Afghan Radio - Sound of Life

Prayer is intimate communication with a merciful and just God. Prayer is a way to enlighten our souls. Prayer is a way to have a relationship with God. Prayer is a way to resist sin and Satan’s weapons. Prayer is a way to strengthen the soul by being in the presence of God, who is the source of all goodness. In difficulties and problems, we enter his presence through prayer. In the presence of God, we can pray for our country, our people.

O Most High God! We pray that you remove the darkness from our dear country. We pray that your justice comes and that you remove the hopelessness from the hearts of our compatriots. Amen.

We will encounter problems, hardships and difficulties, according to God's will, to test our faith. God wants to grow us through these tough situations, and to improve our responses and attitudes. If we complain and criticize in times of hardship and persecution, we have in fact complained to God. But the good news is that the real Judge, Jesus Christ, is coming again. He hears our complaints and protests. He will soon return to judge this world. He will judge everyone—believers and unbelievers.

When we look at these verses, we see how the rich exploit the helpless and oppressed. They take advantage of their energy and hard work, and do not pay them. God hears the cries of such people and sends pain and suffering to the rich who love money. From these verses we learn that whether we are employers or workers, we must recognize that God is present in our lives, and we must do what is right.

We must distance ourselves from the world and its pleasures, and be busy obeying God. If we resist the devil, he will run away from us. Satan always tries to turn us away from God through fleeting pleasures. This is why we need to resist him and his temptations.

We must stand against Satan with the power of Christ. The first step in fighting Satan or the devil is to remember that following him is in fact enmity with God.

Impure pleasure leads people to sin. But in his epistle, James, the brother of Jesus Christ and the leader of the Jerusalem church, is not just talking about bad inclinations. Rather, he is speaking about those seemingly pure and good desires that spring from selfishness. For example, studying, working day and night, and seeking success and diligently pursuing a career are all good—but it is possible that someone wants these things for purely selfish motives.

Why do these inclinations and desires cause controversy and strife? It is because they come from selfishness. We seek them for our own gain. Our motivation for work, study, and effort is to benefit ourselves. We are not in building the kingdom of God or helping others or glorifying God. Our seemingly pure desires are only for our personal profit. This is selfishness, and any selfishness is sin.

If we can control our tongues, we can live harmoniously in our society. If we do not have mastery over our tongue, it creates enmity and hurt feelings. As they say, any kind of wound can heal, except one caused by the tongue. If we rule our tongues, we will not offend anyone or hurt their feelings. But if we do not have control over our tongues, our enemies will increase every day. This is because the tongue has great destructive power. The worst trait for a person is a sharp and uncontrolled tongue because they speak without thinking or caring.

It is very easy to say, “I have faith”, but faith that is only in words is useless. We must ask ourselves, “Do I have true faith?” We are saved only by true faith.

How do we know if our faith is real or not? The way to recognize this is easy. Our actions show us if our faith is true or not. The truth of our faith will be proved by acts of love and obedience. If good works do not accompany our faith, then that faith is empty, and it has no power to save anyone. True faith is like love, which must be demonstrated by loving works.

In our relationships with people, we shouldn’t judge them by outward appearance. That is, we should not allow the external things and social status and wealth to affect how we relate to others. We should not classify others as poor or rich or powerful in our minds. The light of the glory of Christ removes and invalidates every distinction of class, status and position. So let us not judge others according to their social status. Rather, we should train our eyes to see the light of Christ and try to see the manifestation of His glory in the faces of others.

If we do not stand against temptations and patiently resist them, we will fall into the trap of sin. Temptation is not a sin in itself. But if we submit to the desires and lusts of our hearts during temptation, we will certainly fall into sin. Sin lives in sinful humanity. When we obey the temptation and put it into practice, we will be deprived of the crown of life.

God allows His children to encounter spiritual trials and experiences in order to train us. We may have become lazy in our spiritual life, or we may have strayed away from Him for a time. God can use difficult spiritual experiences to bring us back to His way. But when these hardships come upon us, we must not lose faith. On the contrary, it is up to us to praise God with thanksgiving and joy in the midst of the tough times of life, because we know that these trials will strengthen our faith and increase our patience.