SV Singapore

Come join us in coming before God with humble hearts and an attitude of repentance. Let’s return to the Lord with all our hearts.

See you at Kum Yan Methodist Church, 5-6 Sept, 9pm-5am.

Singapore
Facts:
Ethnic groups: Chinese 76.8%, Malay 13.9%, Indian 7.9%, other 1.4% (2000 census)
Religions: Buddhist 42.5%, Muslim 14.9%, Taoist 8.5%, Hindu 4%, Catholic 4.8%, Christian 9.8%, other 0.7%, none 14.8% (2000 census)
Youths: A third of all students are Christians (compared to 15% in the rest of the population)

Prayers:
Thanksgiving

• Singapore is a really important base for sending out missionaries across the world. 457 missionaries have left Singapore to work as missionaries in different countries and cultures – that is an amazing ratio of one missionary for every church!
• Since 1970 the Church in Singapore has grown.

Request

• Pray that we will learn to place God before materialism and we will not put our security in money but in God.
• Pray for the churches that we will be creative and effective as we think of ways to reach to the youths in Singapore.
• Malays (14% of the population) are considered Muslim by birth. Few of them get to hear the gospel because Christians are fearful and sensitive about upsetting their culture. Pray that we will have love, wisdom and be bold in reaching out to them.
• Singapore is an established missionary base many go on short-term projects. Pray that our nation would be significant in reaching the Asian continent. We will be the light and salt in this continent.

As we come to the last day of our prayer journey, what are the areas of your life God has been showing you where you have not put Him first? Will you lay all these at His feet? To end off, tell God how much you desire to drink from His living water and be satisfied by Him alone.

How we pray reveals the desires of our hearts. And the desires of our hearts reveal what our treasure is. And if our treasure is not Christ, we will perish. “Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me, and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me.” (Matt. 10:37)
Abstracted from “When I Don’t Desire God” from John Piper

Commitment
❈    Find a prayer partner in school (Name: ________________)
❈    Pray for Singapore, school _____ times a month
❈    Start a prayer group in my school and meet up every week to pray
❈    Join a prayer group in my school (see below)
❈    Others: ______________________ (e.g. church prayer meeting)

“And when they had prayed, the place in which they were gathered together was shaken, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and continued to speak the word of God with boldness.” Acts 4:31

“Do not deprive one another, except perhaps by agreement for a limited time, that you may devote yourselves to prayer; but then come together again, so that Satan may not tempt you because of your lack of self-control.” 1 Cor. 7:5

Key thought of the day
While it is important to pray, it is just as important to pray together!

“Why should we pray aloud together?” asked a college student in my Sunday school class. “It says right here in black and white that we should go into our closet to pray.” He was pointing to Mt. 6:6: “Enter into thy closet, and . . . pray to thy Father which is in secret” (KJV).

I wondered if this earnest young man was looking for a biblical reason to avoid praying with others. This, after all, had been my own experience as a college student. The director of our student Christian organization was always pushing prayer partners. She claimed it was important that we meet with someone on a regular basis to pray together. I resisted the idea because I felt that I was already a strong pray-er, making the most of my daily quiet time with God. I didn’t need to pray with anyone else, I reasoned—and if I did, it would take time that as a busy student and cafeteria worker I didn’t have to spare. In addition, many of my prayer requests were very personal. I was hesitant about sharing them with others.

Then Marilyn, a girl in my dorm, asked me to be her prayer partner. She was so sincere that I couldn’t refuse. We began to pray together Sunday through Thursday around 10:30 p.m. Just as I suspected, it took time from my busy schedule. I soon learned, however, that it was time well spent. I was helped, strengthened, and stretched by the experience so much that ever since, wherever I’ve lived, I’ve sought to pray with others.

All this flashed through my mind as I answered my student. “In that verse,” I explained, “Jesus was warning us against praying for the approval of others. Praying should never be about calling attention to ourselves; it is about communing with God and experiencing His power and presence.”

I had become such a hearty proponent of praying with others that I wanted other people to experience it. Here are some of the benefits of praying together that I shared with my student.

•    Jesus promises to be present. (Mt. 18:19–20)
•    Jesus promises to answer. (Mt. 7:7)
•    We pray more boldly.
•    Love and understanding are fostered.

Abstracted from “Better Together” by Brenda Poinsett in “Pray!”

1. How do you feel about praying with others? Ask the Lord to help you concerning any issues that may keep you from doing so. If praying with others is already something you enjoy, ask God to show you ways to encourage a friend who still is uncomfortable praying with others.

If you are not currently involved in a prayer partnership or in corporate prayer with other believers, ask the Lord to show you where to start. Or if you are already praying with others, invite someone who isn’t to join you.

“My people, what have I done to you, and how have I wearied you? Answer Me.” Micah 6:3

“For my people have committed two evils: they have forsaken Me, the fountain of living waters, to hew for themselves cisterns, that can hold no water.”
Jeremiah 2:13

Key thought of the day
As we come to realize our own helplessness and Christ’s abundant love, let us continue to drink from the Living Water and not our own broken cisterns.

I must be aware of two kinds of weariness in my life as a disciple. The first is the weariness of giving out faster than I take in. That is the weariness of over commitment; it is the fatigue of being over exercised in my service to God for others. The second kind of weariness is more subtle; it is the weariness of God Himself. Micah refers to this when he points his fingers at the Israelites: “ My people… how have I wearied you?” (6:3).

As a disciple, I will discover that my life will be a series of emptying and fillings. As I empty myself in service, I must refill myself by drawing upon God’s infinite resources. If I fail to refill, I will become drained and exhaustion will occur. One of the chief reasons I fail to refill is because I have become tired of God. In other words, I have lost my desire to be filled by God.

It is inconceivable that I can exhaust a transcendent God. Therefore, weariness can only be a symptom that something has gone wrong with my pipeline to heaven. Either it is stopped up with something or it is broken or I simply do not exert myself to turn on the spigot. The latter occurs whenever I have discovered an interest that, for the moment at least, transcends my interest in God. Weariness in God usually begins with a wandering eye. That leads to a wandering heart, and soon I am off chasing a will-o’-the-wisp that seems momentarily delightful. It is in that stage of things that I become weary of God; He has lost His colour, His richness and His appeal to my heart. I am clearly on dangerous ground, and that is why God makes His strongest appeals to rekindle my appetite for Him. He asks me to deliberately surrender the trinkets for the gold; He begs me to give up the hewn fountains and get back to the flowing river of life (see Jeremiah 2:13).

Article from “Daily with the King” by W Glyn Evans

1. To be a man full of faith and faithfulness would require us to come before God every day and drink deeply from Him. Is your time with God a daily priority? And through the day, are you pre-occupied with Christ?

2. If we are not pre-occupied with Christ, other lesser things will pre-occupy us. Are there things that have distracted us from a whole-hearted devotion to God and make us weary of God, and make us less hungry for God?

“By faith Moses…refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter; choosing rather to endure ill-treatment with the people of God, than to enjoy the passing pleasures of sin.” Hebrews 11:24-25

Key thought of the day
Faith decays from lack of stimulus. If our lives are so-so and comfortable, there would not be opportunities for us to grow our faith.

I will remember that faith, like muscles, must be exercised in order to grow strong. In other words, there must be the occasion, or provocation, of faith. Most of the time my natural inclination is to escape this provocation. But I must put on the right kind of glasses and see provocation, not as a disaster, but as an opportunity for God to work.

Miracles occur when there is a tremendous voltage between need and supply. That is like the positive and negative particles that cause a thunderstorm. If I am to see God work dramatically, I must bring an acute need face to face with God’s supercharged supply. The need is always there as sin and man exist, but the missing element is the intensified power supply. That is where God needs a conductor, a man of faith, like Moses, Elijah, or the Lord Jesus. Wherever they went they were natural “ lightning rode” that drew the power from God.

I also remember that faith decays from the lack of stimulus. Quite often I have “ little” faith simply because I have little opportunity to exercise it. Faith grows by being challenged. If my life is so-so and average, I do not need to pray for more faith, but for more problems, difficulties and challenges. That means the courage to dare, to launch out, to expose myself to the pains, hurts, and heartaches of the world.

A person without faith is admitting no concern for others, for we cannot long spiritually for others without becoming aware of deep, sore, bleeding wounds. By means of our faith those wounds can be healed, and God is waiting for believers! How I long to be like Abraham, who was “ strong in faith, giving Glory to God.” (Romans 4:20). That is it – to be strong enough so that the results is always glory.

Article is taken from “ Daily with the King” by W. Glyn Evans

1. In which area(s) of your life are you walking in fear rather than in faith?

2. How different would your life be if you chose to walk by faith and not by sight? How do you think you would live differently?

Pray and ask God for opportunities to exercise your faith.

“Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.” Matthew 5:6

Key thought of the day
Grace is getting what we do not deserve. It is God’s Riches At Christ’s Expense. One of the gifts He has given us is the indwelling and the empowerment of the Holy Spirit.

Do you hunger and thirst after righteousness, for the fullness and power of the Holy Spirit in your life? If so, you can claim that fullness and power right now by faith.

“ The great difference between present day Christianity and that of which we read in these letters (New Testament epistles),” declared J.B. Philips in his introduction to the Letters to Young Churches,” is that to us it is primarily a performance; to them it was a real experience.

“We are apt to reduce the Christian religion to a code, or, at best, a rule of heart and life. To these men it is quite plainly the invasion of their lives by a new quality of life altogether. They do not hesitate to describe this as Christ living in them.”
The disciples were used by God to change the course of history. As Christian homemakers, students, businessmen and professionals, we have that same potential and privilege today.

The amazing fact that Jesus Christ lives in us and expresses His love through us is one of the most important truths in the Word of God. The standards of Christian life are so high and impossible to achieve, according to the Word of God, that only one person has been able to succeed. That person is Jesus Christ.

When we receive Christ into our lives, we experience a new birth and are also indwelt by the Holy Spirit. From that point on, everything we need - including wisdom, love, power - to be men and women of God and fruitful witnesses for Christ is available to us simply by faith, by claiming the power in accordance with God’s promise.

Article is taken from “ Promises” by Dr Bill Bright

1. Are you trying, yet tripping up when you try to live the Christian life in your own strength? It is only through the Holy Spirit living in us, working through us that we can live for Christ.

2. The Holy Spirit cannot fill us when we ourselves are on the throne of our lives. We need to relinquish the control of our lives to Him. Confess any known sin and by faith ask God to fill you with the Holy Spirit, based on His command in Ephesians 5:18 and His promise in 1 John 5:14,15.

Ask God to fill you with the Holy Spirit by faith
Suggested prayer:
“Dear Father, I need you. I acknowledge that I have sinned against You by directing my own life. I thank You that You have forgiven my sins through Christ’s death on the cross for me. I now invite Christ to again take His place on the throne of my life. Fill me with the Holy Spirit as You commanded me to be filled, and as You promised in Your word that You would do if I asked in faith. I pray this in the name of Jesus.”

“And because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your hearts, crying out, ‘Abba Father!’” Galatians 4:6

Key thought of the day
We can love God only because He has first loved us. 1 John 4:19

The word “father” conjures up different images for everyone. To some it brings the picture of love, laughter, respect, and acceptance. Unfortunately, others associate the term “father” with fear, rejection, and disappointment. This is why it is so important not to take your understanding of your heavenly Father from your experience. Take it from Scripture. You undoubtedly had an imperfect earthly father, perhaps even brought you harm. But, as in all your Christian life, the key is to understanding the Bible based on your experience, but to understand your experience in light of the Bible. God is your model of a father, the trust sense of the word.

Your heavenly Father was willing to pay any price in order to save you (Romans 8:32). Your heavenly Father is always ready to meet your needs (Luke 11: 11-13). Your heavenly Father loves you so much that He is willing to discipline you to Christian maturity (Prov 3:11-12; Hebrews 12;5-10). Even when you rebel against Him and reject His love, your Father continues to do what is best for you (Romans 5:8). He does not make His love for you conditional upon your love for Him. He loves you even when you are not loving Him (1 John 4:19). He has made you His heirs and reserves a home for you in heaven (Romans 8: 15-17).

This is what a father is like biblically. If this has not been your experience, it can be now. There is One who has adopted you and who wants to love you in a way you have never experienced. Take comfort and strength from Him - your heavenly Father.

Article is taken from “Experiencing God Day-By-Day” by Henry T. Blackaby and Richard Blackaby

1. Remember the first time you fell in love with Jesus? Has your love for Him grown deeper or have you lost that first love? Have you allowed someone or something to rival your love for God?

2. No matter how much we yearn to be loved by our earthly fathers or someone else, their love at best is still imperfect. Do you know God takes great delight in you and rejoice over you with singing?  He is fighting for your heart, because only He knows how to love you perfectly, unconditionally.

Confess to God if there are things that have competed for your love for God. Tell Him how much you love Him. How about you singing a love song back to Jesus?

“Teach me your ways, O LORD, and I will walk in your truth; give me an undivided heart, that I may fear your name.” Psalm 86:11

Key thought of the day
Loving God with all our heart, soul, mind and strength means loving Him with the totality of our being.

One of the things that God wants most from His children is whole hearted love and devotion. Throughout Scripture (Jeremiah 32:39; James 4:8), it’s clear that He places a premium on an undivided heart.

So what exactly is an undivided heart? Several years ago, a popular gospel tract entitled “My Heart, Christ’s Home” compared a person’s life to the rooms of a house. It’s an analogy that works well here. When we have undivided hearts, we give God one or two rooms of our lives, but we keep the other ones closed off to Him. From a business standpoint, having a divided heart would be like pledging full loyalty to our current employer while you were negotiating a relationship with your company’s closest competitor.

When we have an undivided heart, however, we give Him the keys to all the rooms. It doesn’t mean we’re sinless; it just means that we’re not trying to hide anything from Him. We’re laying our whole household of thoughts and feelings on the table: all our fears, thoughts, concerns, agendas, and ambitions. And as He reveals areas of our lives that need work, we willingly uncover them and do what we can to put them in order.

Only a man or woman who is working hard to live a holistic, integrated life can ever hope to pledge a wholehearted, single- focused devotion to Jesus. What is that? As long as we split up our lives, closing off work in one room, church in another room, our finances in another room, and our family in still another, our focus will always be divided. We can’t concentrate on one thing first and another thing later. We must bring all our worlds together and realize that it’s just as possible for God to be in the middle of our mundane, Tuesday afternoon work world as it is for Him to be involved in our family lives and church activities.

Examine the rooms of your life. Do you need to pray and ask God to give you an undivided heart?

Article is taken from “ Daily Focus” by Stephen R. Graves and Thomas G. Addington

“What do I really love?”
1. Are they any rooms in your life that are “private”? Do you hang any “do not disturb” sign outside any room?

2. Why are you afraid to let Christ into these rooms? Are they messy? Are there things you need to hide from Him? If Jesus is not Lord of all, can He be Lord at all?

Meditate on Ps 86:11 through the day. Perhaps it is time for you to turn over the master key where He can have free access to any room in your heart. Pause and tell God your decision now!

“I wait for the LORD, my soul waits, and in his word I put my hope. My soul waits for the Lord more than watchmen wait for the morning, more than watchmen wait for the morning.”
Psalm 130:5-6

“I wait for you, O LORD; you will answer, O Lord my God.” Psalm 38:15

Key thought of the day
You’re never too young to start listening to what God has to say

Read 1 Samuel 3 first.

While the prophet Samuel was young, he lived in the Temple under the spiritual guidance of Eli. One night God called Samuel’s name, but he thought it was Eli. After this happened several times, Eli realized the truth and told Samuel to go back to bed and if he heard the voice again to respond by saying . . .

“Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening!” 1 Samuel 3:9b

God did call and Samuel listened. This began a relationship with God that went on throughout Samuel’s life. In fact, in verse 19, it says, “The Lord was with Samuel as he grew up, and he let none of his [God’s] words fall to the ground.”

At another point as Samuel was an old man, he addressed Israel: “I have been your leader from my youth until this day. Here I stand.” The people agreed that Samuel had led them with integrity and honor all his years, but it began when he was young.

It all started for Samuel when he made a connection with God at an early age. And he chose to continue to connect with Him daily throughout his life.

It’s tough being a Christian student today, isn’t it? You have to make a lot of choices about who you are and who you’re not. You have to try and follow God in a world that misunderstands Christianity and tolerates its principles less and less all the time.

What if, like Samuel, you:
-    made a connection with God as a young person?
-    declared, “Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening”?
-    never let any of God’s words “fall to the ground” in your own life?

1. What are some of the reasons that prevent you from taking time to listen to God? Is it not enough time? Is God not clear enough? Are you afraid of what you might hear or hearing nothing at all?

Spend some time now and ask God to talk to you. Pen down whatever God reveals to you.

The annual See You At The Pole (SYATP) is back in Singapore! This event is happening on 8th August 2008 (may vary according to your school).

This year’s theme is “Connect” and the theme verse is 1 Samuel 3:9b “Speak, for your servant is listening!”.

Why “Connect”?
Coming together to pray for the nation and your school is important. However, praying is not only about coming to God to tell Him your requests but also a time to hear from Him, seek Him and know what is upon His heart. Like how Samuel at a young age learnt how to listen to God, you can do it too!

SYATP will be a great place to connect with God, connect with other believers and connect with your school in the name of Jesus Christ.

GATHER at your school’s flagpole. PRAY for your school, friends, families and the world. CONNECT as you listen to what He has to say to you.

If you need more information, feel free to leave a comment here or drop us an email at student.venture@yahoo.com.

In preparation for SYATP, we’ve also included a 7-day devotional guide. Use it to prepare your heart before gathering as one body of Christ to pray.