GuyMelton.com: What Were You Thinking?

Oasis Weekly Email............ March 17, 2012

For our extended Oasis Family I am sharing our latest weekly email newsletter. There is alot happening at Oasis Church as we begin ramping up for Easter. There are some First's in this letter we have never done before and I am really excited . There is one first at the bottom you might want to explore , before you leave us today. Have a great weekend. ( I refuse to say anything about St. Patricks Day! )

 

Dear Extended Oasis Family, I have just received great news and I am so stoked to share it with you. We have just finalized the last details on the usage of Hollywood Beach and the Bandshell in order to have a Beach Baptism and Concert on Easter Sunday Evening, April 8th. This is one of the most exciting things I think we have done at Easter in all our 20 year History. This will be the first Easter Baptism we have ever had and to do it at the Beach and have a Concert by our Worship Bands and Teams is even greater. I am so excited I can't even stand it right now. This is going to be great. This will top off a great Easter Weekend. Plan to attend the Baptism at 6 p.m. and the Concert at 7 p.m. on the Holllywood Beach Broadwalk. More details to follow. (You can mark your connection card this weekend if you or a family member plan to be Baptized for this historic event.) This weekend you will see all our Easter Service Times in the bulletin. Make sure you mark them down and begin to invite your friends and family. If you invite them, they will come. If they come they will experience great Worship, friendly people and a life changing message. Start asking them now. We will offer our regular services along with, Maundy Thursday at 7 p.m., Good Friday at 7 p.m. and Easter Eve 6 p.m. I can't wait!!!!!!!! Leading up to Easter we will have an Easter Blitz! This will be Monday night March 26th, from 6:30 - 8:30 p.m. at the church. We will have a FREE meal, then have a goal of calling 2,000 families on our church roll to invite them to Easter. We will blitz many who do not normally come on one night. Bring your Cell Phone, and we will provide the food, a short script of the info you will share and a great time. This will be so neat to have the auditorium full of people around tables calling our church roll all at once. If you have never done anything like this, you've gotta come - it will be fun. KidsWorld will provide classes up through 5th grade for those participating. "Worst Week" - This weekend we launch a new message series where we will study some people in the Bible who had some really, really bad weeks and how they survived them. Everyone is going to have one of those weeks! Those weeks you would never choose and that you will never forget. If you haven't had "One of those Weeks" you will someday, so you should come. It's going to be a great series. You will be encouraged, inspired and challenged in a way that can be life changing. It's another one of those series you will want to invite someone to if they have had "one of those weeks". "Discover Oasis" is a free luncheon for those who want to find out more about our church. Our pastoral team will join me in sharing our history, our beliefs, values and various ministries. You will learn more in an hour about Oasis Church than you would learn in years just sitting in a service. It's fast paced and full of information. If you desire to become more involved, or you might be thinking of becoming a member, this luncheon is a must for you. You will have all the info you need. Then it's your choice to decide. It's this Sunday at 1:30 following our Noon Service in the Auditorium. Children will be cared for through 5th grade. See you there. Haiti Spring Mission Trip  wraps up this Friday. Our team of 24 has been working hard in Haiti with one of our partners there this week. Pray for a safe return on Friday. Can't wait to hear their stories. I can't wait to go back. We have a Medical Trip going in May, (watch for details) and hopefully take at least one more trip in the Summer. Thanks to Pastor Brown and Oasis'ers for your love and sacrifice for those in Haiti. You took your spring break to minister to those you don't know. How cool. I hear there have been Haitians who our group have led to the Lord this week. Love it! Soooooooooo much I want to share. But gotta stop since you are tired of reading. I'll share more Sunday and next week. God bless and thank you for being such a wonderful part of Oasis Church and what God is doing here in Pembroke Pines and around the world. Guy Melton  P.S. In case you haven't heard we now have an Oasis Giving Kiosk set up in the Community Cafe, next to the Kona Cafe. It's easy and secure. If you choose to give when you come to church or forget your tithes and or check book. BUT DID YOU KNOW, YOU CAN ALSO SIGN UP FOR A COMMUNITY GROUP THERE AND SIGN UP TO JOIN ONE OF OUR VOLUNTEER TEAMS?

 

 

First Time Ever..............

I LOVE FIRST'S ! THINK OF ALL THE FIRST TIMES IN YOUR LIFE! THEY ARE ETCHED IN YOUR MEMORY FOREVER! NOTHING IS QUITE LIKE THE FIRST TIME YOU________, OR THE FIRST TIME YOU DID______ OR THE FIRST TIME YOU WENT TO _____________! WELL TODAY I AM EXCITED TO ANNOUNCE THE FIRST TIME WE HAVE EVER.................. DRUM ROLLLŁ...............

I have just received great news and I am so stoked to share it with you. I am  excited to announce  that we will be at Hollywood Beach and the Bandshell in order to have a Beach Baptism and Concert on Easter Sunday Evening, April 8th. This is one of the most exciting things I think we have done at Easter in all our 20 year History.

This will be the first Easter Baptism we have ever had and to do it at the Beach and have a Concert by our Worship Bands and Teams is even greater. I am so excited I can't even stand it right now. This is going to be great. This will top off a great Easter Weekend. Plan to attend the Baptism at 6 p.m. and the Concert at 7 p.m. on the Holllywood Beach Broadwalk. More details to follow. (You can mark your connection card this weekend if you or a family member plan to be Baptized for this historic event.)

This weekend you will see all our Easter Service Times in the bulletin. Make sure you mark them down and begin to invite your friends and family. If you invite them, they will come. If they come they will experience great Worship, friendly people and a life changing message. Start asking them now. We will offer our regular services along with, Maundy Thursday at 7 p.m., Good Friday at 7 p.m. and Easter Eve 6 p.m. I can't wait!!!!!!!!  (and btw, if you are traveling or have a family or friend out of town they can worship live this Easter on our International Internet Campus, at 10:30 and Noon Easter day. EST)

 

Before you go .............

Have you ever left someone only to realize you did not pray with them and wished you had? I know we all can look back with regrets many times throughout life. I did this just last week. After meeting with someone, I left in a hurry and then remembered I didn't pray with them, and they could have really used a prayer of blessing at the time. I regretted I missed an opportunity to pray with a friend. Just as the ol' saying goes, "Don't leave those we love without saying we love them." I think the story of Paul leaving his Ephesian church leaders gives a great example of "Pray before you Go". 

In Acts 20 Paul was saying good bye to the Ephesian Elders and felt they would never meet again. He was headed to Jerusalem and had a feeling his ministry would end before coming back to Ephesus. He gave them some parting thoughts and challenge and then at the very end of the chapter in vs. 36 it said "he knelt down and prayed with them".

I think this is a form of prayer that can be so powerful. When he prayed over the leaders it says they wept knowing they would not see him again. The fact of the matter is that none of us know if we will see those we love again when we say good bye, whether they be family or family of God.

Wouldn't it be great to know before "we go" so those we care about have our blessing as their last memory of us? This is not really something we think about much and I am not sure I have ever noticed that verse before until this morning while I was having my devotions in this chapter of Acts.

I think the real reminder here is to never take for granted the need to pray at anytime or any place. What a gift we can give our family and friends as our last act of love. Praying with them before we "Go away". Whether for a day at work or at the end of a visit or even a long trip.

(Taken from my weekly prayer partner newsletter) 

 

Missions Update from Burkina Faso..........



Many of you remember the Riddering Family who spoke in November to Oasis and Challenged us in Missions. In December they left for the country of Burkina Faso in Africa. 

 One of our own Young Adults Kendra Bucher traveled to spend two and a half months assisting them. Kendra is an awesome young lady who has grown up in Oasis Church and is the daugher of Phil and Chris Bucher. We are all so proud of her.

 

Below is the Riddering update which Features Kendra Bucher. Please read this and pray for Kendra and the Riddering family. Many of you promised to give to help keep them there. We are sending them monthly support as you give. You can give through our Missions account. On your giving Envelopes or online just look for the Missions line and put your gift in the box and that goes to continue to support the Ridderings and our other missionaries like them. God bless you and have a great day.



 

Visit Website     Visit Our Blog Where We Share More About Life in Burkina Faso Click Here! Featured Article What action, if any, do you want your members to take? Add a "Find out more" link to additioyou may have hosted on your website.   Praise! Baby Wendemie is out of the hospital and doing well. Kelly, the young girl living with a local missionary family and who got very ill has returned to the states and is being treated. She is at home with her family getting well. Moises, a boy with a severe injury to his leg that did not heal was able to have surgery which saved his leg and ultimately his life.   Quick Link 2 Quick Link 3     Prayer Requests Two new babies have come to the orphanage. A one month old and the other only a few  days old. The newborn is dehydrated and being fed every hour on the hour. Twin babies just went home with their mother after a year with us. A week after they left we got word that one of them died. This is devastating news to everyone at the orphanage. There are a few adoptions in the process . Paperwork can be an issue and delay these children starting their new life. There are a few special needs children who desperately need a forever home.     Quick Link 2 Quick Link 3     You can get a HOPE t-shirt! Click here for details! Quick Link 2 Quick Link 3     Dear Guy,   February has been a very busy month! We have had many moments where it was evident that God has a definite plan and incredibly perfect timing! There have been times of great joy as well as times of tremendous sorrow, but we have only felt stronger about our call here to Burkina Faso and are still amazed that honored that He would allow us to be here.   Sponsorship in Action    This month we have held two gift distributions for our sponsored children and a gift distribution for our sponsored widows.   These sponsorship programs offer assistance to those who cannot help themselves. It is a priviledge that we get to see God at work, and see people make sacrifices to be the hands and feet of Christ, helping the widows and orphans.   Child Sponsorship provides an education, school supplies, school uniform, a hot lunch and two distributions each year to help provide for their families. Without sponsorship, these children would not be able to go to school and would likely work from morning until evening. Sponsorship gives children a future.   Widow Sponsorship helps provide supplemental grain and soap each month to women who cannot care for themselves.   The special gist distributions this month were in addition to our regular distributions. Many sponsors gave additional money at Christmastime and speacial gists were bought for the children and widows.   Most of the children received additional food and new school uniforms. With their education being so important, additional supplies to help them succeed were given and some children received animals for their family or bicycles to help them get to school.   Our widows received extra items like mats, blankets, coffee, tea, sugar, cookies and other food items and extra grain.   It was a lot of fun and each distribution was successful because everyone chipped in to help put bags together, take pictures and even haul large sacks of grain   Thank you to all the sponsors who make such a big difference in the lives of these children and widows! If you are interested in sponsorship, please visit www.sheltering-wings.org or email us a reachburkina@gmail.com.   We love our Visitors!    We are blessed to welcome Kendra Bucher to Yako! Kendra is from South Florida and attends Oasis Church. She is staying with us for a little over two months and has already dove in and started helping in many areas. One of the things she will be doing is holding an art class on Thursday mornings. The art projects tie in to a bible lesson and these are offered to our primary school students. This is significant because many of our school children come from Muslim or animist homes. We are excited to see how God will use Kendra to make a difference.   They say that missionaries are always having to say goodbye. We have many short term visitors come and go and each of them leaves a part of themselves in our hearts when they go. Recently we said our goodbyes to Stephanie Holmen and Tim Hunn.   Stephanie was able to jump in and use her nursing skills in a few different ways. Administering a malaria test to a student, caring for one of our toddlers who hurt her leg and visiting a boy in a nearby village with our resident nurse to reapply bandages to his leg which he recently had surgery on. She also was ready to help out in any way and had fun getting to know the children of the orphanage.   Tim was a huge help in assisting with projects and repairs. He was very popular with the children at the orphanage as well as the village children of Doure where we hold a weekly bible club. I am not sure we would have been able to move the large sacks of grain without him at our gift distribution. While he was here he earned the nickname "Zeus". Tim was ready and willing to try anything.   Tim's family greeted him with HOPE t-shirts

Sheltering Wings / P.O. Box 29565 / St. Louis, Missouri 63126 (314) 635-6316

 



Somedays I'm the Pigeon , Somedays I'm the Statue.......

Today I am working on a message on Elijah the prophet for our upcoming series next month "Worst Week". In preparing the message this old saying came to my mind, "Some days you're the statue and some days your the pigeon". I think that pretty much explains life. There are days when nothing seems to go wrong and you feel like you are King of the Mountain like Elijah was in I Kings 18 where he called fire from heaven, defeated 450 false prophets of Baal and brought rain down after a three year draught. Now that is impressive. This guy's the pigeon! Man, he just drops it on everyone. Now let's bring the statue. This guy's THE MAN! (Actually there is a statue standing today to Elijah on Mt. Carmel in the place where this took place. We always visit there when we take our Holy Land trips. Funny how this phrase applies to this.)

 

But then we realize the statue actually gets the work over by the pigeons! Yep, he gets dumped on. I know we can all relate - more to the statue that the pigeons are dropping on. That's normal. Why?

 

Because in life we have good times, mountain top experiences and we have the valley lows. Elijah went from the mountain top to the valley in a matter of hours. InChapter 19 he hears that Jezebel is going to come after him and he runs for his life. He goes into depression and blames God. He actually prays to God to kill him, let him die, invs. 3-5.

 

Now God had just answered his prayer in chapter 18:36-37 and done one of the greatest answers of prayers in all the bible but how soon things changed.

We learn from Elijah that God answers prayer. We also learned from Elijah that there will be bad days even when God has answered our prayers. But keep praying. Don't tuck your tail beneath your legs and run. Just keep on keeping on. Keep on praying. God's rescue is not far away. God hasn't moved. We are the ones that have run away.

 

Soooooooooo today whether you are the pigeon or the statue, keep praying. Keep trusting and run to HIM not away from Him. Amen.

(Adapted from my Oasis Prayer Partners Weekly Email)

Free T's & the Elephant in the Room

Lots of info to share this week so I am posting my weekly email to our local Oasis Family for all those who follow Oasis as Friends or part of our Church family extended. Hope you have a great weekend. If you are local please join us. If you are out of town just a reminder we have two live "International Internet Services" each Sunday at 1-:30 and Noon (EST) .

Guy

Dear Extended Oasis Family   P.S. First today. WE WILL NOT BE GOING BACK TO ISRAEL IN 2013. READ THE DETAILS AT THE BOTTOM OF THIS EMAIL. Now for the rest of my letter to you.   Hope you're having a great Thursday. I can't wait to see you this weekend at one of our 4 live services or one of our internet campus services if you are traveling or sick. This is going to be a great week. I am anticipating some BIG things happening. Pray that God will do something really BIG at Oasis this weekend. I think He is going to. Pray that He rocks some lives of our attenders and changes some of them dramatically. Pray He changes each of us matter of fact. We want Him to, right?    This weekend we are actually going to be giving away 5 Free Oasis T-Shirts in each service. There is a catch though. Five lucky Oasis'ers will get a FREE, yes, Free Tee in all 4 services. But the Catch is you have to be early. Just prior to each service we will be giving them away to those already in their seats. So see ya early this weekend. You really DON'T want to miss a single minute of this Service.     We wil conclude our "2012 - The Event" sermon series this weekend with a final look at Revelation and the End Times. Hey guess what? We WIN!!! Well sort of. Find out who the losers and who the winners are this week as we conclude this way too short Series on the end times. Bring a friend. They really, really need to hear this one. (If you missed any of these messages you really need to go here now and watch the video podcast.)     What in the world do Haiti, Isaiah 58 and Quilting have to do with anything? How are they connected? Seems strange to hear about a Quilting exhibit at Oasis Church. Just doesn't seem to fit does it? Well, maybe it does. For years some of our women who enjoy Quilting or wanted to learn have Quilted on Tuesday. It's not just a gossip session that some might suspect. No, it's an actual Missions group. They have given away scores of handmade Quilts to families as a ministry not only here in the USA but in other countries. Three Years ago they held an auction of their Quilts and raised about $4,000 to put a well in a village in Africa. How cool is that?    Here is how it works. Our women spend up to 150 hours hand making a beautiful Quilt. You come this weekend, look them over, make a Bid and the highest bidder for each Quilt gets a beautiful Quilt and all the Money goes to our Haiti Missions. Specifically it will be used with our group who is going in March to Haiti to work with viillages that are poor and totally forgotten by most. So come this weekend ready to do Missions. Donate for not a Quilt but to save a child's life and to give a child a chance at education or literally feed a starving person in Haiti. This past week one of our partners told me they are literally having a famine in two villages where they have a church. We are going there in March.   I have been reading and meditating this week on Isaiah 58. In verses 6-9 it actually tells us that God made a promise to His people. He said if you take care of the poor and feed the hungry I will answer your prayers. This is a conditional promise God made to His people. Some of us wonder why our prayers dont get answered. Maybe it is because we have neglected to give to those in need. To love those that others have forgotten. Through Oasis you are able to do this every week. Our minsitry continues to expand our reach to the poor and needy not only here but around the world and specifically closer to home in Haiti. I hope you are being a part of the incredible work that God is doing through Oasis and our ministry. If you have not yet given this week, you can do it now right here and now. Don't miss out on God's blessings and on your obedience to give back to God what is His already. I have some cool stories coming soon about giving. Can't wait to share them.   This weekend is the deadline for bringing your Hope Tote Bags back to help Broward Outreach Center minister to the homeless right in Downtown Hollywood. Bring them to the lobby. Remember the Purple Bags?  Good way to live out Isaiah 58! WE WILL NOT BE GOING BACK TO ISRAEL IN 2013. SO IF YOU WANT TO TAKE THIS TRIP OF A LIFETIME YOU NEED TO GET REGISTERED ASAP. We will be going back this year. Time is short. Get registered today. The dates are April 30 - May 9th. You can go here and see the brochure and copy it out and send it in. If you have questions about the trip you can also call our tour company whose phone is listed in the brochure. All the info you ever wanted about the trip is right here.   Guy   P.S. 2- The first two weeks in March we will be talking about the "Elephant in the Room".  Next week I will bring a message on Mormonism and how it stacks up with Christianity and is it true Christianity? This has been in the news a lot lately with two presidential candidates this year being Mormon and other known radio and TV personalities Mormons. So what's the truth?  The second week of March we wil look at the religion of Islam and see what Muslims truly believe and how it stacks up to Christianity! This is bound to be interesting, informational and maybe even controversial but it's the "Elephant in the Room" and everyone is afraid to talk about it. Well no more. We are talking about it in March. Be here.

 

Post Its..............

Post It!  That was our action step to the invitation during our message this past weekend.  I know most of you were there and probably posted the names of those you know who do not know Christ as their Savior and Lord.  We did not just Post the Names on the wall of our Lobby, but we committed to pray for them.  As you can see in the pictures below, our staff did just that this week following our Staff meeting.  We are committed to continue to pray for your friends, loved ones and acquaintances.  I hope you will find time when you’re at Oasis to do the same.

As an Oasis Member, I am asking you to remember these names and be praying with us each time you pass by them.  I wanted to share a few verses that clearly give us our reason and purpose to pray and to see others come to Christ.

We Pray for those needing salvation!

Romans 10:1 – “Brothers, my heart's desire and prayer to God for the Israelites is that they may be saved.”

We Pray because God desires ALL to be Saved!

1 Timothy 2:1-6 – “ ¹ I urge, then, first of all, that requests, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for everyone— ² for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness. ³ This is good, and pleases God our Savior, ⁴ who wants all men to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth. ⁵ For there is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, ⁶ who gave himself as a ransom for all men—the testimony given in its proper time.”

We Pray because God answers the prayers of Godly people!

James 5:16 – “Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective.”

We Pray because we NEED Boldness in order to proclaim the Gospel clearly and to open doors to witness!

Ephesians 6:19-20 – “¹⁹ Pray also for me, that whenever I open my mouth, words may be given me so that I will fearlessly make known the mystery of the gospel, ²⁰ for which I am an ambassador in chains. Pray that I may declare it fearlessly, as I should.”

Colossians 4:3 – “And pray for us, too, that God may open a door for our message, so that we may proclaim the mystery of Christ, for which I am in chains.”

We Pray because we need Wisdom in how to share and when to share the Gospel to unbelievers!

James 1:5 – “If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him.”

We are to Pray that the Big Harvest of Souls would have more of us Sharing and Reaping it!

Matthew 9:37-38 – “Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. ³⁸ Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.”

There are many reasons to pray for those who need Christ.  I might come back to this since there is so much more I would like to share.

My heart is so burdened that there are hundreds, literally thousands we know as an Oasis Family who need the Lord.  I am sooooooo, sooooo burdened that I am faithful and you are faithful in inviting them to Christ and in praying for them.  We don't save.  We can’t save.  But God has put us here to share.  My prayer is that the Post-It Notes won’t be the final step, but just the first step in Praying for, then sharing with our loved ones and friends the Good News of the Gospel -- Christ Crucified, Buried and Risen!   Good News.

Let’s Pray, then Share it.

Deep "V" T-Shirts & To Cut or Not To Cut!

To all our extended Oasis Family I am sharing our Pastors Weekly Email with you . Have a great weekend.

 

If you missed last week's services you missed some of the most powerful worship services we have ever had at Oasis Church. It was a fantastic start to our new series, "All are Welcome Here". You also missed our discussion of me wearing a Deep "V" neck T-Shirt. Now before you stop reading, if you watch the video of the service online you will hear the whole story. That's all I will say here. Ben also suggested I needed to change my hair style during the message we were teaching together. I almost popped him one right in front of hundreds. But I restrained myself. We had suggestions on the cards that said they agreed that I needed to cut it all off like "Pastor James" - the bald look and someone else said wear it Mohawk style. OK, how in the world could all that happen in the first message of the series? But it did. So I guess I'm taking suggestions of what new hair style I should adopt? What say you? I'm bored with this one anyway?

This week we continue the series "All Are Welcome Here" and I can't wait to finish the Pembroke Strategy. It is going to be another great weekend. Don't miss it. If you haven't tried our Saturday night service, come out at 6 p.m. Same great music and messages. Last Saturday night we had the largest attendance in at least 3 years. It was awesome. I hope to see many of you. Our 10:30 and noon were full and overflowing! It would be great to see some of you at the Saturday night or Sunday morning early service at 9 a.m. BTW, just a reminder: did you know we serve Communion every week at Oasis Church? At 8:45 a.m. prior to the early service, we have a Communion Service led by our pastoral team. We also serve communion the first Saturday night of each month during the Saturday service. This week on Saturday we will be serving Communion, the first of the new year.

Discover Oasis is this Sunday. If you have not registered you can go online now (click on "event sign-up") and do so or put how many in your family will be with us at church this weekend. It's this Sunday at 1:30 following our noon service. There is a FREE complimentary lunch for you and your family. Our pastoral team will share with you not only all there is to know about our ministry but how you can become a member of Oasis Church or get more involved. There is no obligation to join. I promise we have never and will not this weekend hard sale you to join our church. We lay out who we are and if you want to join, "All Are Welcome Here" . We will give the scoop of how to do so. I hope to see you this Sunday. It's about an hour and a half including the meal time. There is child care for nursery through elementary. 

Holy Land Tour 2012 is fast approaching. If you have not picked up a brochure and registered you need to this week. The brochures will be in the Information Center in the lobby. All the details are in the brochure including the toll free number to call to get your questions answered and to register. There are only 30 Airline tickets reserved and enough rooms for 30 so you need to act fast. Once it's full there is no guarantee you will get to go this year with us. It will be trip of a lifetime. Tonia and I invite you to go with us, April 29-May 9th. No trip, cruise or vacation you will ever take will even come close to being as life changing as this as we walk in the steps of Jesus and the great men and women of the Bible. Check out the Live announcement about the trip I made in December right now for more info.

Have a great weekend and I hope to see you at Oasis as we celebrate "All Are Welcome Here" .

Guy Melton

Sr. Pastor/Founding

Oasis Church of South Florida 

P.S. As I do most weeks, I want to remind you that a very importatnt part of our Worship is our giving back to God His tithes and our offerings. The bible says it's the Lord's Tithes, we return them to him. We get to keep 90%. That is awesome. He will bless the 90% you keep more than if you steal the other 10% that is His and try to keep it for your own needs. Try it. I guarantee He will provide. I have lived it for more than 40 yrs. You can give online now, 24/7.

 

 

Israel Tour 2012

                                       

   Check out the video I did in preparation for the trip.  

http://t.co/eg7wJKqp

Go, Slow or No!

Go, Slow, NO!  That almost sounds like a stop light.  There are three colors and all give a very clear direction of what we should do as drivers.  It’s not always so easy as a Red, Green,  or Yellow when we are praying to God and waiting for His answer.

 

I can tell you, after all these years though, I am learning to see what light it is.  I'm slow, but I'm learning!  Just this morning before I got out of bed I prayed and there was one specific new prayer request I prayed, and within 30 minutes of getting out of bed and checking my emails God had answered it with a "Green" Go!

 

I can tell you I prayed other prayers this morning for which I have literally been praying for years, and God has said either “Slow”, with the Yellow, or “NO” -- at least up to this point.  I’ve learned when I'm not really sure, to ask Him to slam the door if it’s not His will.  Be prepared if you pray that … if the door slams!  I would rather have closure than to keep wondering. That's just me.

 

In case you feel you’re alone in this wondering thing and are asking yourself and God why no Answer, or why the “NO” Answer, then take a look at a few people in the Bible who we might learn from.

Briefly check out:

 

* Elijah in I Kings 19:4

* Elizabeth and Zechariah in Luke 1:6-7, 1:23, 1:34, 7:27 and the whole passage.

* Job 1:6-12, 4:7-9 BTW with friends like that who needed any enemies?

 

The lack of what we see as answered prayer is not necessarily always because of sin in our life.  James 4:3;  I Peter 3:7

 

There is a lot more I want to say here.  Maybe I’ll continue this thought next week on some of the reasons it happens and also how to respond when it’s not a clear “Green for Go”.