Devotionals

Devotional messages written by Peter for Seeds of the Kingdom from Ellel Ministries

Hope from the Wreckage

Hebrews 2:3-4, NIV
“How shall we escape if we ignore such a great salvation? This salvation, which was first announced by the Lord, was confirmed to us by those who heard him. God also testified to it by signs, wonders and various miracles, and gifts of the Holy Spirit distributed according to his will.”

I watched as two exhausted survivors were plucked from the wreckage of the Japanese earthquake and lifted into a rescue helicopter, nine days after the Japanese tsunami had hit and destroyed their town. For them, it was an absolute miracle. For the rescue workers it was a pin-prick of joy in the midst of their gruesome work of extracting the dead from the wreckage of their community.

As I watched joy being expressed, as these two people were lifted to safety, I suddenly realised that this was a picture of the great joy the Father must experience, when one of His precious children comes to Him and is lifted to safety from the morass of human rebellion and rejection of Him and His love, through what His Son did for them on the cross.

Headline after headline this past week has only confirmed the picture of a world that is suffering the consequences of tsunami-like rebellion and devastation. For close on two thousand years the warnings that God has sounded have been largely ignored. The pride of man continues to tell Creator God that he has a better way and ignores the truth of God’s Word!

In a news report on the Libyan situation, one senior general referred to the Security Council of the United Nations as the highest authority there is in this world! This is both a very true and an arrogantly false statement at the same time. Humanly speaking, when the United Nations act together, they are declaring themselves as the ultimate world authority. But they conveniently forget what Jesus said at the end of His time on Earth, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.” (Matthew 28:18). I’m so relieved that ultimate authority really is in His hands and not the hands of man!

Most of the people who were fortunate enough to hear the tsunami warnings in Japan, and flee for their lives without turning back for anything, reached the safety of higher ground. But tragically the majority of those who, for whatever reason, chose to ignore the warnings or couldn’t escape from their particular situation, perished as the giant wave annihilated so many communities. It’s dangerous to ignore such warnings.

I am reminded of those poignant words from the Scripture for today, which ask the question, “How shall we escape if we ignore such a great salvation?” (Hebrews 2:3). The good news is that there is always hope for those who look to Him – no matter how terrible anyone’s personal situation may be. We don’t need a helicopter to lift us out of the wreckage of life, but we do need to humble ourselves before Him and, as the Scripture says, “He will lift us up” (James 4:10).

Prayer: Thank you, Lord, that You have already provided a means of escape, for all who come to You, from the sin and rebellion of mankind. Help me, Lord, to always to be aware of the needs of others to also know the truth, and be willing to point them to the only One who can rescue them from the mess of this fallen world. In Jesus Name, Amen.

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Yet Another Earthquake

Jeremiah 14:25, NIV
“O Lord, we acknowledge our wickedness and the guilt of our fathers; we have indeed sinned against you.”

Throughout Scripture there is a constant pattern – forgiveness, restoration and healing always begin with confession and repentance. Isaiah said it as it is when he wrote to God’s people, “Come now, let us reason together,” says the Lord. “Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow” (Isaiah 1:18). And how do we get to that place of being cleansed so we can be white as snow? The first step is always to follow Jeremiah’s teaching and acknowledge our sin – or “our wickedness and the guilt of our fathers” as he expressed the condition of the people of Judah.

But how do people get to that place of acknowledging their sin if, as has happened in most nations of the world, respect for the Word of God is no longer part of the structure of either society or government? For once people’s consciences are so seared that they feel they can ignore the Word of God, and even be scornful of those who still respect it – as has happened in some recent legal judgments in the United Kingdom – it is only when their very lives are under threat that people may once again consider that there is a God in heaven and start to think about what their first encounter with the Almighty could be like.

We are living in days that truly are like the days of Noah – when the world has rejected both the love and authority of the living God and has gone into great apostasy. God still loves every single one of us, but how can He get our attention in days when the world’s noise has drowned out the voice of faith. You cannot trust in a God whose existence you don’t recognise, you don’t know or you can no longer hear!

When you are in a noisy place you need to speak louder in order to be heard. It seems as though this is what God is doing. He is speaking louder than He has ever done. I am actually writing these words as I watch the terrible news of another massive earthquake and tsunami that has devastated regions of Japan. The rest of the Pacific region is waiting to see what will happen next as the tsunami speeds on across the Pacific ocean. It’s too early to tell what the cost will be in loss of human life, but it cannot be small. New Zealand is only just beginning to recover from the massive earthquake at Christchurch which claimed the lives of hundreds – at the same time as the memories of thousands dying in Haiti are still fresh, and the Haitians are still experiencing daily the consequences of what happened to them.

The prophecies of Matthew 24 are being fulfilled at every turn and we know Jesus said that when these things happen they “are the beginnings of the birth pangs” (Matthew 24:8) of the coming days when the Earth groans under the strain of man’s rebellion and we know that the days are hastening on towards that glorious day when Jesus comes again.

What shall we do? Our heart goes out in deep compassion for the people caught up in the disaster and we need to be in intercessory prayer for all involved. But in the midst of it all the Word of God once again speaks through the earthquakes, tsunamis and all the storms of life to say, “Seek the Lord while He may be found. Call on Him while he is near” (Isaiah 55:6). When God speaks it’s our responsibility to listen.

Prayer: Lord, we pray today for everyone who is caught up in the disasters the world is facing. May you be the comfort that the bereaved and the suffering need. And in the midst of it all may there be those who hear your voice above the world’s noise and turn to you in repentance to receive forgiveness and eternal life. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

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Partial Obedience is Disobedience!

from Genesis 6:13-15, NIV
“So God said to Noah . . . make yourself an ark . . . this is how you are to build it. The ark is to be 450 feet long, 75 feet wide and 45 feet high . ..”

God not only asked Noah to build a boat, but gave him very precise instructions about the size of the vessel and how the ark was to be built. It was to be a vessel with a very specific purpose which would be large enough to take on board the biggest floating menageries the world has ever seen – either before or since!

Now, when Noah heard God speaking to him he could easily have said “Yes, Lord, I’ll build a boat – but I think you must have got the design a bit wrong, I think it would be best if I made a few alterations to the plans!” So Noah might have set to work to build a vessel and done it, in Frank Sinatra style, ‘My Way!’ And when the boat was finished it turned out to be a magnificent pleasure yacht for him and his family! Noah would have been totally obedient to God by building a boat, but completely disobedient to God by building the boat to his own design instead of God’s.

When the flood came, and God told him to gather on board the vessel two of every animal under the sun, Noah’s pleasure craft would have proved woefully inadequate for the task. His partial obedience would have destroyed God’s plan. It would have been no good Noah protesting to God that at least he built a boat – it would have been sinful disobedience.

When you read the stories of the Kings of Judah and Israel you find many short comments about their lives. One of which says that “Amaziah did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, but not wholeheartedly” (2 Chronicles 25:2) Eventually Amaziah turned away from the Lord and finally he lost his life in tragic circumstances! For him partial obedience was an unmitigated disaster.

It’s vital that when God speaks to us and shows us from His Word the way to live, and what He wants us to be and to do, that we don’t compromise with partial obedience. Each of our lives is like a vessel that, like Noah, we are building day by day. We have a destiny to fulfil, but partial obedience will always mean that we’re never quite fit for th4e Master’s use.

Prayer: Thank you, Lord, for these powerful lessons from Scripture. I’m sorry, Lord, for times in my life when I have been less than wholehearted in following you and have, as a result, only been partially obedient. Forgive me Lord for this disobedience and help me to start again, with your help, and build the right vessel for the purposes you have for me in the future. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

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God`s Word Makes Us Whole

Matthew 28:18 & John 15:3, NIV
`Then, Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore, go and make disciples . . . ” and “You are already clean because of the word (teaching) I have spoken to you.”

Because Jesus loves us we are drawn to Him. But when we come to Him, He loves us too much to want to leave us in the same condition! The problem is, however, that all too often we want to remain rooted in the things that are familiar to us and we resist change! Most of us are not too keen on having our world shaken up too much. We are delighted that because of Jesus we can look forward to eternity in Heaven when we die, but we can so easily resist the idea of Heaven coming down to Earth and stirring the pot of our lives!

In recent years I`ve become more and more conscious that many of the people who ask me to pray for their healing have been wanting God`s healing, but have resisted God`s ways and God`s authority in their lives. Of course, we have been given free will and God doesn`t force us to change, but when we choose not to we can ensure that the healing we long for remains like the elusive crock of gold at the end of our own personal rainbow – an illusion which we never find.

I believe it`s because of these issues that God gave me the vision for Ellel 365, as a means of helping people to become the disciples which Jesus instructed us to make (Matthew 28:18). I passionately believe that when we choose to let God have His way in every area of our lives, that we put ourselves in the way of God`s healing. This week I received the following message from someone who is doing Ellel 365 in India. Their testimony powerfully illustrates the dynamic relationship between discipleship and healing.

“I am into the 8th month of Ellel 365, and I must say that it`s been a wonderful experience thus far . . . I had deep rooted issues of rejection, unforgiveness, hurts, generational iniquities etc. and the Lord, very gently, area by area, has been unearthing, cleansing & setting me free as I went through the teachings. To mention a few areas, like fears, timidity, and uncontrolled outbursts and rage – these are some of the areas in which I have experienced great healing. The realization and acceptance of the sinfulness, has been a humbling & painful process, nevertheless, the Lord`s enabling power to identify the roots, and relieve me from the hold of sin, was wonderful, worth every pain and all the tears that I have shed.

Though I was a believer for many years, God was somebody who seemed far away. But today I know He is close to me and that he loves me dearly. I present myself boldly, expecting to receive my healing & restoration. Yes, now I know I have a FATHER in heaven. The lie of the enemy has been broken. Alleluia!”

Then, a few weeks ago, I was teaching on forgiveness and healing when a lady who had recently been diagnosed with breast cancer, which had spread into other areas of her body, realised she had never forgiven someone who had damaged her greatly when she was young. The doctors are now trying to explain why it is that she no longer has the cancer!

I see these principles of discipleship and healing at work in every area of life. We desperately need to allow God to show us His word so that we, like the disciples, may be able to apply His truth into our lives and be made clean.

Prayer: Help me, Lord, to seek to understand how to apply the truth of your Word into my life, so that I may grow, as a believer in Jesus, into being a true disciple and know His cleansing in my life. In Jesus` Name, Amen.

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Things We Can Hide in Our Heart!

Proverbs 28:13, NIV
“I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you” Psalm 119:11. “He who conceals his sins does not prosper, but whoever confesses and renounces them finds mercy.”

When we eat food our body’s chemical factory sets to work on what we have eaten, and converts it into all the things we require for growth and daily needs. In a very real way the food becomes part of us. In just the same way, when we eat spiritual food it becomes part of who we are – not physically, but in our spirit and our soul. The more of God’s word that we take in, the more resources we have to understand the ways of God, avoid the tactics of the enemy and how to live in righteousness, even in a world that’s full of temptation.

The Psalmist knew the value of hiding God’s word in His heart. Because the truths of God had become part of him, when he faced temptation he had a straight edge in his being, that God could use to show him what was right and what was wrong. Anything that measured up to the straight edge was OK, but anything that looked crooked against that straight edge was off limits for the child of God.

In our Scripture from the Proverbs we see a contrasting principle at work. If we’ve done something wrong, and hide it in our hearts, unconfessed and unforgiven, it will always work against us and become a stumbling block on the pathway of our life. As long as pride tells us to keep it hidden, the enemy can use the ungodly choices we have made to undermine our lives. The principle of confessing sin as a step towards healing and wholeness is not just a New Testament healing practice (see James 5:16), but is a theme which is interwoven throughout Scripture. When we deal with our sin, then we can receive mercy and forgiveness – essential steps towards personal wholeness.

When we read the Word of God, there are always new things to see and understand – new treasures to unearth from the greatest mine of spiritual truth that’s ever been written. It’s essential that we read the Bible as young believers and take in everything we possibly can of God’s truth then – but let’s never get so proud and arrogant that we think we know it all. To his dying day my Dad would read his Bible morning and evening – it was his essential guide for life. I learnt so much by his example. Let’s resolve to constantly take in from the Word of God all of our days. In so doing we can be an example to others, especially the young, of how to live so that we don’t sin, instead of falling into temptation, concealing sin in our hearts and undermining the joy God would have us know, and destroying the fruitfulness of our lives.

Prayer: Thank You, Lord, for Your living Word. As I read it day by day, help me to take it into my heart so that it becomes part of me and helps me make right choices when tempted to sin. And if I do fall into sin, help me, Lord, to always confess it quickly, ask You for forgiveness and healing and continue to serve You with all my heart. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

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Only Believe

Mark 5:36, NKJV
“As soon as Jesus heard the word that was spoken, He said to the ruler of the synagogue, “Do not be afraid; only believe”.”

It sounds so simple, that all we have to do is believe but fear, anxiety and doubt war against our believing. Do we really believe that God can do all that He says and that His promises are ‘YES’ and ‘AMEN’ to those who believe (2 Corinthians 1:20). Do we really trust God? Can we take our hands off the controls of our lives and give over to God full control, absolutely clinging ALONE to Him?

Last year my life went through enormous change and it involved selling a house that I had lived in for 27 years. I had the house on the market but it did not sell and I became very worried and anxious. As I prayed, God very clearly said to me: “Do you want to fix it, or do you want ME to take absolute charge of the situation?” Of course, we all know the correct answer, so I handed over the whole situation to God… but nothing happened!

Could I still trust God and not take back the responsibility myself if nothing seem to be happening? I started to realise that I was under test. How much did I truly trust God? What happens if I give the situation to God and He doesn’t do it my way, or how I think it should be done? Am I still willing to trust Him?

We can’t trust in someone we don’t know. The next challenge is: Do we KNOW God? God wants a personal walk and relationship with us. I started to realise that I needed to know God in an even deeper way before I could truly trust Him implicitly. God wants me to stand COMPLETE in Him, but do I? Am I always looking for ways of fixing my life or my circumstances with people or things other than God? This has triggered a new spiritual awakening in me. God says to us: “My yoke is easy, my burden is light” (Matthew 11, 28-30). If we’re carrying heavy burdens that are weighing us down and burning us out, we can be sure they don’t come from Him.

One thing I have learnt out of all of this is that when we come to the end of ourselves and what we can bring to the party God delights to take over and bring the miracle. My house sold within the time frame necessary and all the pieces of the jigsaw finally came together. I was so thankful to God for His faithfulness and provision. He’s interested in all the details of our individual lives. Whatever makes us think that we can do a better job of running our lives or our ministries than God can?

Hopefully, as we become more mature in Him, we will learn to ‘ONLY BELIEVE’. We’ll trust in God and stop trying to push or pull and make it happen. For some of us, when we’re in so deep that the water is over our heads and there’s no way forward or back, at last we stand back and allow God to act. And this is when HE will get all the glory, and it will become obvious to all that it wasn’t humanly possible and that it simply had to be a ‘God thing’.

Prayer: Lord Jesus, help me to get to know You better and to walk with You in yet a deeper way so that I am able to ‘ONLY BELIEVE’, to trust implicitly in You and to take my hands off all the controls. Help me to believe it’s Your delight to make possible what seems impossible. If we give You the ‘right of way’, in our lives today we’ll surely see the miraculous happen. Teach us, Lord, these important truths and how to apply them, in Jesus’ name, Amen. Jesus, what You have said, I believe!

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My Life in His Hands

Psalm 118:24, NIV
“This is the day the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it.”

There is fundamentally no difference between the first day of the year and any other day of the year! The sun will rise and the sun will set and the world’s history will move forward by another twenty four hours. But the fact that we call the first of January New Year’s day forcibly reminds us of the passing of time and provides us with a means of recording and remembering history.

The weather in the UK has been especially cold these past few weeks and those of us old enough to remember such things have been talking about what it was like in 1947 or 1963 – years when the snow and ice stayed on the ground for exceptionally long periods of time. I will never forget walking up the frozen river in Oxford and skating on the ice! We put the memories of our own lives in place by remembering the date and we measure the events of history by what happened in, say, 1066, 1776 or, closer to home, 1914-18 and 1939-45.

So as we move from one year to another, and wave goodbye to 2010 as we welcome 2011, is anything going to change for you personally in the year ahead? Undoubtedly for every single one of us things are going to happen that will surprise us, maybe, even, shock us, possibly disappoint us as well as excite us. There may be traumas we have to face, unscheduled events that take place or blessings that we could never have dreamt of coming into our lives. None of us know what the year ahead will have in store – and those who think they can foretell the future with every form of astrology or divination are simply telling the world how deceived they are!

There is only One who knows the end from the beginning. There is only One who can be trusted to help us through whatever events and circumstances that we may be looking back on in twelve months time. There is only One who has your very best interest at heart and whose love for you is beyond measure or comprehension.

So, at the beginning of this New Year, my own resolution is one that everyone of us can share in, if we really want to – to trust Him with today, every day of the next three hundred and sixty five days. It is a fact that as we trust Him in the present, He determines our future. I don’t want anyone else to try and forecast what 2011 holds in store for me – I only want to trust the one who truly holds the future in His hands. I don’t need to know what will happen ‘tomorrow’ – for as long as I am trusting Him for ‘today’, I know my tomorrows are safe in His hands. So let’s rejoice in both this first day of the New Year, but let us not forget to rejoice in every day He makes and gives us to enjoy. Each one is a precious gift from our loving Creator.

Prayer: Thank you, Lord, for this new day and this New Year. Help me to live each and every day of the year, knowing that You have made it and that, whatever happens, my times are utterly safe when they are committed into Your hands. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

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The Truth about Lies

John 8:44, NIV
“You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out your father’s desire. He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies.”

The truth about Satan’s lies is that we very easily assimilate them into our belief system as truth. They can feel very true! I’m thinking of things such as: ‘God can’t use you!’, ‘God isn’t interested in you!’, ‘God doesn’t really love you!’, and ‘You have completely blown it with God!’

Thinking about this I once asked God to show me any lies that I believed as truth, and this lie came quickly into my mind, ‘God could abandon me in the moment of my deepest need!’ How awful it was for me to believe this lie, but it felt very true. The purpose of the lies of Satan is to separate us from faith in God.

But I believe that Jesus speaks clearly to us. In John 10:2-5 Jesus uses a figure of speech about a man who is a shepherd. He calls his sheep by name and leads them out. The sheep know his voice and follow him, but they run away from a stranger because they don’t recognize a stranger’s voice. Then Jesus explains clearly that He is ‘the Good Shepherd’. ‘My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me’ (John 10:27). Jesus also said ‘I am the way, the truth and the life’ (John 14:6). So I asked Jesus to speak truth to me that would disempower this lie. I sensed Him saying, ‘I will never ever leave you or forsake you, especially not in the moment of your deepest need!’ The lie was cancelled!

How could I have believed such a terrible lie of the enemy? Do you think it is possible that the father of lies has lied to you? Believing lies holds us into fear and rejection and many other things. Sometimes before we can be free we need to ask Jesus, who is the truth, to speak His truth into us personally, Jesus’ truth has greater power than Satan’s lies.

Prayer: We thank You, Jesus, that You taught us that the knowledge of the truth will set us free. Please come and expose to us today any of Satan’s lies that we believe are true. Please speak to us by name, that we may walk more deeply in Your truth. Thank You Jesus, Amen.

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The Most Truthful Thing I have Ever Heard!

Isaiah 9:13, NIV
“Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel.”

This Christmas season a very unusual phenomenon has been seen on British television – a new dramatised version of the nativity in which the writer has portrayed the core truth of the incarnation as fact, as opposed to fiction! Tony Jordan is better known for writing scripts of a much more earthy nature for one of the UK’s longest-running soap operas, Eastenders. In normal circumstances he could not have been expected to have to have done such justice to what the Bible teaches.

The brief from the BBC was to write something pretty wacky about the nativity. He says that when he started on the project he didn’t believe in the nativity story. But the more he thought about it he realised “it would be a travesty to take the most beautiful story in the history of the world and turn it into a cheap gag.” So he began reading the story for himself and researching the facts of what the Bible says happened and he made a few surprising discoveries – both about Jesus and about himself!

When asked by the Daily Telegraph reporter about believing in the fact of the Virgin Birth, Jordan replied, “If you accept that Jesus is the Son of God, why would you not believe that Mary was a virgin, and that God must have had some hand in the impregnation?” And he followed this comment by saying, “The only thing I know for sure is that the words I read as coming from Jesus Christ are the most truthful thing I have ever heard!”

It’s no surprise, therefore, that the Editor of the Daily Telegraph headed his own comments on the article by the words ‘A born-again Nativity.’

We are living in an age when the facts of Christmas are no longer politically acceptable. The decorated tree in the White House is called a Holiday Tree! And it is reported that of all the cards on sale in British supermarkets, less than one per cent have any relationship to the facts of the Christmas story! These are days which are increasingly dark spiritually and in which it is becoming more and more costly to personally adhere to Christian truth, as the normal standard for faith and conduct. But in the midst of the darkness a shining fact remains – when people, even professional script-writers such as Tony Jordan, approach the Scriptures with a desire to know the truth, that the God of Truth will reveal Himself to them.

The virgin birth is, indeed, a sign to the whole world that God is with us. The incarnation tells us above all else that God loved the world so much that He gave His only son that we might have everlasting life (John 3:16). To know that we are loved is the deepest and most intimate need of every member of the human race. You ARE loved – the nativity story declares that one glorious fact above all others. It’s easy to love someone who we know loves us, so absorbing this astonishing truth for ourselves is the beginning of the most exciting pilgrimage of all – loving Him, who first loved us, and walking together with Him for the rest of our days.

Prayer: Thank you Lord, that the truth of Your Word still has its ancient power to challenge the hearts of men and women. Help me, this Christmas, to read afresh the Gospel stories and be freshly impacted by the most truthful things that have ever been written. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

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The Best Medicine

Proverbs 28:9 and 13, NIV
“If anyone turns a deaf ear to the law, even his prayers are detestable . . . he who conceals his sins does not prosper, but whoever confesses and renounces them finds mercy.”

All of us have memories of childhood, when our mothers had the impossible task of persuading us to swallow foul-tasting medicine. I know I have! I didn’t really want to know that it was ‘doing me good’ when all it did was make me pull my face in a disgusted grimace. The only consolation was the sugar cube I was given to suck, as a ‘reward for being such a good boy’! In my heart I knew my Mum wouldn’t ever harm me. But nevertheless, whenever the medicine bottle came out, I always tried to avoid the inevitable nose-twitching dose and turn away from what was best for me.

God is like both the ‘best Mum’ and the ‘best Doctor’. He knows what’s good for us, even if we don’t like it. And He knows that the safest and the best way for us to live is within the provisions of His law. This is the place of blessing. And by choosing to live according to the ways of God, we keep the doors closed through which the enemy can attack us. Paul warned us not to do things that would give a foothold to the enemy (Ephesians 4:27). The Psalmist put it this way, “The law of the Lord is perfect, reviving the soul” (Psalm 19:7).

So, if we know what the Word of God says, and we deliberately choose to live in a way that is contrary to the path of blessing, we shouldn’t be surprised if we are no longer living in the reviving presence of God’s Holy Spirit, but are on a downward path away from that highway of holiness that Isaiah talked about (Isaiah 35:8), and which the foolish will avoid. Yes, the Bible talks about the foolishness of those who walk away from His law and His way.

Our Scripture for today also tells us that when we actually choose to ignore the law of God, our prayers become detestable to God. In Isaiah 1 God says that in circumstances like this “even if you offer many prayers I will not listen” (Isaiah 1:15). People often ask me why God doesn’t answer their prayers. There can, obviously, be many reasons for this, but I am increasingly aware that the message of this proverb could be one of the most important words in Scripture for today’s worldwide community of believers. When we stop walking in the ways of God – our prayers no longer reach the heart of God. And isn’t this a simple outworking of a divine principle that we will be treated according to how we treat others?

God has spoken to us through His Word, and if we choose to turn a deaf ear to what He has already said, are we not simply telling God to treat what we say to Him (our prayers) in the same way that we treat what He has said to us? Perhaps we all need to look again at our lives in the light of God’s Word and repent. For this is what God’s Word also says: “Come now, let us reason together. Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow . . . if you are willing and obedient.” Isaiah 1:18-19.

Prayer: I am sorry Lord for expecting you to hear and answer my prayers when, in so many ways, I have not responded to the things you have already said to me. Please forgive me for the times when I have ignored your law and gone my own way. I choose to turn back to you now, and ask that you will forgive me for the contempt with which I have treated your living Word. In Jesus’ Name. Amen.

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