Lord willing, each Saturday I will try and find something from a child of God from the past to link to. It may be video sermons, articles, written sermons or book excerpts. Today we will look at a portion of the book written by Leonard Ravenhill entitled "Why Revival Tarries" (the portion quoted is taken from pgs 88-89; chapter ten 'Fire Begets Fire'). Hope the Lord blesses you through this reading today.
As the first atom bomb shook Hiroshima, so prayer alone can release that power which would shake the hearts of men. This cultured paganism at our doors, those idol temples, those fear-gripped, sin-mesmerized millions can only be moved to God as the Church is moved of God for their lost condition. With every possible guile that he knows, the devil would snatch us from the closet of prayer. For in prayer man is linked with God, and in that union Stan is baffled and beaten. Well he knows this; and so, if the closet is shut tightly, the mind is invaded with legitimate cares or with imaginations as big or more real than life. here we need to plead our main defense--the blood. Another useful way to offset wandering thoughts and to help concentration is to pray audibly or to give some utterance at least, though it need not be loud.
Having thus moved and gained the mastery over Satan, our next power is in the "exceeding great and precious promises of God." Here we are on concrete foundation. Here are our trading currencies with heaven. Here God is pledged, and longs to hear us honor Him. Here we may be engaged in warfare not with God but against principalities, for Satan delights in loss no more than any other being. Souls of men are his treasures. Damned souls, doubting souls, drunk souls, disobedient souls, sick souls, religious souls, souls of the young, souls of the old, and all souls outside of the regenerating power of the Spirit are mastered by him, though the degrees of his mastery vary. Souls, in various degrees of spirituality, are special targets for his fiery arrows, but the "shield of faith" will brush them all off and, bless the Lord, leave us all unscathed. Prayer is not for defense. The shield of faith is for that. Prayer is our secret weapon. (It seems to secret to many of the Lord's people. Who of us, despite all that we have read, claims to know much about this masterly work of prayer?)
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Posts
If one would spend time on their knees in the good times...perhaps God would reconize their voice when they try to get His attention in the times when things are not going so well.
ReplyDeleteI support this blog as a follower.