Saturday, November 21, 2015

HOW MUCH PRAYER IS TOO MUCH? HOW MUCH IS TOO LITTLE?

A 3 PART SERIES ON ANXIETY BEGAN NOV 1st.  I THANK THOSE OF YOU WHO HAVE BEEN SHARING IT WITH FRIENDS AND FAMILY.

          These One A Days are added to daily.  There are over 1100 stories and commentaries on this blog.  It is added to daily.

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              AND THEN PASTE IN AN EMAIL.

        Click on http://wyrickswritings.blogspot.com to read selected Sermons from over 50 years of Rev. Wyrick's ministry. 

       To view Rev. Wyrick in 4 of his highly acclaimed One Man Dramas  ABRAHAM LINCOLN, BEN FRANKLIN, CHARLES WESLEY, MARTIN LUTHER (NBC Special) click on the link below

                   http://www.speakerneil.com/

        Below this blog read a quote from Rev. Wyrick's applauded 9th book THE SPIRITUAL ARAHAM LINCOLN

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"Our Father who art in heaven..."  What power in these opening words...designation and destination...

       HOW MUCH PRAYER IS TOO MUCH?  HOW MUCH IS TOO LITTLE?

       It is a question about as foolish as how many angels can dance on the head of a pin...

       ...because God is and we are...

       His children...

       And children need a good communication with their Father...and placing any numerical rating on this holy process is foolishness to the extreme.

       How then do we equate our prayers and improve them and ourselves in the process?

       Well, be patient in your prayers...remind yourself often that they cannot be a command...that there is good reason for the words "Thy will be done."...and call what I am talking about a waiting prayer...a willingness to lock into God's timetable...that God has a lot of background work in our lives to take place sometimes...put it this way...prayer can be called an act of obedience.

       E. Stanley Jones explains this point well when he says, "If I throw out a boat hook from the boat and catch hold of the shore and pull, do I pull the shore to me, or do I pull myself to the shore? Prayer is not pulling God to my will, but the aligning of my will to the will of God. "

       Bill Hybels, in his book, Too Busy Not to Pray, wrote, "If the request is wrong, God says, ’No.’

       If the timing is wrong, God says, ’Slow ’[slow down].

        If you are wrong, God says, ’Grow’ [grow in right character and attitude].

       But if the request is right, the timing is right and you are right, God says, ’Go!’ [He grants the request]"

       I quote two authors in a row for two reasons.  One, what they had to say I found moving and concise and true. 

       Second, as another way of saying it ...Would you improve your prayer life.  Read on a regular basis books and articles on prayer on a regular basis. 

       Underline and encourage the ideas you find there to come alive by praying about them.

       Put prayer at the top of your priority list of things to do and think about.

       Communication found...communication lost. 

       I have best childhood friends that I haven't spoken to for sixty plus years.

        We roamed forest and fought on football fields together. 

       We shared all our growing up experiences and then came college and we parted company and then marriage and careers took us in opposite directions and we just drifted apart.

       People do that with God.  They get busy and they use their smart phones for earthly communication more often than a smart soul to communicate with their heavenly Father.  And well...communication without communication becomes no communication.

       And we forget the truth behind the following words of wisdom, " Prayer does not equip you for greater works.  Prayer is the greater work. ---- Oswald Chambers   
 
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       QUOTES ON PRAYER

  "Pray as if everything depended on God, and work as if everything depended upon man."
Francis J. Spellman

       "Seven days without prayer makes one weak."
Allen Vartlett

       "Our prayers must mean something to us if they are to mean anything to God."
Maltbie D. Babcock

                                   ====================                          A new quote below from Rev. Wyrick's 9th book THE SPIRITUAL ABRAHAM LINCOLN (read the rave reviews below the quote)

Was Lincoln, before he died, overly proud that he had so much to do with the preserving of the Union? 

       It is more likely that he quoted once again words of one of his favorite poets, William Knox, “Oh, why should the spirit of mortal be proud?”

        As he walked the streets of Richmond, Virginia in an unannounced visit after that city had fallen to the North, it was said that he was the man of the people among the people. 

       When an elderly Negro had run toward him shouting praise, Lincoln lifted his hat and bowed, and wiped away a tear or two.

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       "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

QUOTE BELOW IS FROM WYRICK'S WRITINGS

          There is no other organization in the world like the church.  It is a breed unto itself.  It is a congregation of sinners, not a country club for saints.  To become a member you have to profess your unworthiness. 

CLICK ON THE FOLLOWING TO TAKE YOU THERE


      (These are selected sermons from over 50 years of ministry and as a worldwide evangelist Rev. Wyrick preached them all the United States and all over the world)
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            CLICK ON  www.go60.us   IT WILL TAKE YOU A NEW WEBSITE FOR SENIORS....click on "Voice" on the home page and then on the list of authors click on Neil Wyrick

Recent articles Rev. Wyrick has written for this web site are:  REFLECTIONS


·         Here Comes Summer (July 2012)

·         Spring (May 2012)

·         Let it Snow, Let it Snow, Let it Snow (April 2012)

·         Wayward and Windy (April 2012)

Just remember that “the pain of discipline will cost you pennies, whereas the pain of regret will cost you millions.”

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How can we keep our faith from being a weak and fruitless thing?  How can we not be foolish little men and women groveling in the dark shadows of overeager egos. 

          Well, first we must do more than just pray.  We must believe in our own prayers.

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Anxiety out of proportion makes us become like a centipede trying to put his best foot forward.

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        It's an old joke, I went to the doctor and I said, “Doc, when I do this, it hurts.” And the doctor said, “Then don't do that.”

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        How many things have you been anxious about that were things which you knew before you got into them were probably going to create some problems for you?  And if you asked your doctor, or your minister, or common sense and your God, all of them would have said, “Don’t do that.”

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        To buy into the community of accountability we have to realize that like bikers we are divided into two categories.  Those who have fallen and those who will fall for anything. None of us are perfect.

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          Think on it this way, some philosopher of old wrote it and it endures because there is so much truth in it… every right implies a responsibility; every opportunity, an obligation; every possession, a duty

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      Some of the sermon titles posted recently


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Before you decide to purchase or not purchase his book THE SPIRITUAL ABRAHAM LINCOLN.... view his Award Winning One Man Dramatization of Lincoln (since he wrote the script for this drama it will give you an insight into what you will find in the book itself)

Available on Amazon.com in printed form and on Amazon Kindle Books. and at many other sites

TO VIEW THE LINCOLN One Man DRAMA and 3 other dramas; Ben Franklin, Martin Luther & Charles Wesley

click on the following URL

http://www.speakerneil.com/

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BELOW ARE MORE QUOTES FROM NEIL'S RECENTLY POSTED SERMONS

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A QUOTE FROM THOUGHTS POSTED ON MY OTHER BLOG WYRICK'S WRITINGS ENTITLED
 

       Two stores faced each other across a very busy street.  Their owners were in constant competition with each other.  One day, the owner of one store put out a sign that read – If you want it, we have it!

Almost immediately the other owner put out a sign –If we don’t have it, you don’t need it!

A QUOTE FROM THOUGHTS POSTED ON MY OTHER BLOG WYRICK'S WRITINGS ENTITLED

WHO ARE YOU?

NO…WHOSE ARE YOU?

       Who are you?  Whose are you?

You influence and are influenced according to the answer you give.     

Are you are the flavor of the month because you are determined to be like everyone else no matter what?  If so, consider being more independent in our thinking and actions...because God wants you to grow up.

It may be easier being someone's shadow but wouldn't you really rather be a sun.
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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.

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