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Every Christian man should have a prayer list which lists, among other things, the names of his family and, if married, spouse and children.
My daily prayer list carries the following headings, each with several details under it: FAMILY, STAFF, SECRETARIES AND CUSTODIANS, ILL, GRIEVING, IMPORTANT EVENTS, PRESENT PROBLEMS, MINISTRIES, WEEKLY WORSHIP, NEW BELIEVERS, MISSIONS LIST. In addition to my daily list, I have four other lists which I try to go through once a week. List 1 has: ONGOING ILL, PERSONAL REQUESTS FROM OTHERS, EVANGELISM, SPIRITUAL WARFARE. List 2 has: WORLD, USA, PERSONAL LIFE, NEEDED PERSONAL QUALITIES. List 3 has: CHRISTIAN LEADERS, PASTORS, UPCOMING MINISTRIES AND VISION. List 4 has: GOVERNMENT LEADERS (federal,
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We must never wait until we feel like praying — otherwise we may never pray,
Better to commit yourself to a total of fifteen minutes and maintain it — with perhaps five minutes of Bible reading, five minutes of meditation, and five minutes of disciplined prayer.
Do you find it difficult to find enough time and a quiet place away from interruptions for your prayer times? Why? Is it because your life is too busy, or are there conflicting loyalties you prefer to ignore?
The unspoken but increasingly common assumption of today’s Christendom is that worship is primarily for us — to meet our needs.
It is so easy to forget that in going to worship our main concern should be to “worship in spirit and in truth” (John 4:24) — not to receive a lift for ourselves.
worship begins not with man as its focus, but God.
But this is a byproduct, not a goal, a further evidence of the generous grace of God.
God desires worship above all else.
He walks among the glowing lampstands of His churches (Revelation 1:20). He treads the aisles of our churches and sits beside us. He searches for those who worship in spirit and truth. He desires our praise.
worship does not just “happen.” Worship requires careful preparation on the part of ministers and congregations.
The answer to the problem begins with Saturday preparation.
Both husband and wife should share responsibility for the practical and spiritual preparations for the Lord’s Day.)
George Swinnock, quaintly expressed it: Prepare to meet thy God, O Christian! Betake thyself to thy chamber on the Saturday night. . . . The oven of thine heart thus baked, as it were, overnight, would be easily heated the next morning; the fire so well raked up when thou wentest to bed, would be the sooner kindled when thou shouldst rise. If thou wouldst thus leave thy heart with God on the Saturday night, thou shouldst find it with him in the Lord’s Day morning.6
Martin Luther spoke of this when he confided, “At home in my own house there is no warmth or vigor in me, but in the church when the multitude is gathered together, a fire is kindled in my heart and it breaks its way through.”7
The better informed we are, the better we can worship.
liturgy is one’s work in worship.
Do not be put off because your service is different, for to properly worship, the same worth-ship ethic applies.
the Lord’s Prayer. If it is used by the congregation, it must never be merely “said” but must be prayed with all our heart.
Eugene Peterson has so well said: “Worship is an act which develops feelings for God, not a feeling for God which is expressed in an act of worship.”13
a habit of worship or a heart of worship?
What more do you (and your family) need to do to be spiritually prepared for Sunday morning worship at your church? Make a list, share it with the others in your household, and work together at putting it to work.
Only 13 percent of Americans see all Ten Commandments as binding on us today.
a resident of Beverly Hills as compared with a resident of the impoverished South Bronx is more likely to have used illegal drugs, have committed a crime, or had an extramarital affair.5
Ernest Hemingway (who still arbitrates literary style) was an inveterate liar who lied about everything, including his childhood, his athletic prowess, his military exploits, his liaisons, so that he was, as one of his wives called him, “the biggest liar since Munchausen”10
The Church needs people who not only refrain from blatant lying, but are free from hypocrisy.
It is essential that we understand that the Biblical idea of integrity has the root idea of completeness, that a person of integrity is whole.12
Have you avoided expressing the truth for the sake of peace?
But you can glorify God where you are by your heart attitude. You may feel your occupation is not holy, but it is if you see it so and do it for God’s glory.
“providing for one’s family” means being able to give them more and better,
No Israelite had any option about this. A man who did not pay it was robbing God. Malachi 3:8 refers to this, saying, “‘Will a man rob God? Yet you rob me. But you ask, “How do we rob you?” In tithes and offerings.
another 10 percent had to be given for an annual celebration
three mandatory tithes funded the priesthood, a national feast, and aided the poor.
It is easy to surrender part when we have already given the whole.
there is no way to grow into spiritual maturity without committing one’s giving to the Lord.
God can have our money and not have our hearts, but He cannot have our hearts without having all our money.
[I]f our expenditure on comforts, luxuries, amusements , etc., is up to the standard common among those with the same income as our own, we are probably giving away too little. If our charities do not at all pinch or hamper us, I should say they are too small. There ought to be things we should like to do and cannot do because our charitable expenditure excludes them.
Fourth, you must understand that what you give is to be determined between you and God. Giving should never be decided casually or flippantly, but through serious prayer — asking God what He wants you to give.
everyone should at least consider the first 10 percent as a starting point in giving — a minimum.
the more immediate and personal one’s knowledge of Christ, the more natural it is to share Him with others.
Everyone we encounter is an eternal soul of immense value whom we ought to regard with the same weight with which God regards them.
biological (relatives and family, and by extension church family), geographical (where we live), vocational (who we work with), and recreational (where we play). We need to discover our networks, make a list of likely contacts, and begin to pray for them.
then make sure your plan is represented on your calendar.
Be the most hospitable home on the block to children and adults.
avoid entangling relationships, do not give yourself to others, and be sure not to seriously embrace elevated and noble ideals. If we do this, we will escape a host of afflictions.
Open yourself to others, and you will become susceptible to an index of sorrows scarcely imaginable to a shriveled heart.
If he had listened to the counsel of his friends, he would have remained in comfortable England instead of going to that hostile land.
Enlarge your heart, cultivate your heart, discipline yourself for ministry, and you will enlarge your experience of pain.
No one has ever cultivated a ministering heart and lived to tel...
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