| Praying Hearts Sanctuary |
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| Newsletter |
| November 2001 |
| Volume 1 Number 7 |
| ***************************************************************************************************************** First of all, thanks to all who have trusted us with your prayer requests over the past few months. We are doing our best to remember to pray for you and hope that you are feeling God's strengthening power in your lives. God is good all the time! Secondly, please keep our prayer team in your prayers. We all have our individual daily problems that we are working on. We feel God's power in our lives but we also experience the daily battles with the prince of evil. We covet your prayers on our behalf. This November's newsletter focuses both on our thankfulness to God and an emphasis on how to pray in times of danger. We have included some Psalms and hymns of praise, but we also have Paul's most recent article entitled, "Prayer in Times of Danger" and the scripture related to that topic. We trust that this article will help you to face the danger that you might experience during what seems to be a very scary period of our history as you pause to reflect on God's goodness and blessings on us throughout our lives. ******************************************************************************** PSALM 100 Shout for joy to the LORD, all the earth. Worship the LORD with gladness; come before him with joyful songs. Know that the LORD is God. It is he who made us, and we are his; we are his people, the sheep of his pasture. Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise; give thanks to him and praise his name. For the LORD is good and his love endures forever; his faithfulness continues through all generations. ******************************************************************************** CHORUS: "GIVE THANKS WITH A GRATEFUL HEART" "Give thanks with a grateful heart, give thanks to the Holy One, give thanks because He's given Jesus Christ, His Son. Give thanks with a grateful heart, give thanks to the Holy One, give thanks because He's given Jesus Christ, His Son. And now let the weak say, "I am strong!" Let the poor say, "I am rich!" because of what the Lord has done for us. And now let the weak say, "I am strong!" Let the poor say, "I am rich!" because of what the Lord has done for us. Give thanks, Give thanks, Give thanks!" ~ Words and music by Henry Smith, Integrity Music, Inc. ******************************************************************************** PSALM 89: 1 - 30 I will sing of the Lord's great love forever; with my mouth I will make your faithfulness known through all generations. I will declare that your love stands firm forever, that you established your faithfulness in heaven itself. You said, "I have made a covenant with my chosen one, I have sworn to David my servant, 'I will establish your line forever and make your throne firm through all generations.'" Selah The heavens praise your wonders, O LORD, your faithfulness too, in the assembly of the holy ones. For who in the skies above can compare with the LORD? Who is like the LORD among the heavenly beings? In the council of the holy ones God is greatly feared; he is more awesome than all who surround him. O LORD God Almighty, who is like you? You are mighty, O LORD, and your faithfulness surrounds you. You rule over the surging sea; when its waves mount up, you still them. You crushed Rahab like one of the slain; with your strong arm you scattered your enemies. The heavens are yours, and yours also the earth; you founded the world and all that is in it. You created the north and the south; Tabor and Hermon sing for joy at your name. Your arm is endued with power; your hand is strong, your right hand exalted. Righteousness and justice are the foundation of your throne; love and faithfulness go before you. Blessed are those who have learned to acclaim you, who walk in the light of your presence, O LORD. They rejoice in your name all day long; they exult in your righteousness. For you are their glory and strength, and by your favor you exalt our horn. Indeed, our shield belongs to the LORD, our king to the Holy One of Israel. Once you spoke in a vision, to your faithful people you said: "I have bestowed strength on a warrior; I have exalted a young man from among the people. I have found David my servant; with my sacred oil I have anointed him. My hand will sustain him; surely my arm will strengthen him. No enemy will subject him to tribute; no wicked man will oppress him. I will crush his foes before him and strike down his adversaries. My faithful love will be with him, and through my name his horn will be exalted. I will set his hand over the sea, his right hand over the rivers. He will call out to me, 'You are my Father, my God, the Rock my Savior.' I will also appoint him my firstborn, the most exalted of the kings of the earth. I will maintain my love to him forever, and my covenant with him will never fail. I will establish his line forever, his throne as long as the heavens endure. ******************************************************************************** CHORUS: "LORD, YOU ARE MORE PRECIOUS THAN SILVER" "Lord, You are more precious than silver. Lord, You are more costly than gold. Lord, You are more beautiful than diamonds and nothing I desire compares with You." ~ Music and words by Lynn DeShazo, Integrity Music, Inc. ******************************************************************************** GREAT IS THY FAITHFULNESS Great is Thy faithfulness, O God my Father, there is no shadow of turning with Thee. Thou changest not, Thy compassion s they fail not; as Thou has been, Thou forever will be. Summer and winter and springtime and harvest, sun, moon and starts in their courses above, join with all nature in manifold witness, to Thy great faithfulness, mercy and love. Pardon for sin and a peace that endureth, Thy own dear presence to cheer and to guide. Strength for today and bright home for tomorrow, blessing all mine, with ten thousand beside! Great is Thy faithfulness! Great is Thy faithfulness! Morning by morning new mercies I see; all I have needed Thy hand hath provided, "Great is Thy faithfulness," Lord, unto me. ******************************************************************************** PRAYER IN TIMES OF DANGER By Paul Francisco [email protected] Threatening events are piling up in America. We need not review them, since the news media can talk of little else today. Our national response is two-fold: Military and religious. Bible sales are climbing. Church attendance is up nation-wide. Huge prayer meetings and multitudes of smaller ones are liberally scattered across the USA; and the American military has declared war on terrorism with troops and bombs seeking out the enemy. What are God's people, Christians, doing? We are praying more, probably. How are God's people doing? Are we finding peace of mind and feelings of security in the midst of this present threatening storm of events? At a regular meeting of born-again men in the last week of October, current events were mentioned for a few minutes before Bible study began. Not one of the six men said they felt threatened or insecure in the face of the enemy's recent actions and possible further destructive ones. They had a certain peace that offset all disturbance of mind. Their feelings of personal peace were rooted in Biblical promises secured for them through living faith: a faith (belief) authored by God's Holy Spirit and fed by Him through Bible study, prayer and personal testimony. Yes, these men will be as alert and cautious as possible, now, but not panicked. They are concerned over the future of loved ones living in these uncertain times, but not worried. This small group represented several denominations and was not a self-serving sect of any kind. Are their reactions (or lack of them) to present danger either strange or abnormal? Not for true Christians living by faith and not by sight, and seeking God's will in every aspect of life with some understanding of His absolute sovereignty over all events. The prophet Isaiah was given information about God by the Holy Spirit: "I form the light, and create darkness: I make peace, and create evil (calamity): I the LORD do all these things. I have made the earth, and created man upon it: I, even my hands, have stretched out the heavens, and all their host have I commanded" (Isa 45:7, 12). "I create...evil" is thinking the unthinkable in today's liberal-thinking Christian world which wants God to be a gentle, loving Father, inviting everyone to come to Him for help and comfort. The questions now asked by these folks are: "Why did this happen to us?" and, "Where was God when these murderous actions were committed on September 11 in New York City and Washington, DC?" The correct answer must always be that God is where He has always been and doing what He has always done. It happened to us and on our own soil and cost many lives and a huge property loss. But is it any different from the thousands who died in recent earthquakes in China, or during the monsoons in India, or the lives lost in a dozen different ways in very recent history, all of which also included losses in real estate? In pagan America we don't believe that vengeance belongs to the Lord (Romans 12:19). So we go to war, to find and remove those responsible for the destruction they caused. And many of us have an itchy uneasiness that our goals may not be met. No one has ever won in the Balkans: not even the people living there, striving against each other. So how do the born again people of God pray, now, and what peace of mind can be obtained? First of all a mind-set and spiritual understanding must be held in our thinking. The mind-set is that God is and always has been in sovereign control of all history and that nothing happens outside of His Will. This is an extremely hard realization to "own" in our thinking, for all our education and scientific accomplishments are aimed at the sovereignty of man! That we control our own destiny! The definite and pervasive acceptance of the theory of evolution in the public school systems is a proof of this, for if evolution is a reality, then there is no need of a sovereign God; and a God that is not sovereign and in control is no God at all. Secondly, Christians must always remember that this is a sin-cursed world and history tells us of absolutely uncountable millions who have died by violence of some kind since Cain slew Able. Therefore any "safety" we may feel is always subject to disruption. "In the world you will have tribulation," said Jesus (John 16:33). In the wonderful chapters 14-17 Jesus taught many spiritual things. They are worth reviewing again and again. In Chapter 16:1-3 He tells his disciples that he taught the way He did so that they should not "stumble" in their faith. He then tells them in advance that terrible things will happen to them. In verse 33 He says that they will have peace "in Me" in spite of tribulation (anguish, persecution, trouble) in the world. Then Jesus adds, "Be of good cheer (have courage and comfort), I have overcome the world." If we are "in Christ" (spiritually immersed in Him) we may pray confidently and calmly, for the Christian's future in Christ is assured. "Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you.." and it is not the kind of peace the world gives, but one based upon the fact that Christ has ascended to the Father, to make intercession for us! (Romans 8:34) So, the present problems of our troubled world should not greatly disturb a devout Christian living for the glory of God. We will not ask God "Why?" The troubles which come should be wholly expected, for the world's problems will never be solved by the world. Christians should be able to live above these problems, no matter how horrible. God is still in control and has given adequate warning of problems and suffering in His Word. Our responsibility to Him is to live prayerful, Bible-directed lives. The world changes: America changes: our lives face changes, but God is never any different today than He was yesterday or will be tomorrow! "Jesus Christ the same yesterday, today and forever"! (Hebrews 13:8). Therefore, let Christians fully understand their position in this world: "Beloved now are we the children of God; and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as he is." We do not live for this world, but for His world. Let us pray correctly in times of danger or great change by fully offering our lives to our Maker and Savior and asking how He will use us: how we may serve Him now, today, on any kind of day; and requesting His mercy on America and His guidance of our leaders. ******************************************************************************* OUR WEBSITE IS HTTP://GEOCITIES.COM/PRAYINGHEARTSSANCTUARY/ OUR EMAIL ADDRESS IS [email protected] ******************************************************************************** CLOSING PRAYER Our Blessed and Holy Lord, we come to You again with grateful hearts for all You have done to strengthen and sustain us for the trials of this life. We are grateful for Your ability to manifest Yourself in our world and we are grateful that You have demonstrated Your awesome power throughout history of mankind. We come to You today in prayer for Your continuing presence and power within each of our lives. Help us to be continuously in prayer with You, seeking out Your Divine guidance in all the decisions we make. Help us to be faithful in the everyday matters of life and help us to trust You to honor our faithfulness. Many have indicated that life is difficult for them or for one of their loved ones. We do know that many dear and precious souls reading this newsletter battle with mental illnesses or have loved ones who do. We pray especially for them right now, praying that they will know your power and strength in their lives. Help each to realize that he or she is Your very precious child. I pray all of this in your Beautiful and Matchless Name, Jesus Christ, Amen. Grandytoon :-) [email protected] |
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