SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 11/12/2019 10:21 AM
My Worship Time Focus:
PT-1 “The Manner of Prayer”
Bible Reading & Meditation Reference: Eph. 6:18
Message of the verse: “18 And pray in the
Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in
mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints” (NIV). “18 With all prayer and petition pray at all
times in the Spirit, and with this in view, be on the alert with all perseverance and petition
for all the saints” (NASB).
I
have included the NAS in this SD because of the highlighted portion, “be on the
alert.” As believers we are to be on the
alert with all perseverance and petition, we are to be on the alert as to what
we are to be praying for. Jesus told His
disciples to watch and pray as found in Matt. 26:41; Mark 13:33; and something
similar in Luke 18:1 where we read “Now He was telling them a parable to show
that at all times they ought to pray and not to lose heart.” Paul wrote to the Colossians the following “2
Devote yourselves to prayer, keeping alert in it with an attitude of
thanksgiving” (Col. 4:2). John MacArthur
writes “The Greek verb behind ‘devote’ (proskartereo)
means to be steadfast, constant, and persevering. It is used of Moses’ faithful endurance when
he led the children of Israel out of Egypt (Heb. 11:27). To be devoted to prayer is to earnestly,
courageously, and persistently bring everything in our lives before God.”
There
are two parables that Jesus spoke of that deal with persistent prayer, the
first is about the persistent neighbor, and the second is about the importunate
widow. Let us look at Luke 11:9 which
ends the first parable: “"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.” Let us look
at the end of the second parable we have mentioned “7 now, will not God bring
about justice for His elect who cry to Him day and night, and will He delay
long over them? 8 “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?”
(Luke 18:7-8).
John
MacArthur commenting of 1 Pet. 4:7 “The end of all things is near; therefore,
be of sound judgment and sober spirit for the purpose of prayer,” states
the following “To pray in the right manner is to pray sensibly, with our minds
and our understanding as well as our hearts and spirits. ‘I shall pray with the spirit and I shall
pray with the mind also’ (1 Cor. 14:15), Paul said.”
Another
part of praying in the right manor is to pray specifically. “"Whatever you ask in My name, that will I
do, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son” (John 14:13). MacArthur
adds “God answers prayer in order to put His power on display, and when we do
not pray specifically, He cannot answer specifically and thereby clearly
display His power and His love for His children. To pray, as your children often do, ‘God
bless the whole world,’ is really not to pray at all. We must think about particular people,
particular problems, particular needs, and then pray about those things
specifically and earnestly, so that we can see God’s answer and offer Him our
thankful praise.”
Lord
willing, we will continue to look at the manner of prayer in our next SD.
In our quotation from “Love in Action”
we will look at what David Jeremiah has to say about the two verses from Job we
looked at yesterday.
“Sound familiar? ‘Job, you’re in this mess because of your
sin.’ While Job was mourning the loss of
his children, Bildad suggests that the evil which befell them was the result of
sin in their lives. Is that encouragement? If so, who needs it? Job’s three friends got together before they
went to see him (Job 2:11). So, they
probably discussed why all this calamity befell their friend. Bildad was a legalist. He had the same wrong ideas Eliphaz had.”
11/12/2019 11:10 AM
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