Importance of Prayer

"A true prayer is about communication with God"

That statement would come across my mind if I were asked what prayer is all about.

There is no exact knowledge or rule on how we should behave while we are praying because prayer is about communication with God. It is about maintaining intimacy. It is about our heart.

Let us see what God says about prayer. There are many verses talking about prayer, for instance, we can see from James 5:13-16 (ESV) under a title of "The Prayer of Faith". 

Then we jump directly to verse 16b, you will see a common verse,

"...The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working." 

Moreover, we can connect this verse with Matthew 11:28 (ESV),

"Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest." 

Yes, we can come to Him through prayers. God has given us a free-and-easy "tool" to communicate with Him. You can do it everytime and everywhere.

I am not going to tell you what you should say, this time I just want to share what I have experienced before.

Yes, you can trust your best friends or your closest people; apparently only some of them care and have sympathy to you. Most likely, they neglect your story.

Right now, I always try to let God intervene in my whole life, even the smallest aspects. I realize that I am weak and nothing, so I often communicate with God in every moment of my life through prayer. I truly believe through prayers alone, God helps and keeps His promises to me that I can have His eternal peace that comforts me like never before (Philippians 4:7)

Let us pray, and pray, and pray!
Make it your habit! Build your intimacy with God.
Lastly, Enjoy your quiet time with God!

This is a great 50-minutes-sermon from Ps. Philip Mantofa. This sermon will tell you how to pray correctly and biblically. It is in Bahasa anyway, and I got this from a friend of mine. Check it out!

Doa Yang Didengar 

Have a joyful day friends!

God bless you!

BB

Do You Forgive Immediately?

Hi! Hi! Hi!

How are you? I hope you are doing great.

It has been a long time I have not written on my blog again. Well, it is my excuses actually. Never mind about it :)

In this special opportunity, I would like to share to you about "Forgiveness". Yes, it is a classic phrase, yet it is still difficult to do in reality, isn't it? I got this inspiration from my pre-dedication when I will be becoming a Sunday school teacher later, but I revised it a little bit without omitting the essence.

I would not share the whole story of Matthew 18:21-35 to you, but I highly suggest you to read the whole passage; so you can have a bigger and clearer picture. This passage will tell you how God teachers us about "Forgiveness.

"Forgive, so you will be forgiven." 

Above-statement does not mean we receive forgiveness from God by forgiving others for their sins to us. This will make our salvation is conditional. 

Apparently, It is the other way around! Above-statement shows that spirit of forgiveness is a characteristic of forgiven people--you and me.

I know it is not easy to forgive someone. Forgiveness is a process of lifetime. I found myself in bitterness and hatred many times.

By sharing this story, I am not saying that I can easily forgive my enemies. I am also still learning how to forgive wholly and sincerely. The very reason I want to share this because I realized God has forgiven me before. We are sinners. We do not deserve God's mercy. We are not worthy to be saved. But.... God showed His mercy and forgive us anyway. It is still questionable indeed, yet that is God's unconditional love for you and me. 

Here is a great song about "Forgiveness". Do check it out. It really inspires me a lot. Every time I cannot forgive my enemies, I always listen to this song. I also add a background why Matthew West wrote this amazing song.

Forgiveness by Matthew West

Behind The Scene of Forgiveness Song

To end my story, I would give you the same questions I asked to myself before:

1. How deep and meaningful God's forgiveness to our life?

2. How would you react to this truth? What will you do next?

"To forgive is to set a prisoner free and discover that the prisoner was you"

Lewis B. Smedes*

*more quotes from Lewis about "Forgiveness" 

Have a great day!

God bless you.

Cheers,

BB