my thoughts to my beloved sunday school class. check your mails!

hello my darlings. sending manymany hugs to yvette and liling that have just left and rah who is much missed!!

well todays prayer meeting really impacted my heart and i just thought i'd share it with you all (:

pastor highlighted five things for us to pray for:

1. a prayer for understanding [psalm119:169]
"give me understanding according to Your Word..."

2. a prayer for deliverance [psalm119:170]
"deliver me according to Your Word..."

3. a prayer for help [psalm119:173]
"let Your hand be my help..."

4. a prayer to be kept ALIVE [psalm119:175]
"let my soul live..."

5. a prayer to be Shepherded [psalm119:176]
"seek Your servant..."

point1: pastor talked about how he keeps finding new ways, fresh messages and concepts to bring across the Lord's Word to us. he said it really is a challenge to bring a new msg everytime, after 33 years of ministry. it always amazes me that pastor has not preached the same message twice even after THIRTYTHREE YEARS. and thats really like wow. and i was rebuked. how i find it hard to keep focused while reading the Lord's Word for just half an hour and pastor spends hours and hours reading and he can never exhaust the richness of God's Word. and that really reminded me AIE HELLO WAKE UP! haha. we often lose sight of what we were meant to be.

point2: 'deliverance'. the idea of being delivered. it isnt a one-off prayer, it something that has to be CONTINUOUS. like a prayer for understanding. it has to be constantly offered up to God.

point3: pastor brought up the idea that God's help comes at the break of dawn, after a long period of night and darkness. will you trust that His hand of help will be there?

point4: question- are you ALIVE? pastor brought up the challenge of being alive. it is easier to die than to live. a question i asked myself was: will i make my life one of great purpose and meaning? or am i just gonna live each day. another rebuke to my heart. being alive, full of zeal and enthusiasm and passion for the Lord seems to fizzle out when work starts to pile up and i start to get tired. alive! thats something i want to remind myself of. we were meant to be alive! (:

point5: let Him be your Shepherd and let Him lead. (:

pastor ended off by showing us some pictures of a couple that the pastoral team ministered to today. michael and angie. michael is 52 years old and he's got a tumour. angie, his wife has been on unpaid leave for a month looking after him. the pastors visited him, ministered to him and baptized him today. when i met with kenneth before prayer meeting, he was telling me about how michael has been trying to get a pastor to baptize him for quite awhile but no pastor was willing to come. and it just reminded me of how different Bethany is, how we are so blessed to have pastors and older ones who really care and seek to minister to each of us in their own way. and i was really touched by the example displayed. pastor has cancer, but that doesnt stop him from being such a powerful witness for the Lord and i was just encouraged. "being confident of this very thing, that He who begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ." -philippians1:6

we concluded our study of psalm119 today, after 9 months of intensive study! haha. and pastor said we probably dont remember half of what we've read. and its TRUE. oh dear. but it really is a challenge to keep seeking, and rest in the knowledge that our God is good! ive attached a song thats been stuck in my head. hahah i dont know if you all have heard it before, but its a beautiful song. a line that i like is "precious Lord, reveal Your heart to me." let that be our prayer everyday, wherever we are. (: i love you all, and am praying for all of you. (:

in His love and mine, princess ;)