Welcome to the Prayer Motivator Devotional Broadcast #800. This is Daniel Whyte III, president of Gospel Light Society International. The simple purpose of this podcast is to encourage you, exhort you, and motivate you to Just Pray. This podcast is not necessarily for people who already know the secret and power of prayer and who actually practice genuine prayer on a regular basis, rather it is for those who may find it difficult to pray or for people who claim they do not have time to pray. I am convinced that most Christian people do not need to learn how to pray; they need to Just Pray! If I can get you to just pray, all sorts of wonderful things will begin to happen for you, your family, and whatever God has called you to do. We do not pray based upon our subjective feelings, we pray based upon objective facts in the Word of God.
Our prayer motivator passage from the Word of God today is Mark 13:31-34 which reads: “Heaven and earth shall pass away: but my words shall not pass away. But of that day and that hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels which are in heaven, neither the Son, but the Father. Take ye heed, watch and pray: for ye know not when the time is. For the Son of man is as a man taking a far journey, who left his house, and gave authority to his servants, and to every man his work, and commanded the porter to watch.”
Allow me to share with you some more important points regarding this passage from Matthew Henry’s Commentary:
“As to both, your duty is to watch and pray. Therefore the time is kept a secret, that you may be engaged to stand always upon your guard (v. 33); Take ye heed of every thing that would indispose you for your Master’s coming, and would render your accounts perplexed, and your spirits so too; watch for his coming, that it may not at any time be a surprise to you, and pray for that grace which is necessary to qualify you for it, for ye know not when the time is; and you are concerned to be ready for that every day, which may come any day.’’ This he illustrates, in the close, by a parable. 1. Our Master is gone away, and left us something in trust, in charge, which we must give account of, v. 34. He is as a man taking a far journey; for he is gone to be away a great while, he has left his house on earth, and left his servants in their offices, given authority to some, who are to be overseers, and work to others, who are to be labourers. They that have authority given them, in that had work assigned them, for those that have the greatest power have the most business; and to them to whom he gave work, he gave some sort of authority, to do that work. And when he took his last leave, he appointed the porter to watch, to be sure to be ready to open to him at his return; and in the mean time to take care to whom he opened his gates, not to thieves and robbers, but only to his Master’s friends and servants. Thus our Lord Jesus, when he ascended on high, left something for all his servants to do, expecting they should all do him service in his absence, and be ready to receive him at his return. All are appointed to work, and some authorized to rule.
Our featured prayer motivator quote is from Charles Spurgeon. He said, “If thou dost continually draw thine impulse, thy life, the whole of thy being from the Holy Spirit, without whom thou canst do nothing; and if thou dost live in close communion with Christ, there will be no fear of thy having a dry heart. He who lives without prayer—he who lives with little prayer—he who seldom reads the Word—he who seldom looks up to heaven for a fresh influence from on high—he will be the man whose heart will become dry and barren; but he who calls in secret on his God—who spends much time in holy retirement—who delights to meditate on the words of the Most High—whose soul is given up to Christ—who delights in his fullness, rejoices in his all-sufficiency, prays for his second coming, and delights in the thought of his glorious advent—such a man, I say, must have an overflowing heart; and as his heart is, such will his life be. It will be a full life; it will be a life that will speak from the sepulcher, and wake the echoes of the future. ‘Keep thine heart with all diligence,’ and entreat the Holy Spirit to keep it full; for, otherwise, the issues of thy life will be feeble, shallow, and superficial; and thou mayest as well not have lived at all.”
My personal encouragement for you today is this: Our world is changing in sometimes surprising and very destructive ways. Unless we, the people of God, stand together and form a firewall of intercessory prayer in our society, not only will God’s judgment destroy our country and our world, but our country and the world will begin to destroy itself from the inside out.
Our prayer motivator devotional today is titled “PRAYER-EQUIPMENT FOR PREACHERS” part 10 from the book, “The Weapon of Prayer” by E.M. Bounds.
E.M. Bounds goes on to say:
But prayer reaches the preacher directly. God hears the praying of a church for its minister. Prayer for the preached Word is a direct aid to it. Prayer for the preacher gives wings to the Gospel, as well as feet. Prayer makes the Word of the Lord go forward strongly and rapidly. It takes the shackles off of the message, and gives it a chance to run straight to the hearts of sinners and saints, alike. It opens the way, clears the track, furnishes a free course. The failure of many a preacher may be found just here. He was hampered, hindered, crippled by a prayerless church. Non-praying officials stood in the way of the Word preached, and became veritable stumbling blocks in the way of the Word, definitely preventing its reaching the hearts of the unsaved.
Unbelief and prayerlessness go together. It is written of our Lord in Matthew’s Gospel that when He entered into His own country, “he did not many mighty works there because of their unbelief.” Mark puts it a little differently, but giving out the same idea: “And he could there do no mighty work, save that he laid his hands upon a few sick folks and healed them. And he marveled because of their unbelief.” Unquestionably the unbelief of that people hindered our Lord in His gracious work and tied His hands. And if that be true, it requires no undue straining of the Scriptures when we say that the unbelief and prayerlessness of a church can tie the hands of its preacher, and prevent him from doing many great works in the salvation of souls and in edifying saints. Prayerlessness, therefore, as it concerns the preacher is a very serious matter. If it exists in the preacher himself, then he ties his own hands and makes the Word as preached by him ineffective and void. If prayerless men be found in the pew, then it hurts the preacher, robs him of an invaluable help, and interferes seriously with the success of his work. How great the need of a praying church to help on the preaching of the Word of the Lord! Both pew and pulpit are jointly concerned in this preaching business. It is a copartnership. The two go hand in hand. One must help the other, one can hinder the other. Both must work in perfect accord or serious damage will result, and God’s plan concerning the preacher and the preached Word be defeated.
Now, friend, it is time for us to pray…
Remember, the announcer will provide the information for you to send in your prayer request at the end of this broadcast.
Please join me in prayer……..
We pray collectively and individually for the following:
> 3 million people to come to know you as Saviour
> the revival of the church
> the healing of families
> the healing of this nation
> blessings and guidance for all pastors, church leaders, and missionaries
> Salvation, leadership, and wisdom for the president and for all governmental officials who run this country and all other countries.
Now, Lord, we pray for three people who have sent in prayer requests:
Name: Marilyn
please give her a Godly husband
Name: Ighemuno
help her to come to know You as Saviour
Name: Vicki
give her healing in her body and stabilize her two daughters
—-
Holy Father God, we pray for the following people who have accepted you into their hearts. We pray, Lord, that you would confirm them in the faith and have them grow in the faith to become the Holy Spirit-filled Christians that you want them to be. We pray specifically for —-
Happy
Shirley
Joshua
Now, Lord we pray for the following people who have been saved for a while but who have recommitted their lives to You. We rejoice with them in this decision and pray that they will keep their commitments to you and be strengthened in the faith. We pray specifically for —-
Don Love
Cecil
Katrina
***
Now, if you are listening today, and you do not know the Lord Jesus Christ as your Saviour, allow me to show you how.
First, accept the fact that you are a sinner, and that you have broken God’s law. The Bible says in Romans 3:23: “For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God.”
Second, accept the fact that there is a penalty for sin. The Bible states in Romans 6:23: “For the wages of sin is death…”
Third, accept the fact that you are on the road to hell. Jesus Christ said in Matthew 10:28: “And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.” Also, the Bible states in Revelation 21:8: “But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death.”
Now this is bad news, but here’s the good news. Jesus Christ said in John 3:16: “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” Just believe in your heart that Jesus Christ died for your sins, was buried, and rose from the dead by the power of God for you so that you can live eternally with Him. Pray and ask Him to come into your heart today, and He will.
Romans 10:9-13 says, “That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. For the scripture saith, Whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed. For there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek: for the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon him. For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.”
Until next time,
Remember, friend, Pray, Think, Do! God Bless You!