O believer in Jesus Christ give heed to what the Lord spoke about praying in the following Scripture verses:
“And when you pray, do not heap up empty phrases as the Gentiles do, for they think that they will be heard for their many words. Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.” (Matthew 6:7-8)
In certain translations the word for heaping up empty phrases is babbling. Now what does babble mean?
Babble : to talk or say something in a quick, confused, excited, or silly way (as per dictionary.cambridge.org )
God our Father who is the Father of the Lord Jesus cannot be tricked or manipulated into hearing prayers because of any deception or foolish practices. And one such practice is babbling.
Avoid vain words because the Lord God is wise and He knows what is a pretense of praying and what is actually praying by the heart and mind. So keep away from such shenanigans unlike those of the world who use such weird tricks.
The Living God who is out Father is all knowing, so he knows what you need before you ask him. So in full respect pray to get your petitions heard and ask with good intentions only so that it goes well with you.
You desire and do not have; so you kill. And you covet and cannot obtain; so you fight and wage war. You do not have, because you do not ask. You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions. (James 4:2-3)
O children of the Living God pay heed to the following Word of God about peace and holiness :
Strive for peace with everyone, and for the holiness without which no one will see the Lord. See to it that no one fails to obtain the grace of God; that no “root of bitterness” springs up and causes trouble, and by it many become defiled (Hebrews 12:14-15)
Striving for peace with everyone does not mean that you allow anyone to walk all over you. Nor does it mean you allow yourself to be manipulated just to keep some semblance of peace. Now, what is means is that you don’t act evil so as to cause the lack of peace by bad deeds nor slanderous language. It also means that you do and think only what is holy and wise when striving for peace. Never compromise on your holiness for the sake of peace, because that peace wouldn’t be in the will of God for you.
You need to be holy as the Lord your God is holy, because without holiness no one will see the Lord. Do not miss out on the Living God!
Always seek to obtain the grace of God by your faith in Christ Jesus, because its your faith that will please the Lord and not your riches nor beauty. God sees the heart and judges by the heart instead of external appearances.
Examine yourself and get rid of any “root of bitterness” for this makes those who nurture it to cause trouble to themselves and to others and thus defile themselves. Therefore crucify your flesh and get rid of all roots of bitterness.
Now those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. (Galatians 5:24)
Christ be with you as you walk in peace and holiness!
7 Don’t be misled—you cannot mock the justice of God. You will always harvest what you plant. 8 Those who live only to satisfy their own sinful nature will harvest decay and death from that sinful nature. But those who live to please the Spirit will harvest everlasting life from the Spirit. 9 So let’s not get tired of doing what is good. At just the right time we will reap a harvest of blessing if we don’t give up. 10 Therefore, whenever we have the opportunity, we should do good to everyone—especially to those in the family of faith. (Galatians 6:7-10)
O people of God, don’t be misled by those who say you don’t need to do what is good. Never take to your heart any lies which says that God won’t bother if you do evil. Because if you are misled or believe in falsehood, then know this ; you cannot mock the justice of God.
O believer in Jesus Christ, continue to do what is good. And take every opportunity to do what is good especially to those who profess their faith in the Lord Jesus by whom we’re part of the Lord’s family.
O you who walk by the Spirit of God, continue to please the Spirit but don’t fall pray to the fleeting allure of the flesh. In this way you will do good in this life and the next!
And the world passes away, and the lust of it; but he who does the will of God abides for ever. (1 John 2:17)
Do you cause peace or the lack of it?
If you believe in God you should always strive for peace.
Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God. (Matthew 5:9)
Wherever you go pray for peace. The world needs peace but lacks intercessors.
Will you intercede for peace for your family? If yes then good.
Will you intercede for peace for your country? If yes then better.
Will you intercede for peace for the nations of the world? If yes then best.
Remember that charity begins at home. If you love peace for your family, you’ll naturally love peace for the world.
A child of God always act in wisdom wherever he or she goes. Don’t spread falsehood or rumors that damage relationships between other’s. Will causing ill will between people cause you to be blessed by God? Obviously not!
But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, and easy to be intreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality, and without hypocrisy. (James 3:17)
True peace is always God centered and doesn’t dwell on deception or cowardice.
Never forget that you don’t try for peace for the sake of it. You are be of good intentions and have no partiality nor hypocrisy when working out peace for yourself and and others.
Make every effort to live in peace with everyone and to be holy; without holiness no one will see the Lord. (Hebrews 12:14)
A dog that returns to its vomit is like a fool who reverts to his folly (Proverbs 26:11)
Some people just like to keep returning to their sinful habits, no matter much you rescue them. They still think that the effect of their wrong choices will carry lesser or no negative effects. However such thinking is just plain wrong and is never supported by the Bible.
26 For if we sin deliberately after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, 27 but a fearful prospect of judgment, and a fury of fire which will consume the adversaries. 28 A man who has violated the law of Moses dies without mercy at the testimony of two or three witnesses. 29 How much worse punishment do you think will be deserved by the man who has spurned the Son of God, and profaned the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified, and outraged the Spirit of grace? 30 For we know him who said, “Vengeance is mine, I will repay.” And again, “The Lord will judge his people.” 31 It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God. (Hebrews 10: 26-30)
If the Lord God has rescued you from any evil, be very thankful to him. This is one life that you have, don’t let it go waste on the same things Jesus saved you from. Don’t keep presuming that God will keep saving you each time. The Bible clearly warns us not to put the Lord your God to the test. So simply don’t stand in a place of danger trusting in miracles, when God does not approve of you going there. What place am I talking about? Its the place of backsliding (into any sin) which is just one stop before the place of Eternal damnation!
Never go back to bad friends and bad relations
Do not be deceived: “Bad company ruins good morals.” Come to your right mind, and sin no more. For some have no knowledge of God. I say this to your shame. (1 Corinthians 15:33-34)
He that walketh with wise men shall be wise: but a companion of fools shall be destroyed. (Proverbs 13:20)
When Jesus saves you from bad friends, don’t walk right back with them, because they will 100% try to entice you to sin. Don’t displease the Lord God who has kept you from those who can ruin your soul with vile and sinful thoughts.
When you know that your past relationship, only made you an alcoholic or and immoral person, that relationship is simply going to lead you nowhere but in more evil things. Not worth your time nor effort, seriously!
Never go back to bad habits or sins
The backslider in heart will have his fill of his own ways, but a good man will be satisfied with his. (Proverbs 14:14)
“Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.” ( Matthew 26:41)
But Jesus said to him, “No one, after putting his hand to the plow and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God.” (Luke 9:62)
Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful. (Colossians 4:2)
What pity will people have for the drug addict who keeps doing back to drugs even after being revived several times due to his or her multiple overdoses? Such a drug addict or let me say recovering drug addicts must take help from those not on drugs to remain off such a lifestyle that can harm the body and mind as well.
In a similar way, going back to alcoholism to ‘forget’ your problems won’t make your problems disappear. These will remain and being drunk will only make it more difficult to fix anything.
Talking about both the above examples and all other sins in general including stealing, idolatry, etc you need to stay clear of them all. The same Lord God who rescued you from these sins and bad habits can give you the grace to never fall back into them. All you need to do is faithfully pray to God to give you the strength to remain true to your calling in Jesus Christ.
“Backsliding, generally first begins with neglect of private prayer.” (J. C. Ryle)
Christ be with you!
Notice, we never pray for folks we gossip about, and we never gossip about the folk for whom we pray! For prayer is a great deterrent. (Leonard Ravenhill)
Proverbs 6:16-19
16 These six things the Lord hates,
Yes, seven are an abomination to Him:
17 A proud look,
A lying tongue,
Hands that shed innocent blood,
18 A heart that devises wicked plans,
Feet that are swift in running to evil,
19 A false witness who speaks lies,
And one who sows discord among brethren.
The first day of the month of April, is usually when most of the world practices what called “April Fool’s Day”. Christians should avoid indulging in the antics of this day and rather pray for wisdom for themselves and others.
It’s a noble thought to desire that your friends and family become wise and intelligent. It’s vain to provoke them to fear, shock and outrage by deliberately fooling them or rather tricking them. Such thoughts which are deceptive are not as per the will of God.
In order to fool someone of April Fool’s Day, people of the world tell lies, they also deceive others in various means. So if you see a picture of a panda on an elephant be assured that it’s a trick to fool you. Rather pictures human beings riding an elephant are more realistic. I mean on this day (maybe others try it all year round) there are plenty of lies being told through videos, news reports, images and what not. Be on guard against them. It’s best to avoid trusting the news and messages that you might receive on such a day.
Jesus Christ is the Way, the Truth and the Life. All his followers must therefore, not lie! The Bible does not tell us to lie, it in fact tells us not to lie and not to sin with our speech and actions. Life your life unto the Lord in honesty and integrity of heart. If the world wants to sin by indulging in April Fool’s day, its only because they have chosen so because they have accepted falsehood as their all. While you have the Word of God to guide and lead you, so never say you cannot reject the sinful ways of the world. Say yes to Christ in all your words and actions, let them always be true and wholesome.
Bible verses for reflection:
Disciples of hope 