September 24, 2010 Talking to God 5

Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus.

Good Morning, my dear brothers and sisters. Summer is still hanging out here at the Southern Location of the North Pole. Believe it or not, things are starting to gear up for our Christmas season... Old Santa and Mrs. Claus are starting to rebook all the places we were at last year and also letters have gone out in support of our food bank. It is an update type letter of what is going on, and some of you have received them in the mail. This Saturday I am going to post on this line a copy of the letter we have mailed for all to read. Hey, it is Friday and the day we pray for all those who work in the fields of harvest for our Lord Jesus, the day we pray for all those going out and telling the GOOD NEWS. Folks, it seems to me that most people have no trouble telling the bad news or the trash news around the water cooler or coffee pot at work, but if you bring up the good news of our Lord Jesus, your boss just might pay you a visit and tell you, you cannot talk about Jesus at work. Folks, I worked at Central Dauphin School District for 25 years, most of the time heading up the transportation department. After I found our Lord Jesus and invited Him into my heart His picture hung on the wall behind me. The picture was the one with our Lord Jesus holding the lost sheep, the lamb that wandered away. Folks, I was that lost sheep... At no time was I ever asked to take down that picture. We also had prayer meetings in my office, we called them caring and sharing meetings. People knew what was going on and God protected us. There are ways to get it done and when you cannot, then dust off those shoes and move on. AMEN!!!!!!!!

Folks, new on our prayer list today is Joe Zimmerman from Annville, Pa. He is having serious shoulder surgery next Wednesday and we need to start covering Joe with prayer. I was blessed to be able to marry Joe's son to his daughter-in-law last summer. Please keep praying for Kathleen and Ron as they walk the walk with Jesus as they fight cancer.

Prayers for Anna Troutman whose son has passed away. She told me she did not know if he made it to heaven as he walked from the Lord and never came back. Anna, a wonderful believer, knows that we must know Jesus to get into heaven, there is no way around it, folks, no way. I think we born again parents would love to know that all of our family, children, grandchildren and so on are saved. That should be a parent's number one concern in life.

1 Thessalonians 5:16 - Be joyful always; 17 Pray continually; 18 Give thanks in all circumstances for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus. (NIV)

Sometimes it is very hard to be joyful when you hurt so bad or you are so sick, yet we are told to be joyful always and pray continually. In other words talk to Jesus all the time, and smile. Yesterday we had a sing-along at the Bridges, we do this twice a month, we start with some choruses, then move to our song book for some hymns and then we play stump the piano player as our flock pick what they want to sing. Anyway, as we sang my eyes watched the room and there was a new resident assistant in the room with one of the residents. She had this big, and I mean big, smile on her face all morning as she worked with her assigned job and sang with us. After the sing-along I went and talked with her. "You love Jesus," I said to her, and she said very, very much. And folks, it showed. That is the way we should be, not complaining about what is wrong with us but being joyful in Jesus. It is easy to get caught up in this complaining all the time. But as you can see, even our hurts we are to give thanks for.

How are we to pray? I mean in what position should we be in? On our knees with heads bowed and hands folded as we teach our little ones? Should we be standing with our heads bowed and our eyes shut as we do so often in church? Let me look at where some people in the Bible prayed from...

Daniel 6: 10 - Now when Daniel learned that the decree had been published, he went home to his upstairs room where the windows opened toward Jerusalem. Three times a day he got down on his knees and prayed. (NIV)

Jonah 2: 1 - From inside the fish Jonah prayed to the Lord his God. (NIV)

Matthew 26:39 - Going a little farther, He fell with His face to the ground and prayed. (NIV)

Mark 1: 35 - Very early in the morning while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went to a solitary place, where he prayed. (NIV)

Luke 22: 41 - He withdrew about a stone's throw beyond them, knelt down and prayed. (NIV)

John 17: 1 - After Jesus said this, He looked toward heaven and prayed. (NIV)

Acts 6: 6 - They presented these men to the apostles, who prayed and laid their hands on them. (NIV)

Now I put down a lot of scriptures and I could go on and on, Jesus went to the mountains, he went to the garden. I think what the scriptures are telling us is, that it is not so important where we pray but that we pray, and also there is NO PLACE we cannot pray. I mean if you can pray from inside the fish, and in the Lions' Den then we should be able to pray at the edge of our bed, while driving our car. I think a great bumper sticker would be this. "Hang up your phone and pray," then maybe a little note under that that states, "your driving needs it." I often pray while in the bathroom, yes, I sing in the shower, but I pray on the throne, sort of a throne to throne thing with Jesus.

Tell your children to pray in school today, I know we have a man on this line, retired from school teaching, but still teaching as a sub, and I know he prays in his classroom. I bet he talks to Jesus often from inside at school.

Where do you go to pray? Do you take time to be alone with Jesus? Do you also pray with others? Folks, if someone asks you to pray for them, do it right on the spot. Take their hand and hold it and pray your heart out to Jesus. I often have taken Dolores to doctors' appointments and often have sat in the car. I also have prayed with people on the parking lot, I would see people coming out, having trouble walking and I would just boldly go over and ask, can I pray for you right now. I have never been turned down. In fact the only place I have been asked not to pray out loud is at the bus museum, and that just started. Time to dust off my feet. Anyway, I think at our computers is a great place to pray... Let's do it right now.

Dear Father in Heaven, teach us that we can pray anytime, anyplace, and You will always be there to hear those prayers. Teach us also that we can listen anytime and anyplace for You to talk to us, but often we forget, so teach us please. Lord, hear our prayers for healing this day, and Lord, cover Joe in the blood of Jesus as he has surgery next week. Thanks for taking care of Vicki and others. Lord Jesus, I love You... in the name of Jesus, Amen.

Now go forth sharing your blessings and praying for others and praying long and often... Love ya,
Pastor Dan.