Welcome to the Prayer Motivator Devotional Broadcast #767. 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 Matthew 6:11 which reads: “Give us this day our daily bread.”
Allow me to share with you some important points regarding this passage from Matthew Henry’s Commentary:
4. Give us this day our daily bread. Because our natural being is necessary to our spiritual well-being in this world, therefore, after the things of God’s glory, kingdom, and will, we pray for the necessary supports and comforts of this present life, which are the gifts of God, and must be asked of him, Ton arton epiousion —Bread for the day approaching, for all the remainder of our lives. Bread for the time to come, or bread for our being and subsistence, that which is agreeable to our condition in the world (Prov. 30:8 ), food convenient for us and our families, according to our rank and station. Every word here has a lesson in it: (1.) We ask for bread; that teaches us sobriety and temperance; we ask for bread, not dainties, not superfluities; that which is wholesome, though it be not nice. (2.) We ask for our bread; that teaches us honesty and industry: we do not ask for the bread out of other people’s mouths, not the bread of deceit (Prov. 20:17 ), not the bread of idleness (Prov. 31:27 ), but the bread honestly gotten. (3.) We ask for our daily bread; which teaches us not to take thought for the morrow (v. 34), but constantly to depend upon divine Providence, as those that live from hand to mouth. (4.) We beg of God to give it us, not sell it us, nor lend it us, but give it. The greatest of men must be beholden to the mercy of God for their daily bread, (5.) We pray, “Give it to us; not to me only, but to others in common with me.’’ This teaches us charity, and a compassionate concern for the poor and needy. It intimates also, that we ought to pray with our families; we and our households eat together, and therefore ought to pray together. (6.) We pray that God would give us this day; which teaches us to renew the desire of our souls toward God, as the wants of our bodies are renewed; as duly as the day comes, we must pray to our heavenly Father, and reckon we could as well go a day without meat, as without prayer.
Our featured prayer motivator quote is from Daniel Darling. He said, “The third thing this prayer forces us to do is to live in daily dependence on God for our physical needs. We are to pray ‘give us this day our ‘daily’ bread.’ It means something like, ‘give us what we need for tomorrow.’ Wondering if we will have enough food or shelter or necessities for our daily existence is not something many of us have experienced. Most of us have never been in a position where we literally do not know where our food will come from today or tomorrow. But even though we don’t understand this, we are still called to live daily. There is a certain importance to living in dependence upon God, of praying, ‘God give me today what I need for this day.’ God wants us to bring our everyday, seemingly trivial concerns to him. I have to admit that I struggle to live this way. Maybe it’s a feature of being young, but my default position is to try to get myself through the day, with my ingenuity and planning and grit. This might explain why I often stress or get frustrated. What if we said to God, ‘God I’m going to depend on you?’ What if we took our deepest needs to the Lord and trusted him to provide, every day? This doesn’t mean we shouldn’t engage in long-term planning and intentional living, but we should hold our plans loosely. We should recognize that we need special grace and provision for today, then new provision for tomorrow.”
My personal encouragement for you today is this: You may ask me, Why do I need to pray more? My friend, isn’t it strange how that when God pours out His blessings upon us, instead of our getting more on fire for the Lord, we get cooler and cooler? And so, therefore, even with God’s blessings, you need to pray more. You need to understand that you don’t have the power to manage your life successfully. You need God’s direction, you need God’s power; you need His leadership in your life. No matter how much Bible you know, no matter how many Bible schools you have attended, you had better open your mouth and pray to God.
Our prayer motivator devotional today is titled “PRAYING MEN AT A PREMIUM” part 4 from the book, “The Weapon of Prayer” by E.M. Bounds.
E.M. Bounds goes on to say:
God began His early movements in the world with men of prayer. He chose such a man to be the father of that race who became His chosen people in the world for hundreds of years, to whom He committed His oracles, and from whom sprang the Promised Messiah. Abraham, a leader of God’s cause, was preeminently a praying man. When we consider his conduct and character, we readily see how prayer ruled and swayed this great leader of God’s people in the wilderness. “Abraham planted a grove in Beersheba, and called there on the name of the Lord, the everlasting God,” and it is an outstanding fact that wherever he pitched his tent and camped for a season, with his household, there he erected the altar of sacrifice and of prayer. His was a personal and a family religion, in which prayer was a prominent and abiding factor.
Prayer is the medium of divine revelation. It is through prayer that God reveals Himself to the spiritual soul today, just as in the Old Testament days He made His revelations to the men who prayed. God shows Himself to the man who prays. “God is with thee in all that thou doest.” This was the clear conviction of those who would fain make a covenant with Abraham, and the reason for this tribute was the belief commonly held concerning the patriarch that, not only was he a man of prayer, but a man whose prayers God would answer. This is the summary and secret of divine rule in the Church. In all ages God has ruled the Church by prayerful men. When prayer fails, the divine rulership falls. As we have seen, Abraham, the father of the faithful, was a prince and a priest in prayer. He had remarkable influence with God. God stays His vengeance while Abraham prays. His mercy is suspended and conditioned on Abraham’s praying. His visitations of wrath are removed by the praying of this ruler in Israel. The movements of God are influenced by the prayers of Abraham, the friend of God. Abraham’s righteous prayerfulness permits him to share the secrets of God’s counsels, while the knowledge of these secrets draws out and intensifies his praying. With Abraham, the altar of sacrifice is hard by the altar of prayer. With him the altar of prayer sanctifies the altar of sacrifice. To Abimelech God said, “Abraham is a prophet, and he shall pray for thee, and thou shalt live.”
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: Gale
Please give her a financial breakthrough
Name: Jason
For the salvation of his grandson, that he will be delivered from depression and being a negative influence to the family
Name: Tammy
Please deliver her husband Jonathan from the spirit of adultery and fornication, abuse, lying and manipulative behavior; save him, free him, humble him, convict him and help him to come to the end of himself; for the woman that he is involved with to get saved and leave him alone
—-
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 —-
Shamar
Arup
Harry
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 —-
Celestino
Bryce
Keziah
***
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!
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