GOD WHY AREN'T MY PRAYERS BEING ANSWERED?

 PARABLE OF UNANSWERED PRAYERS

PASTORS MEET FOR LUNCH

Four pastors from different churches in the community meet each month to share ideas.

After praying for the food, Scott the red haired pastor begins, "Jesus healed the blind, lepers and raised people from the dead; why aren't we seeing miracles today?  What's blocking our prayers?

Joe the Asian pastor smiles, "Maybe we are praying for lightning on our enemies instead of praying for them in love."

Pastor Raul comments, "What does the Bible say about God not answering prayer?"

Pastor Martin begins, "God does not answer the hypocrite's prayer.  Jesus said, "Woe to you, Pharisees, and you other religious leaders. Hypocrites! For you won’t let others enter the Kingdom of Heaven and won’t go in yourselves. And you pretend to be holy, with all your long, public prayers in the streets, while you are evicting widows from their homes. Hypocrites!"  (Matthew 23:13-14 TLB - The Living Bible)

Pastor Joe speaks, "Our prayers may be blocked when we ignore the poor.  Proverbs say, "Whoever shuts his ears at the cry of the poor, he also will cry himself, but will not be heard. (Proverbs 21:13 MEV - Modern English Version)

Pastor Scott smiles, "Do we have faith or doubt when you pray?   "And Jesus answered them, “Have faith in God.  Truly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be taken up and thrown into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that what he says will come to pass, it will be done for him." (Mark 11:22-23 ESV - English Standard Version)

Pastor Raul adds, "Too often our prayers are self centered.  James said, "Or when you ask, you do not receive because the reason you ask is wrong. You want things so you can use them for your own pleasures."  (James 4:3 NCV - New Century Version)

Pastor Scott remarks, "Maybe we have sin or inquity that's blocking our prayers.  "If I regard iniquity in my heart, The Lord will not hear."  Psalm 66:18 NKJV - New King James Version)

Pastor Martin smiles, "Here's wisdom from Proverbs.  "If you refuse to listen to God's law,  God will refuse to listen to your prayers." (Proverbs 28:9 EASY)  

Pastor Joe comments, 'If we have unforgiveness God doesn't hear our prayers.  "And when you stand praying, forgive if you have anything against anyone, so that your Father who is in heaven may also forgive you your sins.  But if you do not forgive, neither will your Father who is in heaven forgive your sins.” (Mark 11:25-26 MEV - Modern English Version)

Pastor Scott says, "Our condemning heart may block our prayers.  "for whenever our heart condemns us, God is greater than our heart, and he knows everything.  Beloved, if our heart does not condemn us, we have confidence before God; and whatever we ask we receive from him, because we keep his commandments and do what pleases him." (1 John 3:20-22 ESV - English Standard Version)

Pastor Joe speak, "Thank you gentlemen, I learned a lot from your wisdom of the Bible."

Pastor Scott continues, "We better eat, before our food gets cold.  I'm glad we meet together.  Iron sharpens Iron.

IS YOUR PRAYER LIFE FULL OF FLUFF?

 PARABLE OF WHIPPED CREAM

SUNDAY SCHOOL LESSON

A Sunday school teacher puts a small piece of chocolate on an empty plate.  Holding the plate in front of her students, she asks, "Who wants this chocolate?"

A lot of hands are raised.  One boy even stands waving his arms.

The teacher continues, "I only have one piece of chocolate.  How do I know who I should give it to?"

Little girl blurts out, "By asking for it."

Teacher continues, "Our lesson is about prayer and asking him for things more than chocolates."  The class watches as she sprays the entire can of whipped cream over the chocolate."

How many of you went shopping with your mother, begging her over and over again for her to buy you candy or a toy?

A boy speaks, "I was begging her so much, she told me she would never take me to the store again."

Teacher continues, "Jesus said these powerful words:  “When you pray, don’t be like the hypocrites. They love to stand in the synagogues and on the street corners and pray loudly. They want people to see them. The truth is, that’s all the reward they will get.  But when you pray, you should go into your room and close the door. Then pray to your Father. He is there in that private place. He can see what is done in private, and he will reward you.

“And when you pray, don’t be like the people who don’t know God. They say the same things again and again. They think that if they say it enough, their god will hear them.  Don’t be like them. Your Father knows what you need before you ask him."  (Matthew 6:5-8 ERV - Easy to Read Version)

Teacher says, "God knows what you need before you ask Him.  Just like you want the little piece of chocolate, the whipped cream is like your many words, repeating them over and over again, covering what you really want."

Little girls speaks, "Can I have the chocolate now."  The little girl comes up to the plate.

Teacher continues, "Go ahead put your hand in the whipped cream and take it."

All the class giggles, watching her put a fingertip into the whipped cream and returning to her seat.

Teacher continues, "When you are at the store treat your parents with love and respect.  If you want something, be polite and ask one time.  And they know what's good for you and they may say no.  And when we pray to God, treat him with love and respect too.  Don't whine like a little child in a shopping cart.

Little boy raises his hand, "May I have some whipped cream with my chocolate?"

CAN YOU TELL ME HOW ARE WE SUPPOSE TO PRAY?

 PARABLE OF THE PRAYER MEETING

PRAYER WARRIORS 

Four prayer warriors discuss which home they are going to have the next Sunday evening prayer meeting at.

Pam, the youngest speaks, "I hate when people interupt me when I pray.  It would be much better if we went around in a circle letting each person pray one at a time, without any interuption.  And they can pass if they don't have anything to pray."

Evelyn the oldest says, "Great idea!  I think some people attending our group need to learn how to pray.  Jesus taught His disciple how to pray using the Lord's Prayer."

Kim the Asian add, "It might be good if we carefully examine it."

Marie begins, "Jesus said, 'This, then, is how you should pray: "Our Father in heaven hallowed be your name..." (Matthew 6:9 NIV) Tell me, what comes to your mind?"

Pam answers, "We should begin our prayers with praise and worship.  Jesus said, "...Your kingdom come..."  (Matthew 6:10 NIV)

Evelyn adds, "We need to have compassion for the lost and interceed for the unsaved. Praying for harvest workers to make disciples of all nations.  Christ said, "Your will be done on Earth as it is in heaven."  (Matthew 6:10 NIV)

Maria speaks, "I don't know about you, but I need to prayer each day for God's direction.  I need strength to accomplish His will and to interceed for others.  Our LORD said, "Give us today our daily bread."  (Matthew 6:11 NIV)

Pam smiles, "It's important that we pray for other people's daily needs first, before asking God for our daily needs.  Yeshua said, "And forgive us our debts, as also we have forgiven our debtors." (Matthew 6:12 NIV)

Kim replies, "That's one of the biggest problems in the world...people can't forgive one another.  If we don't forgive, than how in the world is Jesus ever going to forgive us?  The Son of God said, "And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one..." (Matthew 6:13 NIV)

Maria adds, "Pray for a hedge of protection like Job had in the beginning.  “Have you not put a hedge around him and his household and everything he has? You have blessed the work of his hands, so that his flocks and herds are spread throughout the land." (Job 1:10 NIV)

Pam smiles, "Pray for protection from ourselves!  "And remember, when you are being tempted, do not say, “God is tempting me.” God is never tempted to do wrong, and he never tempts anyone else.  Temptation comes from our own desires, which entice us and drag us away."  (James 1:13-14 NLT)

Evelyn says, "It's the world, our flesh and the devil who can be our worst enemies."  Jesus said, "For yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever amen."  (Matthew 6:13 NASB)  End your prayers with praise!  OK, which one of you gals are hosting this Sunday?"

NIV - New International Version  

NLT - New Living Translation

NASB - New American Standard Bible

HOW MUCH DOES IT COST TO BE A DISCIPLE OF JESUS?

 DISCIPLESHIP TRAINING 

COME FOLLOW ME

"A large crowd was following Jesus. He turned around and said to them,  “If you want to be my disciple, you must, by comparison, hate everyone else—your father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters—yes, even your own life. Otherwise, you cannot be my disciple.  And if you do not carry your own cross and follow me, you cannot be my disciple.

“But don’t begin until you count the cost.      For who would begin construction of a building without first calculating the cost to see if there is enough money to finish it?  Otherwise, you might complete only the foundation before running out of money, and then everyone would laugh at you.  They would say, ‘There’s the person who started that building and couldn’t afford to finish it!’

“Or what king would go to war against another king without first sitting down with his counselors to discuss whether his army of 10,000 could defeat the 20,000 soldiers marching against him?  And if he can’t, he will send a delegation to discuss terms of peace while the enemy is still far away.  So you cannot become my disciple without giving up everything you own.  

Luke 14:25-33  (NLT - New Living Translation)

THE GREAT COMMISSION was to make disciples, training up new leaders in the church to spread the Gospel to all nations. And making sure each generation will make new disciples.

A disciple must put Jesus first above family and may face rejection, persecution and death on a cross.  And you can't bring all your worldly possessions with you when you're walking with Jesus.  You need to trust in God's provision.

WHAT WAS ACACIA WOOD USED FOR IN THE BIBLE?

 TREES IN THE BIBLE

ACACIA TREES

Acacia wood comes from a large thorny tree.  It is a rot resistant hard wood from Africa.

“They shall construct an ark of acacia wood two and a half cubits long, and one and a half cubits wide, and one and a half cubits high.  You shall overlay it with pure gold, inside and out you shall overlay it, and you shall make a gold molding around it.  You shall cast four gold rings for it and fasten them on its four feet, and two rings shall be on one side of it and two rings on the other side of it.  You shall make poles of acacia wood and overlay them with gold.  You shall put the poles into the rings on the sides of the ark, to carry the ark with them.  The poles shall remain in the rings of the ark; they shall not be removed from it.  You shall put into the ark the testimony which I shall give you.  

Exodus 25:10-16  (NASB 95 - New American Standard Version)

“You shall make a table of acacia wood, two cubits long and one cubit wide and one and a half cubits high.  You shall overlay it with pure gold and make a gold border around it.  You shall make for it a rim of a handbreadth around it; and you shall make a gold border for the rim around it.  You shall make four gold rings for it and put rings on the four corners which are on its four feet.  The rings shall be close to the rim as holders for the poles to carry the table.  You shall make the poles of acacia wood and overlay them with gold, so that with them the table may be carried.  You shall make its dishes and its pans and its jars and its bowls with which to pour drink offerings; you shall make them of pure gold.  You shall set the bread of the Presence on the table before Me at all times.

Exodus 25:23-30  (NASB95 - New American Standard Bible)

"I will plant in the wilderness the cedar, the acacia, the myrtle, and the olive tree;
I will set in the desert the fir tree, and the pine, and the box tree together, that they may see, and know, and consider, and understand together, that the hand of the Lord has done this, and the Holy One of Israel has created it."

Isaiah 41:19-20  (MEV - Modern English Version)

ARE YOU A RHINO?

 ARE UNICORNS IN THE BIBLE?

UNICORN IN NAME ONLY

The Indian Rhino's scientific name is "Rhinoceros Unicornis," meaning one horn Rhino.

Are Unicorns colorful ponies with one horn?

Are there really Unicorns in the Bible, or our these Wild Ox?  Does the Bible say they have one horn or two?

"Will the unicorn be willing to serve thee, or abide by thy crib? Canst thou bind the unicorn with his band to the furrow? Or will he harrow the valleys behind thee?"  Job 39:9-10  (KJ21  King James 21st Century)

“Is the wild ox willing to serve you?
 Will he spend the night at your manger? 
Can you bind him in the furrow with ropes,     or will he harrow the valleys after you?"  Job 39:9-10  (ESV  English Standard Version)

"Save me from the mouth of the lion!
You have rescued me from the horns of the wild oxen!"  Psalm 22:21 (ESV)

"Save Me from the lion’s mouth; for Thou hast heard Me from the horns of the unicorns."  Psalm 22:21 (KJ21)

Skeptics would say, the Bible is full of fairy tales with multicolored unicorns.  

Bible translators who used the name Unicorn most likely were thinking this animal only had one horn.  Modern translators believe it is a wild ox.

Could the Unicorn be an extinct Wooly Rhino? 

EVER DREAM OF BEING A DISCIPLE OF JESUS?

 WHAT DO I NEED TO DO?

MEN APPROACH JESUS

"Along the way someone said to Jesus, “I'll follow you anywhere!”

Jesus said, “Foxes have dens, and birds have nests, but the Son of Man doesn't have a place to call his own.”

Jesus told someone else to come with him. But the man said, “Lord, let me wait until I bury my father.”

Jesus answered, “Let the dead take care of the dead, while you go and tell about God's kingdom.”

Then someone said to Jesus, “I want to follow you, Lord, but first let me go back and take care of things at home.”

Jesus answered, “Anyone who starts plowing and keeps looking back isn't worth a thing to God's kingdom!”  

Luke 9:57-62  (CEV - Contempary English Version)

MARTIN LUTHER KING JR. DAY

 OWJ HIKING NEWS

GRAND CANYON NATIONAL PARK

Celebrate Martin Luther King Jr. Day.  

Enjoy a FREE entrance day at the NATIONAL PARKS today.  

Participate in local community activities and volunteer work.

 "Life's most persistent and urgent question is, 'What are you doing for others?'"  

(quote from Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.)

CRANE BIRDS AND KING HEZEKIAH?

BIRDS IN THE BIBLE

FLOCKS OF CRANES ARE NOISY

"Even birds know when it is time for them to move to a different place.
    That is true for storks, doves, swallows and cranes. 

Birds know when it is time to return, but my people do not know my laws."  Jeremiah 8:7  (EASY Bible translation)

"This is the writing of Hezekiah king of Judah, when he had been sick and had recovered from his sickness: 

I said, 
“In the prime of my life
I shall go to the gates of Sheol;
I am deprived of the remainder of my years.”  

I said,
“I shall not see Yah,
The Lord in the land of the living;
I shall observe man no more among the inhabitants of the world. 
My life span is gone,
Taken from me like a shepherd’s tent;
I have cut off my life like a weaver.

He cuts me off from the loom;
From day until night You make an end of me. 

I have considered until morning—
Like a lion,
So He breaks all my bones;
From day until night You make an end of me. 
Like a crane or a swallow, so I chattered;
I mourned like a dove;
My eyes fail from looking upward.
O Lord, I am oppressed;
Undertake for me! 

“What shall I say?
He has both spoken to me,
And He Himself has done it.
I shall walk carefully all my years
In the bitterness of my soul. 
O Lord, by these things men live;

And in all these things is the life of my spirit;
So You will restore me and make me live. 
Indeed it was for my own peace
That I had great bitterness;
But You have lovingly delivered my soul from the pit of corruption,
For You have cast all my sins behind Your back. 
For Sheol cannot thank You,
Death cannot praise You;
Those who go down to the pit cannot hope for Your truth. 
The living, the living man, he shall praise You,

As I do this day;

The father shall make known Your truth to the children. 

“The Lord was ready to save me;
Therefore we will sing my songs with stringed instruments
All the days of our life, in the house of the Lord.”

Isaiah 38:9-20  (NKJV - New King James Version)

Like the incredible chatter from a flock of migrating crane, King Hezekiah he believe death was near.

CORMORANT BIRD ~ JUDGEMENT ON PROUD CITIES

BIRDS IN THE BIBLE 

CORMORANT BIRD

 For it is the day of the Lord’S vengeance, and the year of recompences for the controversy of Zion.

And the streams thereof shall be turned into pitch, and the dust thereof into brimstone, and the land thereof shall become burning pitch.

 It shall not be quenched night nor day; the smoke thereof shall go up for ever: from generation to generation it shall lie waste; none shall pass through it for ever and ever.

 But the cormorant and the bittern shall possess it; the owl also and the raven shall dwell in it: and he shall stretch out upon it the line of confusion, and the stones of emptiness.

They shall call the nobles thereof to the kingdom, but none shall be there, and all her princes shall be nothing.

And thorns shall come up in her palaces, nettles and brambles in the fortresses thereof: and it shall be an habitation of dragons, and a court for owls.

Isaiah 34:-17  (BRG BIBLE)

“You may eat every clean bird, but these are the ones you may not eat:

eagles, bearded vultures,

black vultures, the kites,

any kind of falcon,

every kind of raven, ostriches,

short-eared owls, gulls,

any kind of hawk,

little owls, long-eared owls,

barn owls, eagle owls,

ospreys, cormorants,  storks,

any kind of heron,

hoopoes, and bats.

Deuteronomy 14:11-18  (CSB - Christain Standard Bible)

(This post was created December 2024)

BITTERN IN THE BIBLE

BIRDS IN THE BIBLE 

BITTERN ARE SIMILAR TO HERON

“I will also make it a possession for the bittern, and pools of water; and I will sweep it with the besom of destruction,” saith the Lord of hosts."

Isaiah 14:23 (KJ21 21st Century King James)

"But the cormorant and the bittern shall possess it; the owl also and the raven shall dwell in it; and He shall stretch out upon it the line of confusion and the stones of emptiness."

Isaiah 34:11  (KJ21  21st Century King James)

 And flocks shall lie down in the midst of her, all the beasts of the nations: both the cormorant and the bittern shall lodge in the upper lintels of it; their voice shall sing in the windows; desolation shall be in the thresholds: for he shall uncover the cedar work."

Zephaniah 2:14  (BRG  BRG BIBLE)

JESUS HEALS EVERY KIND OF DISEASE

 MIRACLES OF JESUS

JESUS HEALS CHILDREN TOO

"Jesus went throughout all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every sickness and every disease among the people."

Matthew 9:35  MEV  (Modern English Version)

ARE THERE THREE HEAVENS?

 BIBLE QUESTIONS

PASTOR, ARE THERE THREE HEAVENS?

WORDS SOMETIMES HAVE DIFFERENT MEANINGS DEPENDING ON THE CONTEXT.  

THE FIRST HEAVEN REFERS TO OUR ATMOSPHERE, WERE RAIN FALLS AND BIRDS FLY.

"...the birds of the heavens, and the fish of the sea, whatever passes along the paths of the seas."  Psalm 8:8  ESV  (English Standard Version)

“For as the rain comes down, and the snow from heaven, And do not return there,
But water the earth, And make it bring forth and bud, that it may give seed to the sower
and bread to the eater,..."  Isaiah 55:10  NKJV  (New King James Version)

THE SECOND HEAVEN IN THE BIBLE IS OUTER SPACE, WHERE THERE'S PLANETS, STARS, ASTEROIDS, COMETS, AND GALAXIES.

"When I consider Your heavens, the work of Your fingers, the moon and the stars, which You established—"  Psalm 8:4  TLV  (Tree of Life Version)

"For the stars of heaven and the constellations thereof shall not give their light; the sun shall be darkened in its going forth, and the moon shall not cause its light to shine."  Isaiah 13:10  ASV  (American Standard Version)

THE THIRD HEAVEN IS THE THRONE ROOM OF GOD, WHERE HE AND ANGELS LIVE.

 "I know a man in Christ who was caught up to the third heaven fourteen years ago. Whether he was in the body or out of the body, I don’t know; God knows."  2 Corinthians 12:2 CSB  (Christian Standard Bible)

"After this I looked, and there in heaven was an open door. The first voice that I had heard speaking to me like a trumpet said, “Come up here, and I will show you what must take place after this.”

Immediately I was in the Spirit, and there was a throne in heaven and someone was seated on it.  The one seated there had the appearance of jasper and carnelian stone. A rainbow that had the appearance of an emerald surrounded the throne.

Around the throne were twenty-four thrones, and on the thrones sat twenty-four elders dressed in white clothes, with golden crowns on their heads.  Revelation 4:1-4  CSB (Christian Standard Bible)

JESUS HEALS TWO BLIND MEN

 MIRACLES IN THE BIBLE

JESUS TALKING TO TWO BLIND MEN

"Jesus left the house. While he walked along, two blind men began to follow him. They were shouting out to him, ‘Son of David! Please be kind to us and help us!’

Jesus went into a house and the blind men came to him there. Jesus asked them, ‘Do you believe that I can make your eyes become well?’ The men replied, ‘Yes, Master, we believe that you can do this.’

So Jesus touched the men's eyes. He said to them, ‘Because you believed in me, you will now see again.’  Then immediately the men could see again. Jesus said strongly to them, ‘You must not tell anyone about this.’  

So the men went away. But they told everybody in that part of the country all about what Jesus had done for them.  

Matthew 9:27-31  EASY  (Easy English Bible)

DID GOD DIE?

 BIBLE QUESTIONS

IS THE HOLY GHOST A DEAD SPIRIT?

We find the name Holy Ghost in old English translations of the Bible, simply meaning Spirit.

In modern translations, we call the third person of the trinity, God the Holy Spirit; who has existed before creation and lives forever. He will never die.

The word ghost in modern dictionaries can mean the spirit of a dead person, that is where all the confusion begins.

JESUS CASTS OUT A DEMON

 MIRACLES OF THE BIBLE

JESUS HEALS A MUTE MAN

"As they were going away, behold, a demon-oppressed man who was mute was brought to him.  And when the demon had been cast out, the mute man spoke. 

And the crowds marveled, saying, “Never was anything like this seen in Israel.”  

But the Pharisees said, “He casts out demons by the prince of demons.”

Matthew 9:32-34  ESV  (English Standard Version)

JERUSALEM ALONE

 WHERE'S JESUS?

JOSEPH AND MARY SEARCH FOR JESUS

"Now his parents went to Jerusalem every year at the Feast of the Passover.  And when he was twelve years old, they went up according to custom.  

WAS THIS JESUS' BAR MITZAH?

And when the feast was ended, as they were returning, the boy Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem. His parents did not know it, but supposing him to be in the group they went a day's journey, but then they began to search for him among their relatives and acquaintances,  and when they did not find him, they returned to Jerusalem, searching for him.  

WE LEFT WITHOUT JESUS

After three days they found him in the temple, sitting among the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions.  And all who heard him were amazed at his understanding and his answers.  

And when his parents saw him, they were astonished. And his mother said to him, “Son, why have you treated us so? Behold, your father and I have been searching for you in great distress.”  

And he said to them, “Why were you looking for me? Did you not know that I must be in my Father's house?” And they did not understand the saying that he spoke to them.  

GOD IS HIS FATHER

And he went down with them and came to Nazareth and was submissive to them. And his mother treasured up all these things in her heart.

And Jesus increased in wisdom and in stature and in favor with God and man."

Luke 2:41-52  ESV  (English Standard Version)