Patience and Persistence in Prayer

"even the little dogs eat the crumbs which fall from their master's table." v27  

                                                                                   Matthew 15:21-31   NKJV 

This woman, displayed the true characteristics of an intercessor. She had patience, was persistent and she put the needs of others (her daughter) before her own needs. Jesus does not ignore this type of dedication in prayer. She used the term, 'Lord help me,' which Spurgeon describes as 'a most handy prayer. One in which can be used any time, anywhere and in whatever circumstances.' 

David Guzik, says that Jesus went all the way to Tyre and Sidon (50 miles) just to meet this one Gentile woman's needs. He had no other reason to go there at the time as things were not easy for a Jew to enter that land. Guzik goes on to describe this as remarkable and unexpected love towards this Canaanite woman. Many of Jesus' own countrymen didn't know who Jesus was but, this Gentile woman knew Him.  (Enduring Word David Guzik)

Note how Jesus' disciples showed no compassion for her, they just wanted her out of the way but, although Jesus didn't initially speak to her, He wasn't rude. When He did speak with her, He mentioned that He was sent to the House of Israel to the lost sheep. Many people believe that He was referring not only to the Jews but the whole House of Israel's lost sheep, which would have included her and all the lost sheep, and ourselves. He then went on to say that it was not good to take the children's food and throw it to the little dogs. The Jews referred to Gentiles as 'Dogs' in the derogatory sense. However, Jesus here was referring to household pets which are loved. He was not playing games with her but wanted to draw out her faith.

In reply to Jesus, Warren Wiersbe paraphrases the woman's comments, 'It is true that we Gentiles do not sit at the table as children and eat the bread. But even the pet dogs under the table can eat some of the crumbs.'  The Warren Wiersbe Study Bible 

This statement from the Gentile woman was all Jesus wanted to hear. He knew her genuine spirit and her faith towards Him and her daughter was healed at that moment.

There is a great need to study the bible deeply. Within its pages, there are many things that we find hard to understand, rather like this piece of scripture. One could think that Jesus was being rude to her and uncaring. Quite the opposite in fact; why travel 50 miles to speak with her if He didn't care? Also, He may have sounded harsh with her but, He was never rude and He gave her every opportunity to show how genuine she was towards Him. We really need to display patience and persistence when we pray with Jesus. He doesn't always answer straightaway, as He showed here. But, He does listen, again as showed here so, don't ever think He is ignoring you because, He isn't.

I never like to end without giving someone the opportunity to ask Jesus into their life, or, re-dedicate their life. If that is you, pray this prayer and please let me know:

contact me, CLICK HERE

Lord Jesus, I have sinned and I ask you to forgive me and be my Lord and Saviour. Please come into my heart, fill me with Your Spirit and give me a brand new start today.

In Jesus' Name. Amen

Copyright 2023 Grahame Howard.                                 

dailylifewithjesusbygrahamehoward.blogspot.com          

If you would like to contact me, CLICK HERE

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Stop trying to be God. Part 3

"You are a hindrance to Me because you're not thinking about God's concerns, but human concerns."    Matthew 16:23   CSB

You can't help feeling sorry for Peter. Let's face it, he meant well and I believe Jesus knew this. But his lack of knowledge and wisdom, let him down. He had been promised promotion by Jesus and he wanted to live up to this. But because of his excitement and readiness to please, he was too hasty. Jesus was not about to deviate from His purpose on earth and he still won't today. Like Peter, if you do wrong, He will rebuke you and you will know it in your spirit too. It's almost like God has left you. He hasn't and, never will as He promised (Hebrews 13:5), but you will feel an emptiness and an overwhelming feeling of guilt.

When I was pastoring, I had a similar experience. A chap who began coming to the church and attending the day centre, where we supplied food, clothing and help to people who were homeless or, down on their luck,  came to me one day and informed me that God, had told him to be my guardian angel and so he would establish himself as my bodyguard. He was ex-army and told everyone that he had been in the SAS. I was taken aback at first but quickly told him that I didn't need a bodyguard. Jesus filled this role for me. However, he was adamant and followed me everywhere. He even tried to taste my coffee one day, I suppose to see if it was poisoned. No matter what I said, he was always around peering around corners to check I was ok. His favourite saying was, 'If anyone tries to hurt you, they will be face down in the lake.' As amusing as this sounded, I had to be firm with him because, He was trying to take on the role of God in my life. It worked for a while but he was still within watching distance.

With regards to Peter, had he become too familiar with Jesus? It is hard to tell; they were together daily and it is just possible that he thought that he also needed to be Jesus' guardian angel.

Unlike Peter, we do not have the physical presence of Jesus around us but, we still have to be careful that we don't take Him for granted. He deserves our respect and honour. He is not a Santa Claus figure who brightens our days with glorious gifts. He is our friend but, He is also God and we need to remember this fact. We have to get this right. 

In closing this study on Peter, ask yourself this question: 'In what way, am I an hindrance to Jesus. Are there times when I am a stumbling block? Do some soul-searching. There may be things that you need to change.

I never like to end without giving someone the opportunity to ask Jesus into their life, or, re-dedicate their life. If that is you, pray this prayer and please let me know:

contact me, CLICK HERE

Lord Jesus, I have sinned and I ask you to forgive me and be my Lord and Saviour. Please come into my heart, fill me with Your Spirit and give me a brand new start today.

In Jesus' Name. Amen

Copyright 2023 Grahame Howard.                                 

dailylifewithjesusbygrahamehoward.blogspot.com          

If you would like to contact me, CLICK HERE

Member of the National Association of Christian Ministers

Why not order my Daily Commentary from Amazon - Paperback or Kindle  

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Stop trying to be God. Part 2

"Get behind Me Satan. You are a hindrance to Me because you're not thinking about God's concerns, but human concerns."    Matthew 16:23     CSB

Let's carry on with Peter's attempts to come between God and His Son. We saw yesterday how Jesus addressed this swiftly. He was not going to allow the devil to take over the situation, through Peter's lack of wisdom. Satan poisons a person's words if he can and we, as God's people, need to be on guard for this type of thing. As I have often said, 'If you let the devil into the back seat, pretty soon he is going to want to drive' (KCM) and it is true, so be aware of this.

Every time you and I disagree, judge someone, criticise them, complain or back-bite them, you are not agreeing with Jesus, the devil is pulling your strings and this, may block a blessing from God. Note that when Peter agreed with Jesus, he was blessed (Matthew 16:17). But when he tried to prevent God's will, he was speaking from the devil and he became a hindrance and stumbling block. Think about it, he had the audacity to rebuke Jesus (v22) and try to forbid Him from carrying out His Father's will, saying, 'This will never happen to You.' It's possible that Jesus' words to him earlier in v17-19, had made him puffed up or too big for his boots. Initially, this can happen when we are placed in charge of people without the experience. Peter wasn't ready for this role; he had a lot more lessons to learn, and so do we.

A lesson to learn here is, we need to be quick to recognise evil. It comes so quickly and sometimes, from the most unlikely of sources. Don't become complacent, feeling all is well in your life. Remember Peter's warning in 1 Peter 5:8, 'Be sober-minded, be alert. Your adversary the devil is prowling around like a roaring lion, looking for anyone he can devour.' It had cost Peter a lot to learn this lesson; we just can't afford to take a day off. Lions creep around very quietly in order to try and catch their prey. In comparison, check out a domestic cat in a garden when he's stalking a bird. Slowly he will crawl on his belly until he is close enough to pounce. If the bird is not alert, then his life is over. Similarly, this is how the devil creeps into situations in our own lives or church. 

Don't get me wrong, not everyone we meet is our enemy - far from it. However, there will be times when your spirit feels things are not quite right and that is the time to take notice. The Holy Spirit may be alerting you to a potential hindrance or stumbling block; so pay attention. Of course, to be alert about such things, you need to be connected to the Holy Spirit. This is why Paul tells us so often that we need to walk in the Spirit. To fail to do this is, to have the spiritual connection down in your communication channel.  Be sure that this does not happen.

I never like to end without giving someone the opportunity to ask Jesus into their life, or, re-dedicate their life. If that is you, pray this prayer and please let me know:

contact me, CLICK HERE

Lord Jesus, I have sinned and I ask you to forgive me and be my Lord and Saviour. Please come into my heart, fill me with Your Spirit and give me a brand new start today.

In Jesus' Name. Amen

Copyright 2023 Grahame Howard.                                 

dailylifewithjesusbygrahamehoward.blogspot.com          

If you would like to contact me, CLICK HERE

Member of the National Association of Christian Ministers

Why not order my Daily Commentary from Amazon - Paperback or Kindle  

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Stop trying to be God!

"Peter took Him aside and began to rebuke Him. 'Oh no, Lord. This will never happen to You" v22                       Matthew 16:21-23   CSB

Jesus spoke some harsh words to Peter after this statement. From one point of view, it was quite surprising for this to happen, especially when He had just told Peter that he would be a 'rock' in the Kingdom of God (Matt 16:16-20.) But when you look at the bigger picture, Peter was trying to take over the will of God for Jesus. He told Him this would never happen. In other words, Peter began to dictate what Jesus should do and Jesus was having none of it, 'Get behind Me Satan. You are a hindrance to Me because you're not thinking about God's concerns, but human concerns.' Ouch, that must have hurt. Jesus had told Peter that he was a hindrance to Him or, in other words, a stumbling block. He was using words from Satan.

Think about this, you can use words, such as, 'Lord' and yet be talking straight from the devil. Peter was trying to protect Jesus. Well, that's not a bad thing from a human point of view. However, Jesus doesn't need protecting because, when you try, you begin to block the work of God. Don't get in God's way, when you do, you can do more damage than you realise. There are times when you just have to let God, do His work. He doesn't need your help. When you try, you begin to come from the fleshy side of your spirit, not the spiritual side.

Proverbs 18:21 says, 'Death and life are in the power of the tongue, and those who love it, will eat its fruit.' Peter was not speaking life when he spoke to Jesus, he was speaking death - death to the situation; death to Jesus on the cross forgiving our sins and giving us eternal life. If Jesus had listened to Peter, we would have had no hope - only death. This is why Jesus spoke the way He did to Peter. He spoke life into the situation - God's will would be done and nothing, absolutely nothing, would stop Jesus from doing this.

We, as Jesus' followers, need to do the same. We must choose our words wisely, we must speak life into a situation, not death. How many times has a God-given idea or direction bit the dust and died because someone was trying to be God to us? We need to be discerning when God speaks to us and once we know it is God speaking, carry out His will no matter what.

Just let this thought dwell within your spirit, 'We have the power to speak life or death to a situation.' Choose to speak life into whatever situation you find yourself in, and then see how things change in your Daily Life with Jesus.

I never like to end without giving someone the opportunity to ask Jesus into their life, or, re-dedicate their life. If that is you, pray this prayer and please let me know:

contact me, CLICK HERE

Lord Jesus, I have sinned and I ask you to forgive me and be my Lord and Saviour. Please come into my heart, fill me with Your Spirit and give me a brand new start today.

In Jesus' Name. Amen

Copyright 2023 Grahame Howard.                                 

dailylifewithjesusbygrahamehoward.blogspot.com          

If you would like to contact me, CLICK HERE

Member of the National Association of Christian Ministers

Why not order my Daily Commentary from Amazon - Paperback or Kindle  

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God is watching you!

"Where now is that great Nineveh?" v11    Nahum 2   NLT

The people of Nineveh had been given a chance to repent by God because of their despicable, plundering ways. They had briefly, when Jonah preached there. However,  they had soon returned to their wicked ways. There is a point for everyone after which, there is no turning back. Assyria had pushed this further than anyone and now, for them, it was too late. God's judgement was coming. All of us must realise and warn others that there is a need to repent while there is still time.  

Nineveh's massive source of wealth, was the result of the plunder they had taken from other nations. The Assyrians had taken the food and goods from starving and innocent people, to maintain their luxurious lifestyle. Depriving other people of what they need is something that, angers God and without repentance, He will repay this type of behaviour.

Look around at what is happening today. The many thousands who are suffering in Israel at this time. It is heartbreaking to see the live news reports of the suffering. God, no doubt has received the prayers from these people and from Christians around the world and He will not fail to come to their aid. However, He wants Israel to recognise Jesus, the Living God; the Saviour of the world. He is the answer to their needs. We need to pray that their eyes will be opened to this truth.

As the Lord said, 'Where now is that great Nineveh,' God will say to Israel's enemies. When He avenges, they will be dealt with like the brutal Assyrians. Read Nahum Chapter 2 in the light of what is happening today and pray accordingly. 

Let us not forget, that God watches us too. He sees the times when we practice hypocrisy. He sees the greed that takes us over when others close by, are struggling to make ends meet. We can't solve all the problems of people around us. However, when God asks us to give to a certain person, church or Christian movement, we need to act. We can't out-give God; whatever we sow, He will bring us a grand harvest. And it makes you feel good yourself, to know that you have helped a person or organisation in need.

After all, it's God's money in the first place, we are just stewards of what He provides for us. We have needs, of course we do. But for others, their needs are probably far greater - something to eat, somewhere to live and clothes to wear, especially as the weather is very damp and cold at present.

Why not ask God to show you who is in need? Remember, He is watching you.

I never like to end without giving someone the opportunity to ask Jesus into their life, or, re-dedicate their life. If that is you, pray this prayer and please let me know:

contact me, CLICK HERE

Lord Jesus, I have sinned and I ask you to forgive me and be my Lord and Saviour. Please come into my heart, fill me with Your Spirit and give me a brand new start today.

In Jesus' Name. Amen

Copyright 2023 Grahame Howard.                                 

dailylifewithjesusbygrahamehoward.blogspot.com          

If you would like to contact me, CLICK HERE

Member of the National Association of Christian Ministers

Why not order my Daily Commentary from Amazon - Paperback or Kindle  

Check it out

 https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B084G9S4FD/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_bibl_vppi_i2