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From Our Hearts by Jim & Debbie Ehrhard

January 8, 2010 by ADMIN

Prayer – “it is so essential to Christianity, that you might as reasonably expect to find a living man without breath, as a true Christian without the spirit of prayer and supplication.”  So writes George Whitefield in his message, “Intercession—Every Christian’s Duty.”

Yet strangely, prayer is often one of the most neglected disciplines in the Christian life.  This seems to be especially true among believers that hold to a more Reformed view of God’s sovereignty.  In these circles, many often wonder about the effectiveness of prayer since God has already determined and decreed whatever happens before the beginning of time.  But Jesus taught his disciples to ask, “Until now, you have asked nothing in my name.  Ask and you shall received that your joy may be made full” (John 16:24).  James likewise tells us, “Ye have not because ye ask not” (James 4:2).  Clearly passages like this remind us of the importance of praying.  In this issue, John Calvin’s essay on Prayer addresses many of these concerns.

For others, Spurgeon’s two sermons may provide much needed encouragement in the area of prayer.  In the “The Golden Key of Prayer,” Spurgeon reminds us of the importance of calling upon the Lord in prayer.  His “Comfort for Those Whose Prayers Are Feeble” is an excellent encouragement for those who struggle in prayer.

We have also included two articles that provide some practical exhortation on prayer.  Whitefield’s sermon on Intercession challenges believers to become involved in the work of prayer and Pink’s “Family Worship” provides a call to believers to consider meeting together and praying together as a family.

Most important in this issue on prayer are the two articles on the nature of God, one by Jonathan Edwards and the other by A. W. Pink.  At the heart of any theology of prayer is a right theology of God.  In both of these articles, we are reminded of the type of God to whom we pray—He is a “Prayer-Hearing God” and “The God of All Grace.”  Both keep us god-centered in our view of prayer.

We hope this issue provides you an encouragement to pray—boldly, regularly, and expectantly.  But no greater encouragement is really needed than the invitation of our Father, “Call unto me and I will answer thee and show thee great and mighty things that thou knowest not.”

By His Grace, Jim & Debbie

Posted in Uncategorized |

Comfort For Those Whose Prayers Are Feeble by C. H. Spurgeon

January 8, 2010 by ADMIN

“Hide not thine ear at my breathing.” — Lamentations 3:56.

Young beginners in grace are very apt to compare themselves with advanced disciples, and so to become discouraged; and tried saints fall into the like habit.  They see those of God’s people who are upon the mount, enjoying the light of their Redeemer’s countenance, and, comparing their own condition with the joy of the saints, they write bitter things against themselves, and conclude that surely they are not the people of God.  This course is as foolish as though the lambs should suspect themselves not to be of the cloak because they are not sheep, or as though a sick man should doubt his existence because he is not able to walk or run as a man in good health.  But since this evil habit is very common, it is our duty to seek after the dispirited and cast-down ones, and comfort them.  That is our errand in this short discourse.  We hear the Master’s words, “Comfort ye, comfort ye my people,” and we will endeavor to obey them by his Spirit’s help.

Upon the matter of prayer, many are dispirited because they cannot yet pray as advanced believers do, or because, during some peculiar crisis of their spiritual history, their prayers do not appear to them to be so fervent and acceptable as is the case with other Christians.  Perhaps God may have a message to some troubled ones in the present address, and may the Holy Ghost apply it with power to such!

“Hide not thine ear as my breathing.”  This is a singular description of prayer, is it not?  Frequently, prayer is said to have a voice; it is so in this verse: “Thou hast heard my voice.”  Prayer has a melodious voice in the ear of our Heavenly Father.  Frequently, too, prayer is expressed by a cry.  It is so in this verse: “Hide not thine ear at my cry.”  A cry is the natural, plaintive utterance of sorrow, and has as much power to move the heart of God as a babe’s cry to touch a mother’s tenderness.

But there are times when we cannot speak with the voice, nor even cry, and then a prayer may be expressed by a moan, or a groan, or a tear, — “the heaving of a sigh, the falling of a tear.”  But, possibly, we may not even get so far as that, and may have to say, like one of old, “Like a crane or a swallow, so do I chatter.”  Our prayer, as heard by others, may be a kind of irrational utterance.  We may feel as if we moaned like wounded beasts, rather than prayed like intelligent men; and we may even fall below that, for, in the text, we have a kind of prayer which is less than a moan or a sigh.  It is called a breathing: “Hide not thine ear at my breathing.”  The man is too far gone for a glance of the eye, or the moaning of the heart, he scarcely breathes, but that, faint breath is prayer.  Though unuttered and unexpressed by any sounds which could reach a human ear, yet God hears the breathing of his servant’s soul, and hides not his ear from it.  We shall teach three or four lessons from the present use of the expression “breathing.”

I. When We Cannot Pray As We Would, It Is Good To Pray As We Can.

Bodily weakness should never be urged by us as a reason for ceasing to pray; in fact, no living child of God will ever think of such a thing.  If I cannot bend the knees of my body because I am so weak, my prayers from my bed shall be on their knees, my heart shall to on its knees, and pray as acceptably as aforetime.  Instead of relaxing prayer because the body suffers, true hearts, at such times, usually double their petitions.  Like Hezekiah, they turn their face to the wall that they may see no earthly object, and then they look at the things invisible, and talk with the Most High, ay, and often in a sweeter and more familiar manner than they did in the days of their health and strength.  If we are so faint that we can only lie still and breathe, let every breath be prayer.

Nor should a true Christian relax his prayer through mental difficulties, I mean those perturbations which distract the mind, and prevent the concentration of our thoughts.  Such ills will happen to us.  Some of us are often much depressed, and are frequently so tossed to and fro in mind that, if prayer were an operation which required the faculties to be all at their best, as in the working of abstruse mathematical problems, we should not at such times be able to pray at all.  But, brethren, when the mind is very heavy, then is not the time to give up praying, but rather to redouble our supplications.  Our blessed Lord and Master was driven by distress of mind into the most sad condition; he said, “My soul is exceeding sorrowful, even unto death;” yet he did not for that reason say, “I cannot pray;” but, on the contrary, he sought the well-known shades of the olive grove, and there unburdened his heavy heart, and poured out his soul like water before the Lord.  Never let us consider ourselves to be too ill or too distracted to pray.

A Christian ought never to be in such a state of mind that he feels bound to say, “I do not feel that I could pray;” or, if he does, let him pray till he feels he can pray.  Not to pray because you do not feel fit to pray is like saying, “I will not take medicine because I am too ill.”  Pray for prayer: pray yourself, by the Spirit’s assistance, into a praying frame.  It is good to strike when the iron is hot, but some make cold iron hot by striking.  We have sometimes eaten till we have gained an appetite, so let us pray till we pray.

God will help you in the pursuit of duty, not in the neglect of it.  The same is the case with regard to spiritual sicknesses. Sometimes it is not merely the body or the mind which is affected, but our inner nature is dull, stupid, lethargic, so that, when it is time for prayer, we do not feel the spirit of prayer.  Moreover, perhaps our faith is flagging, and how shall we pray when faith is so weak?  Possibly we are suspicious as to whether we are the people of God at all, and we are molested by the recollection of our shortcomings.  Now the tempter will whisper, “Do not pray just now; your heart is not in a fit condition for it.”  My dear brother, you will not become fit for prayer by keeping away from the mercy-seat, but to lie groaning or breathing at its foot is the best preparation for pleading before the Lord.

We are not to aim at a self-wrought preparation of our hearts that we may come to God aright, but “the preparations of the heart in man, and the answer of the tongue, are from the Lord.”  If I feel myself disinclined to pray, then is the time when I need to pray more than ever.  Possibly, when the soul leaps and exults in communion with God, it might more safely refrain from prayer than at those seasons when it drags heavily in devotion.  Alas! my Lord, does my soul go wandering away from thee?  Then, come back my heart, I will drag thee back by force of grace, I will not cease to cry till the Spirit of God has made thee return to thine allegiance.  What, my Christian brother, because thou feelest idle, is that a reason why thou shouldst stay thine hand, and not serve thy God?  Nay, but away with thine idleness, and resolutely bend thy soul to service.  So, under a sense of prayerlessness, be more intent on prayer.  Repent that thou canst not repent, groan that thou canst not groan, and pray until thou dost pray; in so doing God will help thee.

But, it may be objected, that sometimes we are placed in great difficulty as to circumstances, so that we may be excused from prayer.  Brethren, there are no circumstances in which we should cease to pray in some form or other.  “But I have so many cares.”  Who among us has not?  If we are never to pray till all our cares are over, surely then we shall either never pray at all, or pray when we have no more need for it.  What did Abram do when he offered sacrifice to God?  When the patriarch had slaughtered the appointed creatures, and laid them on the altar, certain vultures and kites came hovering around, ready to pounce upon the consecrated flesh.  What did the patriarch do then?  “When the fowls came down upon the carcasses, Abram drove them away.”  So must we ask for grace to drive our cares away from our devotions.

That was a wise direction which the prophet gave to the poor woman when the Lord was about to multiply her oil.  “Go, take the cruse,” he said, “pour out the oil, and fill the borrowed vessels;” but what did he also say?  “Shut the door upon thee.”  If the door had been open, some of her gossiping neighbors would have looked in, and said, “What are you doing?  Do you really hope to fill all these jars out of that little oil cruse?  Why, woman, you must be mad!”  I am afraid she would not have been able to perform that act of faith if the objectors had not been shut out.  It is a grand thing when the soul can bolt the doors against distractions, and keep out those intruders; for then it is that prayer and faith will perform their miracle, and our soul shall be filled with the blessing of the Lord.  Oh, for grace to overcome circumstances, and, at least to breathe out prayer, if we cannot reach to a more powerful form of it!

Perhaps, however, you declare that your circumstances are more difficult than I can imagine, for you are surrounded by those who mock you, and, besides, Satan himself molests you. Ah! then, dear brother or sister, under such circumstances, instead of restraining prayer, be ten times more diligent.  Your position is pre-eminently perilous, you cannot afford to live away from the throne of grace, do not therefore attempt it.  As to threatened persecution, pray in defiance of it.  Remember how Daniel opened his window, and prayed to his God as he had done aforetime.  Let the God of Daniel be your God in the chamber of prayer, and he will be your God in the lion’s den.  As for the devil, be sure that nothing will drive him away like prayer.  That couplet is correct which declares that —

“Satan trembles when he sees

The weakest saint upon his knees.”

Whatever thy position, if thou canst not speak, cry; if thou canst not cry, groan, if thou canst not groan, let there be “groanings which cannot be uttered;” and if thou canst not even rise to that point, let thy prayer be at least a breathing, — a vital, sincere desire, the outpouring of thine inner life in the simplest and weakest form, and God will accept it.  In a word, when you cannot pray as you would, take care to pray as you can.

II. But now, a second word of instruction.  It is clear from the text, from many other passages of Scripture, and from general observation, that THE BEST OF MEN HAVE USUALLY FOUND THE GREATEST FAULT WITH THEIR OWN PRAYERS.

This arises from the fact that they present living prayers in real earnest, and feel far more than they can express.  A mere formalist can always pray so as to please himself.  What has he to do but to open his book, and read the prescribed words, or bow his knee, and repeat such phrases as suggest themselves to his memory or his fancy?  Like the Tartarian Praying Machine, give but the wind and the wheel, and the business is fully arranged.  So much knee-bending and talking, and the prayer is done.  The formalist’s prayers are always good, or, rather, always bad, alike.  But the living child of God never offers a prayer which pleases himself; his standard is above his attainments; he wonders that God listens to him, and though he knows he will be heard for Christ’s sake, yet he accounts it a wonderful instance of condescending mercy that such poor prayers as his should ever reach the ears of the Lord God of Sabbath.

If it be asked in what respect holy men find fault with their prayers, we reply, that they complain of the narrowness of their desires. O God, thou hast bidden me open my mouth wide, and thou wilt fill it, but I do not open my mouth!  Thou art ready to bestow great things upon me, but I am not ready to receive great things. I am straitened, but it is not in thee; I am straitened in my own desires.  Dear brethren, when we read of Hugh Latimer on his knees perpetually crying out, “O God, give back the gospel to England,” and sometimes praying so long that he could not rise, being an aged man, and they had to lift him up from the prison-floor, and he would still keep on crying, “O God, give back the gospel to poor England,” we may well wonder that some of us do not pray in the same way.  The times are as bad as Latimer’s, and we have as great need to pray as he had, “O God, drive away this Popery once again, and give back the gospel to England.”  Then, think of John Knox.  Why, that man’s prayers were like great armies for power, and he would wrestle all night with God that he would kindle the light of the gospel in Scotland.  He averred that he had gained his desire, and I believe he had, and that the light which burns so brightly in Scotland is much to be attributed to that man’s supplications.

We do not pray like these men; we have no heart to ask for great things.  A revival is waiting, the cloud is hovering over England, and we do not know how to bring it down.  Oh, that God may find some true spirits who shall be as conductors to bring down the fire divine!  We want it much, but our poor breathings – they do not come to much more – have no force, nor expansiveness, no great-heartedness, no prevalence in them.

Then, how far we fail in the matter of faith! We do not pray as if we believed.  Believing prayer is a grasping and a wrestling, but ours is a mere puffing and blowing, a little breathing,-not much more.  God is true, and we pray to him as if he were false.  He means what he says, and we treat, his Word as if it were spoken in jest.  The master-fault of our prayer is want of faith.

How often do we lack earnestness! Such men as Luther had their will of heaven because they would have it.  God’s Spirit made them resolute in intercession, and they would not come away from the mercy-seat till their suit was granted; but we are cold, and consequently feeble, and our poor, poor prayers, in the prayer-meeting, in the closet, and at the family altar, languish and almost die.

How much, alas, is there of impurity of motive to mar our prayers!  We ask for revival, but we want our own church to got the blessing, that we may have the credit of it.  We pray God to bless our work, and it is because we wish to hear men say what good workers we are.  The prayer is good in itself, but our smutty fingers spoil it.  Oh, that we could offer supplication as it should be offered!  Blessed be God, there is One who can wash our prayers for us; but, truly, our very tears need to be wept over, and our prayers want praying over again.  The best thing we ever do needs to be washed in the fountain filled with blood, or God can only look upon it as a sin.

Another fault good men see in their supplications is this, that they stand at such a distance from God in praying, they do not draw near enough to him.  Are not some of you oppressed with a sense of the distance there is between you and God?  You know there is a God, and you believe he will answer you; but it is not always that you come right up to him, even to his feet, and, as it were, lay hold upon him, and say, “O my Father, hearken to the voice of thy chosen, and let the cry of the blood of thy Son come up before thee!”  Oh, for prayers which enter within the veil, and approach to the mercy-seat!  Oh, for petitioners who are familiar with the cherubim, and the brightness which shines between their wings!  May God help us to pray better! But this I feel sure of, you who plead most prevalently are just those who will think the least of your own prayers, and be most grateful to God that he deigns to listen to you, and most anxious that he would help you to pray after a nobler sort.

III. A third lesson is this, THE POWER OF PRAYER IS NOT TO BE MEASURED BY ITS OUTWARD EXPRESSION.

A breathing is a prayer from which God does not hide his ear.  It is a great truth undoubtedly, and full of much comfort too, that our prayers are not powerful in proportion to their expression; for, if so, the Pharisee would have succeeded, since he evidently had greater gifts than the Publican had.  I have no doubt, if there had been a regular prayer meeting, and the Pharisee and the Publican had attended, we should have called on the Pharisee to pray.  I do not think the people of God would have enjoyed his prayer, nor have felt any kinship of spirit with him; and yet, very naturally, on account of his gifts, he would have taken upon himself to engage in public devotion; or, if that Pharisee would not have done so, I have heard of other Pharisees who would.  No doubt the man’s spirit was bad, but then his expression was good.  He could put his oration so neatly, and pour it out so accurately.  Let all men know that God does not care for that.  The sigh of the Publican reached his ear, and won the blessing but the boastful phrases of the Pharisee wore an abomination unto him.

If our prayers were forcible according to their expression, then rhetoric would be more valuable than grace, and a scholastic education would be better than sanctification; but it is not so.  Some of us may be able to express ourselves very fluently from the force of natural gifts, but it should always be to us an anxious question whether our prayer is a prayer which God will receive; for we ought to know, and must know by this time, that we often pray best when we stammer and stutter, and we pray worst when words come rolling like a torrent, one after another.  God is not moved by words; they are but a noise to him.  He is only moved by the deep thought and the heaving emotion which dwell in the innermost spirit.  It were a sorry business for you, who are poor, if God only heard us according to the beauty of our utterances; for it may be that your education was so neglected that there is no hope of your ever being able to speak grammatically; and, besides, it may be, from your limited information, that you could not use the phrases which sound to well.  But the Lord hears the poor, and the ignorant, and the needy; he loves to hear their cry.  What cares he for the grammar of the prayer?  It is the soul of it that he wants; and if you cannot string three words of the Queen’s English together correctly, yet, if your soul can breathe itself out before the Most High anyhow, if it be but warm, hearty, sincere, earnest petitioning, there is power in your prayer, and none the less power in it because of its broken words, nor would it be an advantage to you, so far as the Lord is concerned, if those words were not broken, but were well composed.

Ought not this to comfort us, then?  Even if we are gifted with facility of expression, we sometimes find that our power of utterance fails us.  Under very heavy grief, a man cannot speak as he was wont to do.   Circumstances can make the most eloquent tongue grow slow of speech; it matters not, your prayer is as good as it was before.  You call upon God in public, and you sit down, and think that your confused prayer was of no service to the church.  You know not in what scales God weighs your prayer; not by quantity, but by quality, not by the outward dress of verbiage, but by the inner soul and the intense earnestness that was in it does he compute its value.  Do you not sometimes rise from your knees in your little room, and say, “I do not think I have prayed, I could not feel at home in prayer?”  Nine times out of every ten, those prayers are most prevalent with God which we think are the least acceptable; but when we glory in our prayer, God will have nothing to do with it.  If you see any beauty in your own supplication, God will not; for you have evidently been looking at your prayer, and not at him.  But when your soul sees so much his glory that she cries, “How shall I speak unto thee, I who am but dust and ashes?” when she sees so much his goodness that she is hampered in expression by the depth of her own humiliation, oh, then it is that your prayer is best.  There may be more prayer in a groan than in an entire liturgy; there may be more acceptable devotion in a tear that damps the floor of yonder pew than in all the hymns we have sung, or in all the supplications which we have uttered.  It is not the outward, it is the inward; it is not the lips, it is the heart which the Lord regards; if you can only breathe, still your prayer is accepted by the Most High.

I desire that this truth may come home to any one of you who says, “I cannot pray.”  It is not true.  If it were necessary that, in order to pray, you should talk for a quarter of an hour together, or that you should say pretty things, why then I would admit that you could not pray; but if it is only to say from your heart, “God be merciful to me a sinner;” ay, and if prayer is not saying anything at all, but desiring, longing, hoping for mercy, for pardon, for salvation, no man may say, “I cannot,” unless he is honest enough to add, “I cannot because I will not; I love my sins too well, and have no faith in Christ; I do not desire to be saved.”  If you will to pray, O my hearer, you can pray! He who gives the will joins the ability to it.

And oh! let me say, do not sleep this night until you have tried and proved the power of prayer.  If you feel a burden on your heart, tell the Lord of it.  Cover your face, and speak with him.  Even that you need not do, for I suppose that Hannah did not cover her face when Eli saw her lips move, and supposed that, she was drunken.  Nay, your lips need not even move; your soul can now say, “Save me, my God, convince me of sin, lead me to the cross; save me to-night; let me not and another day as thine enemy; let me not go into the cares of another week unabsolved, with thy wrath hanging over me like a thunder-cloud!  Save me, save me, O my God!”  Such prayers, though utterly wordless, shall not be powerless, but shall be heard in heaven.

IV. We will close with a fourth practical lesson, FEEBLE PRAYERS ARE HEARD IN HEAVEN.

Why is it that feeble prayers are understood of God and heard in heaven?  There are three reasons.

First, the feeblest prayer, if it be sincere, is written by the Holy Spirit upon the heart, and God will always own the handwriting of the Holy Spirit. Frequently, certain kind friends from Scotland send me for the Orphanage some portions of what one of them called the other day “filthy lucre,” — namely, dirty £1 notes. Now these £1 notes certainly look as if they were of small value.  Still, they bear the proper signature, and they pass well enough, and I am very grateful for them.  Many a prayer that is written on the heart by the Holy Spirit seems written with faint ink, and, moreover, it appears to be blotted and defiled by our imperfection; but the Holy Spirit can always read his own handwriting.  He knows his own notes; and when he has issued a prayer, he will not disown it.  Therefore, the breathing which the Holy Ghost works in us will be acceptable with God.

Moreover, God, our ever-blessed Father, has a quick ear to hear the breathing of any of his children. When a mother has a sick child, it is marvelous how quick her ears become while attending it.  Good woman, we wonder she does not fall asleep.  If you hired a nurse, it is ten to one she would.  But the dear child, in the middle of the night, does not need to cry for water, or even speak; there is a little quick breathing, who will hear it!  No one would except the mother; but her ears are quick, for they are in her child’s heart.  So, if there is a heart in the world that longs for God, God’s ear is already in that poor sinner’s heart.  He will hear it.  There is not a good desire on earth but the Lord has heard it.  I recollect when, at one time, I was a little afraid to preach the gospel to sinners as sinners, and yet I wanted to do so, so I used to say, “If you have but a millionth part of a desire, come to Christ.”  I dare say more than that now; but, at the same time, I will say that at once, if you have a millionth part of a desire, if you have only a little breathing, if you desire to be reconciled, if you desire to be pardoned, if you would be forgiven, if there is only half a good thought formed in your soul, do not check it, do not stifle it, and do not think that God will reject it.

And, then, there is another reason, namely, that the Lord Jesus Christ is always ready to take the most imperfect prayer, and perfect it for us. If our prayers had to go up to heaven as they are, they would never succeed; but they find a Friend on the way, and therefore they prosper.  A poor person has a petition to be sent in to some government personage, and if he had to write is himself, it would puzzle all the officers in Downing Street to make out what he meant; but he is wise enough to find out a friend who can write, or he comes round to his minister, and says, “Sir, will you make this petition right for me?  Will you put it into good English, so that it can be presented?  And then the petition goes in a very different form.  Even thus, the Lord Jesus Christ takes our poor prayers, fashions them over again, and presents the petition with the addition of his own signature, and the Lord sends us answers of peace.  The feeblest prayer in the world is heard when it has Christ’s seal to it.  I mean, he puts his precious blood upon it; and wherever God sees the blood of Jesus, he must and will accept the desire which it endorses.  Go thou to Jesus, sinner, even if thou canst not pray, and let the breathing of thy soul be, “Be merciful to me, wash me, cleanse me, save me,” and it shall be done; for God will not hear your prayer so much as hear his Son’s blood, “which speaketh better things than that of Abel.”  A louder voice than yours shall prevail for you, and your feeble breathings shall come up to God covered over with the omnipotent pleadings of the great High Priest who never asks in vain.

I have been aiming thus to comfort those distressed ones who say they cannot pray; but, ere; I close, I must add, how inexcusable are those who, knowing all this, continue, prayerless, Godless, and Christless!  If there were no mercy to be had, you could not be blamed for not having it.  If there were no Savior for sinners, a sinner might be excused for remaining in his sin.  But there is a fountain, and it is open; why then wash ye not in it?

Mercy is to be had “without money and without price,” — it is to be had by asking for it.  Sometimes poor men are shut up in the condemned cell, sentenced to be hanged; but suppose they could have a free pardon by asking for it, and they did not do so, who would pity them?  God will give his blessing to everyone who is moved to seek for it sincerely as his hands on this one sole and only condition, that the soul will trust in Jesus; and even that is not a condition, for he gives repentance and faith, and enables sinners to believe in his dear Son.

Behold Christ crucified, the saddest and yet the gladdest sight the sun ever beheld!  Behold the eternal Son of God made flesh, and bleeding out his life!  A surpassing marvel of woe and love!  A look at him will save you.  Though ye are on the borders of the grave, and on the brink of hell, by one look at Jesus crucified your guilt shall be cancelled, your debts for ever discharged before the throne of God, and yourselves led into joy and peace. Oh, that you would give that look!  Breathe the prayer, “Lord, give me the faith of thine elect, and save me with a great salvation!”  Though it be only breathing, yet, as the old Puritan says, when God feels the breath of his child upon his face, he smiles; and he will feel your breath, and smile on you, and bless you.  May he do so, for his name’s sake!  Amen.

Posted in C. H. Spurgeon |

Family Worship by A.W. Pink

January 8, 2010 by ADMIN

There are some very important outward ordinances and means of grace which are plainly implied in the Word of God, but for the exercise of which we have few, if any, plain and positive precept; rather are we left to gather them from the example of holy men and from various incidental circumstances.  An important end is answered by this arrangement: trial is thereby made of the state of our hearts.  It serves to make evident whether, because an expressed command cannot be brought requiring its performance, professing Christians will neglect a duty plainly implied.  Thus, more of the real state of our minds is discovered, and it is made manifest whether we have or have not an ardent love for God and His service. This holds good both of public and family worship.  Nevertheless, it is not at all difficult to prove the obligation of domestic piety.

Consider first the example of Abraham, the father of the faithful and the friend of God.  It was for his domestic piety that he received blessing from Jehovah Himself, “For I know him, that he will command his children and household after him, and they shall keep the way of the Lord, to do justice and judgment” (Genesis 18:19).  The patriarch is here commended for instructing his children and servants in the most important of all duties, “the way of the Lord”—the truth about His glorious person.  Note well the words “he will command” them, that is, he would use the authority God had given him as a father and head of his house, to enforce the duties of family godliness.  Abraham also prayed with as well as instructed his family: wherever he pitched his tent, there he “built an altar to the Lord” (Genesis 12:7; 13:4).

Now my readers, we may well ask ourselves, Are we “Abraham’s seed” (Galatians 3:29) if we “do not the works of Abraham” (John 8:39) and neglect the weighty duty of family worship?  The example of other holy men are similar to that of Abraham’s.  Consider the pious determination of Joshua who declared to Israel, “As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord” (24:15).  Neither the exalted station which he held, nor the pressing public duties which developed upon him, were allowed to crowd out his attention to the spiritual well-being of his family. Again, when David brought back the ark of God to Jerusalem with joy and thanksgiving, after discharging his public duties, he “returned to bless his household” (2 Sam. 6:20).  In addition to these eminent examples, we may cite the cases of Job (1:5) and Daniel (6:10).  Limiting ourselves to only one in the New Testament, we think of the history of Timothy, who was reared in a godly home. Paul called to remembrance the “unfeigned faith” which was in him, and added, “which dwelt first in thy grandmother Lois and thy mother Eunice.” Is there any wonder then that the apostle could say, “from a child thou hast known the Holy Scriptures” (2 Timothy 3:15)!

On the other hand, we may observe what fearful threatenings are pronounced against those who disregard this duty.  We wonder how many of our readers have seriously pondered these awe-inspiring words: “Pour out Thy fury upon the heathen that know Thee not, and upon the families that call not on Thy name” (Jeremiah 10:25)!  How unspeakably solemn to find that prayerless families are here coupled with the heathen that know not the Lord.  Yet need that surprise us?  Why, there are many heathen families who unite together in worshiping their false gods.  And do not they put thousands of professing Christians to shame?  Observe too that Jeremiah 10:25 recorded a fearful imprecations upon both classes alike: “Pour out Thy fury upon…” How loudly should these words speak to us.

It is not enough that we pray as private individuals in our closets; we are required to honor God in our families as well.  At least twice each day—in the morning and in the evening—the whole household should be gathered together to bow before the Lord—parents and children, master and servant—to confess their sins, to give thanks for God’s mercies, to seek His help and blessing. Nothing must be allowed to interfere with this duty: all other domestic arrangements are to bend to it.  The head of the house is the one to lead the devotions, but if he be absent, or seriously ill, or an unbeliever, then the wife would take his place.  Under no circumstances should family worship be omitted.  If we would enjoy the blessing of God upon our family, then let its members gather together daily for praise and prayer.  “Them that honor Me, I will honor” is His promise.

An old writer well said, “A family without prayer is like a house without a roof, open and exposed to all the storms of Heaven.” All our domestic comforts and temporal mercies issue from the lovingkindness of the Lord, and the best we can do in return is to gratefully acknowledge, together, His goodness to us as a family.  Excuses against the discharge of this sacred duty are idle and worthless.  Of what avail will it be when we render an account to God for the stewardship of our families to say that we had not time available, working hard from morn till eve?  The more pressing be our temporal duties, the greater our need of seeking spiritual succor.  Nor may any Christian plead that he is not qualified for such a work: gifts and talents are developed by use and not by neglect.

Family worship should be conducted reverently, earnestly and simply.  It is then that the little ones will receive their first impressions and form their initial conceptions of the Lord God. Great care needs to be taken lest a false idea be given them of the Divine Character, and for this the balance must be preserved between dwelling upon His transcendency and immanency, His holiness and His mercy, His might and His tenderness, His justice and His grace.  Worship should begin with a few words of prayer invoking God’s presence and blessing.  A short passage from His Word should follow, with brief comments thereon.  Two or three verses of a Psalm may be sung.  Close with a prayer of committal into the hands of God.  Though we may not be able to pray eloquently, we should earnestly.  Prevailing prayers are usually brief ones.  Beware of wearying the young ones.

The advantages and blessings of family worship are incalculable.  First, family worship will prevent much sin.  It awes the soul, conveys a sense of God’s majesty and authority, sets solemn truths before the mind, brings down benefits from God on the home.  Personal piety in the home is a most influential means, under God, of conveying piety on the little ones.  Children are largely creatures of imitation, loving to copy what they see in others.  “He established a testimony in Jacob and appointed a law in Israel, which He commanded our fathers that they should make them known to their children: That the generation to come might know them, even the children which should be born; who should arise and declare them to their children: That they might set their hope in God, and not forget the works of God, but keep His commandments” (Psalm 78:5-7).  How much of the dreadful moral and spiritual conditions of the masses today may be traced back to the neglect of their fathers in this duty?  How can those who neglect the worship of God in their families look for peace and comfort therein?  Daily prayer in the home is a blessed means of grace for allaying those unhappy passions to which our common nature is subject.  Finally, family prayer gains for us the presence and blessing of the Lord.  There is a promise of His presence which is peculiarly applicable to this duty: see Matthew 18:19-20.  Many have found in family worship that help and communion with God which they sought for and with less effect in private prayer.

Posted in A. W. Pink |

Intercession Every Christian’s Duty by George Whitefield

January 8, 2010 by ADMIN

“Brethren, pray for us.” – 1 Thessalonians 5:25

If we inquire, why there is so little love to be found amongst Christians, why the very characteristic by which every one should know that we are disciples of the holy Jesus, is almost banished out of the Christian world, we shall find it, in a great measure, owing to a neglect or superficial performance of that excellent part of prayer, INTERCESSION, or imploring the divine grace and mercy in behalf of others.

Some forget this duty of praying for others, because they seldom remember to pray for themselves: and even those who are constant in praying to their Father who is in heaven are often so selfish in their addresses to the throne of grace, that they do not enlarge their petitions for the welfare of their fellow Christians as they ought; and thereby fall short of attaining that Christian charity, that unfeigned love to their brethren, which their sacred profession obliges them to aspire after, and without which, though they should bestow all their goods to feed the poor, and even give their bodies to be burned, yet it would profit them nothing.  Since these things are so, I shall from the words of the text (though originally intended to be more confined) endeavor, to show, first, that it is every Christian’s duty to pray for others as well as for himself; secondly, show, whom we ought to pray for, and in what manner we should do it; and thirdly, I shall offer some motives to excite all Christians to abound in this great duty of intercession.

I. First, it is every Christian’s duty to pray for others, as well as for himself.

Now PRYER is a duty founded on natural religion; the very heathens never neglected it, though many Christian heathens amongst us do: and it is so essential to Christianity, that you might as reasonably expect to find a living man without breath, as a true Christian without the spirit of prayer and supplication.  Thus, no sooner was St. Paul converted, but “behold he prayeth,” saith the Lord Almighty.  And thus will it be with every child of God, as soon as he becomes such: prayer being truly called, The natural cry of the new-born soul.  For in the heart of every true believer there is a heavenly tendency, a divine attraction, which as sensibly draws him to converse with God, as the lodestone attracts the needle.

A deep sense of their own weakness, and of Christ’s fullness; a strong conviction of their natural corruption, and of the necessity of renewing grace; will not let them rest from crying day and night to their Almighty Redeemer, that the divine image, which they lost in Adam, may through his all-powerful mediation, and the sanctifying operation of his blessed spirit, be begun, carried on, and fully perfected both in their souls and bodies.

Thus earnest, thus importunate, are all sincere Christians in praying for themselves: but then, not having so lively, lasting, and deep a sense of the wants of their Christian brethren, they are for the most part too remiss and defective in their prayers for them.  Whereas, was the love of God shed abroad in our hearts, and did we love our neighbor in that manner, in which the Son of God our savior loved us, and according to his command and example, we could not but be as importunate for their spiritual and temporal welfare, as for our own; and as earnestly desire and endeavor that others should share in the benefits of the death and passion of Jesus Christ, as we ourselves.

Let not any one think, that this is an uncommon degree of charity; an high pitch of perfection, to which not every one can attain: for, if we are all commanded to “love our neighbor (that is every man) even as ourselves,” nay to “lay down our lives for the brethren;” then, it is the duty of all to pray for their neighbors as much as for themselves, and by all possible acts and expressions of love and affection towards them, at all times, to show their readiness even to lay down their lives for them, if ever it should please God to call them to it.

Our blessed Savior, as “he hath set us an example, that we should follow his steps” in every thing else, so hath he more especially in this: for in that divine, that perfect and inimitable prayer (recorded in the 17th of St. John) which he put up just before his passion, we find but few petitions for his own, though many for his disciples welfare: and in that perfect form which he has been pleased to prescribe us, we are taught to say, not MY, but “OUR Father,” thereby to put us in mind, that, whenever we approach the throne of grace, we ought to pray not for ourselves alone, but for all our brethren in Christ.  Intercession then is certainly a duty incumbent upon all Christians.

II. Whom we are to intercede for, and how this duty is to be performed, comes next to be considered.

1. And first, our intercession must be UNIVERSAL. “I will, (says the apostle) that prayers, supplications and intercessions be made for all men.”  For as God’s mercy is over all his works, as Jesus Christ died to redeem a people out of all nations and languages; so we should pray, that “all men may come to the knowledge of the truth, and be saved.”  Many precious promises are made in holy writ, that the gospel shall be published through the whole world, that “the earth shall be covered with the knowledge of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea:” and therefore it is our duty not to confine our petitions to our own nation, but to pray that all those nations, who now sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, may have the glorious gospel shine out upon them, as well as upon us.  But you need not that any man should teach you this, since ye yourselves are taught of God, and of Jesus Christ himself, to pray, that his kingdom may come; part of the meaning of which petition is, that “God’s ways may be known upon earth, and his saving health among all nations.”

2. Next to the praying for all men, we should, according to St. Paul’s rule, pray for KINGS; particularly for our present sovereign King George, and all that are put in authority under him: that we may lead quiet lives, in all godliness and honesty.  For, if we consider how heavy the burden of government is, and how much the welfare of any people depends on the zeal and godly conversation of those that have the rule over them: if we set before us the many dangers and difficulties, to which governors by their station are exposed, and the continual temptations they be under to luxury and self-indulgence; we shall not only pity, but pray for them: that he who preserved Esther, David, and Josiah, “unspotted from the world,” amidst the grandeur of a court, and gave success to their designs, would also preserve them holy and unblameable, and prosper all the works of their hands upon them.

3. Thirdly, you ought, in a more especial manner, to pray for those, whom “the Holy Ghost hath made OVERSEERS over you.” This is what St. Paul begs, again and again, of the churches to whom he writes: Says he in the text, “Brethren, pray for us;” and again, in his epistle to the Ephesians, “praying always, with all manner of supplication; and for me also, that I may open my mouth boldly, to declare the mystery of the gospel.”  And in another place, to express his earnestness in this request, and the great importance of their prayers for him, he bids the church “strive, (or, as the original word signifies, be in a agony) together with him in their prayers.”  And surely, if the great St. Paul, that chosen vessel, that favorite of heaven, needed the most importunate prayers of his Christian converts; much more do the ordinary ministers of the gospel stand in need of the intercession of their respective flocks.

And I cannot but in a more especial manner insist upon this branch of your duty, because it is a matter of such importance: for, no doubt, much good is frequently withheld from many, by reason of their neglecting to pray for their ministers, and which they would have received, had they prayed for them as they ought.  Not to mention, that people often complain of the want of diligent and faithful pastors.  But how do they deserve good pastors, who will not earnestly pray to God for such?  If we will not pray to the Lord of the harvest, can it be expected he will send forth laborers into his harvest?  Besides, what ingratitude is it, not to pray for your ministers!  For shall they watch and labor in the word and doctrine for you, and your salvation, and shall not you pray for them in return?  If any bestow favors on your bodies, you think it right, meet, and your bounden duty, to pray for them; and shall not they be remembered in your prayers, who daily feed and nourish your souls?  Add to all this, that praying for your ministers, will be a manifest proof of your believing, that though Paul plant, and Apollos water, yet it is God alone who giveth the increase.  And you will also find it the best means you can use, to promote your own welfare; because God, in answer to your prayers, may impart a double portion of his Holy Spirit to them, whereby they will be qualified to deal out to you larger measures of knowledge in spiritual things, and be enabled more skillfully to divide the word of truth.

Would men but constantly observe this direction, and when their ministers are praying in their name to God, humbly beseech him to perform all their petitions: or, when they are speaking in God’s name to them, pray that the Holy Ghost may fall on all them that hear the word; we should find a more visible good effect of their doctrine, and a greater mutual love between ministers and their people.  For ministers hands would then be hold up by the people’s intercessions, and the people will never dare to vilify or traduce those who are the constant subjects of their prayers.

4. Next to our ministers, OUR FRIENDS claim a place in our intercessions; but then we should not content ourselves with praying in general terms for them, but suit our prayers to their particular circumstances. When Miriam was afflicted with a leprosy from God, Moses cried and said, “Lord, heal her.”  And when the nobleman came to apply to Jesus Christ, in behalf of his child, he said, “Lord, my little daughter lieth at the point of death, I pray thee to come and heal her.”  In like manner, when our friends are under any afflicting circumstances, we should endeavor to pray for them, with a particular regard to those circumstances.  For instance, is a friend sick?  We should pray, that if it be God’s good pleasure, it may not be unto death; but is otherwise, that he would give him grace so to take his visitation, that, after this painful life ended, he may dwell with him in life everlasting.  Is a friend in doubt in an important matter?  We should lay his case before God, as Moses did that of the daughters of Zelophehad, and pray, that God’s Holy Spirit may lead him into all truth, and give all seasonable direction.  Is he in want?  We should pray, that his faith may never fail, and that in God’s due time he may be relieved.  And in all other cases, we should not pray for our friends only in generals, but suit our petitions to their particular sufferings and afflictions; for otherwise, we may never ask perhaps for the things our friends most want.

It must be confessed, that such a procedure will oblige some often to break from the forms they use; but if we accustom ourselves to it, and have a deep sense of what we ask for, the most illiterate will want proper words to express themselves.  We have many noble instances in Holy Scripture of the success of this kind of particular intercession; but none more remarkable than that of Abraham’s servant, in the book of Genesis, who being sent to seek a wife for his son Isaac, prayed in a most particular manner in his behalf.   And the sequel of the story informs us, how remarkably his prayer as answered.  And did Christians now pray for their friends in the same particular manner, and with the same faith as Abraham’s servant did for his master; they would, no doubt, in many instances, receive as visible answers, and have as much reason to bless God for them, as he had.

5. As we ought thus to intercede for our friends, so in like manner must we also pray for OUR ENEMIES. “Bless them that curse you, (says Jesus Christ) and pray for them that despitefully use you, and persecute you.”  Which commands he enforced in the strongest manner by his own example: in the very agonies and pangs of death, he prayed even for his murderers, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do!”  This, it must needs be confessed, is a difficult duty, yet not impracticable, to those who have renounced the things of this present life, (from an inordinate love of which all enmities arise) and who knowing the terrible woes denounced against those who offend Christ’s little ones, can, out of real pity, and a sense of their danger, pray for those by whom such offenses come.

6. Lastly, and to conclude this head, we should intercede for all that are any ways AFFLICTED in mind, body, or estate; for all who desire, and stand in need of our prayers, and for all who do not pray for themselves. And Oh!  That all who hear me, would set apart some time every day for the due performance of this most necessary duty! In order to which, I shall now proceed,

III. To show the advantages, and offer some considerations to excite you to the practice of daily intercession.

1. First, It will fill your hearts with love one to another. He that every day heartily intercedes at the throne of grace for all mankind, cannot but in a short time be filled with love and charity to all: and the frequent exercise of his love in this manner, will insensibly enlarge his heart, and make him partaker of that exceeding abundance of it which is in Christ Jesus our Lord!  Envy, malice, revenge, and such like hellish tempers, can never long harbor in a gracious intercessor’s breast; but he will be filled with joy, peace, meekness, long-suffering, and all other graces of the Holy Spirit.  By frequently laying his neighbor’s wants before God, he will be touched with a fellow-feeling of them; he will rejoice with those that do rejoice, and weep with those that weep.  Every blessing bestowed on others, instead of exciting envy in him, will be looked on as an answer to his particular intercession, and fill his soul with joy unspeakable and full of glory.

Abound therefore in acts of general and particular intercessions; and when you hear of your neighbor’s faults, instead of relating them to, and exposing them before others, lay them in secret before God, and beg of him to correct and amend them.  When you hear of a notorious sinner, instead of thinking you do well to be angry, beg of Jesus Christ to convert, and make him a monument of his free grace; you cannot imagine what a blessed alteration this practice will make in your heart, and how much you will increase day by day in the spirit of love and meekness towards all mankind!

But farther, to excite you to the constant practice of this duty of intercession, consider the many instances in Holy Scripture, of the power and efficacy of it.  Great and excellent things are there recorded as the effects of this divine employ.  It has stopped plagues, it has opened and shut heaven; and has frequently turned away God’s fury from his people.  How was Abimelech’s house freed from the disease God sent amongst them, at the intercession of Abraham!  When “Phineas stood up and prayed,” how soon did the plague cease!  When Daniel humbled and afflicted his soul, and interceded for the Lord’s inheritance, how quickly was an angel dispatched to tell him, “his prayer was heard!”  And, to mention but one instance more, how does God own himself as it were overcome with the importunity of Moses, when he was interceding for his idolatrous people, “Let me alone,” says God!

This sufficiently shows, I could almost say, the omnipotency of intercession, and how we may, like Jacob, wrestle with God, and by an holy violence prevail both for ourselves and others.  And no doubt it is owing to the secret and prevailing intercessions of the few righteous souls who still remain among us, that God has yet spared this miserably sinful nation: for were there not some such faithful ones, like Moses, left to stand in the gap, we should soon be destroyed, even as was Sodom, and reduced to ashes like unto Gomorrah.

But, to stir you up yet farther to this exercise of intercession, consider, that in all probability, it is the frequent employment even of the glorified saints: for though they are delivered from the burden of the flesh, and restored to the glorious liberty of the sons of God, yet as their happiness cannot be perfectly consummated till the resurrection of the last day, when all their brethren will be glorified with them, we cannot but think they are often importunate in beseeching our heavenly Father, shortly to accomplish the number of his elect, and to hasten his kingdom.  And shall now we, who are on earth, be often exercised in this divine employ with the glorious company of the spirits of just men made perfect?  Since our happiness is so much to consist in the communion of saints in the church triumphant above, shall we not frequently intercede for the church militant here below; and earnestly beg, that we may all be one, even as the Holy Jesus and his Father are one, that we may also be made perfect in one?

To provoke you to this great work and labor of love, remember, that it is the never ceasing employment of the holy and highly exalted Jesus himself, who sits at the right hand of God, to hear all our prayers, and to make continual intercession for us! So that he who is constantly employed in interceding for others, is doing that on earth, which the eternal Son of God is always doing in heaven.  Imagine therefore, when you are lifting up holy hands in prayer for one another, that you see the heavens opened, and the Son of God in all his glory, as the great high-priest of your salvation, pleading for you the all-sufficient merit of his sacrifice before the throne of his heavenly Father!  Join then your intercessions with his, and beseech him, that they may, through him, come up as incense, and be received as a sweet-smelling favor, acceptable in the sight of God!  This imagination will strengthen your faith, excite a holy earnestness in your prayers, and make you wrestle with God, as Jacob did, when he saw him face to face, and his life was preserved; as Abraham, when he pleaded for Sodom; and as Jesus Christ himself, when he prayed, being in an agony, so much the more earnestly the night before his bitter passion.

And now, brethren, what shall I say more, since you are taught of Jesus Christ himself, to abound in love, and in this good work of praying one for another.  Though ever so mean, though as poor as Lazarus, you will then become benefactors to all mankind; thousands, and twenty times ten thousands, will then be blessed for your sakes!  And after you have employed a few years in this divine exercise here, you will be translated to that happy place, where you have so often wished others might be advanced; and be exalted to sit at the right hand of our All-powerful, All-prevailing Intercessor, in the kingdom of his heavenly Father hereafter.

However, I cannot but in an especial manner press this upon you now, because all ye, amongst whom I have now been preaching, in all probability will see me no more: for I am now going (I trust under the conduct of God’s most Holy Spirit) from you, knowing not what shall befall me: I need therefore your most importunate intercessions, that nothing may move me from my duty, and that I may not “count even my life dear unto myself, so that I may finish my course with joy, and the ministry I have received of the Lord Jesus, to testify the gospel of the grace of God!”  Whilst I have been here, to the best of my knowledge, I have not failed to declare unto you the whole will of God: and though my preaching may have been a savor of death unto death to some; yet I trust it has been also a savor of life unto life to others; and therefore I earnestly hope that those will not fail to remember me in their prayers.

As for my own part, the many unmerited kindnesses I have received from you, will not suffer me to forget you: out of the deep, therefore, I trust shall my cry come unto God; and whilst the winds and storms are blowing over me, unto the Lord will I make my supplication for you.  For it is but a little while, and “we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ;” where I must give a strict account of the doctrine I have preached, and you of your improvement under it.  And O that I may never be called out as a swift witness, against any of those, for whose salvation I have sincerely, though too faintly, longed and labored!  It is true, I have been censured by some as acting out of sinister and selfish views; “but it is a small matter with me to be judged by man’s judgment; I hope my eye is single; but I beseech you, brethren, by the mercies of God in Christ Jesus, pray that it may be more so!  And that I may increase with the increase of grace in the knowledge and love of God through Jesus Christ our Lord.

And now, brethren, what shall I say more?  I could wish to continue my discourse much longer; for I can never fully express the desire of my soul towards you!  Finally, therefore, brethren, “whatsoever things are holy, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are of good report: if there be any consolation in Christ, if any fellowship of the spirit,” if any hopes of our appearing to the comfort of each other at the awful tribunal of Jesus Christ, “think of the things that you have heard,” and of those which your pastors have declared, and will yet declare unto you; and continue under their ministry to “work out your own salvation with fear and trembling:” so that whether I should never see you any more, or whether it shall please God to bring me back again at any time, I may always have the satisfaction of knowing that your conversation is such “as becometh the gospel of Christ.”

I almost persuade myself, that I could willingly suffer all things, so that it might any ways promote the salvation of your precious and immortal souls; and I beseech you, as my last request, “obey them that have the rule over you in the Lord;” and be always ready to attend on their ministry, as it is your bounden duty.  Think not that I desire to have myself exalted at the expense of another’s character; but rather think this, not to have any man’s person too much in admiration; but esteem all your ministers highly in love, as they justly deserve for their work’s sake.

And now, “brethren, I commend you to god, and to the word of his grace, which is able to build you up, and give you an inheritance amongst all them that are sanctified.”  May God reward you for all your works of faith, and labors of love, and make you to abound more and more in every good word and work towards all men.  May he truly convert all that have been convinced, and awaken all that are dead in trespasses and sins!  May he confirm all that are wavering! And may you all go on from one degree of grace unto another, till you arrive unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ; and thereby be made meet to stand before that God, “in whose presence is the fullness of joy, and at whose right-hand there are pleasures for evermore!”  Amen!  Amen!

Posted in George Whitefield |

The God of All Grace by A. W. Pink

January 8, 2010 by ADMIN

“But the God of all grace, who hath called us unto his eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after that ye have suffered a while, make you perfect, establish, strengthen, settle you” (1 Peter 5:10).  Though mention is made frequently in the Scriptures of the grace of God and of His being gracious, yet nowhere but in this verse do we find him denominated “the God of all grace.”  There is a special emphasis here that claims our best attention: not simply is He “the God of grace,” but “the God of all grace.”

God’s people personally receive constant proof that He is indeed so; and those of them whose thoughts are formed by His Word know that the benefits with which He daily loads them are the out-workings of His everlasting design of grace toward them.  But they need to go still farther back, or raise their eyes yet higher, and perceive that all the riches of grace He ordained, and of which they are made the recipients, are from and in His very nature. “The grace in His nature is the fountain or spring; the grace of His purposes is the wellhead, and the grace in His dispensations, the streams,” says Goodwin.  It was the grace of His nature that caused Him to form “thoughts of peace” toward His people (Jer. 29:11), as it is the grace in His heart that moves Him to fulfill the same.  In other words, the grace of His very nature, what He is in Himself, is such that it guarantees the making good of all His benevolent designs.

As He is the Almighty, self-sufficient and omnipotent, with whom all things are possible, so He is also an all-gracious God in Himself—lacking no perfection to make Him infinitely benign.  There is therefore a sea of grace in God to feed all the streams of His purposes and dispensations that are to issue there from.  Here then is our grand consolation: all the grace there is in His nature, which makes Him to be the “God of all grace” to His children, renders certain not only that He will manifest Himself as such to them, but guarantees the supply of their every need and ensures the lavishing of the exceeding riches of His grace upon them in the ages to come (Eph. 2:7).

Look then beyond those streams of grace of which you are now the partaker to the God-man, Jesus the Anointed One, who is “full of grace” (John 1:14), and ask for continual and larger supplies from Him.  The straightness is in us and not in Him, for in God there is a boundless and limitless supply.  I beg you (as I urge myself) to remember that when you come to the mercy seat (to make known your requests) you are about to petition “the God of all grace.”  In Him, there is an infinite ocean to draw upon, and He bids you come to Him, saying, “open thy mouth wide, and I will fill it” (Psalm 81:10, ital. mine).  Not in vain has He declared, “According to your faith be it unto you.”

Posted in A. W. Pink |

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