Category Archives: Israel

Israel

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”

The Lord’s Prayer – The Sermon on the Mount

The Lord's Prayer given within the Sermon on Mount maybe given on the west side of the Sea of Galilee

The Lord’s Prayer, a Bible Prayer, was given in the Sermon on Mount. Jesus may have given this talk on the north-west side of the Sea of Galilee, Israel.

Here is another Bible Prayer, a model prayer, an example prayer for us to follow.
The Lord’s Prayer was given by Jesus while teaching on the Sermon on Mount. The supposed  location is on the north-west side of the Sea of Galilee.

The Lord’s Prayer is in Matthew chapter 6, the sermon on the mount is in chapters 5, 6 and 7.  So the model prayer was given within this three chapter sermon on the mount. The main points of the prayer is the following short quick points: Thy Name, Thy Kingdom, Thy Will,  daily bread, forgive and keep us from evil.

The passage on the Lord’s prayer is right in the middle of the Jesus Christ giving the three chapter sermon on the mount.  The location is supposed to be on the north-west side of the Sea of Galilee, Israel as shown in the picture above.

See several articles on the Lord’s Prayer on this blog

The large building in the picture above is the Church of the Beatitudes or Sermon on the Mount Church. The church was built by the Byzantines. This is considered the traditional location of the sermon on the mount.

Matthew 6:9 After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. 10 Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven. 11 Give us this day our daily bread. 12 And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. 13 And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen.

The Lord’s prayer is a model prayer. It has two sections: towards God and toward man. In the first section towards God we learn to pray (1) in His name, (2) for His Kingdom, and (3) for His will.

When we take care of God, He takes care of us. Consider the verse in Matthew 6:33
“But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.” There is quite a promise here, we seek the Kingdom, that is take care of God’s interests and He (God) helps us.

Bible Prayer for Jerusalem

Bible Prayer - Prayer for Jerusalem - walls of Jerusalem, Israel

Bible Prayer – Prayer for Jerusalem – walls of Jerusalem, Israel

Here is another Bible Prayer, a prayer by Daniel while he was in Babylon longing for God’s people to return to the land of Israel.  Daniel 9:16  O Lord, according to all thy righteousness, let thine anger and thy wrath, I pray thee, be turned away from thy city Jerusalem, thy holy mountain; because for our sins, and for the iniquities of our fathers, Jerusalem and thy people are become a reproach to all that are round about us.

Here is a Bible prayer asking God to make Jerusalem a praise in the earth. This is actually not fully fulfilled until the Kingdom of the Lord Jesus Christ is fully established on the earth.   Isaiah 62:6 I have set watchmen upon thy walls, Jerusalem; all the day and all the night they shall never hold their peace: ye that put Jehovah in remembrance, keep not silence, 7 and give him no rest, till he establish, and till he make Jerusalem a praise in the earth.

 The picture above shows some of the walls of Jerusalem.  The Lord wants us to pray for the peace of Jerusalem.  Psalm 122:6 Pray for the peace of Jerusalem:  “May those who love you prosper;   7 may there be peace within your walls,  prosperity within your fortresses.”

So the Bible is full of example prayers.

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.

God’s Sheep Hear His Voice

God’s Sheep Hear His Voice - Tree in Israel

God’s Sheep Hear His Voice – Tree in Israel

God’s Sheep Also Hear His Voice

Now that we have looked at this example of Samuel in the Bible, I want to look at some places in the New Testament that I believe have reference to this matter of Samuel and the Lord speaking to Samuel. John 10 speaks a lot about hearing the voice of God. John 10:3, “To him the porter openeth; and the sheep hear his voice…” Who are the sheep referred to here? We, as believers in Jesus Christ, are the sheep. We can hear God’s voice. Continuing in verse 3ff, “And he calleth his own sheep by name, and leadeth them out. 4 And when he putteth forth his own sheep, he goeth before them, and the sheep follow him: for they know his voice. 5 And a stranger will they not follow, but will flee from him: for they know not the voice of strangers.” In other words, God’s people are figuratively referred to as sheep, here, and they know the voice of God.
Let’s continue down to John 10:14ff where Jesus is speaking, “I am the good shepherd, and know my sheep, and am known of mine. 15 As the Father knoweth me, even so know I the Father: and I lay down my life for the sheep. 16 And other sheep I have, which are not of this fold: them also I must bring, and they shall hear my voice; and there shall be one fold, and one shepherd.” There you have God speaking, and we, as God’s sheep, recognizing His voice, just like Samuel in the Old Testament eventually began to recognize the voice of God.
Jesus continues to speak about His sheep listening to His voice in verse 27ff, “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me: 28 And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. 29 My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father’s hand. 30 I and my Father are one.” Jesus says, “My sheep hear My voice.” We need to learn to recognize the voice of God and hear when God speaks. There is also a promise in the Bible, that we will never be plucked out of the Lord’s hand or out of the hand of the Father.

Prayer of Declaration

Bible Prayer of Declaration - Sunrise over Sea of Galilee in Israel

Bible Prayer of Declaration – Sunrise over Sea of Galilee in Israel

Here is a prayer of declaration to the Lord:  “Lord, You have been our dwelling place throughout all generations” ( Ps.  90:1 ).  Only the Lord satisfies. Places, things and projects do not replace Him.  We try to do many things to get satisfied, but only the Lord can satisfy us in reality. So this is also another example of a Bible prayer.

In Psalms 119 there are many more examples.  Psalm 119:89, “For ever, O LORD, thy word is settled in heaven.” In other words, in the heavenlies there is no problem with the Word of God, but on the earth there is some problem. That’s why the Lord Jesus taught us to pray, “Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven, indicating that in Heaven there is no problem with the Word of God. Yet, Jesus taught us to pray to bring the will of God from the heavens to the earth.

Psalm 119:89 says, “For ever, O LORD, thy word is settled in heaven.” Yet it is God’s intention that His Word would also be established on the earth.   This is another prayer of declaration. Declaring this prayer on earth reminds us and God that His word should also be settled in our hearts while we are on the earth.  Why should His word only be settled in the heavens and not in us on the earth.

Bible Prayers

Bible Prayers - Sunrise over Sea of Galilee

Bible Prayers – Sunrise over Sea of Galilee

The Bible is full of sample prayers. Let’s call these Bible Prayers. Consider the prayers of Abraham, Moses, David, Jesus Christ, Peter, Paul and John.  These top seven people in the Bible all prayed in the Bible.  Their prayers, their talking to God are all recorded in the Bible. Also consider the prayers of Samuel and Elijah.

Consider the prayer of  Hannah in 1 Samuel 1:20 And in due time Hannah conceived and bore a son, and she called his name Samuel, for she said, “I have asked for him from the Lord.”

The Bible is full of sample prayers like the last prayer in the Bible in Revelation 22:20 “Come, Lord Jesus”.

Consider the prayer in the Psalms 4:1 Answer me when I call, O God of my righteousness; Thou hast set me at large when I was in distress: Have mercy upon me, and hear my prayer.