The ML Editor

Revelation 20:12 makes a powerful claim: “And I saw the dead, great and small alike, standing before the throne. Books were opened, and then another book was opened, [called] the book of the living. The dead were judged according to what they had done, as recorded in the books.”

Few people would keep a diary if they knew that, by a magical act of memory, the mind publishes every thought and feeling, every act and intuition, as a book to be read by everyone. Think how surprised we all will be when, at some point in the future, after crossing the border that separates mortal life from immortal life, we find ourselves in the courtroom of eternal justice. There, we will face some menacing moments. Everything we have ever done will be made public.

For those whose lives are written in the book of the living, your destiny is one of eternal life with the Christ you serve. For those whose lives are not recorded in that book, the riddle of your fate, which you may have tried to unwind while on earth, will be finally unwrapped. As Revelation 20:15 pointedly states, “Those who did not have their name written in the book of the living were thrown into the lake of fire.”

The living God, his angels and his human followers appeal to you to seek out the Christ who shines so brightly on those who know and accept him. He is the way to a perpetual life of happiness. On the day of judgment, remember this truth: Under the Son of facts all sin must melt.

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Copyright © 2005 by James Strong

To contact James Strong, please send an email to: linwood_jl@yahoo.com.

I am asked quite often how one can pray effectively. This
article will show you the way the Word of God tells us to pray.

We are going to look at the Greek word pray (prayers, praying
and prayed) proseuche and proseuchomai but only in the Mystery
Epistles of Paul, Ephesians, Colossians and Philippians.

The Greek word proseuche appears in the New Testament 37 times
in 37 verses and proseuchomai appears 90 times in 82 verses,
this is quite an abundance of uses so I want to limit the study
to just the three books of the Apostle Paul also know as the
Prison Epistles.

We must first start our study with some Greek grammar lessons,
very basic for now. When the words proseuche or proseuchomai are
used as verbs, or as nouns the verbs that are used with them,
are always in the present tense. The present tense represents a
simple statement of fact or reality viewed as occurring in
actual time and in most cases this correspond directly with the
English present tense.

Another characteristic of these verbs are that they are in the
middle voice. The middle voice indicates the subject performing
an action upon himself (reflexive action) or for his own
benefit. E.g., “The boy groomed himself.” Many verbs which occur
only in middle voice forms are translated in English as having
an active sense; these are called “deponent” verbs, and do not
comply with the normal requirements for the middle voice. A
different way to look at “deponent verbs” is that they occur
with passive or middle voice forms but with active voice meaning
The Greek middle voice meaning is still applicable, action is
done for ones own benefit, this is very apropos to prayer.

The third characteristic of these verbs is the mood. These verbs
for the most part are in the participle mood. The Greek
participle corresponds for the most part to the English
participle, reflecting “-ing” or “-ed” being suffixed to the
basic verb form. The participle can be used either like a verb
or a noun, as in English, and thus is often termed a “verbal
noun.”

We must therefore conclude that even when the word prayer is
used as a noun it is a verbal noun and indicates some action by
the subject. This being said let us now take a look at the
verses where these words are used and it will become clear as to
how prayer is to be done. Eph. 1:16 Cease not to give thanks for
you, making (present tense, middle voice) mention of you in my
prayers; proseuche (verbal noun).

Eph. 6:18 Praying proseuchomai (present tense, middle voice,
participle mood) always with all prayer proseuche (verbal noun)
and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all
perseverance and supplication for all saints;

Phil. 1:9 And this I pray proseuchomai (present tense, middle
voice, participle mood), that your love may abound yet more and
more in knowledge and [in] all judgment;

Phil. 4:6 Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer
proseuche (verbal noun) and supplication with thanksgiving let
your requests be made known unto God.

Col. 1:3 We give thanks to God and the Father of our Lord Jesus
Christ, praying proseuchomai (present tense, middle voice,
participle mood), always for you,

Col. 1:9 For this cause we also, since the day we heard [it], do
not cease to pray proseuchomai (present tense, middle voice,
participle mood) for you, and to desire that ye might be filled
with the knowledge of his will in all wisdom and spiritual
understanding;

Col. 4:2 Continue proskartereo (present tense, middle voice,
imperative mood) in prayer proseuche, and watch in the same with
thanksgiving;

Here the mood of the verb “continue” changed from participle to
imperative. The imperative mood corresponds to the English
imperative, and expresses a command to the hearer to perform a
certain action by the order and authority of the one commanding.

The Apostle by virtue of the God breathed Word is commanding the
Colossians to actively pray with thanksgiving.

Col. 4:3 Withal praying proseuchomai (present tense, middle
voice, participle mood), also for us, that God would open unto
us a door of utterance, to speak the mystery of Christ, for
which I am also in bonds:

Col. 4:12 Epaphras, who is [one] of you, a servant of Christ,
saluteth you, always labouring fervently for you in prayers
proseuche, (verbal noun) that ye may stand perfect and complete
in all the will of God.

Lastly I would like to share with you a verse that uses another
Greek word, dessis for the English word prayer.

Phil. 1:19 For I know that this shall turn to my salvation
through your prayer deesis, and the supply of the Spirit of
Jesus Christ,

Dessis has its roots in the word deomai which is a verb and
guess what the characteristics of this verb are; you got it,
present tense, middle voice, participle mood. Is the Word of God
incredible or what?

So when it comes to prayer and praying we see a theme; that is
that pray is something we should do consistently and constantly.

The popular T.V. show C.S.I., with its multiple spin-offs, has commanded the attention of millions of viewers across the country. But make those same initials, C.S.I., stand for “Creation Scene Investigation,” and you confront a fiercely controversial and intriguing field of study.

Do a search for the keywords “intelligent design,” and you will understand what I mean. I can only cover the main points here; you will have to study it for yourself if you want “to go deeper,” which, as the founder/operator of “DeeperStudy.com” I would heartily recommend.

1. We live in an orderly universe. It is so orderly that things operate according to what science calls “laws,” such as the law of gravity, the second law of thermodynamics, etc.
2. In the present, life never spontaneously arises from non-life. We stake our lives on this truth every time we open and eat canned food.
3. In the present, definite and apparently fixed gaps exist between different kinds of plants and animals. Different kinds cannot interbreed, or when they do, their offspring is sterile or deformed.
4. In the present, a huge gap exists separating human beings from all other animals. Humans seem to be unique in their ability to conceptualize, to communicate by means of language, to store and pass on complex knowledge, technology, etc., from one generation to the next.

Just as the Crime Scene Investigator makes inferences and deductions about the past based on what he or she finds at the crime scene, so Creation Scene Investigators can draw inferences and make deductions about the pastspecifically the origin of the universe, the origin of life, the cause for the diversity of life, and the origin of human beingsbased on what they find on the scene.

The Crime Scene Investigator’s purpose is to find the perpetrator, if any. The Creation Scene Investigator may also find a Personthe Divine Creator of everything and everyone. As Paul told the philosophers of Athens, “He is not far from each one of us” (Acts 17:27). He is there, He is not silent, He wants to be found.

Copyright 2006 Steve Singleton

Steve Singleton has written and edited several books and numerous articles. He has been an editor, reporter, and public relations consultant. He has taught college-level Greek, Bible, and religious studies courses and has taught seminars in 11 states and the Caribbean.

Go to his DeeperStudy.org for Bible study resources, no matter what your level of expertise. Explore “The Shallows,” plumb “The Depths,” or use the well-organized “Study Links” for original sources in English translation. Check out the DeeperStudy Bookstore for great e-books, free books, and great discounts. Subscribe to his free “DeeperStudy Newsletter” or “DeeperStudy Blog.”

Copyright information: This article is free but must be reproduced in its entirety, including any live links & this copyright statement.

Goodmorning God. We gotta talk.

Are you aware of what is going on down here? I mean really, we need some help and I thought it better to email you than just get down on my knees and pray. You’ve seen me pray over the years, alone in that closet under the eaves in my college dorm at first, and then those sterile little “prayer closets.” I specifically remember asking that you guide me to do this and that right thing, and wow, after all these years, you’re idea of guiding and mine were pretty darn far apart. But okay, okay, I defer to letting things unfold as they will and give you the benefit of the doubt. I read that “Footsteps in the Sand” thing and still think that it’s possible the other set of prints disappeared, not because you were carrying me, but because you went to the store when I started to tell you how I was feeling.

At any rate, I thought email might be faster and you’d have copy as would I for future reference. So back to my question. Are you aware of what’s going on here? Was there some hurricane that re-wiped out the oil rigs that I missed, or did someone turn off the flow of oil, because gas keeps going up a dime a day around here! I can’t get it out of my head that we’re being “gassed” so to speak by those who do such things. I’m feeling that somehow the Czar is using his time for personal gain and there is no way I am ever going to really know what’s going on, so could you help us find out and get us back to a better time. The Czar and Company flying around in Big Bird One scarf up more resources in one trip than me and all my friends combined have used since arriving on the planet. I have done a lot of reading about the Czar and family and do you really think so few should get to take so much from so many over the years? What’s with that anyhow…could you please help us out here.

Shhhhhhhhhhh…I have another problem we need help with but I can’t say it too loudly. I feel like just talking to you is getting me, well, monitored. I think that someone is watching to see if I use words like “Czar” or “Big Bird One” and , well have you seen those pictures from Abu Gareb! ‘As long as I mentioned that, would you please tell those people that we aren’t like that and all my friends want Iraqis and Iranians to just enjoy life too and be left alone. In our wildest dreams we would never treat people like that. Hey and all my friends also think that Palestinians deserve a home just like anyone else. Can’t those guys check their DNA and find out they are all related or something and stop all that shit? Now of course, we don’t want them trying to make us see the world their way and blow us up if we don’t, and we will try to stop the jerks on our side of the religious world from thinking they have to convert you guys, but honest, all the real people I know think you are getting hosed for reasons other than the reasons given, which we can’t know either. I can’t sleep well when I see the pictures of your children and women dead in the name of liberation and freedom for, well, your dead family members. Makes no sense does it? Anyhow, Email is much different than a prayer closet, and I wanted to be sure you got this and I can request a return receipt.

Anyway, back to the shhhhh stuff. Can you help us turn off all the cameras? Man, I feel like I am in the old Russia or Germany of days not long gone by. And what’s with those Brits.? They seem to love that camera stuff and I have heard they even want a way to track cars everywhere they go. I know you didn’t give us shit for brains, but I have to ask…did you? I read a book in high school by Orwell, and now the book isn’t so funny or weird to me. I am feeling like some must have felt a few years before I was born, when some Czar types kept doing things for the “good of the people” and well, you know how that all unfolded. I still need help understanding how so many of us allow so few of us to do so much evil to most of us for so long before most of us tell the few of us to leave us alone and pay back what you took.

Does that make sense? I think that if only 35% of the people even like the few of us that rule the most of us, there should be a “step down” law or something, don’t you think? Otherwise it does feel like most of us are being told what to think and do by the few of us, who most of the rest of the us don’t even like anymore, if we ever did. Does that make sense? So can you please help us with the camera and shhhhhhhhhhhh stuff so we can get back to feeling safe again? Maybe we need a new Czar Search…ha ha. Little joke there, We had a soap opera that was called…oh you know that, sorry. Well anyway, I’m concerned that we might have more soap operas, like one’s called “Looking for all my Children” or “Love Barge” if things keep going on like this. Know what I’m sayin…can you help us out here? Did I ask you if you had seen those Abu Gareb pics?

Anyway, you know I stayed out of politics for decades and things just unfolded as they do without my help I am sure. But I did vote this last time, and well, now most of us wonder if if the few of us discarded the votes of the rest of us like we always felt they must do in those third world countries where the outcome is known before the vote is taken. Wow, is that like clarvoyance or something? Can you help us out on this voting thing cause somehow I feel something is going on? I’m feeling if I vote for purple the machine already knows it only likes the pink or the orange votes and won’t listen to me. That’s a third world thing right? Why do me and my friends feel this way? I never felt this way before and I don’t like it. Nome sayin? Ma

I live here in Jesus Land, that’s slang for the…oh you know that, and Jesus says not to say that, and He doesn’t spend as much time here as one might think? Oh, sorry, ok. Well anyway, I don’t feel very safe here at times for speaking up. You know, that feels like 1939. I think I know what some might have been feeling back then. I hope I am wrong.

Anyway, I hope you get my drift. Something is really wrong with the way the few of us have handled the rest of us and how they are treating the others who make up all of us. Oh, Oh….aren’t these a hoot.

“Iraq Is All but Won; Now What?”
(Los Angeles Times headline, 4/10/03)

“We’re proud of our president. Americans love having a guy as president, a guy who has a little swagger, who’s physical, who’s not a complicated guy like Clinton or even like Dukakis or Mondale, all those guys, McGovern. They want a guy who’s president. Women like a guy who’s president. Check it out. The women like this war. I think we like having a hero as our president. It’s simple. We’re not like the Brits.”
(MSNBC’s Chris Matthews, 5/1/03)

“Now that the war in Iraq is all but over, should the people in Hollywood who opposed the president admit they were wrong?”
(Fox News Channel’s Alan Colmes, 4/25/03)

“Well, the hot story of the week is victory…. The Tommy Franks-Don Rumsfeld battle plan, war plan, worked brilliantly, a three-week war with mercifully few American deaths or Iraqi civilian deaths…. There is a lot of work yet to do, but all the naysayers have been humiliated so far…. The final word on this is, hooray.”
(Fox News Channel’s Morton Kondracke, 4/12/03)

Well I could go on with that, but won’t. I don’t care what anyone says, today feels like it felt when I was a kid and Vietnam was being won and getting better and better every day. Anyway, things have kind of changed in the last three years since we won the war and the peace in Iraq and now want to go ahead and win it in Iran too. I hope all of us are listening to the rest of us so most of us don’t end up wishing the few of us had never been born. Could you inspire the few of us to meet with the few of them while the rest of us watch so that they don’t kill all of us with all the peacemaking that is going on.

Well, that’s about it for now. Any suggestions and can you help us out here? I’m going to a memorial service for those Americans killed in Iraq, but I think it’s going to be an annual thing. The first one I went to we lit 2000 candles on a street corner in town and few showed up. Now we are going again to lite around 2500 and some of us hear that the few of them aren’t telling any of us the real numbers. Gosh, I wonder how long it would take to light 100,000 candles or even hundreds of thousands? Yikes, the sun would come up before we got them all lit! Anyway, I don’t enjoy these rather quiet events. Haven’t seen a minister or local politician at one yet.

One person told me their nephew came home from Iraq and hasn’t had a sober day since. Oh well, I can’t do anything about it so that’s why I’m asking you to help us out if you have time. If you have something like an X-Men team or Bat-Angel or Super-Someone you send in such cases, now would be a good time. And I don’t think that you need to bring down the whole planet to get all of us to wake up when most of us are awake and it’s the few of us that all of us feel you need to have a chat with. So can you help us out here. Nome sayin?

Warm Regards from Most of Us who only wish peace, hope, prosperity and understanding for All of Us, not just for a Few of Us.