17.Nov.2009 Watchmen

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Isaiah 62:6-7: “O Jerusalem, I have posted watchmen on your walls; they will pray day and night, continually. Take no rest, all you who pray to the Lord. Give the Lord no rest until he completes his work, until he makes Jerusalem the pride of the earth.”

1 Peter 2:5: “And you are living stones that God is building into his spiritual temple. What’s more, you are his holy priests. Through the mediation of Jesus Christ, you offer spiritual sacrifices that please God.”

As members of a flock, a certain church, we often feel as though we are not able to pray to God, when, in fact, we are all able to pray and have a relationship with Him. God wants everyone to have access to Him, and we do. The temple curtain tearing on the day that Jesus died was significant of just that- the old traditions were broken, and we were all made equal in His sight. We no longer have to go through someone to get to God; we have access to Him ourselves.

As we go through our everyday lives, it gets easy to believe that we are not good enough to be in God’s presence. Most people don’t pray because they feel unworthy of praying, when, in fact, Jesus’ death on the cross made it so that we are worthy of being with God. We are cleansed through Jesus’ blood. That makes us all good enough to be with God, as long as we repent and feel bad for sinning. Then pray. God is desperate for His people to commune with Him. He wants for us to get closer to Him, not farther away from Him.

We are sheep in a flock, all part of our church, and our pastor is our shepherd. It is not only the shepherd’s job to feed and lead the sheep, but also to protect the sheep, and that means getting rid of wolves. Most wolves are not intentionally wolves. Everyone is allowed in the church, but once destructive behaviors start, they need to be stopped.

When it comes to prayer, have a “do-it-now” attitude. Pray now, not later. When you tell someone that you will pray for them, why not now? The bible says in the Old Testament to pray without ceasing. This can get very hard at times, but there are many different types of praying. You can come together in agreement, you can alone time with God, and you can live life in the right way. there are many other ways of praying. We can all pray, so why not?