Let’s do an Eight O’ Clock Prayer

I started my column with some business talk.  But I realized I should set it aside first to ask for prayers.  Oh yes, we need prayers.  There is nothing the volcanologists and geologists, and all the scientists in the world who are monitoring the recent earthquake and the on-going aftershocks can do to stop the tremors.  This is the moment that we can say ONLY GOD CAN TAKE CARE OF THIS BUSINESS.

I am in Manila as of this writing time, which is a day before publication, and it is a welcome respite from all the literal earth-shaking experiences we are having in the  Visayas, particularly in Cebu and Bohol.

My heart breaks at the numerous texts I receive every day from friends and contacts in the area seeking help for food and water and some shelter materials.  No matter how our company and our other friends in media and business pull in resources, for now, it is not enough.  We need more.  And we also need more prayers.

God is making a statement!  He said that if only his people would call on HIS name he would heal our land.  We are also advised in the Bible that whenever one or two gather, He is there in the midst of them.  So that means, God listens even more to those who pray together. 

The earthquake happened at 8:12 in the morning, or thereabouts.  Perhaps we can start an 8:00 a.m. habit just as we do our three o’clock prayer, and offer a prayer for forgiveness and deliverance.

My recent readings of the Bible has led me to the book of Revelations.  There are three main lessons I have learned in that book.  God wants us to obey, repent, and overcome.  He promised that we can have ANYTHING WE ASK IN JESUS’ NAME as long as we obey His commands.  It may sound so simple.

But I myself have this disobedient streak towards my superiors who I even come in contact with more as we are physically in the same realm.  How much more for a God who we connect to in spirit.  So obedience is hard.  Repentance is another banana.  We may be sorry and be remorseful but we may not really have the gall the repent.  And like the stories in the Good Book, we end up in the same cycle of promising God that we will be good and when He gives us what we want, we go back to our old ways.  So , whew, repentance is super hard too.  Now, overcoming, what is this?  My take is that it is rising above the situation and building one’s faith.  Which is ugh…somehow, unimaginable when you are in the difficult situation.

So, how do we get out of our fears, and speck of a mustard seed faith? We can’t.  NOT ALONE.  Faith grows through involvement.  Like in any relationship, it is built on knowing the person you believe in.  It is nourished with trust experiences and letting go of ourselves, because honestly, in a time like this, there is NO OTHER WAY.  Only God’s help is our solution to hasten the repair of our shaken earth and our tried, tired lives.

So how do we start this?  This road to obedience, repentance and overcoming?

Again, through prayer and belief in a God who answers.  If we believe that He allows calamities to happen (which is very seldom actually), why can we not believe, that He will here our 8:00 a.m. prayer to heal our land, physically and spiritually?

So friends, let’s get into the 8:00 a.m. habit, read the Bible with meditation so we will truly KNOW our God and BELIEVE HE IS POSSIBLE OF GOOD.  Let us stop punishing ourselves.  Believe we deserve the goodness of God.  He will help us.

So let’s start setting our phones to make that short alarm at 8:00 a.m., and talk to God.  WE NEED THIS.