Spring of Hope

Buy  my books   " Joy in the Journey "  and  " Song in the Night" on Amazon now              Experiencing sound quality issues?  Please Click here   Pray with Expectation   Pray with Expectation Acts of the Apostles 12:5-16 Have you ever been surprised by a prayer you prayed and the results you received? This passage in Acts reminds us that prayer often brings unexpected answers, sometimes far beyond what we can imagine. The early church found itself in a desperate situation. Herod had arrested Peter, intending to execute him just as he had James, the brother of John. Yet, in the face of this threat, the church turned to fervent prayer. Despite their earnest prayers, they likely did not expect God to deliver Peter in such a miraculous way. When Rhoda announced Peter’s presence at the door, their disbelief reflected the limits of their expectation. But God’s power is not cons...

In the middle of a church service, one child was becoming noisy and distracting. As the parents were losing the battle to manage the situation, the father picked him up walked down the aisle really fast on his way out. Just before reaching the door, the little one called loudly to the congregation, "pray for me, pray for me!." In Luke Chapter 18, Jesus taught through the parable of a widow that a believer should pray with shameless persistence. A poor, powerless person (the widow) persists in nagging a corrupt, powerful person (the judge) to do justice for her. The purpose of the parable is to encourage Christians to persevere in their faith against all odds. There are three main characters in this story - the poor widow, an adversary who had done injustice to the widow and a corrupt judge. All odds are here against the poor widow, who does not have a voice. Well, not so. There is a fourth character, God, the just and merciful judge, who can and will bring about just...

Buy  my books   " Joy in the Journey "  and  " Song in the Night" on Amazon now              Experiencing sound quality issues?  Please Click here   Pray without delay   Pray without delay Luke 16:19-31 I’ve been preaching about the importance of prayer: the need to pray without ceasing, even in the midst of frustration or when you feel like giving up. Today, I want to emphasize another aspect of prayer—the urgency of prayer. If you’re like me, sometimes you delay praying for certain things. You might think, Let me try everything I can first; if things don’t work out, then I’ll pray. But scripture tells us to pray continuously and not to delay. This story about the rich man and Lazarus, while not primarily about prayer, holds a lesson about praying in a timely manner. In this parable, the rich man prays—but his prayers are too late. A young boy returned home from school aft...

Buy  my books   " Joy in the Journey "  and  " Song in the Night" on Amazon now              Experiencing sound quality issues?  Please Click here   Pray with Faith    The Power of Prayer and Faith Mark 11:22-25 “Have faith in God,” Jesus answered. “Truly I tell you, if anyone says to this mountain, ‘Go, throw yourself into the sea,’ and does not doubt in their heart but believes that what they say will happen, it will be done for them. Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours. And when you stand praying, if you hold anything against anyone, forgive them, so that your Father in heaven may forgive your sins.” Over the past few Sundays, we’ve explored the profound significance of prayer in the life of a Christian. We’ve examined how essential it is to remain steadfast in prayer without losing hope. Today, o...

Buy  my books   " Joy in the Journey "  and  " Song in the Night" on Amazon now              Experiencing sound quality issues?  Please Click here   Pray with Persistence    Persistent Prayer: A Lesson from Luke 18:1-8 Luke’s Gospel, chapter 18, verses 1-8, opens with Jesus teaching about the power of persistent prayer. He tells his disciples a parable to show them that they should always pray and never give up. The parable centers on a judge in a certain town—a man who neither feared God nor cared what others thought. In the same town lived a widow who repeatedly came to this judge, pleading, “Grant me justice against my adversary.” The judge initially refused but eventually gave in, reasoning to himself, “Though I don’t fear God or care about people, I’ll see that she gets justice because she keeps bothering me, so she won’t eventually come and attack me.” Jesus em...