prayer

God Knows

Sherry Attributes of God, Christian Life, prayer, promises 3 Comments

You scrutinize my path and my lying down, And are intimately acquainted with all my ways. Even before there is a word on my tongue, Behold, O LORD, You know it all.…-Psalm 139:3-4

Prayerful man, prayerful woman, here is a consolation-God sees you: and if He can see you, surely He can hear you. Why, we can often hear people, when we cannot see them. If God is so near to us, and if His voice is like the thunder, surely His ears are as good as His eyes, and He will be sure to answer us. Perhaps you cannot say a word when you pray. Never mind, God does not want to hear; He can tell what you mean even by seeing you. “There,” says the Lord, “is a child of Mine in prayer. He says not a word; but do you see that tear rolling down his cheek? do you hear that sigh?” Oh! mighty God, Thou canst see both tear and sigh; Thou canst read desire when desire hath not clothed itself in words…Ah, God, when I cannot pray with words, I will throw myself flat on my face, and I will groan my prayer; and if I cannot groan it I will sigh it; and if I cannot sigh it I will wish it: and when these eye-strings break, and when death has sealed these lips, I will enter heaven with a prayer, which Thou wilt not hear but which Thou wilt see-the prayer of my inmost spirit, when my heart and my flesh fail me, that God may be the strength of my life and portion for ever. ~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/0085.cfm

The Faith That Delights God

Sherry Character of Jesus, Christian Life, prayer, promises, salvation, The Holy Spirit 1 Comment

So then they which be of faith are blessed with faithful Abraham. -Galatians 3:9

(T)he crown of Christian experience is to be delivered from all trust in self or man, and to be brought to rely wholly and simply on Jesus Christ. I say, Christian, thy highest and noblest experience is not to be groaning about thy corruption, is not to be crying about thy wanderings, but is to say-

“With all my sin, and care, and woe,
His Spirit will not let me go.”

“Lord, I believe, help thou mine unbelief.” I like what Luther says: “I would run into Christ’s arms if He had a drawn sword in His hands.” Trust is called venturesome believing; but as an old divine says, there is no such thing as venturesome believing; we cannot venture on Christ; it is no venture at all; there is no hap-hazard in the least degree. It is a holy and heavenly experience, when we can go to Christ, amid the storm, and say, “Oh! Jesus, I believe I am covered by Thy blood;” …”Lord, I believe that through Christ Jesus, ragged though I am, I am fully absolved.” A saint’s faith is little faith when he believes as a saint; but a sinner’s faith is true faith when he believes as a sinner. The faith, not of a sinless being, but the faith of a sinful creature-that is the faith which delights God. Go, then, Christian: ask that this may be thy experience, to learn each day, “He only is my rock and my salvation.” ~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/0080.cfm

The Noticed Pray-er

Sherry Attributes of God, Character of Jesus, Christian Life, prayer, promises 3 Comments

And the Lord said to (Ananias), Arise, and go into the street which is called Straight, and inquire in the house of Judas for one called Saul, of Tarsus: for, behold, he prayeth. – Acts 8:11

God bore witness that Saul did pray. He was about to answer the prayer. He had Ananias in readiness to go and comfort the poor blinded penitent. God is about to answer your prayer if you have cried to Him. Perhaps the man is present who will speak to you.

He called attention to it by a “Behold.” We have heard of many marvels concerning which men cry, “Behold”; but that which strikes God most is a sinner praying. God does not say, “Behold Herod on his throne,” or “Behold Caesar in his palace.” I am afraid there are many of whom it would have to be said, “Behold, he never prays!” What a sight — a man created by his Maker, and daily fed by His bounty, who never worships Him! And yet when he does pray, God makes a wonder of it. It is his first prayer this morning. He has reached home and is kneeling by the side of that bed on which he has slept so often without prayer, and he cries, “O God, I do not know what to say, but be merciful to me a sinner, and forgive my sins.” I hear the rustling wings of angels as they gather around the sacred spot. Anon they fly upward, crying, “Behold he prayeth.”…You remember that day when you first prayed; and you go upstairs, and say, “Lord, many days have passed since, and I have not ceased to cry; but now I am in special trouble. I beseech Thee, deliver me!” And angels sing and the devils mutter, “Behold, he prayeth.” The young man has grown old, and has gone up to the same room for the last time. “Behold, he prayeth.” Prayer, which has long been his vital breath and native air, is now “His watchword at the gates of death.” The shining ones gladly meet the soul that is on Jordan’s bank when they hear the voice, “Behold, he prayeth.” ~ C.H. Spurgeon

http://biblehub.com/sermons/auth/spurgeon/behold_he_prayeth.htm

Real Prayer

Sherry Attributes of God, Character of Jesus, Christian Life, prayer, promises 3 Comments

The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a broken and a contrite heart, O God, Thou wilt not despise. – Psalm 51:17

Saul had never offered prayer of the kind which the Lord can accept. He knew the letter of the truth according to the ceremonial law; but he did not know the spirit of it as it is embodied in Jesus. He had been going about to establish his own righteousness, but he had not submitted himself to the righteousness of Christ; and therefore in his prayer he had not been traversing the road which led to the heart of God…Saul had never made mention of the name of Jesus. There is none other name under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved; there is none other name by which we can hopefully approach the mercy seat. Saul had rejected that name, and had come in his own.

Real prayer cannot come from men whose characters are contrary to the mind of God. Their lives have effectually pleaded against their lips. Saul of Tarsus was opposed to the Son of God; how could he be in favour with God Himself? If we set ourselves in opposition to His gospel, while we pretend to be knocking at heaven’s gate we are turning the key against ourselves…Friend, if you are living an ungodly life, I do not care how regularly you bend your knee in seeming devotion, there is nothing in it. ~ C.H. Spurgeon

http://biblehub.com/sermons/auth/spurgeon/behold_he_prayeth.htm

A True Conversion’s Witness

Sherry Character of Jesus, Christian Life, prayer, promises, salvation, The Holy Spirit 3 Comments

And the Lord said unto him, Arise, and go into the street which is called Straight, and inquire in the house of Judas for one called Saul, of Tarsus: for, behold, he prays – Acts 9:11

These words are the hallmark of genuine conversion. “Behold, he prayeth” is a surer witness of a man’s conversion than, “Behold, he singeth, or, readeth the Scripture, or, preacheth.” These things may be admirably done by men who are not regenerate; but if a man really prays, we may know that he has passed from death unto life. Prayer is the autograph of the Holy Ghost upon the renewed heart. Hence the Lord gave to Ananias his sure indication that Saul of Tarsus was a converted man, by saying to him, “Behold, he prayeth.” In Saul’s case, this indication was very specially remarkable: “Behold, he prayeth” had a peculiar meaning in relation to this converted Pharisee. It was thought a great wonder that King Saul, of the Old Testament, prophesied. So unexpected and singular was the event that it became a proverb: “Is Saul also among the prophets?” But it was an equal marvel when this more modern Saul was seen to pray. Is Saul of Tarsus among those who pray to Jesus for mercy? The Lord from heaven Himself mentions it as a prodigy, he points to it as a thing to be beheld and wondered at, for He says to His servant Ananias, “Behold, he prayeth.”… This is very striking, for Saul was a Pharisee, and therefore a man who habitually repeated prayers; but He who searcheth the hearts, and knew what prayer is, here declares that now at length he begins to pray. What his friends would have put down as a great mass of prayer, the Lord makes nothing of…Words are but the body of devotion: the confession of sin, the longing for mercy, these are the spirit of prayer. A man may have repeated the choicest words, and yet not have prayed at all. A man may utter no word whatever, and he may be praying most effectually, as Moses and Hannah. Anyhow, that prayer which is not spiritual is not prayer; for “God is a Spirit: and they that worship Him must worship Him in spirit and in truth.” If the spirit does not commune with God, there may have been music and oratory, but there has been no prayer. ~ C.H. Spurgeon

http://biblehub.com/sermons/auth/spurgeon/behold_he_prayeth.htm

 

God Loveth Crying-Out Prayers

Sherry Attributes of God, Christian Life, prayer, promises, salvation, The Holy Spirit 4 Comments

Arise, cry out in the night…-Lamentations 2:19

Trust in Him at all times; ye people, pour out your heart before Him: God is a refuge for us. Selah. -Psalm 62:8

God loves earnest prayers. He loves impetuous prayers-vehement prayers. Let a man preach if he dare coldly and slowly, but never let him pray so. God loveth crying-out prayers. There is a poor fellow who says-“I don’t know how to pray. Why, sir,” he says, “I could not put six or seven words together in English grammar.” Tush upon English grammar! God does not care for that, so long as you pour out your heart. That is enough. Cry out before Him…When you go to mercy’s gate, let me give you a little advice. Do not go and give a gentle tap, like a lady; do not give a single knock, like a beggar; but take the knocker and wrap hard, till the very door seems to shake. Rap with all your might! and recollect that God loveth those who knock hard at mercy’s gate. “Knock, and it shall be opened unto you.”

Just hear how the Psalmist has it: “pour out your hearts before Him.” Not “pour out your fine words,” not “pour out your beautiful periods,” but “pour out your hearts.”… Pour out your heart like water; pour it out by confessing all your sins; pour it out by begging the Lord to have mercy upon you for Christ’s sake; pour it out like water. And when it is all poured out, He will come and fill it again with “wines on the lees, well refined.”

Thus do I speak to all who will acknowledge themselves to be sinners in the sight of God, but even these must have the assistance of the Holy Spirit to enable them to cry out. O my Lord, grant it. ~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/0059.cfm

Young Man, It Is Never Too Soon to Pray!

Sherry Attributes of God, Christian Life, prayer, promises, salvation 1 Comment

Arise, cry out in the night: in the beginning of the watches pour out thine heart like water before the face of the Lord.- Lamentations 2:19

You are lying on your bed; the gracious Spirit whispers-“Arise, and pray to God.” Well, there is no reason why you should delay till the morning light; “in the beginning of the watches pour out thine heart like water before the face of the Lord.” We are told there that it is never too soon to pray. How many young persons imagine that religion is a thing for age, or at least for maturity; but they conceive that whilst they are in the bloom of their youth, they need not attend to its admonitions. How many have we found who count religion to be a crutch for old age, who reckon it an ornament to their grey hairs, forgetting that to the young man religion is like a chain of gold around his neck, and like an ornament set with precious jewels, that shall array him with honour. How many there be who think it is yet too soon for them to bear for a single moment the cross of Jesus. They do not want to have their young shoulders galled with an early burden; they do not think it is true that “it is good for a man to bear the yoke in his youth;” and they forget that that “yoke is easy,” and that “burden is light.” Therefore, hour after hour, and day after day, the malicious fiend whispers in their ear-“It is too soon, it is too soon! postpone, postpone, postpone! procrastinate!” Need we tell you once more that oft-repeated axiom, “Procrastination is the thief of time?” Need we remind you that “delays are dangerous?” Need we tell you that those are the workings of Satan? For the Holy Ghost, when He strives with man, says, “To-day, if ye will hear His voice, harden not your heart.”…Oh! remember it is not too soon to seek the Saviour, ere you arrive at manhood….Young man, it is not too soon. “Arise, cry out in the night: in the beginning of the watches pour out thine heart like water before the face of the Lord.” ~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/0059.cfm