How Many Languages are There in the World?

Psalm 65:2 - O you who answer prayer, to you will all people come.

There are by some estimates about 6,500 spoken languages in the world. Some of them have many millions of speakers and some have less than a 1,000 speakers still living. Those of us who believe the Bible story of Genesis 11 understand that there was a time when everyone on earth spoke the same language. Because of man's disobedience to him, God confounded their language and sent confusion among them. Out of the languages God created at the tower of Babel (however many there were) have evolved the thousands of languages known today. I am a linguist and love the study of languages. Yet the intriguing part to me is not that there are so many languages but that God understands every one.

No matter the amount of education or the lack thereof, God understands our speech. He understand Chinese, English, and Papua New Guinea pigeon equally well.  He hears and understand the cry of the PHD candidate and the prayer of the illiterate as equal. Flowery words are not as important to him as the tune the heart sings. The sincere prayer made in imperfect jargon will reach God quicker than a dissertation from a heart that is far from him. If you feel you don't have the right words to express yourself to God, just use the words you have. I promise He will understand them and he will respond to your prayer.

No matter your need today, God sees and hears and knows what you need.

God bless,

Sullivan Jones

Where can I find God?

Karen's mother was startled to find her five year old going through a new Bible storybook and circling the word GOD wherever it appeared on the page. Stifling her first reaction to reprimand the child for defacing a book, she quietly asked, "Why are you doing that?" Karen's matter of fact answer was: "So that I will know where to find God when I want him."
Wouldn't it be nice to have her confidence that all we had to do was open a storybook and find God waiting for us? The truth is, we do have such a Book~~the BIBLE!

Many times life throws us questions for which we don't have the answers. It is not always so easy to just open the Bible and find the answer waiting on the page. Sometimes it happens that way and sometimes it doesn't. But what does happen every times is this: When I begin to read the Bible I am reminded of how great my God is. I am reminded that he knows all the answers. I am reminded that I can trust him to show me the way. When I consider this I start to repent for trying to figure things out on my own and I ask him to show me how to handle a situation.

And he always does. The answer may come through a long forgotten memory verse popping into my head. It may come through a message I hear or the lyrics to a gospel song. Most often for me the answer comes unbidden into my mind when I am least expecting it. More times than not,  this word comes early in the morning when I first open my eyes. It is not exactly a voice but it is a knowing of how to handle a situation. I have learned to recognize this as the "voice of God."

 When this answer comes, it usually comes through a part of a verse of scripture that I must look up. When I look it up and read the passage, I find the answer that I seek. Yes, God's word holds the answers. The more of his word we read and memorize, the easier the answers will come. Are you needing an answer today? Break open the book of life and begin to read. You may be surprised what you find!

Sullivan Jones

Pray for the Peace of Jerusalem!
Psalm 122:6

The Power of Prayer

Psalm 5:3 - My voice shalt thou hear in the morning, O Lord. In the morning I will direct my prayer unto thee and look up.

The following story was taken from a book by Joy Haney called "Power of Speaking Positive." It is a testimony to the power of prayer. It takes place during WWII.

An airplane carrying captain Edward Rickenbacker and his crew fell into the Pacific Ocean and no trace of the wreckage could be found. There they were with three rafts, which they tied together at night, with no food except a few oranges.

Rickenbacker had been raised in a Christian home and knew the power of prayer. On the second day one of the boys found that he had a Bible in his pocket. The men organized little prayer meetings during the morning and evening and took turns reading the Bible. They humbly prayed for deliverance.

On the eighth day, within an hour of their prayers, a seagull landed on the Captain's head. He reached his hand up gently and caught it. The men wrung the bird's neck, plucked it and ate every bit, bones and all. They then used the innards for bait and survived off of the fish they caught.

On the 21st day they were spotted by searching planes and rescued. It goes without saying that the rescue was miraculous. The men were nothing but a dot on the surface of the ocean. When news of the rescue flashed around the world people wanted to know how they survived. The simple answer was, "we prayed." Rickenbacker acknowledged that their deliverance came through prayer and Bible reading. He wrote a book called "Seven Came Through" about their experiences.

One of the their favorite passages during this time was Matthew 6 - "Take no thought saying, "what shall we eat or what shall we drink" ... Can you imagine being lost in the ocean and praying that prayer. Yet it worked. If God can feed 8 men lost on a raft in the middle of the ocean what can he do in your situation? The answer is simple - Anything you believe him for! We serve a God of miracles. If you need something today and the answer seems like it would take a miracle, ask the God of miracles and see what he will do.

HE NEVER FAILS!

Trusting Him Daily,

Sullivan Jones