Whose Prayer?

 

 

Whose prayer is more important:

A child’s prayer or an adult?

Please bear with me, my brethren,

I sincerely mean no insult.

 

The reason I ask the question

Relates to what I see and hear,

Some prayers are given more importance-

At least that’s how it appears.

 

We’re oft at serious odds

If we cannot contact a person

That we hold in very high esteem,

To pray about a problem.

 

Often it is a pray warrior

Or a specially endowed intercessor

With whom we cannot make contact

And this becomes a stressor.

 

Is it a matter of whose prayer

That gets the message through?

Is God partial to the prayers of some?

Has this become your view?

 

Is prayer an object in itself

From which it derives its power?

For, if this is the case, my friend,

Then prayer is our strong tower.

 

However, I am led to believe

God should be the object of prayer

Such that, neither the adult nor child

Should be an issue here.

 

 

So that whether adult or child

God makes no such distinctions,

We are all his children in His eyes

And to us He pays attention.

 

Someone said a while ago,

And it is best that I insert it here,

Satan trembles when he sees

The weakest saint in prayer.

 

It is my firm and simple belief

That God responds to the heart,

It matters not whether child or adult

Here’s where prayer should start.

 

From our heart to God’s heart-

Thus, the answer to whose prayer,

Whether it be a child or an adult

For them both, God cares.

 

Whose prayer? if you should still ask-

The prayers of the born again,

By faith, we can trust God’s Holy Word-

The scriptures make this plain.

 

Stewart Russell © May 25, 2023

 

Prediction Versus Prophecy

 

 

A great divide between these two

And I hope you can see,

A prediction is speculation

While prophecy is history.

 

Hey there, don’t fret yourself,

Give me a chance to explain,

The confusion surrounding these

Is enough to make one insane.

 

A prediction is just what it is:

A projection of the future,

It is premised upon a certain trend

And thus, it is conjecture.

 

Should conditions continue

There is a very good chance

But such as we know is speculation

However much advanced.

 

The weather is a case in point

Where predictions are rife

But we’re all aware of the inaccuracies-

For such is life.

 

The hurricane season is on us

And so are the usual predictions,

But between La Nina and the Sahara dust

We have uncertain calculations.

 

 

 

 

Predictions are man-made

And therefore, fraught with error

But it is still good that we be prepared

For any anticipated terror.

 

If it does not happen

Do not regret having been prepared

But be grateful and thankful

That the prediction failed.

 

Predictions are a staple

When it comes to everyday life,

Some of them are of positive outlook

And some anticipate strife.

 

Prophecy is different, though-

And is certainly not man-made,

It is divinely appointed

And can never fail.

 

Some prophecies are conditional

And were so indicated,

A careful study of the scriptures

Shows where this is stated.

 

 

However, unconditional prophecy

Is documented history

Revealed before it unfolded

By the I AM that I AM, the Almighty.

 

It is He that created time

And He inspired the holy scriptures

Such that, anything God says,

Must be fact and not conjecture.

 

700 years before the event

It was recorded Jesus had died,

Yes, it was stated in the past tense

And he was not yet crucified.

 

 

Go to Isaiah chapter 53

And there you’ll see the details,

Prophecy, unlike man-made predictions,

Can never ever fail.

 

Heaven and earth will pass

But the word of God forever stands,

Predictions, my friend are speculative

But prophecy is God’s plan.

 

False prophesies are predictions

Usually given by a man,

The number of women is increasing

As though by demand.

 

They label them as prophecies

Saying they had heard from God

But the unfulfilment of so many

Shows they are frauds.

 

They call themselves prophets

Some, even apostles,

And some even make their living

Off gullible people.

 

Beware of those prophets

That foretell rather tell forth,

The former has personal agendas

And in their prophecies boast.

 

These are the foretellers

Who declare they heard from God,

Having received extra-biblical info

Which they then spread abroad.

 

Their pass grade is 60%

And sometimes it can be lower,

One time they would have attracted

Many a stone-thrower.

 

Prophecy is not a prediction

But in fact, the word of the Lord,

And there is always 100% accuracy

When delivered by the prophet of God.

 

Note I used the definite article-

‘The’ prophet of God, I said,

These prophets are still speaking

Though each one is dead.

 

They are found in the scriptures:

Each and every one

And their words still ring true

Although they are gone.

 

Stewart Russell © May 30, 2023

 

The Scriptures

 

 

  

Once in the Old Testament

And only in the singular term,

From scripture or the scriptures

There is much we can learn.

 

Between the two terms I learnt

There are 53 references in all

And the first, which is found in Daniel,

Speaks to a special call.

 

A call out to the prophet Daniel,

Who had been mourning a while;

For twenty-one days to be exact

Which heaven kept on file.

 

I am referencing the KJV-

Re the others, I cast no aspersion,

Just so you know these 53 references

Are in the King James Version.

 

Noted in the “scripture of truth”

All the way back in Daniel,

God gives the assurance to His prophet

That He will deliver His people.

 

Only once in the Old Testament

But fifty-two times in the New

These terms “scripture or scriptures”

Come shining through.

 

Don’t make light of this

For indeed, the Psalmist did not,

God’s Word was a lamp and light to him

And for sure, regulated his lot.

 

 

The term “scripture of truth’

Appears to indicate the total Word,

It was already completely established

Before its written form occurred.

 

Jesus highlighted portions from it

On several occasions

But after all, he was the living Word

In his earthly incarnation.

 

Thirteen references I counted

In Matthew, Mark, Luke and John,

All these were attributed to Jesus:

Every single one.

 

So, one from the prophet Daniel,

Thirteen from our Lord, Jesus Christ

And, with the other 39 from the apostles,

These should more than suffice.

 

‘Scripture’ is found 32 times

While ‘scriptures’ is seen 21,

That makes a total of fifty-three

So, let’s be moving on.

 

It appears to me, therefore,

That before a single word was written,

The scriptures had been compiled

In the heaven of heavens.

 

God moved on men He made holy

To write the Holy Word,

It was not of their own choosing-

Please, do not be absurd!

 

Today, we say the Bible

But it’s found nowhere in the Book

From where did this word come?

Perhaps we could have a look.

 

The earliest use of the word

Has been traced to the 4^th Century AD,

John Chrysostom, an Early Church Father,

Known for his ascetic sensibilities.

 

Another source gives its first usage

As early as the 3rd Century AD,

Ta Biblia, which is the Greek for books

Or by extension, library.

 

Some say it came from Europe

Out of the Roman Catholic Church;

Not from Jesus and the apostles

But from religious experts.

 

“The Bible” is seen as erroneous

When used in place of “the scriptures”,

The fact it is not found in the Word

Paints a misleading picture.

 

Maybe it is full time now,

We adopt the term “the scriptures”,

I know it won’t be easy

For “the Bible” is a fixture.

 

How do you feel about this?

Is it really that important?

Have we been committing a serious sin

And thus, should be repentant?

 

Tell me what you think,

I’d be glad to know your thoughts

For when I listen to certain people,

They appear quite distraught.

 

 

Search the scriptures, Jesus said,

Notice he did not say the Bible

So, I guess we ought to say similarly

And not be misguided.

 

It is “the scriptures” he fulfilled

And not the Bible, as we say,

So, given those fifty-three references,

Drop the Bible right away.

 

Ye do err, not knowing the Bible,

No, not knowing the scriptures,

The Bible seemingly falls amazingly short

Of the divine picture.

 

Apollos was mighty in “the scriptures”

“The Bible” was not in his time,

Maybe the two are vastly different;

That’s what comes to my mind.

 

Like the two on the Emmaus Road-

What did Jesus open to them?

It was “the scriptures” says the Word,

But Bible would be a problem.

 

 

Aren’t we splitting hairs

And into meaningless semantics?

Might it not be one of Satan’s lures

Or another of his divisive tricks?

 

Whether the scriptures or the Bible,

Let it be the Word of God

And concerning its life-giving message,

Let us tell it abroad.

 

Stewart Russell © May 23, 2023