“Be earnest and unwearied in your prayer (life) alert and intent in your praying with thanksgiving” (Col 4:2; AMPC). In other words, we need to persevere in prayer and not give up even if answers are coming slower than we would like. (See also Luke 18:1-8). As I was reading this verse I was reminded of Nehemiah. Nehemiah was one of the Jewish exiles and he was cupbearer to the king of Persia. He got bad news from Judah that the wall of Jerusalem had been torn down and so he started praying. I noticed that in his prayer (Neh 1:4-11) he began by giving God praise and then he repented on behalf of the children of Israel who had turned away from God. Then he laid his petition before the Lord and it was very specific, “Please grant me success today by making the king favourable to me. Put it in his heart to be kind to me” (Neh 1:11; NLT). He then asked the king to give him a leave of absence so he could return to Jerusalem to rebuild the wall. When the king asked him how he could help we are told that Nehemiah again prayed before he replied” (Neh 2:4,5; NLT). He prays once more in chapter 6, verse 14 when he is facing opposition to the building of the wall. In fact, Nehemiah endured a lot of opposition but he was obviously strong in faith because in the midst of persecution he declared, “The God of the heavens will grant us success” (Neh 2:20; NLT).

It seems that Nehemiah was a man of prayer, as we as Christians should be. He prayed before speaking or acting and God gave Nehemiah success and he and his team rebuilt the wall in just 52 days.

“He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. I will say of the Lord, He is my refuge and my fortress; my God, in Him will I trust” (Ps 91:1,2; NKJV). The whole of Psalm 91 speaks of God’s protection. He is our refuge and fortress, delivering us from evil, shielding us and using the angels to keep us safe. In 2 Kings chapter 6, we read how Elisha was trapped in a city by the large army of the Syrian king. Elisha’s servant was alarmed, so Elisha prayed that his servant could see the armies of God, “horses and chariots of fire” (2 Kings 6:17; NKJV) ready to protect them. Elsewhere in the Bible we are told that God is our hiding place (Ps 119:14), our strong tower (Ps 61:3), shelter (Ps 27:5), rock (Ps 27:5) and stronghold (Ps 9:9). He guards us (2 Thess 3:3), surrounds us (Ps 125:2), shelters us (Isa 25:4), keeps (Ps 121:5-8), helps, strengthens and upholds us (Isa 41:10). God keeps us secure (Prov 1:33), safe – even at night (Ps 4:8) and even fights for us (Ex 14:14). Hopefully by now you are convinced that God protects you 24/7; yes, even you! I am sure we all love Psalm 23, let’s consider verse 4 (AMP), “Yes, though I walk through the (deep, sunless) valley of the shadow of death, I will fear or dread no evil, for You are with me; Your rod (to protect) and Your staff (to guide), they comfort me.” Be encouraged if you face difficulties, challenges or persecution remember God’s protection is mightier than anything that can come against you (John 16:3).

“We walk by faith not by sight” (2 Cor 5:7; NKJV). These are profound words because as humans we are so used to operating in the sense realm, especially going by what we see, hear and feel. However, if we are to operate in faith, God tells us not to go by our senses. Because, “faith is the proof of what is not seen” (Heb 11:1; CSB). Take Abraham and Sarah for example, when God told them that Sarah would conceive, their first reaction was to think of how old they were (operating in the sense realm). However, they decided to walk in faith focusing on God’s promise, despite their age and season in life, “And Abraham’s faith did not weaken, even though, at about 100 years of age, he figured his body was as good as dead – and so was Sarah’s womb” (Rom 4:19; NLT). In the New Testament, we see the example of Peter when he walked on the water to Jesus. He stepped out of the boat in faith, focused on Jesus but “when he SAW the strong wind and the waves, he was terrified and began to sink” (Matt 14:30; NLT). Peter was doing fine until he looked at the storm. He went from the faith realm to the sense realm. I encourage you not to go by what you see, hear or feel but develop your faith for whatever it is you are believing for; quote scriptures concerning this and thank God for the victory. “So we don’t look at the troubles we can see now; rather, we fix our gaze on things that cannot be seen. For the things we see now will soon be gone, but the things we cannot see will last forever” (2 Cor 4:18; NLT). Amen.

“For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him” (2 Cor 5:21; NKJV). Jesus, through his suffering and death on a cross bore the penalty for our sins so we could receive God’s righteousness. The Greek word translated as righteousness here, means to be right, to be in right standing with God or in line with his will in all things. God sees His Christian children as righteous. However, we need to grow in the revelation that we have God’s righteousness (2 Cor 5:21) and allow the fruit of righteousness to be seen in our lives (Phil 1:11). We are called to pursue righteousness (1 Tim 6:11), allowing God to discipline us (Heb 12:11), while studying the word which is: “profitable…. for instruction in righteousness” (2 Tim 3:16b; NKJV). We must allow the Holy Spirit to guide, direct and change us (Rom 8:4-6; 2 Cor 3:18). All of this must be undergirded by our faith (Phil 3:9; Rom 3:21-23). Righteousness brings life (Prov 11:19) and God delivers the righteous from affliction (Ps 34:19). The righteous are blessed (Ps 106:3, 5:12), they enjoy peace (Isa 32:17) and their prayers are powerful (James 5:16). “Surely the righteous will never be shaken; they will be remembered forever” (Ps 112:6; NIV). Finally, “Righteousness exalts a nation, but sin is a reproach to any people” (Prov 14:34; NKJV). Now, surely that last verse in itself is thought for the days we live in! Let’s us walk in God’s gift of righteousness.

“May Christ through your faith (actually) dwell (settle down, abide, make His permanent home in your hearts! May you be rooted deep in love and founded securely in love” (Eph 3:17; AMPC). (See also Col 2:7; AMPC).

Read this verse again slowly! To think we can have Almighty God living in our hearts permanently – so we can communicate with Him and be led by Him day after day. The first sentence of the verse describes something that God will do (if we invite Him to) and the second sentence pertains to something that we must do, which is to allow our roots to go down deep into His love. If you compare this to natural roots you know that initially a young plant has only very tiny roots but gradually as nutrients and water are received from the soil, they grow and spread all over the place. That’s what we want to do with our spiritual roots – get so much watering and nourishment from the word that we get absolutely rooted and grounded in it. Do you remember the parable of the Sower? The seed on the rocky soil didn’t last long. Why? Because it couldn’t develop deep roots. To be deeply rooted in God and His love we need to meditate on it until we know of God’s love beyond a shadow of a doubt and experience it daily (See 1 John 4:7-21). God’s love isn’t fickle like human love can be; it is constant regardless of what we may or may not do. “God’s love never fails” (1 Cor 13:8).