Four Questions(:3)
I will stand at my watch and station myself on the ramparts: I will look to see what He will say to me, and how He will answer my complaint" Habakkuk 2:1
I wrote 4 questions on the back page of my Bible.
I sat in His presence.. wrote the questions after my supplications and prayers. The gist of prayer was written in 4 questions.
Those were the four questions, which changed the pattern of my life till you remember those questions were asked in the year, 1985..... and there were very important land marks in 1985(job in Eluru, call for the Ministry) itself, in 1986 (a machine) and in 1991 ( HELP),and 1994 House)and in 1997 (Prayer House) too basing upon the same promise given at that situation.Once the guidelines given and in it the promises for further life, and call for His ministry were hidden. I have claimed those promises again and again in two or three situations in future too.
God's children often remind God of His promises, and claim the promise He made to them again and again. This I learned from the prayers of King David. His Psalms were my lessons to pray.
God was reminded again and again about His promises, His people remind Him of His promises and request Him to fulfill them again and again.
Read the prayer of David, in 2 Sam 7:17-29
1. You have spoken about the future of the house of your servant.
2.for the sake of your Word, and your will
3. and keep your promise , do as you promised
4. You have revealed this You said you will build a house for you.
5.You have promised these good things,
6. For you YOU Sovereign Lord, have spoken....
How David was reminding God about His promises, he was begging God to fulfill those promises in his life. My eyes are welled with tears, to remember the faithfulness of God. He promise and He fulfills, we have to remind Him in our prayer about those promises. Not that He forgets, He wants us to remember and pray about them and talk about them.
Yes, when God says, YES, it is YES all ways,( for all God's promises are fulfilled in Christ with resounding YES, and in Christ, and so through him the AMEN( which means Yes)is spoken by us to the glory of God."2 Cor 1:20) How many times you claim that promise, when and how you claim that promise is up to you ! You will know how God fulfills His promises again and again when we claim those promises.
I set apart certain days for fasting and prayer. God told me previously that His eye will be on us from the beginning of the year to the end of the year. on Dec 31st 1984. now it is 1st of January 1985, or if I take my academic year i.e.,from March 31st ,1985 to March 31st 1986 Therefore I sought for the presence of God , in prayer and supplications. As the days to give my acceptance to join in the colleges are nearing, I though I better to start prayer from January for the next academic year.
The first question was like this. 1) Lord tell me, should I work or not, your servants told me to resign the job, but you told me to apply leave for one year as 'leave on loss of pay'. Now soon the days come to an end. Tell me, should I seek to work or not.---This was the gist of my prayer First of all should I work or not. that is the question ,to be answered by Him , within the first few days I got the answer for this question. Philippians 4:6, 7 answered me aptly. "Do not be anxious about any thing but in every situation,by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your request to God. and the peace of God which transcends, all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. When we pray, seeking His will, His inner voice echoes in our heart, and His peace engulfs all over, our thoughts, and our heart.. and we can recognize His voice.Its so clear crystal. Cant be cheated, in recognizing His voice, His sheep know it and they follow Him. They do not follow. Now my mind is at rest which is beyond to explain with His peace, Only those who pray and get this Peace of God which transcends , all understanding, which guard our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus know what I felt that moment. And how I got answer by listening to His voice , my Shepherd voice was telling me," Yes Leela You are going to work" John said, His sheep knows His voice, No one can cheat any body about this voice, the result of such prayers would be the sign of God. John 10:27--The answer was RESOUNDING YES. Yes I am going to work. That was finalized.
I continued my prayer anxiously, with great confusion, because every one had some piece of advise for me ,whom to believe, whom not to believe, each one has their own reasons to convince me of their view one advise for me, some are telling me to resign the job in Eluru and settle here in Vijayawada, some are advising me not to do so. finally. Next come next questions. Seeking His will never put us in shame. I took my Bible to the last page , and put my finger on the second question.
2. Should I work in Eluru, or in Vijayawada?
I was praying for the answer , no answer for me. But I waited in the presence of God, till He answer me. It was January 13th night, I was alone in my front room, on a mat, with my Bible and prayer book, and songs book. knelt and praying, only one question thumping out of my heart. "Lord tell me where to work. I want to know your clear guidance. You tell me what to do, what to choose, you know the best for me, I want your best, Lord, not my thoughts, nor the thoughts of any one, My future you decide. I trust in Thee Lord. You talk to me."
It was 12:05 in the mid night, I was led by the Lord to read that day daily portion from the Bible, I was reading Numbers, 30 chapter, next 31 chapter, then I came to 32 chapter, the verses were going on like this.
Read this chapter from the very beginning, do not miss one sentence there, I quote only a few here to high lighten the message from God to me.
See the verse 4th, last part of it, "Let this land be given to your servants as our possession. Do not make us cross the Jordan." You remember very well the promise God has given me on that watch night service, Deuteronomy 11 chapter, 11 to 13. "The Land you are crossing Jordan, is in possession is the land of mountains and valleys..."Crossing the Jordan, important word, here , to me, in Numbers 32 chapter What children of Reuben and children of Gad are saying now," Do not make us cross the Jordan" 5th verse. so I believed God wants me to go back to Eluru. but from the verses 6th to 15th verse, Moses scolded them left and right, "you brood of sinners, you are discouraging the others, from going into the land , this is what your fathers did when I sent them, ..you will be the cause of their destruction with your bad example" The wrath of Moses,we knew, he did not spare them a bit.
My heart sunk into the depths of the earth, I dare not lift my eyes unto the Lord, but I was keeping on reading the next few verses, with great fear in my heart. I set my heart to listen to God to know His verdict whatever.To my great surprise, the children of Reuben and the children of Gad were undaunted,not cowards, they were still pleading Moses in verse 16 to 19th verses. What were they saying, " We will build pens for our livestock and cities for our women and children. It does not mean that we do not do the work of God, we are ready to arm ourselves and go ahead ... meanwhile our women and children will live in fortified cities, for protection from the inhabitants of the land. we will not go or claim anything on the other side of the Jordan , but we will have inheritance to the east side of the Jordan. Did you see East side of the Jordan.. is Eluru...!! And my heart was thumping. louder and louder, what would Moses say now.. what will be the answer about their request? Anxiously I proceeded further to read the rest of the chapter.
Moses was telling them like this" If you will do this--If you will arm yourselves for the battle, armed over the Jordan, You are free from your obligation to the Lord. ( Now I know even though we go to Eluru, we are supposed to do the work of God both in Vijayawada and in Eluru, I should be concerned of the ministry there and a helping hand to the evangelist Eluru This is a CALL to us to work in His Kingdom. )Moses was telling them still "If you do not do this you will be sinning against the Lord, your sin will find you out. All right? Build cities for your women and children(house) and pens(backyards)for your flocks ,( Church) but do what you have promised." But this I did not know then, I did not know about the house and the church, but I claimed this promise about the house in 1991 and about the church place in 1994.
I sighed loudly to my heart's content. Now I know God's mind in my case. I need to go back to Eluru.. That middle of the night I still continued my Bible Study But still I go further, in my study of that wonderful chapter, which I never did give much heed to these words, before, except the verse, Your sin will find you out in Sunday messages or children retreats, or Revival meetings. I never knew there was such a big story attached to this verse. I read this chapter a number of times before but never it was so VIVID and clear to my vision. The next verses were like this again, so they said again to Moses, we your servants will do as our lord commands,Our children and wives, our folks and herds will remain here in the cities of Gilead."--------
NOW I knew we are going back to Eluru and I am going to join my job in St. Theresa's college. My children will live in fortified cities of the land, St, Theresa's school is a fortified safe place for my children to study. I am going to join my children in the school, and I work in the same premises , in the college. I knew this. So with lighter heart, I retired to the bed and got up from my bed with a song in my heart. Praising God.
As usual I was busy in the kitchen, hot water boiling for drinking purpose as well for baths, on Railway coal, which was cheaper for lesser price, was a great tedious work for me. I prepared breakfast and sent him to the office and sat with my Bible once again to read the same chapter again and again. As I was reading it I found the message was so vivid and clear. Then I thought If God is telling me to go back what about the children of God from HQ, shouldn't they also tell me to go back? I prayed about this and went to do other mundane things and to prepare lunch with extra love for the family.. When my husband came for lunch while he was eating the food, he said, " Leela I wonder where we will be next year" You see we were enjoying our stay here in Vijayawada, though we did not have much money. His salary was almost half of mine, but still we had peace and joy in home. I thought in my mind," where we will be? certainly in Eluru" I half loudly blurted it out too. He was astonished but did not say anything. But some wonderful thing happened then, before he finished his meal, the postman was there at the door, I got a card from the same sister who asked me to resign the job.
Its written like this," Leela, I talked about you to amma(mother) and,anna(brother) both wanted me to tell you, that you should go back and join your job in Eluru"-----Praise God I shouted spontaneously, and ran to my husband and almost hugged him and showed the post card to him. Our joy knew no bounds, No one can understand my joy how God's answer fulfilled in my life so quickly. It was nothing but a miracle.
The Third question of Faith to lead life was tested and passed through the fire of that past year only with one salary , that too half of my salary. He tested our faith walk with HIM and we were came out victoriously. The next question jumps to the 4th question now. Will I have a 'HELP' to take care of my small children while I work in Eluru. Yesumani accepted voluntarily to come with us and be our help till we settled our life afresh again in Eluru. She had been with us for long time till we needed her. I owe to her much. This helper part again fulfilled in 1986 January, and again in 1991 wonderfully as machine and man respectively.
I will stand at my watch and station myself on the ramparts: I will look to see what He will say to me, and how He will answer my complaint" Habakkuk 2:1
I wrote 4 questions on the back page of my Bible.
I sat in His presence.. wrote the questions after my supplications and prayers. The gist of prayer was written in 4 questions.
1) Lord, Should I work or not? Is it YOUR will to continue to work?
2) Lord If you want me to work, where should I work? In Vijayawada? Or Eluru? In Maris Stella? Or St. Theresa's college?
3) Lord, If you want me not to work , can I sustain the same faith as of now? in spite of any financial problems I may have to face?
4) Lord , If you want me to work, Please provide me a HELP to carry on the work with my little children.
St.Paul said,"I will pray in Spirit and I will pray in my understanding."--1 Corinthians 14:13Those were the four questions, which changed the pattern of my life till you remember those questions were asked in the year, 1985..... and there were very important land marks in 1985(job in Eluru, call for the Ministry) itself, in 1986 (a machine) and in 1991 ( HELP),and 1994 House)and in 1997 (Prayer House) too basing upon the same promise given at that situation.Once the guidelines given and in it the promises for further life, and call for His ministry were hidden. I have claimed those promises again and again in two or three situations in future too.
God's children often remind God of His promises, and claim the promise He made to them again and again. This I learned from the prayers of King David. His Psalms were my lessons to pray.
God was reminded again and again about His promises, His people remind Him of His promises and request Him to fulfill them again and again.
Read the prayer of David, in 2 Sam 7:17-29
1. You have spoken about the future of the house of your servant.
2.for the sake of your Word, and your will
3. and keep your promise , do as you promised
4. You have revealed this You said you will build a house for you.
5.You have promised these good things,
6. For you YOU Sovereign Lord, have spoken....
How David was reminding God about His promises, he was begging God to fulfill those promises in his life. My eyes are welled with tears, to remember the faithfulness of God. He promise and He fulfills, we have to remind Him in our prayer about those promises. Not that He forgets, He wants us to remember and pray about them and talk about them.
Yes, when God says, YES, it is YES all ways,( for all God's promises are fulfilled in Christ with resounding YES, and in Christ, and so through him the AMEN( which means Yes)is spoken by us to the glory of God."2 Cor 1:20) How many times you claim that promise, when and how you claim that promise is up to you ! You will know how God fulfills His promises again and again when we claim those promises.
I set apart certain days for fasting and prayer. God told me previously that His eye will be on us from the beginning of the year to the end of the year. on Dec 31st 1984. now it is 1st of January 1985, or if I take my academic year i.e.,from March 31st ,1985 to March 31st 1986 Therefore I sought for the presence of God , in prayer and supplications. As the days to give my acceptance to join in the colleges are nearing, I though I better to start prayer from January for the next academic year.
The first question was like this. 1) Lord tell me, should I work or not, your servants told me to resign the job, but you told me to apply leave for one year as 'leave on loss of pay'. Now soon the days come to an end. Tell me, should I seek to work or not.---This was the gist of my prayer First of all should I work or not. that is the question ,to be answered by Him , within the first few days I got the answer for this question. Philippians 4:6, 7 answered me aptly. "Do not be anxious about any thing but in every situation,by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your request to God. and the peace of God which transcends, all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. When we pray, seeking His will, His inner voice echoes in our heart, and His peace engulfs all over, our thoughts, and our heart.. and we can recognize His voice.Its so clear crystal. Cant be cheated, in recognizing His voice, His sheep know it and they follow Him. They do not follow. Now my mind is at rest which is beyond to explain with His peace, Only those who pray and get this Peace of God which transcends , all understanding, which guard our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus know what I felt that moment. And how I got answer by listening to His voice , my Shepherd voice was telling me," Yes Leela You are going to work" John said, His sheep knows His voice, No one can cheat any body about this voice, the result of such prayers would be the sign of God. John 10:27--The answer was RESOUNDING YES. Yes I am going to work. That was finalized.
I continued my prayer anxiously, with great confusion, because every one had some piece of advise for me ,whom to believe, whom not to believe, each one has their own reasons to convince me of their view one advise for me, some are telling me to resign the job in Eluru and settle here in Vijayawada, some are advising me not to do so. finally. Next come next questions. Seeking His will never put us in shame. I took my Bible to the last page , and put my finger on the second question.
2. Should I work in Eluru, or in Vijayawada?
I was praying for the answer , no answer for me. But I waited in the presence of God, till He answer me. It was January 13th night, I was alone in my front room, on a mat, with my Bible and prayer book, and songs book. knelt and praying, only one question thumping out of my heart. "Lord tell me where to work. I want to know your clear guidance. You tell me what to do, what to choose, you know the best for me, I want your best, Lord, not my thoughts, nor the thoughts of any one, My future you decide. I trust in Thee Lord. You talk to me."
It was 12:05 in the mid night, I was led by the Lord to read that day daily portion from the Bible, I was reading Numbers, 30 chapter, next 31 chapter, then I came to 32 chapter, the verses were going on like this.
Read this chapter from the very beginning, do not miss one sentence there, I quote only a few here to high lighten the message from God to me.
See the verse 4th, last part of it, "Let this land be given to your servants as our possession. Do not make us cross the Jordan." You remember very well the promise God has given me on that watch night service, Deuteronomy 11 chapter, 11 to 13. "The Land you are crossing Jordan, is in possession is the land of mountains and valleys..."Crossing the Jordan, important word, here , to me, in Numbers 32 chapter What children of Reuben and children of Gad are saying now," Do not make us cross the Jordan" 5th verse. so I believed God wants me to go back to Eluru. but from the verses 6th to 15th verse, Moses scolded them left and right, "you brood of sinners, you are discouraging the others, from going into the land , this is what your fathers did when I sent them, ..you will be the cause of their destruction with your bad example" The wrath of Moses,we knew, he did not spare them a bit.
My heart sunk into the depths of the earth, I dare not lift my eyes unto the Lord, but I was keeping on reading the next few verses, with great fear in my heart. I set my heart to listen to God to know His verdict whatever.To my great surprise, the children of Reuben and the children of Gad were undaunted,not cowards, they were still pleading Moses in verse 16 to 19th verses. What were they saying, " We will build pens for our livestock and cities for our women and children. It does not mean that we do not do the work of God, we are ready to arm ourselves and go ahead ... meanwhile our women and children will live in fortified cities, for protection from the inhabitants of the land. we will not go or claim anything on the other side of the Jordan , but we will have inheritance to the east side of the Jordan. Did you see East side of the Jordan.. is Eluru...!! And my heart was thumping. louder and louder, what would Moses say now.. what will be the answer about their request? Anxiously I proceeded further to read the rest of the chapter.
Moses was telling them like this" If you will do this--If you will arm yourselves for the battle, armed over the Jordan, You are free from your obligation to the Lord. ( Now I know even though we go to Eluru, we are supposed to do the work of God both in Vijayawada and in Eluru, I should be concerned of the ministry there and a helping hand to the evangelist Eluru This is a CALL to us to work in His Kingdom. )Moses was telling them still "If you do not do this you will be sinning against the Lord, your sin will find you out. All right? Build cities for your women and children(house) and pens(backyards)for your flocks ,( Church) but do what you have promised." But this I did not know then, I did not know about the house and the church, but I claimed this promise about the house in 1991 and about the church place in 1994.
I sighed loudly to my heart's content. Now I know God's mind in my case. I need to go back to Eluru.. That middle of the night I still continued my Bible Study But still I go further, in my study of that wonderful chapter, which I never did give much heed to these words, before, except the verse, Your sin will find you out in Sunday messages or children retreats, or Revival meetings. I never knew there was such a big story attached to this verse. I read this chapter a number of times before but never it was so VIVID and clear to my vision. The next verses were like this again, so they said again to Moses, we your servants will do as our lord commands,Our children and wives, our folks and herds will remain here in the cities of Gilead."--------
NOW I knew we are going back to Eluru and I am going to join my job in St. Theresa's college. My children will live in fortified cities of the land, St, Theresa's school is a fortified safe place for my children to study. I am going to join my children in the school, and I work in the same premises , in the college. I knew this. So with lighter heart, I retired to the bed and got up from my bed with a song in my heart. Praising God.
As usual I was busy in the kitchen, hot water boiling for drinking purpose as well for baths, on Railway coal, which was cheaper for lesser price, was a great tedious work for me. I prepared breakfast and sent him to the office and sat with my Bible once again to read the same chapter again and again. As I was reading it I found the message was so vivid and clear. Then I thought If God is telling me to go back what about the children of God from HQ, shouldn't they also tell me to go back? I prayed about this and went to do other mundane things and to prepare lunch with extra love for the family.. When my husband came for lunch while he was eating the food, he said, " Leela I wonder where we will be next year" You see we were enjoying our stay here in Vijayawada, though we did not have much money. His salary was almost half of mine, but still we had peace and joy in home. I thought in my mind," where we will be? certainly in Eluru" I half loudly blurted it out too. He was astonished but did not say anything. But some wonderful thing happened then, before he finished his meal, the postman was there at the door, I got a card from the same sister who asked me to resign the job.
Its written like this," Leela, I talked about you to amma(mother) and,anna(brother) both wanted me to tell you, that you should go back and join your job in Eluru"-----Praise God I shouted spontaneously, and ran to my husband and almost hugged him and showed the post card to him. Our joy knew no bounds, No one can understand my joy how God's answer fulfilled in my life so quickly. It was nothing but a miracle.
The Third question of Faith to lead life was tested and passed through the fire of that past year only with one salary , that too half of my salary. He tested our faith walk with HIM and we were came out victoriously. The next question jumps to the 4th question now. Will I have a 'HELP' to take care of my small children while I work in Eluru. Yesumani accepted voluntarily to come with us and be our help till we settled our life afresh again in Eluru. She had been with us for long time till we needed her. I owe to her much. This helper part again fulfilled in 1986 January, and again in 1991 wonderfully as machine and man respectively.
They that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength
They shall mount up with wings as eagles
They shall run and not be weary they shall walk and not faint
Teach me Lord, Teach me Lord to wait.
