Communion Quotes to Ponder

Photo: Teri Lynne Underwood

“If any occupation or association is found to hinder our communion with God or our enjoyment of spiritual things, then it must be abandoned. Anything in my habits or ways which mars happy fellowship with the brethren or robs me of power in service, is to be unsparingly judged and made an end of – ‘burned.‘ Whatever I cannot do for God's glory must be avoided.” –A.W. Pink

“The Christian who walks with the Lord and keeps constant communion with Him will see many reason for rejoicing and thanksgiving all day long.” –Warren W. Wiersbe

“Ministry is the least important thing. You cannot not minister if you are in communion with God and live in community.” –Henri Nouwen

“Closet communion needs time for the revelation of God's presence. It is vain to say, ‘I have too much work to do to find time.’ You must find time or forfeit blessing. God knows how to save for you the time you sacredly keep for communion with Him.” –A.T. Pierson

“While others still slept, He went away to pray and to renew His strength in communion with His Father. He had need of this, otherwise He would not have been ready for the new day. The holy work of delivering souls demands constant renewal through fellowship with God.” –Andrew Murray

Praying for the World, One Country at a Time

John Knox prayed, “Lord, give me Scotland lest I die.”

Paul wrote, “I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart. For I could wish that I myself were accursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my brothers, my kinsmen according to the flesh” (Romans 9:2-3).

Jesus prayed, “I have manifested your name to the people whom you gave me out of the world. Yours they were, and you gave them to me, and they have kept your word ... I am praying for them. I am not praying for the world but for those whom you have given me, for they are yours” (John 17).

All three ached to reach the lost, but notice how specific their concerns were – for Scotland, for kinsmen and for those whom God had given to Jesus. Their burdens were tangible. I think there’s something to that.

Years ago, I came across a book called Operation World by Operation Mobilization. It’s formatted for daily use, giving readers specific demographics and prayer points for every country in the world. It’s the best resource I’ve seen when it comes to praying for the nations.

I have an old edition (5th edition) of the book, so I need to purchase an update (the most current is the 7th edition), but I just opened my copy to March 11 and the country to pray for today is Botswana (in Africa). Again, this is old information so I won’t list particulars, but it lists the country’s economic condition, political positions, social problems, religious breakdown, church problems, and it provides seven specifics to pray about.

Over the years, I’ve worked my way through this book twice. It’s been a while, so I need to make it a priority again soon. But if you are looking for something specific to pray about during your devotional time, how about praying for the nations – one by one for a year? (No, there aren’t enough countries to pray for one all 365 days, but the book includes various islands and territories, and it also includes days to pray for items such as Christian literature, relief and development, medical mission work, etc.).

Doing so will give you a view of the world from a kingdom perspective.

Starting before the Face of the King

The inside cover of the copy of “Words of
Wisdom” Coach Moore sent me.

The world will remember Appalachian State head football coach Jerry Moore for his impressive career statistics. Heaven will remember him for a different set of numbers.

I interviewed Moore six years ago for Baptist Press Sports. They had just won their second straight NCAA Division I FCS national championship. They went on to win the championship the next year as well.

Over his 24-year career at Appalachian State, Moore compiled a 215-87 record, making him the winningest coach in Southern Conference history. His team won ten conference titles, including six straight from 2005-10.

He illustrious career came to an end after last season. Some say he retired, some say he was pushed out. But either way, I have a feeling the 73-year-old won’t be thinking about his career statistics. Instead he’ll be thinking about the players he has coached over the years.

But let me back up a little.

When I talked to him, he came to life when I asked him about his devotional habits. He told me he uses a 31-day devotional guide called “Words of Wisdom” that a friend gave him while he was an assistant coach at Arkansas in 1989. The book only includes the words of the Psalms and Proverbs – broken down into daily readings of five psalms and one proverb.

“When I get up in the morning, I’ll pour myself a cup of coffee and I won’t read a newspaper,” Moore told me. “I won’t watch the news. I won’t read a flyer that may be laying there. I won’t read anything until I’ve read my five psalms and one proverb. I haven’t been a hundred percent, but I’ve started nearly every day that way since 1989.”

He tapes pictures of his relatives and friends throughout the book so he can remember to pray for them. And he has given hundreds of his players a copy of the book as well. Before he hands them a copy, he inscribes a quote from F.B. Meyer on the inside cover: “Let the first moments of the day, when your heart is fresh, be given to God. Do not see the face of man till you have seen the King.”

He once brought in a speaker who presented the gospel and 57 players and one coach either placed their faith in Christ for the first time or made a recommitment. He wrote down all 58 names in his “Words of Wisdom” book and he told me he prays for them regularly. It’s a beautiful legacy of one man who starts each morning before the face of the King of Kings.

A few days after our interview, a package arrived at my house. I opened it and found my own leather bound copy of “Words of Wisdom” from Coach Moore. He had my name engraved on the cover and inside he wrote the F.B. Meyer quote.

I think the book has gone through several editions and they are hard to come by, but I found one edition still available through Amazon.com (they have 19 used copies as of this writing). Of course, you don’t need to buy a copy. You can read five psalms and one proverb every day out of your own Bible. But the edition Moore sent me has is compact and has room for notes, prayers, and photos, so that’s nice too.

Either way, if you are struggling with something and need wisdom from on high, what better place to turn for the next month than the Psalms and Proverbs?

T.S. Mooney: It was Time to Pray

If you have ever fallen for the lie that your prayers are ineffectual, then you need to hear about a man named T.S. Mooney.

Alistair Begg told a story on his radio broadcast Truth for Life this week about Mooney, a man who never married, but made an enormous impact for the kingdom through prayer. Mooney, who was a banker by trade, taught a boys’ Bible class for fifty years in Londonderry, Northern Ireland.

Fifty years. Let that sort of commitment sink in.

Begg asked him one day about his plan and purpose for the boys.

“My plan for the Bible class has always been to give every boy a Bible in his hand, a Savior in his heart and a purpose in his life,” Mooney said.

Mooney prayed for each boy routinely, keeping up with them as they grew up. Begg said that when he visited Mooney in his apartment one day, Mooney had photos of men who went through his class as boys hung all over his apartment. Sprinkled all over his walls were photos of judges, surgeons, teachers, mechanics, plumbers and all sorts of other people – all of whom were influenced by Mooney’s teaching and prayers.

Mooney died in 1986. But he left quite a legacy, even in his death. Begg described Mooney’s posture on the day he died and entered heaven.

“The housekeeper found him in the morning – fully dressed and kneeling over his bed,” Begg said. “He had gone into the presence of Jesus on his knees.”

His housekeeper called for help and the headmaster and one of the men who had gone through his Bible class years prior showed up. As they pulled Mooney back from the bed, they found a little black book alongside his Bible. “They looked down to find their names amongst the list of many names,” Begg said. “It was morning. It was time to pray. And he was praying.”

Can you imagine a better way to die?

And can you imagine how those two men felt when they looked into Mooney’s little black book and realized he had been praying for them?

Sort of makes you want to start your own little black prayer book, doesn’t it?

Being Changed by Prayer

Photo: Milan

Are you struggling with a situation at work or maybe with a personal decision? Is sin weighing heavy on your soul? Do you feel distant from God? Maybe the following insights will help you draw near to God once again.

“Groanings which cannot be uttered are often prayers which cannot be refused.” –Charles H. Spurgeon

“I think the reason we sometimes have the false sense that God is so far away is because that is where we have put him. We have kept him at a distance, and then when we are in need and call on him in prayer, we wonder where he is. He is exactly where we left him.” –Ravi Zacharias, “Has Christianity Failed You?”

“Not being changed by prayer is sort of life standing in the middle of a spring rain without getting wet. It’s hard to stand in the center of God’s acceptance and love without getting it all over you.” –Steve Brown, “Approaching God: Accepting the Invitation to Stand in the Presence of God”

“We have to pray with our eyes on God, not on the difficulties.” –Oswald Chambers

“He who kneels the most, stands the best.” –Dwight Lyman Moody

William Wilberforce on Private Devotions

This statue of Wilberforce is located in
Hull, England in the garden of the
house he was born in in 1759.
Photo: summonedbyfells

William Wilberforce (1759-1833), the man who fought so valiantly against slavery in Parliament, knew he could not do battle in the political trenches without pulling away to spend time with God every day.

Here is what he is quoted as saying about private devotions in John Piper’s book, Brothers, We Are Not Professionals: A Plea to Pastors for Radical Ministry.

This perpetual hurry of business and company ruins me in soul if not in body. More solitude and earlier hours! I suspect I have been allotting habitually too little time to religious exercises, as private devotion and religious meditation, Scripture-reading, etc. Hence I am lean and cold and hard. I had better allot two hours or an hour and a half daily. I have been keeping too late hours, and hence have had but a hurried half hour in a morning to myself. Surely the experience of all good men confirms the proposition that without a due measure of private devotions the soul will grow lean. But all may be done through prayer ... almighty prayer, I am ready to say ... and why not? For that it is almighty is only through the gracious ordination of the God of love and truth. O then, pray, pray, pray!

I don’t think Wilberforce was saying everyone should allot two hours every day for private devotions. Instead, he was saying he needed to allot that much time because if he didn’t he felt ruined in soul and body.

That made me think about how long I need to spend every day with the Maker. I don’t have an answer yet, but I’m working on one. How about you? How long do you need to spend with him?

Q & A with Author Nick Harrison, Part 2

If you missed Part 1 of the Q & A with Nick Harrison, senior editor at Harvest House Publishers and author of five devotional books, you missed a lot. Go back and read it, and then enjoy Part 2.

And if you are looking for some new devotional material, I hope you will stop by Nick’s website and pick up one or two of his books.

You became a Christian through the ministry of Campus Crusade for Christ during the Jesus Movement of the 1970s. How long did it take you to establish a devotional life and what did it look like initially?

Early on, I used the popular devotionals such as “My Utmost for His Highest” and “Streams in the Desert.” Every Christian should go through those books several times in their lifetime.

As you matured in the faith, how did that change?

I became a bit less rigid in my desire to read a daily devotional and changed more to books that were simply devotional in nature. These would include some of those writers I quote often: Andrew Murray, Hannah Whitall Smith, Watchman Nee, and others.

What types of devotional material do you use today? Are you working through a certain devotional book right now?

I’m still reading the old writers. I find that they take me to a place many contemporary writers don’t. That’s not to say I don’t appreciate the contemporary writers – I do. But for growth and for the devotional life, I really prefer the classic authors.

Do you have any practical tips for us regarding our devotional time – anything that has worked well for you (like keeping a spiritual journal, or meeting with God at the same time every day, etc.)?

I often hear people saying that devotions are best done in the morning. Maybe that’s true for some, but I don’t think that’s true of everyone. I’m more of a night person and I can enjoy time with the Lord more in the evening than in the morning.

I would say that everyone should find the time, the place, and the reading matter that’s right for them and forget about rules – with one possible exception, and that’s that some of us have to set aside a specific time to be alone with God or it won’t happen. We get so easily distracted. Choose a time that works for you and consider it as if it’s an appointment. We wouldn’t easily skip a doctor’s appointment or a lunch date with a friend; neither should we want to skip a set time we meet with the Lord.

Above all, our time with God should be natural, not forced. If it’s forced, try to find ways to make it more natural. Change locations, the time, or the format. Or if you’re just starting, don’t try to make it a long appointment. Start with five or ten minutes and see if it grows over time.

Everybody is busy these days. But let’s talk specifically about men right now. Few of us work eight hours a day without being accessible to the office via our smart phones. We want to spend time with our family and attend our children’s extracurricular activities. We also need downtime. And usually, one of the first things to go when life gets busy is our daily devotional time. Why is it so important for us to make time to spend with God every day?

I think the simplest reason is that we become like those we spend the most time with. If we spend a lot of time in front of TV, we’ll begin to adopt the attitudes and persona of those we watch on the tube. If we spend more time with the Lord, we will become more like Him.

Another benefit is that being still with the Lord (and being still should be part of our time with Him) helps us quiet our souls. I have a problem with quieting my soul. My soul is very easily stimulated and can jump from one thing to the next without thinking. Being quiet helps me learn stillness. For me, that’s important.

Being busy is no excuse. Martin Luther reportedly said, “I have so much to do that I shall spend the first three hours in prayer.” I’m not there yet (praying three hours on busy days) and never will be, but then I’m not called to be Martin Luther. That’s really an important lesson: we all need to find our identity in Christ and our calling in this life and then live it out as faithfully as we can. I’m convinced if a person does that, he or she will have a happy productive life.

Jonathan Edwards On Rising Early

Usually, when you hear a Christian say he rises early every day, he does so because he wants to spend some time alone with God. That may have been a byproduct of rising early in Jonathan Edwards’ life, but he rose early for a different reason:

Edwards usually rose at four or five in the morning in order to spend thirteen hours in his study. In his only diary entry during his early years in Northampton he wrote, in January 1728, “I think Christ has recommended rising early in the morning, by his rising from the grave very early.” The discipline was part of a constant, heroic effort to make his life a type of Christ. He began the day with private prayers followed by family prayers, by candlelight in winter. Each meal was accompanied by household devotions, and at the end of each day Sarah joined him in his study for prayers. Jonathan kept secret the rest of his daily devotional routine, following Jesus’ command to pray in secret. –Jonathan Edwards: A Life by George M. Marsden (p. 133)

Edwards was a young pastor in Northampton, so much of the thirteen hours he spent in his study was probably devoted to church business, but we shouldn’t miss the fact that his devotional life wasn’t limited to twenty minutes in the morning. Instead, he modeled his day on his understanding of the Scriptures, leading his family in prayer and taking frequent opportunities throughout the day to converse with God.

How different might our homes look if we, as men, rose early every day to meet with the Almighty, then led our family in prayers and devotions at mealtime, and then ended each day with our wives in prayer? Writing as a single person, this makes me want to model my own life in such a fashion so that if/when I do get married, it would make for an easier spiritual transition. And even if I never marry, my soul would be the better for it.

I’m a work in progress when it comes to my daily devotional routine. How about you?

The Privilege of a Quiet Time

Photo: Public Domain

Three quotes to reorient your way of thinking on this Monday morning about personal devotions:

“Rose early to seek God and found Him whom my soul loveth.  Who would not rise early to meet such company?” –Scottish clergyman Robert Murray M’Cheyne (from his journal in 1834).

“Perhaps we should stop talking about being ‘faithful’ to have a quiet time with God each day, as if we were doing something to earn a reward. It would be better to talk about the privilege of spending time with the God of the universe and the importance for our own sake of being consistent in that practice.” –Jerry Bridges, “Transforming Grace”

“A quiet time is a tremendous privilege you’ve been given. The creator of the universe has invited you to spend time with him every day. Imagine if your favorite actor, musician, singer, or athlete asked you to spend time with him or her every day. Would you say, ‘Sorry, I don’t have time for you’? Of course not!” –Rick Warren

On Rising Early to Pray

I’m working my way through the 40-Day Journey with Dietrich Bonhoeffer (which you can receive for free via email from BibleGateway).

On Day 3, here’s what Bonhoeffer has to say about Mark 1:35, which says, “And rising very early in the morning, while it was still dark, he [Jesus] departed and went out to a desolate place, and there he prayed.”

This order and discipline must be sought and found in the morning prayer. It will stand the test at work. Prayer offered in early morning is decisive for the day. The wasted time we are ashamed of, the temptations we succumb to, the weakness and discouragement in our work, the disorder and lack of discipline in our thinking and in our dealings with other people – all these very frequently have their cause in our neglect of morning prayer. The ordering and scheduling of our time will become more secure when it comes from prayer.

I definitely find this to be true in my life. How about you?

We can draw a number of other implications for our devotional life from Mark 1:35 as well.

1. Jesus rose very early, while it was still dark.

The previous day had been a busy one for Jesus. Starting at sundown, he healed “many” and cast out “many” demons (verse 34), but he got up early anyway. We do not know what time he went to bed, but generally speaking, it would seem that we need to go to bed early enough to rise early the next morning so we can spend time with the Father before the cares of this world creep in. 

2. Jesus went to a desolate place to pray.

If Jesus desired, or needed, a private place to pray, how much more do we? Bible commentator Matthew Henry makes this point: “His retirement to his private devotion; He prayed, prayed alone; to set us an example of secret prayer.”

3. Jesus prayed.

And here’s Henry’s take ... I love this: “Though as God he was prayed to, as man he prayed. Though he was glorifying God, and doing good, in his public work, yet he found time to be alone with his Father; and thus it became him to fulfil all righteousness.”

How does your early morning prayer routine compare or contrast? Personally, mine needs some work.

Defining Devotion

Noah Webster
Photo: Public Domain

Words fascinate me.

That’s why I was taken by the way the word “devotion” is defined in Noah Webster’s 1828 Dictionary. A blog called Metro Moms published a post about these definitions a few years ago. I thought it would be interesting to address these definitions from the male perspective:

A solemn attention to the Supreme Being in worship; a yielding of the heart and affections to God, with reverence, faith and piety, in religious duties, particularly in prayer and meditation; devoutness.

Recently I confessed to a friend that I was dreading the next couple of weeks because I’ve worked my way up to the book of Ezekiel during my morning devotions. Ezekiel has always been a difficult book for me to grasp. I often find my mind wandering as I’m read it. True devotion would mean giving solemn attention to God with a heart that yields to him while I’m reading his Word – even the parts that are hard to grasp.

Prayer to the Supreme Being. A Christian will be regular in his morning and evening devotions.

While there is a sense of duty, and devoutness in these definitions, I get the sense that being regular in our morning and evening devotions should be done more out of love for the Father than anything else. If his grace doesn’t cause us to yearn to meet with him regularly, something is wrong. As men, we often show more devotion for much lesser causes – sports, movies, fishing, the pursuit of a woman, to name a few.

Ardent love or affection; attachment manifested by constant attention; as, the duke was distinguished by his devotion to the king, and to the interest of the nation.

There we have it – be definition, devotion is ardent love or affection, manifested by constant attention. For those of us who are married, we surely exhibited this definition as we pursued the woman we wanted to marry. For many of us who are single, myself included, it hasn’t been for a lack of effort. We’ve sent flowers. We’ve pulled out chairs and opened doors. We made an effort because our love compelled us to.

When is the last time you felt that way about approaching your time alone with God?

Luther’s Remedy for Joyless Prayer

Martin Luther’s barber, Peter, had a question about how one should pray.

It says something about Luther that his barber would be willing to ask him such a question, doesn’t it? Apparently, they spoke about spiritual matters while engaged in a common earthly matter – which is often the best way.

Here’s Luther’s response, written in 1535:

Dear Master Peter: I will tell you as best I can what I do personally when I pray. May our dear Lord grant to you and to everybody to do it better than I! Amen.

First, when I feel that I have become cool and joyless in prayer because of other tasks or thoughts (for the flesh and the devil always impede and obstruct prayer), I take my Book of Psalms, hurry to my room, or, if it be the day and hour for it, to the church where a congregation is assembled and, as time permits, I say quietly to myself and word-for-word the Ten Commandments, the Creed, and, if I have time, some words of Christ or of Paul, or some psalms, just as a child might do.

You can find the rest of his response in multiple books, including one called “Martin Luther’s Basic Theological Writings” published by Augsburg Fortress. Google has indexed his entire response as well.

Luther’s humility is admirable, isn’t it? He wants his barber, and everybody else, to exceed him in prayer. He admits to being cool and joyless in prayer. And he admits to being distracted. Can you relate? Me too.

I love how he didn’t depend on himself to jumpstart his prayer life. He didn’t try harder, or make promises to himself that he couldn’t keep. Instead, he turned to the Psalms, the Ten Commandments, the Apostles Creed, various New Testament passages, or the church to get back on track.

The Book of Common Prayer and The Valley of Vision have been the two most common resources I have used when my own prayer life needs a boost. Although, I have to be careful about falling into the trap of believing my prayers must sound so eloquent that I do not leave room for the most basic cry: “Lord, help me.”

What do you do to get back on track when your prayer life has been cool and joyless?