The Book of Ecclesiastes Chapter 4

The Book of Ecclesiastes

 Chapter 4

¹ Again I saw all the oppressions that are practiced under the sun, Look, the tears of the oppressed-with no one to comfort them! On the side of their oppressors there was power- with no one to comfort them. ² And I thought the dead, who have already died, more fortunate than the living, who are still alive; ³ but better than both is the one who has not yet been, and has not seen the evil deeds that are done under the sun.

(The Book of Ecclesiastes Chapter 4 verses 1 to 3) 

Oh God my Father, many times I have heard the expression that one had better not be born at all than to have to suffer such negative experiences, however even though we experience much bitter experiences throughout the course of one's life, for those who believe in You the situation is not that bad for the light always overcomes the darkness and the rainbow always appears after a rainy day to encourage us with its beauty and the promise of God's covenant of love and forgiveness ever since the beginning Amen. Therefore let us be positive and lift our praise and gratitude to God for each second of our life Amen.  


⁴ Then I saw that all toil and all skill in work come from one person's envy of another this also is vanity and a chasing after wind.



(The Book of Ecclesiastes Chapter 4 verse 4) 



Oh, God my Father as humans we are driven by the created need of having more and more so that we can depend more on ourselves and our own devices than on You. However even though You provide us with enough to cover our basic needs our natural selfish self-continues to urge us to make that step further to have more, to be more powerful, to invest in a better future, as if we are going to remain alive forever! 


While thanking You for Your divine providence, I pray that I am of support to others and not a means of spite and envy Amen.


⁵ Fools fold their hands and consume their own flesh. ⁶ Better is a handful with quiet than two handfuls with toil, and a chasing after the wind.



(The Book of Ecclesiastes Chapter 4 verses 5 and 6) 


Oh God, my blessed Father, I thank You more than ever for the work You have given me, where my hands' eyes and brain and entire body are always at work. I pray that my hands are never folded in protest or due to lack of work or laziness Amen.


⁷Again, I saw vanity under the sun; ⁸ the case of solitary individuals, without sons or brothers; yet there is no end to all their toil, and their eyes are never satisfied with riches. "For whom am I toiling," they ask, "and depriving myself of pleasure?" This also is vanity and an unhappy business.


(The Book of Ecclesiastes Chapter 4 verses 7 and 8) 


Oh God my Father, brothers and sisters if we were to question the reasons of how we spend our time, and how much more profitable it would be if we had a balance between our hours of work and hours of prayer and leisure time. I pray that I always have time for You my God and Father Amen.


⁹ Two are better than one, because they have a good reward for their toil. ¹⁰ For if they fall, one will lift up the other; but woe to one who is alone and falls and does not have another to help.


(The Book of Ecclesiastes Chapter 4 verses 9 and 10) 


Oh God, my beloved Father, there was a time when I was married and had a wife. If we both fell one could have supported the other, however, this was not the case, for many times alone I fell and alone I had to wake up. Therefore now that I am physically alone, I pray for Your support so that I will have Your spiritual support Amen.


¹¹ Again, if two lie together, they keep warm; but how can one keep warm alone? ¹² And though one might prevail against another, two will withstand one. A threefold cord is not quickly broken.



(The Book of Ecclesiastes Chapter 4 verses 11 to 12)



Oh God my blessed Father, even though I appear to be alone I am not for You are with me, every day of my life. My Father and my saviour, even though I do not physically see You we are four and not one Amen.


¹³ Better is a poor but wise youth than an old but foolish king, who will no longer take advice.


(The Book of Ecclesiastes Chapter 4 verse 13)


Oh God my Saviour and loving Father I pray for humility and freshness of spirit, in order to always be open to the newness of Your Holy Spirit and never to be old, proud and stubborn and resistant to Your holy will Amen.


¹⁴ One can indeed come out of prison to reign, even though born poor in the kingdom.


(The Book of Ecclesiastes Chapter 4 verse 14)


Oh God my beloved Father once You redeem us as You did from our spiritual death, we become spiritually alive, and really start living, regardless if we are rich or poor, for those who are labelled as being poor in the world are the richest in the kingdom of God Amen.


¹⁵ I saw all the living who, moving about under the sun, follow that youth who replaced the king; ¹⁶ there was no end to all those people whom he led. Yet those who come later will not rejoice in him. Surely this also is vanity and a chase after wind.


(The Book of Ecclesiastes Chapter 4 verses 15 to 16)


Oh God my Father, many of us still follow our pride and ambitions that gradually replaces Your presence in their lives, however, You are a kind loving and merciful God, who decided to become human in order to be able to have a better understanding of human nature Amen. I pray that faith in You will continue to grow and that any existing barriers will gradually come to their end Amen.


I would like to end this fourth chapter of the book of Ecclesiastes with the following prayer:-



Oh God my blessed Father, my brothers and sisters in Christ Jesus from all nations. Good Evening. Today I offer a prayer for all of us, that we learn where to place our values, and that our decisions are based not only on human inclination and desires and vanity but as based on the promptings of the Holy Spirit Amen.

The Book of Ecclesiastes Chapter 3

The Book of Ecclesiastes

 Chapter 3 

¹ For everything there is a reason, and a time for every matter under heaven: ² a time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up what is planted;

(The Book of Ecclesiastes Chapter 3 verses 1 to 2)

Oh God as You said for every action there is a reason, however when walking the path of faith, what the world may consider a reason may not be according to Your will. On the other hand, what one may consider as being, a valid reason may be considered as being a non valid one and this gives rise to discontent. As You know when the time was right You motivated me to change my job. It was evident that the timing was perfect, however. it may be that You only wanted me to make an experience of that something which, I had wished to be my dream in order for me to realise that it was not for me after all. However, You love me so much that You did not deny me the opportunity, even though You were still aware of what the consequences would be even before I had made the decision Amen. If you give me the opportunity to reverse the action, my God, and Father, I promise to consult and wait for Your consent instead of waiting on that of the world Amen. 



³ a time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up; ⁴ a time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance; ⁵ a time to throw away stones, and a time to gather stones together; a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing; ⁶ a time to seek, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to throw away; ⁷ a time to tear, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak; ⁸ a time to love, and a time to hate; a time for war; and a time for peace.




(The Book of Ecclesiastes Chapter 3 verses 3 to 8) 




Oh God my Father many times I do not understand the reasons for events that take place, however what I do not understand from the eyes of a human has great sense and value in Your eyes. When I stumble upon a situation such as pain and hardship or maybe death, my only conclusion is that "it is time..." and that is sufficient for me Amen. Thank You Jesus.



⁹ What gain have the workers from their toil? ¹⁰ I have seen the business that God has given to everyone to be busy with. ¹¹ He has made everything suitable for its time; moreover he has put a sense of past and future into their minds, yet they cannot find out what God has done from the beginning to the end. 




(The Book of Ecclesiastes Chapter 3 verses 9 to 11)

Oh God my Father throughout the world today is workers day, and all employers and employees are exempt from work, however, You never stop working on our behalf and for our own good Amen.




¹² I know that there is nothing better for them than to be happy and enjoy themselves as long as they live; ¹³ moreover, it is God's gift that all should eat and drink and take pleasure in all their toil. 



(The Book of Ecclesiastes Chapter 3 verses 12 to 13) 



Oh God my Father there exists no greater joy in You, and nothing and nobody but You can ever satisfy my soul, even though food and drink may give momentary pleasure, it is nothing compared to You. Amen. 



¹⁴ I know that whatever God does endures forever; nothing can be added to it, nor anything taken from it; God has done this, so that all should stand in awe before him. ¹⁵ That which is, already has been; that which is to be, already is; and God seeks out what has gone by.  



(The Book of Ecclesiastes Chapter 3 verses 14 to 15)  



Oh God my beloved Father even before we think of doing something either good or not so good You are already aware of what it is and the consequences related to that action. Moreover even in nature, even though we try we cannot create an alternative for life. We try many things, but we can only succeed in what You permit us to succeed, Amen. We can never replace what You have created, and this is why we are to be careful in not harming our environment especially the natural Amen. 



¹⁶ Moreover I saw under the sun that in the place of justice, wickedness was there, and in the place of righteousness, wickedness was there as well.  



(The Book of Ecclesiastes Chapter 3 verse 16) 



 Oh God, my beloved Father, right now I am also seeing everything negative. All seems to be black and gloomy. I feel sick and depressed. I have made a mess of my marriage, and even my work is at risk. I desperately need Your help, my God and Father, before the situation deteriorates. I thank You for having missed yesterday's appointment with the lawyer, for this could have done more harm than good. I pray that You help me save my self, my brain, my marriage, my family and even my work, for right now all is at risk Amen. Please help me to see Your light amidst the darkness of my life Amen.


¹⁷ I said in my heart, God will judge the righteous and the wicked, for he has appointed a time for every matter, and for every work.



(The Book of Ecclesiastes Chapter 3 verse 17)



Oh God, my Father I also believe that in time You will bring Your justice to light, and we will experience Your judgement at the time that You proclaim it, which could be on any day of our life. I believe that all is under Your control and that nothing happens without Your knowledge Amen. 



¹⁸ I said to my heart with regard to human beings that God is testing them to show that they are but animals.



(The Book of Ecclesiastes Chapter 3 verse 18) 



Oh God, my Father, throughout the years You showed me that each episode, trial and tribulation was a test as I am still being tested by to this very day. However, I know that the examiner loves me dearly and he will keep on giving me the opportunity of a resit every time I fail the test until I pass them all and be worthy to appear before Him in heaven for my graduation. I also know that in a state of crisis You my God and Father will compensate me for the missing marks so that I will be sure to pass the test.



Oh God, You know that I am but skin and bone and soul and that I am prone to sin more than I am motivated to do good. You know my strengths as much as You know my weaknesses. I pray that You have mercy on me now and forever Amen.



¹⁹ For the fate of humans and the fate of animals is the same; as one dies, so dies the other. They all have the same breath, and humans have no advantage over the animals, for all is vanity.



(The Book of Ecclesiastes Chapter 3 verse 19) 



Oh God, my Father, even though we share the same characteristics as animals, You made us in a special way, in order to be able to have relationship and fellowship with You. Unlike animals we can communicate with You or better more, You can communicate with us on a higher level. Moreover, we are more precious so much that You created us in Your form having Your qualities Amen. Thank You, Jesus. 



²⁰ All go to one place, all are from the dust, and all turn to dust again. ²¹ Who knows whether the human spirit goes upward and the spirit of animals goes downward to the earth.



(The Book of Ecclesiastes Chapter 3 verse 20 to 21)

Oh God, my beloved Father, I believe that Your breath is found in all creation but human and animal. Even though a bird may die, You are aware that this has happened because this is part of Your beloved creation and Your spirit is in it. I pray that we learn to love and respect nature as we do ourselves and even others because in doing so we are also loving You Amen.

 

²² So I saw that there is nothing better than that all should enjoy their work, for that is their lot; who can bring them to see what will be after them?

(The Book of Ecclesiastes Chapter 3 verse 22) 

Oh God, I pray that I am happy in doing what I am presently doing meaning my job, the life of prayer and all that You permit me to do. I thank You for the faith that You have given me that helps me look with courage at the future Amen


.

Oh God, my beloved Father I would like to end this third chapter of the book of Ecclesiastes with the following prayer:

Oh God my Father I thank You for the present, for the past has passed and the future has yet to come. I thank You for all that You have permitted to take place in my life. Even if I do not understand the reason behind it, I know that it has happened for my own good and not by chance Amen.