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Good morning,
A high profile NFL quarterback has been criticized in the secular media this season for praying in public, especially during football games. Let’s look as some prayer related scriptures from the Bible.
Colossians 4:2 tells us to “be devoted to prayer, being watchful and thankful.” Understand that being devoted to something implies being faithful and loyal. It also means to give our time, attention or self, entirely to a particular activity.
In 1 Thessalonians 5:16, we are told to “pray continually.” Philippians 4:6 says we are to take all our requests to God in prayer. Ephesians 6:18 tells us to “always keep on praying for all the saints.”
When reading these verses, we wonder how we would get anything done if we spend all our time praying? The meaning is not so much that we always go around praying with our eyes closed; you could get hurt or cause a major accident by doing that. Instead, we are to be continually in an attitude of prayer. That is, to be alert for people and situations that need immediate prayer. That is what it means to be devoted to prayer.
Individually, we need also to be in constant prayer for ourselves. If you are like me, there are too many times the devil causes our thoughts and our words, even our actions, to be less than glorifying to God.
A good verse to memorize as a personal prayer would be Psalm 19:14. “May the words of my mouth and the meditations of my heart be glorifying to you, O Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer.”
Remember, while praying for others, don’t neglect to ask God to protect you as well.

In His care,
Pastor Jerry

Later this year, I will celebrate 30 years of being a Christian. This basically means I spent the first 38 years of my life without Jesus. It was in a little country church, out in the middle of the Nebraska Sandhills, that I knew I needed the new birth Jesus talked about.

Sometime back, I was asked what it means to be “born again”. The question made me think. After some time, I realized that there are very many people who have either never heard the phrase in their churches, or have not had the opportunity to read it in a Bible. And, the possibility exists, that those who have heard it haven’t had it explained. So in the short space available to me here, I will attempt a brief explanation of the term “born again”.

Jesus used the term when speaking to Nicodemus, a Jewish religious leader, who had asked Him how he could get to heaven (John 3:1-7).

I found a very helpful definition of this “new birth” in the Holman Illustrated Bible Dictionary: The new birth is caused by the gracious and sovereign act of God apart from man’s cooperation (John 1:13). God brings about the new birth through the preaching of the word of God (1 Peter 1:23). The result of the new birth is a changed life (2 Corinthians 5:17) which included saving faith and repentance (Ephesians 2:8), and obedience to God’s law (1 John 3:9).

Dead in our sins. Alive in Christ. Reborn spiritually. It only comes about through faith in Jesus Christ. He is the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Him (John 14:6).

Blessings,
Pastor Jerry

I came across this quote on Facebook: “I know you’re a Christian. You keep saying so. But otherwise, I wouldn’t know.”

What would happen if everyone who says he or she is a Christian actually lived in such a way that no one would have to be told? They would just see it in the life change of the person! I think we would find that many who see themselves as Christian would be so in name only.

Just thinking,
Pastor Jerry