Jesus Knows Your Name and He Cares

Does God really care? Does he really care about the small things going on in my life? In fact does he really know my name? Well, yes he cares and not only does he care, he even knows your name. As it says in Isaiah he even has your name written on the palm of his hands. Think of that, God knows your name and cares about you and wants you to pray.

The Lord has been teaching me and convicting me so much in the matter of prayer. Presently I am doing a prayer series at our church and through this I hope our church will grow to a greater level of prayer. (And you can hear these messages via our church web page at  http://www.smithriverbaptist.org/  ) It is my prayer that we will see the vast importance and blessing that comes through prayer.

Now, sometimes God wants us to pray and go, to act and cooperate with His plan. But that takes the leading of the Holy Spirit in our lives to realize exactly what it is He wants us to do as we pray. Then there are other times we are to simply pray and wait on the Lord. This too takes prayer and guidance from the Holy Spirit if that is what we are to simply do.

But most importantly God wants us to remember that He cares about every aspect of our life. That we can put all our troubles and cares into His Almighty Hand knowing that He has the power to help us. I love what 2 Corinthians 4:8-9 says We are hard-pressed on every side, yet not crushed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; 9 persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed” why? Because through prayer God can and will help.

I think about Moses as he was leading the children of Israel out of Egypt. In Exodus 14:13 he instructs them to “do not be afraid. Stand still, and see the salvation of the Lord.” Are you kidding? Stand still? Moses, the enemy is approaching, they are behind us and there is a body of water we can’t cross in front of us. It was an impossible situation from man’s point of view, but not for God. May I remind you that nothing is impossible with God.

As Moses spoke to the people to stand still and see the salvation of the Lord. I am also reminded of the Psalmist words in Psalm 46:10 “Be still and know that I am God” And that is exactly what God wants us to do when we go through difficulties, trials and valleys. He wants us to pray and turn to Him. He wants us to cast all our cares at His feet. He wants us to be still and know He is God.

I came across this writing from the ‘Angels were Silent’

He’s waiting for you. God is standing on the porch of heaven, expectantly hoping, searching the horizon for a glimpse of his child. You’re the one God is seeking. God is the waiting Father, the caring Shepherd in search of his lamb. His legs are scratched, his feet are sore, and his eyes are burning. He scales the cliffs and traverses the fields. He explores the caves. He cups his hands to his mouth and calls into the canyons. And the name he calls is yours. The message is simple; God gave up His Son in order to rescue all his sons and daughters. To bring his children home. He’s listening for your answer.”

God wants us to pray to Him and trust Him

Power of Prayer

My wife wrote this down on a card that I found in her calendar book, "Things change when we get desperate enough to talk to Him" This past month my family got desperate, and friends and family joined us in fervent, continual, constant prayer for Karen. The result? God heared, answered and change took place.


Now, Can you imagine what would happen if we would pray with the same fervency for our church and those spiritually lost and away from Christ? Hmm.....= revival

God gives us courage

Not only do I like a good starbucks mocha, but I also got something even better at the Starbucks in Hattiesburg, MS. The other night I went in for an evening Mocha and while waiting for mine to be made I saw two ladies sitting close by with their Bibles. I walked over to them and noticed one had a John Maxwell study bible and I pointed to it and said "that is a good book". They nodded and agreed. Soon I found out they were attending the church my nephew went to and I asked them to pray for Karen.

Then one of the ladies got up with her Bible and showed me a verse she had underlined. What a great verse. Karen and I have read it now twice at night. Psalm 27:13-14 I would have lost heart, unless I had believed. That I would see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. Wait on the Lord; Be of good courage, and He shall strengthen your heart; Wait, I say, on the Lord!"

When you walk through the valley of death you can easily lose heart. But knowing our Heavenly Father is their for us gives us courage. When we wait on Him it causes us to trust more and grow in His strength.

God is with us

It is so good to know that when you go through the eye of storm God is there. He truly will never leave you nor forsake you

Just two weeks ago I came so close to losing my wife. Today, she is alive and recovering, slowly but recovering. I keep claiming Gods promises of healing and praying to Jehovah Rapha, the Lord our healer. A dear church member said that I was a 'fixer' that I always wanted to fix things 'now' and she is right. I want to fix this right now too, but I can't. I have to learn to wait, trust the Lord and be patient. God has brought Karen along so much in these 2 weeks and I am looking forward to what He is going to do in the future. So many passages of scripture keep running through my mind of Gods power and strength...what a comfort they are to this frail weak person. But as I write this I am reminded that when I am weak I am made strong through Him.

God is awesome and I will write about that later. But for now I pray for Gods complete totally healing. No, she is not a young strong 20 year old olympic athlete trying to recover from brain surgery. But still, I am praying the greater prayer, prayer for a greater miracle, praying that God will show Himself evern mighter and stronger in His healing of Karen.. God may you get the praise and draw more people to Yourself