27 March 09 (Weeks 4 & 5 on the theme "Standing On God's Word")

Two Fridays ago, most of us were unable to come. It was a small group of 5 in all. Teik shared about the place, purpose and necessity of pain and suffering in our journey. And Kah Lin led in worship.

When I spoke with Michael afterwards, I found out that they had a rather phenomenal time together. It doesn't matter whether the group is big or small, so long as the Lord is present... They also decided to pray in a refreshingly different way - instead of the usual manner of supplication, they declared and appropriated the truth and promises of God with fervour and belief. As a result, God and His promises became very real and they received them in full measure. Praying like this, taking authority as rightful sons and daughters of God, certainly does something to one's faith! Faith literally rises up from within...

This last Friday, the momentum continues...

Susan shared on prayer, specifically the kind of prayer where the things and truths of God are spoken and declared into being. The key is to speak it out. Susan talked about how people are often pursuing the so-called 'rhema word' or the word in season, not realising that the rhema word can also simply be your spoken declaration of the word and promises of God. Your declaration makes the word real in your space and time. Your proclamation in others' lives makes the word real in their lives. We are partners with God to release the Word of Life - the word becomes real when we declare and appropriate it.

(1) Declare (Release) the Word

We don't just think that our families will be saved. We believe (in our hearts) and confess (with our mouths) that our families are saved! And so on...

Some of us who have been enthusiastically devouring Dr Yonggi Cho's The Fourth Dimension, recounted how Cho was in an utterly inadequate capacity at the beginning of his ministry, and how he bottomed out and decided one fine day on to just stand up (even in front of a mirror) and began declaring the promises of the word. How such faith and belief would turn things around for us!

"Declaration breaks Oppression". Resist the subtle advances of the enemy. Don't allow him to keep gaining ground in our lives. Let's take up our rightful authority in Christ, come against the adversary and declare 2 Cor 2:14 - God always leads us in triumphal procession in Christ and through us spreads everywhere the fragrance of the knowledge of him.

So...

let's Read the Word, Declare it aloud, Appropriate it (believing you have received it).

(2) Be Specific in Your Request

Being specific in prayer does reveal our level of trust in the Giver. When we know that the person we ask is able to provide, we tend to be serious in our asking and therefore are specific.

Of course, we could be asking for things from a covetous angle but this is a separate issue. On this, we need to check our motives and go on maturing as Christians, grounding ourselves on the Word and Inspiration of God. As we grow and mature as Christians, what we ask for will quite naturally be aligned with His will. This is the point where the grand promise in Ps 37:4 will come to pass - "Delight yourself in the LORD and he will give you the desires of your heart".

Sometimes, we are hesitant to pray specific prayers because we aren't quite sure if what we are asking for is in line with God's plan for us. So, there may be a tendency to keep our prayers general. This is a reasonable sentiment. The answer?

• Get to know God better and deeply through simple, daily spiritual disciplines, so we begin to understand His ways and plans more clearly.
• Wait on Him, focusing on Him more than the answer we are seeking.
• Let Him know our predicaments (even our struggle to pray specifically over something we are unsure about) and be totally open and honest with Him. He understands, and will give us peace and the way out.

In a more wonderful sense, when we are more utterly lost in wonder (of our infinite God), we may not worry too much about our style of prayer... our very lives become prayer and aroma rising up to Him.

3 passages of scripture were released on Friday. Let's receive these words into our lives. Let's declare these promises aloud, believing the reality or the realness of the message that these verses proclaim, in spite of our present realities or unbelief.

(a) Psalm 37:1-7
1 Do not fret because of evil men or be envious of those who do wrong;
2 for like the grass they will soon wither, like green plants they will soon die away.
3 Trust in the LORD and do good; dwell in the land and enjoy safe pasture.
4 Delight yourself in the LORD and he will give you the desires of your heart.
5 Commit your way to the LORD; trust in him and he will do this:
6 He will make your righteousness shine like the dawn, the justice of your cause like the noonday sun.
7 Be still before the LORD and wait patiently for him; do not fret when men succeed in their ways, when they carry out their wicked schemes.

(b) 2 Cor 1:20
For all the promises of God in Him are Yes, and in Him Amen, to the glory of God through us.

(c) 2 Cor 2:14
But thanks be to God, who always leads us in triumphal procession in Christ and through us spreads everywhere the fragrance of the knowledge of him.

6 March 09 (Week 3 on the theme "Standing on God's Word")

A Word in Season
“But David Encouraged Himself in the Lord” 1 Samuel 30:6

By Joshua Nathan

Introduction
It is a wonderful blessing to be encouraged by others when we face a crisis or an adversity. I thank God for many God’s servants who ministered to me in my low points of my life. But there are times in our lives when we are stripped of everything external and forced to depend solely on the Lord. The Lord may allow such times to come along our way as part His process of maturing us so that we learn what it means to encourage ourselves in the Lord as David did.

David’s Crisis
David went through a terrible crisis just before he was elevated as the King of Israel. This is recorded in 1 Samuel 30. The story begins with David and his 600 men returned to Ziklag. The three-day journey back to Ziklag was exhausting. They were anxious to be reunited with their wives and children. As they arrived at the city, they found the city burned to the ground, their homes destroyed. Their wives and children were kidnapped and taken away. The Amalakites had invaded the city and taken away all that was precious to David and to his men while they were in Aphek.

What a tragic day it was for David and his men. In verse 4, we read “....then David and the people who were with him lifted up their voice and wept, until they had no more power to weep”. Words could never adequately to express their great sense of loss and grief. If this tragedy was not enough, David was about to face a potential mutiny – we read in V:6 that the men were talking about stoning David for each was bitter in spirit because of their loved ones who were taken captive. And David was greatly distressed.

Why did this happen to David? Did the crisis come upon him because he was living in sin? Was David running away from God? No, he was not. On the contrary, he was walking in the will of God although he did not understand all that was happening to him at this time.
It is important to note that David at this point of time had already been anointed by Samuel to be the next King of Israel. Since then the manifest presence of the Holy Spirit was so evident in his life. Think of what must have gone through David’s mind as he stood over the ruin of his home, not knowing whether his family was alive or dead. Obviously, he must have asked the “Why?’ many times. If God is with me, why did Saul try to kill me? If I am the anointed King, why am I left to wander in this wilderness living from cave to cave, harassed, haunted down and living on handouts? And now, the Amalakites had taken away all that are precious to me. Why, me Lord? What have I done to deserve all these? We would ask the same questions if we are in similar situations. It is nothing wrong to ask these questions in the midst of perplexing situations.

David’s Response
With all these questions going through his mind, David was left alone. No one was there to comfort him, not even his best friend Jonathan. He was left alone to fend himself. Deep down in his heart, he knew he has been called, anointed and being raised to be the leader despite all the difficult circumstances he was going through. Can he afford to be discouraged and quit? Can he falter at this adversity and miss the blessing God has for him? What would be the repercussion on the 600 men who surrounded and supported him in the wilderness all this time? What would happen to the future of Israel? It was indeed a severe testing for David. He was at the brink of a breakthrough that would lead him to his destiny. But he had to make the right choice. So, how did he respond?

We read at the end of V:6 that “But David encouraged himself in the Lord” The NIV version reads, “But David found strength in the Lord his God”. It did not say “David encouraged himself”. How could an emotionally, physically and mentally drained and exhausted person encourage himself? We all know that it is not possible. He was very weak and at the lowest point of his life. What we read is that David encouraged himself in the Lord. Our God is the God of all comfort. What did he do? Verse 7 reads that he took a harp, retreated to a solitary place and began to sing songs of praise to God. They were not songs of his emotional state of sadness, grief or distress. Neither was he lamenting or bemoaning over his situation. Nothing was mentioned that David sang how he plunged himself into a valley of self-pity. Instead, David sang songs of the majesty and the power of God. He sang of the creator who had spoken the worlds into existence. He sang of the deliverer who gave him victories over the lion, the bear, Goliath and the Philistines. They were songs goodness, mercy and kindness of God.

Through this glorious time of praise and worship, David turned his attention away from his circumstances to the El-Shaddi – the almighty God. His response and actions speaks much about his character. The Bible describes him as a man who is after God’s own heart. In the midst of uncertainty and upheaval, God was David’s only constant. He knew God is above all. He knew that He is sovereign and in control over all the circumstances over his life.

Psalm 34, which was composed much earlier, further illustrates how David encouraged himself in the Lord during his low points in his life. These were the times when he had to hide from cave to cave to escape the wrath of King Saul and his soldiers. Psalm 34 was composed by David during such dark times in his life. The first three verses have been a great source of inspiration to many throughout ages. Verse 1 reads, “ I will bless the Lord at all times” – The key words are “I will” and “all times” – good times, bad times, great times and terrible times. He did not let his feelings to distract his view of God. He used his will to bless the Lord. The next verse reads, “His praise shall be in my mouth continually” – what a good way to keep complaining and grumbling confessions away from our mouths. The third verse is even more inspiring – “O magnify the Lord with me”. What does “magnify” means? It means to enlarge an object or make it bigger in perspective. When we magnify something with a magnifying glass, microscope, or telescope, we don’t change the reality of the object. We can’t make God any bigger than He already is, but we can magnify our perspective of God.

Do not magnify the devil. Do not magnify the negative circumstances. Do not magnify your troubles by analysing them with a magnifying glass. These will surely lead you to the pit of discouragement, despondency and eventually to depression. Instead, in the midst of your troubles and negative circumstances, magnify the Lord – speak of His greatness, His power, His might. Talk about how big our God is. When we make our God bigger, we make our problem smaller. This is the essence of David’s praise behind the lyrics, “O Magnify the Lord with me”.

David’s Victory
Tough times do not last long so long as we fix our eyes on the Lord and praise Him. David responded by magnifying His God and not his troubles. The Lord was pleased with his sacrifice of praise. In verse 8, we read, “So David inquired of the Lord saying, “Shall I pursue this troop? Shall I overtake them? And He answered him. “Pursue, for you shall surely overtake them and without fail recover all”. All that God spoke to David came to pass. God gave him a resounding victory over the Amalakites. In verse 19, we read, “And nothing of theirs was lacking, either small or great, sons or daughters, spoil or anything which they had taken from them. David recovered all”. What a great victory. He and his men were reunited to their families. There was much celebration in the camp.

Conclusion
No matter how dark, hopeless and bleak the future may look, God’s people are to encourage themselves in the Lord and rest in His great and precious promises. This is particularly important now as the world around us is plunging into a severe economic crisis. There is mush despair in the air. But we need not be shaken nor overwhelmed because we are the redeemed children of the almighty God. He is our Father. He will provide for us and even prosper us even in the midst of famine like in the days of Isaac.

Praise the Lord at all times. The devil comes to steal our joy. His scheme is to demoralise us. He knows that when we are weak, we cannot be effective in serving God. He entices the believer into morbid introspection. His aim is to paralyse us through depression. He is prowling around like a roaring lion ready to prey upon any one to deceive them. What must we do? We ought to discern the enemy’s schemes, take courage, pick ourselves and start praising the Lord even if you don’t feel like doing them. David passed the test as he stood at the brink of a blessing. He encouraged himself in the Lord despite the adversity. May we learn from King David and apply this principle in our daily life. Amen!