It is impossible to live a life that is pleasing to the Lord without this character trait of temperance or self-control. Temperance is the power of God to do what you know you should do. A life that is lived with little or no temperance is a life that is filled with guilt and regret. That is why the Apostle Peter urges us to develop this character trait of temperance. We must learn to exercise self-control, we must learn to say "no" to many things in order to have the time and ability to say "yes" to the things that matter. Temperance can change our life from a life of impulse decisions to a life of purposeful deliberation. 

We see a sorrowful picture of two blind men. They were poor, blind, and helpless. Then came a passing opportunity, followed by an earnest prayer. In this prayer they demonstrated boldness, faith and wisdom. There was also present a rebuking crowd along with a willing Saviour, who extended them a gracious offer and granted them a perfect cure. We may by blind ourselves, have a seemingly insurmountable problem, but we too have a willing and compassionate Saviour, if we have called on Him to save us from our sins, that we can take all our needs to as well. 

We need to be committed to prayer. We need to be committed to praising God. How marvelous are the answers to prayer, when we are committed to praying, committed to trusting, and committed to waiting on the Lord for the answer. In this episode are many illustrations of commitment to prayer and the miraculous answers that come as a result of being committed prayers. 

We need to learn to live and to pray in the eternal presence of God. The Apostle Paul said "God is above all, and through all, and in you all." We need a good comprehension of the omni-presence of the Lord as we pray and as we go through our life. Someone once referred to this aspect of God, His eternal presence, as the Eternal Now; God is always present, He is always with us, He is always everywhere. Learn to pray and live with the awareness of the eternal presence of God. 

Jesus Cares! A different take on this passage about the church at Smyrna. We are looking at only practical and applicable truths from this passage we can use and apply to our everyday life. Yes Jesus does care. He cares about our situation, He cares about our trial, He cares about our problems, He cares about our poverty, He cares!

Prayer does not try to force God. We are to pray with urgency and anguish, but we are not to pray an impetuous type of pray. We are not to try to force God to answer our prayers. Do we pray to receive the answer to our prayer, or do we pray trying to force an answer from God? How we approach God in prayer matters. We need to approach God as a child does a father as he receives a gift, a child is not very successful when he tries to take the gift from his father. The father is much eager to give the gift when the child is anxiously waiting to receive it and not trying to take it. Are we praying to receive the answer or are we praying to force the answer?

There are two ways man can choose from. The narrow way or the wide way. One leads to blessings and life, and the other leads to destruction and death. One seems easy, tempting, and a short cut to success; the other seems narrow and not as easy. But in reality the narrow way is the easy way; it is the most wonderful and joyous way anyone could ever want to live. We just need to be patient and choose the narrow way, and live a life for Christ, and in Christ; and choose to avoid the wide and tempting way. 

The disciples asked the Lord to teach them to pray. He said "When ye pray," every Christian must have a when to their prayer life. Prayer must be planned and consistent. You need to have a when to your prayer life. Do you have a when time to your payer life? We all need a when time to our prayer life. Prayer should not be done just in stolen moments of time here and there, haphazardly. We should all have a consistent "when" to our prayer life. 

Be Still and Know - Be Still and know that He is God. Think through your schedule you can probably find some alone time each day. We need to be still, alone, and focused on God as we pray. We need that time with Him. Do not pray as the hypocrites do to be seen of men, but pray not to be seen of men. Seek time alone and hidden away with God and pray. Find a daily time to be still and alone with God, acknowledge His presence and pray to Him. 

Why develop our faith and prayer life? - Our prayers are precious to the Lord. He desires and cherishes our fellowship with Him. The Lord wants you to tell Him about your concerns, and your needs. He wants you to tell Him about your day. We should never take our prayer life for granted. Never quit, never give up on your faith in God.