Image: Mushroom popping up after the recent rains.
And they continued stedfastly in the apostles'
doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayers (Acts 2:42).
In our prayer
meeting this Wednesday at CRBC, I noted prayer as one of the four marks of the
church in Acts 2:42. I also shared a few
quotes on prayer (below) to spur us on to this duty:
Charles
Spurgeon: “We must addict ourselves to
prayer.”
Martyn Lloyd-Jones: “Everything we do in the Christian life is
easier than prayer.”
Matthew Henry: “A good man is never less alone than when he
is alone with God.”
Joel Beeke: “Part of our problem is that we view prayer
as an appendix to our work rather than as the first major part of our
work. If we are to live godly lives, we
must pray. If we would learn the art of
sacred wrestling and holy argument with God, we must pray. Prayer is the only way to lay hold of God.”
John Owen: “To preach
the Word and not follow it with constant prayer for its success is to
disbelieve its use, to neglect its end, and to cast away the seed of the gospel
at random.”
Hudson Taylor: “Do not
be so busy with the work of Christ that you have no strength left for prayer.”
The great
Reformer Martin Luther is said to have committed three hours each day to
prayer. He once said to his colleague
Melanchthon, “I must rise an hour early tomorrow, for, given all that I need to
do, I must spend more time in prayer.”
May the Lord be pleased to make of us praying saints and a
praying church.
Grace and peace, Pastor
Jeff Riddle
2 comments:
Nice post.
What might well be helpful to those of us who are relatively new Christians, or for those who are not Christians, is a series of essays explaining how to pray and why it's done this way. You might also explain just why prayer doesn't work in the same way Aladdin's genie did - you don't always get what you asked for. While you're at it, explain what we should be praying for, and why.
Kind of a tall order, but you're a prolific writer. You shouldn't have any trouble with this, especially given your vocation.
For my part, I'll never forget the night I was driving from Mad City to T-Town in the middle of a blinding snowstorm. I prayed for safe passage (as usual), but this time I wanted to see the Lord's hand involved. You know, a little concrete proof, so to speak. I got what I asked for, and once was enough.
These are great quotes. Josh and I reccently listened to a wonderful message on prayer by Joel Beeke. Like these quotes, it was convicting and encouraging.
http://www.sermonaudio.com/sermoninfo.asp?SID=829151825290
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