Prayer Partners

There is need for discipline in our prayer life. I find it difficult to pray alone. Do I therefore give up on prayer? No. I can find a prayer partner and pray with him/her. I can find? Frankly, it's not like that! God knows the burden in your heart and, in His infinite mercy and grace, He gives you a prayer partner. How does it happen?

I am going through a trial. I am praying, I'm spending much time with God. In such situations, God sends a prayer partner. He may be a member of your local church. When I went through a severe trial for 70 days in the year 1993, God sent me a prayer partner who prayed with me night after night for 50 days in a row. Then victory came!

Similarly, my wife's cousin is going through a severe trail right now. I am going to him and praying with him and his wife. We spend at least half-an-hour in God's presence. We sing a hymn in our native tongue, then share what God has spoken to us through our quiet time/family prayers and then we pray. We pray not only for our own needs [especially, my wife's cousin's trial], but we also pray for the church. This has become a discipline. It is marvellous. We can't stop. The prayer partnership goes one. God keeps speaking. His Spirit brings us together in prayer.

Prayer partnership is essential for a believer's life. I remember when I married, my wife's mother stayed with us. She was a godly woman. There was always some elderly sister from the church who used to come and pray with her. That was long ago. Today I am a prayer partner for my wife's cousin. May we learn prayer partnership. We will learn thereby to effectively bear the burdens of others. We will learn to be intercessors. We will glorify God. Amen.

Revival of the Prolix Blog

As you can see, there was a large gap of several months in my postings, especially from May 2006 onwards. However, I have now resumed this blog, and have put up a couple of posts.

I have also shifted to Blogger Beta, besides changing the Template of the blog to make it more attractive.

I hope this blog survives.

Figs

Figs
Originally uploaded by remusse.

Ripe and ready to eat
Figs in a shallow basket
Lined with newspaper.

You can see bits of paper
Stuck to the sweet figs.
And you can read
The fine print.

What's more,
This is a candid shot.
Even the fig-seller
Was surprised.

Cottage Meeting

The three young sisters from Sikkim
are singing a Nepali Christian song.
The sister in blue is suffering from cancer.
The elderly sister on the right has come
to visit these young sisters.
The husband of one is suffering
from tuberculosis.
Nepali Christian songs are very beautiful.

Daniel Chapter Six

The following are extracts from the little book, The Overcomers' Secret, by Bro Bakht Singh.
They are taken from Chapter 6 of the book. They are based on Chapter 6 of the Book of Daniel.

1. We believers do not use our spiritual rights in prayer. We often pray for many things connected with our natural life, but we fail to pray through for divine unction, the spiritual anointing, which we need every day if we are to live successfully for God. We rely too much on our human knowledge and qualifications, and neglect to seek the wisdom of God for our daily lives, which we have the right to do as believers.

2. Daniel was a very busy man with many important matters to attend to, but he never cut short his time of prayer. When the time for prayer came, he left all the files on the table, and never missed his time of communion with God, three times every day.

3. Some people wonder why they cannot pray; they want to pray but cannot do so for more than 10 or 15 minutes. They fail because they do not give enough time to worship and thanksgiving. They only make requests for things, and so soon become dried up.

4. After 43 years of divine training, Daniel was now facing his final test [i.e. the lions' den]. We find the whole kingdom against Daniel. He stood as one man alone, without a single person to help him. He did not seek help from man, but trusted in God only.

5. As before, he still prayed 3 times a day before his opened windows, and gave thanks to God. Here is the simple way of overcoming. Learn to praise and thank God. Do not allow any fears or doubts to come into your mind, even though you know the enemy is working against you... Daniel gave thanks to God. There was no murmuring or complaining. Thanking, praising and worshipping God is the secret.

6. God often allows our enemies to prosper for a while... but they do not realise that they are going to be punished. Daniel had suffered because of his testimony, but God delivered him because of his faithfulness. It is only when we are found faithful like Daniel that we shall find god delivering us. We must be faithful in our duty, true in our testimony, honouring God day and night, using our knees three times daily without fear or shame, constantly praising God and thanking Him for all things. Then we shall find He will send His angels to work on our behalf, and the enemy's schemes and plans against us will be confounded.

7. Perhaps God is putting us through a time of preparation, and we must be prepared for it. We may be taken through extreme sorrow, trials and sufferings and disappointment. Through these we shall receive a strong and divine faith, divine wisdom and God's excellent spirit; then we shall be given the revelation of heavenly mysteries which at the moment are hidden from us.

[May the Lord help us to be true overcomers. May He take all murmurings and complainings out of our hearts and give us a true strong faith. Bro Bakht Singh.] 

School Children at Pedong, All Smiles!

 

Jonah

The last frontier is the frontier of forgiveness.
‘I will never forgive
As long as I live.’

Under the scorching sun
The prophet sat,
Half-stunned,
Unable to comprehend divine compassion,
For which God would care
For the beasts of the earth and the birds of the air?

For which God would have relented
When Nineveh repented?
‘How can I be merciful when they are so cruel?
There is no justice in this wicked world! ’

O Lord, Your forgiveness
Is far beyond human selfishness.
On a perishing plant Jonah felt so much pity
He ignored 120,000 innocent children in a great city!

Tom Prato

Visit to the Siwalik Hills

Recently I visited the Siwalik hills with my wife. I was there after 28 years. That's a long time. When we arrived it was cold. We missed our lunch. On the way up we bought strawberries and oranges, but they were not sufficient to quench our hunger. Dinner, too, was a flop. We felt bad.

The next day the sun came out. It was bright and warm. We could see the mountains. The snow peaks glistened in the sun. We had sunshine for the next four days. It was glorious.

We went for long walks. We visited places. We made new friends. We had a memorable time. All by the grace of God.

Is there something more that I should tell you? Yes. Up there in the hills, when we tried to witness for the Lord, we experienced a kind of counter-attack from Satan. We were in a region steeped in idolatry. There was complete resistance to the gospel. This was enemy territory. When we tried to distribute tracts, tell others about Christ, give our testimony and even pray with others -- we experienced a counter-reaction. When we really witness for Christ, and stand up for the gospel, we must expect resistance from the enemy. 

Psalm 27.14

‘Wait on the Lord and He shall strengthen your heart.’ Wait on the Lord, trust in the Lord, abide in the Lord, ‘feed’ on the Lord [on His word, and in prayer]. He will strengthen your heart. There are times when we wake up with so many worries. Often when we neglect our quiet time, we feel miserable throughout the day. We feel weak. Satan batters us with worries and fears. We lose our peace of mind. Our heart is filled with fears. It shouldn’t be like that. We need to have the Lord strengthen our heart.

I am learning by experience. First thing in the morning: spend time with God. Read the Bible, read devotionals, pray. This is a battle, a daily battle. I need the Lord, I need His peace, I need His presence, I need His power. It’s a life of faith, and I have to overcome. It is not possible without meditating on the word of God and praying. Lord, when I wait on You, I am strengthened in my heart, in my inner man. Thank you, Lord, for teaching me this. Everyone of God’s children must learn to live on the Lord, live by His strength, by His peace, by His life.

Amen. 

Our End is God's Beginning

What does it mean in everyday life to be delivered from the Law? It means that from henceforth I am going to do nothing whatever for God; I am never again going to try to please Him. 'What a doctrine!' you exclaim. 'What awful heresy! You cannot possibly mean that!'

But remember, if I try to please God 'in the flesh', then immediately I place myself under the Law. I broke the Law; the Law pronounced the death sentence; the sentence was executed, and now by death i - the carnal 'I' [Rom 7.14] - have been set free from all its claims. There is still a Law of God, and now there is in fact a 'new commandment' that is infinitely more exacting than the old, but, praise God! its demands are being met, for it is Christ who now fulfils them; it is Christ who works in me what is well-pleasing to God. 'I came...to fulfil [the law]' were His words [Matt 5.17]. Thus Paul, from the ground of resurrection, can say: 'Work out your salvation with fear and trembling; for it is God who works in you both to will and to work, for His good pleasure' [Phil 2.12, 13].

[Extracted from TNCL by W.N.] 

'It is God who works in you', Phil 2.13

Having at last reached the point of utter despair in ourselves so that we cease even to try, we put our trust in the Lord to manifest His resurrection life in us...

The sooner we give up trying the better, for if we monopolize the task, then there is no room for the Holy Spirit. But if we say: 'I'll not do it; I'll trust Thee, Lord, to do it for me', then we shall find that a Power stronger than ourselves is carrying us through.

[Extracted from TNCL by W.N.] 

Queen Victoria, Victoria Memorial, Calcutta