Pray Rather than Worry

 

 

Pray rather than worry

Worry results from fear,

Fear is a plain case of unbelief

So is worrying prayer.

 

Pray rather than worry

Worry is unbelief,

Unbelief says that God is unable

To bring needed relief.

 

Pray rather than worry

Worry brings on stress,

Stress when not properly managed

Is feeling less blessed.

 

 

 

Pray rather than worry

Worry is double-minded,

The apostle James forbids this;

Please be reminded.

 

Pray rather than worry

Worry makes it worse

Whatever our problem is at the time

As though it’s a curse.

 

Pray rather than worry

Worry is not faith,

Search worry all the way through;

There is not a trace.

 

 

 

Pray rather than worry

Worry is frustrating,

You will pray for hours on end

Without ever receiving.

 

Pray rather than worry

Worry is a force,

If this is the reason why you pray

Then Satan is the source.

 

Pray rather than worry

Worry is not trusting,

Pray in simple faith believing

That God is hearing.

 

 

 

Prayer is often worry

That brings us false relief,

This is believing with much prayer

We will get release.

 

Put it all in God’s hands

Whatever is the matter

And dare my sister to leave it there

With a little less chatter.

 

Let not prayer be chatter

Going on and on and on

As though hoping for God to return

From wherever He has gone.

 

Gone on a long journey

With no return in sight

Just like how the prophets of Baal

Engaged in futile fight.

 

Slashing, shouting, striving

But to no avail,

The god, to whom they often prayed

Had repeatedly failed.

 

 

 

Pray rather than worry

But with childlike trust

To God the Father that indwells us

In the name of Jesus.

 

Stewart Russell © November 21, 2025

 

Prophetic or Pathetic?

 

 

So many prophets

Not to mention apostles

And their influence is alarmingly great

Among all peoples.

 

Not only in our country

But also, abroad

And all of them are indicating

That they have been called.

 

Called to this office

And called to that

And the gullible gobbles it up

As unadulterated fact.

 

Even when pathetic

And prophecies go adrift,

The biblically unaware will argue

They still have the gift.

 

Gifts are irrevocable,

God won’t take them back

And so, on this Romans 11 promise,

These prophets speak fact.

 

They may err sometimes

Since it’s human to err

But don’t call them false prophets

For such cannot be fair.

 

There are prophets many

Claiming to be true,

Some give prophesies annually

And some, out of the blue.

 

And when such prophesies

Constantly fail to come true

Their adherents still support them

In whatever they do.

 

 

Prophetic or pathetic?

I will leave you to judge,

I know that the unseeing gullible

Are not likely to budge.

 

For, testing the spirits,

Does not occur to them

And a foundation built on sand

Is a colossal problem.

 

One’s prophetic mark

Should be the Holy Bible

And anything contrary to this

Is damnable.

 

Deem it as pathetic

All prophesies that fail

And hold fast to God’s Holy Word

Lest the adversary assail.

 

Its God breathe truths

Are for our instruction

And the Holy Spirit compass within

Will give us wise direction.

 

Regard it as prophetic

And not as pathetic,

For there is no need to vet it

As in today’s prophet.

 

Stewart Russell © October 13, 2024

 

Prophesying in Part

 

Let’s not get mixed up here

As some are wont to do,

This is not about false prophecy

Which never comes true.

 

The study of God’s Word

Ought to be a life-long endeavour,

It is God’s love letter to us

Of inestimable treasure.

 

Not even the most brilliant

Has a full grasp of God’s Word,

Even among the earliest apostles

This was unheard.

 

There is fore-telling

And there is telling forth

But it is prophesying future events

Of which many boast.

 

 

Some boast of 60% accuracy

Some boast a little bit more,

For some even 30% is allowable-

Though extraordinarily poor.

 

The Law was very harsh

On so-called fore-tellers,

If their prophecies did not come true

They were seen as liars.

 

Death was their reward

According Deuteronomy 18,

However, modern day prophets

Don’t fear such a scene.

 

“We know in part

And we prophesy in part”

Is now used by so-called prophets

With impure hearts.

 

An excuse for lying

That they had heard from God

When they themselves truly know

They hadn’t heard at all.

 

That which comes true

Is the prophesying in part

And these prophets must be forgiven

From the very start.

 

 

For they only know in part

And they prophesy in part

And the fact they are not perfect

Must be taken to heart.

 

So, while they quote the Word,

Their motive is wrong

And they make matters even worse

By being wrong and strong.

 

As you tell forth, my friend,

Rightly divide the word of truth,

Precept upon precept, line upon line

Must be the abiding proof.

 

 

We do prophesy in part

And this is relative to one’s light

But speaking when God did not speak

Is definitely not right.

 

Beware of false prophets

Is the caution to all,

Such seek to glorify themselves

Rather than God.

 

Stewart Russell © May 12, 2024