fasting and prayer

I am having day of fasting an prayer. Just like Ruth waiting for Boaz to settle the business, so I am looking to the lord to answer my prayer. Before I left the house this morning, I read parts of Habakkuk. I then went out with bible by the canal and read all of it. The bit that stood out to me was Habakkuk 2:1 "I will stand at my watch and station myself on the ramparts; I will look to see what he will say to me, and what answer I am to give to this complaint." Habakkuk was waiting for an answer to prayer. He was deliberately looking for it

I also read 1st Kings Chapters 17 to 18. The verses that stood out to me were 1st Kings 18:41-46"And Elijah said to Ahab"Go eat and drink for there is the sound of a heavy rain". So Ahab went off to eat and drink, but Elijah climbed to the top of mount carmel, bent down to the ground and put his face between his knees. "Go and look toward the sea" he told his sevant. And he went up and looked. "There is nothing there he said."Seven times Elijah said, "Go Back" The seventh time the servant reported, " A cloud as small as a mans hand is rising from the sea". So Elijah said, "Go tell Ahab, Hichup your chariot and go down before the rain stops you". Meanwhile the sky grew black with clouds and the wind rose, a heavy rain came on and Ahab rode off to Jezreel. The power of the lord came upon Elijah and tucking his cloak into his belt, he ran ahead of Ahab all the way to Jezreel."

Once again we see a man of God praying and looking for the answer, not just hoping for one, expecting one and likewise I need to expect one. I look to see what the lord will give me. Will it be M or F?

Ruth 3:18

I do feel the lord is settling what I want from him. I had Ruth 3:18 in mind for some time and today on facebook someone invited me to an event ( all be it a ladies event) that had this very verse in the banner. I have also emailed C about M today and discussed the situation with him and I trust that he is praying with me.

"Then Naomi said, "Wait, my daughter, until you find out what happens. For the man will not rest until the matter is settled today".

chris

Today is Chris Rs Last day in the office. I have known her for 16 years. It will seem strange without her.

stents

Jim had a stent put in and has to have a second double one put in in a few weeks time. Not a situation that any of us would have chosen, but I suppose better this than a much worse situation later on. In this we should see the hand of the lord and be thankful.

Two ladies

I phoned F yesterday. She seems more focused than she was many years ago, but I am not convinced that we really understand one another. However, she has proved to be faithful over the years.

I would love to meet M if she was willing. Someone else who is probably more focused than she realises and has a lot of very admirable qualities

Elizabeth Sladen

I was sad to hear of the death of Elizabeth Sladen yesterday. I met her once about five years ago in Birmingham at the NEC. I got her autograph on a CD that was part of promoting her daughters career.

I think when she returned to Doctor Who, she approached it with gusto. I loved her perfomances. Much as I loved her in her original run, I thought that she brought more to the performance when she returned. In some respects I think the acting industry under estimated her.

Gordon Preaching

We listened to a recording of Gordon preaching in 1993 from the book of kings. It was Ist Kings 18 where the king and Obediah went there seperate ways for find food for the donkeys when he ran into Elijah. Gordon emphasised prayer and praying knowing we would recieve and answer. I thought it apt for me.

Saul and David

It is amazing what you can see in statistics. In 1^st Samuel chapter 18 verses 25 – 27 David wants to marry Sauls daughter. Saul thinks that he can get the philistines to kill him so he demands 100 of Their foreskins. He clearly thought that was impossible and David would be killed in the process. However, God was with david and not only did he get 100 foreskins. He doubled it and got 200. 100 would have been enough to get Sauls daughter, but I think God was emphasising the fact that he was with David and God wanted to be clearly seen by Saul to be with David

choices

having taken a bit of a risk yesterday morning, I will wait until monday to see how that pans out. I got a text message from F last night asking how I feel now? I could interpret that question in a lot of different and equally appropriate ways. We are from very different cultures. I have asked her to tell me what she means by that and made a few suggestions on what she could mean.

I await to see what God will do. Perhaps he is giving me a choice and I do not want to do anything rash, make a choice now only to find out later that I could have had another choice. If I do, they both have merit, but I prefer one to the other, so I think wait and see how the matter will fall as Naimi advised Ruth is the order of the day.

As Jesus prayed

Last night as I read the bible, I noticed that it was AS JESUS WAS PRAYING that the crowd gathered and we have the story of how he taught them and the crowd was vast and the disciples asked him to send them away so they could get food and Jesus told them to feed them. He said you feed them and they could not and the only food in the crowd was a boys five loaves and two small fish. Jesus blessed it and fed the crowd and there were 12 baskets left ( some say one for each disciple, but what about Jesus?)

It was also as JESUS WAS PRAYING that the disciples came to him and asked him to teach them to pray as John taught his disciples. He then taught them what we erroniously call the lords prayer. It is in fact a prayer for us, not him for he had no sin. It seems to me that as he prayed things happened. Was he praying for the crowd that they would be well taught by him. Was he praying for the disciples that by seeing the miracle of the five loaves and fishes they would see him for who he is and thier faith would grow. Was he praying that they would learn to pray? Probably, but it seemed to me that as I look at my feeble prayer life scripture says I should pray and things will happen. I have some things I want to see happen, and I have just done something, the outcome of which I am praying about. So let me see what happens

a risk

I have written something that I will email tomorrow. A wise man told me to do something unusual. The contents of what I have written are unusual and I will send it tomorrow morning. It is risk by my standards. Let me see if and how the lord uses it.

Thoughts From a Treasured Wretch: The Rhythm is Changed

Amen
Thoughts From a Treasured Wretch: The Rhythm is Changed: "In Genesis 5 there is a rhythm. It sways back and forth through life and death. Look carefully: 'This is the book of the generations of Ad..."

Change of Ministry?

Yesterday, we had visitors from SGM. In the middle of what David had to say, he said that he and his wife had served in Spain for a number of years and that it would take wild horses to bring them back to England. They were then challenged about returning to England and changing their ministry to what they they do now. In my own situation I have thought and prayed about this. I still need a lot of wisdom and guidance and trust in the lords providence to bring this about, but I do want to change. I want to teach, I want to write and a I want a number of other things. I also think that like Ruth I am to wait and see how the matter will fall.

the crash and the heart problem

I got an email from my brother Jim thanking me for commending him on what he had to say after our uncles funeral. However, he also said that he had been on a treadmill in hospital and there was a heart fluctuation. They think there is a narrowing of an artery and further investigation is needed. It is likely that it can be widened by a balloon or stem. Worst case senario would be a heart by pass and he is on a coctail of five tablets to lower his blood pressure.

He was also in car crash and it is most likely that the car is a write off. I am just thankful that he was not seriously injured or killed. He has googled for the accident statistics for the road he was on and they are frightening.

We will see how things go after he has had a scan

Review of Chackos book

Chacko has asked me to write a review of his book. I feel so honored at just being asked to do such a thing. He has proved to be such a mighty blessing to me. It is called, "Beyond the Natural". He has emailed it to me and I have asked him to give me a week and I will do it.

The bank books and an answer to prayer

Today I went on the bank run, and I lost the bank books. I retraced my steps. I went to the post office where I had been paying car tax. I went to my bank were I had been paying my credit card. I went to the bank the office uses and I searched the car and they were not in any of these places. I prayed, "Heavenly father help me find them". I decided to have a second go. I had been told that bag with them in it had not been handed in. Perhaps that meant it was lying on the floor and had not been found. I went back to the post office and had a look all the way along the counter. It was not there. I decided to go to the shop to look on their floor and as I approached it, I saw it. There it was on the ground outside the door. I praised the lord for this answer to prayer. It was like the widow who cleaned the house searching for the missing coin in the parable. I was so overjoyed to see that bag. I hope I remember this as another answer to prayer.

Psalm 119

I spoke on Psalm 119 this morning. I was told it was refreshing. "How Shall a young man keep his way pure?" by meditating on the word of the lord.

I also noted the contrast of running and walking with Gods word between verses one and thirtytwo. ( I only covered the first thirtytwo verses.) the psalmist asks that the lord teach him his precepts. We need to be like that. We need to be teachable and we need to meditate on Gods word in all circumstances