the joy of the Lord is my strength.
Tonight was the start of Spiritual Meeting. One of the sub-theme is "The joy of the Lord is my strength". I came to realise that lately, this is one main area that I am weak in. I have forgotten how to rejoice in the Lord.
Someone cried in front of me today. I wasn't too sure about what I should do. I showed my concern and asked if she's ok. She said, "yar.." I hope my intuition was right because I assumed that she probably was not too comfortable to share with me then. So I didnt probe further. I do hope that she didn't think that I was not being caring enough! I wanted to give her some space. I hope she knows.
But I was really worried about her and brought this to the Lord in prayers. I often pray for other people. And today, I came to realise something. I realised that I tend to have "less faith" when I pray for others. I tend to think that God has not heard me and i keep repeating my prayer requests. I seemed not to receive assurance from God that He has heard my prayers for them.
Ok, actually the previous time this happened was when my mom came for my baptism and I was praying for her and her friends. I seemed not to have enough faith in God when im praying for non-believers and truthseekers?? And since there are many of such people whom I often pray for, I seemed not to receive peace after most prayers. This therefore has been causing me to forget how to rejoice in the Lord.
To rejoice in the Lord, the first thing is to trust in God's almightiness. Only after this complete trust is given unto Him, can we have faith in His will. And having this total faith in His will, even if trials and sufferings should befall us, we will be able to be joyful always. Because we know that God is with us. And His grace is sufficient for us.
With regards to my problem, I think I have failed at the first step. Perhaps because they are truthseekers and non-believers, I tend to be more anxious. I was afraid that I might miss out on any chance that they might want to draw closer to God, and so stumbled them instead. I guess I have forgotten that my God is an almighty God. If He is willing, who can stop Him? I have lost faith in Him on this! It is not the quantity of prayers that causes God to answer, but the heart that counts. A heart that have complete trust and faith in a almighty God that counts. If one is able to have this heart, that man is joyful indeed. And the joy of the Lord is my strength.
I pray that I may come to understand the teachings on "joy" and be able to apply them in life. I also pray that I may never be a stumbling block to anyone's faith, whether in speech or action. Whatever I do, it is my aim that people may be edified in one way or another. I aimed to be open in my thoughts and feelings through this blog, but i might have gone past the line sometimes by throwing my emotions about. My apologies to those affected. May God guide my words from now on.
Peace.
Someone cried in front of me today. I wasn't too sure about what I should do. I showed my concern and asked if she's ok. She said, "yar.." I hope my intuition was right because I assumed that she probably was not too comfortable to share with me then. So I didnt probe further. I do hope that she didn't think that I was not being caring enough! I wanted to give her some space. I hope she knows.
But I was really worried about her and brought this to the Lord in prayers. I often pray for other people. And today, I came to realise something. I realised that I tend to have "less faith" when I pray for others. I tend to think that God has not heard me and i keep repeating my prayer requests. I seemed not to receive assurance from God that He has heard my prayers for them.
Ok, actually the previous time this happened was when my mom came for my baptism and I was praying for her and her friends. I seemed not to have enough faith in God when im praying for non-believers and truthseekers?? And since there are many of such people whom I often pray for, I seemed not to receive peace after most prayers. This therefore has been causing me to forget how to rejoice in the Lord.
To rejoice in the Lord, the first thing is to trust in God's almightiness. Only after this complete trust is given unto Him, can we have faith in His will. And having this total faith in His will, even if trials and sufferings should befall us, we will be able to be joyful always. Because we know that God is with us. And His grace is sufficient for us.
With regards to my problem, I think I have failed at the first step. Perhaps because they are truthseekers and non-believers, I tend to be more anxious. I was afraid that I might miss out on any chance that they might want to draw closer to God, and so stumbled them instead. I guess I have forgotten that my God is an almighty God. If He is willing, who can stop Him? I have lost faith in Him on this! It is not the quantity of prayers that causes God to answer, but the heart that counts. A heart that have complete trust and faith in a almighty God that counts. If one is able to have this heart, that man is joyful indeed. And the joy of the Lord is my strength.
I pray that I may come to understand the teachings on "joy" and be able to apply them in life. I also pray that I may never be a stumbling block to anyone's faith, whether in speech or action. Whatever I do, it is my aim that people may be edified in one way or another. I aimed to be open in my thoughts and feelings through this blog, but i might have gone past the line sometimes by throwing my emotions about. My apologies to those affected. May God guide my words from now on.
Peace.
