Thursday, January 1, 2009
Morning and Evening: 01/02
Thursday, January 01, 2009—posted by Jim Milligan
» Today's reading at Blue Letter BibleThe Word and Prayer
The Morning and Evening devotion for today exhorts us to read the Word and pray. Not for a ritualistic endeavor or a means of salvation, but for our daily sustenance. The Gospels tell of our Lord's continual practice of prayer (Luk 5:16; Luk 6:12-16; Luk 9:18-27; Mat 14:23-33; Mat 19:13-15; Mrk 14:32-41).
Many commentators have likened the reading of the Word to the manna in the wilderness. The Jews had to accumulate their manna for the day and only for that day (except for the day prior to Sabbath on which they could acquire two days worth). The model being that we must go to the Word to feed our soul for this day. You cannot accumulate a week's worth in one day.
My observation is that many people in the Church think of prayer as primarily a means to make requests of God. And Jesus does allow for that in His model prayer for the disciples. But I believe prayer is a two way communication. It is also a method for God to speak to our hearts through the Holy Spirit, to lead us, to guide us and to comfort us among other things. I think this is most often done in conjunction with His Word. Spurgeon has combined these two aspects of Christian living in today's reading, and exhorts us to their practice.
Many people ask, "What is the will of God for me?" Often they are asking it in relation to some specific decision, hope or expectation in their life. A friend of mine would almost always answer this question with the following:
This is the will of God for you:
- Read (the Word of the LORD)
- Pray (to the LORD)
- Commune (with the saints of the LORD)
Labels: Devotional, Morning and Evening, Spurgeon
posted by Jim Milligan|
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2 Comments:
Going along with the morning devotion, I was reading an article by John Piper on his blog, and he made a list with a bunch of prayer request directly from the New Testament. He encourages us to read through the list to see if we are praying biblical... Of course we can pray for many other things but it's definitely a good starting point....
Here's the link....
http://www.desiringgod.org/ResourceLibrary/Articles/ByDate/1995/1572_What_Should_We_Pray_For/
Also, I remember, I think it was George Mueller who started his morning devotions by reading God's Word, and thus being driven to his knees in prayer by the things he read. Scripture and Prayer must go hand and hand. God's Truth was the very strength of his prayer life...
ok... that's all for now...
Blessings to you all.... from Romania,
Joey Hahne
These are great and sobering thoughts about our prayer lives. I really enjoyed how he emphasizes God's word as our guide in that "we may be certain that whatever God has made prominent in His Word, He intended to be conspicuous in our lives." "If he has said much about prayer it is because he knows we have much need of it."
I think also of Pipers parralel of prayer being a war time walkie talkie for the christian, connecting us to the commander at the headquarters.
I too pray that this year be a new year of greater devotion and growth in our prayer lives. - God bless. JPaisano
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