SermonIndex Audio Sermons
SermonIndex - Promoting Revival to this Generation
Give To SermonIndex
Discussion Forum : Scriptures and Doctrine : Starving Prayer Col. 1:3

Print Thread (PDF)

Goto page ( 1 | 2 Next Page )
PosterThread
pastorfrin
Member



Joined: 2006/1/19
Posts: 1406


 Starving Prayer Col. 1:3



Starving Prayer

"We give thanks to God and the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, praying always for you"

(Col. 1:3).

I am as certain as I am standing here, that the secret of much mischief to our own souls, and to the souls of others, lies in the way that we stint, and starve, and scamp our prayers, by hurrying over them.

Prayer worth calling prayer:

Prayer that God will call true prayer and will treat as true prayer, takes far more time, by the clock, than one man in a thousand thinks. After all that the Holy Ghost has done to make true prayer independent of times, and of places, and of all kinds of instruments and assistances,--as long as we remain in this unspiritual and undevotional world, we shall not succeed, to be called success, in prayer, without time, and times, and places, and other assistances in prayer.

Take good care that you are not spiritual overmuch in the matter of prayer. Take good care lest you take your salvation far too softly, and far too cheaply.

If you find your life of prayer to be always so short, and so easy, and so spiritual, as to be without cost and strain and sweat to you, you may depend upon it, you are not yet begun to pray.

As sure as you sit there, and I stand here, it is just in this matter of time in prayer that so many of us are making shipwreck of our own souls, and of the souls of others.

Alexander Whyte

 2008/7/5 8:29Profile
enid
Member



Joined: 2006/5/22
Posts: 2680
Nottingham, England

 Re: Starving Prayer Col. 1:3

How could I have missed this post? It's speaks volumes.

As it says in Col 1v3, '...praying always...'

Rushing prayer? Plead guilty.

Not enough time in prayer? Guilty again.

It always feels like when you have ended your prayer time, that you haven't prayed enough.

We can't pray too much. Too little, but not too much.

We need God so much.

Thanks for the post.

 2008/7/10 4:41Profile









 Re:

It is always for me to be quality, not quantity. We sometimes will think God will hear us if we spend hours in prayer. Will God hear you any different if you are praying for 15 or 30 minutes than praying for two hours?
[b]"And when you are praying, do not use meaningless repetition as the Gentiles do, for they suppose that they will be heard for their [i]many words[/i]."[/b]

The key words, "many words". We can be repetitious and be very fruitless with extending our time in prayer by length of time rather than pure heart and quality.

 2008/7/13 11:50
HeartSong
Member



Joined: 2006/9/13
Posts: 3179


 Re:

Quote:
It is always for me to be quality, not quantity.



Could it not be that quantity is a quality?

 2008/7/13 12:43Profile









 Re:

Quote:

HeartSong wrote:
Quote:
It is always for me to be quality, not quantity.



Could it not be that quantity is a quality?



I am sure it could, but many thing if i pray for two hours or more...God is hearing. Or should I mean if I DON'T pray for two or more hours, then I have failed. We can beat ourselves up if we don't travail for hours like Baxter or Edwards.

Look at Nehemiah's life.

Follow up later.
Bye
Reformer

 2008/7/13 18:10
HeartSong
Member



Joined: 2006/9/13
Posts: 3179


 Re:

We are to pray always for it is in prayer that we come to know the desires of His heart. If our prayer becomes method of any sort, we become a slave to the method, and miss that which He would have us do by the mere fact that we have our eyes on the method and not on Him.

What is it to us how He has chosen to perform that which He would have us to do?

 2008/7/13 19:18Profile
crsschk
Member



Joined: 2003/6/11
Posts: 9192
Santa Clara, CA

 Re: Starving Prayer Col. 1:3

Quote:
Will God hear you any different if you are praying for 15 or 30 minutes than praying for two hours?



Brother, maybe that is the issue ... we are doing all the talking.

Quote:
As sure as you sit there, and I stand here, it is just in this matter of time in prayer that so many of us are making shipwreck of our own souls, and of the souls of others.



It's true and I am guilty. Too often it is for this very reason;

[i]If you find your life of prayer to be always so short, and so easy, and so spiritual, as to be without cost and strain and sweat to you, you may depend upon it, you are not yet begun to pray.[/i]

"Without cost and strain and sweat". Sometimes that price is more than I wish to pay ... so I opt out early. This must change once again, this drifting in and out of it, some weeks go on well for a season and then ... some other distraction, compulsion ... book, article takes up this time. The difference is notable as he suggests and yet knowing that ...

Alexander Whyte is on a completely different level when we are talking about prayer. Would recommend no only anything, but everything that he has to say on the matter.

Thanks for bringing this up.


_________________
Mike Balog

 2008/7/13 19:31Profile









 Re:

Quote:
If you find your life of prayer to be always so short, and so easy, and so spiritual, as to be without cost and strain and sweat to you, you may depend upon it, you are not yet begun to pray.



Interesting...I have to say, it is stirring to meet God in such a fashion as that! My heart so longs to me Him in those moments.

I have not read anything from Alexander Whyte, I haven't heard of him. I will look into that.

:-)

 2008/7/13 21:23
Christinyou
Member



Joined: 2005/11/2
Posts: 3710
Ca.

 Re:

This Idea of Praying without ceasing gives insight to how great and infinite God truly is.

If the universe is still expanding an God is the One that spoke it into existence, He is still in control of all that is be created in the expansion.

At over 186,000 miles per/sec, which is the speed of Light. What did God say? "Let there be light", and there was light. That Light is still expanding at the speed of light. Where is it going? Beyond our comprehension. He created the earth, man, animals, water, etc. and He is still in control of every molecule, atom, quark, etc. If not nothing would exist.

You say what does this have to do with prayer? He is in control of all that I am, and even has the hairs on my head numbered, and knows when a sparrow falls. I am in Him by the Christ that is born again in me. That makes me always in the mind of God. His thoughts are of me continuously, for He holds all that I am together by His own power. Paul said, "pray without ceasing", how is this possible? The same way Gods thoughts are on each of us continuously, without ceasing and He controls all that He has created and is creating at this moment.

Jesus said, "He and His Father were One", did He need to be alone with His Father in prayer even though He was One with Him, Yes, scripture is plain. Also God said, "He whose mind is kept on me, I will keep him in perfect peace". The peace of God and our understanding of peace are two different things, "great drops of blood in the garden", "yet not my will but yours be done".

So we can be in Oneness without ceasing with God and our minds must come to know this or we have no concept of how to pray without ceasing. There are special times when God wants to be alone with me, and the same goes for us all, and there are times I want to be alone with Him, just like Jesus Christ who said, "He and His Father were One. By the Christ in us so are we One with Him and the Father and the Holy Spirit.

24-7-365 and all eternity, in Oneness with the God of the Universe. That is prayer without ceasing, He knows our needs before we even ask, the answer is already on the way. The special sweet times God wants to be alone with just me, WoW, This I don't understand and have to work hard to believe, but it is true, for I know I want to be alone in worship too, with, for and in Him, which is sweet to Him. Look at David's prayers, God wants us after His own heart also. That is when the tears flow when we feel that fellowship of prayer and worship which is the true desire of our heart, which is Christ and with a Father who love us so much, "For God so loved the world", sealed by the Holy Spirit into this relationship, One with God. Amen

What a Father, In Christ: Phillip


_________________
Phillip

 2008/7/13 22:57Profile
HeartSong
Member



Joined: 2006/9/13
Posts: 3179


 Re:

Quote:
24-7-365 and all eternity, in Oneness with the God of the Universe.



From everlasting to everlasting.

 2008/7/13 23:08Profile





©2002-2024 SermonIndex.net
Promoting Revival to this Generation.
Privacy Policy