Psalm 127:1, “Unless the LORD builds the house, They labor in vain who build it; Unless the LORD guards the city, The watchman stays awake in vain”

In my opinion, our generation has neglected prayers. I do not mean prayers of getting things or prayer for blessings but effective prayer that avails much according to James 5:16. We have neglected to be doers of the word and have become only hearers only according to James. What we have done in our time is we have talked about prayers but little attention has been given to it. The early church had prayer and the word as the nucleus of their call, everything else worked around it. Today it is the opposite, prayer works around everything. We say it is primary, however we treat it as secondary. It was Leonard Ravenhill who said “Sunday morning service attendance will show how popular your church is, Sunday night services will show how popular your pastor is, prayer meetings attendance will show how popular God is in your church”, (paraphrased), ouch but how true that is.

Prayer is the nucleus, glue that hold all things together. This is why Jesus is quoted in Matthew 21:19:46, “It is written, ‘My house is a house of prayer,.” He did not call it a house of worship, or preaching, or programs even though all these are important and most necessary in our churches. He wanted people to know that powerful preaching, worship, unity, victories etc hinges, “Prayer”. Jesus continues“…but you have made it a ‘den of thieves”, I believe that if we are doing everything in our and neglecting to put prayer as priority, we have then have made it a den of thieves”. But you ask how, if it is not for God’s glory then it is robbery because “Unless the LORD builds the house, They labor in vain who build it; Unless the LORD guards the city, The watchman stays awake in vain” Psalm 127:1. If we are not praying, it is not God building however spectacular things may be, the bible says we are laboring in vain. If we are not praying, we are watching in vain however hard we try, therefore if God is not building and watching, He is not getting glory.

Pastor Phil shared this with me, so powerful, “Christ was the Word of God in he the flesh, yet still prayed. He showed the perfect balance of prayer and the Word of God. John Chapter 17 records the high priestly prayer of Christ. However just prior to this, E.M. Bounds reminds us that “Jesus had just finished instructing His disciples (John 13-16). Now He prayed for them, because prayer and the Word of God go together. If we have all Bible but no prayer, we may have a great deal of truth but no power. It would be “light without heat.” On the other hand, if we have all prayer but no Bible teaching, we are in danger of becoming fanatics-heat without light! Zeal is a good thing, but zeal without knowledge is usually destructive. A proper balance of Bible study and prayer is important to a balanced Christian life. “Moreover, as for me,” said the godly prophet Samuel, “far be it from me that I should sin against the Lord by ceasing to pray for you; but I will instruct you in the good and right way” (1 Samuel 12:23). Note the balance of prayer and the Word of God. “And now I commend you to God [that’s prayer] and to the word of His grace, which is able to build you up…”

We need the prayer power back in our lives, in our churches, in our nation if anything is to be built and watched over. All must be done for God, through God and by God for His glory. This is why I have come to cherish the joining of these three verses in relation to prayers, “For bodily exercise profits a little…” but, “…The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much” “ to the praise of the glory of His grace, by which He made us accepted in the Beloved”. 1Timothy 4:8, James 5:16, Ephesians 1:6. May we cry out to God this year to 1. Teach us to pray, 2. To give us a praying spirit; and 3. To burden us to pray. Blessings Ev

Psalm 61:1-8, “…From the end of the earth I will cry to You, when my heart is overwhelmed; Lead me to the rock that is higher than I…”

When you talk about a garden, you think of a prepared place for new things to be planted. Seeds usually come in mind when talking about garden. Anything planted in that garden has the capability spring forth if natured, watered and kept well. There are things that we tend to look after or work on that are actually weeds and because we have put so much energy trying to care for the newly growing plants, we have also taken good care of weeds which work against good seeds. I heard this line from a preacher; “There is more power in the seed than in the sower”. Anyone can plant a good seed regardless of who they are but in as much as the sower might have skills if he has bad seeds, nothing will materialize.

People get overwhelmed with responsibilities daily. While you are still working on this, there comes another one. While trying to work on another one, here comes a new one. Everything has its season and how we deal with situations during certain seasons may determine the outcome of it. The overwhelming situations have choked out peace, confidence and courage, as the weeds do know how to choke out good plants. I know that someone this morning is dealing with overwhelming situations not just at work but even at home, let us see what the Lord has for us this morning.

Vs. 1 “Hear my cry, O God, attend to my prayer”, the first thing talked about in this line is prayer, have you prayed over your situation or are you waiting for someone to come and lay hands on you to make it? Lay your own foundation and let someone else help you build the wall. I have met people that wanted to see things happen in their lives and the first question I would ask them, “Have you laid your foundation?”, What is the foundation, faith. Vs. 2 “From the ends of the earth I will cry to You, When my heart is overwhelmed, Lead me to the rock that is higher than I”, of course our hearts will get overwhelmed and so are our minds and bodies, but what happens when they get overwhelmed? Please do not lead me to temptation, friends, neighbors, programs you name it, lead me to the Rock, not just any rock, but the Rock that is higher than I. Why the rock? because the rock cannot be overwhelmed, moved or shaken and if the rock is higher than I, I will make it my dwelling and hiding place. Vs. 3 “For you have been a shelter for me, A strong water from the enemy”, I truly believe this as the bible says in Prov 18:10, “The name of the Lord is a strong tower, the righteous run into it and they are safe”, just His name alone is a strong tower in other words a strong rock. When you find yourself overwhelmed, calm your nerves, keep your mind on Him for peace and be led to the rock that is higher than us. The bible says that in Nehemiah 8:10, “…for the joy of the Lord is your strength.” The unbelievers ask me why I always have this joy even when things at times do not go right or when I am overwhelmed. It is the joy of the Lord is that gives me strength. Vs. 8, “So I will praise Your name forever, That I may daily perform my vows”, just because you are under a shelter does not exempt you from work, this is the reason we continue to praise and be glad and daily perform our vows. We have vowed to be the best we can be at our jobs by God’s grace without complaining or murmuring “..for it is God which works in you both to will and to do of His good pleasure”, Phil 2:13. So keep on fighting the good fight of a soldier, enduring for He is your Rock of Ages, Strong Tower, Firm Foundation, Solid Rock, Anchor of your Life and more.

To sum up, we are all children in warriors gear. God is our armor therefore we make it however there are times when it gets too much that we have to cry. When they all see how we survive and make it, they do not know that beneath that armor, the warrior is just a child. Check out this portion of lyrics off this song “The warrior is a child”, by Twila Paris “They don’t know that I would go running home when I fall down, they don’t know who picks me up when no one is around, sometimes I drop my sword and cry for a while, cause deep inside this armor, the warrior is just a child” Blessings Ev