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There are over 900 stories and commentaries on this blog that began Nov 24, 2009. It is added to daily.
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WHY DO YOU PRAY?
While very ill, John Knox, the founder of the Presbyterian Church in Scotland, called to his wife and said, "Read me that Scripture where I first cast my anchor."
After he listened to the beautiful prayer of Jesus recorded in John 17, he seemed to forget his weakness. He began to pray, interceding earnestly for his fellowmen. He prayed for the ungodly who had thus far rejected the gospel. He pleaded in behalf of people who had been recently converted. And he requested protection for the Lord's servants, many of whom were facing persecution.
As Knox prayed, his spirit went Home to be with the Lord. The man of whom Queen Mary had said, "I fear his prayers more than I do the armies of my enemies," ministered through prayer until the moment of his death. WHY DO YOU PRAY?
Why not just solve your problems with logic, mathematical calculation or scientific exploration? What is it about this continual talking to God that makes it so important?
One thing is for sure, open your soul at the same time you are opening your mouth in prayer and you may well be in for quite a ride. "Thy willl be done" and at that moment you have signed up your soul for that which transcends time and puts you cojfortable with the wisdom of the author of all eternity. Open by such committment the peace and power that will be yours is beyod compare. It is a journey well worth the effort...well worth the journey indeed.
Moses talked with God and ended up having to lead his people out of Egypt. And what a privilege to be so chosen.
Saul talked with God and ended up with a monumental name change, for today we know him as Paul. And we know Paul as a spiritual giant. And what a privilege to so be chosen.
Why pray? And for what?
When you pray for patience are you really praying that those around you will be more perfect so they won't use up what little patience you've got?
Or do you pray rambling prayers without detail? First class foolishness because we live life in detail. Therefore we must pray the same way.
Ever write any of your prayers down? Not so they will be profound or better expressed but to keep you from mental wanderings. It will also help you to get a grasp on what you think is important...an ongoing monitoring that keeps you from just going through the action.
When you pray are you like the woman who prayed to be able to make bouquets of God's refusals? And have you learned that you can often beat the blues if your prayers are filled with more sunshine statements than cloudy complaints?
Though I am hardly an authority on prayer I know that you and I had better do it and do it often, because when we bow our heads our souls open wide and we feel the power of the Holy Spirit.
In everyday life we live by the clock, impatient to move on to the next project.
But rather than praying with a stopwatch in hand, we need to pray pointed, practical, scriptural and intense prayers with our eyes on eternity rather than the hands of some earthly tick-tock.. And always with humility in our hearts, for our capacity for false pride is close to ridiculous.
Rev. Edward Day, minister and author of the book ""An Autobiography of Prayer" tells how a beloved phyusician friend told him that he had heart blockage, and that his heart was definitely enlarged. All the tests proved it. He warned Rev Day to slow down.
Two years later, the examinations were repeated and the diagnosis and prescription remained the same. Rev. Day
And then...In time, his heart showed itself to be perfectly normal, no blockage.
Is this a cardiac recommendation that should be followed by everyone with heart trouble? I would hesitate to say yes. Can the prayers of one completely committed bring about therapeutic reverberations in the body as well as redemptive effects upon the spirit? I think the answer is obvious.
Is this a cardiac recommendation that should be followed by everyone with heart trouble? I would hesitate to say yes. Can the prayers of one completely committed bring about therapeutic reverberations in the body as well as redemptive effects upon the spirit? I think the answer is obvious.
There is nothing too great nor too small to be covered by prayer. Martin Tupper calls its force ''the tender nerve that moves the muscles of omnipotence."
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POSTED ON WYRICK'S WRITING TUESDAY MARCH 20TH THOUGHTS ENTITLED "Are You a Peacemaker or Peacebreaker?" (Continuation of Series)
Proverbs 14:17 gives a pretty good reason to be a Peacemaker rather than Peacebreaker … "A quick-tempered man does foolish things." And who wants to be called an angry fool?
With such careless ease we say, “I lost my temper.” But have you ever stopped to think of the implications behind that phrase. Lose it often enough and the results can be disastrous; for that is the way people lose their spouses and jobs and health and opportunities and...the list is long.+++++++++++++++++++++++
POSTED ON WYRICK'S WRITING SUNDAY MARCH 18TH THOUGHTS ENTITLED "Arrogance and Humility' (Series Continued)
If you were asked, "What is the most important discovery or accomplishment in your life? " how would you answer the question?
POSTED ON WYRICK'S WRITING THURSDAY MARCH 15TH THOUGHTS ENTITLED "What Do You Want from Jesus?"
Do you want from Jesus all the joy that can be gained from fully accepting the fact that you are truly the child of a King? So that when you die you will not have to ask that someone write on your tombstone, “Born a human being, died a question mark.”
POSTED ON WYRICK'S WRITING TUESDAY MARCH 13TH THOUGHTS ENTITLED "Are you a Peacemaker or a Peacebreaker?"
Someone has said that peace is merely that brief, glorious, moment in history when everyone stops to reload their weapons.
POSTED ON WYRICK'S WRITING SUNDAY MARCH 13TH THOUGHTS ENTITLED ""Arrogance and Humility
When a company takes over another company, there is often a sign placed outside the premises announcing, UNDER NEW MANAGEMENT.
Such a sign accurately summarizes what takes place in Christian conversions. When Christ takes over a life, that life is literally under new management.
So consider, is God now managing your pride? Or is your pride still managing you?
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Yes, God loves you the way you are but he loves you too much to let you stay that way.
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Click on the URL below to WATCH NEIL IN HIS WORLD FAMOUS ONE MAN DRAMATIZATIONS OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN, BEN FRANKLIN, CHARLES WESLEY AND MARTIN LUTHER
To Order and Read Neil's 9th book THE SPIRITUAL ABRAHAM LINCOLN
GO TO amazon.com
QUOTES ABOUT THIS WONDERFUL INSPIRING INFORMATIVE book
STILL RECEIVING RAVE REVIEWS 8 YEARS AFTER IT'S PUBLICATION.
"Positive, powerful utterances...skillfully enhancing our understanding and appreciation of Lincoln while revealing the Divine source of his strength."
Lt. Colonel C.A. Olsen (Ret.) Asbury College (Professor Ret.)
"The Spiritual Abraham Lincoln is an extremely well written book that investigates what might be termed the spiritual side of President Lincoln. It's both scholarly and very readable. I came away impressed at Mr. Wyrick's portrayal of the President and with an altered and enlarged vision of the man:'
William Hoffman, Award winning fiction writer; author of Blood and Guile, and Wild Thorn
"Wyrick has authored a wonderful examination of the spirituality of one of American history's most devoutly religious leaders...a pleasant and readable book that has a rich depth of information."
Maynard Pittendreigh Presbyterian minister
"When it comes to invoking religion in support of any of their decisions, politicians need to sit at the feet of Abraham Lincoln. Reinhold Niebuhr once called him 'America's greatest theologian.' Why so great? Because he invariably distinguished between human works and the works of the Almighty. As Wyrick says, 'He wore the mantle of humility easily: because he was more impressed with what God was doing in the world than with what he, president of the United States in the midst of an awful crisis, was doing. That is why in his last major speech he distinguished between both human causes in the Civil War and the Almighty's 'own purposes.' Lincoln would have agreed that it is better to leave God-talk out of politics than to decorate human proposals with divinity. This is a book for our American time. Through his careful study of Lincoln's career, Wyrick compels us to remember that piety belongs in politics only when piety transcends politics."
Dr. Donald W. Shriver
Emeritus professor at Union Theological Seminary in New York. Author of An Ethic for Enemies: Forgiveness in Politics
"v. Neil Wyrick's fine work allows the reader to appreciate Abraham Lincoln's Christian commitment and his prophetic role in American history. Should have a wide readership."
James H. Smylie Professor of Church History (Ret.) Union Theological Seminary, Richmond, Virginia
"Neil Wyrick's The Spiritual Abraham Lincoln should be read by anyone attempting to understand the man who was probably the most complex person to ever hold the office of president of the United States. Dr. Wyrick is intent on demonstrating that the spirituality so often expressed in Lincoln's writings and speeches was not merely lip service to a Deity, but rather expressions of a profound faith in a real God. It was this faith that provided the wisdom, compassion, insight and sometimes steel that Lincoln would need in full measure as he led the United States through the Civil War. Dr. Wyrick's clear and unpretentious style of presentation is very much in keeping with the character ofhis subject, and in so doing, Wyrick makes his point very well that Lincoln, his beliefs, and the faith that formed them, are as relevant to a troubled America in 2004 as they were in 1863."
Daniel Allen Butler, author of "Unsinkable"; The Full Story of the RMS Titanic, The Lusitania and The Age o f Cunard
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