stay humble and seek to understand

Daniel 10:11-12
11 And he said to me, “O Daniel, man greatly loved, understand the words that I speak to you, and stand upright, for now I have been sent to you.” And when he had spoken this word to me, I stood up trembling.
12 Then he said to me, “Fear not, Daniel, for from the first day that you set your heart to understand and humbled yourself before your God, your words have been heard, and I have come because of your words.

Daniel is a man who is loved by God and devoted to prayer. I love that scripture affirms that Daniel’s words were heard because his heart is set to understanding the Lord and he is humbled before the Lord.

when we come to the Lord in prayer today (when you read this =)) I pray our heart before God will be humble and seeking to know the Lord.

security in God

As I prayed for service this week, I can’t help but to really feel how much God truly loves His people. I can’t even describe how BIG is His love for you and me. I believe God wants to reassure us how much He loves us and we can ALWAYS find that security in Him.

God reminded me of the verse in Matt 7:11
‘If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, HOW MUCH MORE will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!’

Pray for soft hearts before God that we will begin to feel His love for us to a greater measure.

Pray that in all seasons of our life, we will know that we are God’s children whom He loves and that He always has our best interest in heart. We need not worry, but rest assure in Him who knows what’s BEST for us. Believe some of us are going through situation where we feel lost, where we can’t see God’s hand in our situation, where we begin to worry and try to work things out…but God is reassuring us that He is with us and looking after us and that He has the solution prepared for us.

We are secure in Him who loves us (:

Prayer points for 10/2/12 ABS

1. Envy and Jealousy
- this is something that just continually came up on my mind as I prayed. Jealous of other peoples wealth? status ? job? love life? These are
some things that came up in my mind.
Whatever it may be, those are worldly things. Let’s pray for ablaze that we will be a church were we do not focus on the worldly things but look to God!!!
If we value those things above God, that is where our heart will be; not with God, but with the world!!
Lets pray that we will have God in the centre always, and live a life that is worthy of calling!

2. Pray that we will be the church people where we will look to GOD for praise. not at OTHERS!

How can you believe if you accept praise from one another, yet make no effort to obtain the praise that comes from the only God?
-John 5:44
Let;s pray that we will remember that we live for the audience of ONE! and that is God. if other peoples opinions matter more to us than what God
thinks of us, there is something wrong there.

3.”But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.” (Matt 6:33)
just pray that people will learn to put God FIRST in every single area of our lives.
Praying that when we face situations, we will always look to God first for solution. When our hearts are troubled, we will always seek God first.

1John 2:15-17
“Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, love for the Father is not in them. For everything in the world- the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life- comes not from the Father but from the world. The world and its desires pass away, but whoever does the will of God lives forever”

So yeah, let’s pray together that Ablaze will be godly not worldly. (: Pray against sins that are drawing us away from God .

Joy in going to the house of the Lord. (prayer for 27/1/12 ablaze service)

Surely goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord, forever. Psalm 23:6

Prayer point for ablaze service on 27/1/12: That we will have that passion,joy and excitement when we go to church. What is our heart before God about attending church?
Is it possible that sometimes we go to church out of obligation, habit or fear, rather than with great joy and expectation?
If we do not find joy in going to the house of God, we must re-examine ourselves seriously.

Dear Lord God,
I pray for the people of Ablaze. I thank you that you have called us to be your church, and the church is God’s bride. Lord, reveal to us any sins in our lives that may be hindering us from finding real joy in going to the house of God. Have we become too proud? Have we put something else other than jesus in the centre? Lord, give us heart of gratitude, joy and excitement.
I pray in Jesus’ name, Amen.

Focusing on Christ

john 8:31

If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.

Praying for everyone in ablaze to have the desire & consistence to hold on to Jesus’s teaching.
I pray that we will..
open our ears and hearts as we listen the sermon and testimonies.
praise & worship God wholeheartedly.
allow Holy Spirit to intervene in our situation.
continue with bible reading plan and draw from word of God.
God will speak to us and we will hear him.

Are we humble before the Lord? Are we poor in spirit?

Are we humble before the Lord?

Do we continually fall at Jesus’ feet and ask for mercy and compassion? Or are we proud…?
is Our attitude the way it should be? ‘ Lord God… I nailed you the the cross. I am guilty. I am responsible. I carry those nails in my hands. Lord I need you. I am a sinner. Forgive me… I fall at your feet… I am sinful by nature, there is nothing good in me… Lord I need you. ‘

Sometimes we can have detached, impersonal thoughts and emotions about Jesus’ cross. We can think , yes, he died for the sins of the world. But we often forget that he died for YOU. ME. Personally. The sin I committed yesterday, and few years ago…. THAT nailed him to the cross. Not the drug dealer on the street, not the prostitute… But it was me and my sins. It was you.

Do we have that humble heart before the Lord? Or have we grown self-rightenous and proud before God? If we have, we are no different to the Pharisees. And this is what Jesus said about the Pharisees:
‘ You snakes! You brood of vipers! How will you escape being condemned to hell? ‘

This is truly convicting.

Let’s pray for Ablaze. Lets pray that we will always, ALWAYS be humble before the Lord. Let us ALWAYS remember our unworthiness, our own vileness, our own wretchedness and just the pure, perfectness of God and his grace.
Indeed we are sinful. We are wicked. Wretched. And that is why we need God.

transformation.

This world is fadding away, along with everything it craves. But if you do the will of God, you will live forever [1 John 2:17]

The world is fading! time is limited! Lets take advantage and abuse this wonderful opportunity God has blessed us with.
Lets not get caught up in the whole hype, but lets keep our eyes on the prize and realise what is really at stake here.
Praying for every heart to be soften, every person to be touched by the Holy Spirit to the point of transformation!

Don’t be complacent with our prayers guys, our God is the God of authority and power. ANYTHING is possible! so don’t be afraid to pray for big things.

Time spent in seeking God…

Just sharing 2 prayer points that I had in my heart for us Ablaze:

1) For those who are on holidays: That we will not waste this time. Sometimes we can become lazy and complacent with Daily Devotions during Holidays. Pray that we will spend this precious time in seeking after God’s heart, understanding the scriptures and immersing ourselves daily in his presence.
2) Pray about the private struggles and sins that we may be experiencing. Colossians 3 talks of sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed as idolatory. We all have our struggles and sometimes these things can make us feel disconnected from God.

…Three times a day he got down on his knees and prayed,giving thanks to his God just as he had done before. Daniel 6:10
… The men turned away and went toward Sodom, but Abraham remained standing before the Lord. Genesis 18:22

higher level of obedience

Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you clean the outside of the cup and the plate, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence.
matthew 23:25

oh that we may not ones who strive to perform well on the outside, but as we listen to Jesus, be convinced of the true condition of our heart.
after all.. that is what He is after.
grateful that we are called to a higher level of obedience, one that goes beyond superficial behaviours, but true submission and surrender of the heart.

praying against our fleshly need to fret and worry about how we are performing that we may spend more time attending to our heart.

Peace in Jesus Christ

“I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” (john 16:33)

Let’s pray for people who will be walking through the doors of church tomorrow. No matter what kind of week they had and what they are going through, let’s pray that they will find peace in the name of Jesus Christ.

Bible says take heart, Jesus Christ has overcome the world!