THE EFFECTUAL FERVENT PRAYER

THE EFFECTUAL FERVENT PRAYER

PSALM 18

   Today a decision will be made that will impact the life of my family member.  Without going into specifics, let me announce to The Heavens, that I am standing on the promises of my Father:  James 5: 16 and Psalm 18.

   

   James 5: 16 states "...prayer for one another... The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much."  Synonyms of "effectual" are  effective, fruitful, potent, productive.

   Portions of Psalms 18 are as follows:

I love you, O Lord, my strength,

The Lord is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer,

  my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge

  He is my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.

I call to The Lord, who is worthy of praise,

   and I am saved from my enemies.

.....In my distress I called to The Lord;

   I cried to my God for help.

From His temple He heard my voice;

   my cry came before Him, into His ears.

...The earth trembled and quaked,

   and the foundations of the mountains shook;

   they trembled because He was angry.

Smoke rose from His nostrils;

   consuming fire came from His mouth,

   burning coals blazed out of it.

He parted the heavens and came down;

   dark clouds were under His feet.

He mounted the cherubim and flew;

   He soared on the wings of the wind.

He made darkness His covering, His canopy around Him--

   the dark clouds of the sky.

Out of the brightness of His presence clouds advanced,

   with hailstones and bolts of lightning

The Lord thundered from heaven;

   the voice of The Most High resounded.

He shot His arrows and scattered the enemies

   great bolts of lightning and routed them.

...He rescued me from my powerful enemy,

   from my foes, who were too strong for me.

...He brought me out into a spacious place;

   HE RESCUED ME BECAUSE HE DELIGHTED IN ME.

...He gives His king great victories;

   He shows unfailing kindness to His anointed,

   to David and his descendants forever.

I declare this day that I am a descendant of David, as is my Savior, Jesus Christ.  I am so praising Him for His love.  Since He be for me, who can stand against me?   Romans 8: 31

If I were to write a letter to my Father today, as we enter the lions den, this is it.  You are encouraged to leave a comment with your thoughts.

   Do you have this kind of relationship with The Almighty God?  The first step is on our "Pathway to Salvation" page.  Click here:   https://omaswisdom.blogspot.com/p/path-to-salvation.html.

You are also invited to visit Oma at http://omaslife.blogspot.com  and http://omaspolitics.blogspot.com.

1 KINGS 17: 14 TITHING

1 KINGS 17:14
TITHING

   My son has been encouraging me for years to sell what I cook.  He is a little prejudiced where my cooking is concerned.  So, yesterday, I cooked what I wanted to eat and a dessert that my Mother, who lives with me,  had been wanting me to bake, and announced that I would sell it. 

 

   Now, we are not penniless, but a long-time friend of mine who lives in another state confided in me that he had gone to a local soup kitchen recently because he had nothing to eat and no money to buy anything.  I guess I was on a mission to prove something to myself.

   While I was cooking, 1 Kings 17 came to mind:

    King Ahab, king of Israel had worshiped foreign gods.  He violated the first two of the 10 Commandments: Commandment 1)  "I am The Lord, your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.  You shall have no other gods before Me.  Commandment 2)  You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth; you shall not bow down to them nor serve them.  For, I, The Lord your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and fourth generations of those who hate Me, but showing mercy to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My Commandments."

   Elijah, the prophet, announced to King Ahab, a great drought.  After the announcement, God directed Elijah to leave town.  He stayed by Kerith Ravine for a while and God sent him food (via ravens).  He drank from the ravine, but then it began to dry up due to the drought.  So, God told him to move again, that He had a widow in Zarephath who would feed him.

   When he came to the town gate, a widow was there gathering sticks.  He called to her and asked her to bring him a little water in a jar so he could have a drink.  As she was going to get it, he also asked for a piece of bread.

   NOW LISTEN TO HER REPLY beginning in verse 12:    “As surely as the Lord your God lives,” she replied, “I don’t have any bread—only a handful of flour in a jar and a little olive oil in a jug. I am gathering a few sticks to take home and make a meal for myself and my son, that we may eat it—and die.”  She was out of money and down to her last morsel in the house.  She was also responsible for caring for her son.

   But God had sent Elijah to her, so he said:  "Don’t be afraid. Go home and do as you have said. But FIRST make a small loaf of bread for me FROM WHAT YOU HAVE and bring it to me, and THEN make something for yourself and your son. ¹⁴ For this is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: ‘THE JAR OF FLOUR WILL NOT BE USED UP AND THE JUG OF OIL WILL NOT RUN DRY UNTIL THE DAY THE LORD SENDS RAIN ON THE LAND.'"

   Did you get that?  First give to God, then receive blessings.   She first made a small loaf for Elijah.  When she returned to cook for her and her son, the staples she had used had been restored.  Be obedient.  Ask for wisdom to be the best steward you can be over the blessings He has given you.  And the results?....

¹⁵ She went away and did as Elijah had told her. So there was FOOD EVERY DAY for ELIJAH AND FOR THE WOMAN AND HER FAMILY. ¹⁶ For the jar of flour was not used up and the jug of oil did not run dry, in keeping with the word of the Lord spoken by Elijah.

   There are many sermons related to these verses, I'm sure.  But for me, at this time, I hear my God saying, "Honor Me and I will prosper you."  The woman was a widow, so she, alone, had the responsibility for her son.  She had no income.  She had no food.  Did you notice how God had told Elijah that He "had a widow in Zarephath who would feed him"?  He knew her plight.  He sent help and a bottomless supply of goods until the drought ended. 

You are encouraged to leave a comment with your thoughts.

You are also invited to visit Oma at http://omaslife.blogspot.com  and http://omaspolitics.blogspot.com.

DR. MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR.'S STREET SWEEPER SPEECH

DR. MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR.'S STREET SWEEPER SPEECH

   Our visiting Pastor invoked Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s speech this week with words of encouragement regarding our God given gifts.  Dr. King delivered this speech to junior high school students in October, 1967 but it is so relevant today, no matter how old you are.  He began with a question:  "What is your life's blueprint?"

photo courtesy of Wikipedia

   "When ever a building is constructed, you usually have an architect who draws a blueprint, and that blueprint serves as the pattern, as a guide, and a building is not well erected without a good, solid blueprint. 

  

   Now each of you is in the process of building the structure of your lives, and the question is whether you have a proper, a solid and a sound blueprint.

   I want to suggest some of the things that should begin your life's blueprint:  Number one in your life's blueprint, should be a deep belief in your own dignity, your worth and your own "somebodiness".  Don't allow anybody to make you feel that you're nobody, worthless.  Always feel that you count because you do:  God created you, loves you, and has a plan for your life.  Always feel that you have worth, and always feel that your life has ultimate significance.

   Secondly, in your life's blueprint you must have as the basic principle the determination to achieve excellence in your various fields of endeavor.  You're going to be deciding as the days, as the years unfold what you will do in life--what your life's work will be.  Set out to do it well.  And I say to you, my young friends, doors are opening to you--doors of opportunities that were not open to your mothers and your fathers--and the great challenge facing you is to be ready to face these doors as they open.

   Ralph Waldo Emerson, the great essayist, said in a lecture in 1971, "If a man can write a better book or preach a better sermon or make a better mousetrap than his neighbor, even if he builds his house in the woods, the world will make a beaten path to his door."  That hasn't always been true--but it will become increasingly true, and so I would urge you to study hard, to burn the midnight oil; I would say to you, don't drop out of school.  I understand all the sociological reasons, but I urge you that in spite of your economic plight, in spite of the situation that you're forced to live in--stay in school.

   And when you discover what you will be in your life, set out to do it as if God Almighty called you at this particular moment in history to do it.  Don't just set out to do a good job.  Set out to do such a good job that the living, the dead or the unborn couldn't do it any better  (self motivation, ambition).

   If it falls your lot to be a street sweeper, sweep streets like Michelangelo painted pictures, sweep streets like Beethoven composed music, sweep streets like Leontyne Price sings before the Metropolitan Opera.  Sweep streets like Shakespeare wrote poetry.  Sweep streets so well that all the hosts of heaven and earth will have to pause and say, "Here lived a great street sweeper who swept his job well.  

   

   If you can't be a pine tree at the top of the hill due to lack of skills, education, or gifts, be a shrub in the valley.  Be the best little shrub on the side of the hill.  Be a bush if you can't be a tree.  If you can't be a highway, just be a trail.  If you can't be a sun, be a star.  For it isn't by size that you win or fail.  Be the best of whatever you are."

Italics inserted were my words

You are welcome to leave a comment with your thoughts.

You are also invited to visit Oma at http://omaslife.blogspot.com  and http://omaspolitics.blogspot.com.  

  

HONOR YOUR FATHER AND MOTHER - COMMANDMENT # 5

HONOR YOUR FATHER AND MOTHER
COMMANDMENT # 5

   In Exodus 20: 12 in The Old Testament and again in Ephesians 6: 2 in The New Testament, God instructs His children to honor our father and mother and gives a blessing for those who do:  "that it may go well with you in the land that The Lord your God is giving you."  God blesses us when we obey Him, but this is the only commandment that comes with an expressed blessing.  That must mean that it is very important in the eyes of God and in our lives.

   1 Samuel 15:22 states that God reveres obedience over sacrifice or offerings:  But Samuel replied, "What is more pleasing to the Lord:  your burnt offerings and sacrifices or your obedience to his voice?   Listen!  Obedience is better than sacrifice, and submission is better than offering the fat of rams.  NLT

    My Dad died in December of 2013.  When I think of him, I realize that I was blessed much more than he because I did honor him.  His body is in the grave, but I have many memories of our relationship.  Those of you who have read my blogs realize the relationship we had.
 

   My Mother expressed her desire to come live with me almost two years ago.  The blessings I have received have been tremendous.  I have always made an effort to take care of her needs, but having her with me is just beyond words.

   My cousins also take care of their Mother.  She has been diagnosed with Alzheimer's.  Don't you know how difficult it must be for them?  But it is also a blessing.  The time invested with her is a commodity that cannot be replaced, but I believe will be blessed 7 fold.  My cousins are also respected for honoring her.  You can't buy respect!

   How about you?  Are your parents alive?  Do you know them?  I would love to know your situation.  How do you honor them?

   God never said it would be easy to honor your parents.  He just instructed us to do it.  So, on this first day of a new year, in conjunction with our fund drive, let me extend an invitation to you to share with us how you honor your parents.  If you do honor them, or want to honor them, or are raising your children to honor you and your spouse, please take a moment to make a donation to this site.  Put your money where your mouth is and tell God that you are in this and will make this a priority for you and your family in this new year.  Blessings to you.

You are invited to leave a comment with your thoughts.  Please indicate if it is alright for us to publish your comment, as some comments are not for the public to know.

You are also invited to visit Oma at http://omaslife.blogspot.com and http://omaspolitics.blogspot.com.