Pray Persistently
read LUKE 18:1-8

This parable illustrates the need for persistence in prayer.Jesus chose two unlikely characters for this parable:a poor window and a corrupt judge.These characters hardly seem like the proper compasison for describing our relationship with God,but Jesus wants us to focus on several important contrasts in this story:

*The window had to go to a corrupt judge..We can go to our heavenly Father(see Ephesians 3:14)

*The window was a stranger..We are God's children(see John 1:12)

*The window had no access to the judge..We have constand access to God(see Hebrews 10:19)

*The window came to the court of law..We come to the throne of grace(see Hebrews 4:16)

*The window had no lawyer..We have Jesus as our advocate(see 1 John2:1)

*The window had to wear down the judge before he really listened..We already know that God hears our requests(see Psalm 4:3)

If this poor woman receieved what she deserved from a corrupt judge,how much more will we receive from our loving heavenly Father?As Jesus illustrated,persistence pays off.Keep on praying!

Pray Effectively
read ACTS 12:1-7

This Bible story vivdly illustrates how God worsks in response to help the prayers of his people.Thougg Peter's situation appeared hopless,the body of the believers did all that they could for him-they called on God.

What made the prayers of these believers so effective?Their secret is found Acts 12:5.There we see the three basic steps these Christians took in response to what appeared to be a hopeless situation:

1.They Directed Their Prayer To God
Ironically,many times our prayers often contain little though of God himself.We fill our mind with thoughts about our own needs instead of our heavenly father.But Jesus himself encouraged us to respectfully consider whom we are praying to when he gave us the Lord's Prayer (see Matthew 6:9-13).This will allow you to take your eyes off of your dilemma and to place them on Jesus,and it will also help to align your will or desire with his.

2.They Prayed Earnestly
These believers offerec constant,fervent prayer on Peter's behalf.Another way to translate this verse is."They prayed with agony."
It is the same phrase used to describe the way Jesus prayed in the garden of Gethsemane.Their prayers had intensity.Many of our prayers have no power because they have little or no heart in them.If we put so little heart into our prayers,we cannot expect God to put much heart into answering them.

3.They Prayed As A Body
This is power in united prayer.Jesus said in Matthew 18:19, "I also tell you this:If two of you agree here on earth concerning anything you ask,my Father in heaven will di it for you." What Jesus meant is that if two or more people who share the same God-given burden are sure of God's will and are in agreement with the Spirit of God and one anohther as they pray-they will see dynamic results.

Someone once said,"Satan trembles when he sees the weakest saint upon his knees."If you are in a bleak situation today,consider how God worked through the prayers of these early Christians.Don't Give Up.If you follow these principles,you will see results done God's way and in God's timing.

A little stress can be helpful,but too much and you will collapse before you cross the finishing line

5 Ways To Be An Exam Athlete

1.Start Early
Start revision early,you have the luxury of taking the time to understand concepts,doing more practice questions,and more importantly,clarifying doubts with your teachers.it also helps to reduce thos pre-exam nightmares and last minute panic attack.

2.Prepare Mind,Body And Soul
Ever heard of the phrase "Healthy Body,Healthy Mind"? It can be tempting to skip meals and lock yourself in your room with only books and alone light bulb for company,but by the end of the exams,all that will be left of you is a hollow shell. Chow down on brain food like salmon and dark green vegetables and give your regular "fresh air" breaks.You will not fail just because you took an hour off to grab a coffee with a friend or go for a jog around the neightbourhood.

3.Buddy Up
A friend to study with you.Ideally,this friend should have a similar studying style to you,or you risk ruining your friendship when you start reading out aloud from your textbook.Also,it can be an added benefit if your friend is particulary good at a subject you're weak at and vice versa.That way,you can both help each other out! Win-Win!

4.Develop An Exam Routine
Closer to the exam date,start you own exam "routine".Set a fixed bedtimes and wake up time.This is not only good for your health,but it will reduce the possibillity of the worst-case scenario happening - waking up late for a paper.Routines also help establish a sense of security and purpose that can help calm you down.

5.Positive Thoughts
On the day of the exam,psych yourself up by channeling positive thoughts to help boost your confidence.Walk into the exam hall telling your inner self, "I Can Do It!" Squash the inner demons that are trying to say "you going to fail"Don't underestimtae the power of positive thought in helping you to last throught the very grueling exam period!

"Yes We Can"

Pray Expecting To Get Answers
read 1 JOHN 5:14-15

Prayer is not getting your will in heaven.It is getting God's will on earth.Prayer is not an argument with God in which you try to persuade him to move things your way.Prayer is an exercise in which his spirit enables you to move yourself his way.Prayer is not overcoming God's reluctance.It is laying hold of his willingness.

We like to gravitate towards the latter part of these verses.But don't forget the first part.You have to first stay in Christ by maintaining a healthy,ongoing relationship with him.When that happens,you will see your will coming in line with his,and your requests will begin to mirror what Christ wants to do in your life and a in the lives of those around you.At the point,you can be assured that God is listening to you and will answe your prayers

Pray Without Hindrance
read ISAIAH 59:1-2

Just as there are many things that you can do to make your prayers more effective,there are also things that you can do to make your prayers ineffective.Here are four specific obstacles to effective prayer.

1.Selfishness Or Pride
Motives are of the greatest importance.If a person comes to God with a selfish motive,that prayer will not get any higher than the ceiling.God will not answer prayers that come from a selfish motive.

2.Idolatry
Idolatry is not limited to bowing down to imagines of gold,wood,or bronze.An idol could also be defined as anything or anyone that takes the place of God in your life.It could be a person,a relationship,a career,or even a leisure activity.When you place something other than God on the throne of youe heart,your prayers will go unanswered.Ezekiel 14:3 says."Son of man,thesse leaders have set up idols in their hearts.They have embraced things that will make them fall into sin.Why should i listen to their requests?"

3.Unforgiveness
In Mark 11:25,Jesus said,"But when you praying,first forgive anyone holding a grudge against,so that your Father in heaven will forgive your sins,too"If you are holding a grudge against someone,your prayer life will suffer.Bitterness can lead to destruction.If you don't let go of it, you will be sinning,and that sin will hinder your prayers.

4.Unconfessed Sin
Psalm 66:18 says,"If i had not confessed the sin in my heart,my Lord would not have listened."If you feel like your prayers are going unanswered,you may want to consider whether there is any unconfessd sin in your life.Maybe you are committing a sin right now that you do not even recognize as a sin because "everybody is doing it."

If you can identify with any of the problems listed above,confess your sins to God and turn away from them.Once that obstacle is removed,you will again see God working through your prayers.

Pray Regularly
read PSALM 55:16-17

Prayer often seems like an obligation.Some only do it when they need some-thing or at a specific time of day.But once someone opens his or her heart to Jesus,prayer becomes a thing of Joy.Prayer become an opportunity to converse with the Creator.

And the more we pray,the closer and deeper our relationship with Jesus becomes.As the psalmist suggests,we should pray morning,noon n night -knowing that God is listening and that he will answer.

Prayers will tranform your life,and it will also transform your problems.Sometimes it will even eliminate them!For as verse 22 proclaims. " Give your burdens to the LORD, and he will take care of you.He will not permit the godly to slip and fall" As a believer,prayer should be a constant practice of devotion,nt an occasional pleading of need.

Prayer Helps Us Overcome Worry
read PHILIPPIANS 4:6-7

Have youever been gripped by worry or fear?Worry is a completely unproductive emotion.
It is the advance interest we pay on troubles that seldom come.But these verses give us the best antiodote for worry-prayer.God wants to be the first once we turn to in times of worry or crisis.When we do,he promises a special blessing if we do the following four things.

1.Stop Worrying And Start Praying.
Don't ever think that your need is too insignificant for God's attention.He wants us to pray about everything.

2.Tell God Your Needs
Even though God is all-knowing and is well aware of your situation,he desires that you verbalize your needs to him and place them in his hands.

3.Present Your Requests With Thanks.
Instead of praying with feelings of doubt,we can thank God for his anwers in advance because of the promises he made to us in his Word.

4.Receive God's Peace.
Once you do these things,verse 7 says that you will experience God's peace.In the original Greek text,this verse literally means that God's peace will "mount a guard or garrison" around your heart and mind to keep and protect you during those difficult times in your life.

Resist Temptation

Now that you are a follower of Jesus Christ,Satan is going to try to draw you away by tempting you to disobey God's Word.It is not a sin to be tempted-even Jesus was tempted (see Luke 4:1-13).We sin when we give in to that temptaion.The good news is that God will never let a temptation become so strong that we can't handle it.In addition,he has given us specific ways to handle temptation.Here are four things to remember when dealing with temptation.

1.Realise Who Is Tempting You.
Satan is the mastermind behind all of your temptations (see Ephesians 6:10-12)

2.Resist The Devil.
The Bible says that if you resist Satan's enticements,he will flee from you (see James 4:7-8)

3.Rejoice Becase Victory Is Your In Christ Jesus.
God promises that he will alwyas provide a way of escape (see 1 Corinthians 10:13)

4.Remember That Others Have Successfully Dealt With Temptaion.
Joseph's example show us one of the best ways to resist temptation (see Genesis 39:1-23)

Have Courage In Trials

Many Christians have the mistaken idea that once they make a commitment to Jesus Christ,life will be smooth sailing from that day forward.This is certainly not the case.While it is true that walking with Christ will help us avoid many of the problems we used to face,we are still going to experience what the Bible calls "trials"

Trials may come in the form of a crisis,a sudden illness,the loss of a loved one,or some drastic change in your life.You may go through a difficult times when you don't feel God's presence,when church may not be as exciting as it once for you,or your prayers seem to go no higher than the ceiling.This may cause you to wonder if you have angered God or if he has left you.But God does not allow us to experience trails because he wants to see us suffer.Rather,he allow these difficulties into our lives to helps us grow spiritually-to learn to live by faith,not by feelings.Look up the following passages to see the role trials play in our lives.Notice also God's promise to be with us during these times of trouble.

1.Trials Sharpen Our Faith
Hardships develop our character and purify our faith (see 1 Peter 1:3-7)

2.Trials Help Us Comfort Others.
Experiencing suffering deepens our compassion for othes who suffer (see Corinthians 1:3-7)

3.Trials Are Survivable.
We must keep our eternal perspective through the tough times (see 2 Corinthians 4:7-18)

4.Trials Test Our Foundation.
When we ground our lives in Christ,we can weather any storm (see Luke 6:48-49)

5.Jesus Is With Us In Life's Storms
We are never outside of God's watchful eye and his abiding presence (see Make 4:35-41)

6.God Gives Hope To Our Troubles Hearts.
We can have peace of mind in the middle of our greatest trials (see John 14:1-4)

Well,
Us students have a constant trial that repeats so ever often
in the face of exams
many of us waver in the face of this trial :(
just exactly how many of us have faith that we will pull through this crisis when EVERYTHING else bodes badly?
i personally have recently doubted this faith. it's been so long since i had to worry about anything, but now. today, i had to confess that i felt abandoned.
not physically, but spiritually.
do we really believe that Jesus will make us the head and not the tail?
why is it that it isn't happening?
do we really proclaim that with commitment OR are we just complying to the norm?
remember, Paul denied Jesus 3 times before the cock crowed.
are we going to forsake Jesus at the time of our personal crisis?
how far does our faith brings us?

you know, at the time i received my math paper.
i had no courage to look at it, because i know it was badly done
i wanted to really cry but i could not.
just wanted to give up on everything, all kinds of thoughts went rampaging in my mind.
have you felt that before? i believe all students have
it was not until the period after math then i sorted out my thinking

PE we were made to run 10 rounds,
i tried to use that as my escapeade
however nothing worked except crying out to the Lord whilst on the tracks.
sounds crazy-ish but He really comforted me in the time of my need.
this disappointment is not something that humans can help with,
it is only by super natural grace that you will feel at ease.

it was as though i was conversing with the Lord whilst running.
He asked me about being a "fire cracker" Christian,
He asked me: " Doesn't that apply to your studying style as well?"
i was stumped for Words. when was it that i was so focused on being a leader, on results that i forgot the process for growing up?
it was as though i kept up a facade of being studious during the first few months only to tear it into pieces a few months later.
another question was posed: " Is that how you want to live your life?"
Stumped again, once and again i kept telling people asking them if that is how they want to live their life, but have not been observing my own actions! To persevere and move on, but ironically, i have remained stagnant and proud.
I struggled with my own actions,
wanted to run wild on the track
wanted to give up,
i recalled again that God does sends us trials on our way
to enlarge our capacity
and oh God oh God,
someone once told me that praise is a sacrifice
strange as it may be,
but i started to sing praises to the Lord and really believing it.
He is Jehovah Jirah our provider.

A few phrases to ponder:
He gives power to the weak, and to those who have no might He increases strength. - Isaiah 40:29
Little children, let us not love with word or with tongue, but in deed and truth - 1 john 3 : 18

Think Before You Speak
read PROVERBS 16:23-24

You might say these verses are directed to those of us who suffer from foot-in mouth syndrome.It is so easy to say things without really thinking about the implications of our words.Yet,as Christ's ambassadors,we especially need to weigh our words.The only way to 2 do this is to develop wisdom.

How do we develop wisdom? The Bible teaches that trust and reverence for the Lord is the first step to obtaning wisdom (see Proverds 1:7).With that in mind,if we are truly wise,then our conversation should reflect a holy respect for our heavenly Father.When we allow wisdom to guide our speech,our words will have greater value,they will build up rather than tear down,and they will draw attention to the LOrd rather than ourselves.

A Disciple Takes Up His or Her Cross And Follows Christ
read LUKE 9:23-25

Choosing to be a disciple of Jesus Christ takes more than just verbal affirmation.It takes daily sacrifice and commitment.When you follow Christ's guidelines for discipleship,you will find that the end result is far better than you could ever have imagined.Here are three things a true disciple of Christ should do:

1.Your Desires Must Take A Backseat To His Desires For Your Life.
Being a disciple means recognizing that God's plans for your life are ultimately better than your own.That may mean making some sacrifices in your life,suck as spending more of your time in God's Word,volunteering to teach children's Sunday school,or putting off that vacation to work on a ministry project.Yet,in relinquishing your own plans,you will find yourself drawn closer to the Lord.

2.You Must Take Up Your Cross Daily.
Jesus is not simply referring to a religious symbol.At this time in history,anyone seen carrying a cross was headed for a horrible death-by far the crulest of the deaths.Some have misunderstood this statement by Jesus to mean that your cross is your personalinconvenience or problems.In this passage,however,Jesus is talking about the act of dying to yourself.In essence,he wants you to lay down to yourself at his feet and say." I want your will more than my own" Once you have taken up that cross,you will experience the abundant life that Jesus promises to those who follow him.

3.You Must Lose Yourself To Save Yourself
Verse 24 may sound like a contradiciton when you first read it.Yet,if you truly want to find happiness and fulfillment,you must relinquish full control of your life to Jesus Christ.Paul wrote, "It is no longer i wo live,but Christ lives in me"(Galatians 2:20). Taking up the cross is no more a burden to the disciple than wings are to a bird.A surrendered life holds the key to a fulfilling walk.

Trails Helps Us Comfort Others
read 2 CORINTHIANS 1:3-7

The apostle Paul penned these words from personal experience.He had seen his share of suffering over the years-particularly for the sake of the gospel of Jesus Christ.He was thrown into prison on more than one occasion,but he continued to praise God and share his faith in Christ.

He was shipwrecked,abandoned by former friends,pelted by stones,and left for dead.
His faith,however reminded firm.why?Because he learned to draw his comfort from the Lord.
This then enabled him to be a greater source of comfort to those around him.

The next time someone ridicules or rejects you because of your commitment to Christ,remember Paul's words.You do not need to fear trails in your life.No matter how great a hardship you face,realise that Jesus will comfort and strengthen you.In turn,you will be better equipped to comfort those around you who suffer the same hardships.

Forgiveness Know No Limits
read MATTHEW 18:21-35

The religious leaders of that day taught that one who had been wronged was to forgives the one who wronged him two to three times-at the most!

But Peter,mustering up as much forgiveness as he could,wondered if forgiving someone seven times would be enough in Jesus' eyes.Imagine Peter's shock when Jesus told him that he should forgive up to "seventy times seven" or 490 times.
So,if someone needed forgiveness after the four-hundred-ninetieth times,should we say no?No!

Rather,Jesus was teaching that we should extend unlimited forgiveness
to others.He then went on to tell this dramatic story of a man who was forgiven for so much (possibly $10 million),yet was unwilling to even work out terms with a person who owned him fas less (around two thousand dollars).
The point of Jesus' message is that we,as sinners,have been forgiven much;therefore,we ought to forgive those who hurt us,no matter how badly we've been hurt.They own us little compared to what we owe God.

God's Spirit Will Encourage You To Be Obedient
read EZEKIEL 36:26-27

You may be wondering if your old lifestyle will lure you away from the Lord.Unfortunately,you will be tempted to do some of the things you have tired to put out of your life.But you don't have to give in.This passage should encourage you.

God has already performed heart surgery on you,so to speak.To keep that new heart healthy and strong,he has given you an in-house physician: the Holy Spirit.

The Holy Spirit will not only fill your heart with a love of God,but he wil also help you to obey God's commands and follow the principles found in the bible.So when those temptations inevitably come your way,ask the Holy Spirit to give your heart a checkup.He will.

What Are Satan's Limitations?
read JOB 1:1-2:10

Though known as the princeof this world,Satan still does nt come anywhere close to equaling the power of God! He would love to have us think he is God's equal,but as this story points out,Satan has some definite limitations.

Satan Cannot Be Everywhere At Once.Satan can freely move throughtout the earth to do his work,but he cannot be in 2 places at the same times.God,however,can be everywhere at once.

Satan Is Not All-Powerful.Satan has certain abilities,but his power is very limited.For example,Satan could not cause Job to break under his attacks.

Satan Is Limited In What He Can Do In The Life Of A Christian.Satan had to seek God's Permission before he could attack Job.While Satan was allowed to murder Job's servants,kill Job's Children,steal Job's goods, and strike Job with sickness,God still kept a hedge of protection around Job.

pokes, welcome back to e401 blog
a random update on our current msg :)
Each 1 Reach 1!
WOOHOO

3 keys of evangelism:
1. speak on purpose
2. care on purpose
3. serve on purpose

no one comes to Christ by accident
and all is for a purpose
we as believers should win the lost souls
but to win the lost we must rmb that no one cares how much you know till they know how much you care
also, because He works by his own time table we must not let up any chance to allow God to speak to our friends!
fear not for He is with you:)
cheers,
Jane

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TEEHEE =)



Jia Hui