Prayer

    Prayer is one of the most important things we ever do in life. Some people have a different way of prayer. Some people may bow they heads and fold their hands, while some may lift up their hands and their head to the Lord. Some go on their knees, while some stand up. There many more examples... Let me just get this straight... It DOESN'T matter if you bow your head or lift up or head, fold your hands or lift them up. YOU ARE STILL PRAYING TO GOD! Now I know some people fold their hands and bow their heads because they don't want to get distracted and they want to just focus on God. I do that sometimes too. A lot of people do. I think that if you are REALLY TRULY praying, you will be focused on God already where it doesn't matter where you are or how you are positioned.

    Okay, now that we talked about different postures of prayer. It is time to talk about what REALLY matters:

                                      THE POWER OF PRAYER

  Okay, have you ever been in a situation where there is someone being rude or mean to you and they are like your enemy? And the last thing you want to do for them is pray for them?

Well, the bible tells us to pray for our enemies:

         But I say, love your enemies! Pray for those who persecute you! Matthew 5:44

And that is Jesus talking here to us. I know I have gone through this problem where the LAST thing I want to do is pray for the person that is mean to me. But I do it. Because I know that prayer works.

   Many people don't even think prayer works either because of problems in their life where they have tried praying but things got worse. Or just because they don't know God or the power of prayer; or they choose to not believe it. But prayer does work! If things get "worse" after you pray...it's not because of praying. It's because God has a better plan then what you "wanted". THAT IS ANOTHER THING, we often think prayer doesn't work because we didn't get what we wanted--but God makes "bad" things work for the GOOD.

      When we pray, we are basically saying "I have faith that God will somehow answer this prayer". God IS ALWAYS listening. He NEVER takes a vacation. He NEVER falls asleep. He is ALWAYS listening. For me, that is GREAT news! I LOVE how I know that God is always listening to me. ALSO REMEMBER, God hears EVERYTHING you say so that is why we should be careful what we say too (but that is a totally different topic!)

   There are 2 things I want you to remember

           1. PRAY (BECAUSE IT WORKS)

                          2. GOD IS LISTENING!

       

Baptism

January 11th is the day we celebrate Jesus' baptism. What is baptism? Baptism symbolizes our dying (going DOWN into the water, like Jesus' going DOWN into the grave)and then rising up into the newness of life, our salvation. WE are the ones that make the choice. BUT Jesus does tell us to be baptized AFTER we believe in the Jesus Christ. Baptism is mentioned in the bible SEVERAL times:


John 1:33-And I knew him not: but he that sent me to baptize with water, the same said to me, On whom you shall see the Spirit descending, and remaining on him, the same is he which baptizes with the Holy Ghost.


Acts 1:5-For John truly baptized with water; but you shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost not many days hence.




Acts 2:38-Then Peter said to them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.


Romans 6:3-Know you not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death?


Galatians 3:27-For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ.


Ephesians 4:5-One Lord, one faith, one baptism


1 Peter 3:21-The like figure whereunto even baptism does also now save us (not the putting away of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience toward God,) by the resurrection of Jesus Christ


1 Corinthians 12:13-For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free; and have been all made to drink into one Spirit.

THERE ARE MANY, MANY MORE!

If you have not made Jesus Christ the Lord of our life. I suggest you do it RIGHT NOW! Repeat this prayer:

Dear Heavenly Father, I know I have sinned. I ask you for forgiveness. I believe that you have died on the cross for my sins and that you rose again. I want to make you number 1 in my life. Amen.

NOW YOU ARE READY FOR BAPTISM :)

Jesus' Love

LOVE.

JESUS' LOVE.

FOR US.

Jesus loves us so much that he DIED for us. On a WOODEN CROSS. When He did NOTHING wrong. That is how much He loves us. Think of how much your parents love you....A LOT. Jesus loves you like 100000000x more and more and more and....you get the picture. I know right, HARD to believe, but it is true. TODAY, PEOPLE THINK THAT THEY DON'T NEED JESUS OR HIS LOVE. BUT THEY DO NEED IT. AND SOME PEOPLE THINK THAT JESUS DOESN'T LOVE THEM!!!!

THERE ARE MANY VERSES THAT TELL US THAT HE DOES:

But God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Romans 5:8

   “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.  John 3:16

     REMEMBER:

JESUS LOVES YOU!

Same God. Different Situation.

I was in the car, listening to Smile FM and the song "The same God" by New song came on. 

The chorus explains this whole blog post:

 The same God who was with you then is with you now
The same God who led you in will lead you out
So take all the fear and doubt
Go on and lay them down
The same God, the same God is with you now

You see, when you are going through a hard time and you think God isn't with you or He doesn't care about you anymore, THAT IS NOT TRUE! When you were having fun or when you were having great day, GOD WAS WITH YOU THEN. AND HE IS STILL WITH YOU NOW!

Whether you are going through a bad time or going through an AWESOME time, God is still with you and NEVER changes! A lot of people think that God changes. Like one day He is your best friend and then the next it seems like He hates you and wants to ruin your life. I admit I have felt that way before but that is where we can't fall into the trap that Satan wants us to fall into! We have to know that God NEVER changes and that He LOVES us sooo much that He gave his only Son for us all.

"I the LORD do not change. So you, the descendants of Jacob, are not destroyed. Malachi 3:6

For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. John 3:16