Christmas letters and cards come with greetings and news of friends from many parts of the world and we enjoy reading about their families and their activities over the year. These often include details of travel to many parts of the world for a variety reasons; holidays, visiting family and mission trips to a name a few.

We too have had the joy of overseas travel, visiting family in Indonesia and mission trips to the Philippines and Fiji. As I look back and thank the Lord for the privilege of serving Him in Fiji, two events come to mind as being special highlights of my visit; the Ladies and the Young Girls’ Know Your Bible Weekend camps, held in May and November.

At both camps the daily programme started with PRAYER at 6am. It was not to be missed! Such a delight and a personal challenge to see EVERY camper starting the day in prayer and praise. Prayers of petitions for families, friends, and nation poured out with heartfelt pleas and earnestness. They were prayers of faith to a loving God who never fails to listen and answer. See Psalm 66:19.

Our lovely Fiji ladies have an attitude to prayer that should mark every child of God. Recently Fiji suffered a cyclone and the prayer of one friend was, ‘God, you protected us last time and you are the same unchanging God, so again we are in your hands’. In every circumstance of life prayer should be the natural turning to God for communion and direction.

This New Year 2020, instead of making new year resolutions let us focus on our ‘prayer lives’ and ask the Lord to show us how we can make changes in our prayer lives as we ponder the following questions:

What is my attitude toward prayer? What is my habit of prayer?

Do I have set times of communion with God... when everything else is shut out and I come into His presence to talk to Him and let Him speak to me?

Do I have that beautiful habit of prayer when I walk and talk with the Father?

Without these times of prayer in our lives the habit of prayer can never be formed. Without them there is no nourishment for the spiritual life. When we walk and talk with God we acquire something of His likeness and unconsciously we become witnesses to others of His beauty and grace.

Do you want to refresh and renew your prayer life?
Ask the Lord! The disciples asked!

“Lord, teach us to pray!” Luke 11:1
Jesus spent many hours in prayer preparing for each day.
His all-night praying was that which filled His all-day work with compassion and power.
The disciples observing this, knew they needed to be taught how to pray.

Jesus said to the disciples, “pray in this way”. Luke 11:2-4

Singing special songs of praise at Christmas time gives such joy. As we sing the Christmas story with the words of, ‘Away in a Manger’; ‘Hark the Herald Angel Sing, Glory to the New Born King’; ‘Silent Night, Holy Night’; and ‘Joy to The World’, we bring our praise and worship to the One who came to save us.

As familiar as we are with the songs of Christmas, there are four songs recorded in the Bible celebrating the birth of Jesus that most of us aren't familiar with. The angels sang a song of peace and joy to the shepherds, Mary sang a song of trust, Zechariah of faith and Simeon a song of hope.

Mary’s song of trust is quite remarkable considering all that had happened as she awaited her marriage to Joseph. The angel, Gabriel, came to her and announced that she was going to have a baby! She was greatly confused and wondered what it all meant. The angel explained what would happen and, that “nothing is impossible for God!” Mary’s response was one of trust as she replied, “I am the Lord’s servant! Let it happen as you have said”. And the angel left her.

A short time later she visited her cousin Elizabeth in the hill country - a special cousin to whom she could pour out her mixed feelings of joy and happiness, of sadness and rejection. We can only imagine what it must have been like for Mary at this time. Her family and friends could not understand what had happened to her, the situation was more than they could handle.

Elizabeth’s greeting to Mary must have been such a contrast, a joy to Mary’s ears. In a loud voice Elizabeth said, “God has blessed you more than any other woman! He has also blessed the child you will have. Why should the mother of my Lord come to me? As soon as I heard your greeting, my baby became happy and moved within me. The Lord has blessed you because you believed that He will keep His promise”.

How do we cope with situations out of our control? Do we trust the Lord? Do we believe what the angel said to Mary, “Nothing is impossible for God”!

Mary trusted God in her situation, as she moved from anxiety to adoration. She believed God was in control and, in response, she sang the following beautiful words.

This Christmas may we, as humble servants, sing ‘with all our hearts’, praise and worship to the Saviour who came, the Saviour who cares, the Saviour who does great things for us, who always shows mercy.

“With all my heart I praise the Lord,
and I am glad because of God my Saviour.
God cares for me, His humble servant.
From now on all people will say God has blessed me.
God, All-powerful, has done great things for me and His name is holy.
He always shows mercy to everyone who worships Him.”
Luke 1:46-50