When you Pray, Give God Your Worries "

“Give us today the food we need” (Matthew 6:11).

Once you have given God your love and your life, Jesus teaches you can give Him your worries by asking God to provide for your needs and then trusting that He will provide.

For instance, we can ask God to give us the food we need each day. Some translations say, “Give us this day our daily bread.”
What is “daily bread”?

It’s the necessities of life—our physical and material needs that we’re always worrying about.

God wants you to ask Him to provide those things so you don’t have to worry about them.

He’s promised to provide all your needs: “My God shall supply all of your needs”(Philippians 4:19 ).
What do you need today ?

Energy to make it through the day? Finances? Wisdom?

You have two alternatives: panic or pray.

Philippians 4:6 says: “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God” (NIV).
Do you really believe this verse?

God says you can pray about everything.

Nothing is too great for God’s power.

Nothing is too insignificant for his care.

Anything worth worrying about is worth praying about. If we prayed as much as we worried, we’d have a lot less to worry about ! Give God your worries.

When you talk to God about your needs, you need to be specific.

When you pray generically—“God, bless me”—how are you going to know if He answered it or not?

What’s a blessing? Sometimes blessings come in the form of problems.

You’d better be careful when you pray, “God, bless me.”

Notice the Philippians verse also says, “By prayer and petition, with thanksgiving.”

When you pray, be specific and do it with thanksgiving. Psychologists say gratitude is the healthiest emotion you can have.

The more you develop an attitude of appreciation for God, your family, and other people, the healthier you are emotionally.

You worship God through prayer when you give Him your love (praise), your life(purpose), and your worries (provision)

Refiner's Fire !!!

Once a woman was puzzled and wondered what the Bible verse "He sits as a refiner and purifier of silver." (Mal.3:3) meant about the character and nature of God. She offered to find out the process of refining silver and called a silversmith and made an appointment to watch him at work.

As she watched the silversmith, he held a piece of silver over the fire and let it heat up. He explained that in refining silver, one needed to hold the silver in the middle of the fire where the flames were hottest so as to burn away all the impurities.
The woman thought about God holding us in such a hot spot; then she thought again about the verse that says: "He sits as a refiner and purifier of silver." She asked the silversmith if it was true that he had to sit there in front of the fire the whole time the silver was being refined. The man answered that he not only had to sit there holding the silver, but he had to keep his eyes on the silver the entire time it was in the fire. If the silver was left a moment too long in the flames, it would be destroyed.

The woman was silent for a moment. Then she asked the silversmith, "How do you know when the silver is fully refined?"
He smiled at her and answered, "Oh, that's easy -- when I see my image in it."

If today you are feeling the heat of the fire, remember that God has his eye on you and will keep watching you until He sees His image in you and, no matter whatever you are going through now, you will be a better person in the end!

The Good Shepherd

As with all of His statements, this is a concise, to the point, pronouncement by Jesus Christ. Yet, it embodies much more than the picture of a shepherd and his flock. To fully understand the scope of Jesus' word picture, it helps to understand the role of a shepherd and the nature of sheep.

A good shepherd did not envision his responsibility as just a job. Sheep, at the time of Jesus, were very valuable critters. They provided food and wool for clothing. The care and protection of the flock was the shepherd's life. Jesus points out in further biblical statements, that a good shepherd would give his life for his flock. The shepherd would lead his flock to pasture and water; tend to their wounds; guide them; calm them; keep them together; and, rescue them from pitfalls and briar patches. He was the sole provider of all that the flock needed.

Sheep are single minded, skittish, near-sighted, critters. They are one of the few creatures who, if let on their own, will totally destroy their pasture. They are easily terrified and prone to wandering off from the flock. They require constant attention. They will continually repeat wandering and getting into dangerous situations without ever learning to avoid them.

The relationship between a shepherd and his flock is very unique. Jesus outlines part of this relationship in John 10. It was common, at various times, for shepherds to bring their flocks into community pens at night. Several flocks would be housed together. Yet, when it came time to separate the flocks all that was necessary was for the shepherd to call out to his sheep to lead them out of the pen.

"To him the doorkeeper opens, and the sheep hear his voice; and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. And when he brings out his own sheep, he goes before them; and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice."

(John 10:3-4)

The flock depends on the shepherd for all that it needs. David, who was a shepherd, before being a king, was familiar with the relationship between a shepherd and his flock.

"THE LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want. He makes me to lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside the still waters. He restores my soul; He leads me in the paths of righteousness For His name's sake. Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; For You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me."

(Psalm 23:1-4)

The shepherd kept the flock together by calling wandering individuals back to the fold and, when necessary, brought hard- headed sheep back by gentle application of his staff. Should one of the sheep manage to get separated, and lost, the shepherd would actively seek that lost sheep until it was found. If necessary, he would risk his own life to save that sheep from any dangerous situation that it got itself into. Should a predator attack the flock the shepherd would willingly give his life to protect his sheep. The bond between the shepherd and the flock is very similar to that of a father and his family. Another facet of this relationship is that the shepherd picks the sheep; it is not the sheep, which pick the shepherd.

Jesus used many similes in describing the relationship between His people and Himself. All are pretty basic representations of the bond, which exists between God and His children. Yet, all entail a depth of meaning far greater than the word pictures they generate. Each, although being comprised of several verses, could fill volumes with what is actually being said. Each clearly expresses the love of God for His children.

The Magnificent Defeat

Jacob has been running!

For nearly 20 years! From his brother from whom he deceitfully purchased the fortunes of the first-born. From his father whom he shamelessly deceived. And running away from unknown fears and judgement. At last from Laban his father-in-law.

But he had to face what he run from. Now he is face to face with his brother Esau. Earlier he faced his father-in-law. But somehow brushed aside his allegations and saved himself. But this time he is not going to escape easily. God planned that encounter with Esau. No, He planned that encounter with HIMSELF!

In his book The Magnificent Defeat, Frederich Buechner paints a vivid picture of that encounter.

Out of the deep of the night a stranger leaps. He hurls himself at Jacob, and they fall to the ground, their bodies lashing through the darkness. It is terrible enough not to see the attacker's face, and his strength is more terrible still, the strength of more than a man. All the night through they struggle in silence until just before morning when it looks as though a miracle might happen. Jacob is winning. The stranger cries out to be set free before the sun rises. Then, suddenly, all is reversed.

He merely touches the hollow of Jacob's thigh, and in a moment Jacob is lying there crippled and helpless. The sense we have, which Jacob must have had, that the whole battle was from the beginning fated to end this way, that the stranger had simply held back until now, letting Jacon exert all his strength and almost win so that when he was defeated, he would know that he was truly defeated; so that he would know that not all the shrewdness, will, brute force that he could muster were enough to get this. Jacob will not release his grip, only now it is a grip not of violence but of need, like the grip of a drowning man.

The darkness has faded just enough so that for the first time he can dimly see his opponent's face. And what he sees is something more terrible than the face of death- the face of love. It is vast and strong, half ruined with suffering and fierce with joy, the face a man flees down all the darkness of his days until at last he cries out, "I will not let you go, unless you bless me!" Not a blessing that he can have now by the strength of his cunning or the force of his will, but a blessing that he can have only as a gift. (Frederich Buechner, The Magnificent Defeat, San Farncisco: Harper Collins Publishers, 1966, pp.17-18).

Jacob was stopped by the encounter. He learned to walk! First he was limping because of his hip. Then slowly he regained his balance but not without failures at Shechem and other places. But He reconciled with his brother, father and above all with HIS GOD!

How about us? We need an encounter right now? Yes He is waiting at the bank of your Jabbock to face you. Are you ready?

Please wait ... He is working for you

But how long?

Most of us are not comfortable with waiting. We live in a world of speed. Everyone is hurrying to get what they long for and achieve higher goals. We will be uncomfortable and disappointed when we do not get them at the desired time. We want everything in our time, in our way, and for our satisfaction.

But look to the Bible. From Genesis to Revelation we see people are waiting.
Abraham waited for 25 years to have a child … Jacob waited 21 years to get his reward … Joseph waited for 13 years to get out of the dungeon and get his dreams fulfilled … Moses waited 40 years (in the hot desert) to be used by God … David waited 13 years in caves, wilderness and even in a pit (Psalms 40) to be enthroned … Daniel waited… Peter waited in jail … Paul waited in jail … John waited in the island of Patmos … and they were lifted up by the Lord in due time (1 Peter 5:6).

They did not rush God. They were gentle enough to wait for the Lord. Do you know that the Hebrew word for wait and hope are same? The word means ‘cord’ and the verb is ‘to bind’. When you wait for the Lord you are bound to God by a cord. Then you are seeing him always even when you wait for him. That is why David says, “I have set the LORD always before me: because he is at my right hand, I shall not be moved.” Even when I wait for the Lord He is right before me and I look to His face with expectation.

So your waiting is not an act of vain expectation. You see Him, watch His every movement and waiting for His right time to act for you. While you are waiting you are “Casting all your care upon him; for he cares for you.” You leave your problems to him and he will bless you indeed.

Mathew Palathunkal