Our Father in Heaven Watches Over Us

I'm sure all of us have felt abandoned by God at times when everything went sideways. But feelings are deceiving. The truth is that our Father always watches us.

Take heart in Psalms 33:18 and 19 (BBE) which reads, "See, the eye of the Lord is on those in whose hearts is the fear of him, on those whose hope is in his mercy; To keep their souls from death; and to keep them living in time of need."

And in reference to doing our alms and prayers in private, Jesus gave us a wonderful promise in Matthew 6:3 and 4 (BBE). "But when you give money, let not your left hand see what your right hand does: So that your giving may be in secret; and your Father, who sees in secret, will give you your reward."

Likewise, Christ said in Matthew 6:6 (BBE) that God hears our private prayers. "But when you make your prayer, go into your private room, and, shutting the door, say a prayer to your Father in secret, and your Father, who sees in secret, will give you your reward."

Being children of the King of Kings, those who persecute us are in for a bad time on Judgement Day. Matthew 18:10 (BBE) is a warning to those who abuse Christ's adopted siblings. "Let it not seem to you that one of these little ones is of no value; for I say to you that in heaven their angels see at all times the face of my Father in heaven."

Of course persecution will come our way but we have the Spirit to help us through. As Paul wrote in 2 Corinthians 1:8 and 9 (BBE), "For it is our desire that you may not be without knowledge of our trouble which came on us in Asia, that the weight of it was very great, more than our power, so that it seemed that we had no hope even of life: Yes, we ourselves have had the answer of death in ourselves, so that our hope might not be in ourselves, but in God who is able to give life to the dead:"

Though our trials seem long, they're but a moment compared to eternity's bliss. As Paul wrote in 2 Corinthians 4:17 and 18 (BBE), "For our present trouble, which is only for a short time, is working out for us a much greater weight of glory; While our minds are not on the things which are seen, but on the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are for a time; but the things which are not seen are eternal."

What a blessed hope we have. We aren't alone in this world but we have our Father to fall back on.

On Thursday, if Christ doesn't return before then, I hope to continue the theme of encouragement amid discouragement.

The Error of Praying to Saints

I realize that this will upset Catholics but there is no biblical requirement for believers to pray to the saints. If there was, I would do so. Here, from the Bible, is who we must pray to.

Jesus himself told  his disciples to whom we must pray in John 16:23 (KJV). "And in that day ye shall ask me nothing. Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in my name, he will give it you."

Jesus also told his disciples, and us as well who follow him, in Matthew 6:6 (KJV) how to 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."

We can also see that we pray for saints, not to them, in 2 Timothy 1:3 (KJV). "I thank God, whom I serve from my forefathers with pure conscience, that without ceasing I have remembrance of thee in my prayers night and day;"

In the Old Testament, we see that it's God who grants our requests, not saints and prophets. Psalms 20:5 (KJV) says, "We will rejoice in thy salvation, and in the name of our God we will set up our banners: the LORD fulfil all thy petitions."

The New Testament says in 1 John 5:15 (KJV), "And if we know that he hear us, whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we desired of him."

But Catholics believe that God and Christ are too busy to hear from us mere mortals. That isn't so because Jesus told us to ask our heavenly Father for whatsoever we need.  The only mediator we need is Jesus. As Paul pointed out in 1 Timothy 2:5 (KJV), "For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus;"


I plan to point this out in my next book called You Think You're Going to Heaven? Saints can't save us and neither can Mary be our go-between. Sadly, the human traditions of the fathers still damn seekers to hell and close the door of the Kingdom to people.