Power of Your PrayerSpeaker: Sis. Stella Dhinakaran Gist: Your parents, relatives, most trusted best friends may forsake you; but the Lord will never let you down. If you knit yourself closely to the Lord, He will bless you and your home exactly as He did in my life. A certain sister loved the Lord with all her heart, mind and spirit. One day, her husband who was not close to God, left for Bombay for a job. He did not have much attachment with God. While he was alone at Bombay, he got into bad company and squandered all the money he had with him on drinks and sinful pleasures, completely forgetting his wife and children. One day, when he returned to his room fully drunk, he heard a voice saying, "My son! Go to the nearby Church and pray." Disregarding it, he tried to enter his room. But the voice was insistent. Unable to evade it, he went inside the Church. Immediately, he began to cry aloud repenting for his sins. He confessed all his faults and failures in the presence of God and surrendered his life at His feet. A divine peace and joy came into him. In great joy he wrote a letter to his wife. Within a few weeks he got a job abroad which he had been expecting. He went and worked for some years and then came home on leave. As a family they called on us. His wife then narrated how she fasted and prayed day and night for her husband. God had heard her prayers, transformed her husband's life and showered so many blessings on her and family.
Friend, do you know that your prayers are the sure strength to your family? How much time do you spend to pray for your family? If you have the desire to bring more blessing to your family, then spend more time in prayer, snatch any little leisure time you get and spent in Bible reading and prayer, you will be a blessing and so will your home be. There are many who say that they fall asleep while praying or that stray thoughts occur to them and waste the precious prayer time. Know for certain that it is your love and longing for God which can bring you long and intimate sessions of conversing with Him. Now is the time for you to grow more closer with the Lord. Many may do not realise this. When I was sixteen years old, I had great doubts about my future. But the Lord who pursued Hagar cheered me and caught me for Himself (Song 6:3). From then onwards, I began loving Him more and more. He has been with me for the past years.
Friend, your parents, relatives, your most trusted friends may forsake you; but the Lord will never let you down. Because I was closely knit to the Lord in my youth, He blessed my marriage and made our home blessed. Likewise, your home will also abound in His blessings. When those who disregard His blessings and when they lament in distress, they may have no response to their prayers. Rightly did Solomon say, "Those who seek me diligently will find me" (Proverbs 8:17).
King David led a blessed life because he sought the Lord in the morning, noon and evening (Psalm5:3; 55:17; 63:1). Once, when the ark of the Lord was brought, David danced before the Lord with all his might (2 Samuel 6:14). "Michal, Saul's daughter, looked through a window and saw King David leaping and whirling before the Lord; and she despised him in her heart" (2 Samuel 6:16). The Lord who searches the heart and tests the mind (Jeremiah 17:10), looked into her heart. She showed disrespect not only to her husband but to the Lord Himself. Michal was deprived of the blessing of bearing a child (2 Samuel 6:23).
My dear friend, have you at times in your life dishonoured the Lord in any manner? Have you, even unknowingly dishonoured His servants and their ministries and therefore forfeited the blessings of peace and joy in your home? The Lord is watchful over you. Confess to Him your failures. He is the one who loves all of us even after knowing all our weaknesses and failures. He will pardon you and pour out His blessings over your life.
"The blessing of the Lord makes one rich, And He adds no sorrow with it." (Proverbs 10:22)
"Both riches and honor come from You, and You reign over all. In Your hand is power and might; in Your hand it is to make great and to give strength to all" (1 Chronicles 29:12).
Prayer:
Most gracious and loving Heavenly Father,
I confess all the mistakes and sins I have done in my life till today. Lord, please forgive me all my sins and cleanse me and make me Your child. Bless me with all heavenly and wordly blessings. Take away all the blocks that stop my prayer from reaching You. Father, please heed my prayers and bless me and my family so that everyone who sees me and my family testify that You are the prayer-answering God. Fill me with Your Holy Spirit so that I may be able to pray without ceasing for everyone in my family. Let not the wordly cares and worries stop me from praying and coming closer to You. In Jesus' mighty name, I pray.
Amen. |