Category Archives: prayer

A Puritan Prayer before the weekend…

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My Friday morning’s devotions included this prayer — which seems so fitting for believers in materialist America on the eve of the weekend — for which so many “live”….
(From the wonderful collection THE VALLEY OF VISION, edited by Arthur Bennett)

Lord of immortality,

Before Whom angels bow and archangels veil their faces,
enable me to serve Thee with reverence and godly fear.

Thou who are Spirit and requireth truth in the inward parts, help me to worship Thee in spirit and in truth.

Thou who art righteous, let me not harbor sin in my heart, or indulge a worldly temper, or seek satisfaction in things that perish.

I hasten towards an hour when earthly pursuits and possessions will appear vain, when it will be indifferent whether I have been rich or poor, successful or disappointed, admired or despised.

But it will be of eternal moment [significance] that I have mourned for sin, hungered and thirsted after righteousness, loved the Lord Jesus in sincerity, gloried in His cross….

AMEN!
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Unused Prayer

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The Scriptures call us to pray continuously, moment to moment. When we do not pray, the need of the moment remains — and often drives us to unhelpful responses, such as anxiety. Paul Miller, in his book A PRAYING LIFE, illustrates this, beginning with the “unused” prayer of that moment…

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What does an unused prayer link look like? Anxiety. Instead of connecting with God, our spirits fly around like severed power lines, destroying everything they touch. Anxiety wants to be God but lacks God’s wisdom, power or knowledge. … Because anxiety is self on its own, it tries to get control. It is unable to relax in the face of chaos. Once one problem is solved, the next in line steps up. The new one looms so large we forget the last deliverance. (p. 70)

1st Peter 5:7 tells Christians to be casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you.
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