Posted on 07/11/2006 12:13:37 PM PDT by Frumanchu
Vast difference
I ask whether you pray, because diligence in prayer is the secret of eminent holiness.
Without controversy there is a vast difference among true Christians. There is an immense interval between the foremost and the hindermost in the army of God.
They are all fighting the same good fight; but how much more valiantly some fight than others. They are all doing the Lord’s work; but how much more some do than others. They are all light in the Lord; but how much more brightly some shine than others. They are all running the same race; but how much faster some get on than others. They all love the same Lord and Savior; but how much more some love him than others. I ask any true Christian whether this is not the case. Are not these things so?
There are some of the Lord’s people who seem never able to get on from the time of their conversion. They are born again, but they remain babes all their lives. You hear from them the same old experience. You observe in them the same want of spiritual appetite, the same want of interest in any thing beyond their own little circle, which you observed ten years ago. They are pilgrims, indeed, but pilgrims like the Gibeonites of old; their bread is always dry and moldy, their shoes always old, and their garments always rent and torn. I say this with sorrow and grief; but I ask any real Christian, Is it not true?
There are others of the Lord’s people who seem to be always advancing. They grow like the grass after rain; they increase like Israel in Egypt; they press on like Gideon, though sometimes faint, yet always pursuing. They are ever adding grace to grace, and faith to faith, and strength to strength. Every time you meet them their hearts seem larger, and their spiritual stature taller and stronger. Every year they appear to see more, and know more, and believe more, and feel more in their religion. They not only have good works to prove the reality of their faith, but they are zealous of them. They not only do well, but they are unwearied in well-doing. They attempt great things, and they do great things. When they fail they try again, and when they fall they are soon up again. And all this time they think themselves poor, unprofitable servants, and fancy they do nothing at all. These are those who make religion lovely and beautiful in the eyes of all. They wrest praise even from the unconverted and win golden opinions even from the selfish men of the world.
It does one good to see, to be with, and to hear them. When you meet them, you could believe that like Moses, they had just come out from the presence of God. When you part with them you feel warmed by their company, as if your soul had been near a fire. I know such people are rare. I only ask, Are there not many such?
The reason for the difference
Now how can we account for the difference which I have just described? What is the reason that some believers are so much brighter and holier than others? I believe the difference, in nineteen cases out of twenty, arises from different habits about private prayer. I believe that those who are not eminently holy pray little, and those who are eminently holy pray much. I dare say this opinion will startle some readers. I have little doubt that many look on eminent holiness as a kind of special gift, which none but a few must pretend to aim at. They admire it at a distance in books. They think it beautiful when they see an example near themselves. But as to its being a thing within the reach of any but a very few, such a notion never seems to enter their minds. In short, they consider it a kind of monopoly granted to a few favored believers, but certainly not to all. Now I believe that this is a most dangerous mistake. I believe that spiritual as well as natural greatness depends in a high degree on the faithful use of means within everybody’s reach. Of course I do not say we have a right to expect a miraculous grant of intellectual gifts; but this I do say, that when a man is once converted to God, his progress in holiness will be much in accordance with his own diligence in the use of God’s appointed means. And I assert confidently that the principal means by which most believers have become great in the church of Christ is the habit of diligent private prayer.
Prayer is power
Look through the lives of the brightest and best of God’s servants, whether in the Bible or not. See what is written of Moses and David and Daniel and Paul. Mark what is recorded of Luther and Bradford the Reformers. Observe what is related of the private devotions of Whitefield and Cecil and Venn and Bickersteth and M’Cheyne. Tell me one of all the goodly fellowship of saints and martyrs, who has not had this mark most prominently—he was a man of prayer. Depend upon it, prayer is power.
Prayer obtains fresh and continued outpourings of the Spirit. He alone begins the work of grace in a man’s heart. He alone can carry it forward and make it prosper. But the good Spirit loves to be entreated. And those who ask most will have most of his influence.
Prayer is the surest remedy against the devil and besetting sins. That sin will never stand firm which is heartily prayed against. That devil will never long keep dominion over us which we beseech the Lord to cast forth. But then we must spread out all our case before our heavenly Physician, if he is to give us daily relief.
I do not have a set schedule for this, but I do play to post all fourteen parts for discussion among, and mutual edification of, my brothers and sisters in Christ. Please keep all comments respectful and relevant to the topic of prayer as an essential part of our lives in Christ.
Ping to a few (dozen) saints :)
They certainly are so! The best thing for we hinterlanders is to cultivate a Holy Envy of those with more vigor than us, to apply to them, to learn from them. We should not concentrate too tightly on how inadequate we are, instead we should dig down deep and make excellent use of the haunches God gave us to endure, progress and super in the race he's assigned to us.
P.S. Do you mind adding me to your ping list?
No problem!
Lesson 1 - Prayer Is Needful to Salvation
Lesson 2 - The Habit of Prayer: Mark of a True Christian
Lesson 3 - Prayer: The Most Neglected Duty
Lesson 4 - Prayer Produces Great Encouragement
Lesson 5 - Diligence in Prayer, the Secret of Holiness
It does one good to see, to be with, and to hear them. When you meet them, you could believe that like Moses, they had just come out from the presence of God. When you part with them you feel warmed by their company, as if your soul had been near a fire.
So true and so wonderfully put.
I've known people as he describes them here. And the one thing that I think they possess in their core is humility, because it's humility that leads one to earnestly pray. Also, I think that holiness resides in such people because prayer for them is constant dialogue with God.
I work with a woman who is constantly referring to the Holy Spirit 'telling her things', and while I don't suppose to imply that He is not telling her things, there is something about the way she does it that cheapens the work of the Holy Spirit, and that isn't the kind of dialogue I'm referring to. I only bring it up as a point of contrast the better by which I can make my own thinking understood. I'm talking about the kind of prayer that leads a person to begin his day with God on his mind and in his heart, and to end his day the same way. I can't remember for sure, but I think the Jews were wont to pray at fixed points during the day, and I've always thought that was because of the desire to make certain God did not vanish from their hearts and minds for very long. Keeping God close is a saintly habit, and I think that the First Commandment is the hardest Commandment to keep, and the one many of we hinterlanders concentrate on the least.
A few days ago at Peter Leithart's blog I found the following, that I think is very encouraging and which I think can't be separated from our quest for holiness.
When Jesus promises to send the Spirit, he describes the Spirit as the "Paraclete." This word is often translated as "Comforter," but the Greek word has a legal connotation and is actually closer to "Advocate" or even "Defense Attorney." A Paraclete doesn't "soothe" so much as "defend."That's a good thing, because everyone who receives the Spirit in Scripture needs a good bit of defending. The Spirit clothes judges like Gideon and Samson so they can slaughter Midianites and Philistines. When the Spirit comes upon Saul, He takes his army to deliver Jabesh-gilead from the Ammonites.
In our sermon text, the Spirit comes on David and begins a lifetime of persecution, struggle, battle, and hardship. It's the Spirit-filled David who fights Goliath, dodges Saul's spear, and runs around the country just out of Saul’s teach. It's the Spirit-filled David who fights Saul's son Ish-Bosheth and who has to deal with the bloodthirsty sons of Zeruiah. It's the Spirit-filled David who repeatedly cries out in the Psalms for deliverance from His enemies.
Some of David's troubles are the result of His own sin. Still, as soon as the Spirit touches him, he's in for it.
And so are we. This pattern doesn't change in the New Testament. As soon as the Spirit comes on Jesus, Satan shows up to tempt Him; just after Pentecost, the Jewish leaders are dragging Peter and John before the Sanhedrin and stoning Stephen.
The Spirit is our Defender. But He also ensures that we need defense, because He impels us into the wilderness and pushes us into battle.
So the children of Israel said to Samuel, “Do not cease to cry out to the LORD our God for us, that He may save us from the hand of the Philistines.”*Stone of HelpAnd Samuel took a suckling lamb and offered it as a whole burnt offering to the LORD. Then Samuel cried out to the LORD for Israel, and the LORD answered him. Now as Samuel was offering up the burnt offering, the Philistines drew near to battle against Israel. But the LORD thundered with a loud thunder upon the Philistines that day, and so confused them that they were overcome before Israel. And the men of Israel went out of Mizpah and pursued the Philistines, and drove them back as far as below Beth Car. Then Samuel took a stone and set it up between Mizpah and Shen, and called its name Ebenezer*, saying, “Thus far the LORD has helped us.”
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.