This is such an important subject ... I could feel a sermon coming on. Thank you for bringing this up.

What happens to us on this earth is NOT Gods will. His will is for us to be in Heaven and have no suffering. But He allows the bad to happen because of the greater good. Yes, The Great Controversy. This book is the answer to so many of these kinds of questions. If you want some good study ... keep studying this topic.

Prayer is so misunderstood. It is not about getting things. God is not going to stop the entire Great Controversy theme to ease your pain. Prayer should draw us to Christ and help us commune with God. It is not for getting things that we wish for. Yes, no matter what we pray for ... God's will ... will be done. Hopefully prayer will draw us to that will if we don't keep making a list of demands.

We are here on this earth to Glorify God. That means we are to suffer for His sake. Why would we pray to not do so? What we need to do is to welcome the suffering and show that we can praise Him during that suffering. To suffer is to gain.

Like I have shared before ... Morris Vendon calls those who suffer and endure ... God's Honor Guard. It may be hard ... but that is the view we should have. If we are not suffering then obviously the Devil thinks that we are on his side and so he doesn't need to attack.

Just my thoughts. More were resisted. But I try to let my wife do most of the preaching. Perhaps I should interview her on the subject. She is a much better authority than I.

By the way ... I need to give a disclaimer .... I am not infallible .... but I AM INSPIRED.

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But when I think about it somehow, the thought "It is God's will" that causes me to stumble and think "what can prayer do when it is His will to happen?"

Hi, Miahnie and Redwood (and any other readers!)

I think that today's quote from "Steps to Christ" may shed some light on this subject, but firstly let us look back a little.

We are in the midst of a "great controversy" -- and God fights fairly. God could, if He so chose, wipe Satan off the map, and say, "There, I have had enough of you pestering my people" -- but that wouldn't solve the problem, because that was part of Satan's gripe -- he accused God of not allowing His Creation to think for themselves!

Yes, we are the ones who are "caught in the middle" of this war, but God has promised us that He will provide us with the strength that we need. No, He doesn't promise that all of our troubles will cease -- that doesn't happen in a war zone. Let me remind you of one of the recent quotes from this same chanpter, "Satan is always trying to block the path to God. He does not want us to receive grace and power through prayer to resist evil."

So, that is the answer. We must "hang in there", and be willing to follow God's leading -- even if that leading is through a "rapid fire zone"! He has promised to see us through if we just keep hold of His hand!

Be back later with some more.

God bless,

Beryl

We so often think that if we have enough faith, we will get what we have asked for, but that is not necessarily the answer. As I understand it, if we have enough faith in God, we will accept the answer that He gives, because of our faith in the Person Who is answering our prayers .

We believe that it is God Who is answering our prayers, and that is true. Why doesn't He give us what we ask for? Because He can see the end from the beginning, and He knows what is best for us, He knows our real needs. Maybe He WILL give us what we have been asking for -- but He may see that our faith muscle needs some exercise, and we get that exercise while we wait patiently for His answer.

Maybe He sees that, getting the answer we want will lead us away from Him -- but rest assured He WILL answer your prayers -- maybe He will give you something else that will suit your needs better.

I have lived a good few years on this planet, and my faith has been tested many times, but I can assure you that God has always provided for my NEEDS (not always my wants), and, in hindsight I can see His leading through many rocky paths, and my only regrets have been when I thought He was too long in answering a prayer -- so I rushed ahead and did it anyway!!

Put your whole faith in God, He will lead you in the right paths, and you will never regret waiting for Him.

God bless,

Beryl

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God is faithful in keeping His many promises. We may sometimes ask and not receive at once the things we ask for. But we are still to believe that the Lorde hears and that He will answer our prayers.

We cannot see the future, and sometimes we ask for things that would not be a blessing. Our heavenly Father in love answers our prayers by giving us what is best for us. He gives us what we would ask for if we could see all things as they really are.

We are to hold to God's promises even when it seems that our prayers are not answered. At the right time we will receive the blessing we need most. But we cannot demand that a prayer will be answered in just the way we desire. God does not make mistakes. He is so good that He will not keep from us anything that would help us. Do not be afraid to trust Him, even though you may not see an answer at once. Believe His promise, "Ask and you will receive" (Matthew 7:7).

OK, parents. Did you have a "whinging child"? You know, pester, pester, pester, until at last, through sheer frustration, you give the child what he/she has been whinging for! Did that solve the problem? NO IT DIDN'T! It just meant that the child had learned another way to "twist you around his little finger" -- in other words, to get his/her own way!

So, when that answer does not come straight away, what are we to do? Keep trusting, ask God to do what He sees best for you, and leave the decision to Him.

God bless,

Beryl

What a wonderful picture of our loving Saviour -- bending over us -- so interested in all of our thoughts and actions --willing and ready to aid us in our feeble endeavours to live the life that He desires us to live, for our own benefit.

Do I/you need to make a New Year's Resolution regarding our prayer lives?

God bless,

Beryl

Wow! There are two personal challenges to me in that quote! "be persistent" -- are you like me in this? After a while I tend to think, "I guess His answer is 'No'" -- and give up praying for that. It seems to me that I must continue in prayer -- being persistent!

The other challenge that I have is "keep alert as you pray" -- hmmmmmmm! It is just SO easy for the mind to run off to other things. I think that I may have to return to a practice of taking notes as I read, and then writing out the points that I want to make in my prayer time. That worked. Why did I stop it? I don't remember, but I must start that again.

God bless,

Beryl

"...ask God for what you need" -- isn't that a wonderful invitation? What is it that you need just now? Money? Goods? Help? -- or is it a need for a closer walk with Jesus? Then -- ASK!

My favourite of all favourite hymns is No. 306 in our hymnal, "Draw Me Nearer".

I am Thine, O Lord, I have heard Thy voice,
And it told Thy love to me;
But I long to rise in the arms of faith,
And be closer drawn to Thee.

CHORUS
Draw me nearer, nearer, nearer, blessed Lord,
To the cross where Thou hast died,
Draw me nearer, nearer, nearer, blessed Lord,
To Thy precious, bleeding side.

Consecrate me now to Thy service, Lord,
By the power of grace divine;
May my soul look up with a steadfast hope
And my will be lost in Thine.

O the pure delight of a single hour
That before Thy throne I spend,
When I kneel in prayer, and with Thee, my God,
I commune as friend with friend.

God bless,

Beryl

Isn't that a wonderful picture of our relationship with God! We know that we are sinners, and we find ourselves struggling so often with our human brokenness -- but here we have a picture -- not of our lives, but HIS life-- flowing through to us, and then flowing back to Him as though it was OUR purity and holiness!

That is truly being covered with the robe of HIS righteousness! Praise God for that!

Beryl

2008 is here! It is almost hard to believe! Has the Lord delayed His coming? No -- but I do believe that over the years WE have delayed His coming, because our FIRST priority has not always been "the Gospel to all the world". It has always been a priority in our talking, but, at a local church level, anyway, it has not always been a priority in fact. This we must change. Perhaps our reading for today is what we need.



May you all have a wonderful New Year, with God's richest blessing.

Beryl

Thank you Beryl. While God's purpose knows no haste and no delay ... I think you are right that we are not doing our jobs very well. What are our "priorities"? This is a good time of year to think that out.