I’m Speaking but Is God Even Listening?

Does God hear, listen and answer our prayers?

Now that we know what prayer is and how it is important, how can we even be sure that God is listening? I can personally tell you that I would not be able to confirm whether or not God hears our prayers if He had not showed me the extent to which He does.

I can assure you that the reason why I am still standing, is because I am confident and 200% sure that the Lord hears, listens and answers our prayers. You may wonder how I know that. Well… we must start from the beginning. You must believe that God exists, that He is our creator, and believe that He molded you in his image and knew you before you were born. And most importantly, that Jesus the son of God, came on earth to take the fall for your sins so you can be blameless and have life abundantly. We call that faith. Faith can do so much if you let it. The bible says, faith as small as a mustard seed can allow you to move mountains. They are approx. 1.5 mm in diameter...Do you realize how small that is?

God is not asking us for much, all he wants is for us to believe, as small as our belief may be, it is enough. The reason why faith is so important is because without it, there isn’t much you can do. You can’t believe that God is your hope, you can’t believe you will find joy when sorrow comes, and you certainly won’t believe that God will hear your prayer. As it is written in Hebrews 11:6,

 And without faith is is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.

Do you get the point yet? Faith is necessary to read the word of God as well, otherwise you won't be able to believe anything it says particularly not 1 John 5:14-15: 

 And this is the confidence that we have in him, that, if we ask any thing according to his will, he heareth us: And if we know that he hear us, whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we desired of him.

Faith is that confidence and the assurance to believe that all Christ has said is true and that he is not a man that he should lie. That’s the faith of many Christians. But unfortunately a lot of us still struggle with doubt and that may be where you are at for the moment. I too was there at some point. I could read every scripture about some particular thing I was facing, but because I was lacking faith, I didn't believe the Lord could provide a way out, even though it was written in His word. So when I would pray, I had a similar attitude, of disbelief... so of course He wasn't listening, because I wasn't believing what I was asking Him to do for me. Sometimes it is because it's super hard to have and to keep faith when you don’t see God doing anything or He seems quiet or not listening. But that is NOT the time to stop praying. Please! Keep the faith, and keep praying, God is listening I promise.

Sometimes, God will answer my prayers in the next 24 hours, but other times, not understanding why myself, (remember his ways are not are ways) God will take his time or not answer immediately. His silence can be interpreted as: wait it’s not time yet, no I have something better for you/it’s not my will or just trust me I know what I am doing, or maybe he is testing out your faith. The only purpose for the trial and the testing of our faith is to make it stronger so you can reach new heights. So the key component to prayer when your faith is being tested, is to keep praying. 

You in particular may not be struggling with having faith to believe that God is real and that he answers prayers and you may also be praying day and night without ceasing, but still feel like you are not being heard. I must ask you this… Are you coming to Christ with a sincere heart? Are you surrendering yourself to Him?

Coming to Christ with a sincere heart just means you are not being fake about anything in front of Him. He is God! He knows, hears and sees everything. If you are asking Him to forgive you for something you have done wrong, while you have not forgiven your sister, your brother or your friend for doing something wrong to you, I would expect silence. Same thing if you are asking Him for financial provision in order to pay your bills but you refused to lend 2$ to your mom yesterday when she wanted to buy coffee even though you had the means… well then again, I would expect silence. You can’t play God, you’re only playing yourself by doing so. You don’t want to be perceived as a hypocrite do you? Because, what you do to others, you also do to Christ. It is no wonder we ask God for forgiveness before coming to him with a request. And that forgiveness is found nowhere else but at the cross, nothing but the blood of Jesus washes away our sins… hence why the bible says no one comes to the father but except through the son.

So basically, the same way faith is the reason we believe that The Lord heals the sick or forgives the sinners, is the same faith we need to believe God listens to us when we speak. Have you ever tried asking God for faith? If you are struggling or are unable to surpass the doubts, ask God to give you faith to believe. He will HOOK YOU UP!

Psalms 66:16-20 (NIV)

Come and hear, all you who fear God; let me tell you what he has done for me. I cried out to him with my mouth; his praise was on my tongue. If I had cherished sin in my heart, the Lord would not have listened; but God has surely listened and has heard my prayer. Praise be to God, who has not rejected my prayer or withheld his love from me!

By: Vicky (Vessel Speaker)

Pray Without Ceasing? Why? What's The Point of Prayer?

They say a prayer less Christian is a weak Christian. Why though? What’s the purpose of prayer and why does the bible put sooo much emphasis on it by telling us to pray without ceasing?

Prayer is nothing else than speaking to God. Our God is omnipresent and available 24/7, that’s why there is no conventional place or time to pray (speak to God). You can speak to your friends on skype while at home, on the phone while at the store, you can text them while in the washroom or speak to them face to face. Then why can’t you speak to God in your car, in the shower, in the washroom stall, in your bedroom or while walking to the bus stop? You don’t have to be in church or on your knees by the bedside. WHENEVER you want to speak to your father, wherever you are or whatever the hour is, you should feel entirely free to do so, because God said we should.

Ok so, prayer is a conversation with God but what do I say?

Do you remember when you were a child and you got old enough to start answering phone calls, and sometimes you’d be confused or shy and look at your parents and say “what do I say?”… They taught you what to say didn't they? They told you to ask who it is and who they want to speak to etc… That’s because we’re not born knowing everything, everything is taught and transmitted. So you’re not the only one to wonder how you should speak to God.

I mean how are you supposed to start? Do you say "Hi how are you" or say "what’s up God how was your day?" This is why Jesus taught the disciples how to pray! He gave us a format to follow, it’s like some sort of guideline. He showed us how it is important to start the conversation as recognizing God as our father and going on in giving him glory and exalting him. He then showed us the way we must ask him for forgiveness. protection and blessings. This is a model to make your own and to personalize according to your situation. You don’t have to recite this and be robotic. Sometimes I will just speak to God to give him glory, and just tell him how I love Him and thank Him for being so great, while other times I’ll be crying and asking God to forgive me. It’s your daddy, approach Him freely and however you want, and do not feel the need to want to do things perfectly. He knows you inside and out and He loves you. Your relationship with God should be the most unconventional one, because unlike us humans, he will not think anything less of us. As imperfect as we may be, He values our time with him. He wants us to speak to Him and there’s not only one way to do it. It’s a relationship!

The only way to make a bond stronger is by putting some time and effort on making the bond stronger. This is one reason why we must pray without ceasing. To get closer and closer to God, and as we get closer to Him, we will start being like Him. The same manner as you spend a lot of time with someone and you start acting like them. Eventually by being more and more like Christ, you will avoid sin more and more. But when you don’t pray, it is dangerous because that means you are spending time doing something else and are more prone to distraction and temptation.

I don’t really think I know how to explain the feeling of going a long time without speaking to God. I think since the moment you develop a strong relationship with someone, they become a part of who you are, and not having them in your life anymore, whether you deny it or not, is weird. Well not really weird but more like there’s something missing. You’ll try to replace that absence for something else. That’s what some of us refer to as a rebound chick or boy. Well the rebound to Christ is sin. He said that he who drinks from His cup will never be thirsty, so when you stop drinking from it, what happens? Thirst happens, literally. You’ll thirst for something and that is called sin. That is why God said to pray without ceasing!!! It’s a relationship that you must keep developing day after day, you never stop getting to know him, just like you always find out new things about your friends…

1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 (NKJV)

Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.

Matthew 6:9-13 (NIV)
“This, then, is how you should pray:

"Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name,
your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us today our daily bread.
And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.
And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.

By: Vicky (Vessel Speaker)

Should I… or Should I Not Be Watching This?

The television shows you KNOW you should not be watching

Most of the time, if not always, we are aware of what is good and what is bad. I’m not talking in a general sense… I’m talking about what God qualifies acceptable and not acceptable. You are able to tell whether something is unacceptable to God if it goes against what the word of God says… Remember that the Holy Spirit is our friend, he will speak to you and nudge you to remind you. Even though you have the decision to listen or ignore Him, he still warns you, so you can’t say he didn’t tell you.

All the good shows are back this fall right: Grey’s Anatomy, Scandal, Revenge, Degrassi, Vampire Diaries and all the other shows on Netflix. What is The Holy Spirit telling you about the shows you are watching? Are you listening to Him? Are you paying attention to the signs and the warnings? Is the content of those shows causing you to feel a little uneasy and causing you to mute or skip certain parts? The enemy is smart, he knows what kind of shows we like, and the problem is we’re letting him use that to infiltrate things in our mind.

I’m a former fan of Scandal. Like a huge die hard, obsessed with team Fitz, watched the 3 first seasons fan, but when God kept telling me over and over again to stop watching it and as I was seeing how a lot of my mentality began changing from watching it, I obeyed and stayed away from it. I noticed it began affecting me in a way that I was making up scenarios in my head of what I would do if the president and I were having an affair. Haha as if right? Or what I would do if Khloe called me the “B” word and how I would’ve gone wild just like Kourtney did. It was things that, as a child of God, I shouldn’t be imagining or contemplating. God tells us to set our mind on things above, clearly I wasn’t doing so. So I stopped watching the show and various other shows for that matter even if it meant hearing people talk about how amazing or scandalous last episode was. I believe that when we watch these drama series or even the reality shows, we start living vicariously through the lives of the characters and this means that everything they do, we agree with and essentially we start believing in our minds that nothing is wrong with it. Nothing is wrong with cheating on your husband, nothing is wrong with sleeping with your prof, nothing is wrong with taking drugs or with dressing in a provocative way. You start believing this… yet you know the truth… and that is, it is not acceptable to God. Just because you are not the one physically committing the sin, by you agreeing to it, doesn’t that also make you responsible for the sin?

The shows you may be watching may not be focused on adultery or what not. It may strictly be about a firefighter saving lives or investigators solving crime cases, but it’s the short scenes here and there of the characters sleeping together or of them swearing or of a homosexual couple making out… it’s those scenes that make the whole show filthy. If you have to skip one scene because of the content, what’s the point of watching the rest? If only a section of a shirt is dirty, doesn’t that make the entire shirt dirty? Why would you cut off the dirty part, and wear the rest of the shirt anyway? Do you know what I mean?

The shows airing on TV in our day and age are causing many of us to stumble. We believe what we see is true life and is the best life. All I’m trying to say is, we need to stop ignoring the fact that the enemy is using these shows to get us into sin and to get us to tolerate it period. We must be smarter than him!!! We have become desensitized to homosexuality in TV shows to a point that we begin to find it normal. All of these television shows are based on sex, coarse language and violence. Isn’t God teaching us the opposite? You’re reversing the change God is trying to bring to your life. He cleanses you: your mind and your heart but you keep getting dirty. And it’s not like you can’t avoid it. God is speaking to you but are you listening, or are you ignoring him!?

By: Vicky (Vessel Speaker)

Proverbs 4:20-27 (NIV)
My son, pay attention to what I say; turn your ear to my words. Do not let them out of your sight, keep them within your heart; for they are life to those who find them and health to one’s whole body. Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it. Keep your mouth free of perversity; keep corrupt talk far from your lips. Let your eyes look straight ahead; fix your gaze directly before you. Give careful thought to the paths for your feet and be steadfast in all your ways. Do not turn to the right or the left; keep your foot from evil.

1 Corinthians 6:12 (NIV)
“I have the right to do anything,” you say—but not everything is beneficial. “I have the right to do anything”—but I will not be mastered by anything.

By: Vicky (Vessel Speaker)

Why Do We keep Talking About Worship? What Does It All Mean!?

Worship is about giving glory to God for who He is, while praise is giving glory to God for what He has done. When I worship, I think about all that God has done, and I say God you have been faithful, gracious, wonderful, loving, working wonders, you have been truly good to me and naturally I say I love you. The way you say I love you can be different from person to person. Like we all know, there’s different ways to show someone you love them, those methods are the same when it comes to God.

1. -         You can show them through your actions: so that would be you being obedient, loving towards other people, helping the needy, serving in a ministry at your church and glorifying God from staying away from sin.
2. -       You could also show someone you love them by offering them gifts: you could do this towards God with tithes and offering. It could also be you blessing Him with your gifting and talents.
3. -        You also prove to someone you love them by making time for them (sacrificing your time): by spending time with God you are showing him that you love him. You could have been doing other things, but you chose to spend that time with Him. Essentially you are honoring him.
4. -      Finally you show someone you love them by telling them.

That’s what worship is. It’s all of that. It’s an expression of your love for God. This explains it why some people get emotional in the presence of God. Once you take in all the beauty that’s found in Christ you can breakdown in tears because his love is too much for you to bear. It’s too powerful and we feel that our worship will never be comparable or enough. Though it will never be comparable, it is enough for him. Don’t let the enemy lie to you and bring you down by bringing up your past. There’s nothing more beautiful to the eyes of God than seeing a sinner worship him. That’s all God wants. For you to give him glory and to acknowledge his splendour. Essentially by worshipping (loving God) you are giving yourself away. You start belonging to him and he starts belonging to you.

Now understand that if you’re not worshipping God, it is because you are worshiping something else. By worshipping that other thing, you start belonging to it, and it starts belonging to you. Hmm that’s deep. What do I mean? Let me ask you this: who do you try to please through your actions? Yourself, your friends, your haters? Who are you offering your gifts and talents to? Yourself, the world, your job, your haters? Who are you sacrificing all your time for? Your job, your bf/gf, yourself, your haters? And finally, to who are you saying ILY to? Yourself, money, your bf/gf? Whenever you are putting someone else in the place of God, whenever he is not the first person you are expressing your love to, you are worshipping something or someone else. Everything and everyone is fighting for your love, affection and your attention. And guess what, so is God. He is a jealous God. He wants to be first on your list, in fact it’s a command… he wants you to show him love … What better way to do that than through worship.

Exodus 20:3-6 (NIV)

3 “You shall have no other gods before me.

4 “You shall not make for yourself an image in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. 

5 You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the parents to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, 

6 but showing love to a thousand generations of those who love me and keep my commandments.

By: Vicky (Vessel Speaker)

What Does Thanksgiving Mean To You?

What's the point of this holiday?

What does thanksgiving mean to you? Does it mean delicious turkey or fun family gathering? I think in the society we live in today where we have everything and we want everything, we don’t necessarily take the time to thank God for everything…  

My philosophy prof this week touched base a little on religion and asked why do we need to be good people? And he said one of the philosopher’s said we need to be good for God. And the prof answered the statement saying "why does a God who has everything need anything from us?" And I disagree with the word he used. God does not need us, rather he wants us. And even though we need God, you have to come to a point in your life where you don’t feel the need to give God thanks or praise him, but because you want to!

Understand first of all where you came from. I don’t mean how you ‘started from the bottom and now you here’ I mean where were you? Where was your soul, where was your heart, where was your desire? Remember your testimony. Whenever you weren’t able to kneel down and pray because of so much guilt and shame or when you would cry yourself to sleep thinking there is no way out. Please, it’s important to remember that. The children of Israel always forgot how far they had come and God kept getting angry with them and could never bless them. Is that you?

Second, you must know that God is God. Did you create the grass, the seasons, the birds or the sky? You go outside and see the beautiful leaves changing colours, but do you know who drew that? I say you must know God is God simply because you have to understand that there is someone greater watching over you, someone greater orchestrating your life and someone greater pouring his grace over you and giving you breath and allowing you to see a new day. Most importantly you must acknowledge the fact that He has redeemed you by his sacrifice at the cross.

So I’m asking you again, what does thanksgiving mean to you? Are you saying thanks to God at the thanksgiving table only because you NEED to, since your mom told you to, or are you saying thanks profoundly from your heart because you WANT to?

1 Thessalonians 5:18 (NIV)

Give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus.


By: Vicky (Vessel Speaker)

Why Am I So Superficial?

Self-check: 

Ever look at yourself while you were getting ready and wondered why is it that you put so much importance in finding the right outfit or getting your eyebrows on point or having your hair brushed out perfectly? I know I love to look good. But at what point is loving to look good a problem? I would probably say when it starts to affect your relationship with God.

Whenever I wake up, I don’t have much time to do my hair + my makeup + eat + do my devotion. There’s always something I need to cut off, and it most likely won’t be sleep because I love sleep. Usually its breakfast that I remove. But sometimes, when I get too much sleep in, there’s something else that’s going to go… usually it’s a battle between makeup and devotion. Can you believe it…? I weigh the benefits of looking good vs. the benefit of spending time with my Father, the one who woke me up.

The times when I do choose to go with the “looking good today” option I spend so much more time than usual because I “want to look good today”. But once all the process is done… I look at myself, take selfies and yes I do say “wow I look good”... you know those days?... when the swag is on point! But when I take a second look… I don’t look good. You’re only really truly beautiful when the glory of God is upon you. How can you put on all of that and expect to feel beautiful when you didn’t allow God to reflect his beauty on you.

Sometimes I don’t even realize that the reason I don’t find myself beautiful is because I was missing something. No not lipstick, no not concealer or blush… but Jesus. So I go about my day constantly popping into the washroom to see if I look any better, but no I still look “basic”. It’s a whole perception I believe. Sometimes some people will come up to me and say oh you look good today and I’ll say thanks but deep down I disagree. It may not be that you don’t look good, but you don’t feel pretty. See what happened is, by missing that time with God in the morning, you missed the reminder that God loves you just the way you are and that he created you fearfully and wonderfully. Yes, we do need a daily reminder that Jesus Christ loves us because we are humans, we have the tendency to forget. So now the enemy finds ways to enter your mind and fill it with lies. Which nothing but the word of God can wipe out.

So I guess now we must ask ourselves: why is it that we spend so much time on our appearance but can't seem to do the same when it comes to God? According to the daily mail "Women dedicate 55 min a day to their appearance - the equivalent of 2 weeks a year". Does that shock you? I guess maybe when you compare it to 2 weeks a year it seems excessively much... but that's the reality. Can we say we spend 55 min a day reading the word of God though? And the same goes for young men. How much time do you spend at the gym or watching Sports Centre? Can you compare that to the amount of time you spend in the presence of God. 

If we love God why don't we do it? We love looking good but why isn't our spiritual body getting the same attention? The bible says man looks at the appearance but God looks at the heart. So ask yourself today... "who am I trying to please?"

1 Peter 3:3-4 (NLT)

³ Don’t be concerned about the outward beauty of fancy hairstyles, expensive jewelry, or beautiful clothes. ⁴ You should clothe yourselves instead with the beauty that comes from within, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is so precious to God.

Proverbs 31:30 (NLT) 

Charm is deceptive, and beauty does not last; but a woman who fears the Lord will be greatly praised.

³⁰ 

By: Vicky (Vessel Speaker)

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-2566918/How-long-did-spend-mirror-morning-Women-dedicate-55-minutes-day-appearance-equivalent-two-weeks-year.html#ixzz3F3FeoC2v 

Church Friends vs. Worldly Friends

What’s the difference and why is it important to have both?

We’ve all heard the saying “friends are like elevators – either they bring you up or they bring you down”. But I don’t think we as Christians elaborate enough on the importance of having friends inside as much as outside the church. I think if you have no friends from inside the church there is a problem. But I also think, there is an equal problem if you have no friends from outside the church.

In a godly friendship, there is no shame and no fear of being rejected or judged, evidently, since the both of you are trying to be like Christ. This then makes the two of you understand each other in a very special yet different way. You can approach them for anything, whether it be a prayer request or support and guidance regarding your spiritual walk with Christ. That’s why I believe that godly friendships are important… they’re blessings in your life. You must ask God to give you a godly friend if you lack one. He will send one your way. And that’s the type of friend you want to keep.

I remember I was going through a tough time letting go of something and I shared it with my best friend and she told me this “God has a plan. I’m sure he wants you to see something you wouldn’t be able to see if you don’t let go”. And you know its things like that, that count. Maybe deep down I knew this was God’s plan, to teach me to let go, but hearing someone you trust and someone you love, tell you this, convinces and reassures you. Altogether, these friends pour good things into your spirit and lift you up when you’re down.

It’s important though to also pour into someone else’s spirit and to bring someone else who is down, up. The friend who is not yet saved, needs you just as much as you need that godly friend. The world today is so wicked so we must be a light in their darkness. There is no point of praying for lost souls, if you don’t know them. Being friends with them, helps you have compassion for them and understand them better, therefore you can pray for them with a better understanding of their situations. We can’t avoid to fellowship with them.

Of course, you are not to do the things they do nor act the way they do but you ought to love them. The only way an elevator can take you down, is if it's not taking you up... so you must find opportunities to influence them positively and to pour the word of God into their spirit.

One of my best friends is not yet saved and when we hang out, I engage in conversations with her, I agree, I laugh and I situate myself in a position to understand her, but when she says per example, that she hates her mom because she did so and so, it’s not time for me to keep agreeing, this is my cue to share with her what it is to respect parents and tell her how blessed she is considering the fact that other people don’t have mothers therefore she must forgive her. It’s in that kind of way you can lift up an ungodly friend.

Because we are also imperfect beings, we understand what they mean and where they are coming from… we’ve all felt like something was missing in our lives or have experienced a broken heart or have known rejection and the helplessness of not being able to get out of a situation… but the thing is, WE'VE FOUND THE SOLUTION. Because we’ve overcome sin, we can help them. We are in a great position to help them. This will bless your friend in ways you wouldn’t imagine. They will know who to come to next time they need someone to bring up their mood or whenever they need advice about something that bothers them. They will be able to trust that you will not judge them, you will not reject them, and you will love them as Christ loved you and that you will help them when they need you. Most importantly that you will pray for their souls to find rest in the grace of God.

So go on and befriend that girl or that boy in your class who loves to talk about skipping class and partying, since Jesus too approached you while you were still in sin. If you guys get along and that person respects you, and if your intention is to be a light in their life and you would like to devote your time in prayer for them, you shouldn’t be afraid to approach them, nor be afraid to be overcome by darkness, because God already said you wouldn’t be.

John 1:5 (NIV)
"The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness can never extinguish it"

By: Vicky (Vessel Speaker)