Monday, April 4, 2016

Open wide your mouth — and I will fill it!

Open wide your mouth — and I will fill it!

(James Smith, "Privilege, Duty, and Promise")

"I am the Lord your God, who brought you up out of Egypt. Open wide your mouth — and I will fill it!" Psalm 81:10

Our great privilege is to have God for our God:
  to know Him,
  to love Him,
  to adore Him,
  and to trust in Him.
If God is ours — then all must be well. If God has delivered us from . . .
  the Egypt of this world,
  the power of sin, and
  the tyranny of Satan —
then He is our God indeed.
He says, "I am Jehovah — the compassionate God . . .
  who sympathizes with My people in their sorrows,
  who counts their tears,
  who feels their groans, and
  who records their prayers."
"I am Jehovah — the God of power . . .
  who delivered Israel from Egyptian bondage;
  whose strength is as infinite as My nature,
  for whom nothing is too hard."
"I am Jehovah — the God of love . . .
  whose resources are boundless,
  whose pity is tender, and
  who never fails or forsakes those who trust in Him."
"I am Jehovah — your God . . .
  pledged to you by promise;
  engaged for you by covenant;
  and bound to you by oath!
As I am your God . . .
  look 
to Me, 
  trust 
in Me, 
  expect 
from Me."

"Open your mouth wide!" That is, "Ask LARGELY — ask for great, numerous, and costly blessings! Do not be afraid of asking for too much!
My heart is large,
My love is great,
My wealth is unbounded!

Ask BOLDLY — do not be afraid — but come boldly to My throne of grace, that you may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.

Ask FREQUENTLY — I am always ready to give! I am never weary of listening to your prayers. Come whenever you are in need — I rejoice to do you good. No parent ever delighted to give to a darling child — as I delight to give to you! Therefore ask and receive, that your joy may be full.

"Open your mouth wide — and I will fill it!" That is, "I have the very blessings which you need. They are from Me — they are for you! I have the disposition to give! Do not doubt My benevolence, for this grieves My heart. I give you My word, that I will bestow My favors upon you freelyplentifully, andfrequently! My Word is plain — read it; it is faithful — trust it; it is honest — plead it; it is sure — expect the fulfillment of it. I will do exceeding abundantly above all that you ask or think!"


"I am the Lord your God, who brought you up out of Egypt. Open wide your mouth — and I will fill it!"


If our lives were as good as our prayers

If our lives were as good as our prayers

(J. R. Miller, "Living up to our Prayers" 1905)

If we only tried seriously to live up to our praying—it would have a powerful effect upon our character and conduct!

There is no prayer that most Christians make oftener—than that they may be made like Christ. It is a most fitting prayer, and one that we should never cease to make. But if we very earnestly wish to be transformed into Christ's likeness—we will find the desiregrowing into great intensity in our daily lives, and transforming them. It will affect every phase of our behavior and conduct. It will hold before us continually, the image of our Lord, and will keep ever in our vision—a new standard . . .
  of thought,
  of feeling,
  of desire,
  of act,
  of speech. 
It will keep us asking all the while, such questions as these, "How would Jesus feel about this—if He were personally in mycircumstances? What would Jesus do—if He were here today where I am?"

There is always danger of mockeries and insincerities in our praying for spiritual blessings. The desires are to be commended. God approves of them and will gladly bestow upon us the more grace we ask for: 
  the increase in love,
  the greater faith,
  the purer heart,
  the new advance in holiness. 
But these are attainments which are not bestowed upon us directly, as gifts from heaven. We have much to do in securing them. When we ask for spiritual blessings or favors, the Master asks, "Are you able to pay the price, to make the self-denial, to give up the things you love—in order to reach these attainments in holiness, in grace, in spiritual beauty?"

If our lives were as good as our prayers, we would be saint-like in character.

If we find that our prayers are beyond our living, our duty is not to lower them to suit the tenor of our living—but to bring our lives up to the higher standard of our praying!


Books of Prayers

  
Books of Prayers
John MacDuff, "Evening Incense"
John MacDuff, "Gates of Prayer"
John MacDuff, "Family Prayers"
John MacDuff, "Private Prayers"
J.R. Miller, "Family Prayers"
Henry Law, "Family Prayers"
George Everard, "Family Prayers"

Low views of yourself?

Low views of yourself?

(Octavius Winslow, "Evening Thoughts")

What are you to yourself?
  worthless?
  vile?
  empty?

What is Jesus to you?
  precious?
  lovely?
  all your salvation?
  all your desire?

What is sin to you?
  the most hateful thing in the world?

What is holiness to you?
  most lovely?
  most longed for?

What is the throne of grace to you?
  the most attractive spot?

What is the cross to you?
 the sweetest resting place in the universe?

What is God to you?
  your God?
  your Father?
  the spring of all your joys?
  the fountainhead of all your bliss?
  the center where your affections meet?

Is it so? Then you are a child of God!
Those low views of yourself . . . .
  that brokenness,
  that inward mourning,
  that secret confession,
  that longing for . . .
    more spirituality,
    more grace,
    more devotedness,
    more love,
does but prove the existence, reality,
and growth of God's work within you.

Cheer up, precious soul!
That soul never perished, that felt itself
to be vile, and Jesus to be precious!