Thank you, Father, for the privilege of being able to come freely to You in prayers.; to be able to have a direct communion with you and receive abundant grace and mercy at any given time. The apostle Paul encourages us to be strong in the Lord and in the Lord’s mighty power (Eph 6:10).

Paul knows how blessed it is to be able to draw strength, protection, discernment and wisdom from our Lord who gives never-ending supply; that we could say a prayer and feel the peaceful presence of the Lord enveloping our anxious thoughts.

Being strong in the Lord and in His mighty power grows from a deliberate immersion through prayers of every concern, worry, every thanksgiving, every tear and every joy to a God who dearly loves us. He loves to be part of our every minute and day; draw near to Him and receive His steadfast strength and conviction to fully believe in His good promises. The Lord promises and He delivers. Let us boldly come to His throne and claim His good promises.
 
1 Chronicles 17: 26 – 27
And now, Lord, You are God and have promised this goodness to Your servant. Now You have been pleased to bless the house of Your servant, that it may continue before You forever; for You have blessed it, O Lord, and it shall be blessed forever.

Hebrews 4: 16
Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.

- Irene Soon
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​The year was 2000, the era of Y2K, the year where some embraced the excitement of entering to the new millennium, others felt trepidation, uncertain of what lay ahead; I belonged to the latter group.

Just a day after the dawn of the year 2000, I lost my mum. She was bedridden during the last two weeks I spent by her side. Having recently returned from my studies overseas, those final weeks were the only significant time I had with her before she passed.

25 years later, I still grapple with that overwhelming loss, often talking about it with the Lord. In difficult times, I have accused Him of not understanding my experience, feeling that no one, including Him, could truly comprehend my pain. It was as if I believed my tragedy was uniquely profound.

Then, with the gentlest prompting, Questions arose: What about Jesus? Could anyone truly understand Him? A person born with the destiny of crucifixion.

Matthew 27:46
My God, my God why have you forsaken me?

His cry of anguish echoed in my mind.

Tears welled up as it dawned on me how much He had suffered. What a heartbreakingly beautiful suffering. He endured, knowing that through it all, you and I could be together with the Father (John 14:6) and become joint heirs with Jesus (Romans 8:17).

In that moment of reflection, my grief slowly transformed into a realisation of how minuscule my suffering is compared to His. Yet, in His ultimate suffering, He cried out in apparent heartbreak. This was a profound awakening to the truth that He truly understands what I am going through, having endured it all and more.

My pain, though deeply personal, is not isolated and misunderstood. In His anguish, I discovered a shared human experience, a powerful testament to His great empathy, love and the depth of His sacrifice. The Lord understands.

- Annie Pisca

The Psalmist wrote in Psalm 92 that it is good to give thanks to the Lord. He is imploring us to see how giving thanks to the Lord is good for our soul, mind and body. When we fill our thoughts with prayerful praise, it will bring tidings of gladness and shift our focus from negative thoughts, gloom and sadness. It is, therefore, good to greet each day & morning with thanksgiving at the works of His hands.

What work you may ask? The Lord is doing a good work in our lives so that we may have life and have it to the full, the devil however, works overtime daily to burden us with anxious thoughts, worries that steal aways our joy and peace and enough to push us to make hurried or impulsive mistakes. In knowing this, we also need to be reminded that God is bigger than every mountain against us and He will continue his good works in us; interceding for us in the supernatural realms and we could continue steadfastly in prayer being watchful in it with thanksgiving (Colossians 4: 2).

It is good to give thanks to the Lord for He who begin a good work in you will bring it to full completions (Philippians 1:6).

John 10: 10
The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life and have it to the full.

- Irene Soon

​Don't look back to the past, it is a burden you need not carry, the past can be a lesson but don't let it be your hindrances to moving forward; to trying new experience or give today a new chance instead of it being burdened by yesterday's worries.

Paul says, "I focus on one thing; forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead (Phil 3:13). When we have sinned in the past, we need to renounce it, forget and let the Lord begin His healing within us. The Devil however, likes to remind us of our sins, shame and regrets so we will live in continuous guilt or fear. The scriptures says that the Lord looks to establish a new covenant with us and He will remember our sins no more (Hebrew 8: 12) - For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness and their sins and the lawless deeds I will remember no more.

Paul would have had a list of shame he carried, he prosecuted many Christians before his life in Christ  but the Lord graced Him to look ahead and endured suffering for his new faith boldly. Paul chose to forget the past and look ahead & rely on the Lord's promise that his sins are remembered no more.

Do not look back to your past and let it stop your growth in Christ. Jesus has bore all of your sins, shame, fear, regrets and guilts on the cross. He has risen victoriously over all; don't take back the defeat that the Lord has conquered and won for you. The Lord has made us victors through Him. Let us receive His forgiveness, forgive ourselves and look forward to what lies ahead.

Isaiah 43:18-19 
Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland.

- John W.

On Good Friday, we celebrate and remember the day Jesus has atone for our sins willingly at the cross. His crucifixion is the ultimate sacrifice for our sins.

A Prayer of Gratitude

Dear Lord, thank you for Your selfless sacrifice on the cross for me, It is through Your sacrifice, I have been set free and You paid the price to offer me the gift of eternal life.

Help me to not take this gift of salvation for granted and grant me the wisdom to remember the cost of it all. Forgive me for all of my sins, for being too busy with things and please empower me daily to do good works.

Thank you, Lord, that by your wounds I’m healed of all pains and inequities; I’m completely set free. Jesus, I give You the glory and honour. Grant everyone peace and the joy of Easter for Your sacrificial gift has given hope to the hopeless and power to the powerless.

Amen

- Hopeful Heart Team

Struggle after struggle and God brought into light how much I tried to depend on my own strength. There are times when it is too difficult to pray, but He gently reminds me of His love that always draws me back to Him in prayers.  As our family continues to go through some crisis, I went through restless sleepless nights, thinking when my family will trust and depend on God completely.

As a prayer coordinator, there are many issues that burdens my heart, the country I constantly pray for, my family, my health, praying to go the mission field and to spread the good news of the Lord. To think about it, I’m a fool if I don’t surrender all these burdens that I can’t control the outcome of, to the Lord. His love is vast as the ocean and overflowing like a river in my life. I am reminded that He is God and when I fall again and again, He will pick me up and reminds me that even if I can’t, He can.

When I am full of concerns, He tells me not to be afraid. Even when the trials and tribulations come to my life and my own foolishness make me forget who He is, He always reminds me to go back to Him and to learn to trust Him more and more. I am a lifelong learner of how trustworthy God is and I am learning to trust Him more and more.

May we continue to strengthen our prayer life and remember that when we can’t see any result, it does not mean the Lord is not working. Have faith, trust in Him and the Lord will carry you in all seasons of trials. 

Isaiah 12: 2 NIV
Surely God is my salvation; I will trust and not be afraid. The Lord, the Lord himself, is my strength and my defense; he has become my salvation.

- Jenni Wang

The hot water that would soften a potato could harden an egg as well as the same sunshine that gives warmth during winter could easily harden the clay. Although in our earthly life, we can’t choose circumstances that can happen to us, God wants our struggles to strengthen us and nurture the perseverance within us.

​His promises in the Bible encourages us to defend our faith in a living God than to give in to fear that the Lord has the power to conquer for us.

Paul writes, “We can rejoice too.. (Romans 5: 3). Paul spoke of a freedom to choose and if he who has gone through many trials and sufferings with imprisonment could still heed us to rejoice, we too can choose to rejoice during trials. We can because we have the confidence that the Lord is working His purposes in our lives for our good and we are never alone as we have the Holy Spirits within us. So, let us rejoice!
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Romans 5: 3 – 5 NLT
We can rejoice, too, when we run into problems and trials, for we know that they help us develop endurance. And endurance develops strength of character, and character strengthens our confident hope of salvation.  And this hope will not lead to disappointment. For we know how dearly God loves us, because he has given us the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts with his love.

- John W.

Dear Heavenly Father,

We would like to praise Your Holy Name and offer our heart of gratitude for Your sacrifice on the cross for our sins. Thank you for raising us up with Your power to live victorious lives and thank you for Your everlasting forgiveness. Help us to live in the gladness, wisdom and the grace of Easter Sunday, every day. Help us extend the kindness of Your love for us to others around us. Praise Your Holy Name. 

​Amen.

There is a vast difference between happiness and blessedness. Paul had imprisonments, sacrifice and painful sufferings up to the very limit; but in the midst of it all, he was blessed. All the beatitudes came into his heart and life in the midst of those very conditions.

On one of his concerts, Paganini, the great violinist discovered that his precious famous violin has been stolen. On that discovery, he felt paralyzed for a moment and he stepped back behind the stage's curtain looking at the old cheap violin that has been left as the replacement of his stolen violin.

He remained at the back of the stage's curtain for a moment, then came out before his audience and said: “Ladies and Gentlemen: I will show you that the music is not in the instrument, but in the soul.” And he played as he would have with his precious violin. Out of the old cheap instrument, the music poured forth until the audience was enchanted with enthusiasm and the applause almost lifted the ceiling of the building;  Paganini had revealed to them that music was not in the instrument, be it an old or a a precious expensive one but in his own soul.

It is your mission, tested and tried one, to walk out on the stage of this world and reveal to all earth and Heaven that blessedness is not in the conditions, not in things, not in externals but it is through the peace and faith within your soul that trusted the Lord, your Saviour.

If peace be in the heart, the wildest winter storm will be full of solemn beauty. If peace be in the heart.

John 16: 33
“I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”

- Charles F Richardson

As the year is drawing to an end, let us take the time to recount the goodness the Lord has brought to our lives; giving thanks to the seen and unseen protection and provision the Lord has lavished on us. We will give thanks to the lessons and tears that this year brings as well for the Lord has strengthen us through it all.

Jesus constantly remained in constant communion with His Heavenly Father, He looked for opportunities to seek His Father in prayers. I believe, this is the way our Lord Jesus Christ coped with daily demands that depletes His human energy.
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The book of Matthew wrote that when Jesus heard of the ill fate that befell John the Baptist, He withdrew by boat privately to seek solitude but upon seeing a large crowd following Him, He had compassion, healed them, attended to their needs and fed them. After it, He went to the mountainside by Himself to pray. 

Jesus repeatedly helped multitudes who seek Him yet He did not rely on His own strength, stay haggard and hurried, He nurtured His communion with His Father through prayers in solitude and thanksgiving. Will we follow this example and intentionally make time for the Lord before the year ends and starts it afresh with prayers? In your own solitude, be refreshed by His mighty strength and gracious fulfilment; giving thanks trusting that our days are in our Lord’s good protections and provisions.

Matthew 14: 13 - 14
When Jesus heard it, He departed from there by boat to a deserted place by Himself. But when the multitudes heard it, they followed Him on foot from the cities. And when Jesus went out, He saw a great multitude; and He was moved with compassion for them, and healed their sick.
 
Matthew 14: 23
And when He had sent the multitudes away, He went up on the mountain by Himself to pray.

- Irene Soon