Have you wondered what it means to pray in Jesus name? RA Torrey suggests it is a lot like going to the bank.
If I go to the bank to cash a check, the teller will check and see if I have that much money in the bank and if so he will cash the check. My request depends on my financial merit. I ask in my name.
If I go with someone's check written to me I am able to receive cash based on their merit, their deposits in the bank. I benefit from the merit of their name. It makes no difference how much money I have in the bank. The check is honored based on his name and merit.
This is what it means to come to God on the merit of Jesus. It is not about my balance (merit) but about his merit.
Torrey says it this way, "So it is when I go to the bank of heaven, when I go to God in prayer. I have nothing deposited there, I have absolutely no credit there, and if I go in my own name I will get absolutely nothing; but Jesus Christ has unlimited credit in heaven, and he has granted to me the privilege of going to the bank with his name on my checks, and when I thus go, my prayers will be honored to any extent.
When I pray in Jesus name I pray on the ground of his merit and not my own. I renounce any claim that I may think I have personally on God and approach him on the merit of Christ alone. God is well pleased with His Son and always hears and answers his requests.
Friday, December 24, 2010
E. M. Bounds on prayer
I'm preaching Sunday on prayer at MercyHill. I am convinced that ministry at MercyHill must be first ministry "by Jesus" not ministry "for Jesus". We are in desperate need of His ministry to us, and only then may we truly minister in His name. The yearning for Jesus ministry to me personally and to those with whom I serve has become my fervent prayer.
While studying for Sunday I found this quote from E.M. Bounds.
"God has plainly and with directness committed himself to answer prayer. If we fulfill the conditions of prayer, the answer is bound to come. The laws of nature are not so invariable and so inexorable as the promised answer to prayer. The ordinance of nature might fail, but the ordinances of grace can never fail. There are no limitations, no adverse conditions, no weakness, no inability, which can or will hinder the answer to prayer. God’s doing for us when we pray has no limitation, is not hedged about, by provisos in Himself, or in the peculiar circumstances of any particular case. If we really pray, God masters and defies all things and is above all conditions.
God explicitly says, “Call unto me, and I will answer.” There are no limitations, no hedges, no hindrances in the way of God fulfilling the promise. His word is at stake. His word is involved. God solemnly engages to answer prayer. Man is to look for the answer, be inspired by the expectation of the answer, and may with humble boldness demand the answer. God, who cannot lie, is bound to answer. He has voluntarily placed himself under obligation to answer the prayer of him who truly prays.
God’s Word does not say 'Call unto me, and you will thereby be trained into the happy art of knowing how to be denied. Ask, and you will learn sweet patience by getting nothing.” Far from it. But it is definite, clear and positive: “Ask and it shall be given unto you.'”
EM Bounds, Complete Works 193-195
While studying for Sunday I found this quote from E.M. Bounds.
"God has plainly and with directness committed himself to answer prayer. If we fulfill the conditions of prayer, the answer is bound to come. The laws of nature are not so invariable and so inexorable as the promised answer to prayer. The ordinance of nature might fail, but the ordinances of grace can never fail. There are no limitations, no adverse conditions, no weakness, no inability, which can or will hinder the answer to prayer. God’s doing for us when we pray has no limitation, is not hedged about, by provisos in Himself, or in the peculiar circumstances of any particular case. If we really pray, God masters and defies all things and is above all conditions.
God explicitly says, “Call unto me, and I will answer.” There are no limitations, no hedges, no hindrances in the way of God fulfilling the promise. His word is at stake. His word is involved. God solemnly engages to answer prayer. Man is to look for the answer, be inspired by the expectation of the answer, and may with humble boldness demand the answer. God, who cannot lie, is bound to answer. He has voluntarily placed himself under obligation to answer the prayer of him who truly prays.
God’s Word does not say 'Call unto me, and you will thereby be trained into the happy art of knowing how to be denied. Ask, and you will learn sweet patience by getting nothing.” Far from it. But it is definite, clear and positive: “Ask and it shall be given unto you.'”
EM Bounds, Complete Works 193-195
Saturday, December 18, 2010
Joy to the World
Tomorrow at MercyHill we are looking at Mary's Magnificat. The title of the message is, "A Heart that Sings". We will be looking at the joy offered us in Jesus. I found this piece and wanted to share it.
See you tomorrow.
Men have pursued joy in every avenue imaginable. Some have successfully found it while others have not. Perhaps it would be easier to describe where joy cannot be found:
Not in Unbelief -- Voltaire was an infidel of the most pronounced type. He wrote: "I wish I had never been born."
Not in Pleasure -- Lord Byron lived a life of pleasure if anyone did. He wrote: "The worm, the canker, and grief are mine alone."
Not in Money -- Jay Gould, the American millionaire, had plenty of that. When dying, he said: "I suppose I am the most miserable man on earth."
Not in Position and Fame -- Lord Beaconsfield enjoyed more than his share of both. He wrote: "Youth is a mistake; manhood a struggle; old age a regret."
Not in Military Glory -- Alexander the Great conquered the known world in his day. Having done so, he wept in his tent, before he said, "There are no more worlds to conquer."
Where then is real joy found? -- the answer is simple, in Christ alone.
The Bible Friend, Turning Point, May, 1993.
See you tomorrow.
Men have pursued joy in every avenue imaginable. Some have successfully found it while others have not. Perhaps it would be easier to describe where joy cannot be found:
Not in Unbelief -- Voltaire was an infidel of the most pronounced type. He wrote: "I wish I had never been born."
Not in Pleasure -- Lord Byron lived a life of pleasure if anyone did. He wrote: "The worm, the canker, and grief are mine alone."
Not in Money -- Jay Gould, the American millionaire, had plenty of that. When dying, he said: "I suppose I am the most miserable man on earth."
Not in Position and Fame -- Lord Beaconsfield enjoyed more than his share of both. He wrote: "Youth is a mistake; manhood a struggle; old age a regret."
Not in Military Glory -- Alexander the Great conquered the known world in his day. Having done so, he wept in his tent, before he said, "There are no more worlds to conquer."
Where then is real joy found? -- the answer is simple, in Christ alone.
The Bible Friend, Turning Point, May, 1993.
Spiritual Greatness
I think most men yearn to be something great and noble in our inner being. I think the following is something that would do us well to ponder.
Maurice Roberts wrote in 1990
Our age has been sadly deficient in what may be termed spiritual greatness. At the root of this is the modern disease of shallowness. We are all too impatient to meditate on the faith we profess….It is not the busy skimming over religious books or the careless hastening through religious duties which makes for a strong Christian faith. Rather, it is unhurried meditation on gospel truths and the exposing of our minds to these truths that yields the fruit of sanctified character.
Maurice Roberts wrote in 1990
Our age has been sadly deficient in what may be termed spiritual greatness. At the root of this is the modern disease of shallowness. We are all too impatient to meditate on the faith we profess….It is not the busy skimming over religious books or the careless hastening through religious duties which makes for a strong Christian faith. Rather, it is unhurried meditation on gospel truths and the exposing of our minds to these truths that yields the fruit of sanctified character.
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