(LUKE 2:20)
I was taught very early in life that you can learn
much by watching people. In the day Jesus was born, a shepherd was the
equivalent of a busboy or dishwasher in today's society. It was a very low
position, and these were not the type of people you would think to look at as
role models. Again, let me remind you that you can never judge a person by
the house they live in, the car they drive, or the job they hold. The
shepherds on the night Jesus was born must have been pretty important men in
the eyes of God, because it was to those men He revealed the birth of His son
in Bethlehem's manger that night. While there are many great spiritual
lessons you can learn from these men, the one I want to focus on today is
their conduct after they had visited the manger and seen with their own eyes
the baby Jesus.
The scripture reference today tells us that they left praising God for all
they had seen and were shown. Praising God. I have talked about this many
times in the past, and will continue to talk about it because it is one
element of our faith that we just don't do enough of. So much of our prayer
time, so much of our focus is on our problems and circumstances, that we
often forget to spend time each day just thanking and praising God for all
He does for us each and every day. In just the 16 short months since this
website has been in operation, we have already received thousands of praise
reports from people who found out about the site, came for prayer, and then
saw the power of God at work first hand. Let me recap just a few of the
praise reports.
A lady in Baltimore, Maryland emailed a request for God to restore her
marriage. Her husband had left her for another woman. Within 3 weeks, the
husband had come home, recommitted his life to Christ, and they were in
Christian counseling to work out their problems. For those of you today
with marriage problems, God is still in the restoration business. A man in
Newark, New Jersey requested prayer the day before open heart surgery. He emailed
us a week later telling us all had gone well and the doctors told him he would
make a full and complete recovery. For those battling heath problems today,
God is still in the healing business. A single mother of 4 in St. Louis
asked us for prayer after she lost her job. Two weeks later, God had given her
a better job with more money. For those of you in need of a financial
blessing today, God is still in the business of providing for His children.
On the 5th day after we started, our minister on the video feed was praying
for a person as they accepted Christ as Savior. The next day an email came
in from Hong Kong from a man who has lost his business, was thinking of
suicide, and somehow logged on to our site. As the pastor was leading the
person in the sinner's prayer, this man in Hong Kong prayed to accept Jesus
too. God is still in the business of saving souls. Every day we get
incredible praise reports of how God has touched lives and worked miracles in
the lives of people who have visited our site for prayer.
I would encourage you today to learn from the shepherds and never neglect to
thank God for all He does for you each and every day, blessings you take
for granted. It is through your praise, you telling others all God has done for
you, that they might increase their faith to allow God to work in their life.
Your praise report gives others going thru the same situation the hope and
strength to go on, trusting God for their miracle. Hope is the greatest gift
you can give to another person. That is exactly what Liveprayer.com is all
about...giving hope to people in their time of need. This is the only site
on the Internet broadcasting LIVE 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, one of the
only places you can go in the world to find a Godly, loving person to pray
for you any time. We are here simply to share the love and hope of Jesus
with hurting people worldwide each and every day.
I pray today that you will not forget to give God the praise He deserves each
and every day. I appreciate more than you can know the praise reports we get
every day because that keeps all of us here at Liveprayer.com encouraged.
May His richest blessings be with you today as we praise Him for all he does
for us!
