IN GRATITUDE...(PRAYER)

Great Father in Heaven, Author, Creator and Giver of Life, everything we are and have comes from You. There is nothing that are, do and say which You know not of…..if we climb to the highest mountain of Faith, Thou art there. If we make our beds with the lost of the world, and sin with them - Behold - Thou art there too.

Thank You for the next breath we take because it is simply a gift from you.

Thank You for the gleam in our eyes and the smile on our faces.

Thank You for the pep in our step and glide in our stride.

Thank You for the food You provide and the warm and cool home in which we abide.

Thank You for the car that we drive and the places we work.

Thank You for doctors, nurses and truck drivers.

Thank You for pastors, teachers and evangelists.

Thank You for Granmas and Granpas and coaches who motivate.

Thank You for grocery clerks, gas station attendants and sanitation workers.

Thank You for so many things too many to list….and Lord as the harvest time cometh in the agricultural fields of the northern hemisphere, we pray for all in the chain- from the precious, hardworking farmers to those who transport the crops to their destination to be packaged, processed and distributed across the world. We thank You for embedding within them the desire to feed the world. Thank You, Jesus.

Wonderful, merciful Savior. Precious Redeemer and Friend. Who would have thought that a Lamb could, rescue the souls of men! Behold He is the Lamb Who taketh away the very sins of the world…of anyone who trusts, believes and then repents. Father we confess with our mouths and believe in our hearts that Jesus Christ is Lord.

In Him we find Eternal Life

Through Him we find the meaning of Life

With Him we find the abundant Life

In His Presence there is fullness of Joy.

Therefore on this day in our gratitude for just another day to see our children and the red cardinals in full flight, we gave Thee great acknowledgment and bow before Thee in all humility, in gracious thanks for Your great mercy and loving kindness- which endureth forever, and ask for Your grace for another day, in the Name which is above all names, amen.

THE BIBLE TELLS ME SO....(PRAYER)

Jesus loves me this I know, for the Bible tells me so

Little ones to Him belong, they are week, but He is strong....

Most Gracious God in Heaven, You created man, in the beginning to work and keep Your Garden in Eden. Even though that man, Adam, ushered in sin and death into the world, You, in Your grace, mercy and loving kindness, hath provided for us and all mankind throughout the generations, nay, the millennia. If through due diligence and hard work, we persevere, oh Lord, You will feed and clothe us and so much more than we deserve, because You and King Jesus love us so.

When You gave the Israelites, the Land of Milk and Honey, you gave them the lush lands to raise their milk cattle and the conditions to raise bees for honey.

You provide fertile soils across the bread baskets of the Americas and elsewhere where we feed the rest of the world.... from the cattle grasslands of South America to the flat wheat plains of Kansas...and so much more.

You provide the rich soil to plant the corn, fruits and veggies.

Then You provide the time and rain to cause them to grow. You, oh God, not some phony bing bang godlessness taught in colleges, universities and high schools worldwide.

You gave us the freedom to tend to Your creation to sustain life: past, present and future.

You gave us freedom to raise our families.

You gave us freedom to sing praises to our most high God. While godless men and women in political power have curtailed these temporal liberties, we, who know You as Lord and Savior, already have the freedom and peace that passeth all understanding. We, who are born-again, and trust Christ and the Holy Spirit, each and everyday, know that we are sojourners in this troubled land and our Eternal Future is so much more secure, beautiful and divine where no corrupt human being will ever be allowed.

There will be no sun, because the Magnificence and Brilliance of the Lord will light up Eternity.

There will be no fears because the King is on the Throne.

There will be no tears, because He wipeth them all away.

Oh death, where is thy sting?

Oh sin, you have been destroyed.

Oh rulers of this world, you will have been dispatched by the Great I AM - YHVH - on the White horse on the fields of Armageddon forever...and your day is coming closer to that event.

Until that day, oh great and Almighty God, we pray that You in Your Providence, will give us a work to do, our own piece of the wall, if You will, so that working together, here at the start of a new month, a new season, a new paradigm, we may further the interests of the Kingdom to a lost and dying world.

May we brush aside the noise of this world, like the annoying gnat that it is, and never take our eyes off the prize.

May our hearts be stayed upon Jehovah.

May our minds be found 100% immersed in the Bible - Your Precious Word - until He comes, or He calleth us Home.

Father, we love You, we praise You, we magnify and adore Your precious and Holy Name and it is in the Name, the strong and mighty Name of the Soon-coming King Jesus, we pray. Amen and amen.

THE LORD'S PRAYER- THE MODEL EXPLAINED: PART 4

Give us this Day our Daily Bread

We know from life experience that tomorrow is promised to no one. In fact, the very next breath is not promised. We have all seen the brevity and futility of the pursuit of long term prosperity while ignoring the needs of the moment.

God self-exists and operates in a different kind of economy and provides accordingly.  In the western world, it is almost impossible to go hungry with all the various government programs and church outreaches in almost every city. There are obviously pockets of poverty everywhere. Still God provides for His own children…and as a result, even non-believers get benefit from the largesse of Christians. Food kitchens run by churches or religious non-profits never ask the beliefs or religion of those they serve. They just feed people. They give grace to the humble.

This is the kind of attitude we, who are called by His Name, should have towards our Heavenly Father, Who provides for our every single need. Nothing we have on this earth, is completely because of us. Every opportunity we have to earn or purchase is because of the goodness of God. He lined up that job for us. It could have gone to someone else, but He placed you and I there. James, the half-brother of our Lord Jesus tells that “Every Good and Perfect Gift is from above and comes from the Father of Lights, with Whom there is no variation or shadow of  turning” (James 1:17).

The Lord Himself said in Matthew 6:31-34 "31 “Therefore do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ 32 For after all these things the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. 33 But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you. 34 Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble".

In Psalm 37:25 we see God’s shepherd boy David, under inspiration of the Holy Spirit, write “I have been young and now I am old, Yet I have not seen the righteous forsaken Or his descendants begging bread".

In all of this, we note a few things in order to be able to pray WITH UNDERSTANDING for our daily bread:

-         * Rich, poor or in between: we are nothing without God giving us good the health and mental awareness to obtain and hold down a job and the employer to pay us.

-         * Rich, poor or in between: whether non-believer or not, everything in this world is owned by Him and we are objects of His general grace, love and compassion for all people.

-         * God always provides for His people and eventually none every goes hungry, even those in the middle of a jungle somewhere. He is our Provider.

So we pray:

Heavenly Father, most kind and gracious and loving God in Heaven, thank You that You are a good, good God Who gives good things to His beloved. Lord, You are the Creator and owner of all things. Everything in this universe belongs to You and without You, nothing lives. I am supremely grateful for Your provision for not just my life, all through my lifetime, but for providing for my family, loved ones and friends.  You owe us nothing but You gave rain, which falls equally on the just and the unjust, on those who hate you as well as those of us who love You. You have bread to the hungry and meat for the tasting. You give crops which never fail from soil which belongs to You, yet which You anoint each day with the morning dew. Your sun caused the crops to rise when the rain has watered. Thank You for the cycle of life which feeds now just our families but those around the world, who are not as fortunate to manage the land You have given Your people temporary stewardship over.  Thank You for the jobs which provide the service for which we are paid, so that we are able to not just house our families, but give them food to eat and milk to drink. Oh most Heavenly Father of Lights,  You send down delightful things from Heaven, things we do not deserve but which You bless us with any way. There are no word to express our gratitude but to thank You for daily sustenance, through all these things mentioned above. There are nothing we can say except “Thank You, Lord”, in Jesus’ Most Powerful Name, amen.

(Photo Credit Here)

PRAY FOR.....PROVISION

Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all (Matthew 6:31-32)

These are very reassuring words from the Savior Himself. Remember, He is the One Who feed thousands with a few loaves and fishes. So can we trust Him? Sure we can! Lord said in Psalm 37:25 that the righteous and their offspring do not beg bread. God always provides.

While this may seem like an unlikely statement to those who do not know Him personally, nevertheless, it remains true. God first provided food and work for Adam to do in the Garden of Eden, and it was all good. When Adam and Eve brought sin into the world, God provided the first blood sacrifice to cover for sin, when He killed an animal to provide its skin as clothing for His two wayward creations.

God provides the rain to water the crops, fill the reservoirs and make things look green and alive. He provides the sun to make the irrigated crops grow and bring color and light to life. He provides for our sustenance. He provides the economy where things multiply and make no sense sometimes except when we have dollars and cents in our pockets. He provides the doctors and hospitals for sick and the concept of government to rule over the affairs of mankind, for this age only. He provides. He sustains. He gives all of this and more.

Here are His Words and we believe it:

Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you (Matthew 7:7)

And whatever you ask in prayer, you will receive, if you have faith.” (Matthew 21:22)

Whatever you ask in my name, this I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask me anything in my name, I will do it. (John 14:13-14)

If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. (John 15:7)

Believe it in faith and He will answer. He answers prayer sometimes in direct ways, but all the time, in a form which is both better for us (even if we can’t visualize it at the moment) and in accordance with His Sovereign will. We should not lose sight that we are the ones dependent on Him, not the other way around. We can be like those who are perishing and focus only on acquiring things and a good time only in this brief mortal life, but it is wiser for your eternal state of you do things God’s way….and see it as such.

Remember and recall the following truths, from the Oracles of Promise:

For the LORD God is a sun and shield; the LORD bestows favor and honor. No good thing does he withhold from those who walk uprightly. (Psalm 84:11)

“And whatever we ask we receive from Him, because we keep His commandments and do what pleases Him. (1 John 3:22)

Oh most kind, gracious and ever-loving  Abba Father, Who sits on the Throne of Heaven, we bless Your Holy and Most Righteous Name, Yahweh Jireh – our God Who provides life and breath; our God Who provides the bed we sleep in and the roof over our heads; our God Who provides our loved ones who love us conditionally; our God Who gives us the rivers for recreation, the oceans for food and holds up the birds of the air with the Power of Your Words.  You hang the earth on its axis at a perfect angle that we may not disintegrate and You are still working to create scores of galaxies and stars every year. Lord we worship and adore and thank You that the God Who can do all this and more, is more than enough to supply our daily needs and wishes. We trust You and lift up all our requests to You now and at all times, even though you know what we need, even before we ask it of You, Father.  We know You are the God Who provides according to the riches in Christ Jesus, Who is Lord and Master of our Lives. We trust and surrender everything concerning our daily lives, health and welfare to Your Mighty and Sovereign Will, in the Name of the Messiah Jesus Who said, “ask and you shall receive, if you ask in My Name”. Amen and amen.

 (Photo Credit Here)