In the consecrated believer, the Holy Spirit is preeminently a Spirit of prayer. If our whole being is committed to Him and our thoughts are under His control, He will occupy every moment in communion.

We shall bring everything to Him as it comes, and pray it out in our spiritual consciousness before we act it out in our lives. We shall, therefore, find ourselves taking up the burdens of life and praying them out in a wordless prayer which we ourselves often cannot understand, but which is simply the unfolding of His thought and will within us.

This will be followed by the unfolding of His providence concerning us. Unfaithfulness and disobedience to the faintest whisper of His will often hinder some blessing which He meant for us. After a while, we may become so dull and negligent to His whispers, and we shall stumble on in the darkness and miss His highest thoughts.

Lord, teach us to pray in the Spirit, to pray without ceasing, and to lose nothing of Your will. 

Romans 8: 5
Those who live according to the flesh have their minds set on what the flesh desires; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires.

- A. Simpson

I’ve always wondered what Jesus meant when He said, “If you had faith even as small as a mustard seed, you could say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it would move.” I’ve never heard of mountains moving—and I’ve certainly never moved a mountain—so why did He choose that analogy?

Over time, I’ve come to realize that while my faith hasn’t moved any literal mountains, even a little bit of faith - faith the size of a tiny mustard seed—can overcome mountainous obstacles in our lives.

The difficulty with this is that the outcome is often not as obvious as a mountain moving and falling into the sea. Christian author Kent Crockett put it this way: “Faith is the ability to look past adverse circumstances and see God’s hand at work.” That ability can be hard to gauge, and that’s why we often wonder if our faith is real.

In Hebrews 11, Paul lists characters from the Old Testament who lived their entire lives in faith, but never got to see the final fulfillment of what they were hoping for-- the kingdom of God on earth. Yet their faith was not wasted: among other things along the way, “these people overthrew kingdoms, ruled with justice, and received what God had promised them. They shut the mouths of lions, quenched the flames of
fire, and escaped death by the edge of the sword. Their weakness was turned to strength.”

Matthew 17: 20
He replied, "Because you have so little faith. Truly I tell you, 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.

- Anonymous

What was the joy that Jesus had? Joy should not be confused with happiness. In fact, it is an insult to Jesus Christ to use the wordhappiness in connection with Him. The joy of Jesus was His absolute self-surrender and self-sacrifice to His Father— the joy of doing that which the Father sent Him to do— “…who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross…” (Hebrews 12:2). “I delight to do Your will, O my God…” (Psalm 40:8). Jesus prayed that our joy might continue fulfilling itself until it becomes the same joy as His. Have I allowed Jesus Christ to introduce His joy to me?

Living a full and overflowing life does not rest in bodily health, in circumstances, nor even in seeing God’s work succeed, but in the perfect understanding of God, and in the same fellowship and oneness with Him that Jesus Himself enjoyed.

But the first thing that will hinder this joy is the subtle irritability caused by giving too much thought to our circumstances. Jesus said, “…the cares of this world,…choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful” (Mark 4:19). And before we even realize what has happened, we are caught up in our cares. All that God has done for us is merely the threshold— He wants us to come to the place where we will be His witnesses and proclaim who Jesus is.
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Have the right relationship with God, finding your joy there, and out of you “will flow rivers of living water” (John 7:38). Be a fountain through which Jesus can pour His “living water.” Stop being hypocritical and proud, aware only of yourself, and live “your life…hidden with Christ in God” (Colossians 3:3). A person who has the right relationship with God lives a life as natural as breathing wherever he goes. The lives that have been the greatest blessing to you are the lives of those people who themselves were unaware of having been a blessing.

- http://utmost.org/my-joy-your-joy/ -

Ephesians 6:12  
For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.
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Despite the advancing technology, war and terror and suffering are ever present everywhere. Even recently we read about the suffering in Syria and France. Some Christians ask if praying is enough and non-believers could emphasis on the point that God does not exist because there is so much suffering in the world.
 
By faith, we know that our God is a Sovereign God: the Creator of Heaven and Earth and everything belongs to Him. There is nothing that happened in this world that He does not know. Then we ask how come God allows this suffering. Unfortunately, I can still tell you that I do not have answer to that question but I believe that prayer is the most powerful weapon we can use in our spiritual warfare.
 
Prayer is not just our words, it has the power to align our heart to God’s heart, to allow Him to mold our hearts and to transform it into His likeness; to have a heart for the nations and suffering people around us, be it through personal or of external circumstances. Prayer makes us see things from God’s perspective. Prayer could reach people further than our own physical and geographical limitations, our prayers will enveloped the people who needs protection, provision, health and much more. In saying that, let us also remember that faith without doing is dead (James 2: 17).

In our place of privilege, let us be still enough to hear the voice of God calling us to be an intercessor and proceed to be His hands and feet to reach the world. His love will enable us to be the light, this dimming world needs.

- Jenni Wang

Prayer is our most powerful gift when done in faith. E.M. Bounds described the power of prayer in saying, "We can do nothing without prayer. All things can be done by importunate prayer. It surmounts or removes all obstacles, overcomes every resisting force and gains its ends in the face of invincible hindrances." God loves to move when we pray. He is not a God who forces his will on his people, but in love waits for us to capture his heart and ask him to move and work in our lives and the lives of others. There is no more important task before us today than to learn what it is to pray in faith. 

Mark 11:22-24 says, "Have faith in God. Truly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, 'Be taken up and thrown into the sea,' and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that what he says will come to pass, it will be done for him. Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours." Jesus illustrates an important link between prayer and faith. When we have faith that God will move as he has told us he would and we pray in response to that faith, the impossible happens. 

Conversely James 1:5-8 says, "If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him. But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind. For that person must not suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways." Where faith positions us to receive from God, doubt has the opposite effect. Scripture is clear that the prayers God responds to are prayers of faith. God has given us purpose here. He longs to co-labor with his people. Our job is to capture his heart in spending time in his presence and pray boldly in response to his faithfulness. 

You and I have been given the incredible gift of conversation with a God who longs to move in response to our prayers. What obstacles stand in your way today? Where do you need a miracle? Who needs prayer around you? Spend time capturing the heart of your heavenly Father and praying with boldness. He waits to respond to your prayers and do the work only he can do. 

- http://www.first15.org/first15/165-first15-june-14 -

What is it about love? Some say it is that warm fuzzy feeling you feel when you see him/her. Some define it as a smile from the heart; the one that makes you smile at nothing and everything. Some says it is a commitment you make in good and bad. Some believe it makes the world goes round.

Every love has its story.  We love to relive it through wonderful memories of what used to be and to some, what could’ve been. Some live in the past, some are in constant pursuit of the idea of finding the one, some are fixated with the idea of being in love. We never look further than what we could comprehend or imagine. 

Jesus has His own love story too. Differing from us, He lived it, showed it, proved it and till today He remains faithful. My love is conditional, it is given if the recipient meets my expectation or surpasses it. Jesus however, no human could fathom His unconditional love. He came down from His Heavenly throne to live a life of flesh and blood, His love is shown through actions to multitudes and undeserving sinners like us. Jesus wept and He had compassion for the lost and broken. His love story is the one we could continue to retell to this generation and the next.

His love is everlasting; would you accept and invite Him into your heart? He would love you like no other.

1 John 4: 9 - 10
God showed how much he loved us by sending his one and only Son into the world so that we might have eternal life through him. This is real love—not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as a sacrifice to take away our sins.

- Irene Soon

Life, isn’t it about getting what we want? To be happy and getting people to validate that you are different, accomplished and perhaps have the lifestyle coveted by many.

Is it about keeping up with the joneses; no, I should rephrase that, is it about keeping up appearances and material things? Then again, who are we trying to impress? Were these needs birthed out of unresolved insecurities or pride within? Are these visions or needs given by God or it stems out from our own unhealthy needs?

When we operate on our unhealthy needs; triggered by unhealthy issues, it usually spirals downwards draining us of our own strength. Insecurities and pride will demand a result by a certain time limit, it relies fully on our knowledge, our reasoning and strength.

When the vision is God given, an un-surpassing peace will always surround our conscience. We may still get tangled in trying to accomplish our God given vision with our own strength however, every time we put it back into God’s hand, He will replenish the need for strength. God given vision does not necessarily abide by a certain time limit, it is not something where we could control the outcome or result but when it has finished its good work, we will be able to testify the surrealism of God’s glory.

When we make life about God, He will bring us to height and influence more than our own little sphere, reaching multitudes or numerous people whom we may not be able to make on our own. When life is about us, we put a limit to God’s wondrous way at work at our life. Which will you choose? I know I could testify that following God is the best decision I have ever made.  Amen.

Mark 8: 36
And what do you benefit if you gain the whole world but lose your own soul?

- John W.

Psalm 28: 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.

What did David mean by “be a good courage”?
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The Webster dictionary defines courage as mental or moral strength to venture, persevere, and withstand danger, fear, or difficulty. It is strength or the ability to do something that frightens one. It may means having the strength to against all currents; persevering to stand by your God given values, it may means having the strength to say no, having the strength to profess your faith boldly though it intimidates you, it may mean having the strength to keep quiet and not speak hastily due to pride and it may simply mean having the strength to say the first sorry and admitting you are at the wrong .

David urges us to wait on the Lord and be of good courage because he knew that God has been the strength of his heart through it all and the Lord remained David’s only hope in the land of living. Do not lose heart, dear friends.  Like David, let the Lord be the strength of your heart and continue to hope on the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living.

- Irene Soon