Welcome, friends, to another
broadcast of Morsels for Zion's Poor. Prayer is primarily the
work of God in the hearts of His children. Paul said, And
because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of his
Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father. He also described
true prayer in this fashion. Likewise, the Spirit also helpeth
our infirmities, for we know not what we should pray for as
we ought, but the Spirit himself maketh intercession for us with
groanings which cannot be uttered. And he that searcheth the heart
knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit, because he maketh intercession
for the saints according to the will of God. This is that prayer
which is heard by him as John said, and this is the confidence
that we have in him, that if we ask anything according to
his will, he heareth us. And if we know that he hear us
whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we
desired of him. Prayer is not a power in the
hearts of men to change the will of God. but is rather the means
whereby God is pleased to make his children conformable to his
will by the work of his spirit in them. Paul said that he had
learned to be content in whatsoever state he was in. The way that
he learned that lesson was in the place of prayer, as the Spirit
of God wrought in him the language of a son crying out in dependence
upon his father. The modern evangelist magicians
tell us that it is well within the power of men to be healed
if they can only prevail in prayer and claim their healing. Yet
Paul said, For this thing I besought the Lord thrice, that it might
depart from me. And he said unto me, My grace
is sufficient for thee, for my strength is made perfect in weakness.
Most gladly, therefore, will I glory in my infirmities, that
the power of Christ may rest upon me. Therefore I take pleasure
in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions,
in distresses for Christ's sake. For when I am weak, then am I
strong. This is the very scenario of
which the proverb speaks. The name of the Lord is a strong
tower. The authority that is his name
of God is the very hope of the sons of God. That the true and
living God rules and reigns in the heavens and the earth and
cannot be turned aside nor questioned in anything which he chooses
to do. All of the hopes of the sons of God are based on his
unchangeable nature, that by two immutable things in which
it was impossible for God to lie, we might have a strong consolation,
who have fled for refuge to lay hold upon the hope set before
us, which hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure
and steadfast, and which entereth into that within the veil. He
is their deliverer. The Lord is my rock and my fortress
and my deliverer, my God, my strength, in whom I will trust,
my buckler and the horn of my salvation in my high tower. He
is our champion who has fought for us and has prevailed against
all of our enemies. What shall we then say to these
things? If God be for us, who can be against us? He that spared
not his own son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall
he not with him also freely give us all things? Who shall lay
anything to the charge of God's elect? It is God that justifieth. He is their shelter. For thou
hast been a shelter for me, and a strong tower from the enemy.
I will abide in thy tabernacle forever. I will trust in the
covert of thy wings, Selah. For thou, O God, hast heard my
vows, thou hast given me the heritage of those that fear thy
name. Indeed, the Lord's our rock, in him we hide, a shelter
in the time of storm. As the Lord hid Moses in a cliff
of the rock, so he has hid us in the rock of our salvation,
even Jesus Christ, the righteous. He is their fortress and refuge.
Blessed be the Lord, my strength, which teacheth my hands to war
and my fingers to fight, my goodness and my fortress, my high tower
and my deliverer, my shield, and he in whom I trust, who subdueth
my people under me. God's little children are compelled
to flee to him for they know of his strength and certain victory
and have no confidence in their own power, righteousness, or
religion. For we are the circumcision which
worship God in the spirit and rejoice in Christ Jesus and have
no confidence in the flesh. He is their watchman. The walls
of the fortress had towers built upon it from which the eyes of
the watchman could see the approaching enemy before those upon the walls. Even so, the Lord does watch
over his flock like the good shepherd which he is. The eyes
of the Lord are upon the righteous and his ears are open unto their
cry. The conditionalists would teach
us that man must act righteously in order to enjoy the blessings
of God. But the sons of God rest in their head, Jesus Christ the
righteous. It is because he sees them as
righteous that they are thus called righteous and made to
be those who the proverb describes by saying, the righteous runneth
into it and is safe. As Peter said, Lord, to whom
shall we go? Thou hast the words of eternal life. For a free CD
containing 15 of these radio broadcasts, Send an email to
forthepoor at windstream dot net.