Short Thoughts

“And he spake a parable unto them to this end,
that men ought always to pray, and not to faint”
~ Luke 18:1

In His ministry, Christ taught the disciples how to pray and that they ought to pray. It is positively taught and understood that the children of God are to pray. Jesus instructed the disciples saying, “When ye pray.” It is written that “praying always” is a mark of those that overcome. Jesus said, “Watch ye therefore, and pray always, that ye may be accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of man” (Luke 21:36).

Christians who do not pray and Christians who will not pray are hardly worthy to bear the title. Rolfe Barnard once said that if God sentenced most Christians to pray for five minutes, they would be miserable and go crazy. They would not be able to do it. After about a minute, they would lose their mind to think about the corn crop, their bank notes, or some other thing. It is not only our obligation to pray, it is also our privilege and opportunity to pray. Let us now meditate upon prayer.

Jesus preached, “That men ought always to pray, and not to faint.” We see from His own prayers, that Christ took praying seriously. He poured out His heart unto the Father. “And being in an agony he prayed more earnestly: and his sweat was as it were great drops of blood falling down to the ground” (Luke 22:44). In telling his disciples “to pray, and not to faint”, He intends intense persistent prayer. It is not the mumbling of a few ritualistic words in the general direction of Heaven that avails much. It is “the effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man” that “availeth much” (James 5:16).

Effectual fervent prayer is an intense exchange with God. This sort of prayer engages the whole man. You cannot pour out your heart and be pondering the condition of the stock exchange. You cannot pour out your heart to God while wondering what the ballgame score is. You must be involved in prayer. Once before prayer, Jesus said, “My soul is exceeding sorrowful unto death” (Mark 14:34). He went to the Father with a burden. He had nothing short of communion with God in mind when He prayed. Once on the mount, His prayer grew so intense that He began to shine with radiant light. He came so close to God in communion that the glory of the Father swept over Him and the disciples were amazed.

I long for those hours of prayer when my heart grows hot within me. I long for the times when I become so engaged in fellowship with my Lord that I begin to feel the wind of the heavenly world blow upon me. I desire to pray and for my soul to be ravished and caught up in rapturous glory. I then cry aloud like the Psalmist that said, “Evening, and morning, and at noon, will I pray, and cry aloud: and he shall hear my voice” (Psalm 55:17). Oh, how easy prayer comes at these times. Almost without effort, we pour out our hearts to Him in the morning, at noon, and at night. Praise God! I sing with John Newton:

His name yields the richest perfume, And sweeter than music His voice;
His presence disperses my gloom, And makes all within me rejoice:
I should, were He always thus nigh, Have nothing to wish or to fear;
No mortal so happy as I; My summer would last all the year.

He also purposed to teach that in prayer, men are “not to faint.” You may say, “I have never had the kind of experience, that you described, when I pray.” You need to heed the words of Christ “not to faint.” There is a persistence required in prayer if we are to secure the blessings of it. We must be like Jacob who wrestled with God and said, “I will not let thee go, except thou bless me” (Genesis 32:26). We must be like Daniel who said, “And I set my face unto the Lord God, to seek by prayer and supplications, with fasting, and sackcloth, and ashes” (Daniel 9:3). We must “come boldly unto the throne of grace” (Hebrews 4:16). We must be like a spiritual Samson that will uproot the very gates of Heaven rather than be denied an entrance.

If you are a child of God, “ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father” (Romans 8:15). You have a right to call on God. You have a right to cast “all your care upon Him.” This right is not because of anything that we are or that we have done it is because of Jesus Christ who came “To redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons” (Galatians 4:5). He is our righteousness! He is our advocate! He is our reason! Have faith in the finished work of Christ and pray to God. Do not rest until you have laid hold of Heaven through prayer. Not all Christians have this sort of fellowship with God, but do not be satisfied without it.

Though prayer is not natural to us, it is a discipline in which we should be much practiced. Let us never fail through want of prayer. There may be many reasons that we do not accomplish what we set out to do, but may our enterprise never languish for want of prayer. Additionally, we may run out of time for many things in a day. I hope that never shall the sun rise or set but what I have been much engaged with my Lord in prayer. Christian, seek His face continually and lay hold of the riches we have in Christ Jesus.

He that trusteth in his own heart is a fool:
but whoso walketh wisely, he shall be delivered.
~ Proverbs 28:26

Certainly, a uniquely wise man, like Solomon, is qualified to identify a fool. In the verse before us, he calls such a one as trusts in his own heart, a fool. The Hebrew word batach, here rendered “trusteth,” means “to be reliant, trust, be unsuspecting.” The word implies a great confidence even to the point of blind trust. It seems to have the sense of being careless or thoughtless. The idea is of one who without question follows the tendency of his own heart. Maybe you could say, “He flies by the seat of his pants.” You might also say of one, “He follows his gut instinct.” Either way, he follows his own instincts without deliberation or contemplation of the Word of God. He lives a carefree, spontaneous life. However, this man is a fool. “The prudent man looketh well to his going” (Proverbs 14:15). Let us now consider this great folly.

In the first place, the heart is not a good guide. “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?” (Jeremiah 17:9). The heart of a saved man, while he continues on this earth, has not been glorified. He still has the flesh with which to contend. We should never look within ourselves for guidance. “For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, Thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lasciviousness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness: All these evil things come from within, and defile the man” (Mark 7:21-23).

Only God knows the depth of depravity to which the human heart can descend. The flesh is still sinful and therefore cannot be trusted. Paul said, “For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing” (Romans 7:18). The flesh is to be mortified not trusted. The blessed man of God “walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly,” even if that counsel issues from his own heart.

Secondly, our emotions are bound up in our hearts. I fear that far too many Christians live according to their feelings. I had a conversation once with a certain saved woman. We were in disagreement about a subject. I quoted plain scriptures. She responded with, “I understand that, but I feel… Yes, but I feel… Well, I feel… etc.” If we base the interpretation of scripture upon our feelings, we have a very fluid theology that more resembles the shifting sands than the solid rock that Christ claimed wise servants to be building upon.

Christianity does not preclude all emotions, but it is not founded upon our feelings. A saved man that is sick does not feel very good. Does this mean his religion is vain? In the mind of some charismatic heretic, maybe it is, but not according to God’s Word. True religion is based solely upon “Thus saith the Lord,” and not our feelings. Our emotions swell and rescind like the tides, but God’s Word is forever settled in Heaven. How I feel does not change God or His Word in the least. Lazarus did not feel very good laying at the gate, competing with stray dogs for dinner, yet “now he is comforted,” and that rich man that felt so good faring sumptuously every day is “tormented.”

In the last place, we see the man that walks wisely. Our verse says, “But whoso walketh wisely, he shall be delivered.” The fool trusted his own heart and the wise man placed his trust elsewhere. He heeds the admonition found in Proverbs 3:5-6, “Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.” He forsakes the dubious counsel of his heart for the “sure word of prophecy.” “But his delight is in the law of the LORD; and in his law doth he meditate day and night” (Psalm 1:2). He looks well to his own goings. He considers his path in the light of God’s Word. He declares confidently, “Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path” (Psalm 119:105). It is not his intelligence, experience, reason, or feelings that he depends on, but rather the infallible “counsel of God.”

The wise man walks “not after the flesh, but after the Spirit” (Romans 8:1). In regeneration, we receive the Spirit, the divine principle of life within us. To walk after the Spirit, we must deny the lusts of the flesh. If we are walking satisfying the flesh, we are not walking after the Spirit. “There is a way that seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death” (Proverbs 16:25).

The wise man will not trust his flesh to be his guide. Neither will he glory in the flesh if he walks a path that is right. He well ascribes all the glory to God knowing, “For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure.” (Philippians 2:13). Let us put our full trust in Christ and sing the old song.

‘Tis so sweet to trust in Jesus, Just to take Him at His word;
Just to rest upon His promise, Just to know “Thus saith the Lord.”
Jesus, Jesus, how I trust Him, How I’ve proved Him o’er and o’er!
Jesus, Jesus, precious Jesus! O for grace to trust Him more!

O give thanks unto the LORD;
call upon his name:
make known his deeds among the people.
~ Psalm 105:1

Our text is the beginning of the Psalm David delivered when they brought up the ark out of the house of Obededom. This was a time of jubilation and celebration. However, their rejoicing was mingled with a reverential fear of God. God had demonstrated His holy justice by striking down Uzza for lightly touching the ark. Israel was taught to respect the things of God and not treat them common, even though others might. However, in our text, the ark has been brought safely back and David exhorts the people to extol Jehovah with praise. Let us consider the directive in three parts as it is given.

Firstly, we are instructed to give thanks. “O give thanks unto the LORD.” The text directs our gratitude toward the Lord. He above all else is worthy of our thanksgiving. We could multiply the reasons for giving thanks unto God. By His grace and mercy, we have received every good thing. “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning” (James 1:17).

Our hearts should be thankful for the abundant temporal blessings that He has showered on us, “seeing he giveth to all life, and breath, and all things” (Acts 17:25). Are you warmed and filled? Give thanks to God. Have you food and raiment? Give thanks to God. Have you lived to an old age? Give thanks to God. Have you joy in your family? Give thanks to God. Have you the breath of life at this hour? Give thanks to God and “Let every thing that hath breath praise the LORD. Praise ye the LORD” (Psalm 150:6).

He is worthy of thanksgiving in temporal things and is much more worthy of thanksgiving for spiritual blessings. Our hearts should overflow with praise and thanksgiving if we are one of His. The Psalmist wrote that God “redeemeth thy life from destruction” (Psalm 103:4). When I consider what I was as a dirty vile sinner hastening down the broad road that leads to destruction, my heart is filled with gratitude and praise to God, for “He brought me up also out of an horrible pit, out of the miry clay, and set my feet upon a rock, and established my goings” (Psalm 40:2). He set His love upon me when I was so unlovable and Christ died for me when I was His enemy. “For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life” (Romans 5:10). Praise God! Amen!

Secondly, we are instructed to worship. “Call upon his name.” The thought is of calling God by His name. The phrase “his name” conveys the thought of God in all His attributes. We worship Him in His holiness, love, mercy, and so on. This worship lends credence to our thanksgiving. I can hardly see how the former can exist without the latter. In fact, the latter seems born from the former. If God has blessed with great blessings and our hearts are truly thankful, then we will worship Him. If we give thanks with our lips and yet refuse to worship Him, we are hypocrites. Some Christians go on about thanking God for their homes, cars, clothes, cabins, campers, boats, and recreational vehicles saying that God has blessed them. Yet, on Sunday, they are not found in the church worshiping Him. They have no problem in missing the services to go and “enjoy” the Lord’s goodness. It seems that they are worshiping their possessions instead of God. If our hearts are true with gratitude, we will worship Him, calling “upon His name.”

Lastly, we are exhorted to witness. “Make known his deeds among the people.” All of these things should result in us telling others about the goodness of God. Are we to only receive and never give? We would be like the leprous men outside the gates of Samaria. They were about to die when God led them to abundance. They were enjoying the newfound blessings when they were smitten by their selfishness. “Then they said one to another, We do not well: this day is a day of good tidings, and we hold our peace: if we tarry till the morning light, some mischief will come upon us: now therefore come, that we may go and tell the king’s household” (2 Kings 7:9). Let us never hold our peace. We have glorious news to sound out to the world. Let them hear our thanksgiving. Let them hear our praise. Let them hear of our God. “One generation shall praise thy works to another, and shall declare thy mighty acts” (Psalm 145:4).

David exhorts Israel to praise God, even though some trials have attended their proceedings. If we tend to focus on ourselves, we will not offer praise and thanksgiving to God as we should. In fact, it is a characteristic of hardened sinners in the last days that they are “lovers of their own selves” and “unthankful.” Neither should we focus only on our trials forgetting our blessings. And oh how these blessings should constrain us to worship Him and witness for Him.