warrant signed. So, Ananias respond ed by saying, “I have heard many things of this man and of how much evil he hath done.” It thrills my heart to hear how the Holy Spirit answered that concern. Now, if prayer is a sign of a con verted heart, so continual ceaseless prayer shows the depths of the in dividual’s spiritual life. Ask your self, “How many times do I pray for things which directly relate to me, my home, my family, and my loved ones ? How much time do I spend praying for those who may be unknown to me, who have needs, who maybe even lo cated in distant areas?” Really prayer doesn’t need proof, but it does need practice! We need to put these things we know are true and vital into experience. How else can we see the reality of what the Lord wants to do. Phil Kerr, a friend of ours who is now home in the pres ence of the Lord, used to say, “We really should sing ‘Sweet Five Min utes of Prayer’ or ‘Sweet Thirty Sec onds of Prayer’ because that’s about all of the time some people actually spend before the Lord!” To enter into the fulness of joy through this avenue of prayer, let’s make sure that first of all we believe and have placed our faith and trust in the eternal Son of God; then that we come to Him with clean hearts. If there is something that we have said or done, or even thought that is un seemly, let us ask God to forgive us, and that it might be set aside, thanks to His cleansing blood. Then, we need to come in confidence, expect ing that God is going to work the miracle, and that He is going to bring the victory. Finally, as the last essential prayer, let’s come with the attitude and desire, “Neverthe less, not my will, but thine be done.” May it be that we will let the Lord to have His way rather than our try ing to usurp His rightful position. We hope you’ve been encouraged and blessed by these thoughts today.
these on the continent of Asia Mi nor? Bring it down closer to home! Does someone, perhaps in our own neighborhood, know my faith ? Is this truth really made pre-eminently clear to those in our own household? Paul says, “I know two things about the Ephesian Christians which commend them to everyone: their faith in the Lord Jesus and their love unto all the saints.” By the way, the word unto repre sents not just thinking thoughts of love for others but actually means acts of love which are bestowed upon them. Paul could have said, “And love to all the saints,” but the word unto indicates that there are things which are being accomplished for the other saints, kindnesses which are rendered, a thoughtfulness which is not afraid of going out of the way to be gracious and filled with the spirit of Christian love. So the Ephesian church was known for its faith in the Lord Jesus and the love its people had for all the saints. Certainly we could wish that these things might be the hallmarks of our lives today. Because they had both faith and a practical love, it caused the Apostle Paul to pray. He said that he did not cease to give thanks for them, making mention of these dear ones in his prayers. (Note this from Ephesians 1:15 and 16.) Actually, one of the first evi dences of a trusting heart and soul is prayer. Do you remember how the Spirit came to Ananias of Damascus, instructing him to go to minister unto Paul? Of course, at that time, it had happened concurrently with his salvation. Saul had already be come Paul but Ananias didn’t know it. Preceding his salvation, Paul con tinued to breathe out threatenings and slaughter upon the church of Jesus Christ. So naturally when Ananias heard of his being commis sioned by the Spirit to go to Paul and preach the Gospel to him, it real ly was in essence like having a death
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