From the Pen of Paul

God's Remedy for a Sinsick World (3)

(Note: We are continuing to look at God's remedy for a world deep in sin as given to Solomon in II Chronicles 7:14.)

If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves...........

"and pray:" God has always required His people to be a praying people. Samuel told Israel, "God forbid that I should sin against the Lord in ceasing to pray for you" (I Samuel 12:23). And listen to David in the Psalms: "Hearken unto the voice of my cry, my King, and my God: for unto thee will I pray" (Psalms 5:2). And again in Psalms 55:17: "Evening, and morning, and at noon, will I pray, and cry aloud: and he shall hear my voice." In the New Testament, Jesus spake a parable "to this end that men ought always to pray, and not to faint" (Luke 18:1). His disciples had apparently observed the need and usefulness of prayer, for they asked Jesus, "Lord, teach us to pray" (Luke 11:1). Jesus taught us to pray, not only by His instruction, but also by His example. He prayed either before, during or after most all of the great events of His life. Luke tells us that the Lord's baptism was accomplished in the midst of prayer (Luke 3:21-22). The choosing of the twelve was a major step in fulfilling His mission on earth; He did not name them until after He had meditated all night in prayer to God (Luke 5:12-13). Near the end of his second year of public service and work, Jesus paused to ask about what men were saying about Him. This important event came immediately following a period of prayer (Luke 9:18-20). It was on this occasion that He promised, "Upon this rock I will build my church" (Matthew 16:18).

The transfiguration of Jesus was another great event in His life that occurred in the midst of prayer. Luke writes, "And as he prayed, the fashion of his countenance was altered, and his raiment was white and glistering" (Luke 9:28-29). And who can forget His prayer in Gethsemane as He approached the end of His earthly life? And His prayers on the cross? Jesus certainly taught us to pray by praying.

Are you, as a part of God's people called by His name, a praying person? Do you believe it does any good to pray? The late FBI director, J. Edgar Hoover wrote: "The spectacle of a nation praying is more awe inspiring than the explosion of an atomic bomb. The force of prayer is greater than any man-made powers because prayer is man's greatest means of tapping the infinite resources of God." Though uninspired, this statement is very true.

Listen to our instruction and promises relative to prayer. "Pray without ceasing" (I Thess. 5:17-18). "Ask, and ye shall receive" (Matthew 7:7). "The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much" (James 5:16). "For the eyes of the Lord are over the righteous, and his ears are open unto their prayers" (I Peter 3:12). "And whatsoever we ask, we receive of him, because we keep his commandments, and do those things that are pleasing in his sight" (I John 3:22). "And this is the confidence that we have in him, that, if we ask any thing according to his will, he heareth us: And if we know that he hear us, whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we desired of him" (I John 5:14-15).

Again, I ask, do you believe in prayer and do you believe that prayer does any good? James also said, "ye have not, because ye ask not" (James 4:2b).

God wants His people, called by His name, to pray. When is the last time you prayed to God? Sad to say, we have a number of brethren that are teaching that God does not answer prayers—that prayers do no good. How tragic—and how empty one's life must be without prayer!

One man said, "When my cry goes up to heaven, it goes along the same road which Christ's cry once traveled. He cleared away all impediments so that now my prayer may follow in the track of His!" Let us use this wellspring of spiritual power for a more fruitful Christian life! Let all of us awake to the personal dynamic of prayer!
—Paul Wilmoth

From the Preacher's Viewpoint. . .

Is It Nothing to You?

Jeremiah said, "Is it nothing to you, all ye that pass by?" (Lam. 1:12). Jeremiah was one of the great prophets of God. He preached for 43 years to a rebellious people that rejected him and the message of God which he preached. The people of his day refused to hear and see what God had in store for them. This is why Jeremiah said to them, "Is it nothing to you?" At this time God's people had little or no concern for the way of Jehovah.

We all know that history repeats itself. Someone has well said we learn from history that we do not learn from history. How true this is. Basically, people never change. Our color, language, nationality, heartaches and joys remain the same throughout the centuries. What made the ancient Babylonians rejoice makes us rejoice, and what made them sad makes us sad. They were involved in sin and ruin, and so are we. The nature of mankind never has changed, and it never will.

Jeremiah the prophet had to preach and deal with God's apostate children starting about 626 B.C. and lasting until around 583 B.C. Jeremiah was very tenderhearted, and he loved his nation. The people of his day had abandoned God, and they had gone after idolatry. They had given themselves to their fleshly appetite and were doing as they pleased. False prophets were in abundance, thus false religion was abounding all about. God's people had reached a place in life to where they did not care. Worshipping and serving God according to His way was not of much concern to them. Judah was in the mouth of the lionhearted Babylonians, but they refused to see and hear. This is why Jeremiah cried out to them, "Is it nothing to you?" (Lam. 1:12).

We are living in a time when the faithful man of God is crying out, "Is it nothing to you that very few care anymore about the strait and narrow way of the Lord?"

False teachers and fake doctrine are running rampant in today's world and in the church of the Living God, but little concern is manifest. There is more concern and bitter feelings and deeds of unkindness toward the strong and faithful man of God than for the weak-hearted and half-converted. We are living in a generation crying for the release of Barabbas and the crucifixion of the faithful preachers of God (Matt. 27:20-26). It is heart-wrenching to all who love the lord and His church to see such taking place.

May Almighty God help the entire brotherhood to wake up and do what is right about the present situation in the churches of Christ.
—Malcolm L. Hill