| One of my most challenging experiences in ministry occurred last year when we went to India for our World Outreach Convention (WoC) and also to commission a mission house Christ Lifeline donated to Paul Ministry. I have interacted with believers in several cities and countries but I discovered a number of remarkable attributes about the brethren we met in India. I encountered some events that caused me to reappraise my Christianity and how most of us practice it. Let me share one of these attributes with you today.We had just commissioned the mission house and suddenly felt the nudging to minister to the sick that were present. After we had prayed for the sick, a lady walked up to me and told me she wanted me to pray for her. I inquired what her “prayer point” was and I wasn’t expecting what I heard. In my entire life in the service of God, I have not heard anyone make such prayer requests. As I prayed for her, I was cautious to choose the right words as my mind raced in an attempt to understand the sincerity and motive behind the request. I kept thinking about that prayer point all thorough that day and I haven’t forgotten it even today.
Her simple prayer request was – “please pray for me, I want to win more souls for God”. Beloved, have you ever prayed such a prayer? When was the last time your prayers reverberated around this point? It is the beginning of the year and many of us have several fasting programs; is our fast all about us or does it include a burden for souls as well? I saw the Indian brethren fasting for souls to be won to the kingdom of God and I said to myself – do they serve the same God we serve back home? I tried to flip through some scripture in my mind – especially from the time Jesus Christ rose from the dead, and it dawned on me again that the prayers in the book of Acts of the Apostles down to Revelation greatly differ from the ones many of us chant today. As I write this piece, my eyes fill with tears and I am sobered by the central focus of a prayer centered on our collective purpose as believers. For “God has given us this task of reconciling people to Him” (2 Corinthians 5:18 – NLT). I am challenged to make a difference by devoting my prayer, family, time and resources to the business of soul winning for God’s kingdom. What about you? – Tope S. Aladenusi |
Marriage from the Scriptures III
TEXT: I Peter 3: 7
Likewise, ye husbands, dwell with them according to knowledge, giving honour unto the wife, as unto the weaker vessel, and as being heirs together of the grace of life; that your prayers be not hindered.
I Peter 3:7 KJV
“Likewise in the same way, HUSBANDS dwell with your wives with knowledge…..” what knowledge?
Knowledge means familiarity with someone or something, this includes facts, information, descriptions, or skills acquired through experience or education. The scripture is saying study your wife, get to know her and deal with her based on this knowledge. So, the next time she behaves in a particular way you do not like, remember that it is in her to behave in that manner, so you do not see it as an offence targeted at you.
“Through wisdom is an house builded; and by understanding it is established:
And by knowledge shall the chambers be filled with all precious and pleasant riches.
A wise man is strong; yea, a man of knowledge increaseth strength.” Proverbs 24:3-5
Spend time trying to know your wife. This line reminds me of a film I strongly recommend,Fireproof. And not just know your wife; know what God is saying concerning her too. The next verses that follow explore further…
Giving honour unto the wife, as unto the weaker vessel ….
Appreciate that she is a weaker vessel. She is not like you, she is strong in her own department but not in yours. She needs to be pampered. She cannot carry the family burden like you can. Women have tried to prove a point of being just as strong but truly they are not. God has created each person uniquely to fulfil a certain purpose. Have you ever seen a man trying to simultaneously carry four bags and a woman doing the same? Or have you seen a woman trying to drive a nail through wood and a man doing the same? God has created each one uniquely for His pleasure. The fact that both male and female are created for His pleasure drives home the next point.
As being heirs together of the grace of life
You are both heirs called of God; she is under your authority but she belongs to God first. Ask God what He would want for her and be sure to support and ensure His will is done in her life just as in yours. Give her your full support. Sometime ago while meditating, I heard in my spirit, that God calls his daughters home (that is, to eternity) sometimes because of this reason. Culture has taught men to keep their wives in subjection and Christian men have brought this idea into marriage thereby hindering the expression of the fullness of God in the lives of their wives. God is a God of order. He is not saying a woman should be disobedient to the man, rather, He is asking men to live, in awareness that they represent Him in the lives of their wives and must remember that in Christ there is no male or female. Don’t get carried away plotting your success plan, forgetting your wife is also a light that must shine. Provide full support for her also to fulfil God’s purpose in her life through your marriage.
That your prayers be not hindered.
Every man who does the Word as required gets express answer to his prayers. The answers to your prayers are tied to knowing your wife, treating her honourably and acknowledging the fact that she is God’s vessel in your care! When you do these things, you open up the heavens for yourself and your home. I have seen this Word work in the life of a few couples I know and the results are astounding!
Please keep studying the Word and share lessons learnt as comments. I look forward to hearing from you!
Online Resources
http://www.keepbelieving.com/sermon/2005-02-13-Unhindered-Prayers/
http://bible.org/seriespage/obligations-christian-husbands-their-wives-1-peter-37
http://www.onechristianministry.com/christian-articles-563.html
God Bless and keep you!
Much Love!
-Omolola
I have always wondered when he had such time when Paul said ‘I pray in tongues more than ye all.’ (1 Corinthians 14:18).
Don’t get me wrong but this was a man who did not seem to have any spare time. He was obviously not referring to prayers made in the church ‘corporately’ or ‘individually’ as he obviously did not have time to be in churches all day. This was a man on the move at a great deal of the time. I am convinced Paul had seen prayer as a lifestyle which it really was. No wonder he says ‘Pray without ceasing’. It came natural to him as breathing. He found it so easy to pray that chances are you would find him praying at various times, in all kinds of location and in various kinds of situations and positions. A common phrase in his letters (most written in uncomfortable situations) was ‘I have not ceased to pray for you…’
I work in an environment that entails we start a conversation no matter how gloomy the client or offensive he may seem. I mean we must just start a conversation. I must be frank that despite all the skills in communicating with a client, I am many times far in a conversation before recalling some.
Can’t recall ever being so conscious of communication skills when discussing with my dad or my sister or say my mom. So also should it be with God. He desires we break down the boundaries we have created with our own hands and simply converse as father to son/daughter.
In spite of the awesomeness of our God he has broken boundaries through Christ Jesus to bring us closer than we can imagine.
No tasking routine; no need for an environment or atmosphere, for He is greater and more real to us than all the effects we put in place. Reminds me of a kid doing all he could to prepare for the arrival of his dad but never realizing his father had all the while been watching closely.
I really want to bask more in the reality of sonship. I sometimes have to pinch myself and read the scriptures again to remind myself that it is that simple. Before I am through with the preparations to pray he is there already as always. Before I am through dwelling on what phrase to start with He is with me already as always. He says again that ‘it is in him we live, and move, and have our being’. He is the same person who says this is how we know that we are in Him and He in us; by His spirit which He has given unto us. An ever- present reality that cannot be changed by times, season, our mood or our wishes.
Let’s enjoy this for it is truly a delight.
Cheers!
-Dr. Bolaji Akanni
Before His death…
Our Father who art in Heaven
Hallowed be thy name
Thy kingdom come
Thy will be done on earth, as it is in heaven
Give us this day our daily bread
And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors
And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil
For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever
Amen…
After His death and resurrection…
Our Father who art in Heaven
Hallowed be thy name
Your presence is with us … (2Cor.6: 16b)
For thy will has been done on earth as, as it is in heaven … (Heb.10: 7-10, Jms.1: 18)
You are our daily provision … (Heb.13: 5-6)
And forgiven us our debts, so we forgive our debtors … (Eph.4: 32, Col.3: 13)
And led us out of temptation, and delivered us from the evil one … (Col.1: 13)
For ours is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever … (Eph.2: 19)
Amen…
– emeka ofia
When my husband and I were courting, one of our fathers in the Lord told us to write on the place of prayer in marriage. While thinking of what to write for this week I remembered the essay we wrote then and this is what inspired what I want to share with you this week.
Let me start with the lyrics of a song I am sure most believers sang in Sunday school or church at one time or the other.
Prayer is the key 2x
Prayer is the master key
Jesus started with prayer and ended with prayer
Prayer is the master key
The place of prayer in all we do in life cannot be overemphasized especially in marriage. We need to pray always and not faint. Bible says we should PRAY without ceasing, and also Watch and PRAY. Be anxious for nothing but in everything by PRAYER and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God (Phil 4:6).
And when he had taken the book, the four beasts and twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb, having every one of them harps, and golden vials full of odours, which are the prayer of the saints (Rev 5:8).
Prayer from the lips of a believer is like a sweet smelling savour, it goes before God as such and the result is a wonder on earth, No wonder the Word of the God tells us the prayer of the sinner is an abomination to God.
Like a master key that opens any door, Prayer opens several doors in marriage. In the place of prayer several battles are won, situations are resolved, hearts of stone become flesh, aching hearts are soothed, wounds are healed, storms are stilled. I could go on and on about what prayer can do in a marriage.
When I wrote my essay on prayer in marriage, I did so without a complete understanding or any experience of marriage. Today I still maintain that I know little but I have practically used the master key to open several doors in my marriage. So like Paul said I share with you that which I have handled.
We need to pray always – giving thanks and making supplications to God. When you are faced with something stormy, go to the one who slept in a storm. When your heart is aching, speak to the one who appreciates a broken heart, He’s the one who went through more betrayals than we could ever experience. When it seems like a wall is coming between you and your partner speak to the one who brought down the walls of Jericho. When your situation is like a maze and you feel lost, call out to the omnipresent one who sees everything and is everywhere, there’s no spot on earth He does not knows. We have a High Priest who can appreciate all we go through.
Stop fighting battles, you’re not meant to fight, give yourself the opportunity of experiencing the passage that says “Be Still and Know that I am God!” After you have prayed, do not worry, have faith that God is able to do all things. God said “Man shall leave mother and father and cleave to his wife” He knows all that is involved in your becoming one and He is not planning to start a thing and not complete it, it is not in His nature.
-lola ezeifeoma