Welcome!
Today: Wake up and pray!
Passage: 1 Peter 5, Ephesians 5
8 Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. 9 Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that your brothers throughout the world are undergoing the same kind of sufferings. (1 Peter 5, NIV 84)
“Wake up, O sleeper, rise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you.” 15 Be very careful, then, how you live—not as unwise but as wise, 16 making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil. 17 Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord’s will is. (Eph 5, NIV 84)
Wake-up, be alert, watch,……….
These are some of the responses God expects from us these days
We are in a fight with the enemy, the devil, and it is no good time to sleep
If people in the warfront go sleeping, it will be dangerous
Every second and every action is important….
This is the time to cry out to God and pray, and do what He tells us to do
In many parts of the world, people are risking and sacrificing their lives for God
And here we are, complaining to God that the “manna” is not enough, the cars we have, the luxurious homes we have, is not enough…….
Watch those people in Japan waiting in line for a little water or food
It can happen anywhere, any time!
Not to scare you, but to remind you that we need to humble and pray
We sing the song, “are you washed in the blood of the lamb?..” sometimes
We have to ask many of these questions ourselves; am I washed? am I clean?
It is now time to save ourselves. In the airplane, when it comes to using the oxygen mask, they say, you put it first and then for the children…!
Going on “saving” others, we cannot get lost ourselves!
10 Then he told me, “Do not seal up the words of the prophecy of this book, because the time is near. 11 Let him who does wrong continue to do wrong; let him who is vile continue to be vile; let him who does right continue to do right; and let him who is holy continue to be holy.” 12 “Behold, I am coming soon! My reward is with me, and I will give to everyone according to what he has done. 13 I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End.
14 “Blessed are those who wash their robes, that they may have the right to the tree of life and may go through the gates into the city. 15 Outside are the dogs, those who practice magic arts, the sexually immoral, the murderers, the idolaters and everyone who loves and practices falsehood. (Rev 22, NIV 84)-emphasis added
It is time to stop “playing” and start praying-seriously
If you don’t feel like praying, just sit and cry out loud for some time, in the presence of God; you don’t know what some people are going through
How big are our problems? Aren’t they “nothing”, compared to what others are going through? (read below)
Watch and pray!
BG
Prayer: Pray for those grieving and struggling, including the people of the middle East, Libya and other African countries