Partakers Christian Podcasts

Psalm On Demand - Psalm 8

Psalm 8

 

¹ O Lord, our Lord, how excellent is thy name in all the earth!

Who hast set thy glory above the heavens.

² Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings

hast thou ordained strength because of thine enemies,

that thou mightest still the enemy and the avenger.

³ When I consider thy heavens,

the work of thy fingers,

the moon and the stars,

which thou hast ordained;

⁴ What is man,

that thou art mindful of him?

and the son of man,

that thou visitest him?

⁵ For thou hast made him a little lower than the angels,

and hast crowned him with glory and honour.

⁶ Thou madest him to have

dominion over the works of thy hands;

thou hast put all things under his feet:

⁷ All sheep and oxen, yea,

and the beasts of the field;

⁸ The fowl of the air, and the fish of the sea,

and whatsoever passeth through the paths of the seas.

⁹ O Lord our Lord,

how excellent is thy name in all the earth!

 

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Psalm On Demand - Psalm 21

Psalm 21

(as read by Richard A)

For the Chief Musician. A Psalm by David.

1 The king rejoices in your strength, Yahweh! How greatly he rejoices in your salvation!
2 You have given him his heart’s desire, and have not withheld the request of his lips. Selah.
3 For you meet him with the blessings of goodness. You set a crown of fine gold on his head.
4 He asked life of you, you gave it to him, even length of days forever and ever.
5 His glory is great in your salvation. You lay honor and majesty on him.
6 For you make him most blessed forever. You make him glad with joy in your presence.

7 For the king trusts in Yahweh. Through the loving kindness of the Most High, he shall not be moved.
8 Your hand will find out all of your enemies. Your right hand will find out those who hate you.
9 You will make them as a fiery furnace in the time of your anger. Yahweh will swallow them up in his wrath. The fire shall devour them.
10 You will destroy their descendants from the earth, their posterity from among the children of men.
11 For they intended evil against you. They plotted evil against you which cannot succeed.
12 For you will make them turn their back, when you aim drawn bows at their face.
13 Be exalted, Yahweh, in your strength, so we will sing and praise your power.

 

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Psalm On Demand - Psalm 20

Psalm 20

20:1 May Yahweh answer you in the day of trouble.

May the name of the God of Jacob set you up on high,

20:2 send you help from the sanctuary,

grant you support from Zion,

20:3 remember all your offerings, and accept your burnt sacrifice.

Selah.

20:4 May He grant you your heart’s desire,

and fulfill all your counsel.

20:5 We will triumph in your salvation.

the name of our God, we will set up our banners.

May Yahweh grant all your requests.

20:6 Now I know that Yahweh saves his anointed.

He will answer him from his holy heaven,

with the saving strength of his right hand.

20:7 Some trust in chariots, and some in horses,

but we trust the name of Yahweh our God.

20:8 They are bowed down and fallen,

but we rise up, and stand upright.

20:9 Save, Yahweh! Let the King answer us when we call!

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Bible Reading- Psalm 71

Psalm 71

71:1 In you, Yahweh, I take refuge. Never let me be disappointed.

71:2 Deliver me in your righteousness, and rescue me. Turn your ear to me, and save me.

71:3 Be to me a rock of refuge to which I may always go. Give the command to save me, for you are my rock and my fortress.

71:4 Rescue me, my God, from the hand of the wicked, from the hand of the unrighteous and cruel man.

71:5 For you are my hope, Lord Yahweh; my confidence from my youth.

71:6 I have relied on you from the womb. You are he who took me out of my mother’s womb. I will always praise you.

71:7 I am a marvel to many, but you are my strong refuge.

71:8 My mouth shall be filled with your praise, with your honor all the day. 71:9 Don’t reject me in my old age. Don’t forsake me when my strength fails.

71:10 For my enemies talk about me. Those who watch for my soul conspire together, 71:11 saying, “God has forsaken him. Pursue and take him, for no one will rescue him.”

71:12 God, don’t be far from me. My God, hurry to help me.

71:13 Let my accusers be disappointed and consumed. Let them be covered with disgrace and scorn who want to harm me.

71:14 But I will always hope, and will add to all of your praise.

71:15 My mouth will tell about your righteousness, and of your salvation all day, though I don’t know its full measure.

71:16 I will come with the mighty acts of the Lord Yahweh. I will make mention of your righteousness, even of yours alone.

71:17 God, you have taught me from my youth. Until now, I have declared your wondrous works.

71:18 Yes, even when I am old and gray-haired, God, don’t forsake me, until I have declared your strength to the next generation, your might to everyone who is to come.

71:19 Your righteousness also, God, reaches to the heavens; you have done great things. God, who is like you?

71:20 You, who have shown us many and bitter troubles, you will let me live. You will bring us up again from the depths of the earth.

71:21 Increase my honor, and comfort me again.

71:22 I will also praise you with the harp for your faithfulness, my God. I sing praises to you with the lyre, Holy One of Israel.

71:23 My lips shall shout for joy! My soul, which you have redeemed, sings praises to you!

71:24 My tongue will also talk about your righteousness all day long, for they are disappointed, and they are confounded, who want to harm me.

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Bible Reading - Psalm 39

Psalm 39

For the Chief Musician. For Jeduthun. A Psalm by David.

39:1 I said, “I will watch my ways, so that I don’t sin with my tongue.

I will keep my mouth with a bridle while the wicked is before me.”

39:2 I was mute with silence.

I held my peace, even from good. My sorrow was stirred.

39:3 My heart was hot within me.

While I meditated, the fire burned: I spoke with my tongue:

39:4 “Yahweh, show me my end, what is the measure of my days.

Let me know how frail I am.

39:5 Behold, you have made my days handbreadths.

My lifetime is as nothing before you. Surely every man stands as a breath.”

Selah.

39:6 “Surely every man walks like a shadow. Surely they busy themselves in vain.

He heaps up, and doesn’t know who shall gather.

39:7 Now, Lord, what do I wait for? My hope is in you.

39:8 Deliver me from all my transgressions.

Don’t make me the reproach of the foolish.

39:9 I was mute. I didn’t open my mouth, because you did it.

39:10 Remove your scourge away from me. I am overcome by the blow of your hand.

39:11 When you rebuke and correct man for iniquity, You consume his wealth like a moth.

Surely every man is but a breath.”

Selah.

39:12 “Hear my prayer, Yahweh, and give ear to my cry.

Don’t be silent at my tears. For I am a stranger with you, a foreigner, as all my fathers were.

39:13 Oh spare me, that I may recover strength, before I go away, and exist no more.”

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Bible Reading - Psalm 128

Psalm 128

A song for pilgrims ascending to Jerusalem.

¹ How joyful are those who fear the Lord-

all who follow his ways!

² You will enjoy the fruit of your labor.

How joyful and prosperous you will be!

³ Your wife will be like a fruitful grapevine,

flourishing within your home.

Your children will be like vigorous young olive trees

as they sit around your table.

⁴ That is the Lord's blessing

for those who fear him.

⁵ May the Lord continually bless you from Zion.

May you see Jerusalem prosper as long as you live.

⁶ May you live to enjoy your grandchildren.

May Israel have peace!

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Developing Intimacy With God - 12. Jesus’ Teaching About Prayer Part 2

Developing Intimacy With God

12. Jesus’ Teaching About Prayer (Part 2)

“9 ‘This, then, is how you should pray:
‘“Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name,
10 your kingdom come, your will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.
11 Give us today our daily bread.
12 And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.
13 And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.
for yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever.”
Amen.” (Matthew 6:9-13)

Last week in our Saturday series, we started looking at Jesus’ Teaching on Prayer in what we call the Lord’s Prayer and we continue that this week.

Forgiveness: Forgiveness, of course, is a major part of the Christian faith and Christianity. Both in the way that God forgives me when I come to Him in penitence and repentance, but also in the way that I forgive others and themselves! Asking for forgiveness, particularly from other people, can be one of the hardest things I need to do. When those times come upon me, I need to stop and consider Jesus Christ and the enormity of His forgiveness. If He forgave me for all I have done wrong, then I also should forgive others, regardless of how difficult that might be to do. Again, is that your experience? Forgiveness deals with my emotional responses toward an offender. Forgiveness enables me to have the same openness toward the person after they offend me, as before. When I forgive the offender, the hurt and the wound start to diminish. This is helped when I realise Jesus Christ understands all of this. I can use these experiences for my eternal advantage. Is that your experience of forgiveness – both in giving and receiving?

Temptation: It’s an undeniable and inevitable fact of the Christian Disciple’s life! It is certainly true of my own life. But it is good to know that temptations are common experiences for all Christian Disciples, and not just for me as an individual. No matter what I may think at the time! An important thing to note and remember, is that temptation itself is not sin! Rather it is the giving into temptation that causes me to sin. How easily it is for me to forget that. One of the keys to living a life right with God and not sinning is by dealing with temptation the very moment it confronts us. As a Christian Disciple, I face temptation from three different angles: the world, my old nature and satan. It is not just out and out temptation that Jesus means here, but also the tests and trials of life. We are to overcome both temptations and trials, in order that our character may, through the power of the Holy Spirit who lives within us, become more like that of Jesus, our Master.

Deliver: What I am delivered from, is better translated I think, as “evil one” rather than “evil”. satan tempts you and I for being a Christian Disciple. It is he who suggests to me that I should not forgive others and to trust in myself for my own needs. It is he who does not want God to be my number one priority or for God’s will to be done on earth as in heaven. It is satan who does not want God’s kingdom to be spread. Neither does satan want Jesus Christ to return in glory. Therefore, as a Christian Disciple, I am to pray for these things. I need to rely and trust in God for deliverance from satan, who wants to snatch away the Christian Disciples inner joy and dependence on God.

Your Power: How can God deliver me from temptation, trials and satan? He can, because He is always all–powerful and eternally almighty. Christian Disciples are to rely on God’s strength to overcome temptation, trials and satan, and not to rely on their own strength. By relying on our own strength, failure is inevitable, but by trusting in God and His power and strength, overcoming temptation, trials and satan is assured. How easy it is to forget such fundamentals of Christian living!

Your Glory: What is the aim of being a Christian Disciple, a follower of Jesus Christ? It is for me to give all glory to God regardless of what personal achievements I have gained. His glory is to be my supreme concern, so that God is number one in all aspects of my life as a Christian Disciple. Ergo, I am to pray that His will is done in me, in other Christian Disciples and in the world. I am to pray that His kingdom continues to grow until Jesus Christ returns in majesty and glory.

Amen: May it be so, Lord, as I ask in faith of you.


That is all for today! Our the book this series is based on “Developing Intimacy with God” It can be found at or www.pulptheology.com which will take you to our Amazon page.


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Developing Intimacy With God - 11. Jesus’ Teaching About Prayer Part 1

Developing Intimacy With God

11. Jesus’ Teaching About Prayer (Part 1)

“9 ‘This, then, is how you should pray:
‘“Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name,
10 your kingdom come,
your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.
11 Give us today our daily bread.
12 And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.
13 And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.
for yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever.”
Amen.” (Matthew 6:9-13)

This is, quite possibly, the prayer that is most frequently used, and repeated, by those professing to be Christians, as well as those who are not. It is often called the “Lord’s Prayer”. This is not, however, because Jesus would have prayed it. As He was without sin, He would have had no need to have asked God for forgiveness of sin. It is the Lord’s Prayer, because it was given by Jesus, to serve as a model for His Disciples to know what prayer is to be like, hence Jesus saying, “How You should pray” (Matthew 6:9). Let’s look at it together now, albeit briefly, over the next 2 studies.

Father: Calling God, “Father”, implies that God is in a personal relationship with me, as a Christian Disciple. I am to think of God as a loving and generous Father. God is not impersonal, but wants to be approached intimately as a child approaches its daddy. By saying “our Father”, the individual Christian disciple, I should realize that I am not alone, but rather, I am part of a wider church family.

Holy: When we call God, ‘holy’, it is symbolic of what is to be our intimate adoration of Him. When I call out and say that God is ‘holy’, it affirms that I am to place Him and His purposes at the very top of my list. That is, God is to be number one priority in all aspects of my life and this world. His glory, His kingdom and His will are to be my supreme concern high above my own needs. WOW!

Kingdom: God is a King and He rules! Jesus has inaugurated the Kingdom of God. He is its King. The Kingdom is not yet complete so I, as a Christian Disciple, as somebody who claims to follow Jesus, must pray that His Kingdom will become more and more complete. This is where I pray that the Gospel will spread far and wide, and that God’s Kingdom will continue to grow until Jesus Christ returns in glory, to rule with majesty and honour.

Will: As God is holy and a king, His Will is already being done in heaven. I am to pray that life here on earth will approximate to life in heaven as the Kingdom grows! As a Christian Disciple, I am to be wanting to place God as number one priority in all facets of life and to see God’s kingdom spread, and that I will also pray that God’s Will be top priority as well! These are, I think, the three priorities for a Christian Disciple, such as I am.

• That God will be number one
• That His Kingdom will spread
• That His will be done on earth

Give Us: This signifies that I, as a Christian Disciple need to rely on and trust in God for all things that are necessary for life to continue. So often, particularly in the Western world, we rely on our own finance and goods, to supply our needs and therefore seemingly forget that God has provided for our needs that way. As a Christian Disciple, I am to be thankful for all the good gifts that God my Father has supplied to me. Often, without my needing to ask Him! That is certainly my own experience in the 35 years that I have been a follower of Jesus. Could it also be said, that this is also your experience of God supplying your needs? 

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Bible Reading - Psalm 101

Psalm 101

As read by Destiny

 

¹ I will sing of your love and justice;

to you, O LORD, I will sing praise.

² I will be careful to lead a blameless life - when will you come to me?

I will walk in my house with blameless heart.

³ I will set before my eyes no vile thing.

The deeds of faithless men I hate; they will not cling to me.

⁴ Men of perverse heart shall be far from me;

I will have nothing to do with evil.

⁵ Whoever slanders his neighbor in secret, him will I put to silence;

whoever has haughty eyes and a proud heart, him will I not endure.

⁶ My eyes will be on the faithful in the land, that they may dwell with me;

he whose walk is blameless will minister to me.

⁷ No one who practices deceit will dwell in my house;

no one who speaks falsely will stand in my presence.

⁸ Every morning I will put to silence all the wicked in the land;

I will cut off every evildoer from the city of the LORD.

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Developing Intimacy With God - 10. The Function of Prayer

Developing Intimacy With God

10. The Function of Prayer

The function of prayer, which is the act of communicating and conversing with God, reveals a constant hunger for God’s help. An inner yearning, just as a child yearns for its parent. It is consolidating my desire towards the ultimate goal, of eternal life, joy, worship and knowledge of God – and of being fully known by God. It is also through the Bible that my desire to know God and be known by God, evolves and develops. That is why prayer and Bible reading go hand in hand. Prayer emits my words and thoughts to the God I seek to know, in response to His reaching out to me.

Through prayer, God can comprehend the Christian Disciple, regardless of language, grammar or oratory skill, if the Christian Disciple approaches with a correct attitude. Words, however, are not just to be a mental action but also an emotive act, conveying emotions and feeling. Prayer is a way for me to convey my deep emotions, feelings and expressions to God, regardless of my language skills, or lack thereof. The words spoken in prayer portray my innermost feelings and desires to Him.

This is because God is alive, and what is more, He is personal. He values language and expects His people to talk to Him. If for some reason, I am unable to convey my words in prayer, then Romans 8:26, intimates that the Holy Spirit intercedes for me! WOW! Remember, as a Christian Disciple, the Holy Spirit lives within you and I, seals us as God’s children, unites us as family and He is the Great Comforter and Encourager. How easy it is for me to forget this fact of spiritual life. Prayer epitomises the Father–child relationship, symbolized in my relationship with God. It further symbolizes the freedom and peace in prayer, advocated by Jesus to communicate His deepest desires, as in the Lord’s Prayer (Matthew 6:9–13) and as we read in John 17. Prayer is not just me talking to God, but also being silent, to allow God to talk to me.

Now a question we all ask at some time or another. I know I have regularly. We ask it, either consciously or even subconsciously: Does God answer all prayers?
Firstly, the answer I expect, may not be the answer I get! Is that your experience of prayer? I know that it is often my experience! So often I pray, expecting one result and I end up getting another completely unexpected result. I then often think that God hasn’t answered my prayer! Sometimes the answer He gives, is ‘Yes’. At other times, it is ‘No’ or ‘Not yet. Wait.’ When I recall that God works outside of my restrictions of time and space, it is a lesson for me to not only learn, but also to remember. A lesson which says that I am to trust His judgement and wisdom. After all, He is God and I am not. I am to acknowledge that He is the Master and I am His servant. Alas, sometimes when I pray, I like to think I am the Master and He is my servant. Is that also your experience?

Why are some prayers unanswered? There are various reasons, I think, that prayers aren’t seemingly answered. It may well be due to things like:

• unconfessed sin (Psalm 66:18)
• disobedience (Proverbs 28:9)
• pride (Luke 18:11–14)
• doubt (James 1:5–7)
• selfishness (James 4:3)
• others not responding to God’s call upon them to be the answer to the prayer
• no reason, that for now that can possibly be conceived, seen or understand.
  
  God knows best and I am to acquiesce to His love and His knowledge – despite my tears and tantrums towards Him. He is the Master and I am to be His servant. He is willing to hear my voice. He wants to hear my voice. He wants to hear of my love for Him. I am in a relationship with God, because of God, and I desire to show my love of God and tell Him that I love Him. His desire is to have me serve Him and for Him to lavish His love upon me, in all manner of ways and in all circumstances of life. Is this your experience of God and your life with Him?

Next week we start to look at Jesus’ teaching on prayer as part of our Developing Intimacy With God.

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