Humility and the Fear of the Lord

By humility and the fear of the LORD are riches and honor and life . . . with the humble is wisdom . . . The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom. (Proverbs 22:4; Proverbs 11:2; and Proverbs 9:10)

Many of our previous meditations have clearly demonstrated that walking in humility is the pathway for living by the grace of God. "God . . . gives grace to the humble" (1Peter 5:5). In our present verses, we see that humility and the fear of the Lord are related.

Humility and the fear of the Lord result in the same blessings. "By humility and the fear of the LORD are riches and honor and life." The closing trio ("riches and honor and life") are an Old Testament description of a life that is fully blessed by God. The New Testament counterpart would be fullness of spiritual life. "I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly" (John 10:10). Humility and the fear of the Lord also result in wisdom. "With the humble is wisdom . . . The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom."

Humility is the candid acknowledgment of our absolute need for the Lord to work comprehensively in our lives day by day. The fear of the Lord is respect and reverence toward our great God. It is not a fear involving terror or apprehension. Rather, it is based upon profound admiration and dependent devotion.

Those who humbly fear the Lord (by placing their admiration and devotion in Him) also embrace His perspectives and values. They develop a hatred for the things that He hates. "The fear of the LORD is to hate evil; pride and arrogance and the evil way and the perverse mouth I hate" (Proverbs 8:13). Correspondingly, those who have respect and reverence for the Lord develop a love for all that He loves. The Lord loves for His people to walk in righteousness and justice. "The LORD loves the righteous . . . the LORD loves justice" (Psalms 146:8 and Psalms 37:28). The Lord loves Israel, His chosen nation. "The LORD did not set His love on you nor choose you because you were more in number than any other people, for you were the least of all peoples" (Deuteronomy 7:7). The Lord loves His church, the children of God. "Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called children of God!" (1John 3:1). The Lord loves the world, those who need to know Him. "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life" (John 3:16).

Prayer:
Lord God almighty, I humbly bow before You, acknowledging my absolute need for You to work comprehensively in my life day by day. I want to walk in the fear of the Lord, placing my admiration and devotion in You. I want to hate all that You hate and love all that You love, in Jesus name, Amen.

Thoughts From The Past - Use Them to PRAY Part II

Christ, when He saw that He must die, and that now His time was come, He wore His body out: He cared not, as it were, what became of Him: He wholly spent Himself in preaching all day, and in praying all night, preaching in the temple those terrible parables and praying in the garden such prayers, as the seventeenth of John, and “Thy will be done!” even to a bloody sweat.-THOMAS GOODWIN.

There was a great cape at the south of Africa and so many storms and so much loss of life until it was called the Cape of Death. One day in 1789 a bold navigator shoved the prow of his vessel into the storms that thundered around it and found a calm sea. He then named it the Cape of Good Hope. So there is a cape that jutted out from earth into the sea of eternity called death. All were afraid of it. All navigators, sooner or later, must contend with these murky waters. But once upon a time, nearly two thousand years ago, a brave navigator from heaven came and drove the prow of His frail humanity bark down into the gloomy waters of this cape and lay under its awful power for three days. Emerging therefrom, He found it to be the door to endless calm and joy, and now we call it Good Hope.-JOHN W. BAKER

Sin is so unspeakably awful in its evil that it struck down, as to death and hell, the very Son of God Himself. He had been amazed enough at sin before. He had seen sin making angels of heaven into devils of hell. Death and all its terrors did not much move or disconcert our Lord. No. It was not death: It was sin. It was hell-fire in His soul. It was the coals, and the oil, and the rosin, and the juniper, and the turpentine of the fire that is not quenched.-ALEXANDER WHYTE, D.D.

What satisfaction must it be to learn from God Himself with what words and in what manner, He would have us pray to Him so as not to pray in vain! We do not sufficiently consider the value of this prayer; the respect and attention which it requires; the preference to be given to it; its fullness and perfection; the frequent use we should make of it; and the spirit which we should bring with it. “Lord, teach us how to pray.”-ADAM CLARK

Jesus closes His life with inimitable calmness, confidence and sublimity. “I have glorified Thee; I have finished the work which Thou gavest me to do.” The annals of earth have nothing comparable to it in real security and sublimity. May we come to our end thus, in supreme loyalty to Christ.-EDWARD BOUNDS

The cup! the cup! the cup! Our Lord did not use many words: but He used His few words again and again, till this cup! and Thy will!-Thy will be done, and this cup-was all His prayer. “The cup! The cup! The cup!” cried Christ: first on His feet: and then on His knees: and then on His face. . . . “Lord, teach us to pray!”-ALEXANDER WHYTE, D.D.

During the great Welsh Revival a minister was said to be very successful in winning souls by one sermon that he preached-hundreds were converted. Far away in a valley news reached a brother minister of the marvelous success of this sermon. He desired to find out the secret of the man’s great success.-He walked the long way, and came to the minister’s poor cottage, and the first thing he said was: “Brother, where did you get that sermon?” He was taken into a poorly furnished room and pointed to a spot where the carpet was worn threadbare, near a window that looked out upon the everlasting hills and solemn mountains and said, “Brother, there is where I got that sermon. My heart was heavy for men. One night I knelt there-and cried for power as I never preached before. The hours passed until midnight struck, and the stars looked down on a sleeping world, but the answer came not. I prayed on until I saw a faint streak of gray shoot up, then it war silver-silver became purple and gold. Then the sermon came and the power came and men fell under the influence of the Holy Spirit.”-G. H. MORGAN

Holy Spirit Teach US to PRAY!

Thoughts From The Past - Use Them to PRAY Part I

I am the creature of a day, passing through life as an arrow through the air. I am a spirit come from God and returning to God; just hovering over the great gulf; till a few moments hence I am no more seen; I drop into an unchangeable eternity! I want to know one thing, the way to heaven; how to land safe on that happy shore. God Himself has condescended to teach the way; for this end He came from heaven. He hath written it down in a book. 0 give me that book! At any price give me the Book of God! Lord, is it not Thy word-“If any man lack wisdom, let him ask of God? Thou givest liberally, and upbraidest not. Thou hast said, if any be willing to do Thy will he shall know. I am willing to do; let me know Thy will.”-JOHN WESLEY

For two hours I struggled on, forsaken of God, and met neither God nor man, all one chilly afternoon. When at last, standing still and looking at Schiehallion (mountain range in Russia) clothed in white from top to bottom, this of David shot up into my heart: “Wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow!” In a moment I was with God, or rather God was with me. I walked home with my heart in a flame of fire.-ALEXANDER WHYTE, D.D.

Where the spiritual consciousness is concerned-the department which asks the question and demands the evidence-no evidence is competent or relevant except such as is spiritual. Only that which is above matter and above logic can be heard, because the very question at issue is the existence and personality of a spiritual and supernatural God. Only the Spirit himself beareth witness with our spirit. This must be done in a spiritual or supernatural way, or it cannot be done at all.-C.L. CHILTON

Christ is all. We are complete in Him. He is the answer to every need, the perfect Savior. He needs no decoration to heighten His beauty, no prop to increase His stability, no girding to perfect His strength. Who can gild refined gold, whiten the snow, perfume the rose or heighten the colors of the summer sunset? Who will prop the mountains or help the great deep? It is not Christ and philosophy, nor Christ and money, nor civilization, nor diplomacy, nor science, nor organization. It is Christ alone. He trod the winepress alone. His own arm brought salvation. He is enough. He is the comfort, the strength, the wisdom, the righteousness, the sanctification of all man.-C. L. CHILTON.

A friend of mine in his journey is come to me, and I have nothing to set before him! He knocks again. “Friend! lend me three loaves?” He waits a while and then knocks again. “Friend! I must have three loaves!” “Trouble me not: the door is now shut; I cannot rise and give thee!” He stands still. He turns to go home. He comes back. He knocks again. “Friend!” he cries. He puts his ear to the door. There is a sound inside, and then the light of a candle shines through the hole of the door. The bars of the door are drawn back, and he gets not three loaves only, but as many as he needs. “And I say unto you, Ask and it shall be given you; seek and ye shall find; knock and it shall be opened unto you.”-ALEXANDER WHYTE, D.D.

Luke tells us that as Jesus was praying in a certain place, when He ceased, one of His disciples said unto Him, “Lord, teach us to pray.” This disciple had heard Jesus preach, but did not feel like saying, “Lord, teach us to preach.” He could learn to preach by studying the methods of the Master. But there was something about the praying of Jesus that made the disciple feel that he did not know how to pray; that he had never prayed, and that he could not learn by listening even to the Master as He prayed. There is a profound something about prayer which never lies upon the surface. To learn it, one must go to the depths of the soul, and climb to the heights of God.-A. C. DIXON, D.D.

Praying Can Have Much to do With the Guarding and Training of Young Lives

Once more we have a very touching and beautiful and instructive incident in Christ’s praying, this time having to do with infants in their mothers’ arms, like a parable as well as historical:

“Then were there brought unto him little children that he should put his hands on them, and pray: and the disciples rebuked them.
“But when Jesus saw it he was much displeased, and said unto them, Suffer the little children to come unto me, and forbid them not; for of such is the kingdom of God.
“Verily I say unto you, whosoever shall not receive the kingdom of God as a little child, he shall not enter therein.
“And he took them up in his arms, put his hands upon them and blessed them.”

This was one of the few times when stupid ignorance and unspiritual views aroused His righteous anger and displeasure. Very important principles were involved. The foundations were being destroyed, and worldly views activated the disciples. Their temper and their words in rebuking those who brought their infants to Christ were exceedingly wrong. The very principles for which He came to illustrate and spread were being violated.

Christ received the little ones. The big ones must become little ones. The old ones must become young ones before Christ will receive them. Prayer helps the little ones. The cradle must be invested with prayer. We are to pray for our little ones. The children are right now to be brought to Jesus Christ by prayer, as He is in Heaven and not on earth. They are to be brought to Him early for His blessing, even when they are infants.

His blessing descends upon these little ones in answer to the prayers of those who bring them. With untiring importunity are they to be brought to Christ in earnest, persevering prayer by their fathers and mothers. Before they know themselves, anything about coming of their own accord, parents are to present them to God in prayer, seeking His blessing upon their offspring and at the same time asking for wisdom, for grace and Divine help to rear them that they may come to Christ when they arrive at the years of accountability of their own accord.

Only holy hands and holy praying can have much to do with the guarding and training of young lives and to form young characters for righteousness and ready them for Heaven.

As Worldwide, as Broad, and as Human as the Man Christ Jesus was, So Must be Our Prayers

Jesus Christ loved all men, He tasted death for all men, He intercedes for all men. Let us ask then, are we the imitators, the representatives, and the executors of Jesus Christ? Then must we in our prayers run parallel with His atonement in its extent. The atoning blood of Jesus Christ gives sanctity and efficiency to our prayers. As worldwide, as broad, and as human as the man Christ Jesus was, so must be our prayers. The intercessions of Christ’s people must give currency and expedition to the work of Christ, carry the atoning blood to its benignant ends, and help to strike off the chains of sin from every ransomed soul. We must be as praying, as tearful, and as compassionate as was Christ.

Prayer affects all things. God blesses the person who prays. He who prays goes out on a long voyage for God and is enriched himself while enriching others, and is blessed himself while the world is blessed by his praying. To “live a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty” is the wealthiest wealth.

The praying of Christ was real. No man prayed as He prayed. Prayer pressed upon Him as a solemn, all-imperative, all-commanding duty, as well as a royal privilege in which all sweetness was condensed, alluring and absorbing. Prayer was the secret of His power, the law of His life, the inspiration of His toil and the source of His wealth, His joy, His communion and His strength.

To Christ Jesus prayer occupied no secondary place, but was exacting and paramount, a necessity, a life, the satisfying of a restless yearning and a preparation for heavy responsibilities.

The time alone with His Father in counsel and fellowship, with vigor and in deep joy, all this was His praying. Present trials, future glory, the history of His Church, and the struggles and perils of His disciples in all times and to the very end of time-all these things were born and shaped by His praying.

Nothing is more conspicuous in the life of our Lord than prayer. His campaigns were arranged and His victories were gained in the struggles and communion of His all night praying. By prayer He rent the heavens. Moses and Elijah and the transfiguration glory wait on His praying. His miracles and teaching had their power from the same source. Gethsemane’s praying crimsoned Calvary with serenity and glory. His holy prayer makes the history and hastens the triumph of His Church on earth. What an inspiration and command to pray is the prayer life of Jesus Christ while in this world! What a comment it is on the value, the nature and the necessity of prayer!

On the Lion of Justice the Fair Maid of Hope Rides Like a Queen.

“Just, and the justifier of him which believeth.”
- Romans 3:26

Being justified by faith, we have peace with God. Our conscience can not blame us any longer of past sins. Judgment now decides for us the sinner instead of against us. Our memory looks back on past sins we commented, with deep sorrow for the sin, but yet with no dread of any punishment to come; for Christ has paid the debt of his people to the last jot and title, and they have received the divine receipt; and unless God can be so unjust as to demand double payment for one debt, no soul for whom Jesus died as a substitute will ever be thrown into hell.

It seems to be one of the very principles of our new nature to believe that God is just; we feel that it must be so, because this gives us our fear at first; but is it amazing that this very same belief that God is just, becomes afterwards the pillar of our confidence and peace! If God is just, I, a sinner, alone and without a substitute, must be punished; but Jesus stands in my stead and is punished for me; and now, if God is just, I, a sinner, standing in Christ, can never be punished.

God must change His own nature before any one soul, for whom Jesus was a substitute for, can ever by any possibility suffer the punishment of the law. Therefore, Jesus having taken the place of the believer-having taken on Himself the full and equal punishment of divine wrath for all of what His people should have suffered as the result of their sin, the believer can now shout with a glorious triumph, “Who shall lay anything to the charge of God’s elect?” Not God, for He has justified; not Christ, for He has died, “yea rather hath risen again.”

My hope does not live because I am not a sinner anymore, but because I am a sinner for whom Christ died for; my trust is not that I am holy, but that being unholy, He is my righteousness. My faith rests not on what I am, or will be, or feel, or know, but in what Christ is, in what He has done, and in what He is now doing for me. On the lion of justice the fair maid of hope rides like a queen.

BREAD WINNING! IS IT FIRST?

"He answered: It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone," "Seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you."—Matthew 4:4; Matthew 6:33.

THE QUESTION which Satan put to our Lord has to be settled in everyone’s life. Where does bread and bread-getting come in? Is it to be our first consideration or the last? According to Satan's way of looking at life, the bread question is top priority; according to Christ, it is secondary. Have you ever seriously considered which policy is yours, and what you would do if you had to choose in any great crisis? This temptation which came to our Lord happens to us all; sooner or later, whether on the lone mountain-side, or in the crowded streets of life, the Devil comes to us with the suggestion that we must live, and in the last resort we must make or get our bread, leaving considerations of purity, truth, honor of God and Eternity to come in second best!

At every important turning point in the history of our life these two methods are suggested: Satan says: "Make these stones into bread"; Christ says: "Man shall not live by bread alone, but by the word of God." We must choose between God and money. We are liable of attacks of hunger in various parts of our nature--for food, Satan bids us snatch it; for love, we are tempted to satisfy it apart from God; for knowledge, we are apt to seek it in ways that are not illumined by the light of eternal truth.

God, who gave us these strong appetites and desires, knows that we need food. The body is more than meat, and if He gave the one, He is responsible for meeting the other. The blessed angels of His help are even now on their way to you, and have been commissioned to bring with them supplies for every need in your life. Do not take your life out of God's hands and act at the order of passion!

Throw all the responsibility on Him; they cannot be ashamed that wait for Him. Remember the angel that prepared the meal for Elijah in the desert, and the breakfast that our Lord Himself prepared for His tired and hungry friends. If you will dare to trust and wait for Him even though there be but a step between you and death, He will supply all your need, according to His riches in glory. "Trust in the Lord and do good; so shalt thou dwell in the laud, and verily thou shalt be fed."

PRAYER

Give us grace to seek first Your kingdom and its righteousness, in the sure and certain faith that all else shall be added unto us. AMEN.

Is There A "IF" In Your Question?

“Jesus said unto him, If thou canst believe.”
- Mark 9:23

A certain man had a demoniac son, who was afflicted with a dumb spirit. The boy’s father, having seen the worthlessness of the actions of the disciples to heal his child, had little or no faith in Christ, and therefore, when he was told by the disciples to bring his son to Jesus, he said to Jesus, “If You can do anything, have compassion on us, and help us.”

Now there was an “if” in the question, but the poor trembling father had put the “if” in the wrong place: Jesus Christ, therefore, without commanding him to retract the “if,” kindly puts it in its legitimate position. “No,” he seemed to say, “there should be no ‘if’ about my power, nor concerning my willingness, the ‘if’ goes somewhere else.” “If you can believe, all things are possible to him that believeth.”

The man’s trust was strengthened, he offered a humble prayer for an increase of faith, and instantly Jesus spoke the word, and the devil was cast out, with an injunction never to return.

There is a lesson here which we need to learn. We, like this man, often see that there is an “if” somewhere, but we are always blundering by putting it in the wrong place. “If” Jesus can help me-”if” He can give me grace to overcome temptation-”if” He can give me pardon-”if” He can make me successful?

No, it must be, “if” we can believe, He both can and will. We have misplaced our “if.” If we can confidently trust, even as all things are possible to Christ, so shall all things be possible to us. Faith locks in God’s power, and is robed in God’s majesty; it wears the royal apparel, and rides on the King’s horse, for it is the grace which the King delights to honor. Girding itself with the glorious might of the all-working Spirit, it becomes, in the omnipotence of God, mighty to do, to dare, and to suffer. All things, without limit, are possible to him that believes. My soul, can you believe you’re Lord today?

Think On This My Friend!

In the example and the teaching of Jesus Christ, prayer takes its normal relation to God’s person, God’s movements and God’s Son. Jesus Christ was essentially the teacher of prayer by principle and example. We have glimpses of His praying which, like a guide, tells us how full of prayer the pages, chapters and volumes of His life were. The essence which covers not only one segment, but includes the whole circle of His life, and character, is pre-eminently that of prayer! “In the days of his flesh,” the Divine Bible record reads, “when he had offered up prayers and supplications, with strong crying and tears.” The suppliant of all suppliants is what He was and still is, the intercessor of all intercessors. In lowliest form He approached God, and with strongest pleas He prayed and supplicated.

Jesus Christ teaches us the importance of prayer by His urgency to His disciples to pray. But He shows us more than that. He shows how far prayer enters into the purposes of God. We must always keep in mind that the relation of Jesus Christ to God is the relation of asking and giving, the Son always asking, the Father always giving. We must never forget that God has put the conquering, inheriting and expanding forces of Christ’s cause in prayer. “Ask of me, and I will give thee the heathen for thy inheritance, and the uttermost part of the earth for thy possession.”

This was the part symbolizing the royal announcement and the widespread condition when the Son was enthroned as the world’s Mediator, and when He was sent on His mission of receiving grace and power. We very obviously learn from this how Jesus would stress praying as the one sole condition of His receiving His possession and inheritance.

Is there any other work or higher work for a disciple to do than what His Lord did? Is there any loftier employment, more honorable, more divine, than to pray for people? Do we take their hurts, their sins, and their perils before God; and pray that they will be one with Christ? Do we pray to break the evil controlled life which binds them, the hell which holds them and lift them to immortality and eternal life?

Think on this my friend!

Psa 17:1-15 A David prayer; which he sang to God after being saved from all his enemies and from Saul.

Listen while I build my case, GOD, the most honest prayer You'll ever hear.
Show the world I'm innocent-- in Your heart You know I am.
Go ahead, examine me from inside out, and surprise me in the middle of the night-
You'll find I'm just what I say I am. My words don't run loose.

I'm not trying to get my way in the world's way.
I'm trying to get Your way, Your Word's way.
I'm staying on Your trail; I'm putting one foot In front of the other.
I'm not giving up.

I call to You, God, because I'm sure of an answer.
So--answer!
Bend Your ear!
Listen sharp!

Paint grace-graffiti on the fences; take in Your frightened children who
Are running from the neighborhood bullies straight to You.
Keep Your eye on me; hide me under Your cool wing feathers
From the wicked who are out to get me, from mortal enemies closing in.

Their hearts are hard as nails, their mouths blast hot air.
They are after me, nipping my heels, determined to bring me down,
Lions ready to rip me apart, young lions poised to pounce.

Up, GOD: divert them! Break them!
By Your sword, free me from their clutches;
Barehanded, GOD, break these mortals,
These flat-earth people who can't think beyond today.

I'd like to see their bellies swollen with famine food,
The weeds they've sown harvested and baked into famine bread,
With second helpings for their children and crusts for their babies to chew on.

As for me?
I plan on looking You full in the face.
When I get up, I'll see Your full size and I will live heaven on earth.

Almighty God Seems to Think We Will Hesitate to Ask Largely

God encourages us to pray, not only by the certainty of the answer, but by the generosity of the promise, and the bounty of the Giver. How princely the promise! “All things whatsoever.” And when we super add to that “whatsoever” the promise which covers all things and everything, without qualification, exception or limitation, “anything,” this is to expand and make minute and specific the promise.

The challenge of God to us is “Call unto me, and I will answer thee, and show thee great arid mighty things which thou knowest not.” This includes, like the answer to Solomon’s prayer, that which was specifically prayed for, but embraces vastly more of great value and of great necessity.

Almighty God seems to fear we will hesitate to ask largely, apprehensive that we will strain His ability. He declares that He is “able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we can ask or think.” He almost paralyses us by giving us a carte blanche, “Ask of me things to come concerning my sons, and concerning the work of my hands, command ye me.” How He charges, commands and urges us to pray! He goes beyond promise and says: “Behold my Son! I have given Him to you.” “He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him freely give us all things?”

God gave us all things in prayer by promise because He had given us all things in His Son. Amazing gift-His Son! Prayer is as unlimited as His own Blessed Son. There is nothing on earth or in Heaven, for time or eternity that God’s Son did not secure for us. By prayer God gives us the vast and matchless inheritance which is ours by virtue of His Son. God charges us to “come boldly to the throne of grace.” God is glorified and Christ is honored by large asking.

Got questions or just want to talk - email me at - ramonj.ross@comcast.net or leave your comment here and I will be happy to help you, pray with you or anything else you wish. Thank you.

Ramon Ross

But to Pray, to Really Pray, is the Source of Revenue

PRAYER is God’s business to which people can attend. Prayer is God’s necessary business, which people only can do, and that people must do. A person who belongs to God is obliged to pray. They are not obliged to grow rich, or to make money. They are not obliged to have large success in business. These are incidental, occasional, merely nominal, as far as integrity to Heaven and loyalty to God are concerned.

Material successes are immaterial to God. People are neither better nor worse with those things or without them. They are not sources of reputation or elements of character in the heavenly estimates. But to pray, to really pray, is the source of revenue, the basis of reputation, and the element of character in the estimation of God. People are obliged to pray as they are obliged to be religious. Prayer is loyalty to God. Non-praying is to reject Christ and to abandon Heaven. A life of prayer is the only life which Heaven counts.

God is very concerned that we should pray. We are improved by prayer, and the world is healthier by praying. God does His best work for the world through prayer. God’s greatest glory and our highest good are secured by prayer. Prayer forms the godliest person and makes the godliest world.

God’s promises lie down like giant corpses without life, only for decay and dust unless we take them for our use and bring them to life these promises by earnest and prevailing prayer.

Promise is like the unsown seed, the germ of life in it, but the soil and culture of prayer are necessary to germinate and culture the seed. Prayer is God’s life-giving breath. God’s purposes move along the pathway made by prayer to their glorious designs. God’s purposes are always moving to their high and gracious ends, but the movement is along the way marked by unceasing prayer. The breath of prayer in us is from God.

God has everything to do with prayer, as well as everything to do with the one who prays. To them that pray, and as we pray, the hour is sacred because it is God’s hour. The occasion is sacred because it is the occasion of the soul’s approach to God, and of dealing with God. No hour is more hallowed because it is the occasion of the soul’s mightiest approach to God, and of the fullest revelation from God. People are Godlike and we are blessed, just as the hour of prayer has the most of God in it. Prayer makes and measures the approach of God. A person knows not God who knows not how to pray. A person has never seen God whose eye has not been opened for God in the closet. God’s vision place is the closet. His dwelling place is in secret. “He that dwelleth in the secret place of the Most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.”

“This One Thing I Know, Whereas I was Blind I Now See.”

We have three cures in blindness in the life of our Lord that illustrate the nature of God’s working in answering prayer, and show the exhaustless variety and the omnipotence of His working.

In the first case Christ came incidentally on a blind man at Jerusalem, made clay, softened it by spittle, and smeared it on the eyes and then commanded the man to go and wash in the pool of Siloam. The gracious results lay at the end of his action-washing. So the failure to go and wash would have stopped the process of the cure. No one, not even the blind man, in this instance, requested the cure.

In the second case the parties who in bring the blind man, back their bringing with earnest prayer for a cure; they begged Christ to simply touch him, as though their faith would relieve the burden of a heavy operation. But Jesus took the man by the hand and led him out of the town and away from the people. Alone, and in secret is were this work had to be done. He spat on his eyes and put his hands on them. The response was not complete, a little light and shadows, a partial recovery; the first gracious communication but gave him a disordered vision, the second stroke perfected the cure. The man’s submissive faith in giving himself up to Christ to be led away into privacy and alone, were prominent features of the cure, as also the gradual reception of sight, and the necessity of a second stroke to finish the perfect work.

The third was the case of blind Bartimæus. It was the urgency of faith declaring itself in loud speech, told to be quiet by those who were following Christ, but increased and encouraged by the conflict.

The first case comes on Christ unsuspecting; the second was brought with specific intent to Him; the last goes after Christ with overwhelming need, met by the resistance of the crowd and the seeming lack of concern of Christ. The cure, though, it was without the interference of any agent, no taking by the hand, no gentle or severe touch, no spittle, nor clay, nor washing; only a word and his sight was full and came instantly. Each one had experienced the same divine power, the same blessed results, but with marked variety in the expression of their faith and the mode of their cure. Suppose, at their meeting, the first had set up the details and process for his cure, the spittle, the clay, the washing in Siloam as the only Divine process, as the only genuine credentials of a Divine work, how far from the truth, how narrow and misleading such a standard of decision! It is not the methods, but the results that are the tests of the Divine work.

Each one could say: “This one thing I know, whereas I was blind I now see.” The results were conscious results; that Christ did the work they knew; faith was the instrument, but its exercise different; the method of Christ’s working different; the various steps that brought them to the gracious end on their part and on His part at many points noticeably different.

What are the limitations of prayer? How far do its benefits and possibilities reach? What part of God’s dealing with man, and with man’s world, is untouched by prayer? Do the possibilities of prayer cover all temporal and spiritual good? The answers to these questions are beyond common thought or experienced importance. The answer will gauge the effort and results of our praying. The answer will greatly enhance the value of prayer, or will greatly depress prayer. The answers to these important questions are fully covered by Paul’s words on prayer: “Be careful for nothing, but in everything, by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known unto God” (Phil. 4:6).

Waiting on the Lord, Hoping in the Lord

I will wait on the LORD . . . and I will hope in Him . . . Wait on the LORD; Be of good courage, And He shall strengthen your heart; Wait, I say, on the LORD! . . . Be of good courage, And He shall strengthen your heart, All you who hope in the LORD. (Isaiah 8:17; Psalm 27:14; and Psalm 31:24)

Living by waiting on the Lord offers another helpful perspective on living by grace. Waiting on the Lord is the same spiritual reality as hoping in the Lord. "I will wait on the LORD . . . and I will hope in Him." Waiting on the Lord is not merely about waiting (that is, allowing time to pass). Rather, it concerns humbly placing our hope and expectations in the Lord God as time is passing. This is what living by grace comprises (looking to the Lord to work on our behalf and within our hearts).

Waiting on the Lord (hoping in the Lord) is a privilege that is appropriate for every area of our lives. Furthermore, wondrous consequences result from hoping in our God. "Wait on the LORD; Be of good courage, And He shall strengthen your heart; Wait, I say, on the LORD! . . . Be of good courage, And He shall strengthen your heart, All you who hope in the LORD." When we place our hope in the Lord (waiting for Him to work in our lives and circumstances), He brings us spiritual courage and spiritual empowering within our inner man.

Those who wait on the Lord have a distinctively different destiny than the wicked, than the evildoers. "For evildoers shall be cut off; But those who wait on the LORD, They shall inherit the earth . . . Wait on the LORD, And keep His way, And He shall exalt you to inherit the land; When the wicked are cut off, you shall see it" (Psalm 37:9, Psalm 37:34). Evildoers (the wicked, who have no interest in the way of salvation) end up cut off. They lose everything that they attempted to accomplish in the developing of their personal earthly kingdoms. They thought they could take over a portion of this world, which belongs to our Creator God. Instead, they lose it all. They are cut off forever from their achievements, as well from the God who made them. On the other hand, those who hope in the Lord inherit all of creation, as well as an eternal relationship with their Creator Redeemer.

Truly, "The LORD is good to those who wait for Him" (Lamentations 3:25). Therefore, let us "hope in the LORD; For with the LORD there is mercy, and with Him is abundant redemption" (Psalm 130:7). Yes, let us "hope in the LORD from this time forth and forever" (Psalm 131:3).

Prayer:
My Creator Redeemer, I want to live all my days waiting on You, hoping in You. What growing expectations You give me as I hope in You. I anticipate courage, inner strength, Your abundant goodness, an eternal inheritance, and (above all) an everlasting relationship with You. Praise Your name! In Jesus’ name, Amen.

Isaiah Encouraging All of Us to Wait on the Lord

Those who wait on the LORD shall renew their strength . . . And I will wait on the LORD, Who hides His face from the house of Jacob; and I will hope in Him . . . And it will be said in that day: "Behold, this is our God; we have waited for Him, and He will save us. This is the LORD; we have waited for Him; we will be glad and rejoice in His salvation." (Isa_40:31; Isa_8:17; and Isa_25:9)

Isaiah's desire to live by grace was evident in his proclaiming that God's power was available for those who would admit their own weakness. Now, we see Isaiah's heart for God's grace in his encouraging all to wait on the Lord.

One of Isaiah's encouragements to wait on the Lord came in conjunction with God's promises to give power to the weak. "He gives power to the weak, and to those who have no might He increases strength . . . They shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint" (Isa_40:29, Isa_40:31). This gracious work of God in people's lives hinged upon their waiting on the Lord. "Those who wait on the LORD shall renew their strength."

Another of Isaiah's encouragements to wait on the Lord occurred in a time when Israel was rebelling against God. "For the LORD spoke thus to me with a strong hand, and instructed me that I should not walk in the way of this people" (Isa_8:11). The Lord strongly urged Isaiah to stand against Israel's rebellion, even though they were threatening the prophet. "Do not . . . be afraid of their threats, nor be troubled. The LORD of hosts, Him you shall hallow; Let Him be your fear" (Isa_8:12-13). Isaiah's encouraging testimony revealed that his heart was fully set on the Lord. "And I will wait on the LORD, Who hides His face from the house of Jacob; and I will hope in Him." God was not revealing Himself to rebellious Israel. On the other, Isaiah would "wait on the LORD" (that is, he would "hope in Him").

Isaiah's ultimate encouragement to wait on the Lord is related to God's establishing of His everlasting kingdom. "And it will be said in that day: 'Behold, this is our God; we have waited for Him, and He will save us. This is the LORD; we have waited for Him; we will be glad and rejoice in His salvation'." Those who place their hope in the Lord during their pilgrimage on earth will eventually rejoice forever when the Lord eternally implements the fullness of his salvation for His people!

Prayer:
Dear Lord, I am aware of my utter weakness, so I wait on You for Your strength and stamina. At times, I am intimidated by rebellious people, so I wait on You for protection and vindication. I have experienced so many earthly heartbreaks, so I wait on You for the joy and gladness of Your everlasting kingdom. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

Psalm 11:1-7 A David psalm.

I've already run for dear life
Straight to the arms of GOD.
So why would I run away now when you say,

"Run to the mountains;
The evil bows are bent,
The wicked arrows
Aimed to shoot under cover of darkness
At every heart open to God.
The bottom's dropped out of the country;
Good people don't have a chance"?

But GOD hasn't moved to the mountains;
His holy address hasn't changed.
He's in charge, as always,
His eyes taking everything in,
His eyelids Unblinking,
Examining Adam's unruly brood inside and out,
Not missing a thing.

He tests the good and the bad alike;
If anyone cheats, God's outraged.
Fail the test and you're out,
Out in a hail of firestones,
Drinking from a canteen filled with hot desert wind.

God’s business is putting things right;
He loves getting the lines straight,
Setting us straight.
Once we're standing tall,
We can look him straight in the eye.

We Will Never Do Prayer Right without the Best Circumstances to Do It Right

Let us thoroughly understand ourselves and understand, also, this great business of prayer. Our one great business is prayer, and we will never do it well unless we fasten our selves to it by all the binding force of the Holy Spirit. We will never do prayer well without bring together the best conditions for doing it well. Satan has suffered so much by good praying that all his devious, shrewd and ensnaring devices will be used to cripple our prayers performances.

We must, with all the fastenings we can find, strap ourselves to prayer. To let loose the fastenings in time and place is to open the door to Satan. To be exact, prompt, unwavering, and careful in even the little things, is to protect ourselves against the Evil One

With Moses we see that these great features of prayer are prominent. He never beats the air nor fights a make-believe battle. The most serious and strenuous business of his serious and strenuous life was prayer. He is always at prayer with the intense earnestness of his soul. Intimate as he was with God, his intimacy did not decrease the necessity of prayer. This intimacy only brought clearer insight into the nature and necessity of prayer, and led him to see the greater obligations to pray, and to discover the larger results of praying. In reviewing one of the many crises that Israel went through, when the very existence of the nation was jeopardized, he writes: “I fell down before the Lord forty days and forty nights.” Wonderful praying brings wonderful results! Moses knew how to do wonderful praying, and God knew how to give wonderful results.

Prayer, by God’s very oath, is put in the very stones of God’s foundations, as eternal as its companion, “And men shall pray for him continually.” This is the everlasting condition which advances His cause, and makes prayer powerfully aggressive. People are to always pray for it. Its strength, beauty and aggression lie in their prayers. Its power lies simply in its power to pray. No power can be found elsewhere but in its ability to pray. “For my house shall be called the house of prayer for all people.” It is based on prayer, and carried on by the same means.

Living According to God's Word

You have dealt well with Your servant, O LORD, according to Your word. (Psalm 19:65)

David was a man who basically lived by grace (that is, by depending on the Lord to work in his life). Consequently, he trusted in the word of God ("the word of His grace" — Acts 20:32). David lived according to God's word. Psalm 119 bears substantial testimony of what can happen when one lives in this manner. "You have dealt well with Your servant, O LORD, according to Your word." This strategic phrase ("according to Your word”) has two implications: living in line with God's word and living by the provisions of God's word. Therefore, those who live according to God's word not only find their direction in the Scriptures, they find resource there as well.

Many fruitful and respected Bible teachers (like C. H. Spurgeon) are convinced that David was the human instrumental author of Psalm 119. Whether this is true or not is incidental to our present meditation. In this majestic Psalm, the Holy Spirit (the ultimate author) depicts the all-inclusive nature of living according to the word.
Every person on earth begins their life with a sin problem (guilty, condemned, and alienated from God). If a person wants to have their life cleaned up spiritually, they can see that accomplished according to God's Word. "How can a young man cleanse his way? By taking heed according to Your word" (Psalm 119:9). Anyone who will pay close attention to the message of the Scriptures will find therein God's provision of forgiveness and salvation. "Let Your mercies come also to me, O LORD — Your salvation according to Your word" (Psalm 119:41). God's merciful salvation (from sin and unto godliness) is enjoyed by those who call upon Him wholeheartedly. "I entreated Your favor with my whole heart; Be merciful to me according to Your word" (Psalm119:58).

Every person who has found new life through the Lord's merciful salvation eventually encounters times when a reviving is needed. The difficulties of life seem to choke all spiritual vitality out of us. It is time to call upon the Lord and turn to His word. "I am afflicted very much; Revive me, O LORD, according to Your word" (Psalm 119:107). Sometimes, the battle is so intense that our inner man seems to be smashed face down in the dirt. Again, it is time to seek the Lord in His word. "My soul clings to the dust; Revive me according to Your word" (Psalm 119:25). Yes, in God's word, we find direction for our lives and replenishing of our lives.

Prayer:
Dear Lord of the Scriptures, I praise You for giving me new life according to Your word. Now, in the troubles and battles that I face, I ask You to revive me according to Your word.In Jesus' name Amen

What is God’s will about prayer?

What is God’s will about prayer? First of all, it is God’s will that we pray. Jesus Christ “spake a parable unto them to this end, that men ought always to pray, and not to faint”

Paul writes in the Bible to young Timothy about the first things which God’s people are to do, he puts prayer first among the first above all else: “I exhort, therefore, that first of all, supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks, be made for all men [people]” (1 Timothy 2:1).

In connection with these words in the Bible, Paul declares that the will of God and the redemption and mediation of Jesus Christ for the salvation of all men is a vital concern in this matter of prayer. In this his apostolically authority and concern of souls all work together with God’s will and Christ’s intercession to will that “the men [people] pray everywhere.”

Note how frequently prayer is brought to are attention in the Holy Bible’s New Testament: “Continuing instant in prayer”; “Pray without ceasing”; “Continue in prayer, and watch in the same with thanksgiving”; “Be ye sober and watch unto prayer”; Christ’s clear call was “watch and pray.” What are all these and others, if it is not the will of God that men should pray?

Prayer is complement, make efficient and cooperate with God’s will, whose sovereign sway is to run parallel in extent and power with the atonement of Jesus Christ. He, through the Eternal Spirit, by the grace of God, “tasted death for every man.” We, through the Eternal Spirit, by the grace of God, pray for every man.

But how do I know that I am praying in the will of God? Every true attempt to pray is in response to the will of God. Even as clumsy as it may be and untaught by human teachers, but it is accept-able to God, because it is in obedience to His will. If I will give myself up to the inspiration of the Spirit of God, who commands me to pray, the details and the petitions of that praying will all fall into harmony with the will of Him who wills that I should pray.

Prayer is no little thing, no selfish and small matter. It does not concern the selfish insignificant interests of one person. The littlest prayer expands out by the will of God till it touches all words, preserves all interests, and develops man’s greatest wealth, and God’s greatest good. God is so concerned that people pray that He has promised to answer prayer. He has not promised to do something in general if we pray, but He has promised to do the very thing for which we pray.

Think about prayer and God's will. Has God answered any of your prayers that were out of His will?

Keep praying to the Great I AM.

The Prayer For Refuge

O Lord,
Whose power is infinite and wisdom infallible,
Order things that they may neither hinder,
Nor discourage me,
Nor prove obstacles to the progress of Your cause.

Stand between me and all strife, that no evil befall,
No sin corrupts my gifts, zeal, and attainment;
That I may follow duty and not any foolish device of my own.
Permit me not to labor at work which You will not bless,
That I may serve You without disgrace or debt.

Let me dwell in Your most secret place under Your shadow,
Where it is safe impenetrable protection from:
The arrow that flies by day,
The pestilence that walks in darkness,
The strife of tongues,
The malice of ill-will,
The hurt of unkind talk,
The snares of business,
The perils of youth,
The temptations of middle life,
The mourning of old age,
The fear of death,
I am entirely dependent on You for support, counsel, consolation.

Uphold me by Your Holy Spirit,
And may I not think it enough to be preserved from falling,
But may I always go forward, always abounding in the work
You have given me to do.
Strengthen me by Your Spirit in my inner self
For every purpose of my Christian life.

These are all my jewels I give to the shadow of the safety that is in You:
My name anew in Christ,
My body, soul, talents, character,
My success, wife, children, friends, work,
My present, my future, my end.
Take them, they are Yours, and I am Yours,
Now and forever more.

In Jesus’ name, Amen.

Psalms 5:1-12 RSV To the choirmaster: for the flutes. A Psalm of David.

Give ear to my words, O LORD;
Give heed to my groaning.
Hearken to the sound of my cry,
My King and my God,
For to thee do I pray. O LORD,

In the morning thou dost hear my voice;
In the morning I prepare a sacrifice for thee, and watch.
For thou art not a God who delights in wickedness;
Evil may not sojourn with thee.


The boastful may not stand before thy eyes;
Thou hate all evildoers.
Thou destroy those who speak lies;
The LORD abhors bloodthirsty and deceitful men.

But I through the abundance of thy steadfast love will enter thy house,
I will worship toward thy holy temple in the fear of thee.
Lead me, O LORD, in thy righteousness because of my enemies;
Make thy way straight before me.

For there is no truth in their mouth; their heart is destruction,
Their throat is an open sepulcher, they flatter with their tongue.
Make them bear their guilt, O God; let them fall by their own counsels;
Because of their many transgressions cast them out,
For they have rebelled against thee.

But let all who take refuge in thee rejoice,
Let them ever sing for joy;
And do thou defend them,
That those who love thy name may exult in thee.
For thou dost bless the righteous,
O LORD; thou dost cover him with favor as with a shield.

Psalm 4 - A David psalm.

When I call, give me answers.
God, take my side!
Once, in a tight place,
You gave me room;
Now I'm in trouble again:
Grace me! Hear me!

You rabble--how long do I put up with your scorn?
How long will you lust after lies?
How long will you live crazed by illusion?

Look at this: look
Who got picked by GOD!
He listens the split second I call to him.

Complain if you must, but don't lash out.
Keep your mouth shut, and let your heart do the talking.
Build your case before God and wait for his verdict.

Why is everyone hungry for more?
"More, more," they say. "More, more."
I have God's more-than-enough,
More joy in one ordinary day
Than they get in all their shopping sprees.

At day's end I'm ready for sound sleep,
For you alone, GOD, have put my life back together again.

Real Help Comes From GOD.

GOD! Look! Enemies past counting!
Enemies sprouting like mushrooms,
Mobs of them all around me, roaring their mockery:
"Hah! No help for him from God!"

But you, GOD, shield me on all sides;
You ground my feet, you lift my head high;
With all my might I shout up to GOD,

His answers thunder from the holy mountain.
I stretch myself out. I sleep.
Then I'm up again--rested, tall and steady,
Fearless before the enemy mobs
Coming at me from all sides.

Up, GOD! My God, help me! Slap their faces,
First this cheek, then the other,
Your fist hard in their teeth!

Real help comes from GOD.
Your blessing clothes your people!

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

Another Psalm, Psalm 3, of David, when he
fled from Absalom his son.

Do you call on God for help? Or do you wait
until you have tried everything you can first?

We Must Pray for the Leaders of Our World

Why the big noise, nations? Why the mean plots, peoples?
Earth-leaders push for position,
Demagogues and delegates meet for summit talks,
The God-deniers, the Messiah-deifiers say:
"Let's get free of God! Cast loose from Messiah!"

On Heaven-thrones God breaks out laughing.
At first he's amused at their presumption;
Then he gets good and angry. Furiously, he shuts them up:
"Don't you know there's a King in Zion? A coronation banquet
Is spread for him on the holy summit."

Let me tell you what GOD said next. He said, "You're my son,
And today is your birthday.
What do you want? Name it: Nations as a present?
Continents as a prize?
You can command them all to dance for you,
Or throw them out with tomorrow's trash."

So, rebel-kings use your heads;
Upstart-judges, learn your lesson:
Worship GOD in adoring embrace, Celebrate in trembling awe.
Kiss Messiah! Your very lives are in danger, you know;
His anger is about to explode,
But if you make a run for God--you won't regret it!

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

A David psalm, Psalm 2, when he escaped for his life from Absalom, his son.

Think of this Psalm in today's light! We must pray for the leaders of our world, that they will not rebel against God, but confess and believe in Jesus as their Lord and Savior. He is coming back soon! Are you ready?

Joshua Leading the People in God's Victory

And it came to pass, when Joshua was by Jericho . . . a Man stood opposite him with His sword drawn in His hand. And Joshua went to Him and said to Him, "Are You for us or for our adversaries?" So He said, "No, but as Commander of the army of the LORD I have now come." And Joshua fell on his face to the earth and worshiped, and said to Him, "What does my LORD say to His servant?" (Joshua 5:13-14)

When Moses pointed Israel to the Lord for battle, he was teaching God's people to live by grace (which involves God at work on behalf of His people). "The LORD your God is He who goes with you, to fight for you against your enemies, to save you" (Deuteronomy 20:4). Joshua demonstrated this same truth, when he led the people in God's victory.

Before the first battle at Jericho, God gave Joshua the opportunity to commit to the Lord as the Commander of the army of Israel. "And it came to pass, when Joshua was by Jericho . . . a Man stood opposite him with His sword drawn in His hand. And Joshua went to Him and said to Him, 'Are You for us or for our adversaries? “The Lord appeared in the form of an armed soldier. Joshua asked if the man was for Israel or against them. The Lord responded that it was not a matter of being for or against Israel, but that He was in charge of Israel. "'No, but as Commander of the army of the LORD I have now come.' And Joshua fell on his face to the earth and worshiped. 'What does my LORD say to His servant'?" At this point Joshua fully yielded to the Lord as the leader of God's army. Any victories would have to be supplied by this divine Commander.

At Jericho, this divine Commander would cause the walls to fall down, as His people would humbly trust Him, obediently marching around the city. "And it happened when the people heard the sound of the trumpet, and the people shouted with a great shout, that the wall fell down flat" (Joshua 6:20). At Ai, the Commander gave Joshua a two-pronged ambush strategy. "We will flee before them. Then you shall rise from the ambush and seize the city, for the LORD your God will deliver it into your hand" (Joshua 8:6-7). Against the Amorite kings, large hailstones and an extended day were used by the Commander to bring a mighty victory. "The LORD cast down large hailstones from heaven . . . So the sun stood still in the midst of heaven, and did not hasten to go down for about a whole day" (Joshua 10:11, Joshua10:13). Whether by perplexing marching orders, by understandable strategy, by "natural phenomenon," or by miraculously extended time, the Commander brought victory.

Prayer:
Mighty God of Israel, I look to You to be the one who is in charge of my battles, the one who fights for me. Lord, help me to allow You to bring forth victory by any means You desire — whether perplexing, understandable, "natural," or miraculous, In Jesus’ name Amen.