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Mar. 17, 2006 “1 May the LORD answer you when you are in distress; may the name of the God of Jacob protect you. 2 May he send you help from the sanctuary and grant you support from Zion. 3 May he remember all your sacrifices and accept your burnt offerings. Selah” (Psalm 20:1-3 NIV) The Christian is admonished to “Pray without ceasing” and to “give thanks in everything” to the Lord. The Christian has nothing and is nothing without the Lord. The Christian cannot intercede in prayer. He cannot worship. He cannot claim the authority of scripture. He cannot support the rest of the body of believers unless the Lord is there comforting and directing the spiritual life of the believer. The Christian must never be ashamed to praise the Lord in public. Paul wrote that he was never ashamed of the gospel of his Lord because it is the message of salvation to all who believe. There is no need to hide your testimonies. Jesus said that a light should not be kept under a bushel, and salt isn’t any good if it has lost its saltiness. Christians should make it a point to stay salty. “4 May he give you the desire of your heart and make all your plans succeed. 5 We will shout for joy when you are victorious and will lift up our banners in the name of our God. May the LORD grant all your requests.” (Psalm 20: 4-5 NIV) When any Christian receives a positive answer to prayer, this is a cause for celebration, praise and rejoicing. There is no harm in letting the world know the Lord has blessed your petition and given you your heart’s desire. Jesus was not neglectful to remind his listeners that his petitions were answered by his Father. This brought glory to the name of his Father and established his presence as the Son of God. A child of God in this age is not known except by his fruits and his labor in the Lord. When the Lord rewards those fruits with answers to prayer it is important to give God all the possible glory for his help in time of trouble. “6 Now I know that the LORD saves his anointed; he answers him from his holy heaven with the saving power of his right hand. 7 Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the LORD our God.” (Psalm 20: 6-7) This is a powerful assurance from scripture. There is no doubt in the mind of the writer that the Lord saves. The Name of the LORD holds all the power of salvation. Acts 4:12 states that there is none other name under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved and this name is held in reverence as “God With Us”, Jesus Christ. Since his is the only name for the salvation of the soul, this name should never be less than shouted among those who are lost without faith. “8 They are brought to their knees and fall, but we rise up and stand firm. 9 O LORD, save the king! Answer us when we call!” (Psalm 20: 8-9) We know who we are. We know who “they” are. The last call from the Psalmist is a request for answers to the calls from the faithful. There has been much written about prayer. So we know there is not always an answer, or the answer we might expect or want. Yet, as we have witnessed in some of the testimony in this forum, God has intervened and helped the faithful petitions of a few. This is not something to scorn or keep quiet about. It is correct and proper to praise and give glory to God when the individual heart rejoices in answer to prayer. ------------ Email Skip: skiptoomaloo@hotmail.com Comment on this article here! ------------ All articles are EXCLUSIVE to Useless-Knowledge.com. Please link to this article rather than copying and pasting it onto your site (which would be unauthorized and illegal). |
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