#8 Praying in Secret

Samuel Chadwick: Learning to pray is no light undertaking. If prayer is the greatest achievement on earth, we may be sure it will call for a discipline that corresponds to its power.

   The school of prayer has its conditions and demands. It is a forbidden place to all but those of set purpose and resolute heart. Strong men often break down under the strain of study. Concentration here is a heavier task than handling a hammer or guiding a plow. (Google image, Praying in secret). 

#7 Trained in Prayer

   Samuel Chadwick: Prayer touches infinite extremes. It is so simple that a little child can pray, and it is so profound that none but a child-heart can pray.

   Montgomery's hymn has immortalized its profound simplicity: (Google image, Child praying)

Holiness or Wholly-ness

So many do not understand how low a soul must go To comprehend the love of God Christ died for us to know Assuming they have simply to avoid the fire of hell They have no introspection to see just how far they fell And thus when tried and tempted by the world and other things By loathsome entertainment and the raucous songs it sings They slip and falter until they are deeper in their sin Than when their walk with Jesus did supposedly begin For though it's often taught by those who think themselves quite wise About the Holy Bible and the Spirit's exercise That all we need is cov'ring of Christ's robe of righteousness The Truth is they have no idea of what is holiness For holiness is two things though it's spelled the Godly way It has two applications in what God would have it say One to be wholly covered by Christ's robe of righteousness The other to be wholly His in humble fruitfulness A fruitfulness that starts when we see just how low we are How absolutely wretched are our sins that cause the scars The mar those precious hands and feet and dot that precious brow That perfect love displays today through Christ to show us how God gave His all to save us gave His all to make us one In Him through His great Sacrifice when all is said and done And every soul that clearly sees how evil they have been Have turned away from everything that leads them back to sin For when one who's accepted what Christ Jesus did for them Returns to where they've been before they knew the love of Him They find those sins are stronger and their roots go deeper still Until they have no strength to fight and loose the power of will And give what was the Father's to the father of all lies Who teaches that the soul that sins by virtue never dies And uses this to make them think their loved ones that have passed Will give them love and guidance when in truth they will be cast Into that lake of fire where the devil and his kind Will reap destruction's wages for the evil in their mind When if they'd only listened and abided God's commands Their home would be in heaven where the whole in Christ will stand Jeremiah 18:1-10; Matthew 12:43-45 (Google image, Unhappy man) Holiness or Wholly-ness By Lee Forbes Let's pray- Sharon Jaynes "Heavenly Father, I know that kind words are easy to speak. What I don’t know is why I don’t do it more often. Open my eyes and my mouth to speak kind words to those I come in contact with today. Use me as an instrument of Your grace to sweeten someone’s life today. In Jesus’ Name, Amen. Today's Bible verses-         Proverbs 16:24 (ESV)Gracious words are like         a honeycomb, sweetness to the soul and health         to the body.        Hebrews 4:12 (KJV) "For the word of God is quick,         and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword,         piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and         spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner         of the thoughts and intents of the heart."         Romans 1:16 (KJV) "For I am not ashamed of the         gospel of Christ; for it is the power of God unto         salvation to every one that believeth; . . . " Today's quotes- ~ Oswald Chambers- "If we have never had the experience of taking our casual, religious shoes off our casual, religious feet— getting rid of all the excessive informality with which we approach God— it is questionable whether we have ever stood in His presence. The people who are flippant and disrespectful in their approach to God are those who have never been introduced to Jesus Christ. Only after the amazing delight and liberty of realizing what Jesus Christ does, comes the impenetrable “darkness” of realizing who He is.    Jesus said, “The words that I speak to you are spirit, and they are life” (John 6:63). Once, the Bible was just so many words to us — “clouds and darkness”— then, suddenly, the words become spirit and life because Jesus re-speaks them to us when our circumstances make the words new. That is the way God speaks to us; not by visions and dreams, but by words. When a man gets to God, it is by the most simple way— words. From My Utmost for His Highest Updated Edition  (Emphasis added) ~ Pocket Devotions- "I think it is very important to carefully read Scripture. Otherwise it is easy to miss the significance and placement of the words God has given his messengers to speak to us. Our passage today is a good example. Notice Paul's use of the word "created." As believers, our "righteousness and holiness" is not something we grow into. We were created that way at the time we were first born-again. (John 3:3: Jesus replied, "Very truly I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God unless they are born again."    Some people might read that statement and completely disagree, "How can you say, I am righteous and holy when I still sin?" The righteousness and holiness is in our new spirits that we received from God. (2 Corinthians 5:17: "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!") However, we are still working out this holiness in our actions. (Philippians 2:12: "Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed.")  © 2019 The Pocket Testament League (Emphasis added) Today's guest post- Healing can’t be done alone  Diana Leagh Matthews- "We live in a society, where we are told we should just move on, but that is not healthy. Often times we have to stop and just work through the pain.Digging deep is not easy, but essential to truly healing. But, healing often cannot be done alone. We are made for relationships and often need someone to listen as we pour out our pain." Today's sermon spotlight- JANUARY 20, 2019 Pray for Your Leaders Speaker: Ben Levendusky. Series: 21 Days of Prayer Topic: CFC Madrid Upcoming posts-         #7 Trained In Prayer 29th- Tuesday's post by Samuel Chadwick         #8 Praying in Secret 31st- Thursday's post by Samuel Chadwick        My Rainbow in the Cloud 2/2- Saturday's post by Oswald Chambers         #9 The Secret Place 5th- Tuesday's post by Samuel Chadwick Winter Solstice         Jean's blog (Click to see snippets of the 7 recent posts) Healing Thoughts and Prayers Jean's Craft Brochure Samples of Jean's crafts http://twitter.com/jeanoathout http://facebook.com/jean.oathout Granny's Guide to Marriage in Verse  Helpful ways the Lord helped me in my marriage

#6 Prayer Learned by Praying

   Samuel Chadwick: There is no way 
to learn to pray but by praying. No reasoned philosophy of prayer ever taught a soul to pray. The subject is beset with problems, but there are no problems of prayer to the man who prays!

   They are all met in the fact of answered prayer and the joy of fellowship with God. We know not what we should pray for as we ought, and if prayer waits for understanding it will never begin. 
   We live by faith. We walk by faith. (Google image, Man in blue shirt praying) 

#5 Personality in Prayer

   Samuel Chadwick: It is not other people's prayers that make a man of prayer. All true prayer that prevails, is personal, intimate, and original.

   Hannah protested that she had poured out her soul to God. That is prayer, and yet it is not the whole of prayer. Receptivity is as real a part of prayer as expression. (Google image, Hannah, praying)

Christ invites Us to Draw Near

Rich Carmicheal: Who our Lord Jesus Christ is, and because of what He is able to do, we can fully expect our fellowship with Him to impact our lives and ministries dramatically! 

   For example, consider the following needs and the truths embedded in the accompanying Scriptures: (Google image, Read the Bible!)

#4 Learning to Pray

   Samuel Chadwick: Can prayer be learned? Is it not of the very soul of prayer that it shall be in the freedom of the Spirit?

   John the Baptist gave his disciples a form of prayer, and so the disciples of Jesus asked to be taught to pray (Luke 11:1). (There were not many things they asked him to do for them, and when they did they were usually wrong.) (Google image, Learning to pray)

#3 The Way God Answers Prayer

   Samuel Chadwick- God answers joyously. There is a ring of exultation in the words He speaks to Ananias, like the joyous ring of our Lord's parables of the Lost Sheep, the Lost Coin, and the Lost Son.

   Rejoice with me! "Behold, he prayeth!" There is joy in the heart of God the Father when His lost children begin to pray. He answers like the God He is. (Google image, The obedience of Ananias)

What is Sanctified Living?

Jean Oathout: What one thinks about sanctified living may cause them to have different opinions than others near them, even in their church. Read the following from an earlier post on sanctification:

  When someone hears the Word concerning Christ's sacrifice for their sins on the Cross, some 2,000 years ago, and they believe it's for them, their acceptance of His provision for them seals their future with Him in glory. (Google image, Man reading the Bible)

#2 What God Thinks About Prayer

   

   Samuel Chadwick- The thoughts of God are not as man's thoughts, neither are His ways as man's ways. As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are God's ways higher than man's ways and His thoughts than man's thoughts (see Isa. 55:8-9).

   God has made known His thoughts and His ways in the revelation of His Word and in the Person of His Son. The medium of the revelation is experience, and the occasion is in the events of life in individuals and in history. (Google image, To You, O LORD I offer my prayer)

#1 The Sign of Prayer

Samuel Chadwick- All religions pray. God and prayer are inseparable. Belief in God and belief in prayer are elemental and intuitive.

   The ideas my be crude and cruel in primitive and pagan peoples, but they belong to the universal intuitions of the human race. (Google image, Girl praying God's way)

Conversion Day

There is one day I'll not forget

As long as time shall be,

And that's the day when I was saved

Through faith at Calvary.

I couldn't tell you what I prayed

Or how salvation came,

I only know that since that hour

I've never been the same.

It wasn't any fancy dream

Or stupid man-made deal,

But God, by mercy and His grace,

Made my salvation real.

And as I claimed the Precious Blood

My Savior shed one day,

The old life, with its sin and shame,

Was freely washed away.

The peace and joy and love that came

Into this heart of mine,

Would take an Angel to explain

With words of grace Divine.

It's lasted down through all these years

With value more than gold,

It shall continue till one day

The pearly gates unfold.

It was the day of days for me,

And how I praise His name,

For saving my unworthy soul

From all it's sin and shame.

Without a doubt, of all the days

That ever came my way,

The greatest and the best I've known

Was my conversion day.

Walt Huntley   Conversion Day
(Google image, Men kneeling at the altar) [Great article!] 

Let's pray-

    Father, I'll not forget the day I was saved, either! I was a teenager, attending our regular Sunday night youth meeting in the First Presbyterian church in Schenectady, NY. 
    I don't remember the man's message, but when we were invited to go upstairs to be counseled with, I went.
   A lady met with me, and I said the "sinner's prayer" with her. When I opened my Bible, the very first Scripture verse I read was, Isiah 41:10. Several times over the many years (65+) since then, it has been brought to my attention again, as a reminder that Christ would be with me through whatever I was facing. And He has, too!
   I thank You for saving my unworthy soul from all its sin and shame. Although I wasn't a "great" sinner, I still needed Christ's saving grace to make me His child, and to be on my way to live eternally with Him someday.
   That day was truly the greatest and best day for me, although at the time I had no idea the importance of it. I've proved the Lord's  faithfulness to me ever since my conversion day!
   May my life honor You, Father, and may my readers understand Your Love and Provision for them through Christ's Atonement. Amen.
   

Today's Bible verses-

             

          MATTHEW 18:3 (NIV) " . . . unless you are converted 
       and become as little children, you will by no means 
       enter the kingdom of heaven."  

        Ps. 18:2 (KJV) "The LORD is my rock, and my
       fortress, and my deliverer; my God, my strength,
       in whom I will trust; my buckler, and the horn of my
       salvation, and my high tower."

        2 Cor. 3:18 (NIV) “We all, with unveiled face, 
       beholding the glory of the Lord, are being 
       changed into his likeness from one degree 
       of glory to another; for this comes from the 
       Lord who is the Spirit."


Today's past post on prayer:

#16 Prayerlessness is Sin

   Wesley L. Duewel: "There is NO easier sin to commit than the sin of prayerlessness. It is a sin against man and a sin against God.

Are you guilty of that sin today?"

Today's quote-

~ Oswald Chambers- Continuous Conversion- These words 
[in Matthew 18], of our Lord refer to our initial conversion, but 
we should continue to turn to God as children, being continuously converted every day of our lives.
   No matter what our situation is, the Spirit of God remains unchanged and His salvation unaltered. But we must "put on the new man . . . " (Ephesians 4:24). God holds us accountable every time we refuse to convert ourselves, and He sees our refusal as will-full disobedience. Our natural life must not rule—God must rule in us.
   To refuse to be continuously converted puts a stumbling block in the growth of our spiritual life. There are areas of self-will in our lives where our pride pours contempt on the throne of God and says, "I won't submit."
   We deify our dependence and self-will and call them by the wrong name. What God sees as stubborn weakness, we call strength. There are whole areas of our lives that have not yet been brought into submission, and this can only be done by this continuous conversion.
   Slowly but surely we can claim the whole territory for the Spirit of God. (From My Utmost for His Highest Updated Edition)

Today's sermon spotlight-

SEPTEMBER 9, 2018

Call to Fast

Speaker: Ben Levendusky . Series: Ezra: The Lord's Plan Will Be Completed Topic: CFC Madrid  

Upcoming posts-

     #1 The Sign of Prayer

8th- Tuesday's post by Samuel Chadwick

     #2 What God Thinks About Prayer
10th- Thursday's post by Samuel Chadwick

          What is Sanctified Living?
12th- Saturday's post by Jean Oathout
    
     #3 The Way God Answers Prayer
15th- Tuesday's post by Samuel Chadwick     

    

Jean's blog (Click to see snippets of the 7 recent posts)

Healing Thoughts and Prayers

Jean's Craft Brochure

Samples of Jean's crafts

http://twitter.com/jeanoathout

http://facebook.com/jean.oathout

Granny's Guide to Marriage in Verse 

Helpful ways the Lord helped me in my marriage.