{"id":3451,"date":"2015-08-26T00:28:58","date_gmt":"2015-08-26T07:28:58","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.hoc6.org\/global\/?p=3451"},"modified":"2015-08-26T07:32:02","modified_gmt":"2015-08-26T14:32:02","slug":"826-gods-benefit-package","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.hoc6.org\/global\/2015\/08\/26\/826-gods-benefit-package\/","title":{"rendered":"8\/26: God’s Benefit Package (\u8bd7103:1-12 \u6797\u540e1:1-11 \u4ee3\u4e0b26:1-28:27)"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u8bfb\u7ecf\uff1a\u8bd7103:1-12 \u6797\u540e1:1-11 \u4ee3\u4e0b26:1-28:27<\/h2>\n

God’s Benefit Package<\/h2>\n
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I recently rediscovered one of my prayer diaries, in which I recorded some of my early experiences of answered prayer.<\/p>\n

On 26 September 1976 I wrote about a prayer for my mother: \u2018Prayed for the Lord to heal her insomnia.\u2019 (I did not tell her I was praying for her.) Exactly three months later, on 26 December 1976, I wrote that my mother \u2018says she has slept better in the last few weeks than for four years and it is no longer a problem\u2019.<\/p>\n

Of course, it is not possible to prove Christianity on the basis of answers to prayer, because cynics can always explain them away as coincidence. But as former Archbishop of Canterbury William Temple said, \u2018When I pray coincidences happen, when I don\u2019t they don\u2019t.\u2019 The cumulative effect of answered prayer is to reinforce our faith in God.<\/p>\n

For the last twenty years, I have written by the New Testament passage for today some of my prayers for the year ahead. It is amazing to think back and remember the ways in which God has answered so many of these prayers. I find it so easy to forget all the answers to prayer. It is so easy to forget blessings.<\/p>\n

David reminds himself in the psalm for today not to forget \u2018all his benefits<\/em>\u2019 (Psalm 103:2). Many are conscious of the \u2018benefits\u2019 they can receive associated with their employment even from the state. But what about the \u2018benefits\u2019 that we receive from our loving heavenly Father?<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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1. Remember and thank God for all his benefits<\/h2>\n

Psalm 103:1-12<\/a>There is so much to praise God for. David appears almost to be speaking to himself and urging himself on: \u2018O my soul, bless God, from head to toe, I\u2019ll bless his holy name! O my soul, bless God, don\u2019t forget a single blessing!\u2019 (vv.1\u20132, MSG).<\/p>\n

David had clearly faced many troubles in his life: sin, disease and \u2018the pit\u2019 (vv.3\u20134). Yet he, like the apostle Paul (2 Corinthians 1:3), begins with praise for some of God\u2019s benefits.<\/p>\n