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GLEANINGS FROM THE WORD Experiencing an extraordinary God in ordinary life Issue #1,027 February 6, 2004, Flaming Arrows It was a gorgeous night out as Genni the wonder dog and I walked around the lake last night. The temperatures have risen close to the freezing mark during the heat of the day and it was only, perhaps, 10 below when we went for our stroll (a far cry from the -51 of a week or so ago). To the east, the sky was already obsidian black with a full looking moon on the rise. To the west, the sun had drifted out of sight beneath the horizon, but its dying light painted the horizon. Blues mixed with an uncommon but delightful teal color lit up the western edge of the sky. Overhead, a single star shone through the dark. As we walked and I watched the sky, another star peeked through. A minute or so later still another popped into view. Before long it seemed as if every second, another star pricked through the darkness letting that much more light through. Some were bright, others barely visible, but each drove the darkness back that much more. All I could envision were the prayers of God's people cutting through the darkness like flaming arrows. As they people interceded God drove the darkness back a little more. I imagined the process continuing through the night, until the sun burst again onto the scene and drove the darkness away fully. Never underestimate the prayers of a righteous person, praying for the will of God. All prayers go up, all prayers receive some sort of an answer (yes, no, not yet) but not all prayers cut through the darkness. Some prayers are self serving and have nothing to do with God's will. They never cut through the dark. When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures James 4:3 NIV Compare that to the prayers of a faith filled, righteous person seeking God's will. He replied, "Because you have so little faith. I tell you the truth, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, `Move from here to there' and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you. Matthew 17:20 NIV How's your prayer life? Are you consistent? Are you right with God? Are you praying for things that will drive back the darkness like flaming arrows, or are your prayers small and centered on your personal wants? Don't misunderstand, we're called to take everything before God, even the small personal stuff. It's just that if that's all you pray about, many of your flaming arrows will burn out before they ever make a dent in the darkness. We're called to pray for His kingdom first. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Matthew 6:33 NIV Until next time, may the desires of your heart and the focus of your prayer life be the things of God and His desires. Be blessed Hallelu Yah (Praise God)! Kevin Never let the enemy tell you that you are worthless or insignificant. You have value in the eyes of God so great that it was worth dying for. You are a blessing to the world. You are so precious to God that heaven will not be complete without you. HELP FOR THE HURTING The darkness in your life seems heavy and you wonder if there will ever be any light. The weight of your sin and pain seems unbearable and you know that you can never make up for it all. Even a pinprick of hope would give you strength to face another day of it. You can have more than a pinprick. You can have flaming arrows and have the darkness driven back. You can experience, firsthand, love; hope; peace; joy; forgiveness and more from the hands of an all powerful, all knowing, ever present loving God. In fact He's the only place you'll ever find that light you're looking for. He's waiting for you to ask Him into your life. You can simply begin the relationship by honestly and completely opening your heart, admitting you need God's help, and saying a prayer along the lines of: Jesus: I have made many mistakes in my life and done things I am not proud of. I have sinned. I need your love and forgiveness. I believe that you came into this world and gave your life on a cross to pay for my sins and that you defeated death and rose again. Please forgive me, and be the Lord of my life. I give my life to you Lord. Amen If you pray this prayer for the first time let me know so I can rejoice with you. Did you know that at Gleanings, we have a dedicated team of prayer warriors and all prayer concerns are kept strictly confidential? Your comments, your questions and your joys are shared with the prayer team, to keep me accountable as the head of the ministry and to encourage them as they see God at work in your life. As with prayer all these things are kept confidential within the Gleanings team. To share your questions, comments, thoughts, prayer concerns and praise reports email us If you enjoyed this issue of Gleanings From The Word, email it, in its entirety, to a friend. For information on use of Gleanings in your church newsletter or other situations please visit the permissions page . You can write to us at Gleanings From The Word Ministries International 114 Oak St Sherwood Park, AB Canada T8A 0V8 © 2001-2004 K.F. "Kevin" Corbin Gleanings From The Word Ministries International - All Rights Reserved
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