The power of His name

Praise the Lord! I heard one of the most enlightening sermon yesterday at church by our youth pastor Mike. He talked about the power of Jesus' name. He shared from his heart and it was like listening to a friend telling you about his experience. As I was sitting there listening, I couldn't help but keep nodding my head. What he said really rang true to me. As I said in my last cell meeting where I confessed that I do not really feel bother if my prayer do not come true because I figure maybe I wasn't faithful enough. Now I know the real issue is not so much that I am not faithful enough but that I am just being faithful to my own faith...which obviously also not strong enough. What I need is to be faithful to God, to His awesomeness, to His almighty power, to His name! Slowly I start to remember that when my prayers are answered are when I fully and completely trust in God. When I know that other than God there will be no one that can give me an answer. As I pray everyday, I realize that I still put faith in me and not in God. I still believe that I could figure things out so I don't really need to bother God. How silly it is of me. Whether it's big things or trivial things in my life, God wants to play a part. He wants to be there with me. I know it will not be an easy journey but I must determine to pray in faith in the Lord and not in my own faith. Thank you Lord for bringing your message to me through Pastor Mike. You are truly awesome! Amen!

A quiet time

I didn't realize it has been a month since I have posted anything in my blog. Just came back from a 2 weeks holiday with my family and my friends. Took my parents to Sri Lanka and Thailand. It was our annual exotic trip and we had a great time. As we get older, I become keenly aware how important it is to spend time with the people you love. I enjoy my parents' company as I can see the love they have for each other and to show me that this is the kind of love I desire. This has become one of the prayer request I make to the Lord, to let me know when His chosen one appears. A man that share the love of Christ with me, someone that loves and respects me and I of him as well. Someone to talk and to share about life.

The second week I spent in Sapporo learning to snowboard. What an exhilarating experience. I fell more times than I care to count but at the same time, it was because I cast away my fear that I could learn and enjoy snowboarding. It's just like how the Lord pushes us to do things that are new and difficult but at the same time telling us that He is there watching us and helping us to succeed so we can be more like Him.

I have now been back to work for a week. All is calm and I am getting back into the groove of things. Even when I was on holiday I continue to read my bible daily and to read our cell assigned book, How to pray in 28 Days. When I went to cell last Thur, I confessed to the fact that I have been feeling less than Christian like. I don't spend enough quiet time with God. I read my bible and the assignment religiously but many times feel more like homework than something I desire to do. I confessed that when I pray I sometimes don't pray really "faithfully" so if it doesn't happen, I won't feel really "hurt". It sounds awefully self-defeating as I can see my faith in God is tainted by my faith in man-kind. At the end of the cell, we were paired up to pray for one another. But we were not supposed to ask the other person what they wish to be prayed for but rather ask the Lord to give us a "rhema", a scripture. At the end my prayer partner and I did pray for each other but we both admitted that we really didn't know whether it was really a scripture from God or just our knowledge of the other person.

What I did find amazing is that my prayer partner pray that I will not be so hard on myself. That I should have faith in the Lord and not in man. That I should not feel discouraged/disappointed of myself in the Lord. I was grateful for that prayer but I still can't help but feel that maybe I feel that way is because I am not doing the best the Lord wants me to do. There are times I still do things that I know the Lord would disapprove and I will repent. There are even more times that I find it hard to forgive those that have trespassed against me eventhough the Lord has forgiven all our sin.

Which brings me to why I decided on the title "A quiet time". For I have not spent enough quiet time with the Lord and it has been a while since I heard from the Lord...a very quiet time. So I will start and will meditate on this verse, "And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose." Roman8:28

So I must love Him with all my heart and with all my soul and I will then hear Him. Praise the Lord. Amen