December 23, 2024

I Can Pray

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I may never sing a song that brings people to their feet
And mighty men of world renown I may never get to meet
But I have an invitation to hasten to His throne
To lay my burdens at His feet and make my petitions known

I can pray
Though the storm around me rages
I can trust the Rock of ages when I pray
And the peace I can’t explain when I call upon His Name
I just know I’m not the same when I pray

When it seems the road I’m trav’ling on just doesn’t have an end
I have found that He will be my brother and my friend
For He never will forsake me; He will always hear my plea
Because He stands beside the Father, interceding just for me

If my people
Who are called by My Name
Will humble themselves
Will humble themselves and pray

Singer/ Songwriter: Kim Culpepper
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I heard this song several months ago, and it spoke to me.  I put it in my ‘maybe’ list of songs to blog, not knowing when or if I was to share it.  Over the past two months a 16 year old young man in our church has been struggling with a deadly illness and has been through several brains surgeries already, with the almost certain need for more.  Our congregation, friends and family, both near and far, are praying for this boy!  What more can we do?!

Share each other’s burdens, and in this way obey the law of Christ.
Galatians 6:2

Instead of worrying, pray.
Let petitions and praises shape your worries into prayers,
letting God know your concerns.
Before you know it, a sense of God’s wholeness,
everything coming together for good, will come and settle you down.
It’s wonderful what happens when Christ displaces worry at the center of your life.
Philippians 4:6-7 MSG

The songs I sing will never bring people to their feet, and won’t heal Zach.  The mighty men of world renown can visit him at his hospital bedside, but they can’t heal Zach.  This road that Zach and his family are traveling on seems to have no end.  This is a storm that is too great for any human to conquer.  Perhaps you, too, (physically, emotionally, or spiritually), are on a rugged road that seems to have no end, and are in a storm too great to conquer.

BUT GOD!  Each of us has an invitation to hasten to the Throne of the One and Only God, the Rock of Ages, Who can do anything, including heal our dear Zach and calm your storm. That is exactly what Zach’s parents, and we are doing daily, even moment-by-moment, and I encourage you to do the same.

Where else can we find peace?
Who else assures us that He hears our prayers?
Who else promises to never leave us or forsake us?
Who else can calm the storm?
Who else can heal Zach?
Who else can smooth your road?
No one, BUT GOD!

So let us come boldly to the throne of our gracious God.
There we will receive His mercy,
and we will find grace to help us when we need it most.
Hebrews 14:16 NLT

Trust in the LORD always, for the LORD God is the eternal Rock.
Isaiah 26:4

Trust in Him at all times, you people;
pour out your hearts to Him, for God is our Refuge.
Psalm 62:8

As one song says, “Our God is an awesome God, Who reigns in Heaven above, with wisdom, power, and love, our God is an awesome God.”  With that assurance, we run into God’s Throne Room, and lay our “burdens at His feet and make my (our) petitions known.”

It is there

  • we have the assurance that He hears our prayers
  • we know that Jesus is interceding before our Father for us
  • we find our peace
  • we find our answers
  • we are “not the same when I (we) pray.”

If God is for us, who can be against us?
He who did not spare His own Son but gave Him up for us all,
how will He not also with Him graciously give us all things?…
Christ Jesus is the One who died
—more than that, Who was raised—
Who is at the right hand of God, Who indeed is interceding for us….
Romans 8:31-39

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Whatever your storm is today, dear friend, believe that Jesus wants you to come to Him with it.  Believe He will take care of your need, no matter what is it.  When you can’t do anything else, YOU CAN PRAY.  And we, your sisters in Christ, will pray with you.  Jesus is waiting and listening…and answering.

And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding,
will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
Philippians 4:7 NIV

You will keep in perfect peace those whose minds are steadfast, because they trust in You.
Isaiah 26:3

Peace I leave with you; My peace I give you.
I do not give to you as the world gives.
Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.
John 14:27

Awesome God

psalmshymnsspiritualsongskjv

~  Listen while you read, please!  ~

There’s thunder in His footsteps and lightning in His fists
(Our God is an awesome God)

And the Lord wasn’t joking when He kicked’em out of Eden
It wasn’t for no reason that He shed His blood
His return is very close and so you better be believing that
Our God is an awesome God

Our God is an awesome God
He reigns from heaven above
With wisdom, power, and love
Our God is an awesome God

~  Singer/Songwriter Rich Mullins: Our God Is An Awesome God  ~

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See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God;
and so we are. The reason why the world does not know us is that it did not know Him.
1 John 3:1

Our God is a wonderful, loving, merciful, and graceful God. He loves us all in a way that we will never truly understand. The closest that we can come to understanding any of it is that He shed His own blood on the Cross for us. God has shown us the greatest love by giving us the greatest sacrifice of all time—His own blood.

Our God is a wonderful loving Father who takes cares of us, provides us with what we need, and rebukes us when we do wrong.

The Lord God made garments of skin for Adam and his wife and clothed them.
And the Lord God said, “The man has now become like one of us, knowing good and evil.
He must not be allowed to reach out his hand and take also from the tree of life and eat,
and live forever.” So the Lord God banished him from the Garden of Eden
to work the ground from which he had been taken. After he drove the man out,
he placed on the east side of the Garden of Eden cherubim and a flaming sword
flashing back and forth to guard the way to the tree of life.
Genesis 3:21-24

Adam and Eve committed the first sin recorded in the Bible. God had told them not to eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil (Genesis 2:17). Yet, Eve, as most humans tend to do, followed her own nature, listened to the serpent, and ate of the tree. Then she convinced Adam to do the same. When they did, they became conscious of themselves and realized that they had sinned. They tried to hide, but were not able to. God found them. He knew where they were and did not have to look for them.

Even though they disobeyed Him, God still loved them. As any loving Father would do, God punishes Adam and Eve and sent them from the Garden, but He still provides for them. He clothed them and provided them with food by providing Adam with an area to farm. He punished Eve just a little more, but this pain also brings a gift. Through the pain of childbirth, women bring forth life. To keep them from eating of the Tree of Life, God banished them from the Garden. They were punished by their Father, but He also continued to provide for them.

God loves His children. He provides for them in amazing ways. He also knows what is best for us and provides and cares for us in ways that we need. God loves us, and that is amazing enough.

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Dear Heavenly Father, thank You for being so amazing. Thank You, Lord, for shedding Your blood to show us how much You love us. Without this great sacrifice, we could not be close to You or live eternally with You. In Jesus’ name. Amen.