Posted on 08/24/2006 3:45:31 AM PDT by .30Carbine
The illustration of prayer that our Lord used here is one of a good child who is asking for something good. We talk about prayer as if God hears us regardless of what our relationship is to Him (see Matthew 5:45 ). Never say that it is not God’s will to give you what you ask. Don’t faint and give up, but find out the reason you have not received; increase the intensity of your search and examine the evidence. Is your relationship right with your spouse, your children, and your fellow students? Are you a "good child" in those relationships? Do you have to say to the Lord, "I have been irritable and cross, but I still want spiritual blessings"? You cannot receive and will have to do without them until you have the attitude of a "good child."
We mistake defiance for devotion, arguing with God instead of surrendering. We refuse to look at the evidence that clearly indicates where we are wrong. Have I been asking God to give me money for something I want, while refusing to pay someone what I owe him? Have I been asking God for liberty while I am withholding it from someone who belongs to me? Have I refused to forgive someone, and have I been unkind to that person? Have I been living as God’s child among my relatives and friends? (see Matthew 7:12 ).
I am a child of God only by being born again, and as His child I am good only as I "walk in the light" ( 1 John 1:7 ). For most of us, prayer simply becomes some trivial religious expression, a matter of mystical and emotional fellowship with God. We are all good at producing spiritual fog that blinds our sight. But if we will search out and examine the evidence, we will see very clearly what is wrong— a friendship, an unpaid debt, or an improper attitude. There is no use praying unless we are living as children of God. Then Jesus says, regarding His children, "Everyone who asks receives . . ." ( Matthew 7:8 ).
In 1910 Chambers married Gertrude Hobbs. They had one daughter, Kathleen, who still resides in London (as of 1992).
In 1911 he founded and became principal of the Bible Training College in Clapham, London, where he lectured until the school was closed in 1915 because of World War I. In October 1915 he sailed for Zeitoun, Egypt (near Cairo), where he ministered to Australian and New Zealand troops as a YMCA chaplain. He died there November 15, 1917, following surgery for a ruptured appendix.
My Utmost for His Highest, his best-known book, has been continuously in print in the United States since 1935 and in this, the last decade of the century, remains in the top ten titles of the religious book bestseller list with millions of copies in print. It has become a Christian classic. [from the flyleaf of the book]
Absolutely no flaming! These daily threads are intended to be devotional in nature. If a particular day's offering says nothing to you, please just go on and wait for the next day. Consider these threads a DMZ of sorts, a place where a perpetual truce is in effect and a place where all other arguments and disagreements from other times and places are left behind.
I can attest from personal experience that reading from Chambers daily will almost certainly change - not one's faith - but one's perspective of his/her own faith, and open up new vistas in your spiritual life. If - when - this happens to a reader of these threads, and they choose to share what has happened within them - we are treading on hallowed ground. Be respectful.
- Religion Moderator
Then he said to me, “Do not fear, Daniel, for from the first day that you set your heart to understand, and to humble yourself before your God, your words were heard; and I have come because of your words. But the prince of the kingdom of Persia withstood me twenty-one days; and behold, Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me, for I had been left alone there with the kings of Persia."
Daniel 10:12-13
Jesus answered, It is written: 'Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.' Matthew 4:4
To do what is right and just is more acceptable to the LORD than sacrifice.
Proverbs 21:3
I may be away for a few days
Your Proverb 21:3 reminds me of Samuel's word from the Lord to Saul (1 Samuel 15:22-26):
But Samuel replied:Jesus answered, It is written: 'Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.' Matthew 4:4"Does the LORD delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as much as in obeying the voice of the LORD? To obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed is better than the fat of rams. For rebellion is like the sin of divination, and arrogance like the evil of idolatry. Because you have rejected the word of the LORD, he has rejected you as king."
Then Saul said to Samuel, "I have sinned. I violated the LORD's command and your instructions. I was afraid of the people and so I gave in to them. Now I beg you, forgive my sin and come back with me, so that I may worship the LORD."
But Samuel said to him, "I will not go back with you. You have rejected the word of the LORD, and the LORD has rejected you as king over Israel!"
Truly, your post speaks to the heart of Chambers' message for this day. And God's Word to Saul speaks to many situations and lives of men. Heeding the Word is True Wisdom, for it is real food unto Life Eternal, amen, thank You, Jesus.
For it is not the hearers of the law who are righteous before God,As You have said, Master, Your commands are not burdensome; they are my blessing, O Hallelujah!
but the doers of the law who will be justified.
Romans 2:13"If you love me, you will obey what I command. He who has My commandments and keeps them, it is he who loves Me. And he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and manifest Myself to him.”
John 14:15 & 21
Many thanks to you, Vision, and praise to God for your witness!
Our Father in heaven,
Hallowed be Your name.
Your kingdom come.
Your will be done
On earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread.
And forgive us our debts,
As we forgive our debtors.
And do not lead us into temptation,
But deliver us from the evil one.
For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever.
Amen.
Matthew 7:8
For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened.
When I pray that throughout the day, I use the phrase "please tell us more about Jesus" because He is the bread of life.
Oh, amen! Every line, every word of that great Prayer Taught by Jesus to His Disciples (which we are) is so designed as to allow for the largess of God, the expansion of His Word and Will and Wisdom into the whole and into the parts of it! For I can not pray, Our Father, Who Art in Heaven, without also praying, "Thou, Thou Who Was From The Beginning! Thou, Thou Who Called Me Out of Darkness Into Thy Marvelous Light! Thou, Thou Who Art Now My Father Through the Blood of Thine Only Precious Son Who Died for Me and Rose Again from the Dead! Thou, Father of All, and One Who Desires All to Become In Truth True Sons! Thou Who Art One and Who Makes Us One in Truth (O, we are Thy Children!), to Thee my cry arises with and for the Whole Body of Christ upon the earth, and for all, for Thou Art All and Doest Work In All and By Thee Alone are all things created and sustained!"
And so every line and all the prayer are in flux always as His Names occur in my various states and as I give thanks through all circumstances and as I call to mind His Great Mercies from of old and in my own life past, present, future, and as I lay before Him daily praises as well as daily requests, these too in flux as needs arise and prayers are answered! I can not pray deliver us from evil without also praying specifically for those who are yet held in sin's dread sway, for rulers and authorities around the world as well as at home, and also for all of creation, waiting with all the saints for the complete redemption!
And JESUS (The Word and Spirit of the Living God!) always the Bread I need daily, and pray always for my brethren who Know Him and eat from His Store as well as for my enemies (Christ said they serve their father, the devil, and his kingdom, and I once did - and others prayed for me - before my New Birth into His Glorious, Eternal Kingdom and Life and Rule) who are so hungry for HIM and yet know not His Name and do not call on Him with request and thanksgiving.
It is the best prayer ever, of course, both full and filling always, a delightfully pregnant prayer of holiness bringing us into glory. His mercies are new every morning!
Thank you, A-G!
SEEK
AND
YE
SHALL
FIND!
PS (;
Yet indeed I also count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as rubbish, that I may gain Christ and be found in Him, not having my own righteousness, which is from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which is from God by faith; that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death, if, by any means, I may attain to the resurrection from the dead.
Philippians 3:8-11If we have been united with him like this in his death, we will certainly also be united with him in his resurrection!
Romans 6:5
Jesus, Thy boundless love to me
No thought can reach, no tongue declare;
Unite my thankful heart with Thee
And reign without a rival there.
To Thee alone, dear Lord, I live;
Myself to Thee, dear Lord, I give.
O, grant that nothing in my soul
May dwell but Thy pure love alone!
Oh, may Thy love possess me whole,
My joy, my treasure, and my crown!
All coldness from my heart remove;
My every act, word, thought, be love.
O love, how cheering is thy ray!
All pain before thy presence flies;
Care, anguish, sorrow, melt away
Wherever thy healing beams arise.
O Jesus, nothing may I see,
Nothing desire or seek, but Thee!
This love unwearied I pursue
And dauntlessly to Thee aspire.
Oh, may Thy love my hope renew
Burn in my soul like heavenly fire!
And day and night be all my care
To guard this sacred treasure there.
My Savior, Thou Thy love to me
In shame, in want, in pain, hast showed;
For me, on the accursed tree,
Thou pourest forth Thy guiltless blood;
Thy wounds upon my heart impress,
Nor aught shall the loved stamp efface.
More hard than marble is my heart,
And foul with sins of deepest stain;
But Thou the mighty Savior art,
Nor flowed thy cleansing blood in vain;
Ah soften, melt this rock, and may
Thy blood wash all these stains away!
O that I, as a little child,
May follow Thee, and never rest
Till sweetly Thou hast breathed Thy mild
And lowly mind into my breast!
Nor ever may we parted be,
Till I become as one with Thee.
Still let Thy love point out my way;
How wondrous things Thy love hath wrought!
Still lead me, lest I go astray;
Direct my word, inspire my thought;
And if I fall, soon may I hear
Thy voice, and know that love is near.
In suffering be Thy love my peace,
In weakness be Thy love my power;
And when the storms of life shall cease,
Jesus, in that important hour,
In death as life be Thou my guide,
And save me, Who for me hast died.
~ Paul Gerhardt
THANKS. GREAT VERSE.
Promise Keepers is going well. Love that great worship. Good content as usual.
Massive number of conversion decisions.
PTL.
LUB
May our Lord graciously provide follow-up, mentors and brothers, fathers of the faith and friends to help each one grow into Christ our Head! Please, Lord, let the good seed go deep into good heart soil in each one who testifies, and let the enemy have no power to steal what has been sown in their hearts this weekend! Grant that their confession of this great faith will be strengthened by any and every test and that these will not fall, but be the Overcomers. Thank You, Lord, for raising up and providing for our men!
I am so glad for you, Quix, that you are able to be there, and so grateful you are able to post while at the conference! Be blessed; thou art a blessing!
Thanks.
Agreed.
There was a big and repeated push this time to sign up men who had been Believers and were able to disciple to commit to doing so in addition to enlisting pastors to oversee such in a much more concentrated, organized fashion than I've ever seen before.
I'm confident it will make a difference.
There has always been some effort at discipleship. But the effort this time was many times that I observed at the first one I attended.
And, the speakers were all top notch in both Biblical solidness as well as wise and impactful presentation.
Praise God and may He give the Increase.
"Go and make disciples!"
And we are told what a disciple looks like (John 8:31):
“If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed."
AMEN.
I was very blessed to see this MORE emphasized this time.
Thks.
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