Prayer
Our Passport To Assurance

The example of our Lord in the matter of prayer is one which His followers might well copy. Christ prayed much and He taught much about prayer. His life and His works, as well as His teaching, are illustrations of the nature and necessity of prayer. He lived and labored to answer prayer. But the necessity of importunity in prayer was the emphasized point in His teaching about prayer. He taught not only that men must pray, but that they must persevere in prayer.
He taught in command and precept the idea of energy and earnestness in praying. He gives to our efforts graduation and climax. We are to ask, but to the asking we must add seeking, and seeking must pass into the full force of effort in knocking. The pleading soul must be aroused to effort by God’s silence. Denial, instead of abating or abashing, must arouse its latent energies and kindle anew its highest ardor.
In the Sermon on the Mount, in which He lays down the cardinal duties of His religion, He not only gives prominence to prayer in general and secret prayer in particular, but He sets apart a distinct and different section to give weight to importunate prayer. To prevent any discouragement in praying He lays as a basic principle the fact of God’s great fatherly willingness—that God’s willingness to answer our prayers exceeds our willingness to give good and necessary things to our children, just as far as God’s ability, goodness and perfection exceed our infirmities and evil. As a further assurance and stimulant to prayer Christ gives the most positive and iterated assurance of answer to prayers. He declares: “Ask and it shah be given to you; seek and ye shall find; knock and it shall be opened unto you.” And to make assurance doubly sure, He adds: “For every one that asketh, receiveth; and he that seeketh, findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened.”
Why does He unfold to us the Father’s loving readiness to answer the prayers of His children? Why does He affirm so strongly that prayer will be answered? Why does He repeat that positive affirmation six times? Why does Christ on two distinct occasions go over the same strong promises, iterations, and reiterations in regard to the certainty of prayer being answered? Because He knew that there would be delay in many an answer which would call for importunate pressing, and that if our faith did not have the strongest assurance of God’s willingness to answer, delay would break it down. He also knew that our spiritual sloth would come in, under the guise of submission, and say it is not God’s will to give what we ask, and so cease praying and lose our case. After Christ had put God’s willingness to answer prayer in a very clear and strong light, He then urges to importunity, and that every unanswered prayer, instead of abating our pressure, should only increase intensity and energy. If asking does not obtain the answer, let asking pass into the settled attitude and spirit of seeking. If seeking does not secure the answer, let seeking pass on to the more energetic and clamorous plea of knocking. We must persevere till we get it. No failure here if our faith does not break down.
As our great example in prayer, our Lord puts love as a primary condition—a love that has purified the heart from all the elements of hate, revenge, and ill will. Love is the supreme condition of prayer, a life inspired by love. The 13th chapter of 1st Corinthians is the law of prayer as well as the law of love. The law of love is the law of prayer, and to master this chapter from the epistle of Paul is to learn the first and fullest condition of prayer.
Christ taught us also to approach the Father in His name. That is our passport. It is in His name that we are to make our petitions known. “Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on Me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto the Father. And whatsoever ye shall ask in My name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If ye shall ask Me anything in My name, that will I do.”
How wide and comprehensive is that “whatsoever.” There is no limit to the power of that name. “Whatsoever ye shall ask.” That is the Divine declaration, and it opens up to every praying child a vista of infinite resource and possibility.
And that is our heritage. All that Christ has may become ours if we obey the conditions. The one secret is prayer. The place of revealing and of equipment, of grace and of power, is the prayer-chamber, and as we meet there with God we shall not only win our triumphs but we shall also grow in the likeness of our Lord and become His living witnesses to men.
Without prayer the Christian life, robbed of its sweetness and its beauty, becomes cold and formal and dead; but rooted in the secret place where God meets and walks and talks with His own, it grows into such a testimony of Divine power that all men will feel its influence and be touched by the warmth of its love. Thus, resembling our Lord and Master, we shall be used for the glory of God and the salvation of our fellow men.
And that, surely is the purpose of all real prayer and the end of all true service.

Thought Provokers

Each month there will be several thoughts that might tend to provoke some thought. This is a new section for The Signpost Newsletter. The answers and some discussion will follow in the next issue.

1. Someone who advocates the killing (abortion) of babies probably thinks they are good standing with God. What do you think? Can you think of an example?

2. When God said, “Let us make man in our image.” Who is us? Was someone there with Him?

3. God tells us to put on the full armor of God. I don’t have any armor lying around. What does He mean?

4. How many people wrote the Bible, and is it inspired by God? Or, is it just a collection of good stories?

5. With the question above in mind, isn’t the Bible just interpretation of whomever is reading it?

Know when to speak #20

Over the last year and a half this section, (Know When To Speak), has laid out means of explaining in a logical, simple and precise way of sharing the gospel with our friends, relatives and new acquaintances. It is not designed to force or in any way coerce people into accepting Jesus.
An interesting experience occurred recently. A friend thought the use of death or dying was in some manner a means to scare people into some sort of conversion. Nothing could be further from the truth. Death is that point where we are separated from our earthbound temple (our body), and start on our trip to be with the Lord, or……whatever. We know there are only two options, be with the Lord or not be with the Lord, and we need to make that decision before we go. And, since we don’t know when we are going, it might be a good idea to take care of that issue before the time comes.
Many people get confused about whether or not they are going to heaven or hell. Some think that they should wait to the last possible moment before accepting Christ. That way they won’t have a chance to sin before going. Another myth…. 2 Corinthians 5:17 tells us that when we ask Jesus to come into our hearts, we are a new creature. The old things have passed away, and new things are coming. Our sins are forgiven past, present and future. We don’t have to keep worrying if we slipped up and won’t make it.
Another thought. We are told we will be reunited with loved ones once we get to heaven. Here’s another good reason to lock this issue in place. This mortal life is just a short period of time. Eternity is forever…that’s a very long time. It would seem logical if someone has lost someone they love that went to heaven and you drag your feet, you will miss the opportunity to be with them again. Our job is not to try and force someone to believe. We are just the messengers. Well, just a thought…….It’s your call.
A verse to keep in mind:

(Matthew 10:32 & 33): "Everyone therefore who acknowledges me before others, I also will acknowledge before My Father in heaven; but whosoever denies Me before others, I also will deny before My Father in heaven".

Speaking of Logic

What is the definition of sin? In simple terms sin is anything displeasing to God. What about committing blatant sin? How
would we define that? Webster defines blatant as; unpleasant, offensively loud, and shameless. What happens if we apply that to a sin issue? This means the person is involved in a sin issue, knows it, and thinks they are alright with God anyway. This person also thinks they are quite logical in their belief. Does anyone see a problem here? Can anyone think of a situation where this applies? Think about it…….
If you would like a complete comparison of blatant sin and God’s stand in it, drop me a line. The article is quite long. Send your request to: ee1gary@aol.com. There is no charge.

A Little Humor

If people evolved from apes, why are there still apes?
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