Monthly Archives: February 2017

The Bible and Prayer

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Two unrelated quotes from Charles Spurgeon bring to focus the relationship between prayer and God’s Word, the Bible.

“It is interesting to consider how large a portion of the Bible is occupied with the subject of prayer, either in furnishing examples, enforcing precepts, or pronouncing promises.”

“We may be certain that whatever God has made prominent in His Word, He intended to be conspicuous in our lives.”

After thinking about these quotes, it brought to my attention just how amazing prayer is. As you commune with God and talk to Him, we must never forget that we are interacting with the Almighty God, creator of all. It is no wonder that we are called in scripture to fear God, to have the utmost respect and reverence towards Him. It is only through the intercession of Jesus, our Lord and Savior that we are able to have a relationship with Him at all.

I need to always remember that when I come to Him in prayer.

Always praying for the glory of God,

Do you have perfect peace?

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Isaiah 26:3-4 (NASB)
3 “The steadfast of mind You will keep in perfect peace, Because he trusts in You.
4 “Trust in the LORD forever, For in GOD the LORD, we have an everlasting Rock.

These verses in Isaiah give us hope. They give us knowledge of an everlasting, never changing God.

As I was meditating on them this week, they also reveal to us an attitude that we must have if we are to benefit from God’s promise. Here is another way to express verse 3.

Because I trust in God, He will give me a confidence that brings within me perfect peace.

That perfect peace is a result of my perfect trust in Him. I don’t know about you, but I have never experienced Perfect Peace. I’ve experienced peace of mind many times, actually more in the last few years than in any other time of my life. But I don’t think I really know what perfect peace is. There is a perfection in God that we as humans cannot understand. Yet it is there for us if we truly trust in God.

I can speculate on what perfect peace involves. It surely includes a state of mind without worry, without any doubts, with no anxiety or concerns with the daily trials of life. It is a state of mind completely focused on God, trusting Him in all things as we worship Him. I don’t know about you, but that is very appealing. I believe it is what we will experience in heaven.

The more we trust, the more peace He will bring to us. While perfect peace may not be something we can fully attain before we see Jesus in Glory, it is something to aspire to, to work towards, something to pray for.

Join me in praying for the Holy Spirit to show us how to trust God more fully each day and that we would experience the peace of God.

Always praying for the glory of God,

Where are the Godly men?

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Psalm 12:1-2 (NASB)
1Help, LORD, for the godly man ceases to be, for the faithful disappear from among the sons of men.
2They speak falsehood to one another; with flattering lips and with a double heart they speak.

A recent statistic noted by Summit.Org, a Christian training organization, stated that less than 0.5% of 18-23 year olds have a Biblical world view. No wonder the Psalmist lamented that Godly men are disappearing. In each period of history, it only takes a generation to drift away from the truth of God.

This statistic points out why it is so critical that our churches focus on the youth. Not just the youth that attend on Sunday, but also the youth that are out in the community.

I praise God that Kevin Witten has that calling and has taken on that challenge. He and Virginia have a special reason to work hard to bring the youth of this community to Christ and that is because precious Cora will grow up and live in the world that we shape for her. Will it be a world of Godly men and women?

Let’s pray for the youth, that Kevin and those that support the youth ministry will be so on fire for Jesus that it will start a wildfire of conversions, that many will join the battle, that revival will take root and grow.

Let’s pray BIG for our youth.

Always praying for the glory of God,

Mary and Martha

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Luke 10:38-42 (NASB)
38 Now as they were traveling along, He entered a village; and a woman named Martha welcomed Him into her home.
39 She had a sister called Mary, who was seated at the Lord’s feet, listening to His word.
40 But Martha was distracted with all her preparations; and she came up to Him and said, “Lord, do You not care that my sister has left me to do all the serving alone? Then tell her to help me.”
41 But the Lord answered and said to her, “Martha, Martha, you are worried and bothered about so many things;
42 but only one thing is necessary, for Mary has chosen the good part, which shall not be taken away from her.”

Two sisters, with different focuses. Martha was the sister of action. Mary was the sister who worshiped. While no one is all action or all worship, Jesus was showing us with those sisters both ends of the pendulum that we can tend towards in our spiritual journey. As we examine the life of Jesus, He maintained an amazing balance. His ministry had times of action, but He also slipped away for extended times of personal prayer and solitude.

Since the very beginning of the Christian church the pendulum has swung both ways. I wonder – do we have a good balance today? Do I have a good balance?

I see a lot of emphasis on activities in the churches today. Martha is always visible and seems to be very busy. I wonder where Mary is?

I pray that the church will maintain a good balance by following the example of Jesus.

Always praying for the glory of God,