No Sin is Righteous

Therefore “Come out from among them and be separate, says the Lord. Do not touch what is unclean, And I will receive you.” “I will be a Father to you, And you shall be My sons and daughters, Says the Lord Almighty.” (2 Corinthians 6:17, 18 NKJV)

David has been described as a person after God's heart. And the verse above sheds light why this is so. Even though David has sinned, but his heart continues to seek to depart from what is unholy and unrighteous.

"I will set nothing wicked before my eyes; I hate the work of those who fall away; It shall not cling to me. A perverse heart shall depart from me; I will not know wickedness." (Psalm 101:3, 4 NKJV).

Sin is sin. Unholiness is unholiness, regardless the reason. In 1 Sam 15, God gave victory to King Saul but mentioned that he is to destroy all. Not because God is sadistic but because He loves His children and know that they will be corrupted if corruption is allowed to remain. But Saul greatly displeased God and did not destroy all. Even though he gave the reason that the best is left for sacrifice to God and tried to put the blame on his people, God sees the heart and was greatly displeased, to the extent of rejecting Saul. God cannot be mocked and no reason, even if it is to be used as worship and sacrifice to the Lord, is acceptable for sin. Sin is sin and God is holy. Reasoning and blaming won't help.

Perhaps that is what sets David from Saul; not that David never sinned but his heart was tender towards God and sought to depart from unholiness so that God can be pleased to call him His child. This is how much God loves you to want you to stray from Him.

Paul says "We then, as workers together with Him also plead with you not to receive the grace of God in vain". (2 Corinthians 6:1 NKJV).

"For the Lord does not see as man sees; for man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.” (1 Samuel 16:7b NKJV)

What aspects of your life do you need change so God will be pleased with you? Reasoning won't help.

Vengeance is Whose?

Life Checkpoint: Do you have in your life some unresolved issues where someone has wronged you and you feel great distress whenever you think of him/her? Do you think "how dare him/her after all I have done? I don't deserve this!" if so, I sensed from my quiet time to share this with you.

Recently in my healing and wholeness, I have also come to realise I have unresolved hurts that held on to and literally controlled my life. But that has been dealt with. Yesterday, was just chatting with someone on what it means to forgive and forget. And as I read from 1 Sam 24 & 25, I sense God teaching me on it. In 1 Sam 24, we see how David (who was pursued by King Saul for his life, though for no wrongdoing of David's) had an opportunity to kill Saul but yet he did not. But yet in the next chapter, he encountered Nabal who was insolent to him when he asked for food for his people and he refused, mocking him saying that he (Nabal) does not know who David is. This after all the kindness that David has shown to Nabal's shepherds. Unlike in the previous chapter, David got angry and arose with his men to want to kill him, only to be stopped by Nabal's wife who stopped him midway and reasoned with him. To which David, finally realising it, said that her advice is good and stop him from needless bloodshed and taking vengeance in his own hands (1 Sam 25:33).

And we read on that Nabal was struck dead by the Lord ten days later and King Saul was dead some time after. God has indicated 3 times in the bible, both old and new testament that vengeance is His.

Beloved, do not avenge yourselves, but  rather give place to wrath; for it is written, “Vengeance is Mine, I will repay,” says the Lord. (Rom 12:19 NKJV)

Why does the Lord requires that we leave vengeance to Him? I could only think its because God does not want us to even entertain evil in our lives and have our lives wrecked by it.

In the words of King David, ‘Wickedness proceeds from the wicked.’ (1 Sam 24:13a NKJV). When we hold on to unresolved bitterness, we allow wickedness and evil into our lives.

In the word of Nabal's wife, "don’t let this be a blemish on your record. Then your conscience won’t have to bear the staggering burden of needless bloodshed and vengeance" (1 Sam 25:31a)

God sees the heart and is more concerned of your heart, not wanting it to unnecessarily be filled with malice, hatred, bitterness, which is not of Him and which wrecks your life. If you do have these unresolved issues, think about how it's eating you and your life up. When we let go and let God, we are trusting in His good time things will work for good for you who follow His way. God will deal with it. Not letting go to God is not trusting God and wanting to run your own life. His purposes for you are always good.

And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose. (Romans 8:28 NKJV)

God is not asking you to let go of your bitterness but to let go to Him and let God take over so you can be pure. He judges.

Which Sorrow? My Testimony (Coming Out of Depression)

2 Corinthians 7:10-11 (NIV)

Godly sorrow brings repentance that leads to salvation and leaves no regret, but worldly sorrow brings death. See what this godly sorrow has produced in you: what earnestness, what eagerness to clear yourselves, what indignation, what alarm, what longing, what concern, what readiness to see justice done. At every point you have proved yourselves to be innocent in this matter.

This morning, as I did my quiet time, I came across this passage. And it seems that God was trying to capture my attention as one part of the passage sprung out to me. As I read the verses again, I sensed God telling me that sorrow is always here with us, because we live in a fallen world and simply because we are created by Him to have emotions. No matter how much we try, even with our very best, to avoid sorrow and regardless of what others tell us about being able to escape sorrow when we choose to be happy, the truth is: sorrow is here to stay. And I am sure, as you are reading this, God may bring to mind periods where you have been through sorrow, over something which may have happened to you, over a loss or even over someone else. We need to face the truth and come to terms that sorrow is normal because we are just not robots with no emotions. The difference though is the kind of sorrow: Godly and worldly sorrow.

Some of you may not know but I have been battling with depression for the last few months. It has been a rough year since July 2011. The year saw me preparing for my wedding and renovations of our new home and being stressed out by all the decisions that need to be made for it, facing my dad’s diagnosis of advanced stage lung cancer in August 2011 and coupled with it, the uncertainty of how we are going to cope with it physically, emotionally and financially, striving to understand all the medical jargons being spewed out to me and trying to stand tall to make decisions about care plans for my dad and also for his treatment, shuttling to and from work and hospital to accompany my dad, facing the news of the death of my wife’s beloved grandfather, subsequently dealing with my unexpected but eventual departure of my dad due to pneumonia, facing news of my wife being diagnosed with large fibroids and requiring surgery, facing the unexpected and sudden death of my cousin who we have reconnected back just a few months back before my dad’s passing on and so on. And all this while, I was running low in my “tank” and on my strength while trying to cope with worrying and ministering to people in ministry, while trying to deal with past hurts in ministry and previous work stints, cope with work, worrying about health problems that surface one after another in the last few months and also negative thoughts in my mind that I am unworthy. Yes, by the time my cousin passed away suddenly in April 2012, I found myself starting to crumble under pressure. My depression was starting to worsen and I found myself being dazed, had no interest in anything, had an insatiable appetite, was quiet and at times and had wanted to even break down and cry when I am alone and outside. Life was getting too difficult to bear and even though I had no courage to commit suicide, I remember praying before sleep that God will just take me away in my sleep that I can be far away from all these. Have you felt this way before?

I asked God what have I done to have to go through all these? But even though with that being said, I still trusted God because He had seen me through many trials in the past before and has revealed Himself real as He worked in my life in many miraculous ways. Trust me, if you live my life, you will know what I mean. There are many miracles and blessings that just shows God is real. I held on to God and He continue to bring me much assurance of Him being with me.

And some of His assurances are captured in my thanksgiving journal, beginning at the church camp on 8 Jun 2012:

Even though with all the assurance, I did not quite understand why I was going through all these.

At first, I thought that it might have been spiritual attacks because just before my depression told a dive for the worse in end May when my cousin passed away suddenly, I received two unique experiences and knew that the Lord might be calling me to a greater works:

So, in my heart, up till the time of my first Healing & Wholeness session last Saturday (14 Jul), I had sensed that it might be spiritual attack from Satan.

However, as I read the verse from 2 Corinthians 7:10-11 above, I sensed that God is also telling me that He needed to work with me as a person to prepare me for greater works.

On 11 Jul 2012, I wrote these words in my devotional as God impressed on my heart that morning:

As I read it , yes, it does speak of abundant life in God in this fallen world, but more so, it made me realise that God was doing 2 things here to me: (1) Asking me to go back to the source of abundant life; Him and not anyone else and (2) Growing me as a person.

In fact, I have so focused on verse 2 about trials that I forgot about verses 3-4 which says: “knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing”.

And today, going back to 2 Corinthians 7:10-11, it is as if God bringing me full revelation of what He wanted me to learn and that sorrow has been but an instrument of perfecting me. Indeed, I felt spoken to that there are two kinds of sorrow: worldly sorrow and godly sorrow. One brings life and one brings death. Sorrow apart from God or worldly sorrow, can make us feel so hopeless and brings physically, spiritual and psychological death but godly sorrow drives us towards God, towards Hope.

Look at how the Message bible puts it:

Distress that drives us to God does that. It turns us around. It gets us back in the way of salvation. We never regret that kind of pain. But those who let distress drive them away from God are full of regrets, end up on a deathbed of regrets.

I thank God that in my distress, I had not let go and continue to seek Him. And yes, surprising to some, God allows distress to sometimes bring us to our knees to come back to Him and rely on Him. And we HAVE the choice to turn our sorrow, which is unavoidable in life, to godly sorrow or worldly sorry. What is the Lord telling you in your sorrow?

I used to interpret verse 10 as only for those who have yet to know God, but today God shows me that, in fact, we all need to repent from our imperfect ways and when sorrows come into the picture, God can use it to turn us around.

I thank God for how He brought me back to Isaiah 41:9-10 just as I prepare to facilitate worship with Min Qin, Joyce and Joshua for the first time with the young adults in my church last Friday (13 Jul). God reminds me that I am in His hands. He had given me this verse a few years back when I was going through another rough patch, which I overcame and grown from it.

The Lord says (Isaiah 41:9-10 NIV):

I took you from the ends of the earth,
    from its farthest corners I called you.
I said, ‘You are my servant’;
    I have chosen you and have not rejected you.
10 So do not fear, for I am with you;
    do not be dismayed, for I am your God.
I will strengthen you and help you;
    I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.

How do I know that God has turned things around for me? Frankly, as I type this, I do not know what lies ahead me (no one knows) but then what surprised me is that how God quickly turned things around over just 2 hours. I had been depressed and getting increasingly depressed over the last 1 year but over just 2 hours at the Healing & Wholeness counselling session, God turned things around. It has to be God! And I know that God is holding my hand no matter what.

I leave the depression behind knowing and confirming once again God is real in my life and that I only need get my love and source of life from Him and not anyone else or anything else. I lost my dad but I now can rely on my Daddy God.

And so God says and reminds in closing:

2 Corinthians 7:11 (MSG)

And now, isn't it wonderful all the ways in which this distress has goaded you closer to God? You're more alive, more concerned, more sensitive, more reverent, more human, more passionate, more responsible. Looked at from any angle, you've come out of this with purity of heart..

May this bless you and encourage you to look to God in your sorrow. Stop running away from sorrow but allow God to work in your sorrow as you turn your worldly sorrow into godly sorrow which brings hope.

Encountering God Through Prayer

Hear Us From Heaven


Lord, hear our cry
Come heal our land
Breath life into these dry and thirsty souls
Lord, hear our prayer
Forgive our sin
And as we call on Your name
Would You make this a place
For Your glory to dwell

Chorus:
Open the blind eyes
Unlock the deaf ears
Come to Your people
As we draw near
Hear us from heaven
Touch our generation
We are Your people
Crying out in desperation

Bridge:
Hear Us From Heaven,
Hear Us From Heaven,
Hear Us From Heaven (4x)

We have started a 6-weeks series on prayer and frankly, the sermons, the preparation for cell group discussion and also reading a book which my sister had bought from Riverside Resource, Too Busy Not to Pray by Bill Hybels, have helped me to start think seriously about prayer and reflecting upon my prayer life.

• Why do we pray?
• Why do we struggle with prayer?
• How do we pray?
  

Beginning on the Right Footing #1: What's Your Attitude towards Prayer?
I myself am coming to learn more about prayer as I reflect and I hope you can share with me your experience and comments too :) As I was preparing for cell discussion, I felt that God was telling me that we need to start our prayer life with the right footing; before we can even talk about how we should pray, we need to understand why we pray and our attitudes about prayer:

• Do we believe in the power of prayer?
• Do we believe that God is willing to hear our prayers?
• Do we believe that God is able to do something about our prayer requests?
  

- Do you believe in the power of prayer?

Bill Hybels says in his book "an archbishop once observed, 'it's amazing how many coincidence occur when one begins to pray.'

As I look back, I see the value of prayer in my spiritual life. I can think of 3 instances specifically where I was awed by the power of prayer.

- Instance #1: God's Protection

The first was when I come to realise how prayer has helped me survive my first time mission trip in 2007. In April 2007, I went for a mission trip for the first time to China and we were there for 18 days. The 18 days were just amazing and it was a time when I became still and saw how great a God we have; a God that provides, watches over and protects. The trip was full of amazing testimonies throughout the 18-days including:

• how my life was preserved as we were making our way up to a village school, how we learnt about a stabbing case that took place where we stayed less than a week before we came,
  
• how the county government initially was not open to our team coming over to provide training and last minutes doors opened for the missionary team to work with them,
  
• how the virginia tech shooting (and the local stabbing case) which happened at the time we were there had provided open opportunities for people to talk about mental health issues (which was what we were doing training for there),
  
• how God brought 2 Singaporeans, who used to work as outdoor trainers, to us to bless us throughout the trip with their expertise
• how these 2 Singaporeans made a last minute decision to follow us on a visit to a missionary at a children's home and then halfway through the visit, the missionary (not knowing that these 2 worked as outdoor trainers) mentioned that he had always wanted to do teambuilding for his children and staff but did not know how to go about it. It's just amazing how God brought them to the home at the right time
• how our team had later also blessed these 2 Singaporeans, providing fellowship and Christian community to one who told us that she was beginning to feel distanced from God and also open opportunities for the other, who is a pre-believer, to learn about Christ. We were told she had been resistant to hearing the gospel but then the visit to the home provided an opportunity for her to hear a testimony of a staff (who did not know she is a pre-believer) and prepared her heart to want to know Christ
• how after 10 years of working with the local authorities and praying for breakthrough, the local government finally initiated working together for the long-term.
• and many others

Then, when I returned, I come to realise that many things went well because we had many prayer warriors behind us, including people we did not know who were also interceding for us at the missions office.

- Instance #2: God Is This Your Will?
The second was when I was called by God to "confront" a friend who was involved in a Korean cult here in Singapore. For a few months, I have been running away from that calling and finally one day, God provided the opportunity for me to invite him out alone (because previous attempts, he always brought someone along to try to "convert" me). I remember being all jittery about it on the day I was to meet him and I kept asking God if this is His will; for me to "confront" this friend about this matter. By the end of the day, I met a colleague (who does not take the train but happened to be taking the train with me on that day) and we chatted. Suddenly, out of her bag, she brought out a book "Knowing God's Will" and lent the book to me, telling me that she had intended to return the book to her church library the previous Sunday but the librarian wanted her to keep and finish reading the book.

Reading that book had also prepared me for what was to happen later; I was to face rejection from my friend. I remember reading from the book about how we sometimes play a small part in God's purposes and we may be laying a brick one at a time as we help build the house, so nothing is wasted although we do not see God's purpose at the point in time we lay the brick. As expected, I felt horrible after the meeting and felt terribly rejected but then I recall what I read. As if to make sure that it sank deep within me, the 'Our Daily Bread' article the next morning was about how we need to work with the Lord when working to save others just as we can put together the ingredients for a cake but ultimately, it is the oven that bakes the cake, not us. Talking about God answering your questions.

- Instance #3: God's Leading
The last instance I can think of is my prayer for my ministry. As I had shared before, I faced much challenges in my initial months of ministry and had wanted to just give up. But each time I made a decision to give up, God spoke through the pulpit. I could not understand what plans God has for me and I kept lamenting and crying out, praying for Him to reveal to me His plans. Breakthrough came months later and it is becoming clear why somethings happened the way it did. God also continue to equip me and lead me as I carried on my ministry and I came to realise that God had never forsaken me even though I faced trials:

Hebrew 13:5b-6
because God has said, "Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you." 6. So we say with confidence, "The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid. What can man do to me?"

Isaiah 41:10
So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.

And many of you also shared how God had answered prayers in your life. So do you believe in the power of prayer?

- Do you believe that God is willing to bless us?
In his book, Bill Hybels shared that God wants to bless you:

Luke 18:1-8 tells of the parable of the persistent widow and even of the judge who neither feared God nor cared for man can relent to help the widow, how much more our God?

Matthew 7:9-11 also reminds us:

9. "Which of you, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone? 10. Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? 11. If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!

Similarly, Leviticus 26:3-6 and Deuteronomy 28:2-6 speaks of how God wants to bless us as long as we seek to obey Him.

So do you believe that God is willing and wants to bless you?

- Do you believe that God is able to do something about our prayer requests?
This really is an interesting question because I believe most would say "yes". But why is it that if we believe He can do something about it and yet we are not fervent in our prayers? The ability and omnipotence of God is shown throughout the bible and also in lives of people in present day but yet why do we doubt?

Beginning on the Right Footing #2: In what state are you approaching God in prayer?

Isaiah 1:15-17
15 When you spread out your hands in prayer,
I will hide my eyes from you;
even if you offer many prayers,
I will not listen.
Your hands are full of blood;

16 wash and make yourselves clean.
Take your evil deeds
out of my sight!
Stop doing wrong,

17 learn to do right!
Seek justice,
encourage the oppressed. [a]
Defend the cause of the fatherless,
plead the case of the widow.

Really, God is holy and how are you approaching the throne of God when you go into a time of prayer. Do you treat God as "santa-claus" and treat prayer as just a time of putting in request for things to be right for you? I remember Elder Andrew Goh once shared about the half prayer (prayer which starts and stops with "God, make this happen, make that happen") versus the full prayer (God, may Your will be done). How do you deal with the sin as you approach the throne of God?

Luke 18: 9-14
9. To some who were confident of their own righteousness and looked down on everybody else, Jesus told this parable: 10. "Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. 11. The Pharisee stood up and prayed about himself: 'God, I thank you that I am not like other men—robbers, evildoers, adulterers—or even like this tax collector. 12. I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get.'

13. "But the tax collector stood at a distance. He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, 'God, have mercy on me, a sinner.'

14. "I tell you that this man, rather than the other, went home justified before God. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted."

God exalts and the one who humbles himself before God and recognises his sins. He looks for the repentent heart. just as Luke 19:1-10 tells us about His encounter with Zacchaeus, the Tax Collector

Luke 19:1-10 Zacchaeus, the Tax Collector
1. Jesus entered Jericho and was passing through. 2. A man was there by the name of Zacchaeus; he was a chief tax collector and was wealthy. 3. He wanted to see who Jesus was, but being a short man he could not, because of the crowd. 4. So he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore-fig tree to see him, since Jesus was coming that way.

5. When Jesus reached the spot, he looked up and said to him, "Zacchaeus, come down immediately. I must stay at your house today." 6. So he came down at once and welcomed him gladly.

7. All the people saw this and began to mutter, "He has gone to be the guest of a 'sinner.' "

8. But Zacchaeus stood up and said to the Lord, "Look, Lord! Here and now I give half of my possessions to the poor, and if I have cheated anybody out of anything, I will pay back four times the amount."

9. Jesus said to him, "Today salvation has come to this house, because this man, too, is a son of Abraham. 10. For the Son of Man came to seek and to save what was lost."

Even in Genesis 32-33, we see how Jacob seeks to be forgiven and it is a contrast between the way in which he sought forgiveness and blessing from God and from his brother Esau. For God, it did not take goats, ewes, rams, camels, cows, bull and donkeys for Him to forgive because He himself has provided the lamb, Jesus, to die for our sins.

To Live is Christ



I make a vow
My life will always honour you
Whether I live or die

I belong to Him
He bore my sin
I owe this life to my saving King

Hallelujah, I am not my own
You are in control
Hallelujah

For me to live is christ
And to die is gain
No matter what price i pay
I choose to give this life away

Only by the cross I am saved

Do you come before God to confess your sins and be repentent just as Zacchaeus, Jacob and the tax-collector in Luke 18:9-14?

Why do We Pray?
Why do we pray? Is it purely to submit our requests to God and then amen? For many, prayer is...:

• a time of fellowship/communion with God; basking and enjoying His presence and the peace and assurance which comes with it
  
  
  Draw Me Close to You
  
  
  Draw me close to You
  Never let me go
  I lay it all down again
  To hear You say that I'm Your friend
  
  You are my desire
  No one else will do
  'Cause nothing else could take Your place
  To feel the warmth of Your embrace
  Help me find the way
  Bring me back to You
  
  You're all I want
  You're all I've ever needed
  You're all I want
  Help me know You are near
  
  
  
• a time of being humbled because we can sometimes think we are self-sufficient and refuse to take it to the Lord in prayer. Bill Hybels put it nicely to say that prayer is an assault on deep-seated values of self-sufficiency and independent living, which sometimes makes us forget we need God
• a time of confession to fall down on our knees before the Lord and seeking his forgiveness for our sins
• a time of thanksgiving and adoration of how wonderful a God He is
• spiritual warfare as we seek to intercede for others to take them away from the hands of the devil and also sometimes to shut the devil up because he can put thoughts which will serve to bring us away from God. I myself have experienced several negative thoughts about myself and how I am a failure and unable to do what God has called me to do. We need to silence these thoughts and the only way is to be in the presence of God
• a time of refuge in the Lord because sometimes we realise we can do nothing but go down on our knees
  
• a time of being still and seeking God's will in decision and circumstances e.g. before we go into quiet time
  
  Think of Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane. He provides the most perfect model of what it is to pray according to God's will. Imagine being in Jesus' shoes and knowing the hour has come to die on the cross and crying out to the Lord, but yet recognising that it is God's will, not his will.
  
  
  I Surrender All
  
  
  All to Jesus I surrender
  All to Him I freely give;
  I will ever love and trust Him,
  In his presence daily live.
  
  I surrender all, I surrender all;
  All to thee, my blessed Savior,
  I surrender all.
  
  All to Jesus I surrender,
  Humbly at His feet I bow,
  Worldly pleasures all forsaken,
  Take me Jesus, take me now.
  
  
  
• a time of placing our request at the feet of God to help us,
  

but my most favourite one is, as I have realised in the past few days:

• Christianity is not a religion but a relationship with God and thus, how can one of the main component of relationship; communication, be left out? God wants to hear from us.

Why Do We Struggle with Prayer?
If we believe in the power of prayer, that God is willing and able to help us then why do we still struggle? Some cite:

• Busyness
• Laziness
• Our deep-seated values of self-sufficiency
• Sin which makes us turn away instead of to God for forgiveness
  
• Shame - some people feel that prayer is an admittance of weakness
• "Don't know how to pray"
  

Bill Hybels observes that it is amazing how sometimes we can put aside time for those things we set to do and learn but then when it comes to prayer, it is a different matter all together. I once was also plagued with the worry that I do not know how to pray properly and may look stupid in front of many people. This has caused me to feel rather awkward at prayer meetings because I am afraid I will not pray properly. But then, I later was ministered to by Matthew 6:5-15:

5. "And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by men. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full. 6. But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. 7. And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words. 8. Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.

9. "This, then, is how you should pray:
" 'Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name,
10. your kingdom come,
your will be done
on earth as it is in heaven.
11. Give us today our daily bread.
12. Forgive us our debts,
as we also have forgiven our debtors.
13. And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from the evil one.' 14. For if you forgive men when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. 15. But if you do not forgive men their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.

How Do We Pray?
Personally, I do not think there is a standard way of praying because it is your relationship with God and your way of communicating with God. But some guidelines do exist which can help, until you develop your own. e.g. ACTS:

• Adoration - Praising God for His faithfulness, grace, love, wonders etc
• Confession - Repent and bringing to God your confessions of sin and ask for his forgiveness
• Thanksgiving - Giving thanks to God for all the works He had done in your life
• Supplication - Bring to God your requests

Something else I found:

Use your hand.
Your fingers can be used to bring to mind different things to pray for.

• thumb
  this is the strongest digit on your hand. Give thanks for all the strong things in your life, like home and family, relationships that support and sustain you.
• index finger
  this is the pointing finger. Pray for all those people and things in your life who guide and help you. Friends, teachers, doctors, nurses, emergency services and so on.
• middle finger
  this is the tallest finger. Pray for all the important people who have power in the world, like world leaders and their governments, members of parliament and local councillors, the Royal Family, other world leaders and their governments.
• ring finger
  this is the weakest finger on your hand. It can not do much by itself. Remember the poor, the weak, the helpless, the hungry, the sick, the ill and the bereaved.
• little finger
  this is the smallest and the last finger on your hand. Pray for yourself.

Bill Hybels also chooses to write down his prayers in a journal because it:

• helps him concentrate and be focused
• help him be specific
• help him see how God answers prayers which builds faith

Whatever you do, he encourages us to experiment with different ways to see how it works for us. But still Jesus provided us with the principles in Matthew 6:9-15 about prayer: regular, private, sincere and specific. And there is no substitute to praying except to just do it! No reading of books, researching on the internet is going to help but just do it!

So what are you going to do to raise the value of prayer in your walk with the Lord? What is different now and what can be different?

Discussion: God Loves Truthful Worship

What Do You Think about Psalm?
What comes to your mind when you think of the Psalms? For me, prior to OTC, when I think of the Psalms, I see boring poems which did not even rhyme and they can be saying the same thing over and over, just in different ways.

God Desires a Genuine Relationship
But this week, as I prepare for CG discussion, I began to see how powerful Psalm can be. I began to see how it is possible to express how we sometimes feel, with genuineness and honestly, to God. As I read Don Moen's article on his song, "I Will Sing", I am reminded that indeed God knows us intimately, so why do we sometimes hold back our feelings and just keep to the "safe stuff" like thanksgiving and praises? He knows everything, He knows your disappointment and anger etc. Putting things into perspective, Christianity is not a religion but a relationship with God, so wouldn't God want to be in a genuine relationship with us where we can cry out to the Lord and express our deepest emotions to Him, just because He cares and He knows.

Psalm 62:8 (New International Version)
8. Trust in him at all times, O people;
pour out your hearts to him,
for God is our refuge.
Selah

John 4:23 (New International Version)
23.Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks.

My Realization
I have shared that throughout these few weeks as I took on cell leadership, I had been having struggles of my own and God has also been speaking to me in modules. It seems that whatever the sermon is on that week, I will be going through struggles in areas related to that topic. So these 2 weeks, while we were covering Psalm, I struggled with being angry with God. Deep inside me, I was crying out to God "God, you called me here but why are You letting all these happening to me?!" I was angry, I was annoyed, I was disappointed and just did not know how to go about it. I struggle because I mainly struggle with not having the confidence to lead word discussion and also with having to deal with being an introvert and interacting with people. I cried out to him several times but then things just sometimes remain the same.

I got angry and at FOP last Friday, I was ministered to by Don Moen's song, "I Will Sing". The opening words captured my heart and reflected how I felt. Then, sometime earlier this week, I was again "attacked" and again felt horrible. I began to feel very pressured. Then, God sent a series of events to minister to me and also people like colleagues and friends who affirmed me. Frankly, up till late afternoon today, I did not know how I was going to conduct cell. I was angry, I was lost, I felt horrible. My colleague passed me an article titled "Take Courage: You Build More Than You See" and nicely also highlighted a specific part for me to read. Frankly, as I read through the article, there were several times I just went "Ya right! If this is the case, why are You Lord allowing this to happen to me?!" But then the amazing thing was that, by the end of the article, I was refreshed by the God's word, which says in Haggai 2:1-9:

1 On the twenty-first day of the seventh month, the word of the LORD came through the prophet Haggai: 2 "Speak to Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, to Joshua son of Jehozadak, the high priest, and to the remnant of the people. Ask them, 3 'Who of you is left who saw this house in its former glory? How does it look to you now? Does it not seem to you like nothing? 4 But now be strong, O Zerubbabel,' declares the LORD. 'Be strong, O Joshua son of Jehozadak, the high priest. Be strong, all you people of the land,' declares the LORD, 'and work. For I am with you,' declares the LORD Almighty. 5 'This is what I covenanted with you when you came out of Egypt. And my Spirit remains among you. Do not fear.'

6 "This is what the LORD Almighty says: 'In a little while I will once more shake the heavens and the earth, the sea and the dry land. 7 I will shake all nations, and the desired of all nations will come, and I will fill this house with glory,' says the LORD Almighty. 8 'The silver is mine and the gold is mine,' declares the LORD Almighty. 9 'The glory of this present house will be greater than the glory of the former house,' says the LORD Almighty. 'And in this place I will grant peace,' declares the LORD Almighty."

God's Reminder
In short, the article was suggesting that two arguments were presented in Haggai to motivate the people rebuilding the temple to say remind them to fear not for God is with them and that despite it seems that what they are building now is nothing, God will bless and bring glory to the temple. It was as if a reminder from God that whatever we do, He can bless it no matter how paltry it seems now, but only we continue to work with Him. I continued to be ministered to by the Lord as I made my way to cell meeting and I thank God that He blessed the session. Today's session was one of the very rare times I did not have to worry about what to say because things just came out naturally. And I can really feel Him blessing it. This week has made me realised how important it is to be honest with God in our hurts, disappointments, anger etc because He already knows. He can only deal with us as honest as we are with Him, just as how the Psalmist were sometimes so frank in their writings and "dealings" with the Lord.

Then came the other question, what keeps us from being honest with God? Some suggest it is because we have not reached the point of frustration as yet (and maybe do not want to "bother" God), some suggest this has been so since the time of Adam and Eve when they hid from God after eating the forbidden fruit, while some say that some of us have a certain perception on how a good Christian should not challenge God, so we keep all the "bad feelings" away. But also, it seems that we need to, at the end of the day, recognise how we view our Heavenly Father. A distant and most high God or one who knows us intimately and would like a relationship with us? Well, in my opinion, God can be both.

Devotional: Are We Honest With God?

Hi everyone.

Was at Festival of Praise last week and although I must admit that I am getting old and not really taking to the loud music and even for the message, (frankly) I was a little bored because it was on Saul and David, what we had covered for OTC in the past few weeks. But I must really admit that the Lord works in wonderful ways. I was (or rather still am) feeling at a loss with everything from my work, to my spiritual walk and also cell leadership. I am frankly feeling I am quite at the bottom of the pit and several times I "cry" out to the Lord why this is happening to me.

Then, the pastor began to say something which made me "spring" up from my seat. He reminded that David, a man after God's own heart (Acts 13:22), also constantly asked the Lord for a fresh anointing. It reminded me that I can do that too. Then much later, Don Moen came on stage and sang the song "I Will Sing" and it ministered deeply, reminding me how much God is in control. Incidentally, the past two weeks, I thank God for sending people to affirm me that God is in control. Ultimately, I am a man of few words and sometimes really don't know what to say and the song and a few other Psalm did help me to become more clear about how I am feeling and help express these emotions to God. It is OK even if some of these feelings are anger, hurt, disappointment (of the Lord) because God knows our feelings but are we honest with Him? Even as I write this article now, I have this deep headache throbbing in my head and I am not sure if it is spiritual attack, but I will speak forth what the Lord has helped me to realise and share.

I found the following which was written by Don Moen about this too. Taken off Integrity Music's website, he speaks about being honest with God in our worship, which I found meaningful and would like to share.

Let's Be Honest!
by Don Moen
©2000 by Don Moen

Imagine this scene with me. It's Sunday morning about 10:35. You have just entered the sanctuary of your church after the usual hassles of getting everyone out the door and in the car. You were running a little late, so all the good parking places were taken. (You were tempted to park in the visitors parking space, but you resisted, hoping God noticed.) Finally, you walk into the service already in progress. The worship leader is introducing a new song. You notice the words in your bulletin and as you try to learn the melody, you began to feel a little uncomfortable with the lyrics. This is not what you're used to singing. You begin to wonder if this song is scripturally accurate.

The first verse says, "Do not keep silent oh God of my praise! For the mouth of the wicked and the mouth of the deceitful have opened against me. They have spoken against me with a lying tongue. They have also surrounded me with words of hatred and fought against me without a cause. In return for my love they are my accusers, but I give myself to prayer. Thus they have rewarded me evil for good and hatred for my love." (NKJ) You are beginning to feel uncomfortable singing these words in a worship service of all places, but the worship leader begins with the second verse and says, "Let's just lift our voices this morning and sing verse two together."

Before you realize what is happening, you are singing along with him. "Set a wicked man over him, and let an accuser stand at his right hand. When he is judged, let him be found guilty, and let his prayer become sin. Let his days be few, and let another take his office." "Good grief! What are we singing?" you ask yourself. "This has to get better." It doesn't, but you continue singing along. "Let his children be fatherless and his wife a widow. Let his children continually be vagabonds and beg. Let them seek their bread also from their desolate places. Let the creditor seize all that he has and let strangers plunder his labor. Let there be none to extend mercy to him nor let there be any to favor his fatherless children. Let his posterity be cut off and in the generation following let their name be blotted out." (NKJ) Whoa! "Enough already!" you say. "What's going on here? We can't sing songs like this in our church. God might be listening!"

As you probably know, this is a Psalm (song) of David. (Psalm 109:1-13) There is still a lot more to sing in this Psalm. David was not finished writing what was on his heart yet. Can you imagine singing this in your church on Sunday morning? Probably not. We usually prefer the "safer" Psalms! Ones that we think God is comfortable with, such as, "Oh Lord our Lord how majestic (excellent) is your name in all the earth." (Psalm 8:1) "I will bless the Lord at all times, His praise shall continually be in my mouth." (Psalm 34:1) "This is the day that the Lord has made, let us rejoice and be glad in it." (Psalm 118:24) "I will enter His gates with thanksgiving in my heart, I will enter His courts with praise." (Psalm 100:4), etc. Don't misunderstand me, I love these Psalms and I sing them quite often when I am leading worship, but I believe there is more that God wants to show us in the area of worship and it has to do with honesty. In John 4: 23-24 Jesus told us "the Father is seeking worshipers who will worship Him in Spirit and Truth." Our Heavenly Father is not afraid of honesty in worship! Quite the contrary, He is longing for us to be truthful in our worship.

Do we put on another face when we come to church or go to a Christian conference? Sometimes I feel there are a lot of games being played among Christians and I believe our Heavenly Father longs for us to get past this and get to the next level in worship. Remember it is the Father's desire for us to worship Him in Spirit and Truth.

Truthfulness. He desires our worship to be full of truthfulness. Too many times when it comes to worship, we hold back from telling the truth! Instead, we compromise our true feelings and sing songs with "safe" lyrics that won't offend God. Do we really think that He is not aware of how we really feel? There is something that God wants to show us here in the area of true and honest worship. I believe there is another level that God wants to take us to in Praise and Worship. It's not going to replace what we have done, but augment it and open up a new dimension in worship for all of us.

In October, my new Hosanna! Music project will be released. It was recorded at CBN with a small audience of about 60 - 70 people. As you may realize, the dynamics of a worship service with this many people are certainly different than they are in a crowd of several thousand. But the worship experience during the recording and video taping was very powerful and very intimate. I wrote a song for this project that I decided I couldn't record because of the honesty of the lyrics. I was shocked when I started writing down the lyrics while driving my car one day:

Lord You seem so far away
A million miles or more, it feels today.
And though I haven't lost my faith
I must confess right now,
That it's hard for me to pray.

But I don't know what to say
And I don't know where to start
But as you give the grace
With all that's in my heart;

I will sing, I will praise,
Even in my darkest hour
Through the sorrow and the pain,
I will sing, I will praise,
Lift my hands to honor You,
Because Your Word is true,
I will sing!

After playing this for a few people, including my wife, Laura, I decided to put this song on the project. In fact, it is the title cut! Everyone who heard it seemed to identify with the lyrics. Everyone has had a day when it seemed like God was far away. During those times, He is always close by our side but it is hard for us to believe it. I think an honest lyric like this can be an important step in helping us through any difficult circumstance.

As I mentioned earlier, David wrote many of these "honest" songs, yet he was called "a man after God's own heart." (Acts 13:22) He was also called the "apple of God's eye." (Psalm 17:8) What does this mean? How can this be? How can a man who is called the "apple of God's eye" write something like Psalm 109? Could it be that God loves honesty? I think the answer to that is obvious. Open up your heart to Him today and be honest about the way you feel about a situation. Perhaps God will give you a Psalm like He gave David. As you begin to be totally honest and vulnerable with God in worship, (and I'm not talking about singing the blues) I believe He will help you become the kind of worshiper He is looking for - one who worships Him in Spirit and in Truth.

Do meditate on the lyrics and let God speak into your heart as you speak into His: