Renew Our Strength Oh Lord.

Renew Our Strength Oh Lord.

Isaiah 40:28-31.

The challenges in Christian life are becoming greater by the day. A lot of believers can’t progress in their Christian life, some are giving up their faith and others are standing on the fence (they don’t know which side they belong).We should not be surprise for He said,” Even the youths shall faint and be weary, And the young men shall utterly fall”. Brothers and Sisters in the Lord, this is the time we have to wait, seek the face of the Lord to gain more strength, make our ways straight and to obtain His blessings and favor.

Are you tire and weary? Are you stumble and falling? Are you feeling God has disregarded your ways? Then focus your heart on these few words from the passage. "They that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; they shall walk, and not faint.”

No matter what life has done to you, The Word declares if you'll wait on and hope in the Lord He'll lift you up on the wings of eagles! If you're so tired you can hardly move your body and if your spirit is so empty you can't summon up the most basic emotion, if you'll wait on the Lord He'll fill you up from a never ending well-spring of joy. If you've made so many mistakes you're convinced all your chances have run out and you're simply tired of trying, if you'll hope in the Lord He'll take all that broken past and turn it into a clean new present.

Waiting (seeking)

"If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land." - 2 Chronicles 7:14

We can't come face to face with God unless we;

1. Humble ourselves,

2. Pray and

3. Turn from our wicked ways.

Not only do we need to be repentant, we need to be aware of our wickedness. We need to find out from Him what things in our lives are displeasing to Him. We find what is "wicked" to God through prayer and reading His Word, allowing the Holy Spirit to reveal those things to us we need to get rid of. When we do, we see that we fail every day in word, thought and deed, whether we mean to or not, and "all our righteous acts are like filthy rags" to Him (Isaiah 64:6). We are nothing without Him. The next step is changing what He shows you in humility and complete dependence on Him, for humility precedes holiness and without holiness, no one can see God. What good is seeking if you cannot see what you are seeking? We can't hang on to things that He hates and expect to meet Him eye to eye. So humility precedes holiness and holiness precedes seeking His face. Holiness also precedes power and God promises to empower that which He first makes holy, but it is a process. May God help us all, Amen!

PRAYER

PRAYER

1. What is prayer? Prayer is communication (talking) with God. Gen 18:23-32

2. Answered Prayer; Jabez 1Chronicles 4: 9-10, Hezekiah when sick; Isaiah 38:2-3, Peter release from prison; Act 12:5-

3. God has promise to answer our prayer; Ps 91:15, He will call upon me, and I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble, I will deliver him and honor him.

Isa 58:9. aThen you will call, and the Lord will answer; you will cry for help, and he will say: Here am I.

Zec 13:9 bThey will call on my name and I will answer them; I will say, ‘They are my people, and they will say, ‘The Lord is our God.’

4. What causes the failure to our prayer?

a. Sin Ps 66:18, If I had cherished sin in my heart, the Lord would not have listened;

Isaiah 59:1-2, Surely the arm of the Lord is not too short to save, nor his ear too dull to hear. 2 But your iniquities have separated you from your God; your sins have hidden his face from you, so that he will not hear.

b. Unbelief (doubt) Matt 21:21-22, Jesus replied, “I tell you the truth, if you have faith and do not doubt, not only can you do what was done to the fig tree, but also you can say to this mountain, ‘Go, throw yourself into the sea,’ and it will be done. 22 If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer.” therefore we should have FAITH, Mk 11:24

c. Some prayers sometime are refused because not in according with the divine will of God. 2Sam 12:16-23, 2Cor 12:8-9 Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. 9 But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.”

5. Why should we pray?

a. Is a command: Matt 7:7-11, Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you…

Matt 26:41, “Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the body is weak.”

Lk 18:1, Then Jesus told his disciples a parable to show them that they should always pray and not give up. 1Thess 5:17, pray continually

James 5:13, Is any one of you in trouble? He should pray. Is anyone happy? Let him sing songs of praise.

b. God needs our prayers; Ezekiel 22:30-31 “I looked for a man among them who would build up the wall and stand before me in the gap on behalf of the land so I would not have to destroy it, but I found none. 31 So I will pour out my wrath on them and consume them with my fiery anger, bringing down on their own heads all they have done, declares the Sovereign Lord.” (Numbers 14:11-20 Moses did it for the Israelites)

Rev 8:3-5, Another angel, who had a golden censer, came and stood at the altar. He was given much incense to offer, with the prayers of all the saints, on the golden altar before the throne. 4 The smoke of the incense, together with the prayers of the saints, went up before God from the angel’s hand. 5 Then the angel took the censer, filled it with fire from the altar, and hurled it on the earth; and there came peals of thunder, rumblings, flashes of lightning and an earthquake.

c. The Lord himself (Jesus) prayed. Mk 1:35 (morning) Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed.

Mk 6:46-47(evening) After leaving them, he went up on a mountainside to pray.

Lk 5:16(alone) But Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed.

Lk 6:12(all night) One of those days Jesus went out to a mountainside to pray, and spent the night praying to God.

6. The master key of prayer; John 15:7

If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be given you.

kaikensortin kameleontit

Monesti puhutaan, että maailman pitää muuttua. On monia eri asioita, mitkä ei vaan miellytä. Näihin epämiellekkäisiin asioihin halutaankin kameleonttimaisen ketterää muutosta.
Sanotaan esimerkiksi, että on tapahtumassa ilmastonmuutos ja se on estettävä heti! Vaaditaan muutosta, jotta ihana ilmasto ei heitä kupperskeikkaa. Myös ne meistä, jotka ei lämpene ilmastonmuutoksesta kiihkoilulle omaavat aina oman muutostoiveensa. Urheiluhullut haluaa muutosta mudassa rämpivään jalkapallomaajoukkueeseemme. Kulttuurikansalaiset voi puolestaan haluta parempaa elokuvateatteria taikka unohtumattomia oopperaelämyksiä.
Jos sattui niin, että et ole kumpaakaan et kulttuurikansalainen etkä urheiluhullu, niin ei hätää! Tähän olet varmasti toivonut muutosta: nimittäin asuinpaikkaasi. Ainakin monet meistä haluaa jonain päivänä vaan vaihtaa maisemaa, koska luullaan että "ruoho on vihreämpää aidan toisella puolen". Arki ei tunnu niin hienolta ja silloin on helppo lohduttautua siihen, että se voisi olla muualla hienompaa.
Muutostoiveita löydetään aiva mahrottomasti jos lähetää oikee miettimähä, mutta lisättäköön tähän vielä pari yleistä: suurempi palkka, parempi auto sekä suurempi seurakunta. Listaa voijaan kaikki jatkaa omilla muutostoiveilla loputtomiin, eikö?

Meidän loputtomista listoista huolimatta Raamatullakin on kanta muutokseen:

Älkääkä mukautuko tämän maailmanajan mukaan, vaan muuttukaa mielenne uudistuksen kautta, tutkiaksenne, mikä on Jumalan tahto, mikä hyvää ja otollista ja täydellistä. (Room. 12:2)

Kuulostaako tämä samalta kuin toivelistasi? Minun listani sotii usein räikeästikkin vastaan. Uusin sählymaila tai komea audi ei olekaan niin näppärä muutostoive, jos oikein mietitään. Hötkötystä sanon minä.

Raamattu haastaa meijät radikaaliin muutokseen, roomalaiskirjeen kaltaseen mielen muutokseen. Sen muutoksen avulla voidaan sitte myös muuttaa ympäröivää maailmaa eikä käy niin, että me muututaan täysin ympäröivän maailman mukaan.
Ja onhan paljon kivempi olla ihte muuttamassa jotain kuin vaan lähettämässä loputtomia toivelistoja, jotka ei toteudu?