How do we Pray Without Ceasing?

We are perhaps familiar with the snap exhortations at the end of 1 Thessalonians 5, especially the command in v17: 

"Pray without ceasing”.
Meditating on this recently and also deeply burdened for special folk, I puzzled over the impossiblity of praying without ceasing.
The word is one - from Strong's Concordance:

"without ceasing" 

ἀδιαλείπτως adialeíptōs, ad-ee-al-ipe'-toce; adverb, uninterruptedly, i.e. without omission (on an appropriate occasion):—without ceasing.
Without ceasing, unceasingly, continuous action implied.
Simply put, it means a continuance of prayer constantly!
Elswhere in one of the Lord's parables on Prayer, in Luke 18 the Lord Jesus begins with:

“Men ought always to pray, AND not to faint." 

i.e. not quit!
A human being is limited by physical limitations. 
However prayer is in the spiritual realm, of God, not of the physical or of man alone. 
It is intercession by the Spirit of God, on behalf of the blood-bought child of God, who trusts by simple faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.
(How amazing is that??)
The Gospels repeat this verse in several places -
"WITH God, ALL things are possible".

Of myself, I cannot pray without stopping.
But with God's Spirit I can, if my heart is in the right place!
Romans 8:26-27
"Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered.
And He that searcheth the hearts knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit, because he maketh intercession for the saints according to the will of God."
******
God's Spirit is at work where our prayers lack, or where we may not even be able to pray, for our lips, words, hearts fail us ... 
God looketh on the heart.
He sees the great longing.. the prayer which you prayed at such a time is continuously presented until God's answer is given, as are the prayers of saints before us, Daniel, Moses, Isaiah, etc.
Does this mean we only pray once on something, then quit?
By no means! 
This is but one aspect of prayer without ceasing.
Luke 18 continues on with  the parable of the widow persisting with the unjust judge, she didn't quit:
The unjust judge said in
Luke 18:5,7-8a
"Yet because this widow troubleth me, I will avenge her, lest by her continual coming she weary me. ..."
Jesus continued 
"And shall not God avenge his own elect, which cry day and night unto him, though he bear long with them?
I tell you that he will avenge them speedily..."
So another key is in persistence, a constancy, a faithfulness with continual  deligence in prayer against all odds, as Daniel did.. 3 times a day, visually before all he prayed but the prayer chapter of Daniel 9 reveals humility in his deep, private prayer of faith.
I struggle in this too, for we are but flesh, but find asking the Lord to keep the burden before you in your mind, in spite of busy-ness, this helps.
*****
Also when praying for a person, whom many others have prayed for & yearned over very often in years past, I may say:
"Heavenly Father, I agree with all those who've prayed for this dear one according to Thy will, I lift before Thy throne all of their prayers, agreeing with them in those requests".
By prayer, not only is the impossible made possible, but the limited is unlimited!
****
We may too pray in brief short text-like prayers, like a quick conversation with a friend, it's another aspect of prayer without ceasing. 
They need not be much more than a swift, breathed-up prayer for help - wisdom, provision, grace or strength. Prayer is as natural as breathing to a believer in tune with the Father. 
*****
So let me close with those pithy exhortations of First Thessalonians:
"Rejoice evermore!
Pray without ceasing.
For this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you"
(I Thess 5: 16-18)

Let us KEEP on, keeping on!
By His Grace SUFFICIENT!
Trust that this has blessed you as it has me!
May the Lord be with you, I'm  praying with you, agreeing with you in your burdens at the throne of grace, where we find grace to help in time of need (Heb 4:16)
Prayer hugs,
Shaz in Oz.x
UPDATE :
On our rain front, MUCH answered prayer over weekend. I sat up late into Sun night, watching, praying over towns, naming them one by one, on the Bureau of Meteorology map. Rejoicing as the rain bands pulsed across, and numbers in green showed rainfall.

Darryn & Michelle at Carroll had 22mm (almost an inch) praise God, and Bourke had almost 100mm(4").
It was amazing to see water lying around in giant lake-like paddocks, and FB videos of dear old farmers dancing and running around jumping in it like kids! The joy of rain.. in Oz.

Praying on with fasting, as circumstances permit - for more, spiritual rain (a real soil stirring awakening   for eternity) and physical rain upon our sinfilled, wicked land.
May God have mercy as VERY much more of both is needed. Some towns out of water had none, but it was amazingly wide-spread, good falls.

We had none too.. but we’ve more access to water here.

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The Word - Pray! Don't Faint..

Men ought always to pray, and not to faint. Luke 18:1

Which of you shall have a friend, and shall go unto him at midnight, and say unto him, Friend, lend me three loaves; for a friend of mine in his journey is come to me, and I have nothing to set before him?

And he from within shall answer and say, Trouble me not: the door is now shut, and my children are with me in bed; I cannot rise and give thee.

 I say unto you, Though he will not rise and give him, because he is his friend, yet because of his importunity he will rise and give him as many as he needeth. Luke 11:5-8

Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints. Eph. 6:18

I will not let thee go, except thou bless me. As a prince hast thou power with God and with men. Gen. 32:26, 28

Continue in prayer, and watch in the same with thanksgiving. Col. 4:2

[Jesus] went out into a mountain to pray, and continued all night in prayer to God. Luke 6:12
***
Reading from Daily Light.
It’s good to meditate on prayer.
Who is our greatest example in this? 
Of course, the LORD Jesus, Who frequently came  apart to commune with His Father.
May I do likewise, may I daily grow more like Jesus.

Link  https://youtu.be/tfOJ9rxQgaI
Hymn - More About Jesus
1 More about Jesus would I know,
More of His grace to others show;
More of his saving fullness see,
More of His love who died for me.

Refrain:
More, more about Jesus,
More, more about Jesus;
More of His saving fullness see,
More of His love who died for me.

2 More about Jesus let me learn,
More of his holy will discern;
Spirit of God, my teacher be,
Showing the things of Christ to me. [Refrain]

3 More about Jesus in His Word,
Holding communion with my Lord;
Hearing his voice in ev'ry line,
Making each faithful saying mine. [Refrain]

4 More about Jesus on his throne,
Riches in glory all His own;
More if His kingdom's sure increase;
More of His coming, Prince of peace. [Refrain]

Words by
Eliza Edmunds Hewitt: Songs from a Bed of Pain

Can there be a purpose in a crippling ailment?
Eliza Hewitt may have wondered that. Eliza was born on June 28, 1851 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Educated in the local school system, she graduated as valedictorian of the Girl's Normal School that she attended. She became a teacher in the public schools of her city.
But then came misery. Her career screeched to a halt when she was forced to bed with a painful spinal problem. (Full post here - it's  said her debilitating condition was caused by a wreckless student striking her with a piece of slate, an individual student's portable blackboard.) 

Lying in bed, she could have been bitter. Instead, she studied English literature and began to sing and write:-
"Sing the wondrous love of Jesus; sing his mercy and his grace.
In the mansions bright and blessed he'll prepare for us a place."

We remember Eliza Hewitt today because of those hymns. Had she never been bed-ridden, she might not have written them. 
Among the best known are, "When We All Get to Heaven" "Sunshine in My Soul," "Will there be any Stars in My Crown?" and "More About Jesus Would I Know."

Again the Lord had a higher wiser purpose in pain in this young life.
May this bless you as it has me.
Sending prayer hugs, 🙏🤗

Shaz in Oz.x

**If you haven’t I'd love it you to join as a wonderful encourager of this blog ...  link HERE.  Thank YOU to those who have done so already. It really encourages me to keep on.
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It is Not for You to Know the Times or Seasons

I've an almost five decade old habit of reading the Bible through at least once in a year. Two days ago as I started the book of Acts, this verse suddenly jumped out at me - waving its arms and legs! 
Okay - slight poetic licence there, but you know what I mean! Although I’ve read it more than 50 times before, it suddenly stood out and grabbed me. 

In light of the climate emergency debate that’s rattling around the planet in all forms of media it’s very, very pertinent!
Verse before shows the disciples still hadn’t caught up with all that was happening around them, v. 6.
(a bit like many of us!)
"When they therefore were come together, they asked of him, saying, Lord, wilt thou at this time restore again the kingdom to Israel?"

Acts 1 v 7.

“And he (Jesus) said unto them, 

It is not for you to know the times or the seasons, 

which the Father hath put in His own power.”

Whoahhhh! 

You mean, mankind has no control over the times and seasons .. over the planet’s weather? 

I’m probably speaking to the converted here, you probably know this.
After all WHO is mankind to think he controls the weather?
What arrogance!

Co-incidentally, I found some very interesting info this past week.

The basic fact is that the climate change fear wagon was loaded up decades ago .. purpose? 

To take world control by a created fear.

Sound like the devil? 

One of my FB

Climate change is man's invention of deception through United Nations leaders back in late 1960s (see above video. Also link here, released Oct 2019. Note: it's a non-Christian publisher, & I'm not greatly informed on this).
Some of its basic facts confirmed here: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Club_of_Rome.

 The video shared much more. Partly written underneath video:

" Global Warming is an illusion created for Global Governance. The earth has been cooling since 1998.

The climate change scam was created by the Club of Rome, founded by Maurice Strong and Rothschild, then Soros funded 33rd degree Freemason Al Gore to bring it to the public.

It's now being pushed by the United Nations, through the Pope's Agenda 2030 (link here), which every country has signed with the Paris Agreement. All of their numbers "proving" climate change are based on the UN's own Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).

The IPCC has been exposed many times, and their numbers and statistics disproven by many top-scientists. The vast majority of top-scientists disagree with the Global Warming numbers of the IPCC.

Weather is NOT Climate.

Australian (S.A. upper house) Politician Ann Bressington (on link here) tells how Club of Rome and the UN plan to create a worldwide scam through inventing and promoting global warming and Agenda 21 link here (21 refers to 21st century and its UN aim is for sustainable development, ie control of nations by regulations from UN!) "

I googled earth cooling since 1998, and found this British Telegraph newspaper article link HERE.

The heading began, “There’s a Problem with Global Warming, it stopped in 1998.” 
Although it’s dated 2006, it’s as if it was written today. It's really eye opening to see how a global warming crisis was chosen as the agenda for one world governmental control, so many decades ago! Even quoted as such by Gorbachev in 1990's.

Of course, I could find as many pages or sites saying the exact opposite, that the climate emergency  is real.
When it’s all said and done, it does not depend on my word, the Telegraph’s or your word.

It’s all down to God’s Word!
*****

We are in dire drought in Oz because of our arrogance, our great love of sin, worshipping at the altar of unbelief, our disobedience to God’s holy word, killing the unborn, or elderly or sick by euthanasia, pornography so rife, that many children are exposed to it at a shockingly young age..
No wonder the Lord has sealed up the heavens!

So what can I do, you do - 
we who are *believers do?

The key 🔑 to EVERY DILEMMA IS PRAYER 🙏🏻 

The more dire the dilemma, the stronger the need of spiritual warfare. I believe prayer with fasting has power as no other, it focuses one, prayer must be fervent to be effectual.

Elijah prayed after three years of no rain 🌧 and the heavens opened.

In Acts 1, the following verse holds the key to our dilemma.
Acts 1:8

"But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth."
The answer is the Holy Spirit of God, given to believers upon salvation, that we maybe true witnesses to all.
*****
Satan's power is limited. He can take his fear tool and wield it as he choses among the UN, the unbelieving world leaders and nations. 
But God has NOT given us a spirit of fear.

A spirit of Power, and Love and a Sound Mind!
Rest in that.
Pray, pray, and pray even more earnestly.
Witness.
Be the light in darkness.
Keep looking unto Jesus!

These words were written millennia ago by Jeremiah at a time of drought and famine.. a famine of hearing of the Word of Lord like today!
Revival needed then and NOW! Very apt.
We have a God Whose mercies are new every morning. 
Let us look to Him.
 This well known hymn was based on this passage of hope in the midst of deep trial.

May the Lord grant to Australia, and nations across this planet, the gift of the Spirit of repentance! That sinners repent and call upon the Lord Jesus Christ alone, oh that spiritual REVIVAL may come!

May we as believers across this land may do as this commands:
If my people, which are called by my name, shall 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.
 2 Chronicles 7:14

Heal, please, O Father, in Jesus' Name we ask that Thy great mercy and grace will be poured out and that You will heal this land!

"We have no might against this great company ... neither know we what to do, but our eyes are upon Thee."
2 Chron 20:11

Lord bless you all dear ones, keep you in all your ways and  days.
Shaz in Oz.x

**if you don't know for sure that you have a heavenly home, please read this post here, Who or What is a Christian? Please, please make sure today! Don't  miss heaven by 18 inches!

P.S. 19.10.2019 
Rain falling upon fields NW of Towoomba Qld. I'm praying such a downpour will come upon the farm of believers Darryn & Michelle, whose farm photos in a dust storm were shared a few weeks ago.
May the Lord send General soaking rain like this!
*******

PPS. Apologies for long post. 
One more thing - I do believe in our potential to cause damage to our environment. We are bound by God's word to be wise stewards, or to use an old oft quoted proverb:
"Waste not,  want not"
Thus I do believe development should be wise and sustainable.
But not by the control of UN and world power.

Revive us again, Fill each heart with Thy love!

Any regular visitor here would know prayer is often discussed on these posts. Let’s face it, prayer and the word of God are our life lines. 
If one or both break down, so does our relationship with the Lord, communication lines are broken, and can only be repaired by repentance.
Coming seeking the Lord, prayer with confessing, seeking renewal.

Renewal

 Romans 12:2 

And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God. 

2 Corinthians 4:16 

For which cause we faint not; but though our outward man perish, yet the inward man is renewed day by day.

Ephesians 4:22-24 

That ye put off concerning .. the old man, which is corrupt ... And be renewed in the spirit of your mind; And that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness.

A picture of this is shown in Ezra's prayer for Israel. Saints before us have prayed, wept, pleaded with Lord for mercy. 
Oh, how our poor mixed-up world needs it NOW!
Doesn't this sound just like today?
 Ezra 9:6,10-11,13-15
"And (Ezra prayed) said, O my God, I am ashamed and blush to lift up my face to thee, my God: for our iniquities are increased over our head, and our trespass is grown up unto the heavens.
And now, O our God, what shall we say after this? for we have forsaken thy commandments,
Which thou hast commanded by thy servants the prophets, saying, The land.. is an unclean land with the filthiness of the people of the lands, with their abominations, which have filled it from one end to another with their uncleanness.
And after all that is come upon us for our evil deeds, and for our great trespass, seeing that thou our God hast punished us less than our iniquities deserve, and hast given us such deliverance as this;
Should we again break thy commandments, and join in affinity with the people of these abominations? wouldest not thou be angry with us till thou hadst consumed us, so that there should be no remnant nor escaping? 
O Lord God of Israel, thou art righteous: for we remain yet escaped, as it is this day: behold, we are before thee in our trespasses: for we cannot stand before thee because of this."

Ezra came before His God pleaded for mercy.. may we also pray for our land, prayer is our land's only hope.
We have a holy responsibility as servants of the living God to do this!

In our life renewal confession ought to be a day by day act, moment by moment walk, for sin enters in most subtily and must be dealt with accordingly.

With our eyes on the prize we can press on powerfully in prayer.

This hymn, "Revive us Again" was written by William Mackay in 1867. This hymn calls upon the ultimate sacrifice that Jesus made by giving his life to redeem mankind of its sins. 
Mackay rejoices in this sacrifice and dedicates this hymn to praise the divine gift of salvation granted by God (link to back history here). 
It's such an amazing story of MacKay's salvation through a Bible, the last gift of his mother, which he sold for a pittance.
It came back to him by a number of miracles, and salvation was sought. 

That is the power of prayer.

His mother had long  passed, but her prayers were still awaiting God's time and plan. 

Have faith dear ones, so it is with our prayers!

Don't quit praying for your loved ones. Our Heavenly Father does miracles!

1. We praise Thee, O God!
   For the Son of Thy love,
   For Jesus Who died,
   And is now gone above.
   • Refrain:
     Hallelujah! Thine the glory.
     Hallelujah! Amen.
     Hallelujah! Thine the glory.
     Revive us again.
2. We praise Thee, O God!
   For Thy Spirit of light,
   Who hath shown us our Savior,
   And scattered our night.
3. All glory and praise
   To the Lamb that was slain,
   Who hath borne all our sins,
   And hath cleansed every stain.
4. All glory and praise
   To the God of all grace,
   Who hast brought us, and sought us,
   And guided our ways.
5. Revive us again;
   Fill each heart with Thy love;
   May each soul be rekindled
   With fire from above.

UPDATE ON Prayer re Rain & Fires:

 Praise in last week some areas have had rain including fire areas but many missed out .. friends in Carroll in dustbowl had 4mm (25mm = 1") others had 30mm or so. 

Pray for much .. spiritually and physically. 

Praise also re fires found Ewingar where also had 8 homes lost. A dear sister in Lord lives there, but PRAISE! found out today home ok but lost stock, fences outbuildings. Its so sad to see in footage those who had very little have now lost all. 

O Lord, may they seek Thee through this, please mercy Lord, for Thy great Name's sake!

Lord bless, dear ones, I lift all who read this that the Lord God will be their Guide, Comfort and Strength. 

He faileth not.

Prayer hugs,

Shaz in Oz.x

  **If you haven’t I'd love it you to join as a wonderful encourager of this blog ...  link HERE.  Thank YOU to those who have done so already. It really encourages me to keep on.
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Power in Prayer With Fasting - For the Battle.

“Prayer is POWER, 
it brings about the Mighty action of the Almighty.”  
(Quote from Bro. Mac., or Bro. Bruce McIntyre)

*******
I am writing this post with a great burden - for all across Aust. but especially here in NSW we are in great drought. 
The Bible makes it clear - rain is withheld as judgement upon a nation. I shared in last post that a large group of believers in Oz are praying and fasting throughout Oct.  2019 Repentance, Revival and Rain.. 
I am praying for other nations too, not just my own, as needs are everywhere but this is my main focus.
Here are photos of the why!!?
 Very dear brethren, Darryn & Michelle Phinn, live out at Carol, near Gunnedah, on NW Slopes of NSW. This is prime farming land, now simply a dust bowl. Asking Michelle's permission to share these, she replied "Yes please, share where they are taken, and mention us, as we need ALL the prayer we can get!" 

 

 

Please pray for them. 
They love the Lord, and day after day are seeing, breathing, living in a dust-bowl, their remaining stock agisted elsewhere. 
God teaches that the windows of heaven are not simply opened with prayer, there is a pattern of prayer which I gave in my last post here. It involves deep prayer for Repentance.. confessing, forsaking our personal and national sin, pleading for forgiveness, Revival and Rain.

****

We all want Power in Prayer, but maybe not with fasting... 
Prayer is a battle, a spiritual battle. 
It takes faith, perseverance, we need to have on the full armour of God.

We may all have the same belief in basic tenets of salvation by faith alone in God's Son, Jesus Christ, in His finished work upon the cross for us. However may have varying persuasions in other aspects of our walk. I know in my Christian life of 50+ years, when there are times of really, deep spiritual battles - then prayer with fasting has real power.

Is this scriptural?

I believe so, found in Old and New Testament. 

I will share just a few of key references in NT. 
Old testament fasting by Jews involved signs that they were fasting, as Jews seek after signs. They wore ashes and sackcloth in the period of their visible fast.

In N.T. it’s different. Prayer is not to be an open show, we are to pray to our Father in secret, it’s not done for attention of man, but of God.
 
Matthew 6:16-18
Moreover when ye fast, be not, as the hypocrites, of a sad countenance: for they disfigure their faces, that they may appear unto men to fast. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward.
But thou, when thou fastest, anoint thine head, and wash thy face;
That thou appear not unto men to fast, but unto thy Father which is in secret: and thy Father, which seeth in secret, shall reward thee openly.

One of the most powerful examples re prayer WITH fasting comes from the mouth of the LORD Jesus. The disciples came to the LORD Jesus because they could not cast out a “foul spirit”.

Mark 9:28-29 

And when he was come into the house, his disciples asked him privately, Why could not we cast him out? 
And he said unto them, This kind can come forth by nothing, but by prayer and fasting. (Matt. 17:21):

It's a practice for believers today as this passage shows.
Matthew 9:14-15

Then came to him the disciples of John, saying, Why do we and the Pharisees fast oft, but thy disciples fast not?
And Jesus said unto them, Can the children of the bridechamber mourn, as long as the bridegroom is with them? but the days will come, when the bridegroom shall be taken from them, and then shall they fast.
 Once the LORD Jesus, our heavenly Bridegroom rose to heaven, there was need for prayer and fasting, in the spiritual battle.
They used it in early church.
Acts 14:23
And when they had ordained them elders in every church, and had prayed with fasting, they commended them to the Lord, on whom they believed.

1 Corinthians 7:5a
Defraud ye not one the other, except it be with consent for a time, that ye may give yourselves to fasting and prayer;..

2 Corinthians 11:27

(Paul was) In weariness and painfulness, in watchings often, in hunger and thirst, in fastings often, in cold and nakedness.

* The “how it is done” varies. Some do one or two meals, some do “juice only in day” diet, it’s as personal as how you pray.

* The “when” depends on your day, too, it’s simply between you and Lord.

I pray over verses, repentance is best done over the Word of God, or really simply pouring out the fullness of the burden of your heart, for yourself, your nation and its people. In intercession  I use other verses, hymns,  lists of areas, maps, or churches or family lists. Revival, renewing can work wonderfully by prayer. 
As believers prayer is our responsibility.

If you find your prayer lacks power, and you've never practised prayer with fasting before, look into it for yourself in the Word. I have found over decades it is often key in our battle, most especially when praying for souls, dear ones .. is there blockage to it that you don't understand? Pray with fasting and the way will come clear, as we cast ourselves upon the LORD. Confessing our wilful disobedience against His holy word, and seeking His forgiveness and blessing upon the circumstance .. the rough path will become smooth.
God will hear.
Do it His way, AND He will bless. 
Claim the promises of the word of God in this. This verse below is one of many I am praying, as is the hymn below.

That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust. Matt. 5:45

Showers of blessing by Daniel W. Whittle.
The hymn is based on the "showers of blessing" 
referred to in Ezekiel 34:26–27. Written in 1883.

1. There shall be showers of blessing:
   This is the promise of love;
   There shall be seasons refreshing,
   Sent from the Savior above.
   • Refrain:
     Showers of blessing,
     Showers of blessing we need:
     Mercy-drops round us are falling,
     But for the showers we plead.
2. There shall be showers of blessing,
   Precious reviving again;
   Over the hills and the valleys,
   Sound of abundance of rain.
3. There shall be showers of blessing;
   Send them upon us, O Lord;
   Grant to us now a refreshing,
   Come, and now honor Thy Word.
4. There shall be showers of blessing:
   Oh, that today they might fall,
   Now as to God we’re confessing,
   Now as on Jesus we call!
5. There shall be showers of blessing,
   If we but trust and obey;
   There shall be seasons refreshing,
   If we let God have His way.

Hope this blesses you as it did me, if you've time please let me know. 

Sending prayer hugs 🙏🏻🤗 for you.

And agreeing with you in your prayers for your burdens,

Shaz in Oz.x

EDIT: 

Purpose of Fasting: Fasting helps your focus and fervency. Foregoing food focuses you like nothing else does. We are but flesh, we need help to keep a Heavenly focus on things.

Re fasting  and personal  difficulties:

I've health issues. I cannot fast long, some meds need food. But I can miss out on in between snacks or one meal in middle or beginning of day. Quite simply "work out your own salvation with fear and trembling" as Paul said. We are answerable to our sweet Lord and none else. He understands. Rest in Him, He gets it. 

PS . If you haven’t I'd love it you to join as a wonderful encourager of this blog ...  link HERE.  Thank YOU to those who have done so already. It really encourages me to keep on.
If you'd like these posts in your inbox, you can add your email to email link option on side bar. If you're on a mobile device on which there is no sidebar, then scroll down and select "View Web Version" at very bottom of post. This will bring up sidebar and "follow by email" link. Thank YOU.

Praying for Our Land - Repentance, Revival, and Rain!!

Well, it’s very sad in our part of northern NSW and also S.E of Qld, we are badly in need of rain. Fire west over the hills has ravaged 250,000 acres or 100,000 hectares, and another not that far away is 76,000 hectares: these fires along with about 20 others in northern NSW are still out of control. It’s early spring, not even summer.

However there is something more needful in our land than the rain, a blessing of God, whether in Australia, UK, US or any other county on the planet.

A long time prayer on my prayer list, (I think) was given to me years ago by dear Bro Mac. 

“O Lord, I pray that all men everywhere would repent.”

Isn’t that all encompassing?

Today I've started fasting and praying for:

*Repentance, 

*Revival and 

*Rain 

... all across Aust but in especially the parched areas.

There’s a Christian Australian group that are doing this for the month of Oct. I’m joining in, in my own small way. 

It’s not easy and takes commitment. But prayers are a commitment, if they’re from the heart. However when you think one farmer a week reportedly commits suicide each week, due drought severity this is really, really critical. 
Souls need to be saved.

This prayer of Brother Mac’s is from two verses in the Bible:

And the times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commandeth all men every where to repent: Acts17:30

For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour; Who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth. 1 Timothy 2:3,4 

Note:

“ ..commands all men everywhere to repent.”

Hence "pray that all men everywhere repent". 
There is power in real prayer that aligns itself so closely to the perfect will of God.

As I prayed this morning, I used the verses of Ezra’s prayer for his nation. Let me share some, it’s in Ezra 9:6 -15 (link to it here).

Ezra 9:6, 13
And said, O my God, I am ashamed and blush to lift up my face to thee, my God: for our iniquities are increased over our head, and our trespass is grown up unto the heavens.
And after all that is come upon us for our evil deeds, and for our great trespass, seeing that thou our God hast punished us less than our iniquities deserve, and hast given us such deliverance as this;

What has always struck me, was that although Ezra personally had not partaken of this great sin of his people, he aligned himself with the full extent their sinful ways. 
Why?

Because whether we’ve committed that exact same sin, or not, we are of the same sinful nature, worthy of the same condemnation. 
God does not measure as we do (2 Cor 12: 10 -16).
Black and little white lies do not exist at God's judgement  seat. 
Hate = murder (1 Jn 3:15)

So in my prayers for my nation I must follow such Godly examples and plead for mercies in spite of “our” great sinfulness.

The key to this Repentance, Revival, and Rain (in God's mercy), is found in 

2 Chronicles  7:14 

If my people,.. called by my name, shall 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.

Note the two sets of actions.

*** on our part = humble, pray, seek, turn

*** God’s part = hear, forgive, heal

Needs right order to be effectual.

Oh, that we might humble ourselves pray and turn from our wicked ways.. and seek forgiveness, seek God's face! 

For then God will indeed hear our prayers, forgive our great sin and trespasses against His holiness and heal our land.
O Lord, even though we are so very unworthy, please forgive us of our great excessive wickedness and sinfulness.
Wilfully we are guilty of disobeying the holy truth of Thy Word, please forgive me, forgive us all,  please Father, for Thy great name's sake. 
We come in Jesus' name, that our poor wayward nation of Australia might be healed, a spiritual healing of repentance with revival, and physical healing with the blessing of rain. 
Mercy from above in spite of our great sin, for the state of NSW that only last week passed that Abortion law, slaying little ones, as others have done before.
Oh Lord please forgive us, we are so full of sin and so needy. Send please, in Thy great mercy, a revival upon parched hearts of this sinful land, and graciously send rain upon the parched lands of heartbroken farmers. Our hearts break with them, Father, and though we are not worthy, we cast ouselves upon Thy great grace. 
Grace greater than our sins. 
In the precious name of our Lord Jesus, Whose blood was shed for the sins of us all, Amen.

Lord bless dear ones, let us pray fervently for our nations. Oh, how such prayer is needed.

Sending prayer hugs 🙏🏻🤗 for you, in your burdens,

Shaz in Oz.x

*****

PS . If you haven’t I'd love it you to join as a wonderful encourager of this blog ...  link HERE.  Thank YOU to those who have done so already. It really encourages me to keep on.
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