On 30th May, I participated in an extended prayer meeting at church. As soon as the visiting pastor mentioned the all familiar passage Luke 18:1-8, I wondered, What new thing do I have to learn this time? Many things, I realised, even things I needed to be reminded of. Below are blessed notes I took from the teaching time.Persevering in Prayer
- Persevering prayer is a personal pursuit- It is something that an individual does by him/herself. Nobody does this kind of prayer for you.
- Persevering prayer is imperative- “Men ought to,” “You ought to.” The condition of your heart will urge you to be persistent.
- Persevering prayer is a practical thing- You pray yourself, it’s not something you theorize about. The widow was practically knocking at the judge's door every single day, to the point of almost wearing the judge out!
You do the bending down on your knees, the raising of your hands, etc. There's nothing theoretical about this kind of prayer. - Persevering prayer should be continuous-
a) You ought always to pray.
b) This kind of prayer is not done occasionally or whenever you feel like it, it has to be regular.
c) It has to have a focus and it's driven by a need. The widow wanted justice against her adversary and she pursued that from the unjust judge.
d) It’s result-driven. You seek a specific result, thus you don’t give up till you get the result that you want. You don’t settle for less, neither for the 2nd best thing, nor the next available thing that looks like what you wanted. You don’t give up till you gotten exactly what you wanted.
e) There are no time boundaries to this kind of praying. The people cried to God day and night. The widow kept coming to the judge to plead her case.
- Persevering prayer involves the emotions- The people cried to God day and night. You ought to pray with your heart and mind involved. Hannah’s prayer in the temple is an example of her emotions being poured out in prayer. In Psalm 62:8, we are told to pour out our hearts to the Lord.
- Praying in this manner requires boldness and courage- this kind of prayer is not for the fainthearted. Interestingly, the antidote to losing heart is to continue praying.
Approaching the Throne of God in prayer- Hebrews 4:14-16
a) We come to the throne of grace
b) We come to the throne of mercy
c) We come to the throne for timely intervention
d) We have a High Priest, Jesus Christ, who has been there before.
e) We also have the Holy Spirit, who helps us to pray (Romans
- Pray to God, through Jesus Christ.
Faith is really needed in the act of prayer. The implication was that faith will be rare at the time of Jesus' coming. The question is, will you be one of the few people standing firm in the faith when Jesus Christ comes back to take us to be with Him forever? I hope and pray that I will be.
Blessings,
Lady Akofa.
4 comments:
Hello Lady Akofa,
I am wildly curios here.With reference to your blogs of interest and their themes, do you also desire to be a stay at home wife and mom as well as homeschool, shoul the Lord bless you with marriage?
Thanks, Latukane in AFRICA.
Hi Latukane,
I'm drawn to these blogs because of what they teach about BIBLICAL WOMANHOOD, not necessarily the stay at home mom or daughter, homeschool themes.
In my opinion, being a stay at home mom or homeschooling doesn't make a person more godly than another who works outside the home and sends her kids to school. It's just a matter of choice, conviction and how you chose to glorify God within those choices and His leading.
Now, to answer your questions... To be a wife and mom, yes. To homeschool or stay at home... that's a decision my future husband & I will have to make, should I be blessed with this opportunity.
Living on the African continent the practice of marriage and motherhood is remotely different from the blogs I've linked to and I'm quite aware of this. :) Realistically, I'm not seeking that my future family life will look like the writers linked to... far from it. I just haven't found any African, Christian blog that is REGULARLY updated and that primarily deals with the topic of biblical womanhood yet.
If you have any suggestions for great Christian, African blogs on godly womanhood, I'll love to have links to them and check them out. Thanks!
Greetings Lady Akofa,Latukane over here. Thank you for your gracious reply.
I understand about there being a dearth of any African links with the theme of Biblical Womanhood. It is good to know that you are willing to discuss certain subjects with your (Lord-willing) future husband.
I know that things are somewhat different on the African Continent, yet, I have real faith in the Lord that any cultural difference can be bridged as long as God's standards as revealed in the Word are adhered to.
Personally, I have convictions in the direction of homeschooling as well as being a stay at home Mom, because FOR ME, that is God's revelation. I too do not for a moment believe that working outside of the home and sending children to school is a sin, I mean after all, that would mean I was raised in sin and my mother has sinned irrevocably through all my years of life!
For interests sake, it was KCM ministries through the BVOV magazine that 'discipled' me in being rooted in the Christian faith. I had no one ecxept the Holy Spirit, the Bible and that Magazine.
The only possible links I can think of are 'The Reformation Society' and 'Africa Christian Action'. Googling these titles should provide a link.
Thank you once again, for your reply.
My pleasure, Latukane and thanks for your recommendations. I'll google them and see.
Lady Akofa.:)
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