Category: Prayer

Favourite place in Perth

November 17, 2024

What is your favorite place to go in your city?

I live in a smallish country town about 300 kilometres from Perth. Perth is the capital city of Western Australia and my favourite place to go in Perth is Kings Park.

The great thing about it is that I worked opposite Kings Park for 11 years and every lunch time I would go on a prayer walk. It became a real place of relaxing and spending time with God for me.

Kings Park is a great place for families too. There are so many walking trails, picnic spots and playgrounds for kids. When we lived in Perth we would often go as a family and have a great time.

These days I might only go once a year to Kings Park when I visit Perth. I usually spend some time there when I have some sort of conference or training in Perth. I grab an iced coffee at the kiosk and sit and just enjoy the view.

If you ever visit Perth I would encourage you to check it out. The views of the city and river are amazing. Here is a link to the Kings Park website.

My favourite prayer

October 27, 2024

My favourite prayer is the Lord’s Prayer that Jesus gave to His followers. It was in response to them asking Jesus to team them how to pray (Luke 11:1).

There are several version of the same text. One is in more modern language and one is in the older King James style. I find I pray the older version as that is what I learned first. It tends to just flow out.

Here is the older version taken from Matthew 6…

Our Father,
who art in heaven,
hallowed be thy name;
thy kingdom come,
thy will be done
on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread,
and forgive us our trespasses,
as we forgive those who trespass against us;
and lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil,
For the kingdom,
the power and the glory are yours
now and for ever.
Amen

The thing I love about this prayer is it covers all areas of life. It honours God and seeks His will, asks for provision, forgiveness and protection, and finishes with giving God His glory.

I also love that depending on how I am feeling I might focus in the one line. Sometimes I might be about worship and honouring God. At other times it might be about provision, protection or forgiveness.

I am so happy the disciples asked Jesus to teach them to pray. It has given us a great template to follow. One that allows us to connect with in God in a way that honours Him and also asks for our needs.

I changed my mind about Jesus

October 4, 2024
The tract and prayer I prayed to receive Jesus

What’s a topic or issue about which you’ve changed your mind?

As a teenager and in to my early twenties I did not believe in Jesus or the salvation He offers. I believed He was a historical person that some people believed in.

I can look back at times when people would talk to me about Jesus and I would reject them and their message. Some I even ridiculed and told them they were crazy.

At the age of 22 I came to believe in Jesus as more than a historical person. A friend gave me tract explaining that Jesus loved me and He died on the cross for my sin. This got my attention.

The more I read, the more I realised this was true. I realised I was a sinner, Jesus died on the cross for me, and I needed to repent and accept Jesus as my Lord and Saviour. I realised what people told previously me was true.

Accepting Jesus as my Lord and Saviour was the best thing I have ever done. It truly turned my life around. Without Jesus I had no hope, no purpose or no meaning. With Jesus that all changed.

In the image above is a copy of the tract my friend gave me back in 1989. It contains the prayer I prayed to receive Jesus as my Lord and Saviour.

Paul’s prayer for the Philippians

August 23, 2024

For my devotions I am moving on to the Book of Philippians. This is one of the letters Paul wrote to the churches while he was in prison in Rome.

The first reading comes from Philippians 1:3-11. This section is titled, “Paul’s thanksgiving and prayer”. In this section two main things stood out for me.

Paul’s joy with the Philippians

Verses 3 says, “Every time I think of you, I give thanks to my God”.

The Philippians give Paul special joy because they have been his partners in the Gospel. They have shared with him from the day they first heard about Christ until the day of writing.

Paul has a real love for the Philippians because they believed in the message of salvation and continued steadfastly in it. They took it so seriously that they partnered in his work – in prayer, encouragement and financially.

Paul’s prayer for the Philippians

In verse 9 Paul says, “I pray that your love will overflow more and more, and that you will keep on growing in knowledge and understanding”.

Paul wanted them to continue to grow in their faith and be blessed by God. He prayed they would have full understanding of the things of God, be pure and blameless in their walk with the Lord and be filled with the fruit of salvation.

Paul really loved the Philippians. He was like a spiritual father to them as he planted the church at Philippi on his second missionary journey. This is why he experienced so much joy, prayed for them and wanted the best for them.

I am really looking forward to continuing through the book of Philippians and seeing what lessons I can learn afresh.