They say that kids get answers to prayer as they have more faith - more of a childlike faith. And I have 2 very special kids in my life who I can test this theory on. My niece (7) and nephew (4), who live a short drive from us.
Today they caught the Cook Strait ferry to the South Island - their first ever trip on the ferry. Memories flood back of my first ever trip on the ferry, I was around aged 8 and I went with my Mum, it was such a wonderful experience. I hoped this for these two kids also, who had been talking about going on the ferry for weeks leading up to today, except "Extreme Weather Warning" alerts for the country rang out and Wellington's famed high winds were blowing strong along with many road closures and delayed ferry crossings. I had prayed for a couple of days that this would be a calm crossing for them, as I could imagine the fear on those two little faces travelling through extreme high seas and those cute little faces turning green with sea sickness! :(
But it wasn't to be, the Lord graciously answered my prayers and miraculously granted them a smooth sailing across the Strait with only one small bump - according to a text I just received from my sister - as I heard the wind howl around my house. How could this have happened?! The 4pm weather update just reiterated the wild weather warnings and the effects of the wild weather so far. Thank you Lord for yet another miracle!
My niece was no doubt praying also, she has had a great run of answers to prayer recently, including praying for their cat Dixie who had been missing for 5 months - presumed deceased, to return, and strangely enough her Daddy was working on the car in their garage the next day and in walked this manky ferral looking cat - Dixie(!). Also while driving into town on a windy wet Guy Fawkes night to watch the big fireworks display she prayed the weather would clear up so they wouldn't be cold or wet - and by the time they parked the car, the skies had cleared and the wind had ceased.
Just like the widow who appealed to the unjust judge in Luke 18, she asked and kept on asking, the judge clearly didn't care about her plight, but gave her what she wanted just to get rid of her. How much more does God our just judge, and loving father want to grant our requests? I'm going to keep on asking...
Monday, 11 July 2011
Friday, 24 June 2011
Getting better - rather than getting bitter...
This 2 minute message from my old pastor from Aussie says it all - he is so onto it:
http://www.metro.org.au/the-vodcast/episodes
http://www.metro.org.au/the-vodcast/episodes
Thursday, 23 June 2011
Is any sick among you?
What is your current take on James 5:14-16?
From a book I am currently reading by Carol Balizet calle "Born in Zion".
"The original goes like this:
'Is any sick among you? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord, and the prayer of faith shall raise him up; and if he have committed sins, they shall be forgiven with him.'
Today it reads:
'Is any sick among you? Let him go to the doctor's office, and let the doctor do a physical examination, some laboratory tests, and maybe an x-ray, and give him drugs in the name of the system. And the natural healing process and the regimes of the system shall raise him up, maybe; and if he have committed any sins, they shall be ignored because the only thing that matters is getting the physical problem alleviated; and the idea that the problem is spiritual isn't even considered.' "
Hmmmm... it makes me think of a quote I heard from Bill Johnson where he talks about not bringing your theology down to your experience. So maybe you've not seen God heal, so your theology says that God doesn't heal and that God allows sickness as part of his plans etc etc etc, when the bible says the contrary, that when Jesus died on the cross he died for us to be Saved, Delivered and Healed of all our diseases. Why is there a disconnect in our faith today with what we believe and what the bible says? Why are people we pray for not getting healed?
This is part of the reason that I wanted to start this blog, as Mr W and I often pray for people to get healed, and some we see get healed, and some we don't, but we want to share the experiences with you to build up your faith and ours, and empower you to go after what God has promised us.
From a book I am currently reading by Carol Balizet calle "Born in Zion".
"The original goes like this:
'Is any sick among you? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord, and the prayer of faith shall raise him up; and if he have committed sins, they shall be forgiven with him.'
Today it reads:
'Is any sick among you? Let him go to the doctor's office, and let the doctor do a physical examination, some laboratory tests, and maybe an x-ray, and give him drugs in the name of the system. And the natural healing process and the regimes of the system shall raise him up, maybe; and if he have committed any sins, they shall be ignored because the only thing that matters is getting the physical problem alleviated; and the idea that the problem is spiritual isn't even considered.' "
Hmmmm... it makes me think of a quote I heard from Bill Johnson where he talks about not bringing your theology down to your experience. So maybe you've not seen God heal, so your theology says that God doesn't heal and that God allows sickness as part of his plans etc etc etc, when the bible says the contrary, that when Jesus died on the cross he died for us to be Saved, Delivered and Healed of all our diseases. Why is there a disconnect in our faith today with what we believe and what the bible says? Why are people we pray for not getting healed?
This is part of the reason that I wanted to start this blog, as Mr W and I often pray for people to get healed, and some we see get healed, and some we don't, but we want to share the experiences with you to build up your faith and ours, and empower you to go after what God has promised us.
Psalms
At our Vineyard Discipleship School meeting tonight, instead of singing as our form of worship, we were invited to write a psalm, so here's what I got:
"Holy Spirit, your presence is all around,
wherever I am at,
when I'm feeling down or felling grand,
you are my King and provider,
my healer, my saviour
and through your grace, my friend.
I will never turn away from you
and I can't imagine how others can live without you.
You are my hope, my peace,
my saving grace, my strength
and my reason for being.
I love you Lord"
"Holy Spirit, your presence is all around,
wherever I am at,
when I'm feeling down or felling grand,
you are my King and provider,
my healer, my saviour
and through your grace, my friend.
I will never turn away from you
and I can't imagine how others can live without you.
You are my hope, my peace,
my saving grace, my strength
and my reason for being.
I love you Lord"
Hello faithful readers,
I've set up this blog to share testimonies of what I've seen God doing recently or what I'm learning about God or what I'm just blown away about. (Because sometimes in life there is just not enough time to tell people what you're exicted about)
So here it is, I hope you enjoy it! And something in it encourages you :)
Love
Mrs W
I've set up this blog to share testimonies of what I've seen God doing recently or what I'm learning about God or what I'm just blown away about. (Because sometimes in life there is just not enough time to tell people what you're exicted about)
So here it is, I hope you enjoy it! And something in it encourages you :)
Love
Mrs W
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