Orange Moon "Teach Us To Pray"

The Special of the Day… From the Orange Moon Cafe...

 

"Teach Us To Pray"   

 

    What things happen because we have prayed about them?  What things do not happen because we have not prayed about them? We do not fully know. However, we must realize and grow in the awareness of our privileged responsibility to communicate with God about the fulfillment of His eternal purposes in the Lord Jesus Christ.

"After this manner therefore pray ye, Our Father which art in Heaven, hallowed by Thy name. Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done in earth, as it is in Heaven" (Matthew 6:9-10).

 

    The prayers of born again believers in the Lord Jesus Christ arise to the the throne of Heaven as a vital component of the outworking of His will. Our Heavenly Father both acts and refrains from acting in response to our requests. "I love the Lord because He hath heard my voice and my supplications... Ye have not because ye ask not" (Psalm 116:1; James 4:2). Our first response to such truth must first be stunned bewilderment that mere creatures such as ourselves have so significant a role in His purposes. How could an almighty Being confer such a calling on those prone to forgetfulness, neglect, and even willful departure from our callings? Indeed, if asked about their life of prayer, even the most devout believers among us will shake their heads and confess how far they have to go in availing themselves of so precious a gift, and in fulfilling so important a responsibility. How then does God work out so much of His will through our prayers?

Much of the answer remains ever hidden in the wonders of our Lord's wisdom and way. The heart of prayer does not emphasize the ones praying, but rather the One answering our prayers. Too many considerations of prayer focus on our calling and responsibility. Certainly, a place exists for such pondering of the path to which our Heavenly Father beckons us. However, our best praying always proceeds from focusing on the One to whom we pray, and the One who leads and enables us to pray effectually and fervently. Just as our faith flows primarily from gazing upon God's faithfulness, so prayer rides upon the wings of realizing His desire and even delight in communion with us, and that He graces us with participation in the fulfillment of His purposes. "In Thy light shall we see light" (Psalm 36:9).

"Lord, teach us to pray" (Luke 11:1). The disciples of the Lord Jesus voiced the wisest of prayers in their request for His guidance regarding the wonder of communion with God. We do well to join them in the request throughout the days of our earthly lives. The infinite, almighty Creator of all things calls us to commune with Him. He also confers upon us the privileged responsibility of serving as a prayerful participant with Him regarding His glorious purposes. Overwhelmed wonder must descend upon us as we descend to the knees of our hearts in prayer. Such amazement will always best place us in the frame of heart and mind that leads us to pray effectually, fervently, and most of all, in the grateful love that flows from our Father's gracious love whereby He delights in us, and works through us.

"The prayer of the upright is His delight."

(Proverbs 15:8)

"Ask and ye shall receive" (John 16:24).

 "I exhort therefore, that, first of all, supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks, be made for all men" (I Timothy 2:1).

 

Weekly Memory Verse

    "The Lord is good to all, and His tender mercies are over all His works."

(Psalm 145:9)

 

    

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

6135

 

Orange Moon "Warning Every Man"

The Special of the Day… From the Orange Moon Cafe...

 

"Warning Every Man"   

 

    God is wondrously kind, merciful, gracious, loving, and desirous to bless His creation.  "The Lord is good to all, and His tender mercies are over all His works" (Psalm 145:9).  He will not, however, be played for a fool, nor does He suffer fools gladly.      

 

    "Turn you at My reproof: behold, I will pour out My Spirit unto you, I will make known My words unto you. Because I have called, and ye refused; I have stretched out My hand, and no man regarded, but ye have set at nought all My counsel, and would none of My reproof, I also will laugh at your calamity; I will mock when your fear cometh; when your fear cometh as desolation, and your destruction cometh as a whirlwind; when distress and anguish cometh upon you. Then shall they call upon Me, but I will not answer; they shall seek Me early, but they shall not find Me: for that they hated knowledge, and did not choose the fear of the LORD: They would none of My counsel: they despised all My reproof" (Proverbs 1:23-30).

 

   An accurate understanding and portrayal of the God of Scripture must include a proper fear regarding those who will not receive His grace, along with a proper fear by His trusting children of His disciplinary chastening and scourging (Psalm 9:20; Hebrews 12:6).  Certainly, we would not want to hold any other perspective of Him.  We could not begin to respect a Lord who tolerated evil, or who failed to act in accordance with the best interests of His glory, His creation, and His trusting children in Christ.  Thus, our sharing of the Gospel includes not only joyful affirmation of God's promises, but also solemn warning to those who will not respond to Him in faith and submission.

 

    "Christ… whom we preach, warning every man" (Colossians 1:27; 28).

 

     As one writer suggested, "God is not the kindly old grandfather who just wants all the children to be happy."  Again, we cannot begin to fathom the goodness of His loving heart and its desire to redeem and fill our hearts with His joy.  However, our Heavenly Father does not bestow grace at the expense of His holy integrity.  We either come to Him in the way through Christ He made for us, and with a reciprocal attitude of humility, repentance, faith, and devotion, or we do not come at all.  As the Apostle Paul declared, "Be not deceived.  God is not mocked" (Galatians 6:7).  Indeed, the Lord of grace and the Lord of holiness are one and the same.  He bestows grace in a manner that correlates with His holiness, and His holiness administers the abundant dispensing of His grace. We do well to remember both aspects of His perfect character, and to rejoice that both guide Him in relationship toward all, and toward ourselves.

 

"The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom… of knowledge."

(Psalm 111: Proverbs 1:7).

 

Weekly Memory Verse

   "The Lord is good to all, and His tender mercies are over all His works."

(Psalm 145:9)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

6134

Orange Moon "Sometimes"

The Special of the Day… From the Orange Moon Cafe...

(a repeat from 2013)

"Sometimes"   

"The Lord hath heard the voice of my weeping" (Psalm  6:8).     

    

    

Sometimes tears are prayers,

voicing the yearnings of our heart

far more than words 

could ever tell our cares.

Sometimes tears are prayers.

 

Sometimes sighs are cries

unto our Father above,

beckoning the grace that dwells

in His heart of caring love.

Yes, sometimes sighs are cries unto our Father above.

 

Sometimes silence sings

hymns of sacrificial offerings,

 praises graced with melody

no ear can divine, but the Divine.

Sometimes… sometimes silence sings.

 

Sometimes tears are prayers,

Sometimes sighs are cries,

Sometimes, silence sings.

Great is the mystery, but the trusting heart

hid deep with God in Christ well knows such things.

 

Sometimes, sometimes tears are prayers.

 

"I am so troubled that I cannot speak."

 (Psalm 77:4)

The Spirit also helpeth our infirmities, for we know not what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered." 

(Romans 8:26)

 

Weekly Memory Verse

    Unto the upright there ariseth light in the darkness: He is gracious, and full of compassion, and righteous.

(Psalm 112:4)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

6133