Perilous Times, But Pray and Praise Anyway

I cannot keep up with the signs of the times....

As I type, there was a U.S. airstrike on Isis in Syria, a sit-in near Wall Street to protest Climate Change, a bus tragedy that resulted in 2 deaths and many injured; increased prevalance of the Ebola and Chikungunya outbreaks (in West Africa and in the Caribbean respectively), and the capture of a White House intruder who had more than 800 rounds of ammunition!

And that's not even the half of it.

Our world is in turmoil. Those who once dreamed or believed society was 'getting better' are now realizing that things are indeed getting worse. Despite it all, the Bible had forewarned us about the times in which we live in. It also tells us that we should be spending a lot more time in prayer AND praise.

How do you react to these different headlines I just mentioned?
 
Do you just shrug your shoulders and keep on living?
 
Does depression grip you and fear for the future?
 
Do you ignore it? Do you pray about it? What do you do with it?

Friends, fear is not from God (2 Tim 1:7). Even as we see so many painful situations in the world, The LORD gave us The Comforter (in the form of The Holy Spirit) to comfort our hearts and to be our teacher in all of life's matters. Two of the most comforting verses in the book of John reveals the work of the Holy Spirit and the compassion of The LORD to give us The Comforter in these troubling times:

"But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you.
 

Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid."  John 14: 26-27

Did you notice that? We can have peace in THIS world! Peace! 

Cling to Christ. Pour out your heart to Him. Give Him your fears, anxieties, trepidations, worries and everything in-between. You cannot burden Him, and He never gets tired of hearing from us (He never sleeps!!!). As we struggle in our day to day lives, endeavor to make time to pray and to praise God without ceasing. To learn how to pray, go to Matthew 6:5-15. To learn how to pray, go to the Book of The Psalms. 

Life's hard and it won't be getting any easier. Why not come unto The LORD, give Him your burdens and He will give us His rest (Matt 11:28). Learn to pray and praise Him more than ever before.