“(Faith) is the initial quality in the heart of any man who essays to talk to the unseen.”
Mark 11:24 “Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.”
“Does faith maintain its hold, as religion tends to become a mere formality and worldliness increasingly prevails?”
Luke 18:8 “Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?”
“Faith is the foundation of Christian character and the security of the soul.”
Luke 22:32 “But I have prayed for you that your faith may not fail.”
Matthew 28:18 “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.”
“Obedience helps faith, and faith, in turn, helps obedience. To do God’s will is essential to true faith, and faith is necessary to implicit obedience.”
John 14:12-14 “Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes in me will also do the works that I do; and greater works than these will he do, because I am going to the Father. Whatever you ask in my name, this will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask me anything in my name, I will do it.”
“Faith in Christ is the basis of all working, and of all praying. All wonderful works depend on wonderful praying, and all praying is done in the name of Jesus Christ. Amazing lesson, of wondrous simplicity, is this praying in the name of the Lord Jesus!”
“When we pray, “Give us this day our daily bread,” we are, in a measure, shutting tomorrow out of our prayer. We do not live in tomorrow but in today. We do not seek tomorrow’s grace or tomorrow’s bread. They thrive best, and get most out of life, who live in the living present. They pray best who pray for today’s needs, not for tomorrow’s, which may render our prayers unnecessary and redundant by not existing at all!”
Matthew 6:34 “Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.”
I started reading E.M. Bounds' "Complete Works on Prayer" again and I plan to post some combination of his words, the verses he points to, and maybe some commentary of my own. But if his quotes ring true to you, I encourage you to get a hold of this book, because he doesn't waste a word.
In reading John Piper's Don't Waste Your Life, I was introduced to an old friend from history class in high school, Mr. "Great Awakening", Jonathan Edwards. Turns out, the history books give him a bad reputation, and so far, I would call it undeserved. In reading some of Jonathan Edward's writing today I was directed to God's beauty and glory and what it means to truly live for him more than I have been by many other authors.
First, he has a list of 70 resolutions, meant to be reviewed weekly, that he wrote before he was 21. I'll share some of my favorites and you can excuse the archaic language.
"5. Resolved, Never to lose one moment of time, but to improve it in the most profitable way I possibly can. 7. Resolved, Never to do any thing, which I should be afraid to do, if it were the last hour of my life. 10. Resolved, When I feel pain, to think of the pains of Martyrdom, and of Hell."
It's just a short list, but seriously worth investigating. An excerpt from a diary of his echoes numbers 5 and 7 in the way it aims to promote time spent well.
"Tuesday, Sept. 2. 1724, By a sparingness in diet, and eating as much as may be, what is light and easy of digestion, I shall doubtless be able to think more clearly, and shall gain time; 1. By lengthening out my life; 2. Shall need less time for digestion, after meals; 3. Shall be able to study more closely, without injury to my health; 4. Shall need less time for sleep; 5. Shall more seldom be troubled with the head-ache."
His passion and zeal for God and the study of his word is unreal and it's amazing to see how much he refuses to waste time with other ventures. A journal entry from Wednesday, January 1, 1724:
"Not to spend to much time in thinking, even of important and necessary worldly business, and to allow everything its proportion of thought, according to its urgency and importance." All in all, over the course of the day, Jonathan Edwards has become a new role model to me and I look forward to finding more of his writings to learn from. John Piper's Don't Waste Your Life is also a worthwhile read for anyone wondering. I read the first two chapters, but I'm convinced it will turn out well.
I realize the posts have been slow/nonexistent recently. I've been tired and worn out with the day camp and settling into life outside a studio apartment. I do plan to start posting more frequently as I know it benefits me and I've heard rumblings of others reading this blog as well. Today, I'll continue the trend of posting a quote from a book. Today's is from Shane Claiborne's Jesus For President. In the introduction he writes, "We the church are schizophrenic: we want to be good Christians, but deep down we trust that only the power of the state and its militariesand markets can really make a difference in the world. And so we're hardly able to distinguish between what's American and what's Christian. As a result, power corrupts the church and its goals and practices. When Jesus said, 'you cannot serve two masters,' he meant that in serving one, you destroy your relationship to the other."
"Some would say formulas are how we interact with God, that going through motions and jumping through hoops are how a person acts out his spirituality. This method of interaction, however, seems odd to me, because if I want to hang out with my friend Tuck, I don't stomp my foot three times, turn around, and say his name over and over like a mantra, lighting candles and getting myself in a certain mood. I just call him. In this way, formulas presuppose God is more a computer or a circus monkey than an intelligent Being. I realize this sounds harsh, but it is true." from Searching For God Knows What by Donald Miller
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