Command the Raven

Luke 11:1 [show/hide]Luke 11:1 The Lord's Prayer [11:1]Now Jesus was praying in a certain place, and when he finished, one of his disciples said to him, "Lord, teach us to pray, as John taught his disciples." (ESV)

And it came to pass, as He was praying in a certain place, that when He ceased, one of His disciples said to Him, Lord, teach us to pray.

Lord, teach us to pray. Yes, to pray. This is what we need to be taught. Though in its beginnings prayer is so simple that the feeblest child can pray, yet it is at the same time the highest and holiest work to which man can rise.

It is fellowship with the Unseen and MOST Holy One. The powers of the eternal world have been placed at its disposal.

It is the very essence of true religion, the channel of all blessings, the secret of power and life.

Not only for ourselves, but for others, for the Churches, for the world, it is to prayer that God has given the right to take hold of Him and His strength.

It is on prayer that the promises wait for their fulfillment, the kingdom for its coming, the glory of God for its full revelation. – Andrew Murray.

Pray to be taught deeper lessons in the school of prayer. Earnestly and diligently seek to learn those lessons that your prayer-life may be intelligent, trustful, and powerful.

- Daily Meditations for Prayer

Matthew 7:7-8 [show/hide]Matthew 7:7-8 Ask, and It Will Be Given [7]"Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. [8]For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened. (ESV)

Ask and it shall be given you; seek and ye shall find; knock and it shall be opened unto you.
For everyone that asketh receiveth, and he that seeketh findeth, and to him that knocketh it shall be opened.

Intense practicalness characterizes the Scriptural idea of prayer. The Scriptures make it a reality and not a reverie.

They never bury it in the notion of God. They do not merge it in the mental fiction of prayer by action in any other or all other duties of life.

They have not concealed the fact of prayer beneath the mystery of prayer ….. Up on the level of inspired thought prayer is prayer – a distinct, unique, elemental power in the spiritual universe as pervasive, and as constant as the great occult powers of Nature. – Austin Phelps.

Is prayer in my life the practical, powerful, helpful exercise that God intended it to be? Are my prayers really accomplishing anything in connection with God’s Kingdom? If not should I not begin to-day to learn how to prevail with God in prayer?

- Daily Meditations for Prayer.

Mark 10:51 [show/hide]Mark 10:51 [51]And Jesus said to him, "What do you want me to do for you?" And the blind man said to him, "Rabbi, let me recover my sight." (ESV)

And Jesus answered and said unto him, what wilt thou that I should do unto thee?

There is now still many a suppliant to whom the Lord puts the same question, and who cannot, until it has been answered, get the aid he asks.

Our prayers must not be a vague appeal to His mercy, and indefinite cry for blessing, but the distinct expression of definite need.

Not that His loving heart does not understand our cry, or is not ready to hear. But He desires it for our own sakes.

Such definite prayer teaches us to know our own needs better ….. It leads us to judge whether our desires are according to God’s word, and whether we really believe that we shall receive the things we ask.

It helps us to wait for the special answer, and to mark it when it comes. – Andrew Murray.

WHAT WILT THOU? Lovingly does the Lord Jesus ask us, that we may order our prayers aright, and be purposeful and definite in our requests. What wilt thou to-day? Be free to ask for some definite blessing because Jesus invites you to.

- Daily Meditations for Prayer.

Matthew 9:29 [show/hide]Matthew 9:29 [29]Then he touched their eyes, saying, "According to your faith be it done to you." (ESV)

According to your faith be it unto you.

We want to be more businesslike and common sense with God in pleading promises. If you were to go to one of the banks and see a man go in and out and lay a piece of paper on the table, and take it up again and nothing more; if he did that several times a day, I think there would soon be orders to keep the man out.

Those men who come to the bank in earnest present their cheques, they wait till they receive their gold and then they go, but not without having transacted real business.

They do not put the paper down, speak about the excellent signature, and discuss the correctness of the document, but they want their money for it, and they are not content without it.

These are the people who are always welcome at the bank and not the triflers.

Alas, a great many people play at praying, it is nothing better. They do not expect God to give them an answer, and thus they are mere triflers, who mock the Lord. – C.H. Spurgeon.

Our Heavenly Father would have us do real business with Him in our praying.

- Daily Meditations for Prayer.

Proverbs 14:10 [show/hide]Proverbs 14:10 [10]The heart knows its own bitterness, and no stranger shares its joy.

10 The heart knoweth his own bitterness; and a stranger doth not intermeddle with his joy.

This agrees with 1 Cor. ii. 11, What man knows the things of a man, and the changes of his temper, save the spirit of a man?

1. Every man feels most from his own burden, especially that which is a burden upon the spirits, for that is commonly concealed and the sufferer keeps it to himself. We must not censure the griefs of others, for we know not what they feel; their stroke perhaps is heavier than their groaning.

2. Many enjoy a secret pleasure, especially in divine consolations, which others are not aware of, much less are sharers in; and, as the sorrows of a penitent, so the joys of a believer are such as a stranger does not intermeddle with and therefore is no competent judge of.

- Matthew Henry Commentary

Proverbs 14:9 [show/hide]Proverbs 14:9 [9]Fools mock at the guilt offering, but the upright enjoy acceptance.

9 Fools make a mock at sin: but among the righteous there is favour.

See here, 1. How wicked people are hardened in their wickedness: they make a mock at sin. They make a laughing matter of the sins of others, making themselves and their companions merry with that for which they should mourn, and they make a light matter of their own sins, both when they are tempted to sin and when they have committed it; they call evil good and good evil (Isa. v. 20), turn it off with a jest, rush into sin (Jer. viii. 6) and say they shall have peace though they go on. They care not what mischief they do by their sins, and laugh at those that tell them of it. They are advocates for sin, and are ingenious at framing excuses for it. Fools make a mock at the sin-offering (so some); those that make light of sin make light of Christ. Those are fools that make light of sin, for they make light of that which God complains of (Amos ii. 13), which lay heavily upon Christ, and which they themselves will have other thoughts of shortly.

2. How good people are encouraged in their goodness: Among the righteous there is favour; if they in any thing offend, they presently repent and obtain the favour of God. They have a goodwill one to another; and among them, in their societies, there is mutual charity and compassion in cases of offences, and no mocking.

- Matthew Henry Commentary

Proverbs 14:8 [show/hide]Proverbs 14:8 [8]The wisdom of the prudent is to discern his way, but the folly of fools is deceiving.

8 The wisdom of the prudent is to understand his way: but the folly of fools is deceit.

See here, 1. The good conduct of a wise and good man; he manages himself well. It is not the wisdom of the learned, which consists only in speculation, that is here recommended, but the wisdom of the prudent, which is practical, and is of use to direct our counsels and actions. Christian prudence consists in a right understanding of our way; for we are travellers, whose concern it is, not to spy wonders, but to get forward towards their journey’s end. It is to understand our own way, not to be critics and busybodies in other men’s matters, but to look well to ourselves and ponder the path of our feet, to understand the directions of our way, that we may observe them, the dangers of our way, that we may avoid them, the difficulties of our way, that we may break through them, and the advantages of our way, that we may improve them–to understand the rules we are to walk by and the ends we are to walk towards, and walk accordingly.

2. The bad conduct of a bad man; he puts a cheat upon himself. He does not rightly understand his way; he thinks he does, and so misses his way, and goes on in his mistake: The folly of fools is deceit; it cheats them into their own ruin. The folly of him that built on the sand was deceit.

- Matthew Henry Commentary

Proverbs 14:7 [show/hide]Proverbs 14:7 [7]Leave the presence of a fool, for there you do not meet words of knowledge.
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