Saturday, January 15, 2011

Prayer - How God accomplishes His plan and purposes


Nothing is more important to God than prayer in dealing with man. But it is likewise all-important to man to pray. Failure to pray is failure along the whole line of life. It is a failure of duty, service and spiritual progress. God must help man by prayer. He who does not pray therefore, robs himself of God’s help and places God where He cannot help man. Man must pray to God if love for God is to exist. Faith and hope, and patience and all the strong, beautiful, vital forces of piety are withheld and dead in a prayerless life. The life of the individual believer, his personal salvation, and personal Christian graces have their being, bloom and fruitage in prayer ….

… Prayer concerns God, whose purposes and plans are conditioned upon prayer. The days of God’s splendour and renown have always been great days of prayer. God’s great movements in this world have been conditioned on, continued and fashioned by prayer.

E. M. Bounds, The Weapon of Prayer, 1931


The following quote is taken from E. M. Bounds book, The Weapon of Prayer (1931). The importance of prayer in the life of the true child of God, as emphasized below, is needed as much today as ever. This exhortation however, only applies to the born again believer who has come to God through faith in Jesus Christ. Prayers offered by those who have no relationship to God on the basis of Christ’s sacrifice on the cross alone, are sadly ineffectual. But to the child of God, prayer is vital and effectual.

Sunday, January 2, 2011

Eternal Life - For Today

 
“And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent”  (John 17:3)

Heaven is typically viewed in terms not wholly in line with the Word of God. It is considered a place of beauty, happiness and eternal life. Theses thoughts are not entirely incorrect but, they are incomplete. Jesus interpreted eternal life in the light of our relationship with the Father and the Son. The word “know” underscores the closeness of this relationship. Nothing else is mentioned. Eternal life will certainly have experiences, joys and relationships with others who will be there. There will be no more tears or sorrow and we can genuinely look forward to the beauty and wonder of God’s new creation. Yet for Jesus, all these pale in comparison with the glory of the close relationship we will enjoy with the living God.

The marvel of it all is that this is something we can and should experience now.