I have been contemplating the instruction that Jesus gave his apostles in the Garden of Gethsemane just before He went to pray. Specifically, I am dwelling on the account as recorded in the book of Luke. Jesus told Peter and the brothers to pray in order to fend off temptation. What was it about that moment and place that would heighten temptation?
Paul asks for prayer, but that selfsame prayer is needed today. Pray in the spirit for those who preach the gospel. When was the last time you prayed for your pastor or priest? Was it because he was ill, or were you praying for the gospel message he was preparing to bring to the church? There are daily reasons to pray for our pastors (such as healing) that are similar to those for which we pray for one another, but there is a more important need as well... bold revelation of the truth revealed in the gospel, and protection against the daily assault against his faith.
Do we consistently obey even the most trivial things that God requires of us? Do we understand the danger of falling asleep while on watch? How can we combat our inattention and a drowsiness of faith?
“Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.”
1 Peter 5:8
The 2024 presidential election in the United States is over for another four years, and a new president has been elected, but this doesn’t mean that that our nation is at ease. Now begins the big job of healing that facilitates making peace within ourselves, and loving one another. Are we praying for our neighbors and enemies? Do we realize how important praying for them is when it comes to restoring tranquility, calm, and order to our country? Let’s think on this today, and pray as we should for one another.
Praying for others, and receiving prayers from them as well. In Ephesians 6, Paul is giving us a lesson on how to live our lives. Then, in verse 18 he speaks of prayer, and specifically praying in the spirit for all the saints... for others.
When we, as Christians, correct those within our midst we must be very careful. We should do so with humility, but we should also take care that we don't get dirty. Our scripture reference says this in a slightly different way when it says "lest you too be tempted" but the idea is the same. When we come into close contact with sin we are in danger of becoming tempted, and sinning ourselves.
This morning we look at the spiritual battleground before us and wonder about our place on it. There should be no doubt but that there is a battle raging for our souls... and we are active combatants in it. But, are we prepared to march onto the field and proclaim the mystery of the gospel?
Today let’s contemplate the rewards that come from God... what is His promise regarding them, how do we receive them, and what are they? This is a massive subject because God desires to heap rewards upon us both physically, spiritually, and in heaven. This was prophesied in regards to the coming of Jesus, and then made so.
This morning we are dwelling on praying during seasons of conflict. Paul gave these instructions to the Ephesians regarding being a Christian soldier, and they have served us well throughout the millennium...
“and take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God, praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication. To that end keep alert with all perseverance, making supplication for all the saints,”
Ephesians 6:17-18 ESV
On many Fridays at work someone will ask me what my plans are for the weekend, and more often than not I will respond with "I don't know, I will have to check with my social coordinator." Of course I am referring to my wife, Ann, who keeps my life in order. Well, when I was recovering from Cancer surgery in 2015 she assumed a new role; she became my healthcare coordinator. Speaking of which, if she knew how often I wasn’t in bed during my recovery, when I should have been, I would most certainly have be in trouble!
It was in the wee hours of this very day in 2015 that I sat in my prayer chair and prayed for the Lord to take me into His hands as I faced cancer surgery, and then I prayed a blessing upon Him, and each person who had prayed, or was praying for me, to also be blessed. Giving a blessing to others, and blessing God, is one of the most wonderful and spiritual things we can do; so, after praying in this way I wrote an open letter that I will share with you now...
I have been thinking, and writing, a great deal recently about two subjects; prayer, and missions. This morning I was reading E. M. Bounds, and his devotional today was titled "Born in the Divine Mind". It dealt with these very same subjects, and as I read the words of Pastor Bounds I was captured by his thought as he ended his message in this way: "Both prayer and missions were born in the Divine Mind. Prayer creates and makes missions successful, while the success of missions lean heavily on prayer." - E. M. Bounds
“And he said to them, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few. Therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.”
Luke 10:2 ESV
It takes money to finance missionary work, so many church leaders dedicate a week or two each year to discussing and educating their congregations on this endeavor, and to ask them to give. However, before they go about doing this they would be better served if they would ask themselves a couple of very basic questions. The first is this: which comes first, money or prayer, and the second is whether missions increases a church’s faith, or whether strengthened faith increases a desire to support missions? This is the subject of our study today. I read Paul's words in Philippians 4 in which he was thanking the church for its gifts to him as he traveled and spread the gospel. He made it clear that God supplies the church, and the missionary’s needs through the faithful, and that it isn’t the faithful who make these efforts possible for God. “God will supply every need of yours according to his riches”.
This morning let’s discuss experiencing private prayer during times of public worship. I have attended many churches during my life and have felt varying degrees of private prayer being welcomed during a service. On the one extreme I have prayed loudly and demonstratively beside Pentecostal brethren, prayed private prayers in a more subdued manner in my current church, and attended "high church" in Churches where very little private prayer is evident or encouraged. However, in each case private prayer does occur… it simply erupts from embattled souls across the sanctuary as believers adorn themselves in the armor of God and enter into personal states of worship, thankfulness, and distress.
My devotional reading this morning had to do with the missionary commandment losing its true spirit and simply becoming the empty performance of a movement. In reality that is the peril facing the church as a whole. We can poke a tiny hole in each end of an egg and blow the yolk and white (albumen) from it, then place it on display for others to see, but although it still looks like a whole egg it is just a shell. Is this our faith, our church, and the relationship we have with the divine? Is this the state of the Church today? Perhaps we are seeing this manifest itself in modern Christianity. In the late 1800s, and early 1900s, Pastor E.M. Bounds warned of this coming… was he right?