Prayers
Adapted from Thomas à Kempis (1379-1471)
In You, O Lord God, I place my whole hope and refuge; on You I rest all my difficulties and anguish; for I find all that I see, outside of You, to be weak and untrue. For a multitude of friends cannot provide benefit, nor strong helpers assist, nor great literature comfort, nor any place–however peaceful and lovely, give shelter unless You Yourself assist, strengthen, console, instruct and guard us. For all things that should provide peace and joy, without You, are nothing, and in truth bring no joy at all. You therefore are the fountain of all that is good; and to hope in You above all things, is the strongest comfort of Your servants. To You, therefore, do I lift up my eyes; in You, my God, the Father of mercies, do I put my trust. Amen
Devotional Readings
Charles Spurgeon Devotionals from “Cheque Book of the Bank of Faith”
Hebrews 4:9
‘There remaineth therefore a rest to the people of God’ Hebrews 4:9. God has provided a Sabbath, and some must enter into it. Those to whom it was first preached entered not in because of unbelief; therefore, that Sabbath remains for the people of God. David sang of it; but he had to touch the minor key, for Israel refused the rest of God. Joshua could not give it, nor Canaan yield it: it remains for believers. Come, then, let us labour to enter into this rest. Let us quit the weary toil of sin and self. Let us cease from all confidence, even in those works of which it might be said, ‘They are very good.’ Have we any such? Still, let us cease from our own works, as God did from his. Now let us find solace in the finished work of our Lord Jesus. Everything is fully done: justice demands no more. Great peace is our portion in Christ Jesus. As to providential matters, the work of grace in the soul, and the work of the Lord in the souls of others, let us cast these burdens upon the Lord, and rest in him. When the Lord gives us a yoke to bear, he does so that by taking it up we may find rest. By faith we labour to enter into the rest of God, and we renounce all rest in self-satisfaction or indolence. Jesus himself is perfect rest, and we are filled to the brim in him.
Elisabeth Elliot’s writings from Keep a Quiet Heart
“Why Bother to Pray?
by Elisabeth Elliot, from Keep a Quiet Heart, p. 111-112 If God is sovereign, and things will be as they are going to be anyway, why bother to pray? There are several reasons. The first is really all we need to know: God has told us to pray. It is a commandment, and if we love Him, we obey His commands. Second, Jesus prayed. People sometimes say that the only reason for prayer is that we need to be changed. Certainly we do, but that is not the only reason to pray. Jesus did not need to be changed or made more holy by praying. He was communing with His Father. He asked for things. He thanked God. in His Gethsemane prayer, He besought His Father to prevent what was about to take place. He also laid down His own will. Third, prayer is a law of the universe. God ordained that certain physical laws should govern the operation of this world. Books simply will not stay put on a table without the operation of the law of gravity. There are spiritual laws as well. Certain things will not happen without the operation of prayer. God could cause books to stay on tables by what theologians call “divine fiat.” Everything we pray for could occur in the same way, but that is not how things were arranged. Pascal, the great French thinker, said that in prayer God gives us “the dignity of causality.” Bible reading should shape our prayers. Here is a passage from Colossians (3:12-14, PHILLIPS) which hits me between the eyes and shows me very clearly some changes I need God’s help to make: As God’s picked representatives of the new humanity, purified and beloved of God himself, be merciful in action, kindly in heart, humble in mind. Accept life, and be most patient and tolerant with one another, always ready to forgive if you have a difference with anyone. Forgive as freely as the Lord has forgiven you. And, above everything else, be truly loving, for love is the golden chain of all the virtues.
Other Devotionals
WHAT ARE YOU HAUNTED BY?
Who is the person who fears the Lord? He will instruct him in the way he should choose. Psalm 25:12 What are you haunted by? You will say—“By nothing,” but we are all haunted by something, generally by ourselves, or, if we are Christians, by our experience. The Psalmist says we are to be haunted by God. The abiding consciousness of the life is to be God, not thinking about Him. The whole of our life, inside and out, is to be absolutely haunted by the presence of God. A child’s consciousness is so mother-haunted that although the child is not consciously thinking of its mother, yet when calamity arises, the relationship that abides is that of the mother. So we are to live and move and have our being in God, to look at everything in relation to God, because the abiding consciousness of God pushes itself to the front all the time. If we are to be haunted by God, nothing else can get in, no cares, no tribulation, no anxieties. We see now why Our Lord so emphasized the sin of worry. How can we dare be so utterly unbelieving when God is round about us? To be haunted by God is to have an effective barricade against all the onslaughts of the enemy. “His soul shall dwell at ease.” In tribulation, misunderstanding, slander, in the midst of all these things, if our life is hid with Christ in God, He will keep us at ease. We rob ourselves of the marvelous revelation of this abiding companionship of God. “God is our Refuge”—nothing can come through that shelter. (Oswald Chambers, “My Utmost for His Highest”)