Thoughts for Life: #39 Prayer and the Commonplace

Samuel Chadwick: Moses and Elijah were not ordinary men. They were so unusual that they were chosen from among all the Old Testament saints to come and talk with Jesus on the mount of Transfiguration.

One was the Leader of the Old Covenant, and other was the most dramatic of its prophets. Their tasks were unique. God called them to duties that demanded frequent and intimate intercourse with Himself. (Google image, Jesus, Moses and Elijah)

The miraculous was conspicuous in all they did. The rod of Moses and the mantle of Elijah were symbols and instruments of power. Their prayers were miracles. They moved in the realm of the infinite.

They controlled the heavens and commanded the earth. At their word rivers and rain were ruled, life and death were commanded, oil and meal multiplied. Greater than these works of power were the results of prayer in illumination and guidance.

God revealed His mind and gave instructions as to His will. In answer to prayer there came the revelation that was beyond human wisdom, and the miracle of the mind was greater than those of material power.

Prayer and Ordinary Folk

The dramatic stories of prevailing prayer in the Bible have made a profound impression upon the minds of ordinary people. It has standardized a miracle as the normal working power of prayer. It is the true standard, for all prayer is supernatural in its working, but it has its discouraging influence.

Moses stands alone, and though Elijah was a man of like passions with ourselves, he was no ordinary man and his task was by no means commonplace. What about the people in whose life there is no opportunity for either privacy or leisure, and whose duties are an unrelieved monotony of mechanical commonplace?

Is prayer only for exceptional people and exceptional circumstances? Or has it a place and a work in lives of ordinary gifts and common place living?

Of the New Testament success of Elijah—John the Baptist—it is said that he did no miracle. He was not less a man of prayer than his Old Testament predecessor, but food did not multiply at his touch, he raised no dead, and neither water nor fire was at his command.

The only miracles in him were in personality, in discernment, and in truth. So we find that supernatural power may work along normal lines of natural law.

Ordinary people may pray about commonplace things, and the answer to their prayers may be in an enlightened mind, a triumphant soul, steadfast faith, and a holy life.

There may be no miraculous incidents, but prayer lifts the lowliest and most ordinary life to the exalted plane of the supernatural, and that is the greatest miracle of all.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

THE PATH OF PRAYER
By Samuel Chadwick
(Click on the title to buy)

Used by the permission of

www.cliffcollege.ac.uk
(Emphasis added)

Let's pray-

Father, we can see that Moses and Elijah were not ordinary men, as they were selected from all the Old Testament saints to come and talk with Jesus on the mount of Transfiguration.

The rod of Moses and the mantle of Elijah were symbols and instruments of power. Their prayers were miracles. They moved in the realm of the infinite.

We read that they controlled the heavens and commanded the earth, as rivers and rain were ruled, and life and death were commanded, and oil and meal multiplied.

Is prayer only for exceptional people and exceptional circumstances? Or has it a place and a work in lives of ordinary gifts and common place living?, some ask.

We've found that ordinary people pray about commonplace things. Their prayers are answered by the enlightening of their minds, which causes them to triumph in their souls. You help them become steadfast in their faith and to begin to live holy lives.
There may be no miraculous incidents, but prayer lifts the lowliest and most ordinary life to the exalted plane of the supernatural, and that is the greatest miracle of all.
We pray for help in our praying, that we'll be more effective in believing that You not only hear us, but are willing and ready to answer our commonplace prayers. We ask this in Jesus' name. Amen.

An interesting and special link: 10 Wife-Commandments for a Strong Marriage by Karen

Today's Bible verses-

Romans 12:1, 2 (MSG) "So here's what I want you

to do, God helping you: Take your everyday, ordinary

life—your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and

walking around life—and place it before God as an

offering. Embracing what God does for you is the

best thing you can do for him.

Don't become so well-adjusted to your culture that

you fit into it without even thinking. Instead, fix your

attention on God. You'll be changed from the inside

out. Readily recognize what he wants from you, and

quickly respond to it. Unlike the culture around you,

always dragging you down to its level of immaturity,

God brings the best out of you, develops well-formed

maturity in you."

Today's quotes-

~ R. A. Torrey- "Great revivals always begin in the hearts of a few men and women whom God arouses by his Spirit to believe in him as a living God. They believe he is a God who answers prayer. Upon their heart he lays a burden from which no rest can be found except in persistent crying unto God."

~ Miranda Roth- "We do not need to be chained to our past. It does not need to define us, or our children. We do not ever have to say, 'If only my life would have been different,' or 'If only I (or my children) could have had a better start.' We have the power of the Holy Spirit to bring about change. We are not bound by our past or the past of our ancestors. Those chains are gone!"

(p. 11 of ABOVE RUBIES, magazine, Issue: 96)

Did you know?

~ Folks need someone to believe in them in order to grow into their potential.

~ When we speak about our identity in Christ, we're prone to live from that place of faith and surrender.

Today's popular post-

#82 The Power of Agreement

Dr. Wesley L. Duewel: "If everyone who asks receives and everyone who seeks finds, and if to everyone who knocks, the door is opened (Matt. 7:7), then how much more can be expected when two, five, or ten unitedly ask, seek, and knock?"

Today's sermon spotlight-

APRIL 28, 2019