PRAY ! Then you will know how to pray
Prayer quotations and sayings
To pray is to realize impossible case
( Jack W. Hayford )
To pray is an intense act. It's to be in front of God,
to speak to the almighty Lord, to talk to our Father
Satan is an obstinate fighter, he will win if his perseverance is stronger than yours
Below are from Reginald E.O. White
( from the Book « Olo-malazan'ny Vavaka » )
Prayer is the rampart of our mind
Prayer is the key of all padlocks which imprison our soul
Prayer is the biggest act that we can do for our neighbor(s)
When we pray, we feel & we meet God
When we pray, our desires is not important,
the important thing is God's will & God's purpose
O God ! You who loves us & who gives us mercy,
help us to understand & to accept your will
|
How to pray ?
Primo : be honest with God
Secundo : let Him answer you
That means : give Him times to reply you |
Prayer is good, not for giving us satisfaction, but for transforming us
Prayer and patience, such as prayer & to obey God are inseparable
In prayer, what we say is nothing in front of our honesty
Christian renew and fortify his power only with prayer
Prayer changes fear into power
The GOOD SEED - Let's continue to talk about Prayer - October 24th 2002
-
Prayer is not a magical procedure to have success in examination or in business
-
Prayer is not a magical procedure to avoid risks
-
Prayer is not something for weak people who want escape the reality
-
Prayer is not something for those who can't assume their responsibilities
-
Prayer is not to say sentences to make God happy
-
Prayer must not be the last solution to solve a problem, after trying all possible solutions
-
No ! Prayer is just an easy talk to God, like an easy talk between a little child and his father
|
Precise Christian Doctrine about Prayer and Doxology ( J.M. Nicole )
To PRAY
is to accept by faith the salvation. Yes, the Scripture says : " Everyone who calls out to the Lord will be saved " ( Romans 10 : 13 ). And to ADORE is the top of prayer ; we thank God for what He does, but we adore God for who He is. To ADORE is not a religious emotion ; it's an attitude of deep respect & whole love. " Lord, teach us to pray " ( one of Jesus's disciples in Luke 11 : 1b ).
What means DOXOLOGY ?
DOXOLOGY
is a prayer to glorify God. Doxologia = glorification. So, it's a short prayer to honour God. Just a short prayer but intense ; examples : " Who knows the mind of the Lord ? Who is able to give Him advice ? Who has ever given Him anything, so that He had to pay it back ? For all things were created by Him, and all things exist through Him and for Him. To God be the glory for ever ! Amen ! " ( Romans 11 : 34 - 36 )
" For You are great and do marvellous deeds ; You alone are God " ( Psalm 86 : 10 )
" To the only God, our Saviour, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, might and authority, from all ages past, now and for ever & ever ! Amen ! " ( Jude : 25 )
|
Harry Anderson's illustration
Charles Zingaro's illustration
1957 ( Review & Herald ) - In
« LES BELLES HISTOIRES DE LA BIBLE N10 » |
|
GOD’ S SILENCE
Heard somewhere, I’ve put it after on this web site
( June 2009 ). Thanks alot to Hajason Randriatsara.
When we prayed, God answers us by « yes » or « no ». But sometimes God doesn’t answer us. It’s a heavy silence. For examples : when a member of the family is ill, when you have no job for a long time, the crisis of the world, … When God said us « no », He protects us from our egoism, He protects us to not to do wrong choice. Sometimes when God kept silent, some people gave us answers as if God said us something. Don’t do like this. When God kept silent, we have to respect His silence.
An example where God said « no ». In 2 Cor 12 : 7b to 9a, Paul asked Him something : « … I was given a painful physical ailment, which acts as Satan’s messenger to beat me and keep me from being proud. Three times I prayed to the Lord about this and asked Him to take it away », but God answer was : « My grace is all you need … ».
Let see THE REASONS OF THE SILENCE OF GOD
PRIMO :
THREE REASONS WHERE PROBLEM DEPENDS ON US
|
1- Who is God for us ?
Sometimes or often we pray to a false god ( an idol, idols, another god that Those in Isaiah 43 : 11 ). But sometimes we think that God is a great King who has alot to do and who has not time to hear our little prayers. Or we think that God is like a big Boss, we have to work and He gives us salary, so we have to do good work, we give, God gives. Or we think that God is like an indefinable power ( usually for Malagasy people ) who is far from us, very far so we can not have a close relation with Him. Sometimes too God is for us like a Christmas Santa Claus : a God at our service, we arrive with our list, we don’t pray, we just ask somethings, no relation, no dialogue, just a monologue. Etc.
No, God is a Father for us as for The Christ. In our LIFE OF PRAYER, we must ask everytimes : « What is God for us ? ». TO INCREASE OUR COMMUNION WITH HIM. There is a relation and a dialogue between God and those who pray in a communion. This is the true prayer. « Our Father in heaven, … » Matthew 6 : 9b.
2- Our sin
Our sin is too one of the reason why God keeps silent. « So if you are about to offer your gift to God at the altar and there you remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there in front of the altar, go at once and make peace with your brother, and then come back and offer your gift to God » words of Jesus in Matthew 5 : 23 – 24. « And when you ask, you do not receive it, because your motives are bad … » James 4 : 3a. Or in Psalm 66 : 18 : « If I had cherished sin in my heart, The Lord would not have listened ».
3- We don't keep silence so we don't hear God
God waits us, we have to keep silence. We are not here, but God is here. We don’t wait God, we just wait something from Him. We have to keep silence to hear God.
SECUNDO : FOUR REASONS WHICH NOT CONCERN US :
There are two big risks when God keeps silent. The first is that we have doubt on us. The secund is that we have doubt on God, on his power, on his Love.
4- God has His own plan
We have our wish, but God has his own plan about all things, about all events. « For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares The Lord » Isaiah 55 : 8.
For example, three prayers of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, are without answer. In Gethsemane « My Father, if it’s possible, take this cup of suffering from me ! … » in Matthew 26 : 39b. On the cross « Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani ? = My God, my God, why did you abandon Me ? » always in Matthew 27 : 46c. And at last Jesus’ prayer in John 21 to 23 about the christians unity, a subject of conversation nowadays.
5- God respects our freedom
God respects our choice, sometimes good, sometimes bad. The answer of our prayer depends sometimes on my choice and on the choice of those who I pray for.
6- God will give us answer but not now
It’s not the time of God to give us His answer, so we must wait. Because God works in us for our goodness. This waiting is never useless. This waiting can be very good for us. What God does for us is too important that what we wait for Him. For example, Abram waited a long long time before his benediction realised ( more than 10 years, more than 20 years ). « Then the word of The Lord came to Abram : this man will not be your heir, but a son coming from your own body will be your heir. God took him outside and said : Look up at the heavens and count the stars if indeed you can count them. So shall your offspring be ». Genesis 15 : 4 – 5. |
Drawing of Rado Ratsimbazafy 1997
( with Paintbrush 3.1 )
|
|
7- There is a true war between the good and the bad
There is a true war against the forces of darkness in the unseen cosmic universe. These are great evil power. These are evil forces against God’s plan and against God’s will. Examples : materialism, racism, militarism, extreme nationalism, the separation in a couple, a family quarrel, a quarrel in a church, etc. Satan can win but his time is counted. The final countdown. We fight against these evil power by our prayer, because with our prayer we associate our spirit with God’s will. « We wanted to return to you. I myself ( Paul ) tried to go back more than once, but Satan would not less us » Thessalonians 1 : 18. « For we are not fighting against human beings but against the wicked spiritual forces in the heavenly world, the rulers, authorities, and cosmic powers of this dark age » Ephesians 6 : 12. Or too the history of Job.
GOD’ S SILENCE IS A WAY FOR US, NOT AN IMPASSE
|
But God with his great compassion replies to our prayer more than our hope,
even if we have stopped to pray
( Read Luke 1 : 5 to 17 )
Vondrom-bavaka AFF FJKM Ankadifotsy Christian Church 2010
Because of the big 2009 - 2010 crisis in Madagascar, each group ( political, social, economic, military or simple citizen ) try to find solution. The church too. In this big crisis, church has to educate the people, church has to bring them back in the right way.
So we have decided to create a « special group of prayer » = « Vondrom-bavaka » to do daily prayer for the country, for the people, for the entire world and to encourage ourselves through great fights and tribulations. We are from a group of evangelization of Ankadifotsy church ( AFF = Asa Fitoriana ny Filazantsara FJKM Ankadifotsy Antananarivo Madagascar ).
This Group of Prayer was created in 2010, because God's words tell us in Matthew 18 : 19 - 20 and in James 5 : 16 to 18,
So I tell you : whenever two of you on earth agree about anything you pray for, it will be done for you by my Father in heaven. For where two or three come together in my Name, I am there with them ( Jesus Christ's words ; The Son of God's words ).
So then, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, so that you will be healed. The prayer of a good person has a powerful effect. Elijah was the same kind of person as we are. He prayed earnestly that there would be no rain, and no rain fell on the land for three and a half years. Once again he prayed, and the sky poured out its rain and the earth produced its crops.
Some members of the 2010 Group of Prayer of FJKM Ankadifotsy Christian Church. from left to right :
Ravo • Hajason ( our President in 2010 ) • Randriatody • Faliary • Alice • Sahondra • Haja • Saholy
Lalao • Rija • Lila • Julius • Miary • Hanitra • Fahizà ( picture : Alain 2010, June 05th )
Spending your time to kneel keep you standing
( Please the Lord 2010 )
|
RATSIMBAZAFY Ravo Nomenjanahary & Pierrette
Copyright © 2000 Christian-thought
The Christian
Counter
Webspace Provider
|
|
|
|