One Sunday it was my turn to share during the prayer meeting. Before the sharing, pastor led a song. Before he chose the song, I already opened the song book to the song he chose, I didn’t know he chose that song and there are many songs in that song book. Thanks the Lord.
Healing through prayer
Mark 16:15-18 15 He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation. 16 Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned. 17 And these signs will accompany those who believe: In my name they will drive out demons; they will speak in new tongues; 18 they will pick up snakes with their hands; and when they drink deadly poison, it will not hurt them at all; they will place their hands on sick people, and they will get well.”
Here it says signs will accompany those who believe, signs not only accompany special people, but those who believe.
One of my high school classmates had lower back pain problem. I prayed for him, the Lord healed his lower back, the pain was gone the next day. A lady attended our church had headache problem, the headache was severe. I prayed for her from time to time. Now she has no more headache. Another person attended our church had allergic problem, his eyes were itchy. After the prayer, no more itchiness with his eyes. Thank the Lord, glory to his name.
Interpretation on Sunday
I need to interpret our pastor’s preaching on Sunday from time to time. Usually he sends his message to me by email Saturday late at night. I need to read his message to do some preparation for the interpretation Sunday morning. It happened at least twice that I set the alarm for Sunday morning and when I woke up and opened my eyes, it was exact time I set the alarm.
Persistent in prayer
The Faith of a Canaanite Woman (Matthew 15:21-28)
21 Leaving that place, Jesus withdrew to the region of Tyre and Sidon. 22 A Canaanite woman from that vicinity came to him, crying out, “Lord, Son of David, have mercy on me! My daughter is demon-possessed and suffering terribly.” 23 Jesus did not answer a word. So his disciples came to him and urged him, “Send her away, for she keeps crying out after us.” 24 He answered, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of Israel.” 25 The woman came and knelt before him. “Lord, help me!” she said. 26 He replied, “It is not right to take the children’s bread and toss it to the dogs.” 27 “Yes it is, Lord,” she said. “Even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their master’s table.” 28 Then Jesus said to her, “Woman, you have great faith! Your request is granted.” And her daughter was healed at that moment.
21 Leaving that place, Jesus withdrew to the region of Tyre and Sidon. 22 A Canaanite woman from that vicinity came to him, crying out, “Lord, Son of David, have mercy on me! My daughter is demon-possessed and suffering terribly.” 23 Jesus did not answer a word. So his disciples came to him and urged him, “Send her away, for she keeps crying out after us.” 24 He answered, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of Israel.” 25 The woman came and knelt before him. “Lord, help me!” she said. 26 He replied, “It is not right to take the children’s bread and toss it to the dogs.” 27 “Yes it is, Lord,” she said. “Even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their master’s table.” 28 Then Jesus said to her, “Woman, you have great faith! Your request is granted.” And her daughter was healed at that moment.
Lord Jesus came to preach gospel to the people of Israel first, not the Gentile. Canannite woman is a gentile. Because of her persistence, Lord Jesus granted her request. Lord Jesus praise her for her faith. Here we see that persistence in prayer is important.
1 Thessalonians 5:17 says that pray without ceasing.
We should have persistence in prayer. Seek Him until we find him. Knock until the door is open. Fervent in prayer, pray for those in authority, pray for all the saints, pray for the needy, pray for the sick, etc.
My wife back pain was gone after prayer
My wife had back pain problem for a few years. In 2016, her back pain got worse and she had to stop working, went for sick leave for a few months and got treatment. Her back got better after that. Recently she got back pain again, she got back pain when going to sleep, had problem sleeping like what happened in 2016, she was afraid that she had to go for sick leave again. That evening she had pain and could not fall asleep, I prayed for her and the pain was gone. Thanks the Lord for his mercy and healing. Glory to His name.
One Thing Needed
Luke 10:38-42
38 As Jesus and his disciples were on their way, he came to a village where a woman named Martha opened her home to him. 39 She had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet listening to what he said. 40 But Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made. She came to him and asked, “Lord, don’t you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to help me!”
38 As Jesus and his disciples were on their way, he came to a village where a woman named Martha opened her home to him. 39 She had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet listening to what he said. 40 But Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made. She came to him and asked, “Lord, don’t you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to help me!”
41 “Martha, Martha,” the Lord answered, “you are worried and upset about many things, 42 but few things are needed—or indeed only one.[a] Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her.”
Here we see that Mary sat at the Lord’s feet listening to His Word, while Martha was distracted by all the preparations. Then Lord Jesus says “ but few things are needed—or indeed only one. Mary has chosen what is better”
Have we chosen what is better or we are so busy, so distracted that we don’t have time to draw near to the Lord, no time for prayer and no time for reading the Bible.
In Mark 1:35 we see that even Lord Jesus got up early in the morning to pray. It is important that every day we get up in the morning, the first thing we should do is drawing near to the Lord, praying and reading the Bible.
I am the vine, you are the branches
In John 15:1-11, the Lord Jesus says that He is the vine, we are the branches. We must remain in him so that we can bear fruit. We must abide in Him, have connection with him so that we can bear fruit. Lord Jesus says that apart from him, we can do nothing.
Verse 10-11 says that if we abide in His love, He will give us his joy. The bible also says that in His presence, there is fullness of joy. In God’s presence, in the presence of Lord Jesus, there is fullness of joy. In order to bear fruit, we branches must constantly connect to the vine.
Importance of Prayer
In Lk 18:1-8, the parable of the unrighteous judge. Lord Jesus encourages us to pray always, not to give up.
Widows came to the unrighteous judge for justice, she was refused. But because of her persistence, She got what she wanted. Prayer is important.
Jesus’s mother Mary asked Lord Jesus to provide wine for the wedding, Lord Jesus didn’t intend to perform miracle, but He did it because Mary requested. (John 2:1-11).
Canannite women asked Lord Jesus to cast out demon from her daughter, but Lord Jesus came to preach the gospel to Israelites first, not for the Gentile, but because of the persistent of the Canannite’s woman, Lord Jesus did the miracle for this Canannite woman. (Matthew 15:21-28). She was praised for her faith.
The LORD gave us a medium size pan we wanted
We had a medium size pan which was broken, so we would like to buy a new one. We went to a couples of stores to look for a suitable one. I showed a couples of pans in the stores to my wife, she said she would like to buy a pan whose top and bottom is whole piece and it lasts longer, but we could not find one in the store.
Sometimes later we invited a few brothers, sisters and friends to our place for dinner, one of our friends gave us a pan which is exactly what we wanted, same size, top and bottom is one piece. This friend bought whole set of pans and gave us one.
Thanks the LORD, he provided us what we needed through this friend.
Resurrection
Today I share about resurrection.
1 Corinthians 15:20 says, “But now Christ is risen from the dead, and has become the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.”
1 Corinthians 15:20 says, “But now Christ is risen from the dead, and has become the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.”
Lord Jesus died and rose again, Christ is the firstfruits. In the future we will also be raised, resurrected. Our lowly bodies will be transformed to a glorious spiritual body like Lord Jesus’ body.
Paul talked about Spiritual body in 1Cor 15:42-44/50-53
42 So will it be with the resurrection of the dead. The body that is sown is perishable, it is raised imperishable; 43 it is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory; it is sown in weakness, it is raised in power; 44 it is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body. If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body.
50 I declare to you, brothers and sisters, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. 51 Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed— 52 in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. 53 For the perishable must clothe itself with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality.
From the above passages, we see that we will be raised with an imperishable, glorious, spiritual bodies.
Dead to Sin, Alive to God Rom6:4-7
4Therefore we have been buried with Him through baptism into death, so that as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life. 5For if we have become united with Him in the likeness of His death, certainly we shall also be in the likeness of His resurrection, 6knowing this, that our old self was crucified with Him, in order that our body of sin might be done away with, so that we would no longer be slaves to sin;
So at baptism, we died with Christ, raised with Him, we live a new life, we receive power to live this new life, this new life free from the power of sins. This new life is dead to sin, alive to God. This new life is a resurrected life.
Prayer
Today I share about prayer. Talking about prayer, sometimes some other things can be distractions for us from prayer.
Some people might say that they are too busy to pray, they have no time to pray. They have time for other things, but don’t have time for prayer.
Bible encourages us to pray
1 Thessalonians 5:16-18
16 Rejoice always, 17 pray without ceasing, 18 give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.
What does it mean pray without ceasing? it means pray often, pray constantly, pray continuously.
Romans 12:12
12 Rejoicing in hope, persevering in tribulation, devoted to prayer,
We know that in early church, disciples were devoted to prayer.
Mark 1:35
And in the morning, rising up a great while before day, he went out, and departed into a solitary place, and there prayed.
Here we see that even Lord Jesus got up early in the morning to pray.
Seek the LORD until you find Him
Isaiah 55:6-8
6 Seek the Lord while he may be found; call on him while he is near. 7 Let the wicked forsake their ways and the unrighteous their thoughts Let them turn to the Lord, and he will have mercy on them, and to our God, for he will freely pardon. 8 “For my thoughts are not your thoughts neither are your ways my ways,” declares the Lord.
Isaiah 55:1 Invitation to the thirsty
“Come, all you who are thirsty, come to the waters; and you who have no money, come, buy and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without cost.
The above two passages say seek the LORD while He may be found; Call upon Him while He is near. God delights us to seek after Him, to come to Him, to draw near to Him, to communion with Him.
Jeremiah 29:13
13 You will seek me and find Me when you seek me with all your heart. You will seek Me and find Me when you search for Me with all your heart.
Here is says seek me until you find me. Seek will find, if you seek me with all your heart. When we seek the Lord, we should not give up, we should seek Him until we find Him. If we seek Him with all your heart, seek Him diligently, we will find Him.
Luke 11:5-13
5 Then Jesus said to them, “Suppose you have a friend, and you go to him at midnight and say, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves of bread; 6 a friend of mine on a journey has come to me, and I have no food to offer him.’ 7 And suppose the one inside answers, ‘Don’t bother me. The door is already locked, and my children and I are in bed. I can’t get up and give you anything.’ 8 I tell you, even though he will not get up and give you the bread because of friendship, yet because of your shameless audacity[a] he will surely get up and give you as much as you need. 9 “So I say to you: Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. 10 For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened. 11 “Which of you fathers, if your son asks for[b] a fish, will give him a snake instead? 12 Or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? 13 If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!”
Here it says ask you will receive, seek you will find. Later in the passage, it says, how much more will Heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him.
Seek Him and keep on seeking until we find Him, knock and keep on knocking until door open.
1John 4:16 16 And so we know and rely on the love God has for us. God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in them.
God is love, He desires our love, when we love Him, abides in love, He will abides in us. When we abide in love, we will be connected with Him.
