Online House of Prayer

In the early days of the computer era, GIGO was a word we heard a lot. It stands for garbage in, garbage out. In computer science, it is the concept that if we input flawed data, the output will be flawed as well. What is true for computers is also true for us!

If we want good thing to happen, we need to expect good things to happen. However, have you noticed that in any given situation we actually expect the worst to happen!

Many of us live our lives constantly looking over our shoulders into the past, recalling the mistakes we made. Or we look forward into the future, fearful or anxious about what is going to happen. The result is we are unable to enjoy the blessings that God is pouring upon us today!

Physical and emotional scars can be a painful reminder of the suffering we underwent and fill us with much negativity. However, instead of allowing them to steal our joy, we can look at these scars as a testimony of God’s goodness and grace.

We often seek miracles, especially when we face serious challenges. We keep asking God for one, but it doesn’t seem to happen. Why not? Because we might need to step out in faith from the natural into the supernatural to experience it! 

When we are struggling with the burdens of life we tend to get on our knees and pray desperately for relief. Praying is definitely a good thing, but there is something better we can do while we are at it: pray for others! 

It is a very natural instinct in a human being to retaliate when we are hurt, and the temptation to exact vengeance can be tough to resist. However, if we bless the person instead, God says that we will be blessed in turn.

It hurts when people turn their backs on us, especially during our moments of need but God teaches us one of the most important lessons of our lives through this, and the lesson is this: Don’t depend on people; depend on God. 

That sounds like a rather dumb question but, before he blessed people, Jesus would often ask them if they wanted the blessing! Why would Jesus ask this? Because there was a good chance the people didn't want the blessing! Here's why.

We all want to achieve success, but very few are willing to pay the price. We want success to fall into our laps, but unless we are born into wealth, we will have to attain it the hard way. One of the keys to success is pursuing our goal relentlessly.

Depression, loneliness, a sense of poor self-esteem, fear, oppressive thoughts, and many other things do not allow us to lead a life of freedom. How do we break free of the chains? The solution is surprisingly easy. Praise God!

The nature of love is acceptance. God accepts us. We need to accept ourselves, too, warts and all. The more we like ourself, the easier it will be to become the person God created us to be.  And we will be a whole lot happier and at peace!

We have all been blessed with beautiful gifts by a very generous God, but unfortunately, many of us don’t use them, or if we do, not quite enough. When we don’t use our talents, we deprive the world of something wonderful, so please use them and let your light shine!

We often believe that other people are responsible for messing up our lives, sometimes beyond repair. However, if we think people have the power to destroy our lives, we seriously need to reexamine our faith because it declares that it is God who decides what is to be or what isn’t to be.

The turbulence we face in life often takes us off course. We are in danger of landing at the wrong destination! Fortunately for us, we have a God who wants us to end up in the right place, so he allows situations to occur in our lives that persuade us to alter course. 

We live in a culture that says the more we have, the happier we will be. So, we keep piling on things and then get so attached to them, we can’t bring ourselves to throw them out or give them away. Then we wonder why we are so messed up! What's the solution? Declutter!

God is the potter; we are the clay. God is the one who shapes us. If we try to shape ourselves, we accomplish nothing except going potty. We need to leave the work of making the pot to the potter. That’s his job. 

It is human nature to want to belong to a community. However, we are not called to be like everybody else. We are different. We are set apart. So, let us not try to fit in, but stand out!

Have you heard the saying, “Shoot for the moon; even if you miss, you’ll land among the stars”? It essentially means that if we aim high, although we may not achieve our intended goal, we will still end up doing something pretty awesome. Let us shoot for the moon!

We sometimes have to wait upon the Lord. This is not a bad thing because, as Isaiah wrote,  “Those who wait on the Lord shall renew their strength,” he writes. “They shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint” (Isaiah 40:31). 

When we have expectations of people, we open ourselves to disappointment and hurt. However, when we are accepting of people, both they and we can lead lives of peace.

People can often be very intimidating. Situations can be intimidating as well. Some of us are fearful of traveling, or of animals, or darkness. Most are afraid of death. But fear is not for the Christian because we have a spirit of power, not of fear.

There are times when we feel as though everything and everyone is coming against us. Nothing seems to be going right; everything is going wrong and terribly so. Let us take hope from Paul’s words to the Romans: “If God is for us, who can be against us?” (Romans 8:31). 

Every now and then, God puts his foot on the brakes to bring us to a complete halt. This is to teach us many things. But when he takes them off the brakes, he steps on the gas. Vroom vroom!

When everything is going well in our lives, it is easy to become complacent and take it easy. However, we cannot grow unless we are stretched, so now and then, God takes us out of our comfort zones and puts us into unfamiliar territory.