In his sermon to Holy Light Church on “Vision and Purpose in Christian Service”, Reverend Nicholas Yeo says,
In prayer exercise, am still a learner;
prayer is battering not chattering;
prayer is battle not prattle;
prayer is working not wording;
prayer is warring not boring;
prayer is fight not flight;
prayer is rooted in promises of God & in covenant of the blood;
we have reasons given to us by God in his Word why he should answer, & we can read them there. That's why Nehemiah's prayer was answered – based on God's purposes & God's promises; our prayers ought to be like that, so that God's purposes may be realized; but more often we hear prayers just asking God to bless the work, to bless the sick ones, to keep us plugging along, to keep the work going.
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still a learner
ReplyDeleteI am still struggling with the concept and doctrine of prayer. It will take some time before I can truly understand it. In the meantime, I just pray.
Thanks for the post!
Hi Dr. Tang,
ReplyDeleteI have some questions on this sentence -
"That's why Nehemiah's prayer was answered – based on God's purposes & God's promises; our prayers ought to be like that, so that God's purposes may be realized;"
I kind of understand this part but not able to put together all the pieces into a proper response.
Basically my question is this -
Why would God wants our help in realising his purpose and promises? Wouldn't God be able to achieve His purposes and make good his promises all by Himself? Isn't His purpose and promises supposed to be a reality and that it's just a matter of time? Surely nothing is capable of stopping God?
By the way, the HLCE link requires one to login. Is the link correct?
Thanks and good day.
hi pearlie,
ReplyDeleteah, you caught the still a learner
this is so impressive coming from a man who is a pastor for 29 years and still is pastoring!
I believe, in a way, we cannot never fully understand prayer for it is one of the mysteries of God.
hi kaki.ayam,
ReplyDeleteWhy would God wants our help in realising his purpose and promises? Wouldn't God be able to achieve His purposes and make good his promises all by Himself? Isn't His purpose and promises supposed to be a reality and that it's just a matter of time? Surely nothing is capable of stopping God?
These are some excellent questions and I am sure we have some readers who are more capable to answer these questions.
Personally, I believe that God can do it all if He wants to. For some strange reasons, He wants our involvement in realizing His promises and purposes. There is nothing stopping God except for what God Himself has decided. I believe prayer is the beginning of our partnership with God.
Anyone else wants to answer this?
By the way, the HLCE link requires one to login. Is the link correct?
The link is correct. It do not need to you login unless you want access to more materials. Then you have to register (it's free). Otherwise clicking on the various links will bring you to sermons, articles, and other stuff.