The Word and Prayer (and other devotionals)

The Word and Prayer

"Quicken me, O Lord, according to Thy Word" (Psalm 119:107)

Prayer and the Word of God are inseparable and should always go together in the quiet time of the inner chamber. In His Word God speaks to me; in prayer I speak to God. If  there is to be true fellowship, God and I must both take part. If I simply pray, without using God's Word, I am apt to use my own words and thoughts. What really gives prayer its power is that I take God's thought from His Word and present them before Him. Then I am enabled to pray according to God's Word. How indispensable God's Word is for all true prayer.

When I pray, I must seek to know God aright. It is through the Word that the Holy Spirit gives me right thoughts of Him. The Word will also teach me how wretched and sinful I am. It reveals to me all the wonders that God will do for me and the strength He will give me to do His will. The Word teaches me how to pray - with strong desire, with a firm faith, and with constant perseverance. The Word teaches me not only what I am, but what I may become through God's grace. And above all, it reminds me each day that Christ is the great intercessor and allows me to pray in His Name.

O Christian, learn this great lesson, to renew your strength each day in God's Word, and so pray according to His will.

Then we turn to the other side - Prayer. We need prayer when we read God's Word - prayer to be taught of God to understand His Word, prayer that through the Holy Spirit I may rightly know and use God's Word - prayer that I may see in the Word that Christ is all in all and will be all in me.

Dear Father, it is in the blessed inner chamber, that I may approach Thee in Christ through the Word and prayer. There I offer myself to Thee and Thy service and am strengthened by the Holy Spirit, so that Thy love may be shed abroad in my heart and I may daily walk in that love. Amen

~Andrew Murray~
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Obedience

"Obey My voice ... and I will be your God" (Jeremiah 11:4)

God gave this command to Israel when He gave them the law. But Israel had no power to keep the law. So God gave them a "new covenant" to enable His people to live a life of obedience. We read (Jeremiah 31:33), "I will write My law in their hearts" (Jeremiah 32:40), "I will put my fear in their heart, that they shall not depart from Me." (Ezekiel 36:27). "I will cause you to walk in My statutes." These wonderful promises gave the assurance that obedience would be their delight.

Let us listen to what the Lord Jesus says about obedience (John 14:21-23). "He that keepeth My commandments, he it is that loveth Me;and he that loveth Me shall be loved of My Father, and I will love him, and We will make our abode with him." And in John 15:10, "If ye keep My commandments, ye shall abide in My love." These words are an inexhaustible treasure. Faith can firmly trust Christ to enable us to live such a life of love and of obedience.

No father can train his children unless they are obedient. No teacher can teach a child who continues to disobey him. No general lead his soldiers to victory without prompt obedience. Pray God to imprint this lesson on your heart: the life of faith is a life of obedience. As Christ lived in obedience to the Father, so we too need obedience for a life in the love of God.

Alas, the thought is too common: "I cannot be obedient, it is quite impossible." Yes, impossible to you, but NOT to God. He has promised "to cause you to walk in His statutes." Pray and meditate on these words, and the Holy Spirit will enlighten your eyes so that you will have power to do God's will.

Dear Father, let my fellowship with Thee and with the Lord Jesus Christ have as its one aim and object - a life of quiet, determined, unquestioning obedience. Amen

~Andrew Murray~