Prayer is indeed central to our lives as Christians, and should be included in every breath we take. It is the essence of our relationship with the Lord, and the vehicle by which we touch Him, and he touches us as well. The apostle Paul tells us in his letter to the Thessalonians just how often we should pray, and a bit about what should and shouldn’t be included in our prayers.
Today we continue to live in a world of tribulation, suffering, and affliction, and it surrounds us at almost every turn. However, scripture tells us that we have been delivered from all of that suffering by Jesus Christ who has overcome the world. Given today’s world are we at peace, and of good cheer, or have we resolved ourselves to be anxious and worried over the state of things? Perhaps we have missed the fact that our troubles bring us closer to Jesus, and press us together with Him in a way that transforms the grapes of our faith into a fine wine for our Father’s table.
This morning I am writing on the topic of wrestling in prayer. We will be contemplating what E.M. Bounds describes as that "inward force or ability planted and inspired by the Holy Spirit" or "the intercession of the Spirit of God in us." Sometimes we yield to the Spirit quite easily, but at others it seems that our pride wrestles with Him for control over our problems, and prayers.
How persistent are we in prayer? Today our message is in regard to praying persistently and not neglecting our desires and those of others as we pray. In my morning reading Pastor E.M. Bounds referred to this as "a mighty move of the soul toward God." Jesus taught persistence in a parable to demonstrate the importance of being dogged in our prayers, and we either call it “The Parable of the Persistent Widow”, or, because it is so basic to praying, we refer to it as “the Parable on Prayer”.
This morning let’s contemplate the truth we find in God. He is without reproach in this regard and His promises are always fulfilled. Wonderfully, we serve a God who cannot lie and whose Word is true and fast. This gives us reassurance in many things but most of all it provides us with confidence in His love, and eternal life with Him.
Understanding why we receive the gifts that God gives us has always been a perplexing challenge for me. We being sinners, fallen, and undeserving are not worthy of such attention, and yet He loves us and provides for us. In this quandary we look to scripture and it speaks to us in terms we can understand... He is our Father which art in heaven.
Today our devotional study has to do with compassion. I was reading E.M. Bounds' thoughts and had to read these words several times "It is no sin to feel the pain and realize the darkness on the path into which God leads us. It is only human to cry out against the pain and desolation of the hour." Compassion is a gift to those who pray; it helps us feel the pains and remorse of those who we pray for, and it makes us aware of the basic nature of human kind as we pray for the return of Christ. It is encouraging to know that Jesus is not without compassion. He felt all of the emotion that we feel and yet He was without sin.
Specific answers to prayer was the topic of the devotional message I read this morning. Pastor E.M. Bounds said this regarding the subject: "God the Father and Jesus Christ, His Son, are both strongly committed by the truth of the Word and by the integrity of their character to answer prayer." In both the Old and New Testaments we are assured and reassured that our prayers will be heard and answered, and in Psalms we have more prayers than in any other book in the bible. Specifically there are 72 prayers included in it; and there are also instructions regarding how we should pray them, and reassurance that they will be answered.
"God Gives Nothing by Halves" was the title of my devotional reading this morning yet among Christians there are many who feel confident that while giving Him half of themselves they still deserve all of Him. There is a scripture we quote all of the time and when we do, we rejoice, but few actually carry through with what Jesus actually asks of us as he quotes the first commandment, and repeats one word three times... that word is “ALL”.
It is true that people do pray more when they are in trouble, and they are also inclined to criticize God in the midst of great trouble, but in God's eyes our lives here are just a portion of the journey... When many are lost to calamity we have a tendency to think they are gone because this life is all we know, but in God it is not the end... Evil never triumphs, the journey is not complete. We already know the end of the story, and God is victorious and dries the tears of the martyred saints. Jesus has already risen and the promise of His return is real… He will return to claim His bride, and the dead in Christ will rise to meet Him. Are we ready?
05/24/2024
What do we do when the impossible prayer is answered? How do we react when we pray for a miracle and we actually get it? This is the subject of our devotional this morning, and my example has to do with the coming Christ... The promised Messiah. Jesus Christ was promised, but before he could arrive another would have to be born and prepare the world for his coming... That forerunner would be John the Baptist, and his birth would be miraculous, but even after his parents had prayed continuously for a child, and when faced with this miracle, his father doubted the coming miracle because the answer was outside the natural norm.
This morning let’s talk about "God's Promises" and how they are personal to each of us. They are true, good, eternal, and should be expectantly called out in our prayers. God stands by his promises always, and His Word is not only unchanging, but His promises are unfailing.
I have been thinking about some thoughts presented by Pastor E.M. Bounds' in his devotional message this morning. I have been contemplating a couple of statements he made that I found quite thought provoking and revealing; the first is "The end of trouble is always good to God." And the second was "Trouble proves a blessing or a curse, depending on how it is received and treated by us." These fit nicely with a conclusion I reached a long time ago. I came to the realization that man is the source of trouble in creation. Let me explain my thoughts...
This morning my devotional reading spoke of the effect that prayer has on our hearts and, through our hearts, and it dealt with our fervent nature that seeks God. E.M. Bounds wrote that "Prayer in times of trouble tends to bring the spirit into perfect submission to the will of God, and delivers from everything like a rebellious heart or a critical spirit.... Prayer so prepares the heart that it softens under the disciplining hand of God." The Lord uses trouble in our lives as a tool to discipline and instruct us, but prayer is the catalyst that brings us into submission and knowledge.
Seeing God in every good thing about us is a gift, but being able to see Him in our troubles is truly a blessing. When we see God in our distress it calms the spirit and reassures us because we grow in our absolute faith in His goodness. E.M. Bounds expounded on this by saying that if we can find God in our troubles that "we are warranted in taking them to God in prayer and seeking to get the greatest spiritual benefits out of them." So many of us only see our problems in a negative light, and miss the fact that they too benefit us.