Prayer Wednesday
May 12, 2021
Prayer Wednesday

Unless the LORD builds the house,
The builders labour in vain
Unless the LORD watches over the city,
The guards stand watch in vain.
In vain you rise early
And stay up late,
Toiling for food to eat—
For he grants sleep to those he loves.

In vain ” you try to do things by yourself. “Shua” is the word in Hebrew. It could also be translated as “futility.”

In a society that wants to be rid of God, wants to go about its house-building, city-watching, food-collecting all on its own, Christians say, “we need God.” Not only do we need God in the middle of the task with us, but we also recognize that without Him, we’ll just be making sandcastles and the next wave will wipe it all away.

God is with us in our work. Jesus invited us into the job he was and is doing. So we work and we rest in the confidence that larger hands than ours are at work with us.

AND he grants sleep to those he loves . The Hebrew word could be translated as “the darling of Him.” That’s pretty sweet! God doesn’t see you as a production unit but as His delight, His darling who co-labours with Him. That puts praying into a different light, doesn’t it?

Working and praying with you this day!

Andrew

Share with a friend

Recent Sermons

June 29, 2025
James 2:14-26 -James continues to press deep into the muscles and tissues of our faith. Is your faith doing what it was designed to do? Just like you might go to the doctor for a physical check-up, James offers a self-administered faith check-up in this passage. Where do you see signs of life in your faith?
June 22, 2025
James 1:19-27 - James is direct: angry words, thoughtless words, and religious words don’t have a place in a life of faith. Our words don’t work … but God’s word does! Our job is simply to cooperate with his word.
June 16, 2025
James 1:1-8 - James gets right down to business! For everyone not currently soaking in a hot tub, suffering is a first order of business. In just a few verses, James explains how trials can grow maturity, how wisdom helps the journey, and how to avoid wasting a suffering experience.
June 8, 2025
Empowered Baptism is recognized throughout the Church as the beginning of a ‘God thing.’ John’s baptism was a visible demonstration of the start of a new life — clearing out the junk to prepare for what God was about to do. Jesus’ baptism reveals the true heart of baptism: God’s desire to bless and express His delight. The baptism of the Holy Spirit is the start of the Kingdom. Ordinary women and men were now filled with the Spirit of Jesus to continue on the ministry Jesus started.
June 1, 2025
Luke 3:21-22 -At Jesus’ baptism, the Father said, “You’re my son. I love you. I’m proud of you.” As Christians, our baptism is a sign that we are in Christ, that what is true about him is true about us, and that the Father’s blessing now defines us.
May 25, 2025
Luke 3:1-20 - The first mention of baptism in the Bible begins with John. John was the cousin of Jesus and also His opening act. John called the people of his day to "Get Ready." The public sign of a life getting ready for God was, and still is, baptism. Get washed so God can do what God wants to do.
All Sermons