Songs of Meditation :
Restoring the years by Donald Lawrence & the Tri-City Singers
Sow in tears by Richard Smallwood

Scriptures of Meditation:
1 Peter 5:10 And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you.
Mark 11:24
Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.

One of my favorite stories in the Bible is the story of Job. Job was a righteous and faithful man. He was also a wealthy man. He had plenty livestock and a large family. One day the devil and God were having a conversation and God was telling the devil about how good and faithful his servant job was. The devil being who he is said that that was because God had blessed Job. So they made a bet and Satan said if you take away all of his possession and his children, he will curse you. God of course did not agree. In one day Job got a message that all of his livestock and all ten of his children perished. Eventhough he heard such horrible news, which caused him to shave his head and rip off his clothes,he still praised God. The devil of course wasn’t satisfied so he said, I bet if you punish him, he will curse you. God knowing better said go ahead, you can do whatever to him except take his life. So the devil causes these sores and boils to cover Job’s body, but Job still didn’t and wouldn’t curse God. Several times his wife and his friends after seeing him suffer told him to just curse God and die but he wouldn’t. After a while of suffering with no relief in sight, Job began to become impatient. Like many of us, he lamented about how the wicked always seem to prosper while the good and innocent ones suffer. God finally intervened and decided that enough was enough. He not only restored Job’s health but he blessed him with twice as much property as he had before, new children and a long life.

The reason I love this story is because many times when we are suffering we automatically think that God is upset with us or that we are being punshied for something when that may not be the case at all. It may just be a test! Another point is that, we serve a God of restoration! I love that about our savior. When you are apart of his kingdom, a loss isn’t a loss. I know so many of us have gone through tough times and are still going through tough times, and I just want to say just hang in there. Trust God and praise him in advance for what he’s going to do in your life. Every test is an opportunity to testify about how good God has been to us and how far he’s brought us!

This week we will pray for restoration and healing. We want to ask God to heal our minds, bodies and souls. We also want to ask him to restore what we lost. Restore our faith. Restore and heal our broken hearts. Restore our trust. Restore our optimism. Restore our beliefs. Restore our broken families. Restore our damaged relationships. Restore our broken friendships. Restore our finances.

We will also read chapters 1-3 of Sarah Jakes Roberts book; Don’t settle for Safe.

Thank you all for participating. I pray that the Holy Ghost moves with and in us. God said in Matthew 18:20 For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them.

Have a blessed and safe weekend and Happy fasting 💋