"But I, O Lord, cry to you; in the morning my prayer comes before you. O Lord, why do you cast my soul away? Why do you hide your face from me? Afflicted and close to death from my youth up, I suffer your terrors; I am helpless. Your wrath has swept over me; your dreadful assaults destroy me. They surround me like a flood all day long; they close in on me together. You have caused my beloved and my friend to shun me; my companions have become darkness." -Psalm 88:13-18 Asking the Hard QuestionAno na gagawin mo pag dumating ang panahon na parang di ka pinapakinggan ng Diyos sa mga panalangin mo?
This is a hard question, pero napaka-critical na hindi lang natin alam ang isasagot natin sa tanong na ito, kundi buo ang ating resolve at buo ang ating confidence sa Panginoon bago pa tayo dumating sa ganitong season in life (sooner or later, we will). Magdadalawang taon na, and yet God isn’t answering any of our prayers na mawala o kahit kumupa man lang sana na ang COVID. Some of us have been praying for loved ones for years, pleading kay Lord na makakilala din sana sila sa Kanya, pero parang nananatiling kasing-tigas ng bato ang kanilang mga puso. Marami sa atin siguro'y umiiyak na, dahil kung kailan naging resolve na nating mahalin Siya ng ating buong buhay, tila'y doon pa tayo mas nakaranas ng pagsubok at paghihirap sa buhay. At ilang din sa atin ang nagkaroon ng mga mahal sa buhay na naratay sa banig ng karamdam, nananalangin na may kasamang luha’t durog na puso, claiming healing, for God’s mighty hand, hoping that the Lord will use ang buhay ng ating mga minamahal to demonstrate that He is really a God who Heals and answers prayers… and yet, after a long and painful season, COVID man ang sanhi or cancer, babawian din ng buhay ni Lord. I don’t intend here to discourage you, mind you, but to encourage us all we why should persist in prayer. Otherwise, our cries may not hold out through the storm.
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Among our hopes in starting this series on the Lord's Prayer is to let Christ "re-teach" us how to pray, and so, correct us in our wrong practices and attitudes, a reality that has slowly crept into the Church’s practice of prayer.
A good way to do that is to go back to the teachings of fellow faithful Christians, particularly, the Reformers of the 16th century and the Puritans of the 17th century. Their wealth of literature on the subject of prayer will be most helpful for us today. It is our joy that we were able to go through what has been our longest book series throughout the history of our local church. For the past nine months, it has been our hope that, in one way or another, whether in our physical or in our digital way of gathering, that we have savored our opportunity to study & ponder upon God’s person & plan as He revealed those in the book of Revelation.
O God,
We praise You, for all authority in the universe belongs to You. “There is no authority except from me, and those that exist have been instituted by me.” (Romans 13:1) “You, Pilate, would have no authority over my Son at all unless it had been given you from me.” (John 19:11) London, 1743.
"Messiah", a musical masterpiece by George Frideric Handel, was about to be performed in England for the very first time. The Biblical narrative put into music and harmony filled the air of the auditorium that day, slowly weighing over those who hear it: nobles, important members of Parliament, businessmen, even the king of England himself. There are always two sides in every celebration: the thankfulness and gratitude as we look back and the excitement and expectation in moving forward. As we at Joy in Christ would be celebrating another anniversary this September, it is our hope to not only for us to look back with grateful hearts, but to be motivated to move forward, as well.
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