The Only Way Out of the Woods

There's no end in sight to the coverage of Tiger Woods.  He seemingly had everything he ever wanted.  Fame and riches go far in some people's mind.   How could he do these despicable things, we ask.   The fact is, you and I have much in common with Woods in that we're in desperate need of Christ every minute of every day.  Sure, Woods needs help getting house in order, his marriage back together and gaining back his reputation, but his greatest need is a relationship with Jesus Christ.   That billion dollars of his will one day be squandered by his heirs (if he doesn't squander it first), but none of it will amount to a hill of beans when he stands before the Judge some day.    How easy it would be for me to sit in judgment of him myself... how easy it might be to just turn off the TV and try to forget about all the media sensationalization of the man's sin problem...  maybe I could spend some time in prayer for the man.    Maybe we all could... and maybe his eyes may be opened to the truth someday.    We could all pray that maybe these events will bring him to his knees in ways that a billion dollars never could.

Answered Prayer

God is still answering prayer.  Sometimes abrupt and immediate.  Yesterday, when my wife and I were clearly going down one road of life, thinking we were following a perceived answer to prayer, we were suddenly re-directed.  The doors were shut, the road was blocked, the path was changed... we were taking a detour.  It was an obvious intervention by God, the controller of all events.  He is not a God who has stepped away from His creation to let it run by itself.  Not at all.  He is actively involved with His people, clear down to the smallest detail.

And what did we learn from this experience?  When we are in prayer - seeking out what God wants for us - and then we somehow discern His will wrongly and head down a road that we really had believed was His will, He will intervene and throw down the roadblock and turn you right around.  That is His protective nature.    The converse of that is also true, at least it has been for me experientially:  that if we are NOT in prayer and NOT seeking what He really wants, then we may end up on the path that we never really wanted to be on... and He may not step in until we've learned the lesson He wanted us to learn.    Well, I think I know which side I want to be on.   Answered prayer like this should and does increase my faith... and makes me all the more eager to continue in prayer.  What other kind of exciting answers await us?!

Amazing Grace

A Prayer from the Valley of Vision - Puritan Prayers and Devotions

My heart is drawn out in thankfulness to Thee,
For Thy amazing grace and condescension to me
In influences and assistances of Thy Spirit
For special help in prayer.

No poor creature stands in need of divine grace more than I do,
And yet none abuses it more than I have done, and still do.
How heartless and dull I am!
Humble me in the dust for not loving Thee more.
Every time I exercise any grace renewedly,
I am renewedly indebted to Thee, the God of all grace.

I cannot boast when I think how dependent I am upon Thee
For the being and every act of grace.

Fervent Prayer

Fervency in prayer - what does that mean?  In my Puritan Paperback series, I am still reading 'The Secret Key to Heaven' (subtitled 'The Vital importance of Private Prayer') by Thomas Brooks.  In this morning's reading, Brooks effectively used scripture to convict me of my lack of fervency in my conversations with God.   While scripture is capable of standing alone, I find it helpful in understanding the Word when a man of God gives commentary on certain passages, bringing out the fuller and more robust meaning that the original writers intended.  Ponder the following passages and the accompanying words from Brooks:

James 5:16 - “The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much” .  The ‘working’ prayer; that is, such working prayer as sets the whole man to work, as sets all the faculties of the soul, and all the graces in the soul, to work. The word [fervent] signifies such a working as shows the liveliest activity that can be. 

Acts 12:5 - “...but prayer for him was being made fervently by the church to God”.   While Peter was in prison, prayer was being made by the church.  The Greek word [for fervent] signifies instant prayer, earnest prayer, stretched out prayer.  These gracious souls did in prayer strain and stretch themselves; they prayed with all the strength of their souls, and with all the fervency of their spirits. 

Romans 12:11-12  - “Not lagging behind in diligence, fervent in spirit, serving the Lord; rejoicing in hope, persevering in tribulation, devoted to prayer”.  The Greek word here for ‘fervent’ signifies seething hot; boiling hot; God loves to see his people zealous and warm in his service.  Without fervency of spirit, no service finds acceptance in heaven.   In verse 12, the word ‘devoted’ means continuing with all your might.  It is a metaphor from hunting dogs, that will never give over the game until they have got it. 

Romans 15:30 - “...strive together with me in your prayers to God for me”.  Strive mightily, strive as champions strive, even to an agony.  It is a military word, and notes such fervent wresting or striving, as is for life and death. 

Colossians 4:12 - “...always laboring earnestly for you in his prayers”.  Laboring signifies to strive or wrestle, as those do that strive for mastery.  As the wrestlers do bend, and writhe, and stretch, and strain every joint of their bodies, that they may be victorious, so Epaphras did bend, and writhe, and stretch, and strain every joint of his soul that he might be victorious with God on the Colossians’ account. 

The Importance of Private Prayer

Secret prayer.  This is a spiritual discipline that I need much work in, and I venture to say that most Christians would say the same.  Who of us is ready to claim in pride that we have arrived at a satisfactory level of prayer and communion with God ?   When speaking of the faithful servant and praying Christian, Thomas Brooks makes some profound statements regarding this in his book ‘The Secret Key to Heaven, the Vital Importance of Private Prayer’.   Listen to these words that fall from the pen of this Puritan writer:

“God may very well expect better and greater things from [gracious servants] than from all other servants in the world.  God may very well expect that they should do singular things for his glory, who has done such singular things for their good.  Certainly, God expects that gracious servants should be blessing him, when other servants are blaspheming him;  that they should be magnifying him when other servants are debasing him;  that they should be redeeming precious time when other servants are trifling, fooling, playing or sinning away precious time;  that they should be weeping in a corner when other servants are playing sports and making themselves merry among their jovial companions; that they should be mourning in secret when other servants are sinning in secret; and that they should be at their private devotion when other servants are sleeping and snoring.”    Can't I just hit the snooze button on the alarm just one more time?

But you, when you pray, go into your inner room, and when you have shut your door, pray to your Father who is in secret, and your Father who sees in secret will repay you.  - Matthew 6:6

Prayers for My Children

Based on Psalm 119:1-11

May you walk in a way that is blameless.
May you walk in the law of the Lord.
May you keep His testimonies and seek him with your whole heart.
May you make every effort to do right and walk in God’s ways.
May you keep God’s precepts diligently.
May your ways be steadfast.
May your eyes be fixed on God’s commandments.
May you learn God’s rules with an upright heart.
May you keep your ways pure according to God’s word.
May you not wander from His commandments.
May you hide the Word in your hearts that you might not sin against God.

Questions to Ask About Prayer

Biblically Oriented Questions I Need to Ask Myself About “Prayer”

Are my prayers so excessively self-centered and self-serving that God is barely listening?
For whom am I interceding? Am I using prayer to make ME feel better? Is it really about what I want anyway?
Job 1:1-5

Do I bore God with my prayers? Is there any passion in my communication to him that show that I really love him like I say that I do?

Am I attentive and alert when I pray or do I insult the King of the Universe by letting my mind wander?
Colossians 4:2

Am I using my prayer time unwisely? Am I unprepared when I come to prayer? Do I rush in and rush out of the presence of God?
Psalm 5:3

Is there some sin that I am holding onto with a white-knuckle grip and yet I dare approach the God who let his only Son die to save me from the guilt and stain of that sin?
Psalm 66:16-20

More Questions to Ask Myself About Prayer:

When I speak to God, do I speak to Him with infinitely more respect and honor than I would speak to my own earthly father?

The Word tells me to make my requests known to God. When I present my requests to Him, do I ask in a way that makes God my personal bell-hop who should answer at the snap of my fingers? Or am I really asking humbly in faith for things that would be according to His will? Am I expectant? Am I presumptuous?

In corporate prayer, who is my audience? Am I trying to impress someone else with the same old, stale, predictable, flowery language? Or is it really God I am talking to?

What kind of empty and trivial things can I remove from my life that distract me in prayer and cause my mind to be dull? Furthermore, what IMPORTANT things are also distracting me and cloud my thinking when I come to meet God in prayer? Are these things that important that they interrupt my fellowship with God? How will I set these things aside for awhile?

More questions than answers sometimes...

The Cry of a Convicted Sinner

Extracted from ‘The Valley of Vision’ – A Collection of Puritan Prayers and Devotions

Save me from myself,
from the artifices and deceit of sin,
from the treachery of my perverse nature,
from denying Thy charge against offences,
from a life of continual rebellion against thee,
from wrong principles, views, and ends;
for I know that all my thoughts, affections, desires and pursuits are alienated from thee.

Producing Figs

The passage in the gospel of Mark where Jesus curses the fig tree is an intriguing passage to me. After Jesus had previously (in Mark chapter 3) taken a man whose hand was withered and unfruitful, he healed him. And now we see Jesus cursing a leafy fig tree, and it consequently withers clear to the root. The sequence of events seems odd here. First the fig tree bears no fruit, only leaves. Then the scene switches to Jesus overturning the tables in the temple. Then the scene goes back to the tree. And finally, Jesus utters some profound words that seem unconnected to the fig tree.

Mark 11:12-26
12On the next day, when they had left Bethany, He became hungry. 13Seeing at a distance a fig tree in leaf, He went to see if perhaps He would find anything on it; and when He came to it, He found nothing but leaves, for it was not the season for figs. 14He said to it, “May no one ever eat fruit from you again!” And His disciples were listening. 15Then they came to Jerusalem. And He entered the temple and began to drive out those who were buying and selling in the temple, and overturned the tables of the moneychangers and the seats of those who were selling doves; 16and He would not permit anyone to carry merchandise through the temple. 17And He began to teach and say to them, “Is it not written, ‘MY HOUSE SHALL BE CALLED A HOUSE OF PRAYER FOR ALL THE NATIONS’? But you have made it a ROBBERS’ DEN.” 18The chief priests and the scribes heard this, and began seeking how to destroy Him; for they were afraid of Him, for the whole crowd was astonished at His teaching. 19When evening came, they would go out of the city. 20As they were passing by in the morning, they saw the fig tree withered from the roots up. 21Being reminded, Peter said* to Him, “Rabbi, look, the fig tree which You cursed has withered.” 22And Jesus answered* saying to them, “Have faith in God. 23“Truly I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be taken up and cast into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that what he says is going to happen, it will be granted him. 24“Therefore I say to you, all things for which you pray and ask, believe that you have received them, and they will be granted you. 25“Whenever you stand praying, forgive, if you have anything against anyone, so that your Father who is in heaven will also forgive you your transgressions. 26“But if you do not forgive, neither will your Father who is in heaven forgive your transgressions.”

Some commentators talk of how the unfruitful fig tree and the incident in the temple are symbolic of the impending judgment on those who have consistently rejected Christ. There are some deep things to think about there. While that may be true, I see a simple truth that applies to the Christian here. While the fig tree and the temple situation appear to be unrelated on the surface, a few minutes of meditation on these verses reveal a striking truth about the relationship between ‘fruit’ and ‘prayer’. This fig tree was literally full of fig leaves. But there were no figs. None. Christians often have beautiful ‘leaves’, like their baptism, or nice works, or pretty church clothes, or doing all the right ‘things’, but they have no ‘figs’. Bishop Ryle suggests that, just like Adam and Eve tried to hide their nakedness with a fig leaf, we try to hide our own fruitlessness with other seemingly good things.

Then Jesus busts through the gate of the temple and tables start flying. “My house shall be called a house of…” Preaching? Singing? Socializing? No… PRAYER. It appears to me as we read on, that PRAYER is the main ingredient in producing ‘figs’. Do we want to be fruitful? This passage is telling us how to be fruitful fig trees that won’t wither when we’re exposed to the Son. “Have faith in God”. What is prayer if it isn’t faith in God? What is prayer if it isn’t sprinkled with our belief that God hears and answers? Knock, seek, pray, ask, believe… produce figs.

Persistent Prayer

“Ask and it shall be given to you…” - Matthew 7:7

Dr. John MacArthur states, “Persistent prayer is the prayer that moves mountains, because it is truly believing prayer.” So I wonder, do we keep going to God for our concerns because we don’t believe he’d answer?! Of course not. We see his track record. We see how he answers our prayers of fervency. And we run back to the well that never goes dry. MacArthur continues: “When the church is impotent, as so much of it is today, it is because so many Christians are impotent. And Christians are impotent because they are not persistent in praying for what God wants, believing he will provide it".

A.W. Tozer in ‘The Gaze of the Soul’ chapter in his classic work, The Pursuit of God says: “the man seeking mercy looks straight at the God of mercy and never takes his eyes away from Him till He grants mercy”. Wow! We need to thrust ourselves into the presence of God with the force of persistent and fervent prayer – asking, seeking, knocking – until we have experienced all the blessings he has waiting for us. But really this is not for us ultimately – we surge into the presence of God so that HE is the one that receives every bit of the glory that he so richly deserves. God’s glory should be the underlying motivating force in all that we do, including our persistent praying.

Mark

First of All

First of all, then, I urge that entreaties and prayers, petitions and thanksgivings, be made on behalf of all men, for kings and all who are in authority, so that we may lead a tranquil and quiet life in all godliness and dignity. This is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. - 1 Timothy 2:1-4

Tomorrow marks our first study in Sunday School on the book of First Timothy. I couldn't help but be struck by the first verse chapter two. The verse really should strike us right between the eyes because of our prayerlessness. The Apostle Paul writing to his 'child in the faith', Timothy starts chapter two by saying 'FIRST OF ALL...'.

What does 'first of all' mean? This is one of those phrases in the Bible that doesn't take much to figure out. It means of first priority - of utmost importance - before you do anything else! PRAY.

The church is crippled and crumbling because we do not pray as we should.
The church is polluted and diseased because we do not pray as we should.
The church is impotent and ineffective because we do not pray as we should.
The church is wandering and aimless because we do not pray as we should.
The church is stale and dead because we do not pray as we should.

Of first priority? Pray. For what/whom do we pray? And what are the results? For all men and for those in authority over us… so that we may lead a tranquil and quiet life in all godliness and dignity. This is evangelistic prayer (2:4)

Dr. John F. MacArthur says, "Fervent evangelistic prayer is not only our spiritual duty, but is also an exercise of spiritual commitment that takes time and energy".

Charles H. Spurgeon says, "The soul-winner must be a master at the art of prayer. You cannot bring souls to God if you do not go to God yourself".

First of all... pray.

George Mueller, Devoted to Prayer - Part 3

So, what can we learn from this man of God, George Mueller?

He was a man who was fully devoted to prayer. After having been sickly as a young man, by 1839, George was physically and mentally healthy than he’d ever been. He attributed this to his habit of rising early to pray (and the eccentric habit of dunking his head in cold water).

George also realized that God's sovereignty was at the very root of his confidence. He said, "God is almighty, the hearts of all men are in his hands."

I will let Mueller speak for himself as I make several observations from his life. Quotes are taken from the biography, Delighed in God, by Roger Steer.

Mueller had proper FOCUS – "My eyes look not at the empty stores and the empty purse, but to the riches of the Lord only".

Mueller had NO WORRIES – "Our need is my comfort"

Mueller had JOY – "Inexpressible was the delight I had in God, who had thus given me the full answer to my thousands of prayers"

Mueller had PATIENCE – "See how precious it is to wait on God! See how those who do not do so our confounded! Is it not manifest that it is most precious, in every way to depend on God?"

Mueller had VISION – "My chief object was the glory of God, by giving a practical demonstration as to what could be accomplished simply through the instrumentality of prayer and faith". (reflecting on the days when he was seeking God for wisdom regarding starting the orphanage)

Mueller had unshakable FAITH– "My hope was in God alone. I knew him, and I knew He would do what was best for me. My heart was satisfied with Him. I delighted myself in Him." (when he thought his first wife was dying from a serious illness. She survived that particular illness.)

Mueller had PERSEVERANCE – "The great fault of the children of God is, they do not continue in prayer; they do not go on praying; they do not persevere. If they desire anything for God’s glory, they should pray until they get it. He has heard my prayers tens of thousands of times. Once I am persuaded that a thing is right and for the glory of God, I go on praying for it until the answer comes – George Mueller never gives up!"

Many people would ask George the secret to his spiritual success, to which he would reply,
"There was a day when I died, utterly died. Died to George Muller, his opinions, preferences, tastes and will – died to the world, its approval or censure – died to the approval or blame of even my brethren and friends – and since then I have studied to show myself approved only unto God".

George Mueller did die... physically. On March 10, 1898 at 6:00am, George peacefully went to his heavenly home... but not without making an eternal impact in this world.

What will you and I accomplish as a result of meeting with God in prayer???

George Mueller, Devoted to Prayer - Part 2

To get to the reason for George Muller’s spiritual success, we need to start early in his life: He lived a godless and reckless life when he was young. He was a liar and a thief.
When his mother was dying, he was spending time out on the street drunk. He spent four weeks in jail at age 16 for stealing. His father, who was an unbeliever bailed him out.
George’s father sent him to the University of Halle to study divinity and prepare for the ministry because "that would be a good living". Neither he nor George had any spiritual aspirations.

When Mueller was 20 years old, he was invited to a Bible Study. Of that invitation to Bible study he said, "It was to me as if I had found something after which I had been seeking all my life long. I immediately wished to go." As a side note, we can never over-estimate the power of God to change someone's life through a simple invitation to Bible study, church or Sunday School. At the close of the meeting, they sang a hymn and someone prayed. Mueller thought, "I could not pray as well, though I am a much more educated man." After that evening of Bible study, Mueller stated: "I have not the least doubt, that on that evening, God began a work of grace in me. . . . That evening was the turning point in my life."

Six or seven weeks later and after much prayer, Mueller returned to see his father to seek his permission to become a missionary. His father was furious, disowning him. In the hopes of becoming a missionary, Muller went to England to work with the London Missionary Society, but because of his theology and ministry convictions his association with them ended.

In the meantime, in the summer of 1829, George became sick and ended up staying with another man of God while he recovered in the town of Teignmouth.

Two crucial discoveries while he was sick:
1) . the preciousness of reading and meditating on the word of God, and
2). the truth of the doctrines of grace.

He said 40 years later that his preaching had been fruitless from 1825 to 1829 in Germany. But then he had been taught the doctrine of Grace in England. Nornally, we might look at 'sickness' as being a disturbance or interruption in our plans, but as God's sovereignty goes, Mueller was right on schedule... In learning these doctrines of grace and God's sovereignty, Mueller states,
"…when it pleased God to reveal these truths to me, and my heart was brought to such a state that I could say, "I am not only content simply to be a hammer, an axe, or a saw, in God's hands; but I shall count it an honor to be taken up and used by Him in any way; and if sinners are converted through my instrumentality, from my inmost soul I will give Him all the glory"

God's sovereignty = Mueller's confidence. It was at this time that George Mueller sought to glorify God through a children's ministry, and the idea of the orphanage was born. Mueller and his wife prayed incessantly for wisdom and guidance. It became clear that this is what the Lord would have him do in ministry. When he studied the passage in Psalm 81:10, where it says, 'open your mouth wide and I will fill it', George realized that they had prayed long and hard about whether or not to start this kind of ministry, but not how to fund it or staff it. So now he set out to pray diligently for God to provide everything necessary to make it happen.

Because of his confidence in God to provide, he didn't take a regular salary, he didn't go into debt or take out loans and he didn't ask anyone directly for money at any time. God answered these prayers for provision exceedingly and abundantly more than Mueller could have thought or asked. In his biography on George Mueller, Delighted in God, Roger Steer details many, many accounts of how Mueller and the orphanage was well provided for. Answered prayer, after answered prayer are recorded in this very encouraging book.

What can we learn from a guy like Mueller? Part 3 next time will let George Mueller speak for himself as I post quotes from the book then.

George Mueller, Devoted to Prayer - Part 1

Last summer I read a biography on George Mueller, one of my heroes of the faith. I recently reacquainted myself with this great man of God for a Sunday School lecture.

He was born in 1805, and lived a full life of 92 years, going to heaven in 1898. He was born in Germany, but spent most of his life in Bristol, England where he pastored the same church for over sixty-six years. Mueller married Mary Groves in 1830 (she died in 1870). They had one daughter that survived infancy (Lydia). He married Suzanna Sanger in 1871 (she died in 1894).

When George was 28, he founded The Scripture Knowledge Institute for Home and Abroad. There were five aggressive goals of the Institute: 1). establish schools for children and adults to teach Bible knowledge, 2). Bible distribution, 3). missionary support, 4). tract and book distribution, and 5). "to board, clothe and Scripturally educate destitute children who have lost both parents by death".

Mueller's vision for children grew into the orphan ministry that he is so well-known for.
He built five large orphan houses and cared for 10,024 orphans in his lifetime. He never took out a loan or incurred debt and he never asked anyone for money. He didn’t take a salary for 68 years and he rejected life insurance and retirement accounts. Mueller, his family and his orphans never went hungry.

George Mueller was quite the accomplished individual. He did all this while he was preaching three times a week from 1830 to 1898. If you do the math, that is at least 10,000 sermons.
At age 70 he fulfilled a life-long dream of missionary work for the next 17 years until he was 87.
He traveled to 42 different countries, preaching once a day, addressing some three million people. In 1878, Mueller and his wife Suzanna were invited to the White House to meet with President and Mrs. Rutherford B. Hayes.

How does someone accomplish so much? To what do we attribute the many spiritual successes and victories of George Mueller? Find out next time!

Back To School

We did a little 'back to school' shopping tonight. My sons both picked out their bookbag/backpacks and lunch boxes. We have a few more things to get before the first day of school at the end of August. It may sound trivial, but the bookbags and lunch boxes are an answer to prayer. When you thank God for His provision, and pray for Him to continue to provide - and then when there is money to get backpacks and lunch boxes - that is a direct answer to prayer.

We recently had another direct answer to prayer regarding the kids going back to school. They attend our church's school - First Baptist Christian School - where they are receiving a top-notch education. We have been extremely impressed with the program. For some months now, there has been a need to fill a vacancy in the Principal position. And so we prayed. This is no light matter for us, and so we prayed for this person who would be a key in setting the direction and policy for the school. We prayed for this person who would be shepherding our children for 7 hours out of the day. We prayed for this person who would be bringing new ideas and thoughts to the table.

Yesterday, we spent the day helping our new principal, his wife and seven children move into their new house. This man - and his family - are a direct answer to our many prayers. We have heard him speak several times at our church, we spent time with his family yesterday and we are looking forward to knowing them more personally in the coming days and weeks. We are quite confident that this man and his family were the ones that God had in mind to minister to our family at the school - and to use in increasing our faith, seeing as how He is interested in hearing and acting on our prayers.

In a familiar passage of scripture, James 4:2, we are told that 'you have not because you ask not'. We can literally state the converse of that: 'we asked, and we received'.

Thank you Lord, for another answer.

Morning Devotion

The following is an excerpt from the Puritan prayer book , 'The Valley of Vision':

Almighty God,

As I cross the threshold of this day
I commit myself, soul, body,
affairs, friends, to thy care;
Watch over, keep, guide, direct, sanctify, bless me.

Incline my heart to thy ways;
Mould me wholly into the image of Jesus, as a potter forms clay;
May my lips be a well-tuned harp
to sound thy praise;

Let those around see me living by thy Spirit,
Trampling the world underfoot,
Unconformed to lying vanities,
Transformed by a renewed mind,
Clad in the entire armour of God,
Shining as a never-dimmed light,
Showing holiness in all my doings.

Let no evil this day soil my thoughts, words, hands.
May I travel miry paths with a life pure from spot or stain.
Order this day all my communications
According to thy wisdom,
And to the gain of mutual good.
May I speak each word as if my last word,
And walk each step as my final one.
If my life should end today,
Let this be my best day.

The Importance of Praying

Recently, I read a great booklet by JC Ryle entitled, 'A Call to Prayer'. It's a short 33-page booklet, but packed with pure dynomite. The following is basically an outline of what Ryle states in the last section, with some of my own notes added in:

"By prayer the Christian can open his heart to God, as to a friend, and obtain fresh testimony of God’s friendship to him". – John Bunyan, Prayer

Importance of Praying with Reverence and Humility
1). Beware of rushing into God’s presence with carelessness.
Ecclesiastes 5:2 - Do not be hasty in word or impulsive in thought to bring up a matter in the presence of God. For God is in heaven and you are on the earth; therefore let your
words be few. KJV
2). Confession of sin and turning away from sin is necessary for God to ‘hear’ – Psalm 66:18
3). Consider your prayer posture – 1 Kings 8:22; 54 - What interesting observation do you
make comparing these two verses, the beginning of Solomon’s prayer vs. the end of the prayer? Consider also Daniel 6:10.

Importance of Praying Spiritually
1). Labor to always have the direct help of the Holy Spirit. Romans 8:26.
2). Strive to pray ‘biblically’ – within the compass of God’s Word.
2). Beware of ‘form’, vain repetition and scripted prayers. Matthew 6:7.

Importance of Praying with Regularity
1). Just as you allot time to eating, sleeping, exercise, etc… so also allot time to prayer. Daniel,
the man of integrity in the Old Testament took regular breaks during the day for the sole purpose of prayer. Daniel 6:10.
2). Requires discipline of time (time management!). JC Ryle says, "Disorder is eminently one of
the fruits of sin… speak to God in the morning, before you speak to the world; and speak to God at night after you have done with the world".

Importance of Praying with Perseverance
1). Never give up!
2). What did the Apostle Paul say? "Continue in prayer" (Colossians 4:2) and "pray without
ceasing" (1 Thessalonians 5:17).
3). What did Jesus say? "Men ought always to pray and not to faint" (Luke 18:1).
4). The enemies of perseverance in prayer are sickness, sleepiness, weariness, important
business.
5). Do not neglect your soul. Make no excuses. Press forward - persevering in prayer.

Importance of Praying with Fervency
1). James 1:17 states it best: "The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much".
2). Fervency is achieved by ‘crying, knocking, wrestling, laboring, striving’.
3). Of Jesus, the Hebrew writer states "in the days of his flesh, when he had offered up prayers
and supplications with strong crying and tears"
4). John Bunyan – "When the affections are indeed engaged in prayer, then the whole man is
engaged…"

The Importance of Praying with Faith
1). We should cultivate the habit of pleading promises in our prayers (not the ‘name it and
claim it’ or ‘blab it and grab it’ kind of pleading and presumption we find in the word-of-faith movement).
2). We should cultivate the habit of expecting answers to our prayers. Do we believe God? See
Acts 12:15.

The Importance of Praying with Boldness
1). We have access to the throne of grace – to come ‘boldly’ to receive mercy and find grace in
time of need. Hebrews 4:16.
2). We hardly plead with boldness as we might, because we do not realize our privileges as a
‘child of God’!

The Importance of Praying with Fulness
1). Private devotions of many are painfully scanty and limited; People seem to want little from
God. They seem to have little to confess, little to ask for, and little to thank Him for. "They have not because they ask not"
2). We should not be content with ‘general prayers’. Pray ‘general’, get general answers. Be
specific and detailed. Answers are easier to see that way!
3). Hide no secrets, hold nothing back, share your heart.

The Importance of Praying for Others
1). Intercessory prayers help us fight our selfish tendencies.
2). Intercessory prayers enlarges our sympathies and expands our hearts.
3). Intercessory prayers benefit the Church.

The Importance of Praying with Thankfulness
1). Is it true prayer in which thankfulness has no part?
2). Philippians 4:6 says, "Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication
with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God."
3). Surely we should never open our lips in prayer without blessing God for that free grace by
which we live, and for that lovingkindness which endures forever.

Elements of True Prayer

The prophet Daniel was a man of integrity. He was also a man of prayer. In chapter 9 of the book named for him, Daniel prays one of the great prayers of the Bible. The John MacArthur study bible outlines several 'elements of true prayer':

True prayer:
1). Is in response to the Word of God (9:2).
2). Is characterized by fervency (9:3).
3). Is also characterized by self-denial (9:4).
4). Is identfied unselfishly with God's people (9:5).
5). Is strengthened by confession (9:5-15).
6). Is dependent upon God's character (9:4,7,9,15).
7). Has God's glory as it's goal (9:16-19).

We would do well to follow the example of Daniel. God's answer to Daniel's prayer is amazing. God gave him the 'Seventy Weeks' prophecy - the window into the rest of history - including end times, which most of us are very much interested in. While we may not get the same kind of answer to our prayers that Daniel received, James tells us that the effectual fervent prayers of a righteous man availeth much.

Prayer Posture

Although King Solomon's heart turned from the Lord in 1 Kings 11, his great prayer of dedication a few chapters earlier in 1 Kings 8 taught me a couple of things. This prayer was Solomon's response to the Lord after the completion of the temple. The building of the temple was a fulfillment of a promise that God had made to Solomon's father David.

The prayer of Solomon contains several elements that we might do well to add to our own prayers:
1). The affirmation that there is no other god except the God of Israel (1 Kings 8:22). Of course God knows that, but our confession of it to God is of utmost importance.
2). Not only do we make that affirmation, but just as Solomon recognized that this God of Israel was a covenant-keeping God and a merciful God, so should we recognize this before God in our prayers. I like the phrase in 1 Kings 8:50 - "make them objects of compassion". I want to be this object!
3). Solomon also asked God for protection. Who of us doesn't need the protection of God?
4). "Hear and forgive" is a repeated phrase in this prayer. Our plea for forgiveness shows God our utter dependence upon Him, and Him alone, to cleanse us from the guilt and stain of sin that soils our souls daily.
5). One of the most intersting items I noted when reading through this passage is not the content of the prayer itself, but the posture in which it is prayed. Not that we can't pray in any posture (standing, sitting, lying down, etc), but notice in 1 Kings 8:54 - "he arose from before the altar of the Lord, from kneeling on his knees with his hands spread toward heaven". Earlier in the chapter in verse 22 as he began his prayer, Solomon was standing. So at some point during the prayer, Solomon fell to his knees. I thought of the passage that tells us that "every knee shall bow". Solomon's knees buckled in the presence of Almighty God. I am convicted by this. Too often I rush in out out of the presence of God. On my knees I can show humility, respect and undivided attention. Much more than if I am whisking out the door in the morning with my car keys in one hand and a bagel in the other.

More prayer thoughts next week.
Mark

Learning to Pray

Prayer is one of those spiritual disciplines that I am constantly working on. Praying is not easy – in fact, it is hard work. The forces of evil are obviously opposed to the fervent prayer of a righteous man - and so it is a battle. I want to grow in prayer. I want to learn. Not so I can be the person who ‘prays the best’, but so that I can be something like the person of Paul who said simply, ‘that I may know Him’.

There are several ways to learn how to pray better:
1). Learn to pray by praying. On the job experience is one of the best teachers.
2). Learn to pray by hearing others pray. We can learn a lot just by being around those who have a deep and meaningful relationship with God in their prayer lives. And so their example is valuable.
3). Learn to pray by reading the prayers of other Godly men. A good example of this is ‘The Valley of Vision’, which is a collection of Puritan prayers.
4). Learn to pray by studying the great prayers in the Bible. And there are many of them.

In future posts in the next week or so, I would like to share what I am learning by studying the prayers in God’s Word such as Solomon’s prayer in 1 Kings 8, Nehemiah’s prayer in the first chapter of Nehemiah, Daniel’s prayer in Daniel chapter 9, the Disciples Prayer(the Lord’s Prayer) in Matthew 6, Mary’s prayer in Luke 1, and possibly others.

Mark