How To Pray When Your Soul Is Bone Dry

Tim Challies
July 21, 2016

You know you ought to pray. You know that God invites and even commands you to pray. He loves to hear from you, loves to know you. Yet there are times when your soul feels bone dry, when even opening your mouth to pray seems an impossibility. What do you do?

Just Pray

Perhaps the hardest thing to do in those times is to even make the effort to pray. Just pray. It is always the right thing to do. Pray short if you need to. Tell God you are struggling to pray. But somehow just pray.

• And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people. Pray also for me, that whenever I speak, words may be given me so that I will fearlessly make known the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in chains. Pray that I may declare it fearlessly, as I should. (Ephesians 6:17-19)

the rest image

Recovering the Priority of Personal Holiness

by Alistair Begg
July 18, 2016

“If the Word does not dwell with power in us,” wrote Puritan John Owen, “it will not pass with power from us” (The Works of John Owen, vol. 16, p. 76.). This godly minister personified this truth in his personal life and public ministry more than three centuries ago. For years he carried the message of Jesus Christ into the trenches of a culture as chaotic as our own while simultaneously dealing with the death of his wife and all eleven of his children. John Owen was no ivory tower theologian, but rather a zealous pastor who worked to the brink of exhaustion to further the work of the Reformers. He is remembered for shining gospel light into the spiritually dark arenas of politics and academia. And his love of Scripture was clearly and forcefully articulated from the variety of pulpits into which God called him.

Yet what gave John Owen success in ministry was not so much his oratory skill, nor his evangelistic zeal, nor even his love for the people he shepherded. John Owen was used mightily by God in all these ways because he was a man characterized by personal holiness. And in an age when the church is emulating the world, where it is no longer distinguishable from our pleasure-oriented culture, the example of John Owen shines like a beacon on a stormy night.

Let’s consider whether we have allowed contemporary culture to infiltrate our minds and hearts. Have we inverted Christ’s desire that the church be in the world by bringing the world into the church instead? If we take an honest look, perhaps we’ll discover that we are contributing to this trend. Rather than relying solely on the sufficiency of God’s Word, are we employing counselors in our churches who apply worldly methods of psychological analysis to address felt needs? Have we adopted worldly means to reach the seekers who sit skeptically in the back pews rather than offering them the truths of the Gospel and the Christian life? Faithful teaching of God’s Word is vanishing. Are we among the number that have replaced preaching with elaborate drama productions aimed at entertaining? In terms of covenantal relationships, the rate of divorce and remarriage reflects societal statistics. Where do we stand on this issue? The church has become tolerant of all kinds of biblical compromise, casting aside principles that Owen and his contemporaries would have given their lives to protect and defend... the rest image

“Let not your hearts be troubled. "

John 14:1 “Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me."
 

In seasons of uncertainty and turmoil, we are being asked to make a deliberate decision. We are being asked to not allow our hearts to be troubled. The only way I know how to do that is to spend copious amounts of time with God so I can walk through hard times from a place of peace... and that peace will impact those directly around me. It starts with me. ...Katherine Walden image

If we set out to serve God...

If we set out to serve God and do His work but get out of touch with Him, the sense of responsibility we feel will be overwhelming and defeating. But if we will only roll back on God the burdens He has placed on us, He will take away that immense feeling of responsibility, replacing it with an awareness and understanding of Himself and His presence. Many servants set out to serve God with great courage and with the right motives. But with no intimate fellowship with Jesus Christ, they are soon defeated. They do not know what to do with their burden, and it produces weariness in their lives.  -Oswald Chambers image

A new Decalogue has been adopted...

A new Decalogue has been adopted by the neo-Christians of our day, the first word of which reads ‘Thou shalt not disagree;’ and a new set of Beatitudes too, which begins ‘Blessed are they that tolerate everything, for they shall not be made accountable for anything.’ It is now the accepted thing to talk over religious differences in public with the understanding that no one will try to convert another or point out errors in his belief. . . . Imagine Moses agreeing to take part in a panel discussion with Israel over the golden calf; or Elijah engaging in a gentlemanly dialogue with the prophets of Baal. Or try to picture our Lord Jesus Christ seeking a meeting of minds with the Pharisees to iron out differences. ...AW Tozer image

The Prayers of One Faithful Lady Availeth Much

May 17, 2016
by Jordan Standridge

It was 1872, and D. L. Moody decided to go to England for a time of learning from the great English preachers of that day. He had decided to merely sit and listen, and not do any ministry of his own.

One pastor named John Lessey, upon hearing that Moody was in town, begged him to preach in his pulpit on both Sunday morning and Sunday night. Reluctantly, Moody accepted the request of this pastor of a medium-sized congregation in London.

The morning sermon did not go well.

The people were not responsive. They were bored and didn’t want to be there. Moody, although disinclined to preach in the evening because of the incredible apathy he witnessed in the morning, decided to go ahead and keep his word... the rest

After finding out that he had preached in her church, instead of eating her lunch she fasted and prayed all afternoon that the Lord would use Moody that evening in her old place of worship. The Lord listened to the faithful prayers of a young, sick lady, and answered in a big way.

The authority by which the Christian leader leads...

The authority by which the Christian leader leads is not power but love, not force but example, not coercion but reasoned persuasion. Leaders have power, but power is safe only in the hands of those who humble themselves to serve. ...John Stott image

"He Will Hold Me Fast"

Norton Hall Band

If we set out to serve God...

If we set out to serve God and do His work but get out of touch with Him, the sense of responsibility we feel will be overwhelming and defeating. But if we will only roll back on God the burdens He has placed on us, He will take away that immense feeling of responsibility, replacing it with an awareness and understanding of Himself and His presence. Many servants set out to serve God with great courage and with the right motives. But with no intimate fellowship with Jesus Christ, they are soon defeated. They do not know what to do with their burden, and it produces weariness in their lives. ...Oswald Chambers  image

Such a Church—joyful, obedient, loving, and free...

Instead of always being one of the chief bastions of the social status quo, the Church is to develop a Christian counter-culture with its own distinctive goals, values, standards, and lifestyle, a realistic alternative to the contemporary technocracy which is marked by bondage, materialism, self-centredness, and greed.

Christ’s call to obedience is a call to be different, not conformist. Such a Church—joyful, obedient, loving, and free—will do more than please God: it will attract the world. It is when the Church evidently is the Church, and is living a supernatural life of love by the power of the Holy Spirit, that the world will believe. ...John Stott

Did Easter change you?

It can be so easy for Easter to be a moment in time and not a moment that changes time. Our experience with Christ should change our lives. We shouldn’t experience the resurrection and then just go back to the day to day lives we lead unchanged. Life should be different because of the grace of Christ. Did Easter change you, or are you back to the daily grind? Jesus wants more from us than to just experience the joy of the resurrection - He wants us to live changed lives!
...Don Crane image

Easter 2016

The astonishing event of the resurrection of Jesus is essentially an event of love: the Father’s love in handing over his Son for the salvation of the world; the Son’s love in abandoning himself to the Father’s will for us all; the Spirit’s love in raising Jesus from the dead in his transfigured body. And there is more: the Father’s love which "newly embraces" the Son, enfolding him in glory; the Son’s love returning to the Father in the power of the Spirit, robed in our transfigured humanity. From today’s solemnity, in which we relive the absolute, once-and-for-all experience of Jesus’s resurrection, we receive an appeal to be converted to Love; we receive an invitation to live by rejecting hatred and selfishness, and to follow with docility in the footsteps of the Lamb that was slain for our salvation, to imitate the Redeemer who is "gentle and lowly in heart", who is "rest for our souls"  ...Benedict XVI image

Holy Saturday 2016

LORD, God of my salvation;

I cry out day and night before you.

Let my prayer come before you;

incline your ear to my cry!  
 

For my soul is full of troubles,

and my life draws near to Sheol.

I am counted among those who go down to the pit;

I am a man who has no strength,

like one set loose among the dead,

like the slain that lie in the grave,

like those whom you remember no more,

for they are cut off from your hand.

You have put me in the depths of the pit,

in the regions dark and deep.

Your wrath lies heavy upon me,

and you overwhelm me with all your waves.  
 

You have caused my companions to shun me;

you have made me a horror to them.

I am shut in so that I cannot escape;

my eye grows dim through sorrow.

Every day I call upon you, O LORD;

I spread out my hands to you.

Do you work wonders for the dead?

Do the departed rise up to praise you?

Is your steadfast love declared in the grave,

or your faithfulness in Abaddon?

Are your wonders known in the darkness,

or your righteousness in the land of forgetfulness?

 

But I, O LORD, cry to you;

in the morning my prayer comes before you.

O LORD, why do you cast my soul away?

Why do you hide your face from me?

Afflicted and close to death from my youth up,

I suffer your terrors; I am helpless.

Your wrath has swept over me;

your dreadful assaults destroy me.

They surround me like a flood all day long;

they close in on me together.

You have caused my beloved and my friend to shun me;

my companions have become darkness.
-Psalm 88 image

Good Friday 2016

 

The blood of Jesu’s cross
Was never shed in vain;
There is not any loss
Of His most precious pain:
This is the great, the finished plan
To open heaven’s door for man.

Let all bow down and own
The sacrificèd Lamb!
Among all titles known
His is the greatest name:
Praise, laud, and blessing to our Lord,
Let Him be evermore adored!
...William Williams image

Holy Thursday 2016

Then He poureth water into the basin, and began to wash the disciples' feet, and to wipe them with the towel wherewith He was girded. -John 13:5
 

The Lord Jesus loves his people so much, that every day he is still doing for them much that is analogous to washing their soiled feet. Their poorest actions he accepts; their deepest sorrow he feels; their slenderest wish he hears, and their every transgression he forgives. He is still their servant as well as their Friend and Master....humbly, patiently, he yet goes about among his people with the basin and the towel. He does this when he puts away from us day by day our constant infirmities and sins....It is a great act of eternal love when Christ once for all absolves the sinner, and puts him into the family of God; but what condescending patience there is when the Saviour with much long-suffering bears the oft recurring follies of his wayward disciple; day by day, and hour by hour, washing away the multiplied transgressions of his erring but yet beloved child!....While we find comfort and peace in our Lord’s daily cleansing, its legitimate influence upon us will be to increase our watchfulness, and quicken our desire for holiness. Is it so? ...CH Spurgeon image

Learn much of the Lord Jesus...

Learn much of the Lord Jesus. For every look at yourself, take ten looks at Christ. He is altogether lovely. Such infinite majesty, and yet such meekness and grace, and all for sinners, even the chief. Live much in the smiles of God. Bask in his beams. Feel his all-seeing eye settled on you in love, and repose in his almighty arms. Cry after divine knowledge, and lift up your voice for understanding. Seek her as silver, and search for her as for hid treasure. ...Robert Murray M’Cheyne image

Ride On, Ride On In Majesty!

Ride on, ride on in majesty!
Hear all the tribes hosanna cry;
O Savior meek, your road pursue,
With palms and scattered garments strewn.

Ride on, ride on in majesty!
In lowly pomp ride on to die.
O Christ, your triumphs now begin
O’er captive death and conquered sin.

Ride on, ride on in majesty!
The hosts of angels in the sky
Look down with sad and wondering eyes
To see the approaching sacrifice.

Ride on, ride on in majesty!
In lowly pomp ride on to die;
Bow your meek head to mortal pain;
Then take, O Christ, your power and reign.
-Henry H. Milman image

Eternal Lord, how faint and small...

Eternal Lord, how faint and small

Our greatest, strongest thoughts must seem

To Thee, who overseest all,

And leads us through Life’s shallow stream.
 

How tangled are our straightest ways;

How dimly flares our brightest star;

How earthbound is our highest praise

To Thee, who sees us as we are.
 

Our feet are slow where Thine are fast;

Thy kiss of grace meets lips of stone;

And we admit Thy love at last

To hearts that have none of their own.

...Robert MacColl Adams image

Inject Your Prayer List with Life

By P.J. Tibayan
March 5, 2016

I want to pray more this year. More than ever before.

God promises that he hears and actively responds to prayers as we come to him in the name of Jesus. We have not, because we ask not. I’m resolved to pray biblical prayers for myself and others. I’m responsible to pray for the members of my church family because I’m a member of the family and James commands us to “pray for one another” (James 5:16). As a pastor, I’m to be devoted to not only the ministry of the Word, but also the ministry of prayer (Acts 6:4). As a friend, I want those I love to experience the joy of the Lord.

But there’s the problem: My praying through a list of names and needs often feels more like reading a shopping list than meaningfully communing with the Father in heaven.

As a Christian who cares a lot about theological accuracy, I’ve found that if I pray a biblically grounded prayer request then I’m content with that even if I’m not really meaningfully pleading or connecting with God. There has to be a better way.

As I finished up Tim Keller’s book, Prayer: Experiencing Awe and Intimacy with God, I realized the problem, and discovered two antidotes. Tim Keller writes, distilling the insight of J. I. Packer...
the rest-excellent!

I know Thee, Saviour, Who Thou art...

I know Thee, Saviour, Who Thou art,

Jesus, the feeble sinner’s friend!

Nor wilt Thou with the night depart,

But stay, and love me to the end.

Thy mercies never shall remove;

Thy nature, and Thy name is Love.

...Charles Wesley image

When the inspired, God-breathed verses of the Bible...

When the inspired, God-breathed verses of the Bible become our prayer, something powerful occurs. We are praying the anointed words of God. These prayers will release the move of God’s Spirit in our lives in a more precise and effective way than our own random vocabulary. It’s the Hebrews 4:12 principle which says: "For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.” ...John Paul Jackson

No distant Lord have I...

No distant Lord have I,

Loving afar to be;

Made flesh for me, He cannot rest

Until He rests in me.
 

Brother in joy and pain,

Bone of my bone was He;

More intimate and closer still—

He dwells Himself in me.
 

I need not journey far

This dearest Friend to see;

Companionship is always mine;

He makes His home with me.

-Maltbie Babcock image

Everything that God brings into our life...

Everything that God brings into our life is directed to one purpose: that we might be conformed to the image of Christ. ...Erwin Lutzer image

Each time, before you intercede...

"Beware in your prayers, above everything else, of limiting God, not only by unbelief, but by fancying that you know what He can do. Expect unexpected things, ‘above all that we ask or think’. Each time, before you intercede, be quiet first, and worship God in His glory. Think of what He can do, and how He delights to hear the prayers of His redeemed people. Think of your place and privilege in Christ, and expect great things!" ...Andrew Murray

O Lord, the house of my soul is narrow...

O Lord,
The house of my soul is narrow;
enlarge it that you may enter in.
It is ruinous, O repair it!
It displeases Your sight.
I confess it, I know.
But who shall cleanse it,
to whom shall I cry but to you?
Cleanse me from my secret faults, O Lord,
and spare Your servant from strange sins.

–St. Augustine of Hippo

You will never find Jesus so precious...

You will never find Jesus so precious as when the world is one vast howling wilderness. Then he is like a rose blooming in the midst of the desolation—a rock rising above the storm.  ...Robert Murray M’Cheyne image

Guard what you say, especially today...

Guard what you say, especially today. Yes, guard your tongue. Blessings await you but so also are self-induced troubles. Remember: Life and death are in the power of your tongue. Indeed, James warns, that the tongue sets on fire "the course of our life, and is set on fire by hell (Jms 3:6). Don't destroy your life by speaking loveless words containing seeds of death. Speak life/reap life. ...Francis Frangipane image

Those who are readiest to trust God...

God knows just when to withhold from us any visible sign of encouragement, and when to grant us such a sign. How good it is that we may trust Him anyway! When all visible evidences that He is remembering us are withheld, that is best; He wants us to realize that His Word, His promise of remembrance, is more substantial and dependable than any evidence of our senses. When He sends the visible evidence, that is well also; we appreciate it all the more after we have trusted Him without it. Those who are readiest to trust God without other evidence than His Word always receive the greatest number of visible evidences of His love.
...CG Trumbull image

Praise will sometimes bubble up...

Like supernatural effervescence, praise will sometimes bubble up from the joy of simply knowing Christ. Praise like that is...delight. Pure pleasure! But praise can also be supernatural determination. A decisive action. Praise like that is...quiet resolve. Fixed devotion. Strength of spirit.
-Joni Eareckson Tada image

A tongue filled with laughter and praise...

A tongue filled with laughter and praise is a reflection of a heart filled to overflowing with the joy of the Lord. What a joy it is just to be with someone whose heart is full. A soothing tongue, a tongue that can say “I accept you where you are,” or “I appreciate your questions” without offense or bitterness, is a secure place someone can go for help without fear of judgment, condemnation or censure. ...Mike Hoskins image

For the Lord will go before you, and the God of Israel will be your rear guard...

You shall not go out with haste,…for the Lord will go before you, and the God of Israel will be your rear guard.
—Isaiah 52:12

Security from Yesterday. “…God requires an account of what is past” (Ecclesiastes 3:15). At the end of the year we turn with eagerness to all that God has for the future, and yet anxiety is apt to arise when we remember our yesterdays. Our present enjoyment of God’s grace tends to be lessened by the memory of yesterday’s sins and blunders. But God is the God of our yesterdays, and He allows the memory of them to turn the past into a ministry of spiritual growth for our future. God reminds us of the past to protect us from a very shallow security in the present.

Security for Tomorrow. “…the Lord will go before you….” This is a gracious revelation— that God will send His forces out where we have failed to do so. He will keep watch so that we will not be tripped up again by the same failures, as would undoubtedly happen if He were not our “rear guard.” And God’s hand reaches back to the past, settling all the claims against our conscience.

Security for Today. “You shall not go out with haste….” As we go forth into the coming year, let it not be in the haste of impetuous, forgetful delight, nor with the quickness of impulsive thoughtlessness. But let us go out with the patient power of knowing that the God of Israel will go before us. Our yesterdays hold broken and irreversible things for us. It is true that we have lost opportunities that will never return, but God can transform this destructive anxiety into a constructive thoughtfulness for the future. Let the past rest, but let it rest in the sweet embrace of Christ. Leave the broken, irreversible past in His hands, and step out into the invincible future with Him. -Oswald Chambers image

He has come! the Christ of God...

He has come! the Christ of God;

Left for us His glad abode;

Stooping from His throne of bliss,

To this darksome wilderness.
 

He has come! the Prince of Peace;—

Come to bid our sorrows cease;

Come to scatter, with His light,

All the darkness of our night.
 

He, the Mighty King, has come!

Making this poor world His home;

Come to bear our sin’s sad load,—

Son of David, Son of God.
 

He has come whose name of grace

Speaks deliverance to our race;

Left for us His glad abode,—

Son of Mary, Son of God!
 

Unto us a Child is born!

Ne’er has earth beheld a morn

Among all the morns of time,

Half so glorious in its prime.
 

Unto us a Son is given!

He has come from God’s own heaven;

Bringing with Him, from above,

Holy peace and holy love.

... Horatius Bonar image

"Teach Us to Pray"

Bp. Julian Dobbs: Advent teaching Part III

Advent 2015 | Part 3 from Julian Dobbs on Vimeo.

Bp. Julian Dobbs Advent teaching Part II

Advent 2015 | Part 2 from Julian Dobbs on Vimeo.

Christ, whose glory fills the skies!

Christ, whose glory fills the skies,

   Christ the true, the only Light,

Sun of Righteousness, arise!

Triumph o'er the shades of night:

Dayspring from on high, be near;

Daystar, in my heart appear.

 Dark and cheerless is the morn

Unaccompanied by thee;

Joyless is the day's return,

Till thy mercy's beams I see,

Till they inward light impart,

Glad my eyes, and warm my heart.

 Visit then this soul of mine!

Pierce the gloom of sin and grief!

Fill me, Radiancy Divine;

Scatter all my unbelief;

More and more thyself display,

Shining to the perfect day.

-Charles Wesley image

"Thy kingdom come!"

"Thy kingdom come!" on bended knee

the passing ages pray;

and faithful souls have yearned to see

on earth that kingdom's day.
 

But the slow watches of the night

not less to God belong;

and for the everlasting right

the silent stars are strong.
 

And lo, already on the hills

the flags of dawn appear;

gird up your loins, ye prophet souls,

proclaim the day is near:
 

The day to whose clear shining light

all wrong shall stand revealed,

when justice shall be throned in might,

and every heart be healed;
 

When knowledge, hand in hand with peace,

shall walk the earth abroad;

the day of perfect righteousness,

the promised day of God.

-Frederick Lucian Hosmer image

Is the humanity of our time still waiting for a Savior?

The question is: Is the humanity of our time still waiting for a Savior? One has the feeling that many consider God as foreign to their own interests. Apparently, they do not need him. They live as though he did not exist and, worse still, as though he were an “obstacle” to remove in order to fulfill themselves. Even among believers—we are sure of it—some let themselves be attracted by enticing dreams and distracted by misleading doctrines that suggest deceptive shortcuts to happiness. Yet, despite its contradictions, worries and tragedies, and perhaps precisely because of them, humanity today seeks a path of renewal, of salvation, it seeks a Savior and awaits, sometimes unconsciously, the coming of the Savior who renews the world and our life, the coming of Christ, the one true Redeemer of man and of the whole of man.
...Pope Benedict XVI image

Bp. Julian Dobbs Advent teaching Part I

Advent 2015 | Part 1 from Julian Dobbs on Vimeo.