— To uplift, inform and challenge —

Fellow Servant,

        A commonality of most incoming  ministry mail is various expressions of anxiety.  In fact, so prevalent, it would be easy to conclude that the Church lacks as much peace as does the world.  We note this not to disparage or make light of one’s problems or severity of the issues so many are facing.  However, we do intend to remind of the remedy God has provided for His own.

         As alien pilgrims immersed in this world’s cesspool of sin, Christians are daily challenged and tempted every which way; to fear, doubt ... even to give up.  We’re all faced with threats, problems and disappointments and to ease the pain, some seek relief in worldly ways.  But there’s a vastly better remedy: God’s.  Let’s take a few minutes to consider this matter.

Peace of God

It trumps every manner of challenge.

“In nothing be anxious; but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God.  And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall guard your hearts and your thoughts in Christ Jesus.”  (Php 4:6,7)

“God, we might die!”... I suddenly blurted from the tiny all-in-one area of our ministry trailer in September of '98.  For 19 days Diane lay in the back, eyes covered and gulping pain killers as I tried to care for and comfort her.  Though also ill with what later was found to be seven tick-borne diseases between us, I was still vertical.

After weeks of our pleadings, came that outburst and  amazingly, on its heels, an immediate breakthrough.  Healing?  No: insight.  I realized that dying would be the ultimate “healing.”  Voila!  Instant victory ... then came praise, joy, dancing and peace.  Near miraculous help soon followed.

Just what is peace?

Desirable as is the absence of war, noise or conflict, in a biblical sense, peace is more than these.  It is also more than can be achieved by man, mantras, meditation or mysticism.  The peace of God is a transcendent tranquility of spirit and soul ... even in the face of dire circumstances and great loss.  Examples abound, such as with the Spafford family.

Horatio G. Spafford was a 43 year-old lawyer who suffered a huge loss in Chicago’s Great Fire of 1871.  This happened while he, his wife Anna and four daughters were still grieving over the death of their only son.  Needing a break from it all and knowing their friend, Dwight L. Moody was preaching in England, they decided to take the family there on vacation.  So, Anna and the girls went ahead on the S.S. Ville du Havre and Horatio planned to soon follow.  However, his family's ship was struck by another and sank in the Atlantic; 226 perished, including all their daughters.  When the survivors arrived at Cardiff, Wales, Anna wired her husband two words: “Saved ... alone.”

Horatio booked passage on the next ship and after having passed the location where his daughters perished, our God of Peace enabled Horatio to pen the beloved hymn:

It Is Well With My Soul

“When peace, like a river, attendeth my way,
When sorrows like sea billows roll;
Whatever my lot, Thou hast taught me to say,
It is well, it is well with my soul. ...

“For me, be it Christ, be it Christ hence to live:
If Jordan above me shall roll,
No pang shall be mine, for in death as in life,
Thou wilt whisper Thy peace to my soul.”

It’s supernatural.

Only God can provide the wherewithal to cope with Spaffordian ordeals without crumbing.  In such times of distress, those who do not access same are often driven to the world’s destructive and impotent ways; Christians included.  So the question begs: “How do I lay hold of God’s peace?”  Fortunately, our loving Father provided a How-To manual (Bible) and our text responds to that very question.  It identifies two worshipful requisites that pave the way to divine peace: praise and prayer.

Praise: from cover to cover, the Bible exhorts to thank and praise God from Whom all blessings flow.  It goes so far as to say He actually "inhabits" the praises of His people (Ps 22:3).  Literally, it tells us that if we want God on the scene, we should begin praising Him.  Oh! what miracles have been wrought by this one simple act.  There’s power in praise.

Scripture declares that God is worthy of praise (2Sam 22:4) ... as is Jesus (Rev 5:15) and that God is glorified by our praises (Ps 22:23).  Praise is due God because of His Majesty (Ps 96:2, 6; Isa 24:14), His glory (Ps 138:5; Ezk 3:12); excellency (Ex 15:7; Ps 148:13); greatness (1Chr 16:25; Ps 145:3); holiness (Ex 15:11; Isa 6:3), His wisdom (Dan 2:20; Jude 1:25), power (Ps 21:13) and goodness (Ps 107:8; 118:1; 136:1; Jer 33:11); His mercy (2Ch 20:21; Ps 89:1; 118:1-4); lovingkindness (Ps 138:2); faithfulness (Isa 25:1) and salvation (Ps 18:46; Isa 35:10; 61:10; Lk 1:68-69); His wonderful works (Ps 89:5; 150:2; Isa 25:1); His consolation, judgement, counsel and SO much more.

Of myriad biblical examples, consider the imperfect David; a man after God’s own heart.  He too suffered some of life’s most agonizing experiences: deaths of children, betrayal, rejection, exile, etc..  But regardless of circumstances, we find him praising and praying.  A perusal of his psalms portray a soul who adores God and His Word.

Sometimes called the “fifth gospel,” Psalm 22 is a good example.  After ten verses of rehearsing his lot before God (Whom he charges with forsaking him) the final ten dramatically shift to praise and thanksgiving ... as he likewise exhorts us all:  “I will declare thy name unto my brethren: in the midst of the congregation will I praise thee. ... Ye that fear the Lord, praise him; all ye the seed of Jacob, glorify him; and fear him, all ye the seed of Israel. ... My praise shall be of thee in the great congregation: I will pay my vows before them that fear him. ... The meek shall eat and be satisfied: they shall praise the Lord that seek him: your heart shall live for ever” (22,23,25,26).

What caused this 180 degree shift from his opening Golgothian lament — “My God, my God, why have You forsaken me?” — to such exuberant praise just a few verses later?  Ah!  It’s what took place in between.  In verses 11-21, David began to petition God; to seek His help.  He prayed!

Prayer: Few subjects receive as much biblical attention as is lavished on prayer.  Commanded and commended, it is to the Christian what a cell phone represents to most.  However, rather then communication with anyone who can hear, it’s a hotline to the only One Who can save ... Who also delivers and heals.  However, there is a fee: trust, a humble heart and a bended knee.  Oh, and patience.  All prayers get through without a push-button maze; none are dropped and all receive God's personal attention.

Contrary to the example of some who intimate prayers must be long, sprinkled with Elizabethan or vertically spoken (“Gawd”) — our loving Father also hears and responds to the short, simple and humble type most of us utter.  Especially those that scream from our hearts in times of great distress.  And they’re private; some encrypted by a silence that He alone can decipher.  Only He knows all of Spafford’s, Job’s, Hannah's, David’s or those of Jesus ... or yours.  He hears the heart.

Through the prophet Isaiah, God commanded us to pray: “Seek ye the LORD while he may be found, call ye upon him while he is near” (55:6).  Jesus similarly instructed: “... Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you” (Lk 11:9b). likewise, Isaiah reminded: “Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee.  Trust ye in the LORD for ever: for in the LORD JEHOVAH is everlasting strength" (Isa 26:3,4).  There it is again: peace.  God being the only source of true peace; the kind which strengthens and sustains, especially in times of need.

It would have been impossible for Spafford to have written “It is Well ...” without prayer; without God.  Nor could Job or David have survived without praise and prayer; without having (in absolute trust) humbled themselves before God and sought His help in times of need.  Then ... there’s Jesus.  Facing the agony of crucifixion and struggling with His flesh in Gethsemane, He eventually and obediently concluded, “...  not as I will, but as thou wilt” (Mt 26:39b).  He praised, he prayed and was at peace with the Father.  Oh! the victory won for us all.

By His blood, we’ve been reconciled to the only true God Whom we now serve.  “Go forth,” He tells us ... "into all the world" to share this GOOD news, "making disciples of all men"; followers of Jesus, the King of Salem; of peace. “Now the Lord of peace himself give you peace always by all means. The Lord be with you all” (2Thes 3:16).

ABOUT US:  Founded in 1993, Hallelujah Living Ministries is a donation-based, non-denominational Christian outreach to uplift, inform and challenge followers of Jesus Christ.  For more information or a copy of our always-free print newsletter, please include a  postal mail address along with your comments and prayer requests. Thank you for visiting  This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

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