"Quench not the Spirit. " - 1 Thessalonians 5:19
Every one of us should expect to receive from God some burden to be discharged through prayer. It is as we faithfully discharge it that He entrusts to us fresh ones. The only reason we do not receive more is that we have neglected to discharge those He has already given. Unload them in prayer, and we shall find His reward is to trust us with new and weightier responsibilities.
It is vital to be sensitive in our spirits to God, for it is all too possible, by quenching the Holy Spirit, to forfeit this ministry. Should we do so, the way of recovery is to confess to Him our sin, then to respond faithfully and instantly to each new Spirit-given impression. Has He laid someone on your heart? Send up an appeal to God for him at once. Oh, my friend, if you hope to serve God usefully, recover your lost burden! Be faithful in prayer. The instant you are moved to pray, pray!
A Table In the Wilderness (by Watchman Nee 主僕倪柝聲弟兄)
Read the Scriptures: 1 Thessalonians 5
Monday, January 29, 2007
Monday, January 22, 2007
Worship the Will of God
"Then David arose from the earth, and washed, and anointed himself, and changed his apparel; and he came into the house of the Lord, and worshipped. " - 2 Samuel 12:20
David's son died because of David's sin. True, David had repented, and being a man of prayer had fasted and prayed earnestly for his son's life. Nevertheless the child died. A man of less humble spirit, ignorant of divine discipline, might have been offended and have nursed a grievance against God. David did no such thing. Told of the child's death, he arose at once and worshipped.
Sometimes God has to vindicate His own holiness in this way, putting His servants into the very fires of suffering. The great test in that hour is their reaction to His governmental hand. Of course David felt the sorrow keenly - he would scarcely have been human not to. But when at length he realized that this was God's way with him and there was no relenting, he bowed to it and worshipped the will of God. Should such an occasion arise, could we do this? It marked David as a man after God's own heart.
A Table In the Wilderness (by Watchman Nee 主僕倪柝聲弟兄)
Read the Scriptures: 2 Samuel 12
David's son died because of David's sin. True, David had repented, and being a man of prayer had fasted and prayed earnestly for his son's life. Nevertheless the child died. A man of less humble spirit, ignorant of divine discipline, might have been offended and have nursed a grievance against God. David did no such thing. Told of the child's death, he arose at once and worshipped.
Sometimes God has to vindicate His own holiness in this way, putting His servants into the very fires of suffering. The great test in that hour is their reaction to His governmental hand. Of course David felt the sorrow keenly - he would scarcely have been human not to. But when at length he realized that this was God's way with him and there was no relenting, he bowed to it and worshipped the will of God. Should such an occasion arise, could we do this? It marked David as a man after God's own heart.
A Table In the Wilderness (by Watchman Nee 主僕倪柝聲弟兄)
Read the Scriptures: 2 Samuel 12
Monday, January 15, 2007
Key to Answered Prayer
"David sought the face of the Lord. " - 2 Samuel 21:1
There are times when we put forth tremendous effort in prayers without getting any answer from God, yet how seldom do we seek to discover why! For how can we expect God to answer prayers that are out of harmony with His mind? In all our praying we must first find the key. It was this David sought to do at the time of prolonged famine this chapter describes. He did not simply cry to God: 'This famine has lasted three years. Have mercy on us now and grant us a rich harvest this year.' No, He sought the face of the Lord. Had God something to say about it? To his direct question God gave a direct reply, and with it the key to answered prayer. Saul, it appears, by slaying some of the Gibeonites, had violated God's understanding with Israel to spare them. True, he had done it out of zeal for God; but he had sinned. God will not permit the breaking of a solemn vow. So there was something to be set right. 'And after that,' we read in verse 14, 'God was intreated for the land.' David had found the key.
A Table In the Wilderness (by Watchman Nee 主僕倪柝聲弟兄)
Read the Scriptures: 2 Samuel 21
There are times when we put forth tremendous effort in prayers without getting any answer from God, yet how seldom do we seek to discover why! For how can we expect God to answer prayers that are out of harmony with His mind? In all our praying we must first find the key. It was this David sought to do at the time of prolonged famine this chapter describes. He did not simply cry to God: 'This famine has lasted three years. Have mercy on us now and grant us a rich harvest this year.' No, He sought the face of the Lord. Had God something to say about it? To his direct question God gave a direct reply, and with it the key to answered prayer. Saul, it appears, by slaying some of the Gibeonites, had violated God's understanding with Israel to spare them. True, he had done it out of zeal for God; but he had sinned. God will not permit the breaking of a solemn vow. So there was something to be set right. 'And after that,' we read in verse 14, 'God was intreated for the land.' David had found the key.
A Table In the Wilderness (by Watchman Nee 主僕倪柝聲弟兄)
Read the Scriptures: 2 Samuel 21
Monday, January 08, 2007
Be Not Ashamed
"Be not ashamed therefore of the testimony of our Lord." - 2 Timothy 1:8
Why should we be ashamed of confessing ourselves to be Christians? When the Lord Jesus was hanged on the cross, He bore our shame as well as our sins. The Bible clearly teaches us that He was put to shame. He was humiliated by the soldiers in the Praetorium and disgraced by them at Calvary. If we suffer disgrace from men, that is our rightful portion; no indignity that we receive today can compare with the shame which our Lord endured on the cross.
Let it, then, be no surprise to us to suffer shame, for this is the portion of all who belong to the Lord. It is really the world which should be ashamed. A poet has exclaimed, 'Can a flower be ashamed of the sun?' Impossible! As a flower opens gratefully for all to see its response to the sunlight, so will we openly confess before men the Lord who has done so much for us.
A Table In the Wilderness (by Watchman Nee 主僕倪柝聲弟兄)
Read the Scriptures: 2 Timothy 1
Why should we be ashamed of confessing ourselves to be Christians? When the Lord Jesus was hanged on the cross, He bore our shame as well as our sins. The Bible clearly teaches us that He was put to shame. He was humiliated by the soldiers in the Praetorium and disgraced by them at Calvary. If we suffer disgrace from men, that is our rightful portion; no indignity that we receive today can compare with the shame which our Lord endured on the cross.
Let it, then, be no surprise to us to suffer shame, for this is the portion of all who belong to the Lord. It is really the world which should be ashamed. A poet has exclaimed, 'Can a flower be ashamed of the sun?' Impossible! As a flower opens gratefully for all to see its response to the sunlight, so will we openly confess before men the Lord who has done so much for us.
A Table In the Wilderness (by Watchman Nee 主僕倪柝聲弟兄)
Read the Scriptures: 2 Timothy 1
Monday, January 01, 2007
Seek First
"But seek ye first His kingdom, and His righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you." - Matthew 6:33
Prayer will be answered if it aims at letting Christ have the first place in all things. Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and God will add to us all our needs. May we transform the time of praying for our needs into a time of praying for God's affairs. God will then hear the prayer we have uttered - that is, prayer for the things of God; but He will also hear the prayer we have not uttered - that is, prayer for our own affairs. If we would ask first that the Lord receive His, He would cause us to receive ours too. One of the sweet experiences in the life of a Christian is to have prayer continually answered.
The Lord My Portion (by Watchman Nee 主僕倪柝聲弟兄)
Read the Scriptures: Matthew 6
Prayer will be answered if it aims at letting Christ have the first place in all things. Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and God will add to us all our needs. May we transform the time of praying for our needs into a time of praying for God's affairs. God will then hear the prayer we have uttered - that is, prayer for the things of God; but He will also hear the prayer we have not uttered - that is, prayer for our own affairs. If we would ask first that the Lord receive His, He would cause us to receive ours too. One of the sweet experiences in the life of a Christian is to have prayer continually answered.
The Lord My Portion (by Watchman Nee 主僕倪柝聲弟兄)
Read the Scriptures: Matthew 6
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