But the Lord stood with me and gave me strength so that I might preach the Good News in its entirety for all the Gentiles to hear. And he rescued me from certain death.\u00a0 Yes, and the Lord will deliver me from every evil attack and will bring me safely into his heavenly Kingdom. All glory to God forever and ever! Amen.<\/p>\n
2 Timothy 4:17-18 NLT<\/p>\n
I don’t pray enough and when I do pray, I don’t pray for enough.<\/p>\n
On Christmas Eve I felt the early symptoms of the cold and, because I was doing the cooking on Christmas Day, I prayed that it wouldn’t come to anything. The prayer worked. Yesterday my nose was still clear, but I had a strange cough, one of the chesty kind that I get with the cold. Last night, because I was very tired, I prayed that my chest would be clear so that I got a good night’s sleep. The prayer worked.<\/p>\n
Why do I miss these opportunities? Normally when something as minor as the cold comes along I just muddle on without even thinking of praying against it. The thing is that prayer doesn’t create the answer to prayer: the answer to prayer is already there, waiting for the prayer to release it. How many answers have I missed because I haven’t asked? The Lots will deliver me from every attack,\u00a0 big or small. I have to remember to that he will answer my prayer, not just for my benefit, but so that I can show others his power. So, when I am not praying, I am not just cheating myself, I am also denying others the chance of hearing the Good News.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
But the Lord stood with me and gave me strength so that I might preach the Good News in its entirety for all the Gentiles to hear. And he rescued me from certain death.\u00a0 Yes, and the Lord will deliver me from every evil attack and will bring me safely into his heavenly Kingdom. All…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3694","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-christian","category-5","description-off"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pfWaLo-XA","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":4531,"url":"https:\/\/pender.org.uk\/index.php\/2019\/05\/a-shadow-of-my-future-self\/","url_meta":{"origin":3694,"position":0},"title":"A shadow of my future self","author":"Robert Pender","date":"01\/05\/2019","format":false,"excerpt":"[vc_row][vc_column width=\"1\/2\"][vc_single_image image=\"4532\" img_size=\"full\"][\/vc_column][vc_column width=\"1\/2\"][vc_column_text css=\"\"]Many years ago I had a very sore back. It would come and go every few months. First one side would hurt and, just as it was getting better, then the other side would start to hurt. I have a very vivid memory of John\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Christianity"","block_context":{"text":"Christianity","link":"https:\/\/pender.org.uk\/index.php\/category\/christian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":7072,"url":"https:\/\/pender.org.uk\/index.php\/2022\/09\/just-thinking-what\/","url_meta":{"origin":3694,"position":1},"title":"3 – Just thinking what?","author":"Robert Pender","date":"30\/09\/2022","format":false,"excerpt":"[vc_row][vc_column][vc_single_image image=\"7073\" img_size=\"full\" alignment=\"center\" style=\"vc_box_shadow_3d\"][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Most of the time, all is calm, then I'm in a bit of a storm. I was never a great fan of big dippers and so I always kept away from them. 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The trouble is that we are seldom, if ever in control.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Life"","block_context":{"text":"Life","link":"https:\/\/pender.org.uk\/index.php\/category\/life\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":7173,"url":"https:\/\/pender.org.uk\/index.php\/2022\/11\/10-life-is-good-and-then-it-gets-longer\/","url_meta":{"origin":3694,"position":3},"title":"10 – Life is good and then it gets longer","author":"Robert Pender","date":"25\/11\/2022","format":false,"excerpt":"[vc_row][vc_column][vc_single_image image=\"7174\" img_size=\"full\"][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text css=\"\"]You may have read in my post Bad Sad Glad that I saw the Oncologist last Friday and that my prognosis was not good. Without chemotherapy, I would only have 2 to 3 months to live, with chemo, I was looking at 12-18 months. The Oncologist thought\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Life"","block_context":{"text":"Life","link":"https:\/\/pender.org.uk\/index.php\/category\/life\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":7158,"url":"https:\/\/pender.org.uk\/index.php\/2022\/11\/badsadglad\/","url_meta":{"origin":3694,"position":4},"title":"8 – Bad Sad Glad","author":"Robert Pender","date":"20\/11\/2022","format":false,"excerpt":"[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]There is no photo at the top of this post because there isn't one which could cover everything that I am going to say. The three weeks since my last post have been a bit busy with appointments and it has been a whirlwind of emotions and news. There have\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Life"","block_context":{"text":"Life","link":"https:\/\/pender.org.uk\/index.php\/category\/life\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":7406,"url":"https:\/\/pender.org.uk\/index.php\/2023\/06\/22-questions-questions\/","url_meta":{"origin":3694,"position":5},"title":"22 – Questions, Questions","author":"Robert Pender","date":"01\/06\/2023","format":false,"excerpt":"So, did I buy the turbo trainer, or didn't I? Well, the answer to that is easy - it's yes. 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