“….. Thy will be done….”Matt. 6:10

Every time I read this I can’t help but wonder if we’re really being honest when we pray. Perhaps we’re not as sincere as we pretend to be, or as we think we are. That petition sounds good until it is answered with something we don’t like or want. Sometimes we say “Thy will be done“, but we really mean “My will be done”. Evidence of that is seen in our complaining about our lot in life.

An article in Our Daily Bread says, “In Alexander Solzhenitsyn’s `A Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich,’ Ivan endures all the horrors of a Soviet prison camp. One day he is praying with his eyes closed when a fellow prisoner notices him and says with ridicule, “Prayers won’t help you get out of here any faster.” Opening his eyes, Ivan answers, “I do not pray to get out of prison but to do the will of God.” Prayer is not manipulating God to get what we want but discovering what He wants us to do, and then asking the Holy Spirit to enable us to do His will. Prayer is not a way to get what we want but the way to become what God wants.”

Robert Law once wrote that…”Prayer is a mighty instrument, not for getting man’s will done in heaven, but for getting God’s will done on earth.” We need to think about that. If we can’t be satisfied with God’s will we’ve got a much bigger problem than just being deprived of our desires.

If we really believed that God’s will is right, best, and safest why would we want anything else? Not only should we be willing to accept God’s will, we ought to ask for it. Sadly some folks are so obviously insincere about wanting God’s will that it would be laughable if it wasn’t so serious. Their attitude and actions show that they are running from it not to it. And that is a great hindrance when they pray about other things. Not until our wants agree with His will can we expect God to grant our petitions. An attitude of being willing to accept whatever God appoints or allows always gets His attention. -HDS

David Stone
Lakeway Baptist Church
5801 FM 1960 E
Humble, TX. 77346

“Confirming the souls of the disciples, and exhorting them to continue in the faith, and that we must through much tribulation enter into the kingdom of God.” – Acts 14:22“

For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.” – Rom. 8:18

We speak often of our need of help, but sometimes we resent and resist one of the most helpful things in life. I’m speaking about trials. Although we tend to despise difficulties, there are few things in life so helpful to a child of God as trials. They come to us by divine design and are meant for our good rather than bad.

Tragically most of the time when we speak of wanting help we don’t actually want what is most helpful. We want help in one area and God is at work helping us in another – a more important area. We aren’t always aware of our greatest need, therefore we don’t know what is best for ourselves. Sometimes we think we need help from the very thing that is actually helping us.

The Psalmist said, “ It is good for me that I have been afflicted; that I might learn thy statutes” – Psa. 119:71. In this we see the reality – “I have been afflicted“; the reason – “that I might learn thy statutes“; and the result- “It is good for me“. And, as we will eventually see, it is good for us in many ways. Through our trials we are taught about —– 

God’s wisdom to guide us

– God’s grace to sustain us

– God’s love to comfort us

– God’s power to transform us.

Through our trials we can often learn more than we could learn from a sermon, a book, or the counsel of our wisest friend. We are edified by the experience, although at the time it wasn’t enjoyable. The joy comes later when the work is done and the product is seen ( Heb. 12:11). When we finally see that what was grief became gain it will be glory. Looking back at the rough roads, dark days, and tough times we will see where it has brought us and we will have nothing but praise for our blessed Lord! – HDS

David Stone
Lakeway Baptist Church
5801 FM 1960 E
Humble, TX. 77346 

“And he said unto them, Take heed, and beware of covetousness: for a man’s life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth.” — Luke 12:15

“But I have all, and abound: I am full, having received of Epaphroditus the things which were sent from you, an odour of a sweet smell, a sacrifice acceptable, wellpleasing to God” — Phil 4:18 

Let us never forget this wonderful assertion, that life consists not in what we possess, but in what we are; not in goods, but in goodness; not in things, but qualities. “How much was he worth?” we ask when a man dies, and we expect an answer in the amount that stood to his credit, and on which his estate must pay death duties. Yet surely a man is worth only the love, humility, generosity, and sweet reasonableness which characterize him. Take away some people’s wealth, and, as in the case of the rich man of whom our Lord speaks in His parable, you have nothing left; but take away all things from St. John or St. Paul… and you have an abundance left which makes them the millionaires of all time! “Poor, yet making many rich; having nothing, and yet possessing all things.”

The rich man in the parable made three foolish mistakes. First, he treated his wealth as though it were absolutely his own. There is no suggestion that he had made it wrongfully. His wealth had evidently accrued as the gift of prolific harvests, and was certainly due to the goodness of the Creator, on whose co-operation the results of husbandry evidently depend. But to lift up grateful eyes in thankful acknowledgment to God seems never to have occurred to him! Are we not all too prone to magnify our own shrewdness and aptitude, and to exclude God when we make up our accounts for the year.

Second, he thought that the best receptacle for his overplus was in barns, and forgot that there were multitudes of poor and needy souls around. When we begin to accumulate more than we need for our use, or the provision for our families, we should consider, not further investments, but the pressing need of others.

Third, he thought that goods could stay the hunger of the soul. How often has the heart of man or woman been surfeited with goods and remained unsatisfied? Let us give, expecting nothing again, with full measure, pressed down, and running over; give, not only money, but love and tenderness and human sympathy; give as one who is always receiving from the boundless resources of God.

Help us, O God, to set our affections on things above, not on things on earth, for nothing beneath these skies can satisfy the hearts which Thou hast made for Thyself. Amen.- F B Meyer

David Stone
Lakeway Baptist Church
5801 FM 1960 E
Humble, TX. 77346

“And he saith unto them, Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.” – Matt. 4:19

Steven Cole writes this story that should awaken us to the need of the hour. One day Hudson Taylor was traveling on a Chinese junk from Shanghai to Ningpo. He had been witnessing to a man called Peter who was resisting the message, but was under deep conviction. In the course of events, Peter fell overboard. Taylor panicked when he saw that no one made any effort to save the man. Instinctively, he sprang to the mast, let down the sail, and jumped overboard in hopes of finding his friend.

A fishing boat was close by, so Taylor tried to solicit their help. But they wouldn’t stop their fishing to look for this drowning man unless Taylor agreed to pay them. Not only that, but to Taylor’s consternation, they wanted to barter for every penny he had. Finally, after he agreed to pay them a sizeable sum, they agreed to help. In less than a minute after dragging with the fishing net, they found Peter. But it was too late; Peter was dead. They had been too busy fishing to worry about a drowning man.

What a tragic story! How callused and self-centered those Chinese fishermen must have been to realize that a man was drowning nearby and yet to be more concerned about their own financial gain than about saving his life.

But before I condemn those fishermen, I need to take the log out of my own eye. How concerned am I with people around me who are perishing without Jesus Christ? Do I care more about my own comfort and financial gain than I do about people dying without the Savior? Do I go on about my business day after day, week after week, without any burden for those who need to know Christ as Savior?

You say, “Well, after all, what can I do? I’m just one person, and there are billions who don’t know Christ.”

For starters, you can commit yourself to prayer. You can meet with others to pray for those who are lost and perishing without the Savior.

 

David Stone
Lakeway Baptist Church
5801 FM 1960 E
Humble, TX. 77346

“These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.” John 16:33

To be forewarned–is to be forearmed! Our divine Lord here assures His disciples that they will be tried, and teaches them that they must not expect a very smooth path.

The road to the kingdom, will always be more or less a rough road. Almost every day something or other will happen to . . .  

try our tempers,   

exercise our graces,   

or distress our minds.

At times, we shall have many trials and sorrows:

Within–a violent conflict between the flesh and the spirit.

Without–vexations, disappointments, heavy losses, or rugged crosses.

In the body–weakness and pain.

In the soul–temptation and a thousand fears. 

In the church–much to depress, discourage, and cast us down. 

In the world–enough to make us weep day and night.

If it were not for . . .  

the comforts of the Holy Spirit,   

the fullness of the Lord Jesus,   

the throne of grace, and   

the prospect of perfect peace and rest in our Father’s house

–we would be of all men, the most miserable.

But as it is, we make some progress on the rough road. Though we may often sigh–we also raise a song, and rejoice in the persuasion that all will end well. When we reach the kingdom–all trials and sorrows will cease–and all will be holy and peaceful forever…..where there are no more foes, no more fears, no more privations; and, best of all, where there is no more sin or temptation! – James Smith

David Stone
Lakeway Baptist Church
5801 FM 1960 E
Humble, TX. 77346