he resigned his post. He is unable to do many of the things he once did to help people, or further God’s Kingdom. And yet…
He was full of peace, and an unearthly joy. It was incredible!
As we talked about various things, I remarked, “Our lives are always full of purpose.”…
always full of hope for a better day, always full of a happiness that can never be achieved apart from knowing how much God loves us.
We are the happiest people in the world.
No matter what our circumstances, we remain in the Father’s loving/protective embrace. Our future is secure.
for the happy heart, life is a continual feast
(Proverbs 15:15, the Bible NLT)
Pastors who are “practical”
The Church has suffered as a result of pastors who are “practical” handyman rather than priests; and shepherds of the flock.
Pastors who are so “hands-on” that they have neglected their duty of watching over their flock in prayer. Who have little time to “do their best” when it comes to preaching God’s word.
In contrast, read what Peter the first Pastor of the church had to say about this:-
“It wouldn’t be right for us to abandon our responsibilities for preaching and teaching the Word of God to help with the care of the poor. .. we’ll STICK to our assigned tasks of prayer and speaking God’s Word.” (The Bible, Acts 6:4 MSG)
God has assigned pastors the task of praying and preaching – not to become distracted and to lose focus! If shepherds go astray, the sheep will follow.
Making idols of your community
God has commanded us to love our community – not to worship it!
The church has made idols of flesh – of people.
God commanded us to serve people; NOT to give them our time of worship.
Jesus taught us to, “give back to Caesar what is Caesar’s, and to God what is God’s”
We cannot give to our community what belongs only to God – our time of personal prayer and bible-study.
The act of individual worship is so neglected in the modern church. Few Christians have a daily hour alone with Jesus. Few Christians know the importance of prayer, or it’s singular power to transform human lives. Many don’t know how to pray for more than a few minutes on their own. Prayer is seen as the “gift” of weak Christians.
In contrast, the great Christian leaders of the past (Spurgeon, the Wesley brothers, Smith Wigglesworth to name but a few) were known for their prayer lives. Today’s leaders are known for their wealth, their celebrity status, their charity – and falling into sin!
They have led the church astray into depending on our muscle power, and human understanding – idols of flesh; rather than the power of God that comes through prayer and fasting.
The believers in the first century church understood God better. Their leaders were devoted to prayer, bible-study and preaching God’s word. The congregation followed suit. As a result, the first century church succeeded beyond any rational explanation.
What was their secret?
ALL the believers devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching, … and to prayer.
(Acts 2:42, the Bible NLT)
Scripture references: Proverbs 3:5, Zechariah 4:6, Matthew 22:21
Thank you!
he gave thanks…*
At the start of the new year, it is time to look back and give thanks…
1. For God’s free gift of salvation
2. For his faithfulness
3. For his healing
4. At Hallowed – for his favour, for opening new doors, for bringing us this far, for being completely reliable
5. For the new year
6. For church, for family and friends – old and new
7. For food and shelter
I am about to do something new.
See, I have already begun! Do you not see it?(The Bible Isaiah 43:19, NLT)
*Jesus in the Bible, Matthew 14:19
The influence of athiest thinking on the church
Many contemporary Christians live and act as if there is no God!
No God who should be feared, no God who loves us so much that we should seek to know him through daily prayer and bible study.
No God who can solve even the biggest problems in the world.
Listening to contemporary sermons, you would think it was all down to us to change the world! And God is a mere spectator! But God says,
‘(renewal and transformation) only come about through my Spirit’*
If Christians really believed there was God, they would pray fervently.
It is through much prayer and diligent Bible-study that God influences Christians – who become the catalysts of change in the world. Without prayer and personal bible-study, a Christian is but a moral atheist who is trying to do good through their own efforts.
“Anyone who wants to come to him must believe that God exists
and that he rewards those who sincerely seek him”
(The Bible, Hebrews 11:6 NLT)
* (The Bible, Zechariah 4:6 MSG with my own additions within brackets)
