COVER STORY 6. Pray that he will show Christ to your children through his life Eli must have been a loving dad to his children, Hophni and Phinehas. The children of such a great man of God ought to have been God’s favourites, too, but the Bible calls them ‘scoundrels’, ‘good-fornothing priests’. Eli did not get any commendation from God for being a loving and doting dad. On the contrary, God was disappointed with him over his parenting style – laid back and leisurely. Matthew Henry says, ‘Eli shunned trouble and exertion.’ To be fair to Eli, he did question his sons over their wayward ways (1 Samuel 2:23) and he did advise them (verse 24). But he stopped at that. 1 Corinthians 4:20 says, ‘For the kingdom of God does not consist in talk but in power.’ Even after being told by Samuel about the impending judgment of God upon his family, we see Eli being quite nonchalant and unrepentant. ‘And he said, “It is the Lord. Let him do what seems good to him’ (1 Samuel 3:18). King David was, of course, a man after God’s own heart (Acts 13:22), but sadly he failed as a father. The man who was one of the best kings to rule over Israel, fell into sin with Bathsheba and did a dastardly act to hide his sin. Ultimately, his past caught up with him (2 Samuel 12:7). If this happened to the man after God’s own heart, where would we be if we don’t watch out? If you have prayed for your husband’s honour and standing, you now need to pray that he will have a great testimony in his life. Only a good witness can
proclaim the truth. Pray for your husband keeping in mind that only in such a life God’s Word will powerfully manifest itself. 7. Pray he will be a man who takes charge of the family Remember God is not just looking for men, but Kingdom men. It’s the Kingdom man who leads his family from the front. He does not shirk his responsibility towards the family. He does not take lightly his role as the breadwinner of the family. The Kingdom man knows his job does not get over with fathering a few children. He does whatever is in his might (and whatever is right before God) to prosper the family. Therefore, pray that God will bless the work of your husband’s hands. Pray that he will be blessed in the city and in the country (Deuteronomy 28:3). That he will be watched over when he comes in and when he goes out (Psalm 121:8). Pray that your husband will never resort to shortcuts to success. Pray that he will always lean on to God to meet his needs and the needs of the family (Philippians 4:19, 1 Timothy 5:8). You can pray over him in a lot more ways but if you have begun praying for the 7 ways in which your husband can be blessed by the Lord, it is a good start. I hope that God will enable you to pray wholeheartedly for your spouse and that through your prayers God will command a breakthrough, a blessing into your life, the life of your husband and that of your children. In Jesus’ matchless name, I pray, Amen.
An abridged Bible you can gift to non-Christians CHRISTIANS who are hesitant to give the full Bible to people of other faiths, may want to try the Bible Society of India’s latest release, ‘Life and Teachings of Maha Satguru Yeshu’. This evangelistic apologetic self-study abridged Bible is the result of 10 years of study and three years of work by 30 South Asian scholars of national stature - missiologists, science professors, apologists and theologians. The objective is to give the sacred scripture to every South Asian home in abridged form (within 4,500 Bible verses which is one-seventh of the total Bible verses) in portable size (250 pages) at the lowest affordable price (Rs.60) with adequate foot notes and supplements (in 40 pages) written for self-study by persons of all faiths who have no access to a pastor or Bible teacher. The single focus of this book is Jesus Christ, the Anointed Redeemer of the World, the purpose of His first coming and purpose of His second coming and eternity. The Old Testament prophets are quoted THE CHRISTIAN MESSENGER w JULY 2015
only in relation to the first coming of the Redeemer and their role in preparing their people ethically for the coming Redeemer. The Old Testament of about 800 pages is abridged into 80 pages, still retaining all the 40 Messianic prophesies (highlighted in bold font), about 200 worship verses, 250 wisdom verses and 300 promises (in italics) and all the texts of the Mosaic Law which reveal the character of God. Dates and places of persons and events are given to emphasize the historicity of the Holy Scripture. The four narratives of the gospel are abridged into
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