Elijah lived in difficult times when Israel was in spiritual deterioration.The secret of his success was prayer.Elijah was used to turning the hearts of the people back to the Lord (I Kings 18:37). But what was so special about him? James reminds us that he was a man of passions like us, but he prayed.(James 5:17). James, the Lord’s half brother, was nicknamed “Camel Knees” because of the calluses that developed on his knees from long hours in prayer. Over 14 verses in James are devoted specifically to prayer or principles of prayer.

Basis for Prayer

Why Pray?: The promise God made to him in I Kings 18:1. But why pray? God had said, “rain is coming.” In Matthew 6:32, while warning the disciples against misplaced priorities and being anxious over elementary requirements, the Lord said, “for your heavenly Father knows that you…

In the cool of the day two men from Emmaus were returning from Jerusalem. They had a seven mile journey ahead of them and plenty to talk about. Unrest was at an all-time high amongst the believers. Rumors were being spread, seeds of doubt and confusion were sprouting and fear of the unknown was overwhelming the disciples. Cleopas and his friend, (who many bible scholars believe to be the narrator of the incident, Luke), had a long day, hearing different version of the events. The disciples claiming that Jesus had risen and the Chief Priests claiming that the disciples had stolen Jesus’ body. I can only imagine how tiring that day would have been for the disciples both mentally and physically.

Cornelius was a centurion in the Italian Regiment and was stationed at Caesarea which was located about 33 miles to the north of Joppa. It was the capital of the Roman occupied Judea.  Since it was a major seaport and fell on the main caravan route from Tyre to Egypt, it had a vast and diverse demography. Both Jewish and Hellenized Gentiles resided in the port town and followed their own cultures and maintained their separate place for worship. The soldiers stationed within the city would have primarily been for maintaining peace among these different groups. Many Biblical scholars believe that Cornelius and his band of soldiers would have stationed outside a Jewish temple.

Cornelius was a God fearing man who gave alms to the needy and prayed to God on a regular basis. It is also written that he along with his family were pious. Being stationed in a predominantly Jewish…

Reading: Mark 2:1-12 

Four people carry a sick person to Jesus. Due to palsy his life is restricted to bed and his world is very small. For many reasons we too restrict our lives. These four people help him come out of his small world. They carry him to Jesus, the creator of mankind and universe but are unable to enter the house where Jesus was preaching the word because of the crowd. Amazingly no one in the crowd was willing to give way for the bed-ridden sick man. But those four ignored the stubborn nature of the crowd and decided to carry him through the roof top. People may become a stumbling block in our way when we do God’s will but God will lift us up high.

“…………... When the enemy shall come in like a flood, the Spirit of the Lord shall lift up a…

Often we are unable to realise the ways of God, as we expect God to do things in a human way. Even after God had divided the Red Sea and provided the Israelites the food of the angels it was still hard for Moses to believe that God was going to provide meat for Israelites. Was Moses aware of God’s sketch to divide the Red Sea? Did Moses know from where the Mannah showered every morning without fail? No he was not aware of these.

Even after experiencing God’s mighty power Moses could not believe He is going to provide meat for Israelites for a month. This is the human mind. Moses was thinking of animals and fish and wondered about the infrastructure and logistic that would be required to fetch them in the wilderness. While Moses was estimating the volume of the requirement, God had fetched huge number of…