As a follow-up to my last post about prayer:
Ian and I have been reading through the Psalms together and using a James Montgomery Boice commentary. Psalm 5 starts with the following:
Give ear to my words, O LORD;
consider my groaning.
Give attention to the sound of my cry,
my King and my God,
for to you do I pray.
Boice says this stanza teaches us the spirit in which we should pray. With urgency, persistency and an expectant spirit. "George Mueller, the founder of the great faith orphanages in England in the nineteenth century, saw great answers to prayer even though some of the answers were delayed. When he was quite young he began to pray for two of his friends. He prayed for them every day for more than sixty years. One was converted just before Mueller's death at what was probably the last preaching service Mueller held. The other was converted within a year of Mueller's passing. Clearly we ought always to pray and not give up."
Again, we do not know the Lord's will. But we do know that we are to pray.
Thank you, always.
4 comments:
Pray without ceasing...
Throughout my walk with the Lord I have struggled in my flesh with maintaining obedience and dilegence in prayer and yet when on my knees before His throne, I strongly sense this is the best place on this earth to be. With the world constantly pulling us in so many other directions and seeking for our attentions, thank you for the encouragement to remain persistent in our time spent with our Savior! Keeping Ian in my prayers!!!
We DO know the Lord's will. He tells us many times in His word. In Jeremiah He tells us that we have a furture and a hope of welfare and not of calamity. His will is for life and not for death. Ask (and keep asking)and it shall be given to you. Let's ask for Ian's full restoration with confidence. We know that it is the will of God for us to ask persistantly and it will come to pass. For NO good thing does He withhold to those who walk uprightly. We can walk in the blessings of the Lord. We know His will and we can walk in it!
The will of God is exactly what you just said..A persistant prayer.
See what Jesus says in Luke 11:5-9
5Then He said to them, "Suppose one of you has a friend, and goes to him at midnight and says to him, 'Friend, lend me three loaves; for a friend of mine has come to me from a journey, and I have nothing to set before him'; and from inside he answers and says, 'Do not bother me; the door has already been shut and my children and I are in bed; I cannot get up and give you anything.'"I tell you, even though he will not get up and give him anything because he is his friend, yet because of his persistence he will get up and give him as much as he needs. "So I say to you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. "For everyone who asks, receives; and he who seeks, finds; and to him who knocks, it will be opened.
Consider Jesus' words again in Luke 18:1-8
Now He was telling them a parable to show that at all times they ought to pray and not to lose heart, saying, "In a certain city there was a judge who did not fear God and did not respect man. "There was a widow in that city, and she kept coming to him, saying, 'Give me legal protection from my opponent.' "For a while he was unwilling; but afterward he said to himself, 'Even though I do not fear God nor respect man,
yet because this widow bothers me, I will give her legal protection, otherwise by continually coming she will wear me out.'" And the Lord said, "Hear what the unrighteous judge said; now, will not God bring about justice for His elect who cry to Him day and night, and will He delay long over them? "I tell you that He will bring about justice for them quickly. However, when the Son of Man comes, will He find faith on the earth?"
God is faithful! So keep persisting and asking and you will See his faithfulness. Be at rest knowing that our God DESIRES to save, to bless, to free and to lead. There is LIFE blood in that body of his, and we can rejoice at the fact that it's all because of Jesus! Be Blessed!
Larissa, thank you so much for writing this. I am a mom with a prodigal and sometimes get weary, wondering, waiting, praying, sad, trying to stand on the promises... But your post for today is just what I needed to hear.... George Mueller's example, too was very encouraging to me. Thank you for sharing. I continue to pray for Ian, for you, and his family. Sincerely, a stranger, yet one in Christ with you, from Arizona
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