Faith and Prayer

If you glanced at my PowerPoint slides from this past Sunday's message, you would have noticed that one of my goals this year to help me pray better, pray more is to read through E.M. Bounds' 8 volume collection on prayer. Now don't get too impressed. E.M. writes in an easy reading style ... and his chapters are relatively brief. My goal is to read 3 chapters each week.

Recently, in a chapter in which he discusses the relationship of faith to prayer, he makes the following comments about faith and prayer which really struck me ...

"Faith grows by reading and meditating upon the Word of God. Most, and best of all, faith thrives in an atmosphere of prayer. It would be well, if all of us were to stop, and inquire personally of ourselves: 'Have I faith in God? Have I real faith-faith which keeps me in perfect peace, about the things of earth and the things of heaven?' This is the most important question a man can propound and expect to be answered. And there is another question, closely akin to it in significance and importance-'Do I really pray to God so that he hears me and answers my prayers? And do I truly pray unto God so that I get direct from God the things I ask of Him?'

E. M. Bounds. Complete Works of E. M. Bounds on Prayer, The: Experience the Wonders of God through Prayer (p. 21). Kindle Edition. 

Good questions, eh?  

Thanks for stopping by . . . 

pj

A Prayer for Your Tuesday

Here is a prayer for your day today .... taken from The Valley of Vision: A Collection of Puritan Prayers and Devotions.


O Fountain of all good,
Nothing exceeds your power,
Nothing is too great for you to do,
Nothing is too good for you to give.

Infinite is your might, boundless your love, limitless your grace, glorious your saving name.

Let angels sing for sinners repenting, prodigals restored,
backsliders reclaimed, Satan's captives released,
blind eyes opened, broken hearts bound up,
the despondent cheered, the self-righteous stripped,
the ignorant enlightened, and saints built up in their holy faith.

I ask great things of a great God.

Amen

Thanks for stopping by . . .
pj

My PowerPoint Slides from January 8, 2011

Here are the PowerPoint slides I used in my message today titled, "Resolved!"

2012 resolutions message january 8, 2012

View more presentations from John Smith

Thanks for stopping by . . . pj

My New Year Resolutions

New Year resolutions often get a bad rap. Why? Because as most of you know (and have probably experienced) ... most New Year resolutions are forgotten by Valentine's Day (if not before!). Since our track record of keeping such resolutions is poor ... we simply don't make them. Ahh ... the path toward guilt-free living!

I believe this is rather unfortunate. I believe the making of resolutions can be an effective practice that God uses in our lives to move us further down the road in our journey of grace. I am convinced that one reason Jonathan Edwards has left such a mark upon the Church was his practice of keeping an ongoing set of resolutions. These resolutions served to keep him spiritually "on track" in the midst of his pressing ministry obligations. I believe the making and keeping (at least trying to keep :)) of resolutions will do the same for us.

Last year I put together a list of resolutions for 2011. Some I kept ... others, well .... But I am determined to once again put together a list of resolutions for this new year of 2012. And I will strive, with God's help, to keep them. Even if I don't do all I set out to do ... even if I were to accomplish just one quarter of my goals - wouldn't I still be further down the road than if I had not made any resolutions at all?  The answer to that question, my friend is obvious.

Here is my list - please pray that I will ... by God's grace and for His glory ... keep them as best as I can!

My Resolutions for 2012

To be read twice each week.

1. I resolve to seek God in all of life, realizing that only in Him will I find the fullness of joy.

2. I resolve to immerse myself in Scripture, knowing that the Word of God is the only reliable foundation for life.

3. I resolve to pray better and to pray more.

4. I resolve to better shepherd my children and grandchildren in their own personal faith journeys.

5. I resolve to better love my wife, seeking to imitate the example of Christ’s love for his bride, the Church.

6. I resolve to be more intentional in sharing my faith.

7. I resolve to renew my commitment as a member of the elder team to shepherd our church family with integrity of heart and skillful hands. I resolve to engage in those things that will move me in that direction.

8. I resolve to better care for my body, knowing that as a follower of Christ my body is the temple of the Holy Spirit.

9. I resolve to do my utmost to keep the above resolutions all by God’s grace and for His glory! 

Thanks for stopping by . . . 

pj

A 911 Call You'll Want to Hear!

One of my favorite bloggers posted the video below of a five year old's conversation with a 911 dispatcher. It made me smile and laugh ... and that's a good thing. This life is far too often cold, dark and downright painful. It is NOT the world God designed us to live in ... and that is why we find ourselves hurting so often. Oh for the day when God makes all things new (see Revelation 21:1-5)! But until that time, we need to push forward - no matter how tough the going gets! I find that sometimes, a bit of sweetness (as evidenced by this little girl) lifts my soul. Enjoy!




Thanks for stopping by . . .
pj

The Rise of the Planet of the Twins!

I have not posted since Monday as I have been a bit "under the weather." After a visit to the doctor yesterday ... and starting a round of meds, I am feeling somewhat better today. My voice is gradually returning (it got lost somewhere early Tuesday). I am doing my best to rest it so I will be up to preaching on this upcoming Sunday.

My twin and I at age 2
(can you guess which one is me?

Did you hear that the birth rate for twins here in the United States is up ... I mean up substantially? I am a twin. And when I was born 8 1/2 minutes after my brother ... we were among a pretty select group! In 1956, only about one in every one hundred births were twins. I was reminded about our "special status" when people would always ask my parents, "How are the twins?" My guess is that many of them did not even know our names!!!

Today ... the U.S. birth rate for twins is now about 1 in every 30 births. Quite the increase! And I am not surprised by that as our church family saw two sets of twins born within a couple of months of one another in 2011. Now there are a number of reasons for this increase (check out the AP news article).

As I reflected on this trend, memories of growing up as a twin flooded my mind. Of course, there are memories of stories that my parents and older sisters would tell of us twins' escapades as toddlers (like washing all of my dad's ties in the toilet -- hey, we were just trying to help mommy do the laundry!). But there are also memories of laying in bed at night and playing flashlight tag or just talking about school and friends.

Oh ... and there's one other memory I have that makes me chuckle. My twin and I developed a language that only he and I could understand. That was just fine and dandy when we were just communicating with each other ... but made it difficult when we wanted to communicate with those outside our twin circle. In fact, our speech was so bad that when we hit elementary school, we had to go to speech class every week. There a speech therapist would show us a flash card and teach us to pronounce the word correctly. So ... I guess I learned something from those sessions as I seem to get most words pronounced correctly!

Well, my brother and I had our "secret" language ... but I am so glad that God does not have some "secret" language. He speaks to us plainly in His Word, the Bible. You don't need to decode it ... you don't need to get a graduate degree to  understand it. But you do need to be IN IT!  SOOO ... are you REGULARLY in the Scripture? Do you have some sort of Bible reading plan? And are you working that plan?  If you want to check out some really good (and really diverse) Bible reading plans, go to YouVersion.com.  If you have a smart phone or tablet, you can even download a free app (it's what I use).


Thanks for stopping by . . .
pj

A Prayer for 2012

One of the devotional books I enjoy using is titled, The Valley of Vision. It is a collection of Puritan prayers and devotions. Often the Puritans get a bad "rap." However, the one area you cannot "rap" the Puritans is their knowledge of God. You talk about deep!  They did not merely know "about" God ... they knew Him personally and intimately. This clearly is evident in the prayers they have left behind. Below is one such prayer. I recommend that you take a few minutes ... and make this prayer YOUR prayer to God as we launch out on yet another new year.


LORD, high and holy, meek and lowly,
You have brought me to the valley of vision,
Where I live in the depths but see You in the heights;
Hemmed in by mountains of sin I behold Your glory.

Let me learn by paradox
  that the way down is the way up,
  that to be low is to be high,
  that the broken heart is the healed heart,
  that the contrite spirit is the rejoicing spirit,
  that the repenting soul is the victorious soul,
  that to have nothing is to possess all,
  that to bear the cross is to wear the crown,
  that to give is to receive,
  that the valley is the place of vision.

Lord, in the daytime stars can be seen from deepest wells,
  and the deeper the wells the brighter Your stars shine;

Let me find Your light in my darkness,
  Your life in my death,
  Your joy in my sorrow,
  Your grace in my sin,
  Your riches in my poverty,
  Your glory in my valley.
Amen.


Thanks for stopping by . . .
pj