Do You Want To Pray For Australia?

Dear Glenys

Your recent application for membership of the Australian Prayer Network indicated an interest in also being part of our National 24 Hour Prayer Watch. The Australian Prayer Network coordinates a 24 hour continuous prayer watch over our nation.

You may join by committing to pray for our Nation for at least one hour each week at a time of your choice. You may do this for one straight hour or in two half hour segments each week. In this day and age we realise that folk find it difficult to commit to a set time slot each week. We therefore wish to give as much flexibility as possible to participants whilst still maintaining a measure of commitment in the process.

Should you therefore wish to participate in this National Watch we would ask you to nominate your preferred day/s and one of the following general periods during that day/s that would suit you best.

Midnight till dawn - 12.00AM till 6.00AM
Morning - 6.00AM till 12 Noon
Afternoon - 12 Noon till 6.00PM
Evening - 6.00PM till 12 Midnight

Please register your commitment with the National Coordinator of the Watch at the email address below. Please advise the same details you have supplied to me, namely, your full name, mailing address, contact telephone number and email address, and the day/s of the week and period of the day that you will seek to undertake your commitment in prayer. prayerwatch@ausprayernet.org.au

Should you join, it will be your responsibility to remember your commitment and pray at your designated time. You will NOT be contacted by the person before you nor will you be required to hand the prayer "baton" on to the next person.

Should you be unable to fulfil your commitment temporarily there is no need to advise us, however if through changed circumstances or calling in the Lord you wish to permanently withdraw from the watch roster, we would appreciate you contacting the Watch Coordinator through the same email address above who will arrange a replacement.

Whilst giving each person total freedom to seek the Lord as to what to pray for, the following suggestions are made for those that seek such guidance.

In a one hour time period:-

6 minutes (10%) - For Australia, its government leaders at Federal, State and Local Government level.

6 minutes - For your own State and local government leaders.

6 minutes - For the Church in our nation and for spiritual revival across our land.

6 minutes - For the work of the Australian Prayer Network, its national leadership team and those taking part in the 24 hour prayer watch.

6 minutes - For the salvation of people both known to you and in general.

6 minutes - For a nation of your choice other than Australia.

24 minutes - As the Lord leads you using our regular 24 Hour Prayer Watch bulletin which you will receive and the general prayer news updates which will also be sent to you as a guide as to where prayer is needed from time to time.

Thank you for your prayerful consideration of this invitation.


Brian Pickering
National Coordinator
Australian Prayer Network

I am praying for Australia: will you?

If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land. 2 Chronicals 7:14

The Wedding Ring

The wedding ring, given and received, is the token or pledge of faithfulness. The man in giving the ring binds himself by all that is holy and sacred to be a true husband to the woman to whom he gives it, until death shall separate them. The woman who receives the ring in the like manner binds herself to be a true and faithful wife to the man from whom she accepts it.

The ring is to both of them the seal of the holy covenant. Every woman who wears a wedding ring is by this token set apart from all other women. Every time she sees the golden circlet upon her hand, if she is a true woman, she will remember the holy covenant into which she has entered. by J R Miller


What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder. Mark 10:9

Some Thoughts On Anxiety

* God manages perfectly, day and night, year in and year out, the movements of the stars, the wheeling of the planets, the staggering coordination of events that goes on the molecular level in order to hold things together. There is no doubt that He can manage the timing of my days and weeks. Elisabeth Elliot

* Where faith begins, anxiety ends. Where anxiety begins faith ends. George Mueller

Just got a comment from Clara. She has written a post on her blog which goes splendidly with this. Here it is.

Hear my cry, O God; attend unto my prayer. From the end of the earth will I cry unto thee, when my heart is overwhelmed: lead me to the rock that is higher than I. Psalm 61: 1-2

Staying Close To Jesus

All Christians must feed their spirit by ensuring that they have a regular meal of the Word by having quiet time for prayer and study. For the chronically ill woman, a time of prayer and bible study is even more crucial to her daily walk and spiritual health, for if she is to have any strength to face the day, she must find it in Christ.

I find that the mornings are not a good time for me to study the Word. Indeed, they are not a good time physically or mentally for me at all- even though I do love the special quietness and beauty of the early morning.

Illness and my medications have induced a difficulty in processing anything written early in the morning. I can read something only to find that I haven't taken it in properly, making me feel frustrated. So I have downloaded scripture on the Net and I listen to the Word.

I find that my prayers some days can be disjointed as my medications work...and I have found that by remembering that the Spirit Himself groans for us and intercedes to the Father, that I am comforted that I don't have to worry that God won't understand me. He is far above our finite minds and understands the groanings of the Spirit.

We need to focus on God for we our strength by clinging to Jesus on a moment by moment basis. By feeding our spirits, we can recall the Word and feel close to the LORD in times of extreme fatigue or pain.

Here are some ideas to focus on Him:

Find a quiet place.
Take your Bible, a notebook, pen, and perhaps a favourite devotional.
You can play worship music if your desire. I listen to the Word and play worship music later on.
Remain quiet in God's presence.
Meditate on His love for you, sing, or don't sing. Just listen.
Drink in the Lord's love, unhurriedly savouring Him.
Listen for His voice.
Note anything God reveals to you.
Search your heart.
Ask the Lord to reveal areas or issues in your life that need changing.
Pray for yourself, family, friends, church, and others.
Remember, God is sovereign. His ways are not our ways. Be sensitive to His desire for you each moment. Often He requires less of you than you require of yourself.
It's not about a schedule. It's not about spending a particular number of minutes or hours. Time with Him is about desiring God and pleasing Him.

Remember He Who notices and cares for the sparrow, cares for you. It is so important that you draw your strength from God by feeding your spirit so that you can face the day.

But we will give ourselves continually to prayer, and to the ministry of the word. Acts 6:4

I Didn't Mean It

I am sorry to report that I accidentally deleted a lot of comments today. I had answered them and then deleted them in the dashboard, thinking that they were extraneous. They actually were the comments!

So, whilst I can still remember the most recent ones let me say:

Clara, yes I will be sleeping for 8 instead of 9 hours starting tonight, and I will report back Monday morning. Yes, we chronically ill people always live in hope!

Amanda, would you please share with us your recipe for Lamb Shank casserole? It sounds yummy!

Sabine, I am quite happy with a clean house, but someone close to me cleans clean stuff and never feels her house is clean enough! Just watching her makes me tired!

If anyone else commented recently before I realised my mistake, please forgive me and please keep commenting! Though I prefer to call it discussing rather than commenting! I really love a good yack with you all....

A Moment Of Worship

Housework Is Spiritual

As a Clean Freak and author of the e-book secret confessions of a clean freak - I can tell you - it's the results of housecleaning that are spiritual. A clean home feels better. Plus, you have the pride in a job well done. It's all positive - calming.

Housework left undone is very negative. A constant reminder of things you haven't done. I feel good when my bathroom walls or my stove is shiny. It makes me feel like I have control. And sometimes, that's all I have control over.

And, like all things spiritual, it takes discipline until it becomes habit. Housecleaning is a breeze once you have it under control and you have a routine. Really! I'm a single mom and I get picked on all the time for being too clean - like I have some disease! Guess I'm just a freak!

Well, I wouldn't call this author a freak. I know from my own experience that a messy house makes me feel worse than usual and irritable. The trouble for me is getting the energy to do it. But the results of housework certainly are spiritual!

If you are the author of this wonderful piece of motivation, please let me know so that I may give you the credit.

She looketh well to the ways of her household, and eateth not the bread of idleness. Proverbs 31:27

Thoughts Of Home

I was just being obedient to what my parents saw in me. I was more interested in the things the women in my family, my mom, grandmother and aunt were all about: homemaking and cooking and housekeeping. I wanted to be a housewife and mom.
Gladys Knight

There are practical little things in housekeeping which no man really understands.
Eleanor Roosevelt

Housekeeping ain't no joke Louisa M Alcott

A home in which the housewife sheds tears will be bereft of all prosperity. This is the ancient conception of the role of women in the home. Sri Sathya Sai Baba

Being a housewife and a mother is the biggest job in the world, but if it doesn't interest you, don't do it - I would have made a terrible mother. Katharine Hepburn

I love my house
And the work it gives to me,
The dear tasks of bringing
Ordered dignity to room and hall
Where the shadow and the whisper
Of my loved ones dwell.
I love the banishing of dust,
The corners square and clean,
The windows clear
As the promise of my future days.
I love the small task
Of mending tears and rips,
Seeing again the joy,
Hearing the swift shout and rush
Of happy, running feet.
I love the clothes clean and sweet again,
Smelling of the sun and wind,
Folded in quiet order to await
More joyous play.
I love my dishes stacked neatly row on row,
Order matching gleaming from the
Chaos of the morning meal-
Sitting solemnly, waiting for the
Renewed communal pleasure
They soon will bring again.
I love my house
And all the work it gives to me
That my soul might grow
With discipline and tempered grace.

Source: June 1958 RS Magazine

"The curse of the LORD [is] in the house of the wicked: but he blesseth the habitation of the just" Proverbs 3:33

She Lost Me, But Not Her

When I was a new Christian some 30 years ago, I had a Christian neighbour who I admired and looked up to. Not that she was much older than me, but she was an older sister in the LORD.

"V" did everything right. She was a good wife, mother and homemaker. Not only did she look after her children well, but she kept a trim figure and was constantly monitoring what she ate and exercising. I wanted to be like her.

"V" and I would often share a cup of tea and talk and I would drink in everything she told me, for she held ideals very much like my own- the sacredness of marriage, the joys of children and the evils of abortion. She was to my mind, a first-class Christian and God-willing, I would be like her one day.

She was my closest sister in the LORD and she taught me a lot. But the most important lesson of all was to come later. It is something I want to share with you.

One day we talked about the joys of having children and "V" told me although she had 3 children, she only wanted 2. She and her husband had planned to adopt the third child. But to her horror, she discovered that number 3 - her only daughter after 2 sons, was on the way.

"V" then went on to describe how she had repeatedly gotten up onto her kitchen table and jumped off in an effort to dislodge the embryo. I was shocked! This was my friend who was pro-life! She couldn't see that jumping off the table in order to procure a miscarriage was just another form of abortion!

The action that she took on that pregnancy's discovery was in no way different than if she had obtained an abortion. Yet she couldn't see that! Fortunately, "V" gave birth to a healthy daughter. She didn't lose her, but she lost me as light dawned ....

Ladies, be very careful who you choose to mentor you. We are all human and sin, so it is dangerous to look up to people as if they are oracles. It is bad news to put people on a pedestal. I believe God gave me wisdom to discern right from wrong that day, and although we stayed friends, I never regarded her as knowing it all again...

Always test those who disciple and mentor you... test them against the Word. There are many who long to be teachers of the Word, yet they don't really have the knowledge to teach. It was a lesson that has stayed with me for 30 years. Be as the Bereans and test everything against the Word......

And don't accept that jumping off a table to dislodge your baby is anything other than attempted (or possibly successful) *abortion*

Desiring to be teachers of the law; understanding neither what they say, no whereof what they affirm. 1 Timothy 7:1

Prayer And Gossip

I like to pray for people and a lot of them I don't know, so I don't have details usually. Sometimes people I do know have so much going on that often it is easier to *not* know the details and just lift them up to the LORD!

It is comforting to know that He knows all details. Knowing too much can be both a burden and a means to start a gossip session. I guess we all know people who use prayer as a means to gossip about someone. It is so good to be able to interrupt them and gently say, "Well, the LORD knows all about it: let's pray!"

But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly. Matthew 6:6

Some Quotes On Mothers

"All that I am or ever hope to be, I owe to my angel Mother." -- Abraham Lincoln (1809-1865)

"God could not be everywhere and therefore he made mothers." -- Jewish proverb

"Of all the rights of women, the greatest is to be a mother." -- Lin Yutang

"The heart of a mother is a deep abyss at the bottom of which you will always find forgiveness." -- Honore' de Balzac (1799-1850)

"My mother was the most beautiful woman I ever saw. All I am I owe to my mother. I attribute all my success in life to the moral, intellectual and physical education I received from her." -- George Washington (1732-1799)

"By and large, mothers and housewives are the only workers who do not have regular time off. They are the great vacationless class." -- Anne Morrow Lindbergh (1907- )

"The mother's heart is the child's schoolroom." -- Henry Ward Beecher (1813-1887)

"Youth fades; love droops, the leaves of friendship fall; A mother's secret hope outlives them all." -- Oliver Wendell Holmes (1809-1894)

"I remember my mother's prayers and they have always followed me. They have clung to me all my life." -- Abraham Lincoln (1809-1865)

"The most important thing a father can do for his children is to love their mother." --Author Unknown

Her children arise up, and call her blessed; her husband [also], and he praiseth her. Proverbs 31:28

Give Your Children Choices

It is important to start training children early to make choices. Let children pick out what they want to wear and just guide them to make sensible choices. Obviously you don't want them to be in their Sunday best when they are out making mud pies or catching tadpoles.

Help them decide what they will be doing each day and what they should be wearing. It is good that they are taught to think through what is necessary for any given day. If they were to decide not to wear a jacket when the weather is inclement and felt cold, it would reinforce that their choices have consequences. (Have a jacket on hand of course, just out of sight until you can explain the law of consequences.)

Don’t fuss over colour matches. If you just don’t like the choice of socks and dress because they don't match, then allow them to wear it. Colour is just a matter of personal taste after all.

They must be able to express their individuality otherwise they will be a carbon copy of you, so allow some lee way with them. Breed a healthy individuality in your child. They will be less likely then to 'run with the pack ' in their teenage years.

Children should be encouraged to be individual-even twins. As an identical twin, I know that it used to upset me that Mum always dressed us the same. Encourage your twins to dress as individuals, not clones.

Choices aren't only to do with clothing of course. But if you train your children in the little things, it will build self-confidence and planning strategies in them. They will then be more self-reliant and able to make decisions that are wise. And of course, this training will help them resist peer pressure.

So start with training your children at a young age to make choices that in reality don't really matter. When it comes to the time they have to make a choice that does matter, such as whether or not to smoke, drink alcohol, engage in sex or drugs, they will have enough personal strength to say no based on clear and wise choices learned from their early days.

Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it. Proverbs 22:6

Looking For Personalized Christian Verse?

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