ENCOURAGEMENT TO PRAY

“Call to Me, and I will answer you, and show you great and mighty things, which you do not know!” (Jer. 33:3 NKJV).

There are many encouragements to pray that is given in Scripture. In both the Old and the New Testament, men are repeatedly encouraged to pray. In regard to the encouragement to pray, we want to note the requirement of man and the response of God

Requirement of man - “Call to Me.” Here we have a direct command to pray. Some folks are reluctant to pray because they believe that God does not care. But God care enough to command us to pray. And if God commands us to pray, we should not be reluctant to pray. In fact failure to pray is disobedience. Let’s not be hesitant in coming to God in prayer. He wants us to pray; He commands us to pray. This should encourage all who are reluctant to come to God in earnest prayer.

Response of God - “I will answer you, and show you great and mighty things, which you do not know.” The response of God here is threefold here: the welcome of God, the works of God, and the wisdom of God.

- The welcome of God: “1 will answer you.” We need not fear that God is too busy or too important to pay attention to our prayers. Unlike many folks in important positions, God will give us a hearing. He welcomes our prayers.

- The works of God: “Show you great and mighty things.” God is a God of power. The word “great” emphasizes God’s power to do mighty works on our behalf. We do not pray to a weak God. He is not limited by circumstances but by our lack of calling upon Him. It is our failure to call upon Him that limits Him working in power on our behalf.

- The wisdom of God: “show you great and mighty things, which you do not know.” The word “mighty” carries the idea of reveling things which we do not know. For the prophet Jeremiah this was a revelation of the future of Israel. For us it is illumination of the Scriptures to help us know and understand the Bible.

(Adapted from Butler's Daily Bible Reading)

Soli Deo Gloria (To God Alone Be The Glory)

Quotation of the Week

“Prayer is a golden river at whose brink some die of thirst while others kneel and drink!”

Anonymous

Word Study

Do my best

In Acts 24:16 we read, “In view of this, I also do my best to maintain always a blameless conscience both before God and before men” (NASB).

Do my best is the Greek word askeō (ἀσκέω = as-keh'-o). It means to exercise oneself, to exert all one’s diligence, study and industry, to endeavor, strive.

In classical Greek askeō originally meant to work raw materials, as would a craftsman fashioning a work of art. Later the usage broadened to dress or adorn. Finally, the word developed the more general sense of practice, endeavor, exert oneself, to do something. The word is used only once in the Septuagint of keeping the Sabbath. Askeō is also used once in the New Testament, here in Acts 24:16. Here the apostle Paul is testifying before Governor Felix and declare, “I myself always strive to have a conscience without offense toward God and men” (NKJV). The phrase “always strive’ is our word “askeō.” The idea here is that it takes spiritual self-discipline continue in God’s will.

Prophecies Fulfilled by Jesus

Old Testament Prophecy – Messiah would come to Zion as their Redeemer (Isa. 59:20)

New Testament Fulfillment – Luke 2:38

Did You Know…

In the Bible it states that the Lord Jesus has overcome the world (John 16:33).

Bible Quiz

According to 1 Peter, what will “love will cover?”

**Answer to last week’s Bible Quiz: Which disciple of the Lord Jesus did some people believe would never die? John (John 21:20-23).

Names of the Lord Jesus Found in the Bible

“Prophet”

"Then those men, when they had seen the sign that Jesus did, said, this is truly the Prophet who is to come into the world!” (John 6:14 NKJV; cf. Matt. 2:11; Luke 7:16).

1. Meaning – The Lord Jesus is the prophet that was foretold.

2. Insights – Long before the Lord Jesus was born, Moses and others prophesied that a prophet like him would come speaking God’s word (Deut. 18:15-22).

3. Related Titles – Overseer / Bishop of Souls (1 Peter 2:25); Minister of the Sanctuary (Heb. 8:1-2); High Priest and Apostle (Heb. 3:1-2).

Did You Know – Christian History

Archibald Alexander was born April 17, 1772 in Rockbridge County, Virginia. He was an American Presbyterian theologian and professor at the Princeton Theological Seminary.

Alexander was raised in a godly home and educated at Liberty Hall Academy from the age of ten. At seventeen, he became a tutor in the family of General John Posey but resumed his former studies a few months later. Converted in 1789, Alexander preached his first sermon shortly afterward, without any preparation, because he was asked to fill in at the last moment. He spoke so clearly and confidently that the Presbyterian Church licensed him to preach when he was just nineteen. The move was justified as Alexander soon led a revival in North Carolina.

Alexander served for seven years as an itinerant pastor in Charlotte and Prince Edward counties as well as two terms as president of Hampden-Sidney College (1796–1801, 1802–07). In 1807, he accepted a call to Pine Street Presbyterian Church, Philadelphia. The College of New Jersey conferred on him the degree of DD in 1810, and in the same year he was elected president of Union College in Georgia, a fact which remained unknown even to his family until after his death.

Alexander was unanimously chosen as the leading professor of Princeton Theological Seminary on its organization in 1812. He not only organized all the courses but taught them all himself! He stamped the seminary with deep scholarship and Christian fervor, and faithfully labored there for forty years, until his death in 1851. During his time at Princeton, Alexander earned a reputation as an outstanding educator and became renowned for his understanding of the nature and effects of biblical piety.

Alexander was always busy and between 1829 and 1850, hardly an edition of the Princeton Review appeared without an article from him. With the exception of occasional sermons and contributions to periodicals, he did not publish anything until he was 52 years old. His first work was Outlines of the Evidences of Christianity (1823), followed by many other works. The Princeton Trust republished His Thoughts on Religious Experience, originally published in 1844.

Alexander died on October 22, 1851 at Princeton Township, New Jersey. The Presbyterian Historical Society in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania has a collection of Alexander’s personal papers dating from 1819 to 1851 including outgoing correspondence, manuscript articles and lecture notes.

A Little Humor

Watching Sunday school pupil Willy making faces at the kids around him, teacher Miss Betsy stopped the lesson and said, “Willy, when I was your, I was told that if I made ugly faces, my face would freeze that way.” Another pupil, Bobby looked up and replied innocently, “Well, Miss Betsy, you can’t say you weren’t warned.”

Thought Provoking Church Sign

“No reformation can ever take the place of regeneration”