Not All Storms Are Bad

Psalm 18:7-15

These verses present one of the greatest descriptions of a storm found in the Bible. It is a graphic picture of the way God works when He comes to the aid of His children. David was saying in these verses that God the Creator, God the Deliverer, used everything in nature to come to his aid. The earth shook, down to its foundations. Smoke came up, and fire came out. Coals were kindled. The heavens bowed down. The wind began to blow, for God was coming on the wings of the wind. We see darkness, dark waters, thick clouds, even hailstones and coals of fire. Thunder, lightening – the very breath of God was blowing across the fields.

When the child of God is in His will, all of nature works for him. When the child of God is out of His will, everything works against him. Remember Jonah? He ran away from God in disobedience, and what happened?  A storm appeared. The wind and waves were violent. That little boat went up and down on the ocean like a cork. Even the mariners were worried. Jonah disobeyed God, and everything in nature worked against him. David obeyed God, and everything in nature worked for him.

God can use the storms of life to fulfill His will. is the wind blowing? He is flying on the wings of the wind. Are the clouds thick? He will bring showers of blessing out of them. Don’t be afraid of the storm. Storms can come from the hand of God and be the means of blessing.

~Warren W. Wiersbe~

The Model Prayer

“After this manner therefore pray ye:  Our Father which art in heaven … ” (Matthew 6:9)

Every teacher knows the power of example. He not only tells the child what to do and how to do it, but shows  him how it really can be done. Realizing our weakness, our heavenly Teacher has given us the very words we are to take with us as we draw near to our Father. We have in them a form of prayer which contains the freshness and fullness of the Eternal Life. It is so simple that a child can say it, and so divinely rich that it encompasses all that Go can give. A model and inspiration for all other prayer, it draws us at the same time back to itself as the deepest utterance of our souls before our God.

“Our Father which art in heaven!”  To appreciate this word of adoration correctly, remember that none of the saints in Scripture ever ventured to address God as his Father. This invocation places us at once in the center of the wonderful revelation that Jesus came to make: His Father is our Father, too. It is the essence of redemption: Christ delivers us from the curse so that we can become the children of God. It explains the miracle of regeneration: The Spirit in the new birth gives us new life. And it reveals the mystery of faith: Before the redemption is accomplished or understood, the disciples speak the word that prepares them for the blessed experience yet to come. The words are the key to the whole prayer and to all prayer. It takes time and life to study them; it will take eternity to understand them fully.

The knowledge of God’s Father-love is the first and simplest, but also the last and highest lesson in the school of prayer. Prayer begins in a personal relationship with the living God as well as a personal, conscious fellowship of love with Him. In the knowledge of God’s Fatherliness revealed by the Holy Spirit, the power of prayer will root and grow. The life of prayer has its joy in the infinite tenderness, care, and patience of an infinite Father Who is ready to hear and to help. “Our Father which art in heaven.”  Wait until the Spirit has made these words spirit and truth to us, filling our hearts and lives. Then we will indeed be within the veil, in the secret place of power where prayer always prevails.

“Hallowed by Thy name.”  There is something here that strikes us at once. While we ordinarily bring our own needs to God in prayer before thinking of what belongs to God and His interests, the Master reverses the order. First Thy name, Thy Kingdom, Thy will; then give us, forgive us, lead us deliver us. The lesson is of more importance than we think. In true worship the Father must be first and He must be everything. The sooner we learn to forget ourselves so that He may be glorified, the richer our own blessing in prayer will be. No one ever loses anything by sacrificing for the Father. This must influence all our prayer.

There are two sorts of prayer: personal and intercessory. The latter ordinarily occupies the lesser part of our time and energy. This should not be. Christ has opened the school of prayer especially to train intercessors for the great work of bringing down, by their faith and prayer, the blessings of His work and love to the world. There can be no deep growth in prayer unless this is our aim.

A child may ask its father to provide only what it needs for itself. But this child soon learns to say, “Give some for my sister, too.” The grown-up son who lives only for the father’s interests and takes charge of the father’s business asks more largely and get everything he asks. Jesus wants to train us for the blessed life of consecration and service in which all our interests are subordinate to the Name, the Kingdom, and the Will of the Father. Live for this! Let each “Our Father!” be followed in the same breath by “Thy name, Thy Kingdom, Thy will!”

“Hallowed be Thy name.”  What name? The new name of Father.  The word “Holy” is the central word of the Old Testament. “Father” is the central word of the New Testament. In this name of love, all the holiness and glory of God are revealed. And how is the Name to be hallowed? – By God Himself: “I will hallow My great Name which ye have profaned.” Our prayer must be for God to reveal the holiness, the Divine power, and the hidden glory of His Name in ourselves, in all His children, and in the world. The Spirit of the Father is the Holy Spirit. It is only when we yield ourselves to be led of Him, that the Father’s Name will be hallowed in our prayers and our lives. Let us learn this prayer: “Our Father, hallowed by Thy name.”

~Andrew Murray~

(continued with # 2)