PSALMIST MAE: Prayer

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The Answered Prayer

For most of the time, we heard this verse mentioned in every prayer meetings and vigils. We heard it recited by children on Sunday school and extension classes. This was the promise that we always remembered every time we would lift our prayers to the heavens that we had even memorized it. There had been many messages shared out of this scripture.

Yet, there is still one message that we may haven’t heard of yet.

If we look back at this Bible passage again, we may not realize what really had happened before God spoke these words to the prophet Jeremiah.

So, what happened?

Israel was filled with wickedness and it displeased God so much that he would give the city up to its enemy, Babylon. (Jeremiah 32:3) The prophet Jeremiah was sent by God to prophesy His disciplinary judgment to Israel’s wickedness. The king got mad instead and put the prophet to prison. Then came the day and he realized that the prophet’s words were true. Bothered by his conscience maybe, the king transferred Jeremiah to a better place in prison called the court of prison (Jeremiah 33:1). Here, the prophet heard God’s promise of an answered prayer, “Call unto me, and I will answer thee…”

This promise of an answered prayer is first for Israel, that, when in the midst of God’s disciplinary judgment, they will repent and call upon the Lord for forgiveness, cleansing, restoration and blessings. In their situation, prayer is their only hope of survival. (Jeremiah 33:4-5). God promised to show them “great and mighty things” which he put in details in verses 7-18, that, whatever they had lost, it will be returned to them “as at the first”.

If you have observed, there has been a chain of events always happening in the children of Israel. God blessed them and he was with them providing their food, shelter and protection. Yet, Israel kept on disobeying God and turned instead to idols. For this reason, God would discipline them, giving them to their enemies so they would know again the true God. Then they would repent and the Lord restored them again. Later, in history, they would do the same sin again, and again they were punished.

What is the application?

We need to learn an important lesson from the history of Israel. It was meant for us to see what may happen to us also if we continue to do the same mistakes in our life.

Romans 15:4, For whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning, that we through patience and comfort of the scriptures might have hope.

The lessons or Learning

God’s saved us to become blessed people on this earth and beyond. But our blessings on this earth may be lost if we live in disobedience and wickedness.
If we are blessed now, be careful, don’t forget, maintain your integrity or better yet increase it.
God will withdraw his protection from Satan, and the enemy will make us miserable and oppressed us.
God did it to correct us, remind us of his ways, and to call us to repentance.
If we call on him with a prayer of repentance & restoration, God will answer us and will restore his blessings.
If we had lost our blessings can still restore it when we earnestly call upon Him with true repentance and start again to follow his ways.
We can even pray for the failures and sins of our brothers and sisters. As a church, we need to confess the sins of our comrades.
As we pray for them, we strengthen ourselves and help our brethren.

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, by Unknown

Journal

My Prayer Journal: Journey with God

It was one idle afternoon when I began to notice a dusty old journal on the shelf. I decided to take a look and realized it was my journal a year ago. Written on its first page was this,

“Journey with God – No matter how smooth or how rough this day, God is with you each step of the way.”

I began to scan and saw how bad my penmanship was, hehe! While reading the first ten pages, I noticed I was writing about someone whose name I didn’t mention for fear that somebody else would find my notes and read it. Unfortunately, now I forgot who I’ve been writing about, haha! I smiled and laughed at my own story.

One thing I like about personal journals is the way I can look at myself in the past, the reflection it gives me when I read it at present, and the lessons it teaches me for the future. I wrote my journal for the purpose of knowing myself better and keeping track of my own maturity, especially on the spiritual aspect. Have I improved? Have I succeeded? Have I done what I ought to do? Have I followed what was called for me to do?

I preferably call it “my prayer journal” because it entirely contained my prayers each day. Pages are full of letters addressed to God. I have one journal for each year and for each year, I noticed, I had one kind of person that I was. It tells me how I have been the previous years.

The Unanswered Prayer

I smiled while reading carefully from the pages of my 2014 journal. Flashbacks came in and I realized how deep and sincere I was while writing on those pages. I was longing, asking and waiting, but at the end, the answer was “No”. How disappointed had I been, but, looking back at it now, I am glad God didn’t say “Yes”.

“For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end.” Jeremiah 29:11

Sometimes, my prayer might not have been inclined to God’s will. However, I still believe that God was listening. That moment when I just poured out all of my heart’s content, I may not have received the answer I was expecting. It was enough though to make myself feel relieved and then contented. Seeing how I have committed everything to God, relying on His mighty hand and clinging on His promises, I feel thankful to God by all the grace He gave. It was by my Lord Jesus’ example that I learned to always say, “Not my will but Thine...”

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O LORD my God, I cried unto thee, and thou hast healed me.

Psalms 30:2

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, by Unknown

PSALMIST MAE

At The Right Time (Original Composition)

The Answered Prayer

So, what happened?

What is the application?

The lessons or Learning

My Prayer Journal: Journey with God

The Unanswered Prayer

About Mae

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PSALMIST MAE

At The Right Time (Original Composition)

The Answered Prayer

So, what happened?

What is the application?

The lessons or Learning

My Prayer Journal: Journey with God

The Unanswered Prayer

About Mae

recent posts

Blog Archive

Labels

Popular Posts

Like us on Facebook

Shop here now!

Instagram Images

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