Praying Pint – Quiet whispers from His word

71.o. Genesis 24:63

Genesis 24:63 “Isaac went out to meditate in the field at the eventide.”

Very admirable was his occupation. If those who spend so many hours in idle company, light reading, and useless pastimes, could learn wisdom, they would find more profitable society and more interesting engagements in meditation than in the vanities which now have such charms for them. We should all know more, live nearer to God, and grow in grace, if we were more alone. Meditation chews the cud and extracts the real nutriment from the mental food gathered elsewhere. When Jesus is the theme, meditation is sweet indeed. Isaac found Rebecca while engaged in private musings; many others have found their best beloved there.

Very admirable was the choice of place. In the field we have a study hung round with texts for thought. From the cedar to the hyssop, from the soaring eagle down to the chirping grasshopper, from the blue expanse of heaven to a drop of dew, all things are full of teaching, and when the eye is divinely opened, that teaching flashes upon the mind far more vividly than from written books. Our little rooms are neither so healthy, so suggestive, so agreeable, or so inspiring as the fields. Let us count nothing common or unclean, but feel that all created things point to their Maker, and the field will at once be hallowed.

Very admirable was the season. The season of sunset as it draws a veil over the day, befits that repose of the soul when earthborn cares yield to the joys of heavenly communion. The glory of the setting sun excites our wonder, and the solemnity of approaching night awakens our awe. If the business of this day will permit it, it will be well, dear reader, if you can spare an hour to walk in the field at eventide, but if not, the Lord is in the town too, and will meet with thee in thy chamber or in the crowded street. Let thy heart go forth to meet him. (Spurgeon)

71.n. Revelation 14:13.

” Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord.” – Revelation 14:13.

The additional words ” from henceforth,” give this passage a specific and prophetical meaning. Neglecting these at present, we may consider the great unquestionable truth that there is for the Christian a blessedness in death. Not but that there is something better than death. Death is one of the enemies of Christ that must be put under his feet, and his saints shall one day get the victory over it, and, undergoing a change at his advent, live on eternally. In the meantime however, death is constrained with other agencies to work together for good to the people of God. Their faith deprives him of his terrors.

Three thousand souls an hour, fifty a minute, pass away from earth. How few of these die in the Lord! Think of this you that know the Lord, and whom he has commissioned to make him known. You are to meet -these souls again; and happy will it be for you if you are able to show that you sought earnestly to obtain for your fellow-men this blessedness.

They are blessed, for they have great peace in the hour of their dissolution. Their cheerful exit confirms the faith of those that behold, and brings heaven near. It sometimes carries conviction to the impenitent, and leads them to seek that God who has such power to sustain and bless the souls of his people. They pass away from a world of sin and temptation and disappointment and vanity, to a world of light and purity. They depart to be with Christ, – to dwell in the mansions which he has prepared for them, – to associate with angels and with saints in light, – to drink of the rivers of pleasure that are for ever at the right hand of God, – to obtain a crown of righteousness.

And if the king has summoned one of his own away from your side, can you greatly grieve? Does not the blessedness of that departure greatly overbear your individual brief loss, and flash down a glory upon your own desolation? Do you think much more of your own poor blessedness, thus interrupted, than of the perfect beatitude into which the other has entered? Would you make war upon this text? For the dead that die in the Lord are blessed for this among other reasons, that they leave behind them unspeakable consolations. Yes, it teaches that the survivor, who had a property in the one taken away, has not lost anything, but has seen his property taken upon high, that it may be rendered immeasurably more valuable and kept securely till the day of the restitution of all things. We do not want our wealth with us, but in the country to which we are going. ” How great is thy goodness which thou hast laid up for them that fear thee.” And the loved ones taken are a part of that treasured goodness. Let Him then prepare a place for thee, in the way that seems best to Him. Too large an earnest of the inheritance that is to come, might check the vigor of our aspirations. The little paradises of earth, very little worthy of the name, yet clothe themselves with the superior power that belongs to present things, and disrobe from our view the only true paradise above. (Bowen)

71.m. Hosea 11:4

Hosea 11:4 I led them with cords of kindness, with the bands of love, and I became to them as one who eases the yoke on their jaws, and I bent down to them and fed them.

Our heavenly Father often draws us with the cords of love; but ah! how backward we are to run towards him! How slowly do we respond to his gentle impulses! He draws us to exercise a more simple faith in him; but we have not yet attained to Abraham’s confidence; we do not leave our worldly cares with God, but, like Martha, we cumber ourselves with much serving. Our meagre faith brings leanness into our souls; we do not open our mouths wide, though God has promised to fill them. Does he not this evening draw us to trust him? Can we not hear him say, “Come, my child, and trust me. The veil is rent; enter into my presence, and approach boldly to the throne of my grace. I am worthy of thy fullest confidence, cast thy cares on me. Shake thyself from the dust of thy cares, and put on thy beautiful garments of joy.” But, alas! though called with tones of love to the blessed exercise of this comforting grace, we will not come. At another time he draws us to closer communion with himself. We have been sitting on the doorstep of God’s house, and he bids us advance into the banqueting hall and sup with him, but we decline the honour. There are secret rooms not yet opened to us; Jesus invites us to enter them, but we hold back. Shame on our cold hearts! We are but poor lovers of our sweet Lord Jesus, not fit to be his servants, much less to be his brides, and yet he hath exalted us to be bone of his bone and flesh of his flesh, married to him by a glorious marriage-covenant. Herein is love! But it is love which takes no denial. If we obey not the gentle drawings of his love, he will send affliction to drive us into closer intimacy with himself. Have us nearer he will. What foolish children we are to refuse those bands of love, and so bring upon our backs that scourge of small cords, which Jesus knows how to use! (Spurgeon)

71.l. Isaiah 65:24

Isaiah 65:24  Before they call I will answer; while they are yet speaking I will hear.

Daniel 9:20-23    While I was speaking and praying, confessing my sin and the sin of my people Israel, and presenting my plea before the LORD my God for the holy hill of my God,  while I was speaking in prayer, the man Gabriel, whom I had seen in the vision at the first, came to me in swift flight at the time of the evening sacrifice.  He made me understand, speaking with me and saying, “O Daniel, I have now come out to give you insight and understanding.  At the beginning of your pleas for mercy a word went out, and I have come to tell it to you, for you are greatly loved. Therefore consider the word and understand the vision.

Daniel 10:12     Then he said to me, “Fear not, Daniel, for from the first day that you set your heart to understand and humbled yourself before your God, your words have been heard, and I have come because of your words.

Mark 11:24     Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.

Acts 10:30-32     And Cornelius said, “Four days ago, about this hour, I was praying in my house at the ninth hour, and behold, a man stood before me in bright clothing  and said, ‘Cornelius, your prayer has been heard and your alms have been remembered before God.  Send therefore to Joppa and ask for Simon who is called Peter. He is lodging in the house of Simon, a tanner, by the sea.’

Acts 12:5-16    So Peter was kept in prison, but earnest prayer for him was made to God by the church.  Now when Herod was about to bring him out, on that very night, Peter was sleeping between two soldiers, bound with two chains, and sentries before the door were guarding the prison.  And behold, an angel of the Lord stood next to him, and a light shone in the cell. He struck Peter on the side and woke him, saying, “Get up quickly.” And the chains fell off his hands.  And the angel said to him, “Dress yourself and put on your sandals.” And he did so. And he said to him, “Wrap your cloak around you and follow me.”

1 John 5:14-15     And this is the confidence that we have toward him, that if we ask anything according to his will he hears us.  And if we know that he hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests that we have asked of him.

Quick work this! The LORD hears us before we call and often answers us in the same speedy manner. Foreseeing our needs and our prayers, He so arranges providence that before the need actually arises He has supplied it, before the trial assails us He has armed us against it. This is the promptitude of omniscience, and we have often seen it exercised. Before we dreamed of the affliction which was coming, the strong consolation which was to sustain us under it had arrived. What a prayer-answering God we have!

The second clause suggests the telephone. Though God be in heaven and we upon earth, yet He makes our word, like His own word, to travel very swiftly, When we pray aright we speak into the ear of God. Our gracious Mediator presents our petitions at once, and the great Father hears them and smiles upon them. Grand praying this! Who would not be much in prayer when he knows that he has the ear of the King of kings? This day I will pray in faith, not only believing that I shall be heard, but that I am heard; not only that I shall be answered, but that I have the answer already. Holy Spirit, help me in this! (Spurgeon)

71.k. Isaiah 14:12-17

Isaiah 14:12-17  “How you are fallen from heaven, O Day Star, son of Dawn! How you are cut down to the ground, you who laid the nations low! You said in your heart, ‘I will ascend to heaven; above the stars of God I will set my throne on high; I will sit on the mount of assembly in the far reaches of the north; I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will make myself like the Most High.’ But you are brought down to Sheol, to the far reaches of the pit. Those who see you will stare at you and ponder over you: ‘Is this the man who made the earth tremble, who shook kingdoms, who made the world like a desert and overthrew its cities, who did not let his prisoners go home?’

Ezekiel 28:17-19  Your heart was proud because of your beauty; you corrupted your wisdom for the sake of your splendor. I cast you to the ground; I exposed you before kings, to feast their eyes on you. By the multitude of your iniquities, in the unrighteousness of your trade you profaned your sanctuaries; so I brought fire out from your midst; it consumed you, and I turned you to ashes on the earth in the sight of all who saw you. All who know you among the peoples are appalled at you; you have come to a dreadful end and shall be no more forever.”

Matthew 25:41  “Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.

Revelation 20:10  and the devil who had deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and sulfur where the beast and the false prophet were, and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever.

I know that I am being repetitious – but this needs to be said again and again: our Lord will not save those whom He cannot command! The lifetime God has given us down here is a lifetime of decisions. Each person makes his own decisions as to the eternal world he is going to inhabit. We must decide to take Jesus for what He is – the anointed Savior and Lord who is King of kings and Lord of all lords! He would not be who He is if He saved us and called us without the understanding that He can also guide us and control our lives. The root of sin is rebellion against God, and hell is the Alcatraz for the unconstituted rebels who refuse to surrender to the will of God. There are many arguments about the reality of hell. A man might endure fire and brimstone and worm – but the essence of hell and judgment for a moral creature is to know and be conscious that he is where he is because he is a rebel! Hell will be the eternal domain of all the disobedient rebels who have said, “I owe God nothing!” (Tozer)

71.j. Proverbs 22:6

Proverbs 22:6  Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it.

Psalms 78:3-6 things that we have heard and known, that our fathers have told us. We will not hide them from their children, but tell to the coming generation the glorious deeds of the LORD, and his might, and the wonders that he has done.   He established a testimony in Jacob and appointed a law in Israel, which he commanded our fathers to teach to their children, that the next generation might know them, the children yet unborn, and arise and tell them to their children,

Ephesians 6:4  Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.

Deuteronomy 6:7  You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise.

Deuteronomy 4:9 “Only take care, and keep your soul diligently, lest you forget the things that your eyes have seen, and lest they depart from your heart all the days of your life. Make them known to your children and your children’s children

Initiate, start, dedicate, train up—all are in the semantic range of meaning when it comes to raising a child so he will not leave the moral and spiritual “way” when he is old. The book of Proverbs suggests two primary means for raising a child in “the way”: instruction and correction (discipline). Instruction identifies the way and starts him on it; correction puts him back on the way should he stray from it.

If you are a parent or grandparent, keep these two priorities in clear focus for the children in your family. (Jeremiah)

Children need to be trained, not just in the facts of life, but in the ways of life.

71.i. Genesis 1:27

Genesis 1:27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.

Genesis 2:7 then the LORD God formed the man of dust from the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living creature.

There is a moment in the creation story that is easy to walk past.

God speaks light into darkness. He separates the waters. He calls land out of the sea and fills it with trees and creatures and everything that grows and swims and flies. Again and again He looked at what He had made and said it was good. Good, in the sense that only a maker can mean it: this is exactly what I intended, and it is beautiful.

Then He made us. And the word changed. It was very good.

He delighted in everything He made. But with us, the delight went somewhere it had not gone before. He did not just look at us and call it good. He came close. He formed us with the kind of attention you give to something you intend to love and be loved by.

Not spoken into existence from a distance, but formed from the ground up, the way a potter shapes clay. The LORD God formed the man of dust from the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life (Gen. 2:7). A God who breathes into His creation is not a God who is keeping His distance. He stooped. He formed us with the kind of care you give to something that matters to you more than anything else.

The Only Reason Given

Not because we had earned anything. Not because we had proven ourselves. Moses put it plainly to Israel, and it has never stopped being true:

It was not because you were more in number than any other people that
the Lord set his love on you and chose you, for you were the fewest of all peoples,
but it is because the Lord loves you. — Deuteronomy 7:7–8

Because the Lord loves you.

No other explanation is given. None was needed. This is what love does when it originates in God. It does not wait to be deserved. It simply moves. He is not merely loving. Love is what He is. When God made us, love was not one of the things He intended to give us. It was the ground we were shaped from. (Bible Portal)

71.h. Joshua 1:7

Joshua 1:7 “Only be thou strong and very courageous, that thou mayest observe to do according to all the Law, which Moses My servant commanded thee: turn not from It to the right hand or to the left, that thou mayest prosper whithersoever thou goest.”

Yes, the LORD will be with us in our holy war, but He demands of us that we strictly follow His rules. Our victories will very much depend upon our obeying Him with all our heart, throwing strength and courage into the actions of our faith. If we are halfhearted we cannot expect more than half a blessing.

We must obey the LORD with care and thoughtfulness. “Observe to do” is the phrase used, and it is full of meaning. This is referred to every part of the divine will; we must obey with universal readiness. Our rule of conduct is “according to all the law.” We may not pick and choose, but we must take the LORD’s commands as they come, one and all. In all this we must go on with exactness and constancy. Ours is to be a straightforward course which bends neither to the right nor to the left. We are not to err by being more rigid than the law, nor turn out of levity to a more free and easy way. With such obedience there will come spiritual prosperity. O LORD, help us to see if it be not even so! We shall not test Thy promise in vain. (Spurgeon)

71.g. Genesis 12:1-3

Genesis 12:1-3 “The Lord had said to Abram, ‘Go from your country, your people and your father’s household to the land I will show you. I will make you into a great nation, and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you.’”

1 Samuel 16:1 “The Lord said to Samuel, ‘How long will you mourn for Saul, since I have rejected him as king over Israel? Fill your horn with oil and be on your way; I am sending you to Jesse of Bethlehem. I have chosen one of his sons to be king.’”

Act 9:3-6 Now as he went on his way, he approached Damascus, and suddenly a light from heaven shone around him. And falling to the ground, he heard a voice saying to him, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?” And he said, “Who are you, Lord?” And he said, “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. But rise and enter the city, and you will be told what you are to do.”

Just as those who lived in the past had the privilege of being God’s people of faith then, so do we in our own day! It is good to come to the understanding that while God wants us to be holy and Spirit-filled, He does not expect us to look like Abraham or to play the harp like David or to have the same spiritual insights given to Paul. All of the former heroes of the faith are dead. You are alive in your generation. A Bible proverb says that it is better to be a living dog than a dead lion. You may wish to be Abraham or Isaac or Jacob, but remember they have been asleep for centuries, and you are still around! You can witness for our Lord today! You can still pray! You can still give of your substance to help those who are in need! In this, your own generation, give God all your love, all your devotion. You do not know what holy, happy secret God may want to whisper to your responsive heart! (Tozer)

71.f. Hebrews 10:22-24

Hebrews 10:22-24 let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful. And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works,

Hebrews 4:16 Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.

Psalms 73:28 But for me it is good to be near God; I have made the Lord GOD my refuge, that I may tell of all your works.

Isaiah 29:13 And the Lord said: “Because this people draw near with their mouth and honor me with their lips, while their hearts are far from me, and their fear of me is a commandment taught by men,

James 4:8 Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded.

Today is uniquely ours. The spiritual blessings enjoyed by those before us are just as accessible to us now, provided we are willing to embrace the conditions under which they are given. Even if our era feels overshadowed by moral darkness, it only serves to make our light stand out more vividly. God is present in our lives today just as He was in the past, and wherever the future leads, His faithfulness remains unchanged, just as it was with Abraham, David, and Paul. Those remarkable figures lived in their own times, and while we cannot have them with us now, we can rejoice and praise God. We may not have their presence, but we have something far greater: we share in their relationship with God the Father, their Savior, and the same Holy Spirit who empowered them. (Tozer)