Two Masters

Gal 6:8 If you plant in the field of your natural desires, from it you will gather the harvest of death; if you plant in the field of the Spirit, from the Spirit you will gather the harvest of eternal life. 9 So let us not become tired of doing good; for if we do not give up, the time will come when we will reap the harvest. 10 So then, as often as we have the chance, we should do good to everyone, and especially to those who belong to our family in the faith.

Jesus, in conversation with his disciples, warns them that, one can not serve two masters. (Mat 6:24 & Luke 16:13) He warns that one will learn to hate the one and love the other.

At some point in time, we need to consciously decide. Whom and what, do we serve? Are we chasing after the `lust of the flesh` or are we aiming to please and honor our Savior?

Man-pleasing is a Anatural@ trait for fallen, sinful human beings. We all want to be liked. While obtaining the favour of men may bring immediate gratification, those rewards are short-lived and temporary. Jesus warned us about getting caught up in seeking the praise and favour of men while neglecting God. He said if your motive was to impress man, then their praise would be the only reward you would receive.

God's favour is much more importantCand much more lasting. Jesus said, AWhen you do a charitable deed, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, that your charitable deed may be in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will Himself reward you openly .@ Of course, it is impossible to earn God's favour. He gives it as an act of grace. Our approach to good works reveals the condition of our heart. As long as we seek to please men we can never please God. Once we set our heart on pleasing God, however, pleasing men becomes unimportant.

There is no such thing as partial commitment. When the pilot of a giant airliner is speeding down the runway, there is a certain point where he cannot decide to remain on the ground. When he crosses that line, he is committed to the air, or the plane crashes disastrously. That pilot cannot change his mind when the plane is two-thirds of the way down the runway.

You cannot control the length of you life-but you can control its width and depth.

You cannot control the contour of your face-but you can control its expression.

You cannot control the weather -but you can control the atmosphere of your mind.

Why worry about things you cannot control when you can keep yourself busy controlling the things that depend on you?

There's much truth in saying that every man is the architect of his own fate. Your choices affect your destiny. Out of a rough block of stone one man may make a beautiful statue, another, gravel. Both products are good and useful under certain conditions. But a statue can be immoral in conception, and gravel can be the grudging and punitive work of a criminal condemned to a rockpile.

The point is, whether you are a gifted artist or a competent gravel maker, you can choose whether to use your abilities worthily or unworthy. In building a Christian life you have the same choice.

Cars have two year warranties, appliances have one year warranties ( or less ). Contracts with service providers need to be renewed once a year. Even most relationships only last for a short period.

Of course we like to believe that the car or whatever, would last forever and continue to give excellent service for many, many years. But, however and alas, this is hardly ever the case.

The good news is that there is something that will continue to last. Forever.

Joh 4:13 Jesus answered and said to her, Whoever drinks of this water shall thirst again, 14 but whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst, but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life.

We have a promise in Christ, that the well of life that spring from Him, will never dry up. It will never stop it’s nourishment and it will continue to do so, forever.

30 Jan 2011: Unshakable Trust

Text: Php 4:6 Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. 7 And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. 8 Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.

Jer 29:11 For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end. 12 Then shall ye call upon me, and ye shall go and pray unto me, and I will hearken unto you. 13 And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart. 14 And I will be found of you, saith the LORD: and I will turn away your captivity, and I will gather you from all the nations, and from all the places whither I have driven you, saith the LORD; and I will bring you again into the place whence I caused you to be carried away captive.

Joel C. Gregory writes:

"How many times have we had to reach the end of our own resources before we remembered to trust in God, the one steadfast resource of our lives? We're all in need of a spiritual exodus day by day. When our faith causes difficulties, our first response is to fall back on our familiar resources-people, things, self -and only when these do not help can we truly lean only upon God for our needs.

"I like what Dwight l. Moody said about Moses. Moody, had an unusual insight into Scripture. He said that Moses spent forty years in the king's palace thinking that he was somebody; then he lived forty years in the wilderness finding out that without God he was a nobody; finally he spent forty more years discovering how a nobody with God can be a somebody.

"And he was right. When Moses and the people found out they were nobodies without the resource of God, that's when the exodus began."

Psa 20:6 Now am I certain that the Lord gives salvation to his king; he will give him an answer from his holy heaven with the strength of salvation in his right hand. 7 Some put their faith in carriages and some in horses; but we will be strong in the name of the Lord our God. 8 They are bent down and made low; but we have been lifted up.

God uses broken things. It takes broken soil to produce a crop, broken clouds to produce rain, broken grain to give bread and broken bread to give strength. It is the broken alabaster box that gives forth perfume. It is the broken Peter, weeping bitterly, who returns to greater power than ever.

Someone wrote:

• The twenties are the molding years when the young person forms those habits that will direct his career. Then he finishes his school work, stands before the altar, establishes a home, and looks the world in the face.

• The thirties are the years of discouragement. It is a hard and trying time. It is a time of battle without the dreams and poetry of youth.

• The forties are the years of vision, when a man finds himself, finishes his castles in the air, and knows the value of his dreams.

• In the fifties life comes to ripening. These should be the years of jubilee, and a man should do his best work then.

• At sixty, a man has committed enough mistakes to make him wise beyond his years. He should live better and do better work than in any other decade in his life. No man has a right to retire in the sixties; the world has a need for his wisdom.

• And in the seventies, some of the best work in the world has been done. It is the time when talent, experience, and insight combine to make a worthy and memorable life.

Psa_90:10 says, "The days of our years are threescore and ten; and if by reason of strength they be fourscore years, yet is there strength, labor and sorrow; for it is soon cut off, and we fly away."

The key I believe to living life to the full, is to live it with an unshakable trust: “but we will be strong in the name of the Lord our God”

The best day of your life is the one on which you decide your life is your own. No apologies or excuses. No one to lean on, rely on, or blame. The gift is yours - it is an amazing journey - and you alone are responsible for the quality of it. This is the day your life really begins.

No person should allow another person to control his/her life. Circumstance can not take charge of your life. ‘Things’ happen. ‘Life’ happens. Bad things happen to good people.

It’s not about what happens to you – it’s about the way you respond to the things that happen to you.

Pro 25:28 A person without self-control is like a house with its doors and windows knocked out.

Have you ever seen an abandoned house – after vandals and hooligans got hold of it?

The Bible compares a person without self control to just that.

In order to avoid my house being vandalized and damaged, I have to protect it, I have to place guards around it if need be, in order to avoid permanent damage.

Pro 4:23 Keep vigilant watch over your heart; that's where life starts.

I can not leave my heart unprotected. I need to be so careful who I allow into my heart. Some will come in and take good care, but others will come in and create a mess, and when they leave they do not care about the damage they leave behind. Guess who needs to clean up and pick up the pieces.

Self-control helps me to protect that which is important to me.

Rom 12:1 So here's what I want you to do, God helping you: Take your everyday, ordinary life, your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life--and place it before God as an offering. Embracing what God does for you is the best thing you can do for him. 2 don’t become so well adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking. Instead, fix your attention on God. You'll be changed from the inside out. Readily recognize what he wants from you, and quickly respond to it. Unlike the culture around you, always dragging you down to its level of immaturity, God brings the best out of you, develops well-formed maturity in you.

Self control comes with a sense of accountability.

• I am responsible for my actions.

• I determine the actions I am willing to take.

• I control the thoughts I entertain.

• I decide the path of life I want to travel on.

God has the best plan for my life, but I decide to follow that plan or not to follow it.

Joh 12:46 I am come a light into the world, that whosoever believeth on me should not abide in darkness.

Warning lights

Psa 19:11 There's more: God's Word warns us of danger and directs us to hidden treasure. 12 Otherwise how will we find our way? Or know when we play the fool?

These days most modern cars are equipped with warning signals of all sorts. Lights go on when the oil pressure is low, we have indicators warning us that we are about to run out of fuel, irritating bells that warns us about our safety belts that are not engaged etc.

Aircraft have one important warning signal, especially light aircraft that are not equipped with all the features of the big carriers. It’s the warning signal and bell that warns the pilot to lower the undercarriage at about 200 feet above ground, to ensure that you have wheels to land on.

I used to skydive at Carletonville Skydiving club many years ago and on this particular day, the pilot decided to disconnect the under carriage warning signal. It `irritated` him, with the constant take off and landings that take place at a skydiving club.

Needless to say: eventually it happened, on final approach he forgot about the wheels and the aircraft came crashing and skidding down the runway, no wheels to land on. Fortunately the pilot was alone in the aircraft and suffered only a couple of bruises but the aircraft was destroyed.

How often in life do we get God’s warning signals? That inner voice that warns us not to take a certain direction in life or we open the Bible and a verse speaks to us, concerning something we should or should not do. Yet we so often choose to ignore it.

Then, when we come crashing down, we cry out “why me, why did this happen to me?” You all know the story; we’ve all been there.

And then, if we admit, we realise that God has been there, warning us, giving us His direction. But, we chose to ignore, we chose to disconnect the warning bells and lights.

But listen to this:

Psa 19:13 Clean the slate, God, so we can start the day fresh! Keep me from stupid

sins, from thinking I can take over your work; Then I can start this day sun-washed,

scrubbed clean of the grime of sin.

When we have messed up, we have a God with an ear that is not deaf, a God with a heart of compassion, a God full of Grace and Mercy, who will hear our cries, who will clean the slate and allow us to start over.

Isa 1:18 "Come. Sit down. Let's argue this out." This is GOD's Message: "If your sins are blood-red, they'll be snow-white. If they're red like crimson, they'll be like wool. 19 If you'll willingly obey, you'll feast like kings.

God invites us to approach Him with our messed up lives and He gives the ultimate promise. Once repented, once forgiven, remembered no more. A New start and a new day.

What a hope and an expected glory that is.

We have a merciful Father, who looks upon us with nothing but love in His eyes.

Psa 139:15 You know me inside and out, you know every bone in my body; You know

exactly how I was made, bit by bit, how I was sculpted from nothing into something.

Like an open book, you watched me grow from conception to birth; all the stages of

my life were spread out before you, The days of my life all prepared before I'd even

lived one day. Your thoughts--how rare, how beautiful! God, I'll never comprehend them! 18 I couldn't even begin to count them-- any more than I could count the sand of the sea. Oh, let me rise in the morning and live always with you!

Amazing Grace

When all else fails

If ever there was a man, who became confused and distraught about all that went wrong in his life, it was Job.

He lived righteous, he feared the Lord, and he harmed no one, yet, in a short span of time, his whole life went `pearshaped`.

Job 6:8 Oh that I might have my desire, and that God would grant the thing that I long for! 9 Even that it would please God to destroy me; that He would loose His hand and cut me off! 10 And it is yet my comfort; yea, I would rejoice in pain, though He did not spare me; for I have not hidden the words of the Holy One. 11 What is my strength, that I should hope? And what is my end, that I should be patient? 12 Is my strength the strength of stones? Or is my flesh bronze?

Who can identify Job’s situation with me?

You do what seems right, you live your life the best you know how, you attend church, you make and do all the right moves, and then `wham!`; it all goes horribly wrong.

What are we supposed to do, in times of trouble, when no words can comfort and when the best intentions of friends, have no effect?

Psa 121:1 A Song of the going up. My eyes are lifted up to the hills: O where will my help come from? 2 Your help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth. 3 May he not let your foot be moved: no need of sleep has he who keeps you. 4 See, the eyes of Israel's keeper will not be shut in sleep. 5 The Lord is your keeper; the Lord is your shade on your right hand. 6 You will not be touched by the sun in the day, or by the moon at night. 7 The Lord will keep you safe from all evil; he will take care of your soul. 8 The Lord will keep watch over your going out and your coming in, from this time and for ever.

When all else fails, our help is from the Lord.

It is just a pity that most times, we run to God as a last resort, instead of making Him our first point of contact.

We try the Bank manager, the doctor, the mechanic, the whatever first, and if all our efforts fail, the light goes on and we think; “hey, let’s pray about this!”

Prayer should have been the first thing that comes to mind. Our first place of seeking advice, our first response and recourse.

The Psalmist states it so clearly: God is our keeper, He is our Refuge, He is our Shield and our Buckler.

Job 42:10 And the Lord made up to Job for all his losses, after he had made prayer for his friends: and all Job had before was increased by the Lord twice as much. 11 And all his brothers and sisters, and his friends of earlier days, came and took food with him in his house; and made clear their grief for him, and gave him comfort for all the evil which the Lord had sent on him; and they all gave him a bit of money and a gold ring. 12 And the Lord's blessing was greater on the end of Job's life than on its start: and so he came to have fourteen thousand sheep and goats, and six thousand camels, and two thousand oxen, and a thousand she-asses. 13 And he had seven sons and three daughters. 14 And he gave the first the name of Jemimah, the second Keziah, and the third Keren-happuch; 15 And there were no women so beautiful as the daughters of Job in all the earth: and their father gave them a heritage among their brothers. 16 And after this Job had a hundred and forty years of life, and saw his sons, and his sons' sons, even four generations. 17 And Job came to his end, old and full of days.

5 Good decisions to take :

1 Put a guard in front of our mouths

Why do we need to put a guard in front of our mouths ?

Pro 18:20 Words satisfy the mind as much as fruit does the stomach; good talk is as gratifying as a good harvest. 21 Words kill, words give life; they're either poison or fruit--you choose.

Our words are determined by our faith and our faith determines our words - the Word of God warns us that - that which fills the heart is equal to that which fills our mouths. -

2 Serve the Lord :

Why should we serve the Lord ?

Exo 23:25 "But you--you serve your GOD and he'll bless your food and your water. I'll get rid of the sickness among you;

3 Sowing good seeds :

Why should we sow good seeds ?

Pro 22:8 Whoever sows sin reaps weeds, and bullying anger sputters into nothing. 9 Generous hands are blessed hands because they give bread to the poor.

4 Live by the Word :

Why should we live by the Word :

Jos 1:7 Give it everything you have, heart and soul. Make sure you carry out The Revelation that Moses commanded you, every bit of it. Don't get off track, either left or right, so as to make sure you get to where you're going. 8 And don't for a minute let this Book of The Revelation be out of mind. Ponder and meditate on it day and night, making sure you practice everything written in it. Then you'll get where you're going; then you'll succeed.

5 Walk in love :

Why should we walk in love ?

1Co 13:1 If I speak with human eloquence and angelic ecstasy but don't love, I'm nothing but the creaking of a rusty gate.

Some things to do as Christ followers : -

1 We need to be productive with the things God has given us - we need not worry about the things we do not have - use whatever is at your disposal - be a good steward and God will see to your needs. Forget about material stuff - worry about people.

2 We need to be servants - we have seen that it is good to decide to be a servant - servants are `givers & producers`. We need to have a servants attitude. Just do something for someone without expecting a return.

3 Be good stewards :- God gives us the ability to collect things - he can take it away or decide to increase those things we have. Respect property - faithful in little = faithful in much.

4 Be doers of the word - Don’t just be talkers but be doers of the word. We cannot bear good fruit if we do not tend to the garden - we have to do whatever we do in excellence. Don’t skimp on our efforts. Unproductive people are always complaining the most but they always expect the most - if you want something done - ask a busy person. Whiners are wannabe`s. You don’t become a spiritual giant with a Mickey mouse effort. What you get out is directly related to what you put in. Don’t expect a better position if you can not even fulfill the one your in. Success only comes to those who don’t quit - Gary player commented that `the more he practices, the luckier he gets`

5 Smile : don't always walk around like a dried up prune - Don't always hang your head & drop your shoulders, you wont find God at your feet - look up - He is sitting on the throne. There is always something to be great full for - Paul said rejoice & again I say rejoice. Throughout the Word we are told to be of good cheer - nowhere are we told to be grumpy. - Christians are supposed to be happy & full of fun - depression & anxiety is the devils anointing - love and happiness is from God-

5 Good decisions to take :

1 Put a guard in front of our mouths

Why do we need to put a guard in front of our mouths ?

Pro 18:20 Words satisfy the mind as much as fruit does the stomach; good talk is as gratifying as a good harvest. 21 Words kill, words give life; they're either poison or fruit--you choose.

Our words are determined by our faith and our faith determines our words - the Word of God warns us that - that which fills the heart is equal to that which fills our mouths. -

2 Serve the Lord :

Why should we serve the Lord ?

Exo 23:25 "But you--you serve your GOD and he'll bless your food and your water. I'll get rid of the sickness among you;

3 Sowing good seeds :

Why should we sow good seeds ?

Pro 22:8 Whoever sows sin reaps weeds, and bullying anger sputters into nothing. 9 Generous hands are blessed hands because they give bread to the poor.

4 Live by the Word :

Why should we live by the Word :

Jos 1:7 Give it everything you have, heart and soul. Make sure you carry out The Revelation that Moses commanded you, every bit of it. Don't get off track, either left or right, so as to make sure you get to where you're going. 8 And don't for a minute let this Book of The Revelation be out of mind. Ponder and meditate on it day and night, making sure you practice everything written in it. Then you'll get where you're going; then you'll succeed.

5 Walk in love :

Why should we walk in love ?

1Co 13:1 If I speak with human eloquence and angelic ecstasy but don't love, I'm nothing but the creaking of a rusty gate.

Some things to do as Christ followers : -

1 We need to be productive with the things God has given us - we need not worry about the things we do not have - use whatever is at your disposal - be a good steward and God will see to your needs. Forget about material stuff - worry about people.

2 We need to be servants - we have seen that it is good to decide to be a servant - servants are `givers & producers`. We need to have a servants attitude. Just do something for someone without expecting a return.

3 Be good stewards :- God gives us the ability to collect things - he can take it away or decide to increase those things we have. Respect property - faithful in little = faithful in much.

4 Be doers of the word - Don’t just be talkers but be doers of the word. We cannot bear good fruit if we do not tend to the garden - we have to do whatever we do in excellence. Don’t skimp on our efforts. Unproductive people are always complaining the most but they always expect the most - if you want something done - ask a busy person. Whiners are wannabe`s. You don’t become a spiritual giant with a Mickey mouse effort. What you get out is directly related to what you put in. Don’t expect a better position if you can not even fulfill the one your in. Success only comes to those who don’t quit - Gary player commented that `the more he practices, the luckier he gets`

5 Smile : don't always walk around like a dried up prune - Don't always hang your head & drop your shoulders, you wont find God at your feet - look up - He is sitting on the throne. There is always something to be great full for - Paul said rejoice & again I say rejoice. Throughout the Word we are told to be of good cheer - nowhere are we told to be grumpy. - Christians are supposed to be happy & full of fun - depression & anxiety is the devils anointing - love and happiness is from God-

Prayer tha produce 23rd Jan 2011 NCC

Text:

Jam 5:15 And the prayer of faith will cure the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up. And if he has committed sins, it will be forgiven him. 16 Confess faults to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous one avails much. 17 Elijah was a man of like passion as we are. And he prayed earnestly that it might not rain, and it did not rain on the earth for the time of three years and six months. 18 And he prayed again, and the heaven gave rain, and the earth caused its fruit to sprout.

“The wonders of God's power are to be kept alive, made real and present, and repeated only by prayer. God is not now so evident in the world, so almighty in manifestation as of old, not because miracles have passed away, nor because God has ceased to work, but because prayer has been shorn of its simplicity, its majesty, and its power.” E. M. Bounds

The devil's final strategy to mislead believers is to make them doubt the faithfulness of God in answering prayer. Satan wants us to believe that God has closed his ears to our cries and we left on our own things in order for us to work out themselves.

Is this familiar?

• "I pray, but get no answers.”
• “I have prayed so long and prayed so hard without any results.”
• “All I want to see is a some evidence that God changes things.”
• “Things usually go to - nothing happens. How long must I wait?
• "They no longer visits the closet, because they believe that their petitions and prayers have been lost somewhere on the throne.”
• “Others are sure that only the Daniel, David and Elijah types get their prayers answered”

"If God's ear is open for prayers and my faith is strong, when I pray, why is there so little evidence of his answers?"

Job 30:20 I cried to You, and You did not hear me; I stood up, and You did not consider me.

Could it be that there is a simple reason why most of our prayers will be hindered?

Jam 1:2 My brothers, count it all joy when you fall into different kinds of temptations, 3 knowing that the trying of your faith works patience. 4 But let patience have its perfect work, so that you may be perfect and entire, lacking nothing. 5 But if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and with no reproach, and it shall be given to him. 6 But let him ask in faith, doubting nothing. For he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, driven by the wind and tossed. 7 For do not let that man think that he shall receive anything from the Lord; 8 he is a double-minded man, not dependable in all his ways. 9 But let the humble brother rejoice in his exaltation; 10 and the rich one rejoice in his humiliation, because he shall pass away as the flower of the grass. 11 For the sun rose with the hot wind and dried up the grass, and its flower fell out, and the beauty of its appearance perished; so also the rich one will fade away in his ways. 12 Blessed is the man who endures temptation, because having been approved, he will receive the crown of life which the Lord has promised to those who love Him. 13 Let no one being tempted say, I am tempted from God. For God is not tempted by evils, and He tempts no one. 14 But each one is tempted by his lusts, being drawn away and seduced by them.

· Challenges will come:

Jesus warned us that – in this life we will have to face many tests and trials. It is impossible to avoid life. We can not take a trip to a place where we can avoid life. You will plan your day and then life happens.

· Count it all joy:

This does not teach us to be happy about the problem or the disaster. It teaches us that we should rejoice in the opportunity to exercise our faith. No super athlete, became a success without exercise and hardship. (I watched a documentary on the dancers in Riverdance – at one point they focused in on the toes and the feet of some of the dancers – the blisters, the dislocated toes….. all we see, is the result of pain and commitment and endurance)

· Knowing:

We should know, with the knowledge that experience brings, that the test we face will teach us endurance and the endurance will see us through. Rushing things will lead to disaster but patience will bring results that last.

· Let patience have it’s perfect work – so that you may be perfect, lacking nothing:

Herein lies a key to success. Success in everything we attempt or tackle. Patience will bring success. It is only when we have developed the ability to be patient, that we will lack nothing. Patience develops experience, experience develops knowledge and knowledge develops trust.

· But if anyone lacks wisdom:

Many of our endeavours fail, because w acted foolish, impatiently and without wisdom. Ask God and He will grant wisdom. When we then proceed in His wisdom, our endeavours will be blessed. After all – it’s then done or attempted, according to His guidance.

Prayer that will produce: How do we accomplish that?

1. Ask in faith, without any doubt regarding the outcome:

Mat 15:22 And behold, a woman of Canaan coming out of these borders cried to Him, saying, Have mercy on me, O Lord, Son of David! My daughter is grievously vexed with a demon. 23 But He did not answer her a word. And His disciples came and begged Him, saying, Send her away, for she cries after us. 24 But He answered and said, I am not sent except to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. :25 Then she came and worshiped Him, saying, Lord, help me! 26 But He answered and said, It is not good to take the children's bread and to throw it to dogs. 27 And she said, True, O Lord; but even the little dogs eat of the crumbs which fall from their masters' tables. 28 Then Jesus answered and said to her, O woman, great is your faith! So be it to you even as you wish. And her daughter was healed from that very hour.

Faith that persists, the faith that will not give up – even when at first it seems as if you are ignored or even have no place to ask that which you are asking.

2. Do not doubt: For he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, driven by the wind and tossed:

Mat 17:19 Then the disciples came to Jesus apart, and said, Why could we not cast him out? 20 And Jesus said to them, Because of your unbelief. For truly I say to you, If you have faith like a grain of mustard seed, you shall say to this mountain, Move from here to there. And it shall move. And nothing shall be impossible to you.

Doubt is born out of confusion and confusion is birthed in the lack of knowledge and understanding.

If I do not know or understand God’s heart, His desire for my life, the way He looks at a situation, I will doubt. I wont know the next step.

We should have hope in all things and all situations – but the hope of a fool will never breed successful prayer. We cannot pray `hoping` that we got it right and hoping that God will hear us. We have to pray `knowing` that we have been heard, `knowing` and `believing` that our prayer is according to His Word and that He watches over His Word.

3. Humbleness and an acknowledgement of God’s greatness. let the humble brother rejoice in his exaltation; 10 and the rich one rejoice in his humiliation:

2Co 13:5 examine yourselves, whether you are in the faith, prove your own selves

It’s not about my friend’s conduct – it’s about me and my walk with God.

4. Endurance – standing strong: the man who endures temptation, because having been approved, he will receive the crown

Dan 10:12 Then he said to me, Do not fear, Daniel; for from the first day that you set your heart to understand and to chasten yourself before your God, your words were heard. And I have come for your words. 13 But the ruler of the kingdom of Persia withstood me twenty-one days. But lo, Michael, one of the chief rulers, came to help me; and I remained there with the kings of Persia.

Daniel endured, even as a slave, in a foreign country, under foreign rule. He never surrendered. He refused to eat the food of his masters. He refused to worship the king. He denied himself the luxuries of short term solutions – he stuck with the long-term plan.

5. Selfish ambitions: “tempted by his lusts, being drawn away and seduced by them.”

Joh 5:30 I can do nothing of My own self. As I hear, I judge, and My judgment is just, because I do not seek My own will, but the will of the Father who has sent Me.

God`s sovereign will in any given situation, is the key. If I do not know or understand His will, I pray without knowledge.

The final solution to prayer that will produce results is the knowledge of the Father’s heart.

Jam 4:7 Therefore submit yourselves to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. 8 Draw near to God, and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, sinners; and purify your hearts, double-minded ones.

• We have to first of all, submit to God
• We have to resist, resist evil, temptation and any thing that will rise up against the knowledge of God.
• We have to walk Holy – clean – before God.
• We have to be pure – no hidden stuff.
• We have to be sure – no doubt.

How do we do that – it seems like a very tall order?

Joh 14:5 Thomas said to Him, Lord, we do not know where You go, and how can we know the way? 6 Jesus said to him, I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life; no one comes to the Father but by Me. 7 If you had known Me, you would have known My Father also. And from now on you know Him and have seen Him.

• In Him we are made righteous
• Through Him we are redeemed
• Because He is Holy, we are made Holy
• He took our sin and cleansed us from all unrighteousness.
• Because we believe – the doubt is removed.

Rom 10:13 For everyone, "whoever shall call on the name of the Lord will be saved."

“God still lives, and miracles still live while God lives and acts, for miracles are God's ways of acting. Prayer is dwarfed, withered and petrified when faith in God is staggered by doubts of His ability, or through the shrinking caused by fear. When faith has a telescopic, far-off vision of God, prayer works no miracles, and brings no marvels of deliverance. But when God is seen by faith's closest, fullest eye, prayer makes a history of wonders.” E. M. Bounds