Prayer and Praise

13Is any one of you in trouble? He should pray. Is anyone happy? Let him sing songs of praise. 14Is any one of you sick? He should call the elders of the church to pray over him and anoint him with oil in the name of the Lord. 15And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise him up. If he has sinned, he will be forgiven. 16Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective. James 5:13-16


The main purpose of praying is to gain a closer relationship with our Lord and Savior. There are many ways to pray and there are many things to request when we pray. People often wonder what is the proper way to pray, here is the good news there is no proper way. When we pray we are having a conversation with God, so just talk to him, but make sure you listen attentively because it is not a one-sided conversation it is two-sided. God wants to speak to us also, and when he does it is usually after we have been praying or fasting. The posture in which we pray is also something that has been misconstrued, it doesn't matter what position you are in when you are praying just as long as you are praying. You can be laying prostrate, kneeling with your head bowed and hands folded, you can be sitting, standing, walking around, or you can even be in bed. God does not care how or when we speak to him just as long as we are doing it. Here are some examples in the bible of the positions they were in when they prayed.

31 and they believed. And when they heard that the LORD was concerned about them and had seen their misery, they bowed down and worshiped. Exodus 40:31

18 Jehoshaphat bowed with his face to the ground, and all the people of Judah and Jerusalem fell down in worship before the LORD. 2Chronicles 20:18

39Going a little farther, he fell with his face to the ground and prayed, "My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will." Matthew 26:39

22 Then Solomon stood before the altar of the LORD in front of the whole assembly of Israel, spread out his hands toward heaven 1Kings 8:22

2 Chronicles 7:14
If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land

It is through the power of prayer that we start to see things happen that are "unfathomable" to us. See with God all things are possible, There is nothing too difficult or too impossible for God.
It also states in Matthew 19:26 But Jesus beheld them, and said unto them, With men this is impossible; but with God all things are possible. When people need something they tend to pray, you have believers and non-believers who only pray when they need something. It is amazing to me that even people who do not believe that Jesus is the Lord and Savior start to pray when they are in a rut. Why is that? The reason I think is because they have looked every where else before they decided to look up. God speaks to each and everyone of us weather we are Christians or not, it is up to us if we choose to listen or not. So when you pray what do you pray about? Do you pray just for yourself? What about if your child, friend, pastor, church family, or community needs. Do you pray? Do you ask God to bless those less fortunate than you or do you ask God to increase your pay so you can give to the needy? Or do you just ask God to bless you and "forget" those around you? We need to remember that it is not about us and that it is about God and what God has planned.

If your prayer is in accordance to God's will for your life then it will be answered. 1 John 5:14-15 states 14This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. 15And if we know that he hears us—whatever we ask—we know that we have what we asked of him. God hears your prayer only if the prayer request is in His will for you and your life. If it is not, then the above verse is implying that He will not hear your prayer. If your prayer is not in accordance to God's will then it will not be granted. This is where each Christian has to really get a grip on any specific prayer requests they are presenting to God. If God comes back letting you know that what you are asking for is not in His perfect will for you and your life, then you have to let it go, trust that God knows best and move on. So the first thing you have to do before approaching God on your specific prayer request is to make sure that your prayer request is in His perfect will for you and your life. There are several ways you can do this. The first is to analyze your prayer request. When you have analyzed it and still do not know if it is the will of God then ask Him and He will answer you. The second way is to ask the Holy spirit if this is something you should be praying for. The Holy Spirit is here to guide us according to God's will so ask him and he shall respond. Do not hesitate to ask if you are unsure because you will receive an answer. No matter how dumb you think the question is the important thing is that you are inquiring if you are doing the right thing or not.

When we pray we should pray in faith. Without having faith that it will happen then it probably won't. Why then should you pray if you lack the faith that your prayer will be answered. It is like you are saying Lord I want this to happen but I don't think you can do it. It states in Matthew 6:30-31 30Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field, which to day is, and to morrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith? 31Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed? Have faith that it will happen and it will if it is in accordance to God's will.

When God answers our prayers we need to start praising him. Shout to the lord with a voice of triumph and say THANK YOU. Don't hold it in. It is also through our praise that we come closer to him. Psalm 34:1 states I will bless the LORD at all times: his praise shall continually be in my mouth. With his praise continually on our mouths the more the spirit will move freely within us. The Holy spirit loves an attitude of gratitude. So continue to pray and to praise God through the Hard times and you shall come out of it standing. There is a song that I have been listening to called We fall down by Donnie Mcclurkin it states We fall down but we get up for a saint is just a sinner who fell down but we couldn't stay there and got up. The way we get back up is through prayer and through praise. You can't have an intimate relationship with God without prayer and with out praise.

Here are a few verses from the bible on praise and prayer.

Psalm 72:14-15
14He shall redeem their soul from deceit and violence: and precious shall their blood be in his sight.15And he shall live, and to him shall be given of the gold of Sheba: prayer also shall be made for him continually; and daily shall he be praised.

Acts 16:24-26
24Who, having received such a charge, thrust them into the inner prison, and made their feet fast in the stocks. 25And at midnight Paul and Silas prayed, and sang praises unto God: and the prisoners heard them. 26And suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken: and immediately all the doors were opened, and every one's bands were loosed.

Psalm 66:20
Praise be to God, who has not rejected my prayer or withheld his love from me!


Prayer and Praise should go Hand in Hand. So if you are going to pray remember to have faith and when God gives you your answer or blessing Praise him with all you heart. Also remember that if ti is the will of God it shall come to pass. You might have to wait a while for it to come but don't give up do not lose your faith. Have patience for one moment of patience may ward off great disaster. One moment of impatience may ruin a whole life. We often pray for something and become impatient when it doesn't come fast enough and through that impatience we tend to do things our own way and in the process lose what we first prayed about. Hebrews 10:36 states For ye have need of patience, that, after ye have done the will of God, ye might receive the promise. Is not praying the will of God? So lets see if I have this correct if we pray we are doing the will of God so then by doing the will of God we will receive the promise. I don't know if you got that so I will say it again IF WE PRAY WE ARE DOING THE WILL OF GOD, AND BY DOING THE WILL OF GOD WE WILL RECEIVE THE PROMISE OR SHOULD I SAY PROMISES.

Denominations and religion

This is a subject that has been going through my head for the past year or so. There are many "denominations" out there, to name a few Anglicans, Catholics, Independents, Marginals, Orthodox, Protestants, Charismatics, Pentecostals. Each denomination has its own way of preaching, teaching, and living according to The Word of God. Why is that? Why do we have to separate every Sunday and go to different churches that teach different things? Why not go to a church where the Word of God is preached from the bible according to the Bible?

You constantly have people fighting over the doctrine that a church teaches. If the doctrine that they are teaching is coming from the bible then there shouldn't be an argument. Now don't get me wrong, I am not saying certain scriptures here and there I am saying the whole bible from Genesis all the way to Revelations. No where in the bible does it state that we are to go to this church, at this time, and have this long of a service. It is through the segregation of the denominations that turn non-believers away from God. Imagine with me that you are a non-believer and you are beginning to see that there is something more out there. The first thing you do is you go to find a church, so you look to your friends who go to church. The first one tells you come to my church the pastor is good and the service is only 30 min. The second one tells you come to my church the pastor is great and service is an hour. Then you look to the third friend and they tell you the pastor is good but the Word is phenomenal and the service lasts 3 hours. What is going through your head? Whats going through mine is why are the length of the services different if they serve the same God? What is different about the God they serve in the 1st church compared to the 3rd church. The difference is the first church religiously follows a set schedule where the 3rd church flows according to the Spirit. That is were religion comes in. When you have a church based solely on their religion then there is no room for God to move.


We are too wrapped up with the "religion based church" and having our Sunday best on, to praise and worship God the way we are intended to praise and worship Him.
Psalm 150 states
1Praise the LORD.
Praise God in his sanctuary;
praise him in his mighty heavens.

2 Praise him for his acts of power;
praise him for his surpassing greatness.

3 Praise him with the sounding of the trumpet,
praise him with the harp and lyre,

4 praise him with tambourine and dancing,
praise him with the strings and flute,

5 praise him with the clash of cymbals,
praise him with resounding cymbals.

6 Let everything that has breath praise the LORD.
Praise the LORD.

That scripture speaks for itself. We should praise God with everything that is in us. It does not say do it in this church or under this teaching. It does say Praise God in His sanctuary. God's sanctuary is our hearts because that is where he dwells, but our sanctuary should be a church where the word of God is taught according to the Bible and where His spirit should move openly and freely not on our terms. The second verse states Praise Him in His mighty Heaven, If we praise Him in our hearts and then use our body to show the praise we give him the angels in Heaven will begin to praise Him with us. The last verse states Let Everything that has breath praise the Lord. It states everything this means every color, every sex, every social class, every young person to every old person. It does not state that only this person can praise God this way. We are all given gifts in which we use them to praise God, Some it is the gift of song or voice, and some it is the gift of dance or teaching. With everything that we do we should praise God.

There are so many churches that are based on what social class you are with to the way you clap your hands in church. What we need to understand is that we are Christians we believe that Jesus was and is and is to Come. As long as you believe this you shouldn't worry about what denomination you are part of because as Christians we will always be part of God.

Then you have the difference of what religion is the church, why should that matter? We as a society are too concerned about what religion this person is or what religion is this church. Why not say I am a Christian and I go to a church where the word of God is preached according to the way it is written. Many times I have been asked what religion are you, So as politely as I can I look at them with a big smile on my face and say I am a Christian I do not practice a religion. This throws them and then they come back with are you Religious and I say yes I religiously go to church every Sunday, But I serve My Lord and Saviour Jesus not a religion. What I am getting at is it does not matter what religion you say you are what matters is, is if you are serving the Lord Jesus Christ. Religion is man-made and this is something that we need to understand. I go to a church where it doesn't matter what social class you are with or if you are of a different race. All that matters is that you Love God with all your heart and you are willing to do whatever it takes to get closer to Him.

Again I stress it does not matter what church you go to, it does not matter what religion you are all that matters is that you Serve God with all your heart.

I ask you to do one thing look through the bible and tell me how many times it says the word denomination. I can tell you now don't bother looking because you will not find it. It is not written. So why do we have them?

Here is a Song by Kirk Franklin it is called the Blood Song.
So many different religions
And so many different churches
And if God really loves me
Then why does life keep hurting me?
Have you ever asked any of these questions?
Well my friend I’ve got the answer just listen

You have the power
To make the seasons change
The river flows for you
The wind whispers Your name
For me you left Your throne
And traded crown for thorns instead
I'm safe within not by Your skin
But because Your blood was red

Some say You're black, you're white
They question if you're real
We treat you like we treat ourselves
I wonder how you feel
To see your children fight in spite
of the tears for us you've shed
Doesn't matter what color you are
As long as your blood was red

[Chorus]
For it's strong enough to wash away my sins
And it's pure enough to cleanse me deep within
And it's real enough to find me when I'm lost
Great enough to die upon the cross
It doesn't matter what color you are
As long as your blood was red

We may be different but
The God we serve's the same
Yet every Sunday we separate
And bring the Father pain
Your name is higher than any other
Yet You took my place instead
And now my sins are washed away
Because Your blood was red

(Repeat chorus)

Oh precious is the flow
That makes me white as snow
No other fount I know
Doesn’t matter what color you are
As long as your blood was red
Doesn’t matter what color you are
As you are as long as your blood was red
Doesn’t matter what color I am
As long as my blood was red

Nana

This week has been hard my birthday was on Friday the 12th and my nana passed away on Sunday the 14th. I was asked if I wanted to write something for the funeral and read it. I was a little nervous until I prayed about it and asked God to show me the words to write. Well here it is This is for you Nana.

To some of you she was Helen or Aunt Helen, but to me she was Nana. I didn't know this until recently that I shared the same desire and passion as her, my desire is to one day dwell in the house of the Lord. But my passion is to live my life according to His word. Like my Nana I teach bible studies and Sunday school. When she was at a point where she couldn't read her devotions anymore I would come in and read them to her. I don't think there was an hour or minute that went by that her heart wasn't with the Lord. She was constantly saying that she wanted to go home.. inside I was rejoicing because I knew where home was. I would often look to her when I had a question or when i just needed to hear her say oh heavens to Betsey. I still don't know who Betsey is.

To me it is amazing how we go from the cared for to the care giver. I remember when I was younger coming up in the Summer and staying at Nana's, and how she took care of us from making us our favorite Ham and cheese sandwiches to tucking us in at night. And now my most memorable experience would be helping care for the woman who cared for me all those years. I visited a lot in the past couple of months and the one thing that she constantly asked for was vanilla ice cream.. it came to a point where I had to feed it to her... and all I could think was thank you Nana for all the love you gave me... you cared for me all those years and here I am returning the favor. One of the scriptures that she had written down was the 23^rd psalm and the part of the scripture that stuck out the most to me was the 6^th verse which states

Surely goodness and love will follow me
all the days of my life,
and I will dwell in the house of the LORD
forever.

Surely goodness and love did follow Nana all the days of her life and now she is dwelling in the house of the Lord.