Hear my prayer, O Lord - Psalm 86:6

This psalm is an example of believing prayer.  David gave many indications of his complete faith in God in these verses: "I am devoted to you, You are my God", "I call to you all day long", "you will answer me", "there is none like you"...and yet he was crying out to God for help in his circumstances. We have further evidence of David's utter and complete faith in Psalm 27:13:

I am still confident of this:

I will see the goodness of the Lord in the

land of the living.

 

 

He had not seen his answers, but he knew that his God would be good to him. In 1 Samuel 17:37 David stated his confidence: "The Lord who delivered me from the paw of the lion and the paw of the bear, will deliver me from the hand of this Philistine." So often I think we don't really believe God will hear us and answer us.  David had had many answers to prayer in his life...I have had many answers to prayer in my life...and yet, we still get discouraged and doubt that our problems are real to our Father in heaven or that they are important enough to warrant His attention.  I'm afraid many times our lack of confidence shows in our wimpy fruit.

 

L.B. Cowman says: "True faith relies on God and believes before seeing...Faith that believes it will see, will keep us from becoming discouraged."

 

Are you believing today that what you sought from Him earnestly this morning, will be granted?  Do you believe He will answer according to His will and His best for you today?  His word tells us He hears and answers.  His character and His word promises goodness to those who walk in His ways.

Mark 11:24 says: "...whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours."

 

For further study: 1 Chronicles 5:20,  Psalm 40:1, Psalm 66:16-20, Psalm 91:14-15, Matthew 21:22, John 20:29, 2 Cor. 5:7, Hebrews 11:1, 6, James 5:13-16.

 

Be blessed in your understanding of God's word.

 

Love,

Holly

 

 

 

May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart... - Psalm 19:14

Nancy Leigh DeMoss in THE POWER OF WORDS tells this story:

On September 11, l995, a squirrel climbed onto the Metro-North Railroad power

lines near New York City.  This set off an electrical surge, which weakened

an overhead bracket, which let a wire dangle toward the tracks, which

tangled in a train, which tore down all the lines.  As a result, 47,000

commuters were stuck in Manhattan for hours that evening.

 

Oh my goodness...one little squirrel can cause all that damage!  I know about squirrels...we have had a dead one in our roof space (over our bathroom!!!) for several weeks.  We were trying to be brave and just wait it through...the stench has been overwhelming at times and has at times filled the whole house.  Now I hear the scratching of a relative and have finally called Critter Control.  The smell of death has gotten out of control.  2 Cor. 2:14 says we are either the "aroma of Christ" or "the smell of death".  It further says we are to speak with "...sincerity, like men sent from God".

 

St. Frances de Sales says: "Our words are a faithful index of the state of our souls".

 

Our pillow today reminds us to seek the Lord for pleasing words and thoughts.  Our words have such power to encourage or tear down.  Oh, Lord, I so want my words to build up.   I love pleasant aromas: the baking of bread... the smell of a lovely perfume...a gardenia...a baby after a bath. The smell of death is disgusting...why would I ever choose words that don't encourage.  Think of some words that have encouraged you.  Think of some words that have hurt you.  What words will you speak today? 

 

For further study:  Psalm 39:1, Psalm 141:3, Proverbs 15:26-28, 16:24, 17:27, 18:21, 2 Corinthia 2:14-17, Ephesians 4:29, Philippians 4:8, James 3:3-6

 

Be blessed in your understanding of God's word.

 

Love,

Holly

Be strong and courageous...the Lord will be with you always - Joshua 1:9

As we begin the book of Joshua, we know that Joshua's great leader and mentor, Moses, had just died.  The Lord  - as he spoke to Joshua - referred to Moses as "my servant".  Moses had faithfully been obedient to what God had asked him to do.  My Layman's Commentary said: "the idea of servant indicated faithful obedience to the covenant relationship and faithful leadership of the covenant people".  If you haven't done a Bible study of the word covenant, I strongly encourage you to do so. When you are in a covenant relationship with someone, it is like a contract between two or more persons to do or not do something specified.  This covenant relationship began with Abraham and all his descendants...which included Moses and Joshua.   God's part of the bargain included His protection of his people as He brought them into the land He had promised them.   Joshua's was to be the servant and be obedient to all that God asked him to do.  Galatians 3:29 says if we belong to Christ,  we are "heirs according to the promise".

We are God's covenant people when we receive His Son as our Saviour and begin a life of service to Him.  As He said to Joshua, so He says to us:

"Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous.

Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your

God will be with you wherever you go."

 

He is our covenant protector and we need not fear what we see in the world today.  We are His...He calls us by name...He redeems us...comforts us...loves us...is at work within us...we are precious to Him. In one of my favorite books we used to read to Andrew and Alex, THE RUNAWAY BUNNY, the momma bunny continually says to the rebellious little bunny, "If you run away, I will run after you.  For you are my little bunny."  She protected her own little bunny...this bunny was hers and she would fight for its safety.  They were in relationship with each other.  We are like the little bunny! 

 

If we are His, He will fight for us.  The question we need to ask is:  do we live by FEAR or do we live by FAITH?  If we will "be strong and courageous" in His strength, He will go with us wherever we go. That is living by faith.  No one is more dependable that our Lord...Joshua knew that and marched forward.  That's what I want to do...march forward.  How about you?

 

For further study:  Gen. 15, Psalm 32:7, Psalm 91, Isaiah 7:9, Isaiah 43:1-13, Isaiah 58:11, John 14:15-17, John 17:15, Galatians 3:29,  Ephesians 6:10-18, Hebrews 11:1, 6.

 

Be blessed in your understanding of God's word.

 

Love,

Holly