God's Gift to the Faithful

One of my children asked me to pray about something. We prayed together, but I didn't have an assurance that I had believed.
As I went through the day, I kept slipping into the study and kneeling for a few minutes to pray, and I also prayed quietly while working. I couldn't seem to pray with strong desire, but I wanted to. I continued to keep it before the Lord.

Finally, while in the car running an errand, I was enabled to believe, and then I realized how important the continual praying had been in igniting my desire. Faithfulness is often the prelude to faith.

Often we sense a desire, pray once, and then forget it.  Desire is the key to faithful praying. If we don't pray with such a strong desire that His promise to answer would fail to bring a sense of sweet relief, I wonder if we can accept His gift of faith.

When the Holy Spirit implants a desire within us, we should cherish that desire and pray until we know God has heard.

Thank You, Jesus, for deepening my desire when I'm faithful to pray.

"To the faithful you show yourself faithful" (2 Samuel 22:26).

Memory Verse for May 

"Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy" (1 Pet. 1:8).

How Long, O Lord?

A friend had gone to many interviews looking for a job. One day, after months of looking, she was again turned down. "If God had given me a job with a salary paying many thousands," she commented, "we would have said, 'Isn't God good!' But God is just as good when He asks me to wait."

When we hang on to faith during disappointment, our faith deepens. If God always answered our prayers quickly, we would be short-changed. The benefits of waiting-of holding on to our confident expectation that God is faithful-are so profitable to us that God, in His grace and mercy, often delays answers to our prayers.

The psalmist said, "My soul, wait thou only upon God; for my expectation is from him" (Psalm 62:5 KJV). "It is comparatively easy," said E. M. Bounds, "to wait upon God; but to wait upon Him only, is, I suspect, a difficult and rare attainment."

If I am truly waiting on God...
   -I don't feel alarmed if my expectations are not met.
   -I'm at peace although it appears that God is not attending to my need.
   -I don't get upset if my plans are changed.
   -I don't look to anyone but God to remedy the situation.
 
We may cry, "How long, O Lord?" but we still hold on to our confident assurance. The root word for "passive" and "passion" is the same, meaning "to endure." While waiting, our hearts are both passive and passionate. We're refusing to act on our own but passionate in looking to God.

Thank You, Lord, for accepting my patient waiting as faith in Your faithfulness.

Give God Pleasure Today

While reading comments on Psalm 149 in Spurgeon's Treasury of David, I gained a new perspective on why the Lord so frequently calls us to praise Him--or rather an old perspective. Spurgeon had included a sermon preached by Samuel Fairclough in 1650, so the insight was hardly new. The sermon was titled "The Prisoner's Praise:"

 "Now the Lord, who is of the most perfect understanding, and deepest skill and knowledge, declares himself to take infinite delight in his people's praises. It is his solace and pleasure to be attended with them, either in earth or in heaven, by men or angels; and his soul is ravished with the thoughts and contemplation of them."

Our praises give solace and pleasure to God, and His soul is ravished with the thought of our praises! Selah! (Pause and think on that.)

Could it be that the reason scripture commands us to praise more often than to pray is because God so gloriously enjoys our praise? We praise God, not just to obey a command or to gain victory over the enemy, but out of a desire to delight God.

The psalmist understood that his praises gave pleasure to God. "I will praise God's name in song and glorify him with thanksgiving. This will please the Lord more than an ox, more than a bull with its horns and hoofs" (Psalm 69:30).

God, I am in awe to think that You are so utterly joyful when I praise You. I'm amazed that You have great delight and pleasure when I offer You thanks.

Saved By A Verse

I recall a lesson God taught me when someone made some cutting remarks to me. Struggling to have a right response, I sent an SOS to God, "Please, give me a verse!"

I got up from the table where we were sitting and walked over to the kitchen cabinet where I saw a verse I had taped there days before.

"And I myself also am persuaded of you, my brethren, that ye also are full of goodness" (Romans 15:14 KJV). 

I knew that God was saying, "Believe she is full of goodness." My spirit was not to be critical.

Later when I understood the pressures she was under, I understood the reason for her sharp words. God knew that, and the mind of Christ said to believe good.

Jesus' own love that He puts within our hearts is the spirit that refuses to nurse hurts and grievances or harbor resentments. It is the spirit of Jesus, who prayed for His crucifiers, "Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do" (Luke 23:34).

The Holy Spirit within gives us an ability to excuse others' faults. "She's had a hard time in life." "She didn't realize how wrong it was." "He did not intend to hurt me." "She forgot I asked her not to tell." "He did his best." Such thoughts will help us to believe others are full of goodness.
As we show mercy, others will naturally respond with more mercy to us. "Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy" (Matthew 5:7).

Dear Jesus, please give me grace to view others as You do.

Help me to be good-"always slow to expose, always eager to believe the best, always hopeful" (1 Corinthians 13:5 Moffatt).

"Accept one another, then, just as Christ accepted you, in order to bring praise to God" (Romans 15:7).

The Power of Aunt Ida's Prayers

At the close of World War II while living in India, my cousin Wesley Duewel got a cablegram from the United States saying that a missionary family was arriving on a ship in Calcutta. He was to meet them. At that time in India, authorities were not allowed to announce the arrival or departure of ships, so he did not know when the ship was coming.

After arriving in Calcutta, he got off the train and was walking down the street to the American Express Company to get information about ships when a riot broke out just in front of him. There were more than 350 to 400 people killed on the streets of Calcutta during those next four or five days, and Wesley had to make numerous trips through mobs where people were shouting right and left, waving their fists, and waving hockey sticks. He said he would push through that crowd, walking slowly, and the people would just keep parting. He felt that he could touch God if he moved his arm out eight to ten inches. He was surrounded by God.

About a week or two later, he received a letter from his mother mentioning certain dates. She asked, "Wesley, were you in any special danger on these days?"

Those were the days Wesley was in mob danger in Calcutta. She didn't know he was in Calcutta, but God knew, and God alerted his mother. God used her fervent SOS prayers to protect her son.

Jesus, make me aware of those who need my prayers today.

"And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints" (Ephesians 6:18).