tions, we are ready for intercessory prayer, making a prayer list and laying before God the many people or problems that may confront us and others, entering with Him into the passion for souls, pleading the cause of Calvary on behalf of the multitudes who are dying, and interceding for those with whom we are called to labor. This intercessory prayer is an important part of our devotional period, but it cannot come first. It can come only after we have placed ourselves in close fel lowship and relationship with Him who is our Father. Bible Reading This devotional period can properly be followed by a season of Bible reading, which, at such a time, will be very beneficial. I suggest that you read Exodus 16. Let this incident in the life of Israel serve as an illustration of a per sonal devotional life. “ And in the morning, then ye shall see the glory of the Lord” (Ex. 16:7). If you wish to behold the real glory of the Lord in your personal devo tional period, have it early in the morning. “ At even, then ye shall know that the Lord hath brought you out from the land of Egypt” (v. 6). You will have some thing to praise God for in the evening if you have met Him early in the morning. You will note also that Israel was to>gather a daily portion. It could not be hoarded from one day to the
comes in with dirty hands, face, and clothing. The mother loves that child, whether he is dirty or clean. Maybe a scolding is necessary; but cleansing follows, and the child may go out again to his play with clean clothes, hands, and face. So we come to the Father for cleansing. But lest we continually fall into the same sins, we must be strengthened. We must take spiritual vita mins to build up resistance against the temptations and tests that come to us. Meditation Many of the Epistles and the Proverbs, as- well as other passages of Scripture, will be helpful for medita tion. Just keep in mind that “ faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God” (Rom. 10:17). Ac cept His verdict of your own unworthiness and also His promise of grace and mercy. Philippians 4:5-7 is a helpful illustration at this point. “ Let your moderation be known unto all men. The Lord is at hand. Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanks giving let your requests be made known unto God.” And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.” Meditate on the individual phrases. “ Be careful for nothing.” Let not anxiety and worry keep you from progress, but “ by prayer and supplication with thanks giving let your requests be made known unto God.” Note the order: prayer, which simply means talking with God, or asking God; supplication, which speaks of claiming His wonderful promises, which are for us. But keep in mind the importance of thanksgiving in con nection with the requests and supplications. This thanksgiving should be expressed at the moment the request is made. We should not promise God that we will thank Him later, but we should accept the promise of God as true and thank Him for the answer immedi ately. Then follows the glorious promise of the peace of God. Another passage of Scripture which illustrates my point of being built up spiritually is found in Proverbs 3:5,6: “ Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.” First, trust in the Lord; second, do not lean to your own understanding or discretion, but acknowledge your inability. At the same time, however, acknowledge His ability, and the promise is that He will direct your paths. Accept this by faith. No less than fifteen minutes should be spent in spe cial meditation and heart-search. Thirty minutes is better. Soon an hour becomes almost too short. Worship In connection with this heart-searching, meditation, and building up by means of the Word comes worship. When the heart has been thoroughly searched by the Word, through the Spirit, when proper acknowledg ment of shortcomings has been made, and when ^we have, by faith, accepted the challenge and the promises of mercy on our behalf, we find ourselves with an atti tude ready for worship. Here the Psalms serve most wonderfully. However, it is not the Psalms alone, but short portions of Scripture, carefully meditated upon, which enlarge our vision of the wonderfulness of Christ. Intercession Once we have come this far in our personal devo
Dream not too much o f what you'll do tomorrow How well perhaps y o u 'll do another year; Tomorrow 's chance you do not need to borrow Today Is here. Boast not too much of mountains you w ill master; The time you linger in this world below; To dream is well, but doing brings us faster T o where we go. Swear not some day to break some habit fetter W hen this old year is dead and passed away; But if you really want to live much better Begin today.
next. Furthermore, each one had to gather it for him self. You cannot live on the other man’s experience. They had to stoop to the ground to pick it up. So we need to stoop and acknowledge our own inability, asking the Spirit to give us spiritual morsels. Notice also that they were to use it each day as they gathered it. If it was left over, it became useless, and by the next day it was spoiled. We must not only be hearers of the Word, but also doers. We must use what we have learned on that day and let it become a habit in our lives. One Psalm that has served me hundreds of times in my devotional period and in my desire for personal revival has been Psalm 51. It should be a help to you, too. Meditate on every word of this Psalm carefully, keeping in mind that it was the heart cry of the man David after Nathan had pointed out to the king his great sin with reference to Uriah and his wife, Bath- sheba. David was a man after the heart of God. He must have harbored his sin in his heart for quite some time; therefore, he found no fellowship with God, as we read in Psalm 32. But once he openly confessed his sin, that fellowship was wonderfully restored, and again he could serve the Lord with fullness of heart. I challenge you to try this method every day for thirty days. You will become so thrilled with it that you will never want to discontinue it. Reprinted by permission of Back o f the Bible Broadcast, Lincoln, Nebraska.
THE KINO'S BUSINESS
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