Category Archives: Encouragement

Encouragement

Prayer is Talking to God

Prayer is simple. Prayer is just talking to God. Nothing formal is necessary.

Olive Trees In Jerusalem Israel - Prayer is Talking to God

Olive Trees In Jerusalem Israel – Prayer is Talking to God

God exists and listens, we just need to talk to Him.    Prayer does not need to be formal or in some special place. Prayer is just talking to God in reality. So we don’t need make-up something, just start saying what is on your heart as you talk to God.  Prayer is just a dialog between us and God.  Prayer can be alone for with others.    Prayer can be when we love God and when we hate God. Sometimes we are hurting because of something that happened, so tell that to God.   Prayer can be what we feel when we are very encouraged and when we are very depressed and low.   Prayer can be when we think we are perfect (only God is perfect), and when we are a sinner (and we all are sinners) and when we feel we are a saint.  Prayer can be when we are happy and when we are sad. Sometimes after we pray we feel high and sometimes low.

The Spirit makes it easy, because He knows how and what to pray.   Without the Spirit, prayer is hard. With the Spirit prayer us easy.  Romans 8:26 And in like manner the Spirit joins also its help to our weakness; for we do not know what we should pray for as is fitting, but the Spirit itself makes intercession with groanings which cannot be uttered.

Look at the prayers of David in the Psalms where David just talks to God. David tells God just what he thinks and how he feels.  When David is low, he says “God, I am depressed”.

When David was feeling great, He praises God. Sometimes when he is low is also praises God.  Psalms 8:2 Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings hast thou established praise because of thine adversaries, to still the enemy and the avenger.

Also consider some of the points in the article on “What is Prayer”

Sunflower in San Diego

Sunflower in San Diego

Sunflower in San Diego

While with my wife, son, daughter, and grandson I took this photograph in San Diego. No special close-up lens and no special lighting, just standard sunlight on a beautiful day in San Diego.

We get depressed, but God is never depressed.  We get low, but God is not low.  We get worried, but God is not worried.  Our anxiety and concern level gets high, but God is not worried.

God is very confident that He can finish the work He started in You.  Philippians 1:6 being confident of this very thing, that he who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Jesus Christ: God does not get discouraged when He looks at us and observes us.  God is not discouraged when we fail. He already knows we will fail.  He knows the purpose He created each of us for and never gives up on us. 

Morning Prayer – Encouraging Bible Verses

Morning time is the best time to connect with God in the Bible and prayer - encouraging Bible verses

Morning time is the best time to connect with God in the Bible and prayer – encouraging Bible verses

Morning time is the best time to connect with God in the Bible and prayer – encouraging Bible verses.

Just before the day gets started, the crazy things come,  stresses come, the emails come, the twitters come and then the other billion things that fill a day.  Take time in the morning to connect and contact God the source of our life and our strength. He is the one to strengthen us through the whole day.

Here is an awesome morning prayer time animation video.

Consider these wonderful encouraging Bible verses on prayer in the morning.

Psalms 30:5 For his anger is but for a moment,and his favor is for a lifetime. Weeping may tarry for the night,but joy comes with the morning.

Revelation 2:28 and I will give him the morning star.

Mark 1:35  Now in the morning, having risen a long while before daylight, He went out and departed to a solitary place; and there He prayed. Jesus really liked the morning time for prayer and Bible reading.

Sunrise over the Dead Sea, Israel

Sunrise over the Dead Sea, Israel

Psalms 55:17 Evening and morning and at noon I will pray, and cry aloud, And He shall hear my voice.

p.s. The first picture above that looks like a sunrise, is actually a sunset in the Pacific Northwest.

Multnomah Falls, Oregon

Multnomah Falls, Oregon

The Bible Leads People to Jesus Christ

Bible Book of Revelation - Mediterranean Sea off Israel

Bible Book of Revelation – Mediterranean Sea off Israel.
The book of Revelation was written by John on the Island of Patmos about 600 miles east of where this picture was taken.

The Bible Leads People to Jesus Christ

What is the book of Revelation all about? Why would we want to study this book? Well, I mentioned before that the book of Revelation is a proper conclusion to the Bible, but that is not really why it is there. When I was putting the outline of this book together I was concerned about giving the proper message and about how I could help you understand this book. There are twenty two chapters. There are a lot of mysterious things in this book. It talks about prophecy, antichrists and tribulations. There is a city at the end of the book called,” the New Jerusalem”. You have God’s judgment on the world, a lot of heavy and kind of mysterious things. I wondered how I could present these matters, but when I got into this book I discovered that the focus or central theme of this book is really about a person, about Jesus Christ.
When I looked at the Greek version of the book of Revelation I noticed that the first three Greek words are, “Revelation, Jesus Christ.” That means the focus of this book is not prophecy and tribulation although those things are covered. The main point of this book is not even the mysterious things. The main point of this book is Jesus Christ. So if you really want to understand this book, and see it for what it really means, you need to see this person, Jesus Christ.
Let’s talk about another place in the Bible where Jesus Himself gave a real indication that the Scriptures, the Bible, should point people to Christ. I don’t know if you remember the time in John 5 Jesus was talking to the religious people. He rebuked them and said, “You search, research and study the Bible but you won’t come to Me.” This indicates that those religious people knew the Bible, they studied the Bible and they knew about the things in the Bible. They could probably quote a lot of verses, and yet when the Son of God, Jesus Christ was right there in front of them, they wouldn’t come to Him! A lot of times this can happen to us. We may have heard stories from the Bible or we, ourselves, may have read it or parts of it. I have heard of people who picked up the Bible and read parts of it, and that was it! Well, the Bible should lead people to Christ. The Bible should lead people to know Christ and to experience Christ. If your reading and study of the Bible, or your memorization of some Bible stories and verses doesn’t lead you to Jesus Christ, then the purpose for doing so has been defeated. This John 5 passage is very important. Jesus told the religious leaders, “You guys have searched the Scriptures because you think you are going to find life (and you should find life), but you won’t come to Me that you might have life.” In other words when we read the Bible, when we read the Scriptures, this should lead us to know Jesus Christ in a real and living way.

The Lord is My Strength – Prayer

Consider this verse:  Exodus 15:2 The Lord is my strength and my song, and he has become my salvation; this is my God, and I will praise him, my father’s God, and I will exalt him.   In this verse, it does not say to “pray for strength”, it says the Lord is my strength. So the prayer for strength is simply to say “The Lord is my strength”.  Just say this a few times, and the realization will hit you, it’s not  asking for strength, it’s declaring the fact about where our strength comes from. Our strength is not a thing, but a person Jesus Christ. This is the best prayer for strength.