Tag Archives: Prayer

John Collins, “Earnestly Contend for the Faith” Part 2

21 Monday May 2018

Posted by in Ecclesiology, Puritan, Uncategorized

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Collins lays down  series of rules for his congregation, that they may not swerve or fail in the faith. The first rule is discussed here.

The second rule give my Collins is

Be very well rooted and established in the right that has been delivered to you.

When the roots do not go down deep, one can easily be swayed. “There are many Christians that, through their own itching ears and the heaping up of teachers to themselves, have never been root or established in the truth.”

One without depth, cannot distinguish. Without a true “sight” of Christ, one will follow after existing affections and ideas. Christianity entails an entire renewing of the mind (Rom. 12:1-2). Collins expresses it thus, “You must not only hear the things of God, but see them; the first will but blind you, or best leave you in great uncertainty; the last will settle you.”  There must be  renovation of one’s heart.

This will require effort — and an effort which begins by beseeching the Lord to be the teacher, “In order to have a heart established through grace, get the Lord himself by prayer to teach you every truth. What Jesus Christ teaches once is everlastingly taught; no word is abiding, but what the Lord Jesus himself teaches.”

Here we see the great duty and burden of the church. The duty of the gathered people is to create disciples: those who are rooted and grounded in the truth. The truth must shape thought, affections and action. It is the duty of leaders to lead others in the way of truth (Heb. 13:7) and then to give an account for such leadership (Heb. 13:17). The new Christian will easily wonder if left utterly alone. The church is given to bring about this depth of life.

Yes, every individual Christian has the duty to learn the things of God, to study, prayer, mediate, serve, et cetera. But God did not give his Word to be lived in isolation but in communion. This depth takes place among the gathered people of God.

Should we pray to the Holy Spirit?

09 Saturday Jul 2016

Posted by in Abraham Kuyper, Charles Hodge, Charles Spurgeon, Prayer, Trinity, Uncategorized

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In Daniel Block’s “For the Glory of God”, he asks the question as to whether we should address worship specifically and personally to the Spirit.  His analysis begins with three observations:

  1.  “No one addresses the Holy Spirit in prayer, or bows to the Holy Spirit, or serves him in a liturgical gesture. Put simply, in the Bible the Spirit is never the object of worship.”
  2. “The Spirit drives the worship of believers yet does not receive worship.”
  3. “In true worship, the person of the Trinity may not be interchanged without changing the significance of the work.”

He notes two historical developments in the church. First, is the development of the Doxology,

Praise God from whom all blessings flow,

Praise him all creatures here below;

Praise him above you heavenly host;

Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. Amen.

He noted that it derives from Gloria Patri per Filium in Spiritu Sancto, Glory to God the Father, through the Son, in the Spirit. This was changed in response to the Arians, which sought to ontologically subordinate Jesus. To avoid that movement, the connections where changed to “and” from “through” and “in”.

The second development was the Charismatic movement to single out the Spirit for particular adoration in prayer and song.

Block is reticent to make the Spirit the unique object of worship

When we read Scripture, the focus will on God the Father or Jesus Christ the Son. However, it seems that the Holy Spirit is most honored when we accept his conviction of sin, his transforming and sanctifying work within us, and his guidance in life and ministry, and when in response to his leading we prostrate ourselves before Jesus.

This emphasis on the Spirit’s work in is matched by an interesting comment from Kuyper

It appears from Scripture, more than has been emphasized, that in the holy act of prayer there is a manifestation of the Holy Spirit working both in us and with us.

Kuyper, Holy Spirit (1946), trans. de Vries, p. 618.

James Hastings has a discussion on prayer directed to the Spirit. The conclusion comes in his last paragraph:

Continue reading →

Praying for your children

29 Tuesday Mar 2016

Posted by in Prayer, Uncategorized

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Keeper of Your elect, It is better to take refuge in You than to trust in man. It is better to take refuge in You than to trust in princes. Therefore cause my dear children to take refuge in You alone. Be their strength and their song; be their great salvation.

Let them lift up the cup of salvation and call on Your Name. Open to them the gates of righteousness, that they may enter through them and give thanks to You. Raise their eyes to the hills to see from where their help comes. For their help comes from You, who made heaven and earth. Do not let their feet be moved; keep them and do not slumber. Please keep them and neither slumber nor sleep. Keep them from all evil; keep their lives. Keep their going out and their coming in from this time forth and forevermore.

My children, do you know who keeps you? The LORD is your keeper; the LORD is your shade on your right hand. The sun shall not strike you by day, nor the moon by night. Lord Jesus, keep my children. We wait eagerly for Your appearing. Hasten the wonderful day of Your return—the wedding supper of the Lamb. Amen (Psalm 118, 116, 121).

Andrew Case. Setting Their Hope in GOD (Kindle Locations 275-284). Booksurge.

He has written models of prayers for husbands, wives and parents. I wonderful resources. You will find his work here: http://hismagnificence.com/books/

The Spiritual Chymist, Meditation 17

16 Friday Oct 2015

Posted by in Confession, Prayer

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From William Spurstowe’s The Spirit Chymist, 1666

Upon a Chancery Bill

[Note: A chancery bill would be a pleading in a court; a request for some redress from the court. The plaintiff begins the lawsuit by filing a bill which accuses the defendant of many wrongs. It is common for plaintiffs to accuse the defendant of many things which the plaintiff does not reasonably believe the defendant to have done. The plaintiff does this so that the plaintiff can conduct discovery [seek evidence] on the matters accused in the bill. A chancery court also permits the judge to act with “equity”; the judge can do things which are not precisely specified in the law. Here, Spurstowe uses that power to show that God may show mercy.]

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One cause and original can have but one orderly and genuine birth, for else what means our Savior’s question, Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles?

Or that of St. James, Does a fountain at the same time send forth water sweet and bitter?

May it not then justly be the opinion and mind of many, that the least fruit of any holy meditation can never grow from such a bramble of contention is a Chancery bill? And that from such a spring of march [Exodus 15:23; marah means “bitter”], a sweet and delightful stream can never issue?

Yea, who will not be ready to take up Nathanael’s question, Can any good thing come out of Nazareth? And then, what better answer can I return to such then Phillip’s, Come and see? [John 1:46]

And now let me say what I have often thought, that between such a bill and most men’s confession of sin in prayer, in which they implead [a legal term, state the charges, thus here, confess/accuse] themselves to God, there is too great a likeness in this respect, that the complaints in both have more of course and form than truth and reality.

In the one it is the usage in custom of the court for the plaintiff to pretend fraud, rate, combinations [conspiracy], concealments done and made to the prejudice of his right, which yet he never intends to prove against the defendant, but only to make use of it as a ground of discovery.

And is it not thus also in the other? Are there not in prayer large catalogues and enumerations of sin which many charge themselves with before God in their self condemnation? Pride, wantonness, hypocrisy, contumacy, are the black, shall I say, or scarlet sins that are among others instanced in [set forth in the prayer]?

And yet what other thing is intended by them than to make up the outside of their prayer? The sins are only placed in it, as dark shadows in a picture to set it off with more advantage, and to commend it rather to mend them to God.

In the doing of the duty they think not in the least the worst of themselves or what they say against themselves, nor would have others so say to do, else how comes it to pass that in charging themselves so deeply at God’s Tribunal, there is as little appearance of shame or sorrow in their face as there was of a cloud in the heavens
when Elijah servant returned his answer, there was nothing? [1 Kings 18:23]

Now that would be no part either of my work or purpose to justify or condemn the practices of humane judiciaries, which admit new suggestions [I am not talking about how courts conduct themselves], which admit loose suggestions, that are ours arrow shot at random, because that now and then they may serve there discovery.

Yet I cannot but condemn and abhor that the confession of sin in prayer should be as slight and overly as the complaints of a chancery bill, and that particular sins specified in it, and aggravated and heinous circumstances, should be no other than things of course, done rather to length out the duty than affect the heart? To discover quickness of parts rather than truth of grace.

What is this but to make prayer in itself, which should be as sweet as incense burning up on the golden altar, to be as an offering of sulfur? What is this but to mock God, the great searcher of the heart, with vain words, and to publish to the world how little they fear his anger or value is pardon?

For if the confession of sin be formal, how can the seeking of forgiveness be real?

O Holy lord preserve me from such hypocrisy,
and remember not what in this kind I have been guilty of
my desire is to judge myself,
not in word,
but in truth,
and unfeigningly to beg,
That I, who am in the court of thy justice wholly inexcusable,
may in the Chancery of a mercy become altogether inaccusable.

The Spiritual Chymist: Meditation 16

25 Friday Sep 2015

Posted by in Biblical Counseling, Discipleship, Eschatology, Meditaiton

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Upon a Lamp and a Star

(From William Spurstowe’s Spiritual Chymist, 1666

 

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Such is the disparity between a Lamp and a Star, as that happily it may not a little be wondered at, why I should make a joint meditation of them which are so greatly distant in respect of place, and far more in respect of quality: the one being an earthly, and the other a heavenly body?

What is a lamp or a star in regard of influence, duration or beauty? Haw it any quickening rays flowing from it? Or is its light immortal,s o as not become despised by expiring? Can it dazzle the beholder with its serene luster and leave such impressions of itself upon the eye, as may render it for a time blind to any other objects?

Alas! These are too high and noble effects for such a feeble and uncertain light to produce, and property only to those glorious bodies that sine in the firmament.

But yet this great inequality between the one and the other serves to make them both more meet emblems of the offering estate of believes in this and the other life, who is Scripture — while they are on this side of heaven — are compared to wise virgins with lamps burning; and when they come to heaven, to start shining, which endure for ever and ever.

Grace in the best of saints is not perfect, but must, like a lamp, be fed with new supplies that it go not out; and be often trimmed that it be not dim. Ordinances are as necessary to Christians in this life as manna to the Israelites in the wilderness (though in Canaan it ceased). And therefore, God appointed his Word and Sacraments to drop continually upon the hearts of his children, as the two olive trees upon the golden candlestick.

What mean then those fond conceits of perfectists, who dream of living above all subsidiary helps and judge ordinances as useless to them, as oil for a star or snuffing of the sun to make it shine more brightly [treating the stars and sun like oil burning lamps]?

It is true, when we come to heaven such things will be of no more use to our souls, than meat or drink will be to our bodies; but yet while we are earth, the body cannot live without the one, nor the soul without the other.

Do thou therefore, Holy God,
Preserve in me a due sense of my impotency and wants
Whose light is fading,
As well as borrowed;
That so I may daily suck supplies from thee
And acknowledge that I live not only by grace received
But by grace renewed
And while I am in this life
Have light only as a lamp in the Temple
Which must be fed and trimmed
And not as a star in Heaven

A letter of reconciliation

19 Saturday Sep 2015

Posted by in 1 Peter, Biblical Counseling, Hebrews, Peacemaking

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Since we are in this world, a constant element of life within the Church will be peacemaking, confession, forgiveness, reconciliation. Here is a form letter with some elements of one brother seeking reconciliation with another.

 

Dear _________:

Think of that _______: When God turns Adam and Eve from the Garden the flaming sword guards the way in. God is utterly beyond our ability to see or hear — unless God first comes to us. What if God had never spoken? What if God had left us alone? The heavens could have been bronze, metal and judgment for all time. Even now when God has spoken the majority of the world never hears a word. God spoke — even to us. God invaded His privacy, God disclosed the love of Father and Son and Spirit, God has invited us into the infinite joy of His communion. We have been invited into fellowship with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ.

________, stop for a moment and serious consider — God had every right to ignore you, to leave you alone to your own heart, to seal up joy and love and mercy — but it was disclosed to you and I, to those men who did not and do not deserve it. So often we are like children, fighting over toys which will soon break, angry over who gets to sit in that particular seat of the car while ignoring the trip to Disneyland. What fools we can be! We have been given infinite wealth, an unending supply of mercy and love, hope and joy: The Father is an unending fountain of love.

Ecclesiastes 1:1–11 (ESV)

1 The words of the Preacher, the son of David, king in Jerusalem.
2 Vanity of vanities, says the Preacher,

vanity of vanities! All is vanity.

3 What does man gain by all the toil

at which he toils under the sun?

4 A generation goes, and a generation comes,

but the earth remains forever.

5 The sun rises, and the sun goes down,

and hastens to the place where it rises.

6 The wind blows to the south

and goes around to the north;

around and around goes the wind,

and on its circuits the wind returns.

7 All streams run to the sea,

but the sea is not full;

to the place where the streams flow,

there they flow again.

8 All things are full of weariness;

a man cannot utter it;

the eye is not satisfied with seeing,

nor the ear filled with hearing.

9 What has been is what will be,

and what has been done is what will be done,

and there is nothing new under the sun.

10 Is there a thing of which it is said,

“See, this is new”?

It has been already

in the ages before us.

11 There is no remembrance of former things,

nor will there be any remembrance

of later things yet to be

among those who come after.

That is what we would have had God not spoken. Let those words sink into your consciousness. You know your body is already betraying you. You’re at retirement. All your money, your work, your reputation are less than vapor. Very soon, no one will even know your name. Your house will be gone. Given time not even Los Angeles or the United States will be easy to find. Great Babylon lies under the dirt. You are worm’s food; your work nothing; your life a mist — all of this is so if God does not speak. Do not live as the one who has not heard:

Hebrews 10:26–39 (ESV)

26 For if we go on sinning deliberately after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, 27 but a fearful expectation of judgment, and a fury of fire that will consume the adversaries. 28 Anyone who has set aside the law of Moses dies without mercy on the evidence of two or three witnesses. 29 How much worse punishment, do you think, will be deserved by the one who has trampled underfoot the Son of God, and has profaned the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified, and has outraged the Spirit of grace? 30 For we know him who said, “Vengeance is mine; I will repay.” And again, “The Lord will judge his people.” 31 It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.
32 But recall the former days when, after you were enlightened, you endured a hard struggle with sufferings, 33 sometimes being publicly exposed to reproach and affliction, and sometimes being partners with those so treated. 34 For you had compassion on those in prison, and you joyfully accepted the plundering of your property, since you knew that you yourselves had a better possession and an abiding one. 35 Therefore do not throw away your confidence, which has a great reward. 36 For you have need of endurance, so that when you have done the will of God you may receive what is promised. 37 For,
“Yet a little while,

and the coming one will come and will not delay;

38 but my righteous one shall live by faith,

and if he shrinks back,

my soul has no pleasure in him.”

39 But we are not of those who shrink back and are destroyed, but of those who have faith and preserve their souls.

Focus your heart upon the treasure which has flowed from the infinite mercy of the Father who has spoken. Stay there until your heart is raptured with joy:

Ephesians 1:3–14 (ESV)

3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, 4 even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love 5 he predestined us for adoption as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, 6 to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved. 7 In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace, 8 which he lavished upon us, in all wisdom and insight 9 making known to us the mystery of his will, according to his purpose, which he set forth in Christ 10 as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth.

11 In him we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will, 12 so that we who were the first to hope in Christ might be to the praise of his glory. 13 In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, 14 who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory.
And here then should be our prayer for one-another

Ephesians 1:15–23 (ESV)

15 For this reason, because I have heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love toward all the saints, 16 I do not cease to give thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers, 17 that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of him, 18 having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, 19 and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe, according to the working of his great might 20 that he worked in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places, 21 far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come. 22 And he put all things under his feet and gave him as head over all things to the church, 23 which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all.
____, if the eyes of your heart are enlightened, that you may know the hope of our inheritance, why will you not speak of it with me? Come bless me. If I were your enemy, it would be your duty to bless me. Exodus 23:4–5 (ESV)

4 If you meet your enemy’s ox or his donkey going astray, you shall bring it back to him. 5 If you see the donkey of one who hates you lying down under its burden, you shall refrain from leaving him with it; you shall rescue it with him.

If I have sinned against you, you are called upon to overlook by sin and forgive it. Pursue me with mercy that you may be blessed. I have offered you forgiveness and mercy. You have my blessing and love: Think of it, our forgiveness, mercy, love are all spending the love, mercy and forgiveness of Christ: God has spoken and has lavished blessing upon us. What madman would hoard such wealth which only increases as it is spent! The mercy of God is like manna, it spoils if it is not used (Matt. 6:15).

1 Peter 3:8–9 (ESV)

8 Finally, all of you, have unity of mind, sympathy, brotherly love, a tender heart, and a humble mind. 9 Do not repay evil for evil or reviling for reviling, but on the contrary, bless, for to this you were called, that you may obtain a blessing.

[Making peace is to pursue to a blessing. There is a holy seeking of one’s own good in peacemaking. Matt. 5:9.]

Have mercy on me

01 Tuesday Sep 2015

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“His first prayer is one suitable for all persons and occasions, it breathes a humble spirit, indicates self knowledge, appeals to the proper attributes, and to the fitting person. Have mercy upon me, O Lord. Just as Luther used to call some texts little Bibles, so we may call this sentence a little prayer-book; for it has in it the soul and marrow at prayer. It is multum in parvo, and like the angelic sword turns every way. The ladder looks to be short, but it reaches from earth to heaven.”

Spurgeon on Psalm 9:13

John Newton’s Advice to Young Man

30 Thursday Jul 2015

Posted by in Biblical Counseling, John Newton, Prayer

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On August 24, 1774, John Newton sent a letter to a young who left out in life. First, as a wise counselor, Newton begins by seeking engagement with the young man. He does not merely throw advice at him from a distance, but Newton draws up close and shows a personal concern for this man at this time.

Newton begins with the circumstances of their parting. Newton is careful enough to note even the manner of speech and his own conduct at the meeting:

THE lowness of your voice, and a blameable absence of mind on my part, prevented me from understanding what you said when you took your leave of me; nor did I just at that instant recollect that you were so soon going away.

Such careful involvement with the life of the person addressed is a necessary aspect of love in counseling. One must not merely offer information. Rather an honest concern with the life of the other is necessary, or the knowledge has been given without love.

Next, Newton notes the natural advantages of the young man, both a fortune and a good upbringing by his part. Newton notes a thing which is invisible to young men — the necessity of a wise restraint to obtain that which is good:

How many at your years, who have been brought up in affluence, are unprincipled, uninstructed, and have already entered upon a course of dissipation and folly, in which it is impossible they themselves can find satisfaction, and which (unless they are reclaimed from it by an Almighty arm) will infallibly preclude them from usefulness or esteem!

He then commends to the young the gift of God in the manner of the young man’s life:

What may I not then further hope from these beginnings, especially as it is easy to observe that He has given you an amiable and promising disposition of spirit,

It is easy to forget that our very lives, including our intelligence and disposition, are gifts from God. Moreover, Newton points to God as the source of the restraint from foolishness as a gift of God.

Having noted the grace of his prior restrain from foolishness, Newton briefly addresses the vanity of the creature — but not as an end in itself, but rather as a stepping stone to the satisfaction of the Creator:

[perhaps] you feel a vanity in science, an emptiness in creatures, and find that you have desires which only He who gave them can satisfy

Restraint is not a negative move; rather it is a necessary step to obtain that which is greater. By getting on an airplane, we restrain our options for the moment so as to obtain the greater good of the destination. Newton quickly moves through possible infidelities and distractions which may meet the young man on the way.

Newton notes that the life of Christian is the only possible way to fit one for a fruitful life in this world — but he does not stop there. All the things of this life are not worth comparison to the goodness of Christ:

But then, the religion, which only deserves the name, must come from above; it must be suited to the state and wants of a sinner; it must be capable of comforting the heart; it must take away the sting and dread of death; and fix our confidence upon One who is always able to help us. Such is the religion of Jesus, such are its effects, and such are the criteria whereby we are to judge of the various forms and schemes under which it is proposed to us. But I forbear; I am only reminding you of what you know, and what you have known to be verified by living and dying examples.

This happiness, my dear sir, is open to you, to all who seek. He is enthroned in heaven, but prayer will bring him down to the heart. Indeed, he is always before-hand with us; and if we feel one desire towards him, we may accept it as a token that he gave it us to encourage us to ask for more.

Newton keeps his own on the end: there will be death, there will be judgment. No degree of distraction of foolishness in this world can avoid that end. Only Christ is a sufficient ground for our life and happiness.

I wish to underscore especially two elements of Newton’s commending Christ. First, Christ is brought near by prayer:

He is enthroned in heaven, but prayer will bring him down to the heart.

Our need commends us to Christ and draws Christ to our heart.

Second, the fact that we desire Christ is evidence that Christ desires our company — and thus should encourage us to come to Him:

if we feel one desire towards him, we may accept it as a token that he gave it us to encourage us to ask for more.

In the end, this letter brings comfort to all by reminding us that Christ will come to our heart — and that our desire for Christ is a proof that Christ will come to us.

John Newton, Richard Cecil, The Works of the John Newton, vol. 1 (London: Hamilton, Adams & Co., 1824), 633.

The Love Which Hides Sin

06 Monday Jul 2015

Posted by in 1 Peter

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O Lord Jesus Christ

The birds have their nests

The foxes their holes

And Thou didst not have whereon to lay Thy head

Homeless Thou wast upon earth

-And yet a hiding-place 

The only one where sinners could flee.

And so to-day Thou art still the hiding-place

When the sinner flees to Thee

Hides himself in Thee

Is hidden in thee

-Then he is eternally defended

Then “love” [for Christ is love] hides the multitude of sins.

1 Peter 4:8 Love shall hide a multitude of sins.

Prayer of Soren Kieregaard

The Spiritual Chymist, Meditation 12

16 Tuesday Jun 2015

Posted by in Ministry, Prayer

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Upon Strength and Length in Prayer

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When Cicero was asked which Demonsthenes’ orations he thought best, he wittily replied, “The longest.”

But if the question should be, which prayers are bets, the answer must not be longest but strongest; not the prayer that exceeds in quantity but that which excels in quality.

In moral actions, the manner of working is a swaying circumstance: a man may sin in doing goo, but not in doing well. How few then are there which manage this duty of holy prayer aright?

Some mistake the language of prayer, and think it consists of nothing else than clothing their meaning in apt expressions with a tuneable delivery of it. Others presume that it necessarily must have put an edge upon their requests and stirred up some passions of self-love, that they cannot fail of acceptance. Others agains put much in the length of their prayers, measuring by the time which is spent, rather than by the intention which is exercised in them.

But alas, how wide are all such apprehensions from the truth. And how fruitless will such duties be to those that are not otherwise busied in them.

The prayer, which is as delightful music in God’s ears, is not that which has the quaint notes of the Nightingale, but that which has the mournful tones of the dove. Broken sighs and groans the best eloquence with God, and become prayer, just as unexpected stops and rests (made by musicians) do grace the music with a kind of harmonical ellipsis and apostrophe. It is not the prayer that indigency and natural desires do sharpen, but that which the Spirit does enliven that prevails with God. The one is the cry of the young ravens, the other is as the voice of children who are taught to cry Abba, Father. It is not the many words of the proud Pharisee that obtained the blessing, but the pithy and short confession of a penitent Publican — who was sent away justified.

Ah Father! may sometimes be more effectual with God, who searches the heart and knows the mind of the Spirit, than a prayer that is stretched forth like an evening shadow to wonderful length. The one, though short, may like a small figure in a number stand for much; and the other, though great, may like a string of zeros mean nothing.

Let therefore such who are frequent in the duty of prayer, especially young converts, who are apt to think above what is meet for their own enlargements, endeavor to turn length into strength, and to remember that there is a wide difference between the gift and grace of prayer; that it one thing to have commerce with God in duties and another to communion with him: the one is such as strangers have in their mutual traffic, but the other is proper to friends, who are knit together in love.