Pastoral Resources

Of all the gifts Thine hand bestows,

Thou Giver of all good!

Not heaven itself a richer knows

Than my Redeemer’s blood.

Faith too, the blood-receiving grace,

From the same hand we gain;

Else, sweetly as it suits our case,

That gift had been in vain.

Till Thou Thy teaching power apply,

Our hearts refuse to see,

And weak, as a distemper’d eye,

Shut out the view of Thee.

Blind to the merits of Thy Son,

What misery we endure!

Yet fly that Hand from which alone

We could expect a cure.

We praise Thee, and would praise Thee more,

To Thee our all we owe;

The precious Saviour, and the power

That makes Him precious too.

A young man was fascinated by a moth and performed a little experiment to see what would happen when it was released from its cocoon without a struggle. Using his pocketknife, he slit the enclosure, allowing the insect to emerge freely. However, it had none of the expected color, it could not fly, and it soon died. As he thought about this, he concluded that the pressure exerted on an emerging moth is essential to its proper development-yes, to its very existence. He later learned that through the moth's struggle to free itself, its body fluids are stimulated, and the luster is developed on its wings. So too for the Christian, life's pressures can produce positive results.

There is a fountain fill’d with blood

Drawn from Emmanuel’s veins;

And sinners, plunged beneath that flood,

Lose all their guilty stains.

The dying thief rejoiced to see

That fountain in his day;

And there have I, as vile as he,

Wash’d all my sins away.

Dear dying Lamb, Thy precious blood

Shall never lose its power,

Till all the ransom’d church of God

Be saved, to sin no more.

E’er since, by faith, I saw the stream

Thy flowing wounds supply,

Redeeming love has been my theme,

And shall be till I die.

Then in a nobler, sweeter song,

I’ll sing Thy power to save;

When this poor lisping, stammering tongue

Lies silent in the grave.

Lord I believe Thou hast prepared

(Unworthy though I be)

For me a blood-bought free reward,

A golden harp for me!

‘Tis strung and tuned for endless years,

And form’d by power divine,

To sound in God the Father’s ears

No other name but Thine.

Praise God for Christmas.

Praise Him for the incarnation, for the word made flesh.

I will not sing of shepherds watching flocks on frosty nights,

or angel choristers.

I will not sing of a stable bare in Bethlehem,

or lowing oxen,

wise men trailing star with gold,

frankincense, and myrrh.

Tonight I will sing praise to the Father

who stood on heaven’s threshold

and said farewell to his Son

as he stepped across the stars

to Bethlehem and Jerusalem.

And I will sing praise to the infinite, eternal Son,

who became most finite, a baby

who would one day be executed for my crime.

Praise him in the heavens,

Praise him in the stable,

Praise him in my heart.

Joseph Bayly

If we stopped to listen to God's and others' opinions of us, it would have a sobering effect, and we would surely be less critical of others. We would not be like Rabbi Simeon who said, "The world is not worth thirty righteous persons such as our father Abraham. If there were only twenty righteous persons in the world, I and my son should be of the number. If there were only ten, I and my son should be of them, if there were only five, I and my son should be of the five. If there were but two, I and my son would be those two, and if there were but one, myself should be that one." Praise of self results in criticism of others.

God can bring fresh praise out of both tragedy and glory, as illustrated by this story about a favorite hymn. Luther Bridgers began preaching at age 17 while he was a student at Asbury College in Kentucky. He was a young Methodist minister of unusual zeal and evangelism. In 1910 the future looked bright for the 26-year-old preacher, who by then had a young wife and three children. The Bridgers family was visiting Mrs. Bridger's parents at Harrodsburg, Kentucky. After the family retired for the night, a neighbor noticed flames coming from the house. He roused Mrs. Bridgers' parents and Luther, but the rest of the family members were beyond reach. The young pastor lost his wife and children.

In the awful days of sorrow that followed, Luther remembered that God offered songs of comfort in the night (Psa 42:8), and would never forsake him. It was during this period that Luther wrote the words and music that we sing so many times: "There's within my heart a melody/Jesus whispers sweet and low/fear not, I am with thee, peace be still; in all of life's ebb and flow." In the fourth stanza he referred to his own experience: "Tho sometimes He leads through waters deep/trials fall across the way."

In the darkest night, in the depths of despair, God gave an inward song to Luther Bridgers that has blessed millions. Out of a pit of grief came a song of blessing.

Little Johnnie was saying his bedtime prayers a week before his birthday. In a loud voice he listed all the things he wanted. "Do not pray so loudly," his mother instructed. "The Lord is not hard of hearing!"

"Maybe He isn't," admitted Johnnie, "but Grandma is."

A lot of our prayers may be like Johnnie's. We ask God, yet make other provisions. There is something good about the axiom, "Pray as if everything depended on God and work as if everything depended on you." But, in one sense, it reveals our spirit of independence. It conveys the notion: "I will have to do it all myself, anyway!"

We must admit the essentiality of dialogue with God. And our requests must come from righteous lips, for "he hears the prayer of the righteous" (Pro_15:29). Prayers are like skyhooks-if we get enough fastened in up there we will have something to hang on to when the world is jerked out from under us.

Yes! Pray believing! Then God will answer your prayer. He may answer, "No!" He may answer, "Later!" He may answer, "Maybe!" Or he many answer, "Yes!" But let us understand one universal truth. The Father in heaven is eager to hear and answer in positive ways those of us who are his faithful children.

"Almighty Father, accept our prayers of faith as confessions of our utter dependence upon your love and generous mercy. In Jesus' name. Amen."

A minister was praying at the bedside of a dying woman. "Wait a moment," she said, as he started to rise from his knees. "I want to pray for you." Very tenderly she prayed with her hands upon his head. "For ten years, ever since you became my pastor, I have offered that prayer for you every morning and night," she told him. The minister went away with tears in his eyes and a strange warmth in his heart. He had known that this woman was sweet-spirited and true, but he had never guessed that he had a place in her prayers day and night. "I wonder how many of my six hundred members pray for me," he asked himself. Let us remember others in our prayers even as we want others to remember us.

This poem by Adam Baum expressed the need for perseverance in prayer:

“Pray on, when rough and dark your pathway,

And you cannot see the light;

When every spark of hope has vanished,

And bright day has turned to night.

Pray on, for God doth surely hear you,

Noting well each sad request;

Pray then in faith, truly believing

That He always gives what’s best.”

Lord, whose spirit is so good and so gentle in all things, and who art so compassionate that not only all prosperity but even all afflictions that come to Thine elect are the results of Thy compassion: grant me grace that I may not do as the pagans do in the condition to which thy justice has reduced me; grant that as a true Christian I may recognize Thee as my father and as my God, in whatever estate I find myself, since the change in my condition brings no change in Thy own. For Thou are the same, though I be subject to change, and Thou art God no less when Thou dost afflict and when Thou dost punish, than when Thou dost console and when Thou dost manifest indulgence. Thou hadst given me health that I might serve Thee, and I have profaned it; now Thou dost send me illness to correct my ways: do not permit me to use it to anger Thee by my impatience. I have misused my health, and Thou hast justly punished me for it; do not suffer me to misuse thy punishment.

A comment by Robert A. Cook, president of The King’s College in New York, renewed my appreciation for the privilege of prayer. Speaking at the Moody Bible Institute, Cook said that the day before, he had been at a gathering in Washington and had talked with Vice President George Bush. Two hours later he spoke briefly with President Ronald Reagan. Then smiling broadly, Cook told us, “But that’s nothing! Today I talked with God!”

I asked for strength that I might achieve;

He made me weak that I might obey.

I asked for health that I might do greater things;

I was given grace 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 received nothing that I asked for, all that I hoped for,

My prayer was answered.

Only a few years ago in the City of Philadelphia there was a mother that had two sons. They were just going as fast as they could to ruin. They were breaking her heart, and she went into a little prayer-meeting and got up and presented them for prayer. They had been on a drunken spree or had just got started in that way, and she knew that their end would be a drunkard's grave, and she went among these Christians and said, "Won't you just cry to God for my two boys?" The next morning those two boys had made an appointment to meet each other on the corner of Market and Thirteenth streets--though not that they knew anything about our meeting--and while one of them was there at the corner, waiting for his brother to come, he followed the people who were flooding into the depot building, and the spirit of the Lord met him, and he was wounded and found his way to Christ. After his brother came he found the place too crowded to enter, so he too went curiously into another meeting and found Christ, and went home happy; and when he got home he told his mother what the Lord had done for him, and the second son came with the same tidings. I heard one of them get up afterwards to tell his experience in the young converts' meeting, and he had no sooner told the story than the other got up and said: "I am that brother, and there is not a happier home in Philadelphia than we have got."

James Duncan, preaching with great unction and power, was asked what was the secret of such powerful preaching. "The secret," he said, was "thirteen hours of consecutive prayer."

When asked the secret of his spiritual power, Charles Spurgeon said: "Knee work! Knee work!"

Livingston of Shotts, on two different occasions, preached with such power that in each service 500 were converted. Both sermons were preceded by a night of prayer.

Charles Finney, after spending a day in the woods in prayer and fasting, preached that night to a phenomenally irreligious congregation. The sermon was accompanied by such divine power that the whole congregation, except one man, fell prostrate upon the floor, and voiced their agony under conviction of sin, in such loud outcries that the preacher was forced to stop.

Of "Uncle" John Vassar, the Tract Society colporteur, his pastor said: "He absolutely prayed day and night-prayed about everything, prayed for almost everything, prayed with almost everybody he met.

"He prayed when he went out and when he came in. He prayed before every religious service, and then prayed all the way through it. I have occupied the same room with him night after night and rarely went to sleep without hearing him in prayer, or awoke without finding him in prayer."

Bestow, dear Lord, upon our youth,

The gift of saving grace;

And let the seed of sacred truth

Fall in a fruitful place.

Grace is a plant, where’er it grows,

Of pure and heavenly root;

But fairest in the youngest shows,

And yields the sweetest fruit.

Ye careless ones, O hear betimes

The voice of sovereign love!

Your youth is stain’d with many crimes,

But mercy reigns above.

True, you are young, but there’s a stone

Within the youngest breast;

Or half the crimes which you have done

Would rob you of your rest.

For you the public prayer is made:

Oh! join the public prayer!

For you the secret tear is shed:

Oh shed yourselves a tear!

We pray that you may early prove

The Spirit’s power to teach;

You cannot be too young to love

That Jesus whom we preach.

Lord, I confess before You that:

I have had longings and nudges from You which I did not translate into action.

I have made decisions without consulting You, then have blamed You when things went wrong.

I have said that I trusted You, yet have not turned my affairs over to You.

I have been greedy for present delights and pleasures, unwilling to wait for those joys which time and discipline alone can give.

I have often sought the easy way and have consistently drawn back from the road that is hard.

I have been fond of giving myself to dreams of which I am going to do sometime, yet have been so slow in getting started to do them.

Forgive me for all the intentions that were born and somehow never lived.

And now I claim Your promise to change me. Do for me what I cannot do for myself. Lead me into a new tomorrow with a new spirit. Cleanse my heart; create within me new attitudes and new ideas, as only You can. Amen.

Gracious Lord, our children see,

By Thy mercy we are free;

But shall these, alas! remain

Subjects still of Satan’s reign?

Israel’s young ones, when of old

Pharaoh threaten’d to withhold,

Then Thy messenger said, “No;

Let the children also go!”

When the angel of the Lord,

Drawing forth his dreadful sword,

Slew with an avenging hand,

All the first-born of the land;

When Thy people’s doors he pass’d,

Where the bloody sign was placed:

Hear us, now, upon our knees,

Plead the blood of Christ for these!

Lord, we tremble, for we know

How the fierce malicious foe,

Wheeling round his watchful flight,

Keeps them ever in his sight:

Spread Thy pinions, King of kings!

Hide them safe beneath Thy wings;

Lest the ravenous bird of prey

Stoop and bear the brood away.

In about 1949 a group of retired missionaries from China, with a few faithful praying friends, met for their regular missionary prayer meeting in Adelaide, South Australia. A great prayer burden and sense of urgency came on them as they gathered together. All felt especially burdened for Hayden Melsap, then assigned to the China Inland Mission. They unanimously decided to drop all preliminaries and go “straight to prayer.” They prayed until they all felt a sense of peace and relief.

A few years later, when Hayden Melsap was on deputation in Australia, the missionaries asked him if he recalled any unusual occasion at that time. To their amazement, they found that on that day and hour Hayden and at least two other missionaries were backed against a wall in a courtyard in China, with communist guns leveled at them. Just as the officer was about to issue the command to fire, the door of the courtyard opened and a higher official entered. Shocked to see what was about to happen, he shouted, “Stop!” He then stepped up, put his arm around Melsap, and led him and the others to safety.

I heard this testimony from Hayden Melsap himself and also have it in writing from an Australian friend.

Lord, who hast suffer’d all for me,

My peace and pardon to procure,

The lighter cross I bear for Thee,

Help me with patience to endure.

The storm of loud repining hush;

I would in humble silence mourn;

Why should the unburnt, though burning bush,

Be angry as the crackling thorn?

Man should not faint at Thy rebuke,

Like Joshua, falling on his face,

When the cursed thing that Achan took

Brought Israel into just disgrace.

Perhaps some golden wedge suppress’d,

Some secret sin offends my God;

Perhaps that Babylonish vest,

Self-righteousness, provokes the rod.

Ah! were I buffeted all day,

Mock’d, crown’d with thorns, and spit upon,

I yet should have no right to say,

My great distress is mine alone.

Let me not angrily declare

No pain was ever sharp like mine,

Nor murmur at the cross I bear,

But rather weep, remembering Thine.

James Duncan, preaching with great unction and power, was asked what was the secret of such powerful preaching. “The secret,” he said, was “thirteen hours of consecutive prayer.”

When asked the secret of his spiritual power, Charles Spurgeon said: “Knee work! Knee work!”

Livingston of Shotts, on two different occasions, preached with such power that in each service 500 were converted. Both sermons were preceded by a night of prayer.

Charles Finney, after spending a day in the woods in prayer and fasting, preached that night in a phenomenally irreligious congregation. The sermon was accompanied by such divine power that the whole congregation, except one man, fell prostrate upon the floor, and voiced their agony under conviction of sin, in such loud outcries that the preacher was forced to stop.

Of “Uncle” John Vassar, The Tract Society colporteur, his pastor says: “He absolutely prayed day and night—prayed about everything, prayed for almost everything, prayed with almost everybody he met.

“He prayed when he went out and when he came in. He prayed before every religious service, and then prayed all the way through it. I have occupied the same room with him night after night, and rarely went to sleep without hearing him in prayer, or awoke without finding him in prayer.”

Admission—”I can’t do it myself.”

Submission—we bow our desires before the presence of our sovereign Savior.

Transmission—God’s Spirit intercepts our petition and intercedes on our behalf.

Intermission—waiting on God between the time we ask and the time He answers.

Permission—God says “Yes.”

Revision—”God says “another way!” At times God delivers as we pray.

For example, Peter miraculously escaped from his Roman guards while the Jerusalem church prayed (Acts 12:5-17). At times God detours, such as He did with Christ. Instead of allowing Christ to ascend before Calvary, that ascension did not occur until afterward (Mark 14:36). He reached his destination but by an alternative route. God also delays.

Zacharias and Elizabeth had prayed for a son over the decades of their married life. It was not until they were beyond childbearing age that God answered (Luke 1:13). God also can say no. (Psalm 66:18, Isaiah 1:15).

When a person is born from above, the life of the Son of God is born in him, and he can either starve that life or nourish it. Prayer is the way to nourish one’s life with God. Our ordinary views of prayer are not found in the New Testament. We look upon prayer as a means of getting things for ourselves; the Bible’s idea of prayer is that we may get to know God Himself. It is not so true that ‘prayer changes things’ as that prayer changes me and I change things. God has so constituted things that prayer on the basis of redemption alters the way in which one looks at things. Prayer is not a question of altering things externally, but of working wonders in one’s disposition.

Some things are proved by the unbroken uniformity of our experiences. The law of gravitation is established by the fact that, in our experience, all bodies without exception obey it. Now even if all the things that people prayed for happened, which they do not, this would not prove what Christians mean by the efficacy of prayer. For prayer is request. The essence of request, as distinct from compulsion, is that it may or may not be granted.

There was a sexton in a church who was very devoted to the pastor. A new pastor came, and someone asked the sexton what he thought of the new preacher. "Well," said the sexton, "I like him pretty well, but when it comes to praying, the former preacher asked the Lord for things the new preacher doesn't even know the Lord's got." Our immaturity and finite nature many times do not permit us to see what God has for us, blessings which are far better than those we want for ourselves.

David Watson notes that “Prayer has always been a primary mark of the saints of God in every generation of the church. George Whitefield, who retired punctually at ten p.m. every night, rose equally promptly at four a.m. in order to pray.

“John Wesley spent two hours daily in prayer, and commonly said that ‘God does nothing but in answer to prayer.’ Martin Luther said, ‘If I fail to spend two hours in prayer each morning, the devil gets the victory through the day. I have so much business I cannot get on without spending three hours daily in prayer.’

“The leaders of the Clapham Sect, such as William Wilberforce, who initiated enormous social reforms in England, habitually gave themselves to three hours of prayer each day. They organized Christians throughout the country to unite in special prayer before critical debates in Parliament. They knew, and persistently proved, the power of prayer. William Temple replied to his critics who regarded answered prayer as no more than coincidences, ‘When I pray, coincidences happen; when I don’t, they don’t.” Our Lord’s disciples’ request is probably our most needed prayer: “Lord, teach us to pray.”

Keep us, O Lord, from pettiness.

Let us be thoughtful in word and deed.

Help us to put away pretense and face each other in deep trust without fear or self-pity.

Help us to guard against fault-finding, and be quick to discover the best in each other and in every situation.

Guard us from ill temper and hasty judgment; encourage us to take time for all things, to grow calm, serene and gentle.

Help us to be generous with kind words and compliments.

Teach us never to ignore, never to hurt, never to take each other for granted.

Engrave charity and compassion on our hearts.

I cannot tell how much I owe to the prayers of my good mother...I remember her once praying, “Now Lord, if my children go on in sin it will not be from ignorance that they perish, and my soul must bear swift witness against them at the day of judgment if they lay not hold on Christ and claim Him as their personal Savior.”

Prayer is surrender—surrender to the will of God and cooperation with that will. If I throw out a boat hook from the boat and catch hold of the shore and pull, do I pull the shore to me, or do I pull myself to the shore? Prayer is not pulling God to my will, but the aligning of my will to the will of God.

I view the difficulties of Holy Scripture as so many prayer stools upon which I kneel and worship the glorious Lord. What we cannot comprehend by our understandings we apprehend by our affections. Awe of God’s Word is a main element in that love of God’s law which brings great peace. - Charles Haddon Spurgeon

Nathan Hale, a great American patriot during the Revolutionary War, was captured and hung by British soldiers. His now famous final words were, "I only regret that I have but one life to lose for my country." He was willing to die for his nation and its freedom.

During the final days of World War II, it was apparent that the Japanese were fighting a losing battle. Yet many of their pilots, dubbed "kamikaze," willingly flew suicide missions. There was great honor in dying for a cause. The pilots were willing to die for glory.

Not long ago, a mother in Philadelphia went back into a burning building to rescue her children who were trapped inside. After saving two, she died in the flames trying to save the other two. The mother was willing to die for her children.

In the ancient empire of Persia, a law was passed making it a crime punishable by death to pray to anyone but the emperor. One aged government official refused to obey the edict. It was his habit to pray three times daily to the one true God. As a result, he was cast into a den of lions. Even though God saved Daniel, Daniel was still willing to die rather than give up his habit of prayer (Dan_6:3-11).

How important is prayer to you? Is it a habit worth dying for? Or, would someone need to pass a law demanding daily prayer or a trip to the lions' den to get you into the habit of prayer? People are willing to die for that which is of great importance to them. Prayer should be that important! It is our link to God. Without the lifeline of prayer, we grow spiritually weak. Do not neglect the privilege that God has given to us as His children to pray.

Both our Lord and Paul made it clear that prayer is no mere pleasant, dreamy reverie. “All vital praying makes a drain on a man’s vitality,” wrote J. H. Jowett. “True intercession is a sacrifice, a bleeding sacrifice.” Jesus performed many mighty works without outward sign of strain, but of His praying it is recorded that “he…offered up prayers and supplications with strong crying and tears” (Heb. 5:7).

“Epaphras is always wrestling for you in his prayers,” wrote Paul to the Colossian Christians (4:12). How pale a reflection of Epaphras’ intercessions are our languid prayers. The word “wrestling” is that from which our word “agony” is derived. It is used of a man toiling at his work until utterly weary (Col. 1:29), or competing in the arena for the coveted laurel wreath (I Cor. 9:25). It describes the soldier battling for his life (I Tim. 6:12), or a man struggling to deliver his friend from danger (John 18:36). It pictures the agony of earnestness of a man to save his own soul (Luke 13:24). But its supreme significance appears in the tragedy of Gethsemane. “Being in an agony he prayed more earnestly” (Luke 22:44), an agony induced by His identification with and grief over the sins of a lost world. Prayer is evidently a strenuous spiritual exercise which demands the utmost mental discipline and concentration. Was it because of this fact that our Lord sometimes linked prayer with fasting?

True intercession is costly. Jesus first gave Himself and then made intercession for His murderers. He could do no more for them. Are we asking of God something we ourselves could supply? Can it be true intercession until we are empty-handed? True intercession demands the sacrifice and dedication of all; it cannot be costless and crossless.

Protection from Satan’s attacks on their faith and calling, tempting them to quit and go home.

God protect their marriages and families. Protect them from doing so much work that they neglect their families.

Protect them from getting so busy doing things for God that they forget to sit and listen to Him.

They could forget to find unhurried time for Bible meditation and prayer.

Protect them from losing their spirit of worship, love and devotion to you, Lord.

Protect them from divisiveness, criticism and crankiness with each other.

Protect their unity in Christ, their love for each other, their commitment to each other.

Protect their willingness to serve one another, and to esteem their sisters and brothers better than themselves.

Protect them from conflicts with local believers and national church leaders.

Protect them from squabbling over budgets and properties.

Protect them from misinterpreting each other’s motives.

Protection from even hinting that the way we do it in America is best.

Protection from using their control of money to get their own way.

Unity in Christ among missionaries and believers is so important because unbelievers watch them. So they can see and grasp the good news that God loves them so much that He sent Jesus to this world.

Protection from defection for their souls, not their bodies.

Our primary concern should be for our missionaries perseverance in faith.

Jesus did ask God to protect his disciples, but not the kind of protection we usually think of. He warned them of what might happen. He simply asked His Father to protect the disciples “so that they be one as we are one.”

They needed protection from fighting, jealousy and clamoring for position.

If the evil one cannot destroy their faith, he will disrupt their work by sowing dissension in their ranks.

If he can get our missionaries or us to believe gossip and suspect each other’s motives, Satan does not have to resort to terrorism.

If he can maneuver them into head-on collisions with the national believers, he doesn’t need car crashes to wipe them out.

Lord, teach us to pray for our missionaries more effectively, daily.

In Alexander Solzhenitsyn’s A Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich, Ivan endures all the horrors of a Soviet prison camp. One day he is praying with his eyes closed when a fellow prisoner notices him and says with ridicule, “Prayers won’t help you get out of here any faster.” Opening his eyes, Ivan answers, “I do not pray to get out of prison but to do the will of God.”

“Bestow upon me, O Lord my God, understanding to know thee, diligence to seek thee, wisdom to find thee, and a faithfulness that may finally embrace thee.” - Thomas Aquinas

Lord, Be Thou within me, to strengthen me; Without me, to keep me; Above me, to protect me; Beneath me, to uphold me; Before me, to direct me; Behind me, to keep me from straying; Round about me, to defend me. Blessed be Thou, O Lord, our Father, for ever and ever. -Lancelot Andrewes (1555-1626)

A bishop in the Church of England, Andrewes served as royal chaplain to Queen Elizabeth I and later to Kings James I and Charles I. He was fluent in 15 languages, and when the Hampton Court Conference convened in 1604, he was chosen as one of the translators of the proposed new English Bible. When the King James Version was published in 1611, his contribution could be seen in the Pentateuch and the historical books. “Lord, I renounce my desire for human praise, for the approval of my peers, the need for public recognition. I deliberately put these aside today, content to hear you whisper, “Well done, my faithful servant.” Amen

May the grace of Christ our Savior, And the Father’s boundless love, With the Holy Spirit’s favor, Rest upon us from above. Thus may we abide in union With each other and the Lord, And possess, in sweet communion, Joys which earth cannot afford. - John Newton

Lord, make me an instrument of Thy peace; Where there is hatred, let me sow love; Where there is injury, pardon; Where there is doubt, faith; Where there is despair, hope; Where there is darkness, light; Where there is sadness, joy. O divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek To be consoled as to console, To be understood as to understand, To be loved as to love; For it is in giving that we receive; It is in pardoning that we are pardoned; It is in dying that we are born to eternal life. - Francis of Assisi

Make us choose the harder right instead of the easier wrong, and never to be contented with half truth when whole truth can be won. Endow us with courage that is born of loyalty to all that is noble and worthy, that scorns to compromise with vice and injustice and knows no fear when right and truth are in jeopardy. - Prayer said at West Point during chapel services

Does God answer the prayer of the unsaved?

Unfortunately, countless Christians become selfish in their prayers. They pray for themselves and their families and care little about others. The moon is a lavish giver that owes all her beauty to her habit of giving. Suppose the moon should swallow up and keep to herself all the years of light which the sun gives her and should refuse to share them with us; what would the effect be? She would stop shining. The moment she stopped shining, she would lose all her beauty. All the beauty and the brilliancy of a diamond are caused by its reflecting, or giving away, the light which it receives. It is the same way with the moon. If it should stop shining, or giving away the light it gets from the sun it would hang up in the sky like a great, black, ugly-looking ball. All its brightness and beauty would be gone. Which would we rather be, as we pray: a black ugly ball in God's sky, or a shining light, constantly giving of the light we so abundantly receive?

True story. A Christian leader—we’ll call him Steve —was traveling recently by plane. He noticed that the man sitting two seats over was thumbing through some little cards and moving his lips. The man looked professorial with his goatee and graying brown hair, and Steve placed him at fifty-something. Guessing the man was a fellow-believer, Steve leaned over to engage him in conversation. “Looks to me like you’re memorizing something,” he said. “No, actually I was praying,” the man said. Steve introduced himself. “I believe in prayer too,” he said. “Well, I have a specific assignment,” said the man with the goatee. “What’s that?” Steve asked. “I’m praying for the downfall of Christian pastors.” “I would certainly fit into that category,” Steve said. “Is my name on the list?” “Not on my list,” the man replied.

The prayer of Jabez moved the heart of missionary John Hyde to pray with great faith, expecting answers to his prayers. As a result, he became known as Praying Hyde and the world still feels the impact of his powerful life.

Dr. J. Wilbur Chapman once wrote to a friend, telling of Praying Hyde’s influence on him. He had been holding meetings in England, but the attendance had been disappointingly small. Then he received word that Praying Hyde was going to pray down God’s blessing upon him and his work.

As a result of Hyde’s powerful praying, the tide soon turned and the meeting hall became packed with people. At Chapman’s first public invitation, fifty men received Christ as their Savior. Relating the story, Chapman said:

As we were leaving I said, “Mr. Hyde, I want you to pray for me.” He came to my room, turned the key in the door, and dropped to his knees, and waited five minutes without a single syllable coming from him lips. I could hear my own heart thumping, and his beating. I felt hot tears running down my face. I knew I was with God. Then with upturned face, down which the tears were streaming, he said, “O God.” Then for five minutes at least he was still again; and then, when he knew that he was talking with God, there came from the depths of his heart such petitions for me as I had never heard before. I rose from my knees to know what real prayer was.”

“Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God” (Matt. 5:8).

No missionary whom it has been my joy to meet ever impressed me quite as much as Dr. Wilbur Chapman. He wrote to a friend:

“I have learned some great lessons concerning prayer. At one of our missions in England the audiences were exceedingly small. But I received a note saying that an American missionary…was going to pray God’s blessing down upon our work. He was known as ‘Praying Hyde’.” Almost instantly the tide turned. The hall became packed, and at my first invitation fifty men accepted Christ as their Savior.

As we were leaving I said, ‘Mr. Hyde, I want you to pray for me.’ He came to my room, turned the key in the door, and dropped on his knees, and waited five minutes without a single syllable coming from his lips. I could hear my own heart thumping and beating. I felt the hot tears running down my face. I knew I was with God. Then, with upturned face, down which the tears were streaming, he said ‘O God!’ Then for five minutes at least he was still again; and then, when he knew that he was talking with God…there came up from the depth of his heart such petitions for men as I had never heard before. I rose from my knees to know what real prayer was.

We believe that prayer is mighty, and we believe it as we never did before.”

Dr. Chapman used to say, “It was a season of prayer with John Hyde that made me realize what real prayer was. I owe to him more than I owe to any man for showing me what a prayer life is and what a real consecrated life is. Jesus Christ became a new ideal to me, and I had a glimpse of His prayer life, and I had a longing which has remained to this day to be a real praying man.” And God the Holy Spirit can so teach us.

A little child who had just learned the alphabet kept repeating time after time the letters of the alphabet in an attitude of prayer. A missionary approached her and asked what she was saying. The little girl's answer was, "I am praying." "But why do you repeat the alphabet?" "I felt that I should pray, and because I did not know how to pray, I repeated the letters of the alphabet, knowing that the great Lord would fit the letters together to make words out of them" The little girl was only expressing something that we do unconsciously every time we close our prayer "In the name of the Lord." We invoke the totality of His revelation to us, all His attributes and all His omnipotence. We call upon Him as our Priest, our Mediator, our Prophet, our Redeemer, our Savior, our All in all.

A minister, on taking a new church, was highly complimented on his first sermon. A number of people told him it was just what the congregation needed. The next Sunday he preached well again, but the congregation was greatly puzzled because he preached the same sermon as before. The third Sunday, when the same sermon was preached again, the session waited on the preacher for an explanation. He said, "Why, yes it is the same sermon. You told me the first Sunday how much you needed just that, and I watched all week for some change in your lives, but there was none, so I preached it again. I watched all next week; still no change; and I don't see any yet. Don't you think I'd better prepare to preach it again next Sunday?"

“The gospel is God’s message of mercy to humanity. “It contains an exhibition of the plan, and the only plan, of salvation. It sets forth the person, the work, and the offices of Christ, and urges all to whom it comes to accept Christ as their God and Savior, and to devote themselves to His worship and service; and it assures those who do so that they shall never perish, but shall have eternal life. In one sense it is everyone’s duty, provided he or she has received the knowledge of the gospel, to preach it, to make it known to others. “The commission and command—‘Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature’ (Mark 16:15)—is given not to the apostles exclusively, but to the whole church and all its members. Every member has the right and the obligation to make known this great salvation to his fellow humans.” - Charles Hodge

That forthright English clergyman, Dr. R. W. Dale, made this response to a young preacher who insisted that ministers must preach relevantly, to the times. "Young man, don't preach to the times. Go and preach to broken hearts and you will preach relevantly."

Preachers fall into four categories:

Those who do not use any notes, so the audience has no idea how long they will speak.

Those who lay each page of their sermon down in front of them as they read it. These honest ones enable the audience to keep track of how much more is to come.

Those who cheat by putting each sheet of notes under the others in their hand.

And, worst of all, those who put down each sheet of notes as they read them and then horrify the audience by picking up the whole batch and reading off the other side.

A man had a heart attack and was rushed to the hospital. He could receive little company and was not to be excited. While in the hospital, a rich uncle died and left him a million dollars. His family wondered how to break the news to him with the least amount of excitement. It was decided to ask the preacher if he would go and break the news quietly to the man.

The preacher went, and gradually led up to the question. The preacher asked the patient what he would do if he inherited a million dollars. He said, "I think I would give half of it to the church."

The preacher dropped dead.

Preachers fall into four categories:

Those who do not use any notes, so the audience has no idea how long they will speak.

Those who lay each page of their sermon down in front of them as they read it. These honest ones enable the audience to keep track of how much more is to come.

Those who cheat by putting each sheet of notes under the others in their hand.

And, worst of all, those who put down each sheet of notes as they read them and then horrify the audience by picking up the whole batch and reading off the other side.

A man had a heart attack and was rushed to the hospital. He could receive little company and was not to be excited. While in the hospital, a rich uncle died and left him a million dollars. His family wondered how to break the news to him with the least amount of excitement. It was decided to ask the preacher if he would go and break the news quietly to the man.

The preacher went, and gradually led up to the question. The preacher asked the patient what he would do if he inherited a million dollars. He said, "I think I would give half of it to the church."

The preacher dropped dead.

F.B. Meyer held meetings in Northfield, Mass., and large crowds thronged to hear him. Then the great British Bible teacher G. Campbell Morgan came to Northfield and people were soon flocking to hear his brilliant expositions of scripture. Meyer confessed at first he was envious. He said, “The only way I can conquer my feelings is to pray for Morgan daily, which I do.”

What Woodrow Wilson said about preachers is worthy of the careful consideration of every one of us: "When I hear some of the things which young men say to men by way of putting the arguments to themselves for going into the ministry, I think they are talking of another profession. Their motive is to do something. I know you do not have to be anything in particular to be a lawyer. You do not have to be anything in particular, except a kind-hearted man, perhaps, to be a physician, nor undergo any strong spiritual change in order to be a merchant. The only profession which consists in being something is the ministry of our Lord and Savior-and it does not consist of anything else. That conception of the ministry which rubs all the marks off and mixes him in the crowd so that you cannot pick him out, is a process of eliminating the ministry itself."

There was a butcher who ran a little shop on the edge of London. He decided one Sunday that he would go into town and hear the great preacher, Charles Spurgeon. His wife chose not to go with him. So the butcher went to town, went to church, and returned home. That afternoon his wife began to question him about the service.

"What songs did they sing?" He said, "I do not remember." "Well, what was his text?" Again he said, "I do not remember." Somewhat exasperated, his wife wanted to know: "What good did it do for you to go to church this morning?"

The butcher was quiet for a moment. And then he said, "What good? I will tell you what good. You know those scales out in the shop that really weigh just 14 ounces to the pound? Well, before we open for business in the morning, I am going to correct those scales to where they weight a full 16 ounces to the pound."

Thomas Andrew Dorsey was a black jazz musician from Atlanta. In the twenties he gained a certain amount of notoriety as the composer of jazz tunes with suggestive lyrics, but he gave all that up in 1926 to concentrate exclusively on spiritual music. "Peace in the Valley" is one of his best known songs, but there is a story behind his most famous song that deserves to be told.

In 1932 the times were hard for Dorsey. Just trying to survive the depression years as a working musician meant tough sledding. On top of that, his music was not accepted by many people. Some said it was much too worldly-the devil's music, they called it. Many years later Dorsey could laugh about it. He said, "I got kicked out of some of the best churches in the land." But the real kick in the teeth came one night in St. Louis when he received a telegram informing him that his pregnant wife had died suddenly.

Dorsey was so filled with grief that his faith was shaken to the roots, but instead of wallowing in self-pity, he turned to the discipline he knew best-music. In the midst of agony he wrote the following lyrics:

Precious Lord, take my hand,

Lead me on, let me stand.

I am tired, I am weak, I am worn.

Through the storm, through the night,

Lead me on to the light;

Take my hand precious Lord, lead me home.

If you live long enough, you will experience heartache, disappointment, and sheer helplessness. The Lord is our most precious resource in those hours of trauma. "The Lord is a refuge for the oppressed, a stronghold in times of trouble (Psa 9:9). Tom Dorsey understood that. His song was originally written as a way of coping with his personal pain, but even today it continues to bless thousands of others when they pass through times of hardship.

Some have argued from Romans 8:29 that predestination is based on God’s foreknowledge in the sense that God looked down the corridors of time and saw who would freely choose to believe, and then predestinated them. This position assumes that foreknowledge here only means “knows in advance.” In the Bible, however, knowledge is often used in a sense of personal intimacy, as when Adam “knew” Eve and she conceived a son (Genesis 4:1). God’s foreknowledge is linked to His foreloving. We see in Romans 8:30 that everyone who was “foreknown” was also “predestined, called, justified, and glorified.” Does God glorify everyone? Does God justify everyone? No. Clearly then, in terms of what this passage is dealing with, God does not call everyone, does not predestine everyone, and does not foreknow everyone. In Romans 8:29-30, “foreknowledge” must have the sense of intimacy and personal calling, and can refer only to God’s elect. God’s predestination does not exist in a vacuum, and it is not simply for the purpose of saving us from sin. Verse 29 shows us the goal or purpose of salvation: that we might be conformed to the likeness of His Son. Ultimately, the reason God has saved you and me is for the honor and glory of His Son, “That He might be the firstborn.” The goal in creation is that God would give as a gift to His Son many who are reborn into Christ’s likeness.

A woman hearing a preacher speak on predestination said, "Ah, I have long settled that point; for if God had not chosen me before I was born, I am sure He would have seen nothing to have chosen me for afterwards!"

Scientists at the Goddard Space Flight Center report that one of the largest stars in our galaxy is about to self-destruct.

Eta Carinae, which has a mass 100 times greater than that of our sun, is giving signs that its life is about over. Researchers say that it could become a supernova—a blazing, exploding star—within the next 10,000 years. What was especially interesting about the Science 81 report was the statement that since light from the star takes 9,000 years to reach the earth, the actual explosion could have already taken place.

This striking fact reminds me of the nature of biblical prophecy. For example, the predictions found in Revelation 8 are often written in the past tense. This is done because even though the prophet is writing of a future event, he has already “seen” it. Also, in the mind of God it’s as if the events have already happened.

Even though Christians differ on the interpretation of today’s Scripture, we can definitely say that God’s judgement those who continually resist Him is so sure that it has been written about in the past tense. This should cause us to reflect with the apostle Peter, who wrote so appropriately, “Seeing, then, that all these things shall be dissolved, what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy living and godliness?” (2 Peter 3:11). As Christians, we know what’s ahead for this world, and that knowledge should keep us living close to God.

Dr. George Sweeting once estimated that “more than a fourth of the Bible is predictive prophecy…Both the Old and New Testaments are full of promises about the return of Jesus Christ. Over 1800 references appear in the O.T., and seventeen O.T. books give prominence to this theme. Of the 260 chapters in the N.T., there are more than 300 references to the Lord’s return—one out of every 30 verses. Twenty-three of the 27 N.T. books refer to this great event…For every prophecy on the first coming of Christ, there are 8 on Christ’s second coming.”

A recent survey at the University of Pittsburgh shows that the higher one goes, the greater the preferential treatment. Thus, graduating seniors over six feet, two inches received an average starting salary 12.4 percent higher than graduates under six feet.

When you’re raised in the country, hunting is just a natural part of growing up. For years I enjoyed packing up my guns and some food to head off into the woods. Even more than the hunting itself, I enjoyed the way these trips always seemed to deepen my relationship with friends as we hunted during the day and talked late into the night around the campfire. When an old friend recently invited me to relive some of those days, I couldn’t pass up the chance.

For several weeks before the trip, I had taken the time to upgrade some of my equipment and sight in my rifle. When the day came, I was ready for the hunt. What I wasn’t ready for was what my close friend, Tom, shared with me the first night out on the trail.

I always enjoyed the time I spent with Tom. He had become a leader in his church and his warm and friendly manner had also taken him many steps along the path of business success. He had a lovely wife, and while I knew they had driven over some rocky roads in their marriage, things now seemed to be stable and growing. Tom’s kids, two daughters and a son, were struggling in junior high and high school with the normal problems of peer pressure and acceptance.

As we rode back into the mountains, I could tell that something big was eating away at Tom’s heart. His normal effervescent style was shrouded by an overwhelming inner hurt. Normally, Tom would attack problems with the same determination that had made him a success in business. Now, I saw him wrestling with something that seemed to have knocked him to the mat for the count. Silence has a way of speaking for itself. All day and on into the evening, Tom let his lack of words shout out his inner restlessness. Finally, around the first night’s campfire, he opened up. The scenario Tom painted was annoyingly familiar. I’d heard it many times before in many other people’s lives. But the details seemed such a contract to the life that Tom and his wife lived and the beliefs they embraced. His oldest daughter had become attached to a boy at school. Shortly after they started going together, they became sexually involved. Within two months, she was pregnant. Tom’s wife discovered the truth when a packet from Planned Parenthood came in the mail addressed to her daughter. When confronted with it, the girl admitted she had requested it when she went to the clinic to find out if she was pregnant. If we totaled up the number of girls who have gotten pregnant out of wedlock during the past two hundred years of our nation’s history, the total would be in the millions. Countless parents through the years have faced the devastating news. Being a member of such a large fraternity of history, however, does not soften the severity of the blow to your heart when you discover it’s your daughter.

Tom shared the humiliation he experienced when he realized that all of his teaching and example had been ignored. Years of spiritual training had been thrust aside. His stomach churned as he relived the emotional agony of knowing that the little girl he and his wife loved so much had made a choice that had permanently scarred her heart. I’m frequently confronted with these problems in my ministry and have found that dwelling on the promiscuous act only makes matters worse. I worship a God of forgiveness and solutions, and at that moment in our conversation I was anxious to turn toward hope and healing. I asked Tom what they had decided to do. Would they keep the baby, or put it up for adoption?

That’s when he delivered the blow. With the fire burning low, Tom paused for a long time before answering. And even when he spoke he wouldn’t look me in the eye. “We considered the alternatives, Tim. Weighed all the options.” He took a deep breath. “We finally made an appointment with the abortion clinic. I took her down there myself.”

I dropped the stick I’d been poking the coals with and stared at Tom. Except for the wind in the trees and the snapping of our fire it was quiet for a long time. I couldn’t believe this was the same man who for years had been so outspoken against abortion. He and his wife had even volunteered at a crisis pregnancy center in his city.

Heartsick, I pressed him about the decision. Tom then made a statement that captured the essence of his problem…and the problem many others have in entering into genuine rest. In a mechanical voice, he said “I know what I believe, Tim, but that’s different than what I had to do. I had to make a decision that had the least amount of consequences for the people involved.”

Just by the way he said it, I could tell my friend had rehearsed these lines over and over in his mind. And by the look in his eyes and the emptiness in his voice, I could tell his words sounded as hollow to him as they did to me.

Some of you may remember the man who won a U.S. Supreme Court case over his right to obtain an abortion for his comatose wife. He argued at that time that an abortion could aid a possible recovery for his wife, Nancy, who was comatose as a result of a car accident in 1988. The abortion accomplished, Martin Klein now plans to divorce his wife. His comment was, “Life changes, tragedy happens. It’s all very complicated.” He also said “my commitment to Nancy continues to remain as strong as ever.”

We agree. His commitment to his wife is as strong now as it was previously. That is to say, not very.

Those who speak evil of others are usually too quick to draw conclusions. If they see a man coming out of a bar, they immediately decide he must have been drinking. They lack the charitable nature that would let them consider that he may very well have gone in to distribute Christian tracts in a place where they were desperately needed, or he may have gone in to try to persuade a weaker brother to leave the place and go home.

A study at a Midwestern school showed that 80% of the women who had intercourse hoped to marry their partner. Only 12% of the men had the same expectation

Dr. Desmond Morris, well-known researcher and author, spent many years studying the institution of marriage and the factors that contribute to long-term intimacy. A relationship that fails to survive, he said, can usually be traced to the dating days when the bond between a man and a woman was inadequately cemented. And what interfered with the bond? It is likely to result from physical intimacy occurring too early in the relationship. Instead of taking the time to know each other—to talk and laugh and share lovers’ secrets—the couple engages in early sexual activity. Such familiarity interferes with intimacy and weakens the marital bond ever after.

It may be a stretch, but this understanding reminds me of my efforts to build model airplanes as a kid. My friends made wonderful planes out of balsa wood, but I could never get one finished. Why? Because I was too impatient to wait for the glue to dry. I just couldn’t keep my hands off the pieces long enough for them to congeal.

Romantic relationships that began with touching, kissing, fondling, and intercourse in the early dating days do damage to the bond. So if you want to enjoy an intimate friendship that will remain vibrant for a lifetime, the key is simple: Just keep your hands off one another until the glue dries.

According to premillennialism, this is a 7 year period that immediately precedes the return of Christ and the millennial kingdom of His rule which lasts for 1000 years. It will be a time of great peace (the first 3 ½ years) and great war (the second 3 ½ years) when the Antichrist rules over many nations. At the mid point of the tribulation (at the end of the first 3 ½ years) the Antichrist will proclaim himself worthy of worship. Many will bow down and worship the Antichrist and many will refuse. Those who refuse to worship the Antichrist will be killed. The second half of the tribulation is called the Great Tribulation. It will involve the whole world (Rev. 3:10). There will be catastrophes all over the world. (See Matt. 24; Mark 13; Luke 17.)

Someone remarked to the director of a mental institution, "I imagine all the people in here are 'beside' themselves." "No, you're wrong," the doctor replied. "They're shut in here, not because they're 'beside' themselves, but because they're 'inside' themselves. They think of nothing else but self." When preoccupation with self becomes your problem, you become a problem for the world and to God Himself.

Did you hear about the boy who failed all his college work? He wired his mother: "Failed everything; Prepare Papa." His mother wired back, "Papa prepared; Prepare yourself." This is the message a lot of us need in view of the coming judgment. God is prepared. We need to prepare ourselves!

Several centuries ago, a Japanese emperor commissioned an artist to paint a bird. A number of months passed, then several years, and still no painting was brought to the palace. Finally the emperor became so exasperated that he went to the artist’s home to demand an explanation. Instead of making excuses, the artist placed a blank canvas on the easel. In less than an hour, he completed a painting that was to become a brilliant masterpiece. When the emperor asked the reason for the delay, the artist showed him armloads of drawings of feathers, wings, heads, and feet. Then he explained that all of this research and study had been necessary before he could complete the painting.

In the days the eastern emperors were crowned at Constantinople, it is said to have been a custom to set before his majesty a certain number of marble slabs, one of which he was to choose to be his tombstone. It was considered good for him to remember his funeral at his coronation. Life is time, and the purpose of time is to prepare for eternity. A Greek philosopher, Anaxagoras, was asked why he thought he was born. His answer was, "That I may meditate upon heaven."

Every time a certain little boy went to a playmate's house he found the child's grandmother reading her Bible. Finally his curiosity got the better of him. "Why do you suppose your grandmother reads the Bible so much?" he asked. "I'm not sure," said his friend, "but I think it's because she's cramming for her finals." Your finals may be closer than you think. There's only one book that can prepare you for them-that's the Bible, the written Word of God.

Sin has undone our wretched race;

But Jesus has restored,

And brought the sinner face to face

With his forgiving Lord.

This we repeat from year to year,

And press upon our youth;

Lord, give them an attentive ear,

Lord, save them by Thy truth!

Blessings upon the rising race!

Make this a happy hour,

According to Thy richest grace,

And Thine Almighty power.

We feel for your unhappy state,

(May you regard it too,)

And would a while ourselves forget

To pour out prayer for you.

We see though you perceive it not,

The approaching awful doom;

Oh, tremble at the solemn thought,

And flee the wrath to come!

Dear Saviour, let this new-born year

Spread an alarm abroad;

And cry in every careless ear,

“Prepare to meet thy God!”

To give yourself the best possible chance of playing to your potential, you must prepare for every eventuality. That means practice. Now I know that very often you “just don’t have the time.” In spite of that, if you really want to improve, you will have to make the decision, and then the commitment. There are no shortcuts. You must lay the proper foundation. - Seve Ballesteros, Spanish golfer

A little boy was once forbidden by his mother to go swimming, but she permitted him to go out for a walk. When he came back, it was quite evident that he had disobeyed her and had gone in the water. When asked why, the little fellow answered, "Well, Mother, I happened to have my swimming trunks with me, so I decided to go in." When the child saw the beautiful sea, it presented a real temptation to him. In his mind was born the desire to disobey his mother-to sin. After all, sin is nothing but disobedience. The desire, however, could not have been translated into sin if he had not had his swimming trunks with him.

We want to send our children into the world with solid gold values that cannot be destroyed. A wise Dutch grandmother helped us think about it in this way: When our kids go off to camp, we don't just shove them empty-handed out the door with a cheery admonition to "have a great time!" We send them off prepared by packing a suitcase filled with all the things they'll need to survive and enjoy the experience. And if we're not sure what they'll need, we compare notes with other parents and check with the camp counselors. Since we won't be with them, we want to know they're leaving us with everything they need firmly in hand for the whole time they are away.

This defines parenting in a nutshell-but instead of Camp Muskeeta-bite-a as their destination, we're packing up our kids to head for Life. During the 18 or 20 years they'll live under our roofs, our task is to equip them with all they'll need to go on as God's people through the rest of their lives, without us constantly at their side. That means without our dollars, our direction, our discipline, or our devotion to God.

In packing for Life, forgetting to instill an essential godly quality can have devastating consequences. Not knowing how to handle money can lead to financial ruin. Not being able to establish a loving relationship can bring them to divorce. Not discovering God for themselves can leave them spiritually empty and lost.

You may use one of two types of personal testimonies:

A salvation testimony is the story of how you became a Christian.

A recovery testimony is the story of how Jesus helped you at a point of need in your life.

Successful, powerful salvation and recovery testimonies have several elements that you’ll want to incorporate:

My Salvation Testimony

1. My life before receiving Christ

2. How I received Jesus Christ

3. How Jesus Christ makes my life meaningful

My Recovery Testimony

1. My life seemed fairly normal until . . .

2. I discovered hope and help in Jesus when . . .

3. I am glad I have a personal relationship with Jesus today because . . .

Once you’ve shared your testimony, you can ask, “May I share with you how something like this can happen to you?”

Give adequate and precise details showing how Christ became Savior and Lord of your life. Tell about yourself. Humor and human interest are keys. Most of us find that human interest is easier to achieve than humor. The average unbeliever thinks a Christian comes from another world or is strange and unusual. Be sure not to leave the impression that walking down an aisle, joining a church, or being baptized is what made you a Christian! Turning from your sins to Christ and placing your faith in Him is what did it. As important as these acts of obedience to Christ are, they did not provide forgiveness and eternal life and will not do so for anyone else!

Be sure that in your testimony you clearly show the person how to receive the gift of salvation.

Use language that the non-Christian can understand (1 Cor. 14:9). Avoid churchy, religious, theological terms. You understand them, but the other person may not. Such terms as “walked the aisle,” “took the preacher’s hand,” “justified,” “convicted,” and “redeemed” may be meaningless or even misleading.

When useful, relate your testimony to Bible verses. Your experience will illustrate the Bible truth.

Bring your testimony up-to-date by sharing what Jesus means to you today.

Make your testimony brief—no longer than a minute and a half.

In Ian Fleming’s From Russia with Love, James Bond’s friend captures the enemy. He ties the villain up in a chair to hold him for a few hours while Bond rescues the leading lady. Bond’s friend settles in for a bit of mischievous “torture” by saying, “I have led a fascinating life. Let me tell you all about it.”

It is not realistic to assume that the person you are witnessing to will want to hear everything about your life. It may be that they need to tell you their own story. Prepare your testimony so that you can share it in about a minute and a half. Get to the point quickly, realizing that the attention span of the listener may be brief.

Most of us were taught that a preposition is not a good word with which to end a sentence. A small boy, home sick with a cold, managed to come up with a sentence that ends with five of them in a row:

“Mom, what did you bring that book I didn’t want to be read to out of up for?”

Though it is clear from Scripture that God always answers our prayers in some manner (as we mentioned above) there are also some guidelines for effective praying. Certain practices or attitudes can hinder your prayers and, in such cases, God will not respond to them. The passages below help us understand that we must be in a right relationship with God and with others in order for our prayers to be effectively heard by God.

1. Harboring unconfessed sin will put a barrier between you and God (Ps. 66:18).

2. God hears the prayers of those who obey His commands (1 John 3:22-23).

3. God will not hear prayers that have wrong or selfish motives (James 4:3).

4. We are instructed to pray according to His will, not according to ours (1 John 5:14-15).

5. When we pray, we are to ask in faith. Unbelief is a barrier to answered prayer (Mark 11:22-24).

6. An ongoing abiding life in Christ (having regular fellowship with Him) will allow your prayers to be heard. When fellowship is broken, so is communication with God (John 15:7).

7. Sometimes we don’t have answered prayers because we do not ask. We are to pursue appropriate requests regularly and bring them to God (Luke 11:9).

8. Prayer in the Spirit (that is, under the control of the Holy Spirit) is also a prerequisite. This verse instructs us that we must also persevere in our praying. Prayers offered in the flesh will not be heard by God (Eph. 6:18).

9. If you are unable to forgive someone for something that person has done to you, then God says He will not forgive you. Restored and right relationships are essential for open communication with God (Mark 11:25).

10. We are to pray with thankful hearts. Those of us who come before God without a spirit of thankfulness will find our prayers are not heard (Phil. 4:6).

Sen. Mark Hatfield recounts the following history:

James Garfield was a lay preacher and principal of his denominational college. They say he was ambidextrous and could simultaneously write Greek, with one hand and Latin with the other.

In l880, he was elected president of the United States, but after only six months in office, he was shot in the back with a revolver. He never lost consciousness. At the hospital, the doctor probed the wound with his little finger to seek the bullet. He couldn’t find it, so he tried a silver-tipped probe. Still he couldn’t locate the bullet. They took Garfield back to Washington, D.C. Despite the summer heat, they tried to keep him comfortable. He was growing very weak. Teams of doctors tried to locate the bullet, probing the wound over and over.

In desperation they asked Alexander Graham Bell, who was working on a little device called the telephone, to see if he could locate the metal inside the president’s body. He came, he sought, and he too failed. The president hung on through July, through August, but in September he finally died—not from the wound, but from infection.

The repeated probing, which the physicians thought would help the man, eventually killed him..

So it is with people who dwell too long on their sin and refuse to release it to God.

- Roger Thompson