Why is Prayer important in the lives of humanity?

The answer to this question is taken from my book, A Prayer Study Guide, which looks at

prayer from many different perspectives; therefore, today we will provide an answer to the question, by stating:

1.     Since the beginning of time man has always prayed to his God, regardless of the religious persuasion. It matters not if the prayer is saved or unsaved, the person can go to God in sincere prayer. God hears and answers.

2.     Prayer has a definite value and the prayer has faith in what he or she prays for to his or her God of that particular religious persuasion.

3.     In the Biblical faith prayer plays a vital role in the believer's life and that the true and living God of this universe encourages prayers as this is the believer's and non-believer's communication with God. The non-believer can ask God for mercy which He faithfully gives. God the Holy Spirit convicts unbeliever's heart convicting him/her of their sins and bringing the person into the realization that they need saving, which comes through believing in and accepting Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior.

4.     Jesus Christ Himself made prayer an essential part of His earthly ministry, and He encouraged His followers to pray daily.

5.     Prayers are part of worshipping the Lord God our creator. We worship our Lord when we pray to Him because He is the creator and sustainer of the universe.

6.     More importantly, "prayers of the righteous availeth much" (James 5:16). Lastly, prayers are essential to our walk with God as we are establishing a closer relationship with Him.

It can be concluded, that prayer is our weapon in this fight against Satan, and it builds a strong bond between the prayer and God.

Comments are welcomed.          

Praying through Adversities: Psalm 27:17 KJV

The LORD is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The LORD is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid? When the wicked, even mine enemies and my foes, came upon me to eat up my flesh, they stumbled and fell. Though an host should encamp against me, my heart shall not fear: though war should rise against me, in this will I be confident.

We are in a dark place right now in this country, many are fearful; having anxiety attacks, and just plain worried about what is going to happen to our democracy as we know it today. Evil seems to have no end, and evildoers are parading themselves as if they are above the law.

I came to encourage all of us the best that I can, and that is have no fear for God is with us. His word is right, and what it says will come to pass. God will and is going to punish sin, hate, bigotry, and the other evilness that is being carried out in this country. What all 65+ million of us must do is trust God because He is trustworthy and answers prayer. What is our prayer request? It is God move the man in the Whitehouse and his corrupt regime out. There is no problem that He can't solve, no valley is too low that He can't reach down and pick us up, and no mountain too high that he can't bring us down to the level where we are supposed to be; simply call on Him through prayer with confidence that He will answer. I am a living witness to His answered prayers.

Our scripture text gives us the assurances that God is our refuge, our deliver, our strength, our salvation, and our God; therefore, we are to have no fear, because when our enemy came upon us, they stumbled and fell. We are in a warfare people; rest assure we are victorious because of who we are and to whom we belong. Verse 5 of the text gives us the assurance we need, which states, For in the time of trouble He shall hide me in His pavilion: in the secret of His tabernacle shall He hide me; He shall set me up upon a rock.

Let me close by referencing verses 6 and seven which provides further assurances that God is our warrior who is fighting our battles; therefore, we can sing joyful, joyful because the political corruptions that we are living through will be over soon. Just as King David said, weeping may endure for a night, but joy comes in the morning (Psalm 30:5 KJV).

Our political climate of corruption is going to change; our voices are being heard, and God is moving on our behalf. Prayer changes things, but faith unlocks the door.

Your comments are welcomed.

Author's contacts:

white3285@sbcglobal.net

https://willie-writing.blogspot.com

www.goodshepherdwritingandpublishing.com

www.theshepherdministries.org.

What are some hindrances that render prayers ineffective? James 5:16

 Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.

Today's message is the second in a series on prayer taken from my book A Prayer Study Guide. Our focus is to answer the above question as follows:

(a) Unconfessed sin in the prayer's life is a significant barrier that prevents prayers from being answered and effective. 

(b) The lack of faith is another barrier that prevents prayers from being effective.

(c) A lack of honesty and sincerity is still another barrier that prevents prayers from becoming effective.

(d) A lack of praying with authority in Jesus' name.

(e) A failure to align our will with God's and being in harmony with Him.

(f) Still another barrier to effective praying and prayers are the lack of persistence in our prayers. Persistence is important because God's answer is wait as this is His method of preparing us to receive the requested petition.

(g) A failure to give God praises, adore Him and worship Him as this is significant to prayers being effective. Constant praise and worship of God result in blessing for us.

We welcome your comments.

Author's contacts:

white3285@sbcglobal.net

https://willie-writing.blogspot.com

www.goodshepherdwritingandpublishing.com

www.theshepherdministries.org

What makes our prayers Effective? James 5:16

Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.

Today's message is an excerpt from my A Prayer Study Guide that is available from Amazon, Barnes& Nobles and the author by emailing me with the book title in subject line. This is a two part series; Friday's message will be, What are some hindrances that render prayers ineffective? That said; let us take a look at the answer to today message question, and the answer is as follows:

 (a) Prayers are considered effective when the prayer receives an answer from God, but the prayer's faith plays a vital role to answered prayers. Prayers are effective when they offer praise and adoration to God (Psalm 150; Acts 2:47; Romans 15:11). At the heart of all prayers is a sincere heart for which the prayer is made. Yes, no and wait are answers from God.

(b) Prayers are effective; when we give them authority by asking in Jesus' name as this gives authority (John 14:13-14).

(c) Prayers are most effective when they align with the will of God and His Word. Christ provided our model that all prayers should follow. It is noteworthy to say that the believer must be living in harmony with God's will.

(d) The righteous' prayers must be persistent and in faith, which means that we are to ask, seek and knock (Matthew 7:7-8) while waiting for God's answer as His time is not our time.

We welcome your comments:

Author's contacts are:

white3285@sbcglobal.net

https://willie-writing.blogspot.com

www.goodshepherdwritingandpublishing.com

www.theshepherdministries.org

What are the four loves and their meaning?

Today's message is another lesson on love, and we are continuing our discussion on love because God is love and love is superior to hate. Where there is genuine love, hate cannot reside. That said, we will focus on each love and its meaning, and they are: (a) storge love is a family love that unites families together. It is the strength that holds all families together in spite of the difficulties that a family may encounter (Romans 12:9-10KJV). These verses states, Let love be without dissimulation. Abhor that which is evil; cleave to that which is good. Be kindly affectionate one to another with brotherly love; in honour preferring one another; what do these verses mean? They mean that above all else we are to love one another from our hearts. Also, we must cling to one another in love as we build a strong bond, and in doing so, hate will have no place to dwell and place a wedge between us.

(b) Eros love-this is the love that is between a man and a woman; a sensual or romantic love. The Song of Solomon 1:2-4, these verses express the profound emotional felling the bride has for her husband, King Solomon. On a spiritual plane, this is the love that Christ has for His church, which is His bride. Eros love is commonly referred to marriage, and the Bible speaks on this type of love in imamate relationship in that the two should reframe from sexual intercourse until marriage. God instituted the bond of friendship in the Garden of Eden, and they were to be fruitful and multiply. Therefore, God sanctioning marriage means that Eros love is essential in the marriage relationship.

(c) Philia love is commonly known as brotherly love that unites believers together. Philia love also includes friendships that exist between two or more persons. We develop this brotherly love in the church, school, work, community, and our neighborhoods. Philia love is seen in the close relationship between King David and Jonathan (1 Samuel 18:1-3).

(d) Agape love is God's unmatchless love for humanity that is demonstrated in John 3:16, where God gave His only begotten Son Jesus Christ who sacrificed His life to restore a broken fellowship with humanity. Ephesians 5:1-2 encourages us to emulate the love of God as we as believers walk in the love of Christ. Therefore, if we were to define agape love, it would be a sacrificial love.

The four loves discussed has purposeful meaning, and designed by God; let us love as God loves.

Love Changes Everything: Corinthian 13:4-5; Colossian 3:14; John 3:16 KJV

Charity suffereth long, and is kind; charity envieth not; charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up, Doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil. And above all these things put on charity, which is the bond of perfectness. For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

Pondering what to talk this morning; I read this Sunday's school lesson and felt let to use its subtitle of Love Changes Everything. Our supporting scriptures will show that love changes everything because if you love someone with your whole heart, there is no room for hate.

Love and hate cannot abide in the same room, i.e. place, or heart, community and or country. We will either love the person, thing or act or hate; Jesus teaches us to love as He loved all humanity to the point that He gave His life for us and all who believe in Him shall be saved and spend eternity with our heavenly Father.

Love mends broken relationships, in doing the person giving the love is tolerant of the other person; love is not easily provoked, but instead is longsuffering just as God the Father was and is with us. Love is patient and is willing to forgive. Lastly, love thinks no evil but instead looks for the good in our fellowman.

In conclusion, love has everything to do with our relationship with God and our fellowman; therefore, let us love one another as God loves.

Comments are welcomed.

Author's contacts:

white3285@sbcglobal.net

https://willie-writing.blogspot.com

www.goodshepherdwritingandpublishing.com

www.theshepherdministries.org

Jesus Teaches About Fulfilling The Law

Salt and Light: Matthew 5:13-20KJV

Ye are the salt of the earth: but if the salt has lost his savour, wherewith shall it be salted? It is thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out, and to be trodden under foot of men. Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid.

What does Jesus' teaching on believes as salt and light of the earth? Salt and light are both valuable to human living. Salt is used to season food as well as being used to preserves food. Salt was used plentifully in the old days before refrigeration became widespread. Farmers would put salt on their fresh killed meat such as hogs cows and fresh fish to keep it fresh until the meat was eaten. Salt is also used to season the food that we eat giving it a favorable taste. When salt loses its flavor, then it is thrown out.

Believers are the salt of the earth and if we as believers have lost our usefulness, then where will we walked on. How are we as believers to be the salt of this world/earth? Believers are to season the earth/world by proclaiming the truth of God's Word, which is the good news of the gospel of Christ. As believers spread the gospel of Jesus Christ, many will hear and adhere to the word and come to Christ for salvation/

What does it mean to be the light of the world? The same illustrative message applies here as it does for being the salt of the earth. Believers are to shine the light of Christ in our daily lives, so the world will know who we and to whom we belong. The smallest amount of light is placed in a dark room; the light dispels the darkness. Believers are to walk in the light of Christ manifesting His righteousness. The least amount of witnessing Christ will have a significant impact on the area where we are. Think of what will happen if one or two believers get together witnessing Christ?

Believers, we are commissioned by Christ to season the world with our message of Christ and to light the way for all those who are still living in darkness.

Jesus Teaches About Right Attitudes