Gospel News â Mar-May 2012
36
and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God" (Phil 4:6). `Thanksgiving' connotes a worshipful state of mind, which is as important as believing in God's power to help.
3. You must be at one with God. Jesus says: "If you abide in me, and my word abides in you, ask whatever you will and it shall be done for you" (John 15:7). This has the same meaning as: "The eyes of the Lord are upon the righteous and His ears are open unto their cry" (Ps 34:15). Identification with God's righteous purposes is essential.
4. You must be resigned to His will. "This is the confidence which we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us" (1 John 5:14). Jesus set the supreme example in Gethsemane when he prayed "O my father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me: nevertheless, not as I will but as thou wilt ... thy will be done" (Matt 26:39-42). As it is God's will that ultimately will be done, it is but wise and reasonable to yield to His will before you pray.
5. You must be patient. Says David: "I waited for the Lord, and He inclined unto me, and heard my cry" (Ps 10:1). Again, "I wait on the Lord; be of good courage, and He shall strengthen thine heart: wait, I say, on the Lord" (Ps 27:14). If all your prayers were answered immediately under the urgency of your pleading, you would probably become disillusioned. Human vision is so limited that it is always wisest to wait for God to answer as and when His wisdom may deem best.
6. You must cherish no sinful desire. The Psalmist says: "If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me" (Ps 66 18).
Seriously Serving God
Bro Dzingai Sumberera (Chivi, Zimbabwe)
Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable (Phil 4:8).
Whatever we are doing, we are Christ's representatives. The world we live in is full of wicked people who live without a spiritual foundation. Paul wrote to Timothy telling him about this (2 Tim 3:1-5). Jude compares these times with Sodom and Gomorrha (Jude 14- 16). In contrast, we must try to be serious in a pleasure-loving age. I can underline the word "pleasure", as this world is full of it. And looking for a good time can permanently threaten our spirituality. A man who has a love of pleasure will devote his time to it.
Paul tells us to be serious in prayers, intercession and thanksgiving. However, before Paul, Solomon was appraising pleasure (Ecc 3:4; 7:2-4). But we must always be serious about God's word; if we do this we will enter through the narrow door (Luke 13:24). We must pay careful attention to Christian life. We must work hard as God always works (John 5:17.
Eight Fears
Bro Nasongo Haron (Naitiri, Kenya)
1. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge (Proverbs 1:7). This shows that whenever we need to have knowledge like that of king Solomon, we should fear the Lord in all our endeavours.
2. The fear of the Lord really is the beginning of wisdom. There is no king or any other person in the little life I have lived who is anything like as wise as the king Solomon of the Bible.