16 that He would grant you,
according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with power through His
Spirit in the inner man, 17 so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through
faith; and that you, being rooted and grounded in love, 18 may be able to
comprehend with all the [m]saints what is the breadth and length and height and
depth, 19 and to know the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge, that you
may be filled up to all the fullness of God. 20 Now to Him who is able
to do far more abundantly beyond all that we ask or think, according to the
power that works within us, 21 to Him be the glory in the church and in
Christ Jesus to all generations [n]forever and ever. Amen.
I spend my younger days in the South
Wales Valleys I grew up in a terraced house that like many dotted the sides of
valleys there are many rows out of terraced houses that I’ve seen to South Wales those terraced houses are built alongside the sides of both hills and mountains, I grew up in the
villages of Clyne, Melin Court and
Resolven.
Melin Court (Cwrt) Waterfall.
When I was growing up in the
South Wales Valleys, my only knowledge of Liverpool would be from TV programmes
such as The Liverbirds, Bread, Watching and Brookside, and watching the news
about the latest antics of Militant Tendency led by Derek Hatton when he
attempted to turn Liverpool into the People’s Democratic Republic of Liverpool
in the early 1980’s.
I first visited Liverpool some
12 or so years ago when I was travelling to Llandudno from Bradford by coach to
see my Grandad who was taken ill with a stroke and the coach had stopped in
Liverpool, I remember looking at St George’s Hall and The Walker Art Gallery as
I passed by on the Coach heading for The Mersey Tunnel and thinking wow what
fantastic buildings.
Until almost 4 years aho when
the Lord moved me from Neath to Southport, Liverpool would have been somewhere
I would have visited for the day when staying on holiday or visiting Southport, it would have be
somewhere I would go to go shopping, visiting Museums etc. or attending
Interviews, my perceptions, knowledge and understanding of Liverpool
would have been restricted to these trips but since moving to Merseyside, my perceptions, knowledge and understanding of Liverpool has increased and
developed.
Liverpool Town Hall.
I think Liverpool is a great
place, and although I enjoy visiting there, it is not somewhere I would choose to
live because of the simple fact God has called me to Southport.
For many us, our understanding
of Spiritual Truths is based on the understanding of others, either because of
the revelation and knowledge that has been revealed to them.
When I was a lad of 15 – 16
years old and living in Melin Court, my understanding of Liverpool was based on
what I had seen on TV, this was not a true picture or understanding of
Liverpool, and again I had been only walking on the Lord on my Christian Life’s
journey for a few years and my understanding and revelation of the Lord, His
Word, His Church and His Kingdom was limited, since then this has increased as
I have walked in faith with Our Saviour and alongside other believers.
If I had wanted to travel
to the village of Abergawed on the opposite side of the valley, I had two ways
of getting there, the long way and the short way, the long way meant
travelling up the valley some two miles to the village of Resolven and then
down to the village of Abergawed or the most direct route across the railway
line then across the river Neath and then across some fields, the long way was
generally a safer route.
When the Lord speaks to us,
and reveals an aspect of His truth and revelation to us we see more often or
not he leads us not in the shortest route or indeed the most direct route but
the long way around because we need to learn some things and adapt, change,
grow up before we see the fullfilment of that revelation.
For many of us how
understanding and revelation of God’s Word comes from reading Christian books I
love reading especially My Bible and Christian books but for many of us
including myself we need to put into practice and implement what we have
learned and learned again and take action and see that revelation we have
received from the Lord into a fuller and broader understanding.
Ephesians 3:20 - 21 Nasb
20 Now to Him who is able to
do far more abundantly beyond all that we ask or think, according to the power
that works within us, 21 to Him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus
to all generations [n]forever and ever. Amen.
Ephesians 4:11 – 16 Nasb
11 And He gave some as
apostles, and some as prophets, and some as evangelists, and some as pastors
and teachers, 12 for the equipping of the [d]saints for the work of service, to
the building up of the body of Christ; 13 until we all attain to the unity of
the faith, and of the [e]knowledge of the Son of God, to a mature man, to the
measure of the stature [f]which belongs to the fullness of Christ. 14 [g]As a
result, we are no longer to be children, tossed here and there by waves and
carried about by every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, by craftiness
[h]in deceitful scheming; 15 but [I]speaking the truth in love, [j]we are to grow
up in all aspects into Him who is the head, even Christ, 16 from whom the whole
body, being fitted and held together [k]by what every joint supplies, according
to the [l]proper working of each individual part, causes the growth of the body
for the building up of itself in love.
6 ‘Be
careful not to practise your righteousness in front of others to be seen by
them. If you do, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven.
2 ‘So
when you give to the needy, do not announce it with trumpets, as the hypocrites
do in the synagogues and on the streets, to be honoured by others. Truly I tell
you, they have received their reward in full. 3 But when you give to the needy, do not
let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, 4 so that your giving may be in secret.
Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.
Prayer
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 others. Truly I tell
you, 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 And
forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. 13 And lead
us not into temptation,[a] but deliver us from the evil one.[b]”
14 For
if you forgive other people when they sin against you, your heavenly Father
will also forgive you. 15 But if you do not forgive others their
sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.
Fasting
16 ‘When
you fast, do not look sombre as the hypocrites do, for they disfigure their
faces to show others they are fasting. Truly I tell you, they have received their
reward in full. 17 But when you fast, put oil on your head
and wash your face, 18 so that it will not be obvious to
others that you are fasting, but only to your Father, who is unseen; and your
Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.
Treasures
in heaven
19 ‘Do
not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy,
and where thieves break in and steal. 20 But store up for yourselves treasures
in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not
break in and steal.21 For where your treasure is, there your
heart will be also.
22 ‘The
eye is the lamp of the body. If your eyes are healthy,[c] your whole body will be full of
light. 23 But if your eyes are unhealthy,[d] your whole body will be full of
darkness. If then the light within you is darkness, how great is that darkness!
24 ‘No
one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or
you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God
and Money.
Do
not worry
25 ‘Therefore
I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about
your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more
than clothes? 26 Look at the birds of the air; they do
not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds
them. Are you not much more valuable than they? 27 Can any one of you by worrying add a
single hour to your life[e]?
28 ‘And
why do you worry about clothes? See how the flowers of the field grow. They do
not labour or spin.29 Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in
all his splendour was dressed like one of these. 30 If that is how God clothes the grass of
the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he
not much more clothe you – you of little faith? 31 So do not worry, saying, “What shall we
eat?” or “What shall we drink?” or “What shall we wear?” 32 For the pagans run after all these
things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. 33 But seek first his kingdom and his
righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. 34 Therefore do not worry about tomorrow,
for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.
Encyclopedia
of The Bible
PRAYER (תְּפִלָּה, H9525, prayer; פָּלַל֮, H7137, to intervene,interpose, arbitrate, mediate, intercede, pray; προσευχή, G4666,prayer, place for
prayer, chapel; προσεύχομαι, G4667, to pray).
The doctrine of prayer is no
appendix added on after one has completed his doctrines of God and man. A view
of prayer is implicit in one’s view of God’s relation to the world and man’s
relation to God. Therefore a Biblical doctrine of prayer is most meaningfully
integrated with an entire theology that is Scriptural.
Having seen the relevance for prayer of
God’s grace disclosed in Christ, it remains to formulate a full-orbed
perspective of prayer as response to God’s written Word and in obedience to it,
prayer as request to the Lord of all.
A. Response.
Man’s prayerful response to the living God includes: faith (in his deed/word
revelation), worship, confession, adoration, praise, thanksgiving, and
dedicated action.
1. Faith.
All the above views, in spite of their differences, agree that in the Bible are
no true propositions about “the other side.” Prayer, if not mere human
reflection and action, is thought to be an ecstatic experience of the
ineffable, or a personal communion with a dumb God. In contrast, the Biblical
view affirms that God not only acted awesomely in history, but also spoke
truthfully through prophets and apostles. God inspired the inscripturation of
their words to inform us about Himself, His redemptive plans, and the place of
prayer in them. The Bible is not merely the testimony of prayerful men to God,
but God’s gracious disclosure of Himself to men. The most meaningful prayer
comes from a heart of trust in the God who has spoken.
The best spiritual reading, which takes
prime place over all others, is holy Scripture: because it is the very word of
God, no other reading can compare with it in its power to inspire prayer,
firstly because it operates directly within our souls, moving them interiorly
by the action of grace, and secondly because, since it is God Himself who
speaks in its pages, it unites us to him in a true dialogue, a dialogue in
which our souls respond in faith, hope, love, adoration, praise, thanksgiving and
petition to what God himself is telling us in the sacred text (136).
The Holy Spirit inspired the Bible to be received with faith
in it as the Word of a personal God to men as persons. Genuine encounter with
God does not exalt some interpretation of religious experience above God’s own
written Word. Prayer is response to the God who has acted in history and who
has spoken truth. Since the completion of the canon, the Bible has been the
primary bearer of divine revelation.
The Holy Spirit also illumines those who believingly read
the Scripture. Of course, there can be a mechanical use of the Bible that kills
the life of prayer. Andrew Murray said:
But there is also a reading of the Word, in the very
presence of the Father, and under the leading of the Spirit, in which the Word
comes to us in living power from God Himself; it is to us the very voice of the
Father, a real personal fellowship with Himself. It is the living voice of God
that enters the heart, that brings blessing and strength, and awakens the response
of a living faith that reaches the heart of God again (With
Christ in the School of Prayer, 173).
Because the Holy Spirit has chosen to work in conjunction
with the living and written Word, prayer is often associated with the Word in
the NT. The apostles devoted themselves to prayer and the ministry of the Word (Acts 6:4). Doors would open to the ministry of
the Word as Christians prayed (Col
4:3;2 Thess 3:1). Everything in God’s creation
received with thanksgiving can be consecrated “by the word of God and prayer” (1 Tim 4:5). Those who would secularize
everything sacred might listen to E. M. Bounds’ comment, “Prayer joined to the
Word of God, hallows and makes sacred all God’s gifts....Prayer makes common
things holy and secular things sacred” (The
Necessity of Prayer, 127).
NIV
Application Commentary
The proper
priority (6:33). Jesus’ reasoning culminates in the famous directive, “But seek
first his kingdom and his righteousness.” This climactic admonition draws the
listeners back to the key verse of the sermon, where Jesus declared, “Unless
your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law,
you will certainly not enter the kingdom of heaven” (5:20). The use of the imperative “seek” does
not mean to look for something not present, for Jesus has already announced the
arrival of the kingdom. In this context it means that his disciples are to make
the kingdom of heaven the center of their continual, daily priorities. They
have already entered the kingdom of heaven and are to live with that reality,
drawing on God’s ordering of their daily lives. In doing so they will
“seek … his righteousness.”
The conjunction of righteousness
and the kingdom maintains a special theme in the SM (5:6, 10, 20; 6:1). It does not mean to pursue salvation,
because the disciples’ entrance to the kingdom secured them that kind of
“imputed” righteousness (5:20). It means that they are to pursue their
experiential growth of “imparted” righteousness, which is to pursue the
increasing perfection of the Father (5:48) through their practice of “acts of
righteousness” (6:1). The theological articulation of these
themes becomes a major focus of the early church, especially Paul. But their
foundation is laid in Jesus’ teaching here. When his disciples pursue God’s kingdom
and his righteousness in their daily priorities and activities, they will have
all of their needs met by their ever-caring, ever-watching heavenly Father—“and
all these things will be given to you as well.”
Eliminating worry (6:34).Having given the climactic imperative to guide every area of the
disciples’ lives, Jesus returns to the specific issue—worry about God’s daily
care for their needs. If God’s ordering of the disciples’ lives includes his
provision for all of their daily needs, “therefore” one certainly should not
worry about tomorrow. Learned reliance on God’s care for present needs will
cause his disciples to develop trust in him for their future needs. The two
expressions in this verse, “for tomorrow will worry about itself” and “each day
has enough trouble of its own,” reiterate the same basic truth. All the worry
in the world today can do nothing about the cares and problems of tomorrow. As
disciples learn to let God care for them today, including their “daily bread” (6:11), they will become increasingly secure in his
care for them tomorrow, regardless of whatever evil may come.
The
Bible Panorama
Matthew 6
V 1–18:
SECRECY Secrecy
in giving (verses 1 to 4), praying (verses 5 to 8), and fasting (verses 16 to
18) is taught by Jesus. It is in this context that the pattern of the Lord’s
Prayer (verses 9 to 15) is given. This contrasts with the hypocrisy of men,
which is encountered in this chapter.
V 19–23:
SIMPLICITY Our
attitude to wealth should be such that we are not seeking to live to gain
money. Our heart is where our treasure is, and that should be in spiritual
things. We also need simplicity to look honestly at the darkness inside us and
have it dealt with by the Light of the world.
V 24:
SINGULARITY The
Christian must be single-minded in serving God and not ‘mammon’. Mammon stands
for being dominated by money and materialistic considerations.
V 25–34:
SERENITY Nature
tells us that God cares even for birds and flowers. Those with a special
relationship with God should not worry, therefore, about provision of needs,
now or in the future, but seek to please God first by seeking as a priority His
kingdom and His righteousness. (This is not to encourage laziness but to
underline the need for faith and trust.)
Dictionary of Bible Themes
8605 prayer, and God’s will
Prayer
is concerned not only with the well-being of the one who prays. A vital aspect
of its purpose is to allow the will of God to be done, and to bring glory and
honour to his name.
I
Corinthians 1:12-13 and 3:4-11 New Living Translation.
12 Some of
you are saying, “I am a follower of Paul.” Others are saying, “I follow
Apollos,” or “I follow Peter, [d]” or “I follow only Christ.” 13 Has Christ
been divided into factions? Was I, Paul, crucified for you? Were any of you
baptized in the name of Paul? Of course not! …… 4 When one of you says, “I am a
follower of Paul,” and another says, “I follow Apollos,” aren't you acting just
like people of the world? 5 After all, who is Apollos? Who is Paul? We are only
God’s servants through whom you believed the Good News. Each of us did the work
the Lord gave us. 6 I planted the seed in your hearts, and Apollos watered it,
but it was God who made it grow. 7 It’s not important who does the planting, or
who does the watering. What’s important is that God makes the seed grow. 8 The
one who plants and the one who waters work together with the same purpose. And
both will be rewarded for their own hard work. 9 For we are both God’s workers.
And you are God’s field. You are God’s building. 10 Because of God’s grace to
me, I have laid the foundation like an expert builder. Now others are building
on it. But whoever is building on this foundation must be very careful.11 for
no one can lay any foundation other than the one we already have—Jesus Christ
Today when
we walk in the places we live, we see buildings that are used for various
purposes, some buildings are where we live, other buildings are where we work,
shop, rest and relax, there are specialist buildings such as Train Stations,
Churches and Hospitals, each building has a specific function and role to
fulfil that more often is unique to that building, sometimes buildings can be
adapted and changed to serve a different purpose than their original purpose,
some buildings have been left desolate and have become ruins and monuments,
some buildings are empty because no one can find a use for them anymore.
Each building we see regardless of its use and purpose needs a foundation.
The Lord
Jesus said in Matthew 7:24 NLT, “Anyone who listens to my teaching and follows
it is wise, like a person who builds a house on solid rock” see Matthew 7:24-27
and Luke 47- 49 for the context. Luke 6:47-48 NLT says , “47 I will show
you what it’s like when someone comes to me, listens to my teaching, and then
follows it. 48 It is like a person building a house that digs deep and lays the
foundation on solid rock. When the floodwaters rise and break against that
house, it stands firm because it is well built.
Today in
2017, we see various versions of the Bible, that are available for us to read
and study, I do use the New American Standard Bible, and when I write I use
Bible Gateway which has dozens of Bible Versions. I've used various versions of
the Bible since I was saved at 11 but at the end of day as The Apostle Paul
wrote in 2 Timothy 3: 15-17 NLT, “15 You have been taught the holy Scriptures
from childhood, and they have given you the wisdom to receive the salvation
that comes by trusting in Christ Jesus. 16 All Scripture is inspired by God and
is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our
lives. It corrects us when we are wrong and teaches us to do what is right. 17
God uses it to prepare and equip his people to do every good work.
To develop
and progress in our Christian walk and witness, to be more effective disciples
of our Lord and Saviour we must read and study God’s Written Word daily.
When I was in Sunday school, I remember singing this song “Read your Bible,
Pray every day, if you want to Grow “If that was important for me as a child
how much more important is for me as a more mature Christian today?
When
someone builds a foundation for a building, if they decide to use cheap or
substandard building materials wouldn't that building look strange or be
dangerous and likely to collapse, yet if we don’t as Christians build using the
correct building materials wouldn't our lives and our Christian Witness look
equally strange, look dangerous or likely to collapse see 1 Corinthians 3:12-13
NLT.
1 Corinthians 3:12-13New
Living Translation (NLT)
12 Anyone who builds on
that foundation may use a variety of materials—gold, silver, jewels, wood, hay,
or straw. 13 But on the judgement day, fire will reveal what kind of work each
builder has done. The fire will show if a person’s work has any value.
We build
our Christian Life and Witness not on the latest fads or fashions, the opinions
or perspectives of others however appealing or relevant they seem, we don’t
build on what the non-Christian or anti-Christian demands of our Society
are. We build on God’s Word the Bible that has been and still is God’s
Inspired Word; there is nothing more relevant to us today than God’s Word
The
Apostle Paul wrote in Ephesians 2:20 NLT, “20 Together, we are his house, built
on the foundation of the apostles and the prophets. And the cornerstone is
Christ Jesus himself.”
To lead
His Church into the fullness and completeness that He always intended it to be,
Our Lord Jesus set apart Leadership Gifts, that this He has called in the past
and is calling today specific individuals to positions of Leadership in His
Church, today we have various names, titles and badges and descriptions of
Leadership that vary from Church to Church!.
We
have built man-made structures and systems from the early days of the Church to
co-ordinate what happens in the Church, I'm not against co-ordination or
structure and systems but the organization of Church isn't the central purpose
of the Church, in many cases we have made a god of organization. The
Church is a living and breathing organism, the organization is the servant of
the organism but more often or not the organism has become the servant of the
organization.
I'm not
saying that the Church and our Church Meetings become a free for all, the place
of gossip and chat, good ideas and the downright weird and wacky, although it
can happen, however, there is a divinely inspired framework for the correct
method of Church Structure.
In the New
Testament especially Paul’s epistles, we see God’s structure for the Church and
how the Church should be organized and lead. Today we have Vicars,
Priests, Bishops, Archbishops, Reverends etc. etc., we give people titles and
badges and recognition, but are they God given titles, badges and recognition
or are they man given?
We
see both in 1 Corinthians 12 and Ephesians 4, part of God’s structure and
framework for the church, 1 Corinthians 12:28 ESVA, “And God has
appointed in the church first apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then
miracles then gifts of healing, helping, administrating, and various kinds of
tongues. For the context see 1 Corinthians 12:27-30, and Ephesians 4:11-13 NLT,
“11 Now these are the gifts Christ gave to the church: the apostles, the
prophets, the evangelists, and the pastors and teachers. 12 Their
responsibility is to equip God’s people to do his work and build up the church,
the body of Christ. 13 This will continue until we all come to such unity in
our faith and knowledge of God’s Son that we will be mature in the Lord,
measuring up to the full and complete standard of Christ. For the context see
Ephesians 4:11-16.
The
first part of God’s structure for the Church are The Apostles, The Prophets,
The Evangelists, The Pastors or Shepherds and The Teachers which are five
distinct ministry areas given to certain individuals in the Church, these
people and their ministries are gifts
given by our Lord and Saviour as gifts to His Church, the second part of God’s
structure are the Elders and Deacons, I believe that all the ministry areas
here are given and available to all
regardless if they are male or female.
The descriptions of the roles of The Elders and Deacons in the Church
are found in 1 Timothy 3:1-13. Firstly
Elders In 1 Timothy 3:1-2 NLT, “This is a trustworthy saying: “If someone
aspires to be an elder, [a] he desires an honourable position.” 2 So an elder
must be a man whose life is above reproach. He must be faithful to his wife.
[b] He must exercise self-control, live wisely, and have a good reputation.
Then Secondly Deacons in I Timothy 3:8 NLT, “In the same way, deacons must be
well respected and have integrity.”
I believe
that the correct indeed the only way for His Church to move forward in the 21st
Century and face all the challenges and opportunities that it brings is firstly
live as disciples, be in relational covenant with each other and follow Our
Saviour’s leadership and direction in our lives, and follow the example and
influence of those God has called to lead us, I would describe this a
restoration or renewal of Apostolic Christianity. For my American readers, I
mean New Testament Christianity, not Apostolic in the context of the Oneness
Gospel.
