Sunday, February 9: Day 293 – Pray Boldly

Today we walked to Kuala Lumpur Baptist Church. Once again, the music was so loud that I had to wear my earplugs. I do hope that I am able to find a home church where I can hear the still small voice of God.

We sang several songs and there were a host of singers, musicians and dancers with soundless tambourines with strings attached.

This church ministers to all types of people groups and have services in Mandarin, Burmese, Nepalese and English.

This group is from one of those congregations and brought us special music.

The Word from God is claimed as there is growing concern about the coronavirus infecting the people of Malaysia.

Even though the pastor feels God’s protection, he would like to suspend the congregational greeting of shaking hands.

Scripture: Psalm 91:1-16

He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will abide in the shadow of the Almighty.

I will say to the Lord, “My refuge and my fortress, My God, in whom I trust!”

For it is He who delivers you from the snare of the trapper and from the deadly pestilence.

He will cover you with His pinions,
and under His wings you may seek refuge; His faithfulness is a shield and bulwark.

You will not be afraid of the terror by night, or of the arrow that flies by day;

Of the pestilence that stalks in darkness, or of the destruction that lays waste at noon.

A thousand may fall at your side
And ten thousand at your right hand, but it shall not approach you.

You will only look on with your eyes
And see the recompense of the wicked.

For you have made the Lord, my refuge, Even the Most High, your dwelling place.

No evil will befall you,
Nor will any plague come near your tent.

For He will give His angels charge concerning you, to guard you in all your ways.

They will bear you up in their hands, that you do not strike your foot against a stone.

You will tread upon the lion and cobra, the young lion and the serpent you will trample down.

Because he has loved Me, therefore I will deliver him; I will set him securely on high, because he has known My name.

He will call upon Me, and I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble; I will rescue him and honor him.

With a long life I will satisfy him and let him see My salvation.

Sermon: Pray Boldly

The pastor delivered his sermon through the use of PowerPoint slides.

1 John 5:14-15

This is the confidence which we have before Him, that, if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. And if we know that He hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests which we have asked from Him.

No matter who one is or what one believes, it is a human instinct to pray. Man has a deep-seated instinct desire to cry out for help admidst a crisis.

Many people have turned to praying due to the Australian bushfires and pilot crashes.

“God heard prayers from plenty of strangers that night.”

There are three reasons the people leave the church:

1. Members are hurt by someone in the church.
2. Hypocrisy in the church.
3. Their prayers were not answered by God.

Many people are ignorant about the nature of prayer. Prayer is simple. Anyone can do it from the youngest child to the smartest leader. Yet prayer is infinitely complex.

Hebrews 4:14-16

Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. For we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but One who has been tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin. Therefore let us draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.

Our prayers are to be:

1. Bold: Be bold in our prayers

2. Confident: Our prayers are heard.

3. Certain: Our prayers are answered.

Praying outside the Will of God is an insult to God. His will is always higher than our will.

Prayer will not and can not be answered when the motive is wrong.

Psalm 66:18

If I regard wickedness in my heart,
The Lord will not hear.

James 4:3

You ask and do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, so that you may spend it on your pleasures.

We can not do a push button prayer to get God to do OUR will. This is a frightful perversion of prayer.

God’s will is already known to all Christians. It’s in His Word.

All people of this church are supposed to bring their hard copy Bible. Verses are on the screen for the benefit of non-believers or foreigners who don’t have a hard copy.

Christians love the Bible as a bride loves her husband’s letters, not for the paper they are, but for the person who speaks through them.

If prayer is asked in His will, the answer is yes and it is only a matter of God’s timing. Don’t ask if the request is out of His will. You already know the answer is no.

Illustration: A girl asked for God’s blessing on her wedding day. She was marrying a non-believer. How could God bless it? He already said no.

Question: Should I marry a Non- Christian?

Answer: No…but you already knew that.

Question: Should I forgive my colleague who gossips behind my back?

Answer: Yes.

Question: Should we sharing the gospel and making disciples everywhere?

Answer: Absolutely.

A man was shipwrecked on a island. He would see ships passing in the distance. He would yell and wave hoping that they would see him. It did not happen. He prayed to God for rescue. He started to lose faith. Months passed. He had built a shelter, learned to fish and cook them.

One windy day he spotted a ship, and he ran out to the beach. He yelled and waved his tattered shirt. They passed on by and he returned to his hut. Horrified, his hut had caught on fire. He had lost everything. His hard work of surviving had been destroyed.

Soon a rescue party came to shore to find him after all these years.

“We saw the smoke.”

Sometimes the answer is not what we expect or expected. The smoke was the answer, and he would not be needing shelter any longer.

Psalm 84:11

For the Lord God is a sun and shield;
The Lord gives grace and glory;
No good thing does He withhold from those who walk uprightly.

Acts 1:7 refers to the timing of God.

He said to them, “It is not for you to know times or epochs which the Father has fixed by His own authority;

Thank you, Father. Our life is a continual prayer of thanks as is stated in 1 Thessalonians 5:18

In everything give thanks; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.

1 John 5:16-17 is a controversial verse. The pastor says that Christians don’t pray for deliberate sinners. God will deal with the person. That is to be our prayer for them.

After the service, we were requested to have tea and fellowship at the rooftop cafe. Cindy and Fred were our hosts. The pastor and his wife and Jill from the UK joined us. Cindy prayed for our safety as we travel and for Donna. She also rocks at taking selfies!!

We are concerned about her upcoming trip to Europe since there have been reports of violence toward Asians due to the coronavirus coming out of China. Please join us in praying for the safety of all Asians worldwide.

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This is one of my favorite testimony and song videos about unanswered prayer. It deals with prayers that aren’t answered the way we would like. Even if the prayer is not answered, followers still follow Jesus. It is powerful. If you want to watch this video, you need to go to the web version of this post:

Speaking of prayer, here are some prayer requests from my world. Thank you to all my faithful praying readers.

Donna Update: My daughter asks for prayer that thoughts of harming herself and/or the baby will be extinguished as evil will flee in the name of Jesus. She wants readers to know that if they are struggling with suicidal thoughts, ideation or even as far as coming up with a plan to carry out, please ask for help. Be transparent. Staying silent or denying these feelings are counter-productive.

My prayer for Donna is to SLEEP. That is the best God-given drug ever…and it’s free! It cures many things.

Stewart Update: My father has an upcoming meeting to discuss discharge from rehab on Thursday, February 13. Pray for his progress so that he can return to his beloved dwelling place, The Barrington. His transfer there will ease the burden on Amy. She calls him her sugar granddaddy as she spends so much time with him. He is her Valentine!