Prayer is a privilege, a way of communicating with God. It is also a necessity. It strengthens us for the great work of God. “Men ought always to pray and not to faint.” God sent His Son, Jesus, into the world, to die on the cross and pay the sin debt for all of mankind. He is “not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.” God wants “all men everywhere to be saved.” Christians have the privilege to share the message of the Gospel with those that do not know Jesus as Savior. To do this, they need God’s wisdom and power. The Apostle Paul wrote to the church at Ephesus, “Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints;” “And for me, that utterance may be given unto me, that I may open my mouth boldly, to make know the mystery of the gospel,” “For which I am an ambassador in bonds: that therein I may speak boldly, as I ought to speak.” Ephesians 6:18-20. He wrote to the church at Thessalonica, “Finally, brethren, pray for us, that the word of the Lord may have free course, and be glorified, even as it is with you:” II Thessalonians 3:1. When Paul was giving his testimony before King Agrippa, he said that God had sent him, “To open their eyes, and to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins, and inheritance among them which are sanctified by faith that is in me.” Acts 26:18. To do this, like Paul, we need God’s power. To do this we need prayer!

Samuel Chadwick wrote, “The one concern of the devil is to keep Christians from praying. He fears nothing from prayerless studies, prayerless work and prayerless religion. He laughs at our toil, mocks at our wisdom, but he trembles when we pray.” Charles Spurgeon wrote, “The man who mobilizes the Christian church to pray will make the greatest contribution to world evangelization in history.” Dr. D. James Kennedy wrote, “One of the saddest statistics of our day is that 95% of all church members have never led anyone to Christ.” Paul Harvey wrote, “Too many Christians are no longer fishers of men but keepers of the aquarium.” This is why Jesus encouraged His followers to, “Pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he will send forth labourers into his harvest.” Matthew 9:38.

“Wherefore also we pray always for you, that our God would count you worthy of this calling, and fulfil all the good pleasure of his goodness, and the work of faith with power:” II Thessalonians 1:11.

A young man who had heard the Gospel accepted Christ. A little while after this, a Christian teacher asked him: “What have you done for Christ since you believed?” He replied: “Oh, I’m a learner.” ‘Well,” said the questioner, “when you light a candle do you expect it to give light after it is half burned, or when first lit?” He replied, “As soon as I light it.” Shortly after there were more Christians in town as a result of the man’s work.

PRAY

It is important, to say the least, that we believe, study and know what the Bible, the Word of God, states as truth. John 17:17, “Thy word is truth.” Jesus said in Matthew 22:29, “Ye do err, not knowing the scriptures, nor the power of God.” If the Bible is Truth (and it is), then anything contrary to the Bible is in error. II Peter 3:17 states, “Ye therefore, beloved, seeing ye know these things before, beware lest ye also, being led away with the error of the wicked, fall from your own steadfastness.” I John 2:26, “These things have I written unto you concerning them that seduce you.” Notice the strong admonitions here. BEWARE – Literally, to restrain or guard one’s self from anything that may be dangerous, injurious or improper. ERROR – A wandering or deviation from the truth; a mistake in judgement, by which men assent to or believe what is not true. SEDUCE – To draw aside or entice from the path of rectitude and duty. Colossians 2:8 “Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ.”

In their book “The Seduction of Christianity”, Hunt & McMahon write, “Christianity may well be facing the greatest challenge in its history: a series of powerful and growing seductions that are subtly changing biblical interpretations and undermining the faith of millions of people. Most Christians are scarcely aware of what is happening, and much less do they understand the issues involved.

The seduction is surprisingly easy. It does not take place as an obvious frontal assault from rival religious beliefs. That would be vigorously resisted. Instead, it comes to some Christians in the guise of faith-producing techniques for gaining spiritual power and experiencing miracles and to others as self-improvement psychologies for fully realizing human potential that are seen as scientific aids to successful Christian living.”

If you submit to the spirit of error, you have to turn from the spirit of truth! II Timothy 4:4, “And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables.” Titus 1:14, “…fables, and commandments of men, that turn from the truth.”

FABLE – A feigned story or tale, a fictitious narration, a falsehood. Romans 4:3, “For what saith the scripture?” Galatians 4:30, “Nevertheless what saith the scripture?” True doctrine is according to the Scripture. False doctrine is not according to the Scripture.

Acts 4:12, “Neither is there salvation in any other, for there is none other name under heaven, given among men, whereby we must be saved.” The Bible teaches that Jesus, the Son of God, died for you sins and that he is the only Savior! This is the foundation of our faith. The song says, “My hope is built on nothing less than Jesus blood and righteousness.”

John 5:39, “Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me.”

Psalms 119:105, “Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.”

“Memorial Day commemorates the men and women who died while in the military service of their country, particularly those who died in battle or as a result of wounds sustained in battle. In other words, the purpose of Memorial Day is to memorialize the veterans who made the ultimate sacrifice for their country.  We spend time remembering those who lost their lives and could not come home, reflecting on their service and why we have the luxury and freedom that we enjoy today.”

Row upon row the poppies grow,
Each one a symbol to brave men we will never know.

They stood before us, they stood up straight,
For they were the men, the brave and the great.

The seasons come and the seasons go,
But unlike these men, the poppies will always grow.

We should always wear our poppies with pride
In tribute to those that fought and died.

For Christians, the day also serves as a vivid reminder of the ultimate sacrifice that was paid for our spiritual freedom- that Jesus Christ, the Son of God, willingly bore our sins on the cross so that all who believe in Him might be reconciled to Him and have eternal life. John 15:13 states, “Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.” There have been many Christians who have given their very lives that the wonderful message of the gospel would “set men free” from their sins and its penalty. The pages of history are filled with their names.

Billy Graham preached a sermon in 1955 to the Veterans of Foreign Wars in Boston. Here is a portion of that message.

“Yes the bells of liberty ring in America today because these men we honor today got through for us. The sacred memory of their sacrifice will always live in our hearts, and we have a sacred and holy trust—and we cannot fail them!

My mind goes back 2,000 years to another battle which was fought on a hill called Calvary. It was a battle of one young man against all the forces of evil. It seemed like a futile, hopeless struggle as Jesus Christ took on Satan’s task force single-handed. The jeers of the rabble, the spittle of the soldiers and the sneering of the people were incidental compared to the inner struggle which was taking place in His soul. But I watch Him, in fancy, as one hand is stretched out toward God and the other toward rebellious man, and He makes the connection and says: “It is finished.” He got through for us! If we are to be strong spiritually, it will be through Him. Thousands today are finding a fresh, new meaning of life through Him. They are learning to say with confidence, “I can do all things through Christ, which strengthened me.” We can best keep faith with those who have gone before by keeping faith with ourselves, with our highest ideals and with God.”

Let’s remember today the sacrifices of many and the sacrifice of our Savior Jesus Christ.

In the spiritual realm, when we speak of “blind eyes”, we are talking about not being able to comprehend with our eyes a spiritual truth. When we speak of “blinded minds”, we are talking about not being able to comprehend with our minds a spiritual truth. What a blessing it is to see, understand and receive the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. The gospel, as found in I Corinthians 15, is the death, burial and resurrection of our only Savior, Jesus Christ. Acts 4:12 states, “Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.” Paul said in II Corinthians 4:3-4, “But if our gospel be hid it is hid to them that are lost:” “In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them that believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them.” I Corinthians 2:14, “But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them because they are spiritually discerned.” This is a heart problem. His heart is blinded to spiritual truth. Isaiah 44:18, “They have not known nor understood: for he hath shut their eyes, that they cannot see; and their hearts, that they cannot understand.” The mind is blinded because of the heart. Salvation is the forgiveness of sins, the promise of a home in Heaven for all eternity. This can only be received by a humble heart.

Notice the contrast! II Thessalonians 2:10, “…because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved.” I Corinthians 2:12, “Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of God; that we might know…” John 1:12, “But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name:” Man doesn’t understand God in his mind because he doesn’t receive God in his heart. Pride of the heart blinds the mind to the truth of God. Romans 10:3, “…going about to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God.” Obadiah 1:3, “The pride of thine heart hath deceived thee.” D.L.Moody said, “God send no one away empty except those who are full of themselves.” Henry Smith wrote, “Pride thrust proud Nebuchadnezzar out of men’s society, proud Saul out of his kingdom, proud Adam out of paradise, proud Haman out of court, proud Lucifer out of heaven.”

God so desires the best for you. He wants to reveal His Word and His Truth to you. 1 Timothy 2:4 states, “ Who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth.” This truth is received by a humble heart. John 8:32, “And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” John 14:6, “Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.” James 1:21, “… receive with meekness the engrafted word, which is able to save your souls.”

Humility of heart is the first step to salvation.
– Zac Poonen

There are many examples of good and necessary prayers in the Bible. Let’s look today at Psalm 119:10, “With my whole heart have I sought thee: O let me not wander from thy commandments.” To wander is to rove; to ramble here and there without any certain course of object in view; In a moral sense, to stray; to deviate; to depart from duty. There are all sorts of wandering. There are wanderings of the mind. There are wanderings of the heart. There are wanderings of the life. We are all prone to these. The song says, “Prone to wander, Lord I feel it. Prone to leave the God I love. Here’s my heart, O take and seal it. Seal it for Thy courts above.”

There are two types of wandering: Internal and External. Proverbs 21:16 states, “The man that wandereth out of the way of understanding…” This is an internal wandering. Proverbs 27:8 states, “As a bird that wandereth from her nest, so is a man that wandereth from his place.” This is an external wandering. Scripture identifies the problem and then gives us the solution to wandering, whether it be internal or external. Isaiah 53:6, “All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned everyone to his own way.” Here is the solution: Isaiah 30:21, God says, “This is the way, walk ye in it.” Psalm 119:105, “Thy word (the Bible) is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.” Isaiah 55:7 shows us an external and internal wandering and the solution. “Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return unto the LORD, and he will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.” There are those that are many miles away from God in their hearts, but God is only a prayer away!

I was a wandering sheep, I did not love the fold:
I did not love my Shepherd’s voice, I would not be controlled:
I was a wayward child, I did not love my home;
I did not love my Father’s voice, I loved afar to roam

I’ve wandered far away from God – Now I’m coming home;
The paths of sin too long I’ve trod – Lord, I’m coming home.

A father was telling his young son the story of a young sheep that one day found a hole in the fence and wandered away from the fold. He told of the terrors and dangers faced by the sheep. He told of how the shepherd went out into the cold, stormy night seeking the sheep, and the joy when he found it and returned it to his home. The boy listened with rapt attention to this thrilling story. Then, as his father finished the tale, he asked, “Did he fix the hole in the fence?” YOU NEED TO FIX THE HOLE IN THE FENCE.

Psalm 17:4, “Concerning the works of men, by the word of thy lips I have kept me from the paths of the destroyer.”

“The difference between mercy and grace? Mercy gave the prodigal son a second chance. Grace gave him a feast.” Max Lucado. Read Luke chapter 15.