Covenanter Witness Vol. 53 - Rparchives.org

.manyought"aspray."ceasing''morrow."nothing."yet."you,"busy, noisy world, prayer seems toWord, his work on earth was finishedJuly 7, 1954much sooner.to be out of place.There were only two men who did Although prayer is our means ofnot die Enoch and Elijah. Genesis 5: communication with God, the masses, by24 says, "he was not; for God took him."and large, live without prayer. OurThis seems to be proof of our faith andhope in heaven. Those who walk withGod shall be forever with Him.Boys and girls, we too must walkwith God if we are to please Him. Wemust be born into His family by accepting Jesus Christ as our Saviour.Then we shall be ready when God callscivilization could not get along for asingle day without telephones, radio andteletype; communication between manand man is absolutely essential to ourwell-being. But thousands live day afterday, year in, year out, without talkingwith God through prayer. Prayer is notregarded as a real necessity, but just aus to be with Him forever.crutch in emergencies. For the trueChristian, however, prayer is not aNOTEBOOK WORK:luxury. Realizing that he needs GodDivide your page in half. In the topevery hour, he prays "withouthalf paste a black heart about three(I Thess. 5:16-18 Memoryinches high and beside it print, "ForIsaiah 40:30-31. Onethe wages of sin is death." of the blessingsPut the"but"gainedword, in the center of the by the Christian through prayerpage.is strength. This includes courage toOn the bottom half paste a whiteface the circumstances and challengesheart the same size as above and colorofa red cross in the center of it. Beside life; and faith, not merely to meetthe great issues ofthe white heart print, "the gift of Godlife, but the wearisome ways of common experiences. Weis eternal life through Jesus Christ ourLord."should realize,Rom. 6:23.however, that thestrength or power has its source in GodFlashcard: Sketch a cloud in the cen and not in prayer itself. A very commonter. Print, "Enoch" at the top and print,misconception of prayer is that it is a"Gen.5:24" at the bottom. Be sure to kind of force that is able to do greatreview the memory verses by flash things for us. We often read about "thecards each week so the children shallremember them.power of if prayer," prayer were aforce like electricity or atomic energy.In the city of Denver there is a churchQuestions:1. What is man's chief end? I Cor.10:31building which has a gigantic sign onits roof in neon letters: "Prayer ChangesThings."This is very impressive, but it2. What two ways did Jesus tell us is also very wrong. For prayer does notabout? Which way should the Chris change things; GOD CHANGEStian choose? Matt. 7:13,143. What happens to those who do notobey God? Ezekiel 18:4THINGS in answer to prayer, accordingto His will. Prayer itself has no powerwhatever; the power to make changes in4. What did Enoch preach about?our lives comes from God, who hearsJude 14,15and answers prayer.5. How can we have the faith ofEnoch? Rom. 10:17Luke 11:1-13. How often have some ofus prayed, as the disciples did, "Lord,6. List some duties of a Christian who teach us to We need divine indesires to walk with God.struction in prayer, not only becauseof our human limitations, but even moreSABBATH SUNDAY LESSONbecause of our fallen, sinful condition."We know not what toJuly 25, 1954pray for as we(Romans 8:26). God gives us theby Rev. Joseph A. Hill(Lessons based on International Sunday School instruction that we need for properLessons ; the International Bible Lessons forChristian Teaching, copyrighted by the International Council of Religious Education.)prayer, through the Bible and throughthe Holy Spirit.GROWING THROUGH PRAYER The word in Christ's parable transLesson Material: Psalm 46:10; Isaiah lated as "importunity" means literally,40:30-31; Luke 11:1-13; Philippians 4:It implies that we"shamelessness."6-7; Hebrews 4:14-16.While dining in a restaurant a fewdays ago, I noticed an unusual folderought to have no sense of shame beforeGod when we ask Him to fulfill ourdeepest needs, even if we must, as itplaced in the middle of the table. In were, God in prayer. This does"pester"side there was a statement to the not mean that we are to keep askingeffect that it was becoming popular to God for permission to do somethingask a blessing before meals, even inrestaurants. To make it easy for thosenot accustomed to praying, there wereprinted three brief prayers, appropriatewhich we know to be clearly wrong. Itdoes not mean that we are to keep praying when we know that God's answeris a plain "No." It means that we are toat meal time. Unusual? Yes, in this persevere in our prayers to God whenGod seems to say, in answer to ourprayers, "Not God sometimes putsHis children to the test through prayer;He proves their faith and strengthens itthrough prayer. We should not beashamed when God seems to say to us,"Not yet. Wait awhile. Come back toWe talk over our problems freelywith our friends; we share our innermost thoughts and the desires of ourhearts with our loved ones. But God,who knows our innermost thoughts, andhas the answer to all our needs, and thesolution to all our problems, can helpus more than any human friend or lovedone (Luke 11:13). The trouble is thatwe talk too much with men, and toolittle with God.forPhilippians 4:6-7. "Be careful forIn the R. V. it is, "Be anxiousnothing."The Greek word means "tobe troubled withcares."Compare I Peter5:7 "Casting all your care upon him;for he careth forwhere the sameGreek word is used; and Psalm 55:22"Cast thy burden upon the Lord, and heshall sustain thee," where the same wordis used in the Septuagint (Greek version of the O.T.). The meaning is plain:instead of worrying, PRAY; instead ofdoubting, TRUST IN THE LORD.Another popular view of prayer whichis distorted is the idea that prayer isa sort of tonic for the soul. It is supposedto have a therapeutic value and is tobe used to brush away the gloom andbring sunlight into the chambers ofthe soul. It is true, according to Philippians 4:7, that one of the blessingsgained by the Christian through prayeris "the peace of God which passeth understanding."But this inner peace, oftenreferred to as "peace of mind," comesonly to the Christian. We should realizethat prayer by itself does not bringthe peace of God. Prayer alone cannot produce the serenity of soul forwhich people are yearning. No man canhave "the peace of God" until he firsthas "peace WITH GOD" through theatonement of Christ. "The foundationof the peace of God which passeth allunderstanding is peace with God. Bynature we are at enmity with God, atwar with God. But when the foundationof peace with God has been laid, thenthe way is open for the peace of God tocome into the person's life. Hence Christoffers no spiritual peace except to thosewho first of all make their peace withGod by receiving Jesus Christ as theirSaviour.'Justified by faith, we havepeace with God through our Lord JesusChrist'(Rom. 5:1). It is one of thegreatest and most prevalent blundersof our day to offer the subsidiary benefits of the Gospel to people who havenot received, do not want and will not