patience123

Paul uses the terms darkness and light to portray his reader's past and future, to be living in darkness is like being blind, light brings freedom. He uses complete contrasts to show what a difference salvation makes to the life of a believer. He reminds them where they came from so that they can fully appreciate what a huge difference there is in a life lived in hope and forgiveness of sins, to that of one lived in spiritual darkness. The inheritance of the Saints in light is the hope that believers share of a future (starting now )filled with the grace of God's forgiveness, his love and one day seeing our Lord face to face, when all the earth will recognise him as King of kings and Lord of lords. The two words used of governing bodies are Dominion and Kingdom. The Dominion of Darkness has power to control is governed by forces of evil and the end result is death. The Kingdom of God is filled with light governed with love forgiveness and holds the gift of life everlasting.

Paul prays that God will fill the Colossian believers with the knowledge of his will so that they can live lives worthy of the Lord, pleasing him in every way. Paul asks that they may be given wisdom, understanding, strength,endurance, patience, joy, a thankful heart,knowing His will. I think the most important of these is --- to know God's will. I couldn't say which of these is the least important, they all seem equally important. If any were to be missing then that would be a great handicap both in the life of the believer and those they seek to minister to.

The words that Paul uses to describe the action of the gospel are : "bearing fruit" and "growing". He reminds them of the world scope of the gospels influence so that they will not lack confidence and falter under the pressure of being a minority group. In our day, when a church or an individual becomes embarrassed or unimpressed with the gospel message---their light grows dim---like a hot coal being taken out of a fire--it loses its heat and goes out--- no one would be attracted to a church like that.

How can God receive more glory in my local church? : By more people taking an active part in the life of the church --- prayer and Bible groups, house groups, coffee mornings, greater outreach etc. I could help this happen by---- a) prayer, b)getting more involved in the various meetings, c) offering to host a study group in my home.

Ephesians 3:20 should energize our prayers by making us realise how enormous and beyond measure is God's power. The very thought of it working within us and around us should give us the confidence to ask for more, see the bigger picture, so that our lives will be enriched and the lives of those we come into contact with. When we limit God by our own inability to comprehend then we are not complete, we can become small minded, over critical of others, not filled with his love and compassion. To get past this failing I'm sure it would help to read these passages from Ephesians more often, to ask and expect to receive more energy from our prayer life and to put that energy to use by our actions of giving and loving. First and foremost we need to make a special time in our day for prayer, not leaving it until last when we are too tired.

No, I have never prayed for a fellow believer to be filled with all the fullness of God. I have often asked that their hearts may be open to his Spirit, but perhaps that is not so bold. "The fullness of God " seems to indicate completeness, wisdom, understanding,glory and is a far grander request than my small mind would ever have conceived. The result would be as stated in Eph 5:27 and Col 1:28 asking that the believers become " so filled as to attain to the full perfection of God." It is too much for my mind to take in. I find I can understand the word "perfect" if I think of "complete", I can see that that would be attainable through Christ, but to become "perfect without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, holy and blameless" is just too wonderful for me and sadly my prayers have never been so bold. This prayer would help the early Christians to grasp the Glory that is God. The overwhelming Shekina, the power to carry them through their many difficulties. Dear Lord help me to grasp that all things are possible with you.

Paul prays for the believers to grasp the fullest extent of Christ's love for them so that they will obtain the greatest benefit thus being able to pass that love on to those they meet. To comprehend this love evento a lesser degree can change someone's outlook on life completely, they feel that special" inner peace", they can be more loving, understanding and patient. It's like...... if you have a loving family life as a child then you can share that love with others. I think that there is no end for Christ's love for a person---but, I believe a person can put an end to that love by closing the door of their heart to Jesus, shutting out his love and all that he has done and would continue to do. We are born with a free will-- as for me-- I choose to follow Jesus, WHAT A SAVIOUR !!!

Paul prays for strengthening of the inner man so that believers can be fully empowered, better able to cope with the trials and temptations that would surely come their way as they did the Lord's work in spreading the Gospel. Today we would ask the Lord for a measure of his strength, and the wisdom to recognise his hand in our lives. Paul needed to pray constantly for Christ to dwell in the Believers' hearts, because he knew how frail the human heart can be. It is all too easy to ignore the "inner voice" when trials beset us. Look at poor Peter when he betrayed Jesus, earlier that very same day he had said that he would die for Jesus and would never betray him! We sadly have the same weakness in our make up.

A revelation of God's incomparably great power for us who believe is essential to a vital faith because we need to be constantly "powered up" by his Spirit. I personally have found that some of the most helpful things in developing this faith are centred around the Church and the Bible;----- Bible reading groups, prayer circle and worship in Church, certain TV programmes and last but not least internet studies with Dr Ralph. I pray that other unbelieving souls will one day have the great blessing given to them,when their hearts will be opened to God's word, particularly those in my own family, please God if it is your will, let it be so.Amen

If believers think that God is poverty stricken-- the result in prayer+faith would be a depressing lack of vision and a falling off of faith. Knowledge of a glorious inheritance gives us a goal, enriches our fellowship on earth,gives us greater patience with others,gladdens the heart. The vision is very powerful, we can pray that others will glimpse this inheritance in the love shown at meetings and in the day to day discourse with those we meet. That their hearts and minds may be fully opened to God's word.

My Christian hope has changed my way of living in that I feel more alive to everything around me, more focused in what the Lord wants from me as his follower, and deep down a real sense of peace that ultimately all will be well. The result of a minute/meagre hope would be that the world's suffering, apathy, wars and disasters would drown that small spark. To pray for hope to be borne in others, I would ask God to help me to be a bright light shining for Him, and pray that Christians everywhere may be given a measure of his strength and filled with His Spirit so that they will not give up.

Paul prays for the Ephesian believers continually and mentions them by name, thanking God for them. We should be more consistant in our prayers for others. If Christians stopped praying for people to receive a revelation from God-- it would show a selfish uncaring spirit and would not be following the teaching of Jesus who said we should Hallow God's name, and pray that His will be done and for His Kingdom to come on Earth. How can that be unless all people come to know God? IF we did not pray about it---I feel sure that God would continue to work his will out to fulfill the promises made to Abraham, that all nations of the earth will be blessed through his descendants ie Jesus. Only God knows who will enter His Kingdom, from a remnant upwards, our hope surely would be---as many as possible.

I feel sure that Jesus did receive special treatment, in that he was about to perform a life changing sacrifice on behalf of people all over the world. Past present and future sins were to be paid for, once , for all. I think that we are all surrounded by angels, seen and unseen. Jesus was so in tune with his father that he would derive maximum benefit from the help that was offered from God's angels. Dear Lord, I thank you that I dont have to stand in Jesus' shoes and face what he was facing, in order to benefit from the presence of angels. Thankyou for your great mercy to me, a sinner.

I think that God must have always been pleased with Jesus in all that he did. He would be pleased that Jesus was willing to "trust and obey ". Just as Abraham was willing to sacrifice his son Isaac--- because he trusted that all would be well according to God's promises-- so Jesus trusted his Father to bring him through victorious over sin and death. If we are passive and dispassionate in our prayers that His will be done---we are not aware enough of what we are surrendering To be authentic in our prayer of submission, we have to seriously contemplate what it is we are going to give up in order to submit our will, or as we progress we will learn the hard way later on, we may even give up and fail because we did not give enough thought to the degree of difficulty involved. We need to stick close to the Father so that we can realise that through him all things are possible, if it is his will.

Jesus prayed that the cup be taken from him because he knew what a dreadful death he was soon to suffer, he also knew that only his Father God could change what was to be. He prayed this prayer 3 times because he needed to be sure of his Father's will and so derive great strength from knowing the joy that would be waiting for him at his ressurection; the joy of being at his Father's side. I don't think Jesus was resisting- so much as hoping that there could be another way-however, he knew by now that he was to be The Lamb of God---- a sacrifice without blemish---- for our sins. Thankyou dear Lord.

Jesus asked his disciples to pray because he knew that he would soon be taken from them,that they would be afraid, tempted to forsake Jesus and his teaching. It would be far easier to run away, go back to the life they had before they met Jesus. The content of their prayer would be-- to ask for strength for their Lord Jesus, and for themselves in the coming time of trial. For God's presence to be with them so that they could support Jesus in every way possible. They didn't pray diligently, they were exhausted and terribly sad. The Lord's Prayer contains the words---" Lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil " Jesus wanted to be alone during his own prayer because he wanted to be, as one, with his Father in heaven--to cry to him from his heart, an intensly personal prayer full of anguish. He needed God's strength more than ever before.

Nehemiah is in danger of being dismissed from service and banished from the king's presence forever. He sends a silent arrow prayer to God before answering the king's question because he realizes the gravity of the situation the next time he opens his mouth, he needs God to be right there by his side. The arrow prayer is a continuation of the intimate relationship that Nehemiah has with God.

Nehemiah's situation compares to Esther's in that the requests they are making could result in their death and they know it !!! Also there was similar preparation ---fasting and prayer. They both realised that their role was key in doing God's will for his people, that their time of action had arrived. God places his people in strategic positions so that his will, will be done--his plan for our world will be worked out. Our responsibility is that we should take our stand for God, which can go from being thought of as a little "odd" to risking our very lives. I'm sure I am though of as obsessive by some where the Bible is concerned in my search for the truth, but have only suffered gentle ridicule. I pray that I can pass on my joy in the Lord to others,and pray that God will use me to that end.

The basis of Nehemiah's appeal was to remind God of his promises to Moses, that he would bring his people back from exile, back to Jerusalem. He argues that they are God's own people whom he redeemed from Egypt,who now repent and delight in revering God's name. We learn from this that for intercession we must trust in God's unfailing love and his promises to us. We must be humble and acknowledge our sins, and as in Nehemiah's case, ask for strength and favour to enable us to be of practical help to those we are praying for.

Nehemiah's brother brought profoundly distressing news back from Judah, his countrymen were in great trouble. Nehemiah couldn't even stand when he heard! He wept mourned fasted and prayed. Their suffering and shame were his also. He was touched to his very soul and therefore it was quite natural for him to act in an excessive manner, that would help him to concentrate all his energy on praying to God. It makes me feel quite ashamed that when I see starving children and their families in the world (on TV ) living in the worst slums imaginable, although the image is with me every day, I cant apply myself to prayer in the way that Nehemiah does. I weep inside. Lord------- please help me to pray.

Daniel's essential prayer was for forgiveness and mercy. Daniel confessed that Israel had sinned and not listened to the prophets. he asks for mercy based on God's character not on Israel's righteousness. He asks for forgiveness because God's city Jerusalem and God's people bear his name. God answered Daniel's prayer by sending his messenger, the angel Gabriel who was able to give Daniel insight and understanding. The result was that Daniel was given a vision of the future which included the restoration of Jerusalem.

Although Daniel was such a righteous man in his generation, he sees that when God gave the law to Moses, one of the laws was that a sin commited would effect suffering down to the 3rd and 4th generations. Daniel saw in his and his people's suffering that this was apparent. He loved his country and shared in its guilt. I think that truly righteous people never feel righteous, they are conscious of their own shortcomings and the deep chasm between God and man. So with Jesus, he was without sin, yet took on the sins of others because of his lovefor his father God and love of his people Israel. He knew what God wanted of him---------not my will, but thy will be done. He gave up his life and asked his Father to forgive them.

Daniel's demeanor as he prays is to humble himself by fasting, he wears sackcloth as a sign of mourning for Israel, and places ashes on himself to show total repentence. He prepares by having a firm resolve to pray humbly and to seek God on Israel's behalf until he receives an answer.This is important because Daniel is taking on his shoulders the sins of his entire nation. So we, as we prepare to interceed for others,should give very serious thought to their plight, be empathetic and try to take their burden on to our shoulders. If the problem is huge and seems impossible to solve eg: the poor, starving children in our world , what can we do??? Pray constantly with thought and dedication until we have our answer. Please God, help us to pray like Daniel.

Daniel had been reading the scriptures and believed the Lord's word through Jeremiah and other prophets, that Israel's shame and the desolation of Jerusalem would last for around 70 years. So reading theword of God encouraged Daniel to ask for forgiveness as he realised that Israel had not kept God's laws and shame and captivity was the result. Daniel was in the habit of praying to God, 3 times a day, up in his room facing Jerusalem. Prayer brought encouragement.!!!Just the same with us today, reading the word and prayer need to go together for greatest effect.

" Search me, O God, and know my heart " It's so difficult to pray to be 'refined' as I feel we are being refined slowly as we try to tread the narrow sometimes difficult path which we have been given by God. I always find prayer difficult, God is with me at all times, he already knows my innermost thoughts. I want to pray to him more readily and hope that this study will help me to pray to our Lord with greater ease.I feel sure I have been guided to do this study as an answerto my prayer for help in that direction.