Yet now hear, O Jacob my servant; and Israel, whom I have chosen: Thus saith the LORD that made thee, and formed thee from the womb, which will help thee; Fear not, O Jacob, my servant; and thou, Jesurun, whom I have chosen. For I will pour water upon him that is thirsty, and floods upon the dry ground: I will pour my spirit upon thy seed, and my blessing upon thine offspring: And they shall spring up as among the grass, as willows by the water courses. 

    Isaiah 44: 1-4

Obviously, humanity is fully incapable of properly showing and reciprocating love. This gift, ...<< MORE >>

"Vanity of vanities," says the Preacher, "All is vanity." And moreover, because the Preacher was wise, he still taught the people knowledge; yes, he pondered and sought out and set in order many proverbs. 

    - Ecclesiastes 12:8,9

All is vanity, says the Preacher, still his wisdom pushed him on in the education of his people.

It is a simple message. Don't give up.

Admit that the pattern of existence is colored with banalities. Ok. Say that youth and beauty are fleeting. Alright. We know that money is vanity, too, because it has a tendancy to get lost or kidnapped. Maybe it ...

<< MORE >>

But those who wait on the Lord shall renew their strength; They shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint. 
    - Isaiah 40:31

"I've got sound bites in my head," my sister always says. I guess that I have, too. Maybe we all do. But every time I hear the text about 'wings of eagles' and about running and not fainting, I think about an old story animated and broadcast by "Your Story Hour" (*see below).

A little boy almost lost his legs in a fire way back ...

<< MORE >>

The Bible says we should forgive others seventy times seven (Matthew 18: 21,22), what about forgiving ourselves?

Submitted by Ronald Willis ...<< MORE >>

Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting.
    Galatians 6: 7,8

...<< MORE >>

Romans 5:20 states "But where sin abounded, grace did much more abound."

I look forward to seeing God do mighty things as He did before with me in Operation Iraqi Freedom 2005-2006. Keep us in your prayers as we move forward to minister to the living, care for the wounded and honor the dead.

Plus recommendations, today's text... << MORE >>

We get a little deeper into the concept of sacrificial prayer offerings and intercessory prayer.

... !ƺĈ螘Ɛ糈Ɛ.sd<< MORE >>

"And Araunah looked, and saw the king and his servants coming on toward him: and Araunah went out, and bowed himself before the king on his face upon the ground.

"And Araunah said, Wherefore is my lord the king come to his servant? And David said, To buy the threshingfloor of thee, to build an altar unto the LORD, that the plague may be stayed from the people.

"And Araunah said unto David, Let my lord the king take and offer up what seemeth good unto him: behold, here be oxen for burnt sacrifice, and threshing instruments and other instruments of the oxen for wood. All these things did Araunah, as a king, give unto the king. And Araunah said unto the king, The LORD thy God accept thee.

"And the king said unto Araunah, Nay; but I will surely buy it of thee at a price: neither will I offer burnt offerings unto the LORD my God of that which doth cost me nothing. So David bought the threshingfloor and the oxen for fifty shekels of silver." (2 Samuel 24: 20-24, bold accent added)

So we know that prayer as we know it today is the issuance of the temple service. In fact, when Y'shua moved into the temple in the fall of 1844, He began the service as our High Priest, our Rabbi in the order of Melchisidek.

Just as back in the day the blood was sprinkled and the incense was lit, our prayers to the Father through our High Priest are a part of the plan of a particular God.

All prayer is good, given to us from Above, even when we pray the wrong thing or selfishly.  The perfect thing about it is that while we pray, the Holy Spirit is working on and in us. The Righteous Redeemer is there to make sense of our requests, so we are free to request them.

I believe with all my heart that the Lord remembers the prayers we make as little children. It is something we see again and again, when the little ones make petition to their Father and receive miraculous response within the bounds of their childhood years. We have also seen how we have prayed, forget our prayers and yet are blessed and led by the Father into answers many years later.

Prayer is a powerful thing and therefore should not be taken lightly. It isn't a chore of religiosity, but a transformative, humbling sacrifice of time, flesh and self-righteousness.

Just as David brought a worthy offering to Hashem at the threshing floor, we are blessed when we come to the Lord with prayer that means something.  Of course, sometimes we can pray as we rush from here to there— in fact, that kind of prayer is vital, in that we should always be in contact with our Redeemer.

Nevertheless, the secret place prayer is the richest, sustaining kind. We cannot rush forever, putting our Lord on the back burner, making Him less important than that extra hour of sleep in the morning or the time clock at work.

Sacrificial prayer is placed before all of us. We will all meet that fleshy challenge when we are required to choose between staying a while with the Lord or running off into our own way— "overcharged... [by the] cares of this life"(Luke 21:34).

Prayer is sweet life in the making. Earthly explanations can do it no honor.  Prayer is free and is constantly associated with the power of the Holy Spirit. In order to receive this power, we have to take it seriously. "A revival need be expected only in answer to prayer. ...We must pray more, and talk less."— EGWhite, Review and Herald, Mar. 22, 1887

It isn't always easy, but it is most certainly worth the cost!

See this article's podcast companion!

Honestly, I don't think there is anything more important to the Believer than that quiet time (or sometimes not so quiet time) spent in prayer. I mean, Jesus put it better than anyone, telling His friends to 'keep the watch', praying, so that their souls could be strengthened in the same way He had been strengthened; through communion with the Father. In fact, the record from Luke 21 is even more specific regarding the power this communion affords the worshiper. Jesus is teaching about the end of time and the destruction of the second temple. Although He lists the terrible events which proceed the destruction and ways in which the people can escape it, His main focus seems to shift to the more intangible weightier issues of spiritual safety.<< MORE >>

Alaina Baxter and Mina Baxter, of "Baxters", the sibling group which brought us Laina Lane. We learn more about their writing style and enjoy the debut of Alaina's new single, My Father...
<< MORE >>