An Election Eve Prayer

Today is November 2nd, 2020. Tomorrow the leader of our country will be elected. It will be an eventful day. As we say goodnight to this day, here are where my thoughts are. This is my prayer for tomorrow and the coming days.

Father in Heaven, I pray and ask that you be with our country and all the wonderful people who make it what it is. Your strength will be very needed by so many of us.

I pray…

That the right person is elected. Your will may not always be done by whoever is in leadership, but you are in control. I don’t know why you do the things that you do, but please let us all accept your guidance, Father. Let us all accept the outcome and support who you have allowed to lead on this earth.

That whoever our President elect is tomorrow, that his administration is blessed. That he is able to accomplish much for our country and her people. I pray that our President succeeds in his endeavors, because his failures will ultimately also be my failures.

That love rules the day. We may not all see eye to eye, we may not agree with each other… Father, we may not even like each other. But let us all love each other as Jesus showed us how to do. His apostles didn’t all get along, and were on separate ends of the political spectrum – but they turned the world upside down for you. Let us love like they did, and make this world a better place for it.

That there is peace. I pray there will be no riots, no violence, and no hatred. If some individuals incite rioting and violence, I pray that the innocent escape harm, and that fair justice is served on those who are not innocent.

Father, I know that my words cannot change the world, but Jesus can. Let the Spirit guide us, and show us all how to live like true children of the King. Let us also remember that this world is not our home! We may hold citizenship as Americans on this planet, but our focus, our greater calling, our ultimate and first allegiance is in Heaven.

Its through your son, Jesus, name I pray all these things. Let the church together say…

How big is a Mustard Seed?

Moses grew up as a prince in the then world power of Egypt. He ran away after he killed an Egyptian slave master in defense of a Hebrew slave. Moses settled in Midian, became a shepherd, and started a family. One day he was called by God to go back to Egypt and lead his fellow Hebrews to freedom in Canaan. Moses came up with several excuses why he couldn’t do what God had asked: “they won’t believe me”, “they won’t listen to me”, “I’m not a good public speaker”, and so on. But a question Moses asked God is interesting. He asked, “Who am I?” It seems that Moses didn’t think he had what it would take to do what God called him to do. He lacked faith in himself, he lacked self-esteem, he seemed to feel like he wasn’t worthy to take on the task. But mostly, he lacked faith in God.

But look at Elijah. Elijah took on 450 so called prophets of the false god Baal in a battle of faith on Mount Carmel. He was so bold and courageous that he mocked the prophets, and their god, when they were unable to bring supernatural fire down to burn their sacrifice. When it came to Elijah’s turn, he prayed to God to bring fire from heaven and show who the one true God was. He didn’t just hope or think that God would respond, he knew it. He knew it and believed it with every fiber of his being! He had a mountain of faith in God’s power, and God delivered in a spectacular way.

Who do you feel like most days? Do you feel like you can’t do what Jesus asks of us and share his good news? Do you lack the faith to change the world?

When some followers of Jesus couldn’t cast a demon out of a boy, they asked Him why. He told them they lacked faith. Then He said that if they only had faith the size of a mustard seed they could move mountains. Did you read that, they could move mountains!

We don’t need to lead a nation to freedom, face down idolatrous hordes, slay a giant, or build a boat to change the world. We only need faith the size of a mustard seed.

How do we grow our faith? Paul wrote in his letter to the Christians in Rome that faith is built by hearing God’s Word preached. We need to worship and study to grow our faith. Solomon prayed for wisdom, we also need to spend time in prayer and be asking for the Spirit to strengthen our faith. Pray for ourselves, pray for each other, pray for the church, just pray!

What could you do with faith the size of a mustard seed?

Away from the office

Thank you for your inquiry.  I am away from the office.  If your message requires a reply, sorry, I won’t be there for you.  -Baal

This is pretty much the answer King Ahab and the prophets of Baal and Asherah received when they were challenged by God’s prophet Elijah in 1 Kings 18:17-40.

Elijah told the king and his false prophets to meet him on Mt. Carmel with all of Israel to prove to them who was the one true God.  Elijah and the false prophets built altars and put sacrifices on them, but Elijah also soaked his with water and dug a trench around it and filled it with water too.  The false prophets began to cry out to their “god” and dance around their altar.  They did this from morning until noon (1 Kings 18:26), after that Elijah mocked them saying things like:  “Cry aloud, for he is a god. Either he is musing, or he is relieving himself, or he is on a journey, or perhaps he is asleep and must be awakened” (1 Kings 18:27)

The Bible says they continued like this until evening. Verse 29 says, “No one answered; no one paid attention.”  Now it was Elijah’s turn.

Elijah prayed to God, and God sent fire so strong that it consumed not only the offering and the wood, but the altar and dust and all the water that he poured over it.  Someone certainly paid attention to Elijah’s prayer.

So remember, God is always there for us, no matter the time of day or night.  Having a bad day?  Ask God for help.  Having a good day?  Tell God about it.  Got a problem at work/school/home?  God will be there for you.  When God told Abraham in Genesis 15:1: “Fear not, Abram, I am your shield”, He didn’t leave office hours!  And when He told Isaiah in Isaiah 41:10; “Fear not, for am with you”, He didn’t say only on nights and weekends!  He is ALWAYS there for us!