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August Issue 1 |
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Title: "The Life of Prayer" Author: Edith Schaeffer "Like a crane or a swallow, so did I chatter: I did mourn as a dove: How many people who have struggled through one or another kind of anguish, despair, distress, heartbreak, or grief have been brought through to a place of rest. Over and over again in the individual lives of God's people, one after another, has recognized what John Bunyan did as he pictured Pilgrim being given a delectable resting place where, after answered prayer, he looked back and recognized the protection that had been given and the benefit that had taken place not in spite of, but because of the painful and difficult times. We are with the multitude of the Lord's people when we recognize not only the sheer wonder of His strength having been given us in our weakness and of His grace having been really sufficient in our agonies, but also the value to us, in our own spiritual growth, of the lessons we could not have otherwise learned or digested. Hezekiah states that what he has discovered in having gone through all the anguish will make him walk humbly. He is not simply excited and elated that he has had an answer to prayer, but with his thanks to the Lord, he vows to walk humbly! May we be as sensitive to the need to notice answers and thank God, but also to be more humble as a result. Quite the opposite from being proud because we have had an answer to prayer. At times we can pray with Hezekiah in this prayer, although centuries later we can identify with his anguish, with his thankfulness, and with his desire for honest humbleness. There are many prayers one could study and learn from through the many years covered in the Old Testament. So often there is a cry of doubt and despair as in Job, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and so on. Yet there is mercy and compassion shown to those who cry out to the Creator for help, for strength, for wisdom, for direction, century after century, looking forward with some measure of understanding to the promises of the future as Job did when he declared: Oh that my words were now written! oh that they were printed in a book! _________ Note: If you
have not read this book or do not have it in your collection of
"must-read" books, you must! It is a delight and
encouragement. It is available at Cumberland Valley Books - http://www.cvbbs.com
for a very reasonable price. * * * JoyPals.com-ReformedWomen began a new Bible Study on April 29 from the book "The Sovereignty of God" by Arthur Pink. Come and study with us!
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