Lewis: answered prayers

Saturday, August 5, 2017
    Feast of Oswald, King of Northumbria, Martyr, 642
Meditation:
    Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.
    —Ephesians 6:10-12 (NIV)
Quotation:
    Meanwhile, little people like you and me, if our prayers are sometimes granted, beyond all hope and probability, had better not draw hasty conclusions to our own advantage. If we were stronger, we might be less tenderly treated. If we were braver, we might be sent, with far less help, to defend far more desperate posts in the great battle.
    ... C. S. Lewis (1898-1963), The Efficacy of Prayer [1958], Cincinnati: Forward Movement, 2003, back cover (see the book)
    See also Eph. 6:10-18; Matt. 9:37; 10:16; Luke 21:15; Rom. 16:19; 2 Cor. 11:14; Eph. 5:15-17; Col. 4:5
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, grant me strength in the Spirit and make use of me as You see fit. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Barclay: offering ourselves in prayer

Friday, August 4, 2017
    Feast of John Vianney, Curè d’Ars, 1859
Meditation:
    And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words. Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.
    —Matthew 6:7-8 (NIV)
Quotation:
    Prayer is not a way of making use of God; prayer is a way of offering ourselves to God in order that He should be able to make use of us. It may be that one of our great faults in prayer is that we talk too much and listen too little. When prayer is at its highest we wait in silence for God’s voice to us; we linger in His presence for His peace and His power to flow over us and around us; we lean back in His everlasting arms and feel the serenity of perfect security in Him.
    ... William Barclay (1907-1978), The Plain Man’s Book of Prayers, London: Collins, 1959, p. 21 (see the book)
    See also Matt. 6:7-8, 1 Kings 19:11-13; Isa. 53:7; Hab. 2:20; John 20:19; Rom. 12:1
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, You are with me in prayer. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Spurgeon: God with us

Thursday, August 3, 2017
Meditation:
    Then Nebuchadnezzar was furious with Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, and his attitude toward them changed. He ordered the furnace heated seven times hotter than usual and commanded some of the strongest soldiers in his army to tie up Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego and throw them into the blazing furnace. So these men, wearing their robes, trousers, turbans and other clothes, were bound and thrown into the blazing furnace. The king’s command was so urgent and the furnace so hot that the flames of the fire killed the soldiers who took up Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, and these three men, firmly tied, fell into the blazing furnace.
    Then King Nebuchadnezzar leaped to his feet in amazement and asked his advisers, “Weren’t there three men that we tied up and threw into the fire?”
    They replied, “Certainly, O king.”
   &nbs p;He said, “Look! I see four men walking around in the fire, unbound and unharmed, and the fourth looks like a son of the gods.”
    —Daniel 3:19-25 (NIV)
Quotation:
    As sure as ever God puts his children in the furnace, He will be in the furnace with them.
    ... Charles Haddon Spurgeon (1834-1892), Gleanings Among the Sheaves, New York: Sheldon, 1869, p. 10 (see the book)
    See also Dan. 3:19-25; Ps. 118:6-7; Isa. 43:2; Acts 18:9-10; 1 Cor. 3:12-15; Col. 1:24; Jude 1:22-23
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, You are beside me in all difficulty. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Law: not conforming to the world

Wednesday, August 2, 2017
Meditation:
    As God’s fellow workers we urge you not to receive God’s grace in vain. For he says, “In the time of my favor I heard you, and in the day of salvation I helped you.” I tell you, now is the time of God’s favor, now is the day of salvation.
    —2 Corinthians 6:1-2 (NIV)
Quotation:
    [Continued from yesterday]
    Whatever, therefore, is foolish, ridiculous, vain, or earthly, or sensual, in the life of a Christian is something that ought not to be there, that is a spot and a defilement that must be washed away with tears of repentance. But if any thing of this kind runs all through the course of our life, if we allow ourselves in things that are either vain, foolish, or sensual, we renounce our profession.
    For as sure as Jesus Christ was wisdom and holiness, as sure as He came to make us like Himself and to be baptized into His Spirit, so sure is it, that none can be said to keep to their Christian profession but they who, to the utmost of their power, live a wise and holy and heavenly life. This, and this alone, is Christianity, a universal holiness in every part of life, a heavenly wisdom in all our actions, not conforming to the spirit and temper of the world, but turning all worldly enjoyments into means of piety and devotion to God.
    ... William Law (1686-1761), A Serious Call to a Devout and Holy Life [1728], London: Methuen, 1899, p. 157-158 (see the book)
    See also 2 Cor. 6:1-2; Ps. 51:7,10; John 15:18; Rom. 12:1-2; Phil. 4:8
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, You have granted me heavenly life. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Law: Christ's intent

Tuesday, August 1, 2017
Meditation:
    God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.
    —2 Corinthians 5:21 (NIV)
Quotation:
    The Son of God did not come from above to add an external form of worship to the several ways of life that are in the world, and so to leave people to live as they did before, in such tempers and enjoyments as the fashion and the spirit of the world approve; but as He came down from heaven, altogether Divine and heavenly in His own nature, so it was to call mankind to a Divine and heavenly life; to the highest change of their own nature and temper; to be born again of the Holy Spirit; to walk in the wisdom and light and love of God, and to be like Him to the utmost of their power, to renounce all the most plausible ways of the world, whether of greatness, business, or pleasure; to a mortification of their most agreeable passions; and to live in such wisdom, purity, and holiness as might fit them to be glorious in the enjoyment of God to all eternity. [Continued tomorrow]
    ... William Law (1686-1761), A Serious Call to a Devout and Holy Life [1728], London: Methuen, 1899, p. 157 (see the book)
    See also 2 Cor. 5:21; John 3:3; Matt. 10:37; Luke 14:26; Phil. 3:8
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, make me fit to enjoy Your holiness. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Earle: the task of the Church

Monday, July 31, 2017
    Commemoration of Ignatius of Loyola, Founder of the Society of Jesus, 1556
Meditation:
    For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking but of righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. Whoever thus serves Christ is acceptable to God and approved by men.
    —Romans 14:17-18 (ESV)
Quotation:
    It is sometimes said that even if no rules were laid down for the conduct of its affairs, the Church, being created by Jesus to “further the work of the Kingdom of God,” can be judged by the extent to which it is successful in continuing his work. This supposition rests upon a misunderstanding of what is meant by “the Kingdom of God” ... The Kingdom itself is not something to be “furthered” or “built” by men’s efforts. It is something which we are invited to recognize as already present, after a manner, in the life and work of Jesus. It is something to be inherited or entered into by those who believe. The Church’s task, in other words, is not to set the stage for a better world than this one but to draw the curtain from it, to reveal something that is already there.
    ... Nick Earle (1926-2014), What’s Wrong with the Church?, Baltimore: Penguin Books, 1961, p. 14 (see the book)
    See also Rom. 14:17-18; Matt. 6:33; 18:3; Luke 17:20-21; John 3:3-5; 18:36; 1 Cor. 4:20; 1 Thess. 2:11-12
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, reveal the Kingdom within my life. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Wilberforce: the low esteem of humility

Sunday, July 30, 2017
    Commemoration of William Wilberforce, Social Reformer, 1833
Meditation:
    The LORD detests all the proud of heart. Be sure of this: They will not go unpunished.
    —Proverbs 16:5 (NIV)
Quotation:
    A just pride, a proper and becoming pride, are terms which we daily hear from Christian lips. To possess a high spirit, to behave with proper spirit when used ill,—by which is meant a quick feeling of injuries, and a promptness in resenting them,—entitles to commendation; and a meek-spirited disposition, the highest Scripture eulogium, expresses ideas of disapprobation and contempt. Vanity and vainglory are suffered without interruption to retain their natural possession of the heart.
    ... William Wilberforce (1759-1833), A Practical View, Boston: Crocker & Brewster, 1829, p. 175 (see the book)
    See also Prov. 16:5; Matt. 5:5; 23:12; Luke 1:52; 14:11; Jas. 4:6; 1 Pet. 5:5
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, lead me to honor humility in others. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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