While flicking through one of my quiet time journals, I found this prayer: "Don't let disappointment keep me from You" . I do not know what caused me to write it, but I began to reflect on the effect of disappointment. How can disappointment create a barrier between us and God, and can we avoid it? Expectation vs Reality Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but a desire fulfilled is a tree of life - Proverbs 13:12 ESV Psychologists describe disappointment as the gap between o

We do not know whether Jabez had to persevere in prayer to receive his breakthrough. I do know that his prayer is the kind you may not know has been granted right away - not if you are looking for physical evidence. I do not think his territory immediately expanded, or material blessings miraculously appeared before him the moment he finished his prayer. No, his name was still Jabez, so he would have had to stand firm on God's irrevocable blessing every single time he heard h

The centurion and Jabez both heard about God which caused them to believe. They put their faith into action by communicating their need to God in the confident expectation that God had the answer and would give it to them. Jabez's faith response to the problems of his name was to come to God via communication: "And Jabez called on the God of Israel saying..." 1 Chronicles 4:10 NKJV Similarly, the centurion sent Jewish elders to Jesus with a message: So when he heard about Je

And Jesus answered them, "Have faith in God" Mark 11:22 Prayer, in its simplest form, is talking to God. Hebrews 11:6 tells us that "without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him" This means that the first and fundamental part of prayer is faith - talking to God and believing that He exists while knowing He is listening, willing and able to respond in our favour. We kn

In many of my posts, I end with ways to put what is covered into action. You will find these under the "Blessing in Action" heading. Here's why: James 1:22-25 tells us to go beyond hearing the word to becoming doers. "But the one who looks into the perfect law of liberty, and perseveres, being no hearer who forgets but a doer who acts, he will be blessed in his doing"—James 1:25 ESV Do not 'read and run' It is good to hear God's Word, but there are blessings that can only be