Everyone Prays Like a Calvinist

B. B. Warfield wrote this:

He who comes to God in prayer, comes not in a spirit of self-assertion, but in a spirit of trustful dependence. No one ever addressed God in prayer thus: "O God, thou knowest that I am the architect of my own fortunes and the determiner of my own destiny. Thou mayest indeed do something to help me in the securing of my purposes after I have determined upon them. But my heart is my own, and Thou canst not intrude into it; my will is my own, and Thou canst not bend it. When I wish Thy aid, I will call on Thee for it. Meanwhile, Thou must await my pleasure." Men may reason somewhat like this; but that is not the way they pray.

Turbulence and Prayer

I'm at the airport in Hawaii and we have a bit of a wait before the plane takes off. So I thought I would expound on some things I was thinking on our flight over here. We went through some really bad turbulence and the plane was dropping fast. It felt like a long drop on a roller coaster. People were screaming, Liisa had a death-grip on my arm, the stewardess was sitting on the floor in the isle, the plane was rattling and many people were praying hard. I got to thinking after it was over how intense everyone's prayers probably were.

Isn't it interesting how religious everyone gets when their lives are being threatened. When we are faced with the possibility of death we pray with such intensity and passion. Where is that intensity when we are praying for lost souls? Where is that intensity when we are praying for our church? Where is that intensity when we are praying for more discipline and self-control? Where is that intensity when we are praying for forgiveness? Where is that intensity when we are praying for His Kingdom to come? God is not a spare tire that we leave in the trunk of our car and only use in emergencies. He must be our intense passion and our sustaining life on a daily basis.

Isa 55:6 says, "Seek the Lord while he may be found; call upon him while he is near..." Now is the time to seek Him. Now is the time to call upon Him. Don't wait for your plane to go down. Don't wait for your life to be filled with turbulence. Pray without ceasing and pray with passion! We must seek His face not just His protection. Seek ye first the Kingdom of God. "Trust in him at all times, O people; pour out your hearts to him, for God is our refuge." (Ps 62:8)

Looking Back - St. Augustine

"And what is there in me that could be hidden from thee, Lord, to whose eyes the abysses of man’s conscience are naked, even if I were unwilling to confess it to thee? In doing so I would only hide thee from myself, not myself from thee. But now that my groaning is witness to the fact that I am dissatisfied with myself, thou shinest forth and satisfiest. Thou art beloved and desired; so that I blush for myself, and renounce myself and choose thee, for I can neither please thee nor myself except in thee."

~ St. Augustine (Confessions Book X - translated by Albert C. Outler)

Happy Thanksgiving!

"Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you." (1 Thes 5:18)

We ought to give thanks in ALL circumstances. This is a powerful and often ignored command even though it is the will of God in Christ Jesus for us. All circumstances does mean all circumstances. Thanksgiving Day, obviously, is not the only circumstance where we should give thanks. In good times give thanks (do not forget the One who made the good times good). In bad times give thanks (do not forget the One who brings you through the bad times). In happy times give thanks for His blessings. In sad times give thanks for His comfort.

If you truly believe that God is completely sovereign and completely good than you must believe your circumstances are completely perfect. He could be rewarding you, blessing you, training you or testing you. Give thanks in prosperity, give thanks in adversity. Give thanks on the bed of roses; give thanks on the bed of sickness. Our prayers should not be only filled with requests but with thanksgiving. We should praise as much as we petition. We should extol as much as we entreat. God gave us His image, His breath, His world, His Word, His Covenant, His grace, His Spirit and His only begotten Son. Dare we grumble? Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Looking Back - Prayer

"Ye have prayed in times of difficulty very earnestly, but when God has delivered you, where was your former fervency? In the day of trouble you besieged his throne with all your might and in the hour of your prosperity... oh! how faint was the prayer compared with that which was wrung out of your soul by the rough hand of your agony... though you have ceased to pray as you once did, God has not ceased to bless. When you have forgotten your closet, he has not forgotten your house, nor your heart."

~ Charles Spurgeon

The Prayer of an unknown Confederate soldier:

The Prayer of an unknown Confederate soldier:

I asked God for strength that I might achieve . . .
I was made weak, that I might learn humbly to obey.
I asked for health, that I might do greater things . . .
I was given infirmity, that I might do better things.
I asked for riches, that I might be happy . . .
I was given poverty, that I might be wise.
I asked for power, that I might have the praise of men . . .
I was given weakness, that I might feel the need of God.
I asked for all things, that I might enjoy life . . .
I was given life, that I might enjoy all things.
I got nothing that I asked for,
but everything I had hoped for.
Almost despite myself,
my unspoken prayers were answered.
I am, among all,
most richly blessed!

Advice on Praying (Paul Washer)

Packer on the Questions of the Lord's Prayer

I saw this on another blog but I thought it was worth posting here also.

This is an excerpt from Packer's Praying the Lord's Prayer:

We need to see that the Lord’s Prayer is offering us model answers to the series of questions God puts to us to shape our conversation with him. Thus:

“Who do you take me for, and what am I to you?”
(Our Father in heaven.)

“That being so, what is it that you really want most?”
(The hallowing of your name; the coming of your kingdom; to see your will known and done.)

“So what are you asking for right now, as a means to that end?”
(Provision, pardon, protection.)

Then the “praise ending” answers the question, “How can you be so bold and confident in asking for these things?”
(Because we know you can do it, and when you do it, it will bring you glory!)

Spiritually, this set of questions sorts us out in a most salutary way.

Moody on Prayer

"Prayer does not mean that I am to bring God down to my thoughts and my purposes, and bend his government according to my foolish, silly, and sometimes sinful notions. Prayer means that I am to be raised up into feeling, into union and design with him; that I am to enter into his counsel and carry out his purpose fully." Dwight L. Moody