LIFE’S INSPIRATIONS: “…`Those who listen to my Word and fulfill them are…wise… People who listen to my Word but do not obey them are… fools’…” (Jesus, our God and Savior who is God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, in Matthew 7:24, 26, the Holy Bible).
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CALL FOR PRAYERS ON EARTHQUAKES PROBLEMATIC: Now, we are again witnessing prayer revivals—people asking each other to pray, or posting prayers, for deliverance from earthquakes like the one that struck Luzon last Monday, April 22, 2019, and the Visayas last Tuesday, April 23, 2019. But, prayers don’t work that way. Jesus said not all who pray to, and not all who call on, Him will have their prayers or pleas answered. Why? Read the Bible now.
Okay, do you want to hear the truth? Many people who claim to be Christian believers in this country have become the laughing stock of believers around the world every time strong typhoons or severe earthquakes visit the Philippines. The reason seems to be that, it is only when calamities strike that many of the believers in our midst remember their prayers. If there are no calamities, no one cares about God. Undeniably, many do not know (and therefore do not obey) God’s commands.
Indeed, many of these believers expect God to listen to, and answer, their prayers, even if they do remember Him only when problems, natural or man-made, make life difficult for them. But their real problem is that, God is a just God. God knows who truly obey His commands, and it is only the prayers of these faithful believers that are answered by Him favorably.
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MANY SPORT FAKE OR SPURIOUS FAITH IN GOD: Again, the truth cannot be denied: many Christian believers in our country today are sporting fake or spurious faith. The reason is that, while they continue to proudly profess their belief in God, they could not be seen (or, many a time, are rarely seen) listening to (or reading and knowing) the Word of God, and, which is much worse, they rarely obey God’s commands, if ever they do at all.
Indeed, many of them, whether they are aware of it or not, are living with the lie that certainly came through, or was sown by, the devil, which lie are in turn dutifully shared by people whose minds are controlled by the devil, that believers no longer need to know what God’s commands from the Bible are, so that there is no need for them to be reading the Bible anymore. They say that it should be enough if believers pray, or believe in God.
Well, wait! How can a believer truly say in his or her heart that he or she believes in God if he or she does not know the commands of God? If a believer does not know what God wants him or her to do, can he or she really say that he or she is a follower of God? How can that believer claim, with conviction, that he or she is following God if he or she does not know the commands of God that he or she should follow?
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NOT ALL WHO PRAY TO, OR CALL ON, GOD WILL GET FAVORABLE RESPONSES: Then, the belief that it is already okay for a believer to be praying is also skewered. People who say this do not have the truth in them, especially the truth which says that not all who pray, nor who cry “my God, my God”, would have their prayers favorably answered by God. God’s favorable answer has a condition that supplicants (or people who pray and ask Him for something) must meet.
During the Gathering for Praise, Worship, and Thanksgiving for the preachers and deacons of the Children of God Blood Kin of the Christ Church (or AND KNK, Simbahang Anak ng Diyos Kadugo Ni Kristo) last Saturday, April 20, 2019, it was shown quite forcefully how God normally answers and usually grants prayers: the believer must be knowledgeable of the Word of God, and is sincerely obeying the Word.
It is in listening to the Word of God and then carefully obeying everything that is written in it which is the secret of God’s favorable responses. This means that, believers must strive to know the Word of God and to obey God’s commands, to enable His blessings, guidance, and protection, to flow to them and their loved ones at all times.
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NUMBERS TO CALL FOR BIBLE STUDIES AND PRAYER MEETINGS: People who wish to attend the Bible Studies and Prayer Meetings of the Children of God Blood Kin of the Christ Church (or AND KNK, the Simbahan ng Anak ng Diyos Kadugo Ni Kristo) can call me at 0977 805 9058, 0917 984 2468, 0918 5740193 at 0933 825 1308, or email me at batasmauricio@yahoo.com, or send messages to me via Facebook (www.facebook.com/attybatas).
