Several years ago, I set up a Bible book shop near Johannesburg, South Africa. God blessed it and it continued to grow until it outgrew the small shop I had hired for it. There were numerous problems there, burglaries, a collapsed ceiling, a small flooding but through all those, the biggest problem was that we needed more room. I felt the pressure and began to pray every day that we might be led to a larger shop in safer surroundings. One day as I was praying, I was interrupted by a small voice speaking n my mind. The voice said, “Be still, and know that I am God.” I was so shocked that I stopped praying for, and instead, prayed a prayer of praise and thanks. God had heard, and answered. A few days later there was a church building with an adjoining double story hall advertised. I hadn’t the money they were asking, but what God promises, he will provide for. He did, and a year later we moved in.
One of Jesus; parables stressed that very thought. Do not be afraid to ask repeatedly if necessary provided your motive is right. If your motive is selfish, don’t bother to pray at all, he will not be listening.
Luke 18:1-8 (King James Version)
1 And he spake a parable unto them to this end, that men ought always to pray, and not to faint; (Romans 1:9, Romans 12:12, Ephesians 6:18, 1 Thessalonians 5:17, 2 Thessalonians 1:11, Luke 11:5-10, 2 Corinthians 4:1)
2 Saying, There was in a city a judge, which feared not God, neither regarded man ( Luke 18:4, Luke 20:13, Hebrews 12:9)
3 And there was a widow in that city; and she came unto him, saying, Avenge me of mine adversary.
4 And he would not for a while: but afterward he said within himself, Though I fear not God, nor regard man; (Luke 18:2, Luke 20:13, Hebrews 12:9)
5 Yet because this widow troubleth me, I will avenge her, lest by her continual coming she weary me. (Luk2 11:8, 1 Corinthians 9:27)
6 And the Lord said, Hear what the unjust judge saith. (Luke 7:13)
7 And shall not God avenge his own elect, which cry day and night unto him, though he bear long with them? (Revelation 6:10)
8 I tell you that he will avenge them speedily. Nevertheless when the Son of man cometh, shall he find faith on the earth? (Luke 17:26)
“Men ought always to pray, and not to faint.” The poor widow in this parable knew that what she was asking was right, so she continued to ask until she forcedthe judge to take action. The lesson here is that the child of God, when he knows that a matter is right and not selfish, should not be afraid to pray to God again and again for an answer. Because of that move, we escaped the repeated burglaries, we still had a drainage problem in the basement, but we were able to sell thousands of Bibles, and publish so many small booklets and tract studies that we were listed in the Christian Publishers of South Africa list as being a major Christian publisher. They counted the titles, and languages of all the booklets registered with ISBN numbers, and not their number of pages. We deliberately kept them short, man of our readers struggled to read. At the same time our equipment could be standardize and the cost down. Those prayers we answered with resulted in a small church, a growing publishing business, a bigger and safer Bible shop, and apartment home for ourselves above the shop. In spite of attempts, we never had another burglary or a collapsed ceiling.
Unfortunately, after we left Africa, many of those results ceased, but I take comfort in what happened while we were there and in the last line of the parable, “I tell you that he will avenge them speedily. Nevertheless when the Son of man cometh, shall he find faith on the earth?“
We all must do our part. If you know something is for the good of all and his will, pray and do what you can do. You are responsible only for what you can do, not for those who come after you who will likely have other goals
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READ THE BIBLE THROUGH AGAIN IN 2009
MAY
3rd.. Sunday – Judges 4,5, John 2, Psalm 55:12-23
4th. Monday – Judges 6, John 3, Proverbs 11:7-12
5th. Tuesday – Judges 7,8, John 4:1-26, Psalm 56
6th. Wednesday – Judges 9, John 4:27-54, Psalm 57:1-6
7th. Thursday – Judges 10,11, John 5:1-23, Psalm 57:7-11
8th. Friday – Judges 12,13, John5:24-47, Proverbs 11:13-21
9th. Saturday – Judges 14,15, John 6:1-38, Psalm 58:1-5
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THIS WEEK'S SCRIPTURE
"The Son of man is come to seek, and to save that which was lost”
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The Best Part of Waking Up...
A man and his wife were having an argument about who should brew the coffee each morning.
The wife says, "You should do it, because you get up first, and then we don't have to wait as long to get our coffee."
The husband says, "You are in charge of cooking around here and you should do it, because that is your job, and I can just wait for my coffee."
The wife replies, "No, you should do it, and besides, it is in the Bible that the man should do the coffee."
The husband replies, "I can't believe that, show me."
So she fetched the Bible, and opened the New Testament and showed him at the top of several pages that it indeed says:
"HEBREWS"
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TODAY
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