SECRET DUTIES -- OPEN REWARDS
Matthew 6:6 -- " . . . And Your Father, which sees in secret, shall reward you openly . . . "
I have been laboring through a wonderful book about prayer written by Puritan preacher Thomas Brooks. It is a labor because there is so much meat to chew, but it has been so helpful. God loves it when His kids pray in secret. Around the world there are men and women who do not have the freedom to pray openly because if they did, they would be persecuted or even killed for their faith.
Thomas Brooks writes that "God, in the great day, will recompense his people before all the world, for every secret prayer, and every secret tear, and secret sigh, and secret groan that has come from his people. God, in that great day, will declare to men and angels, how often his people have been pouring out their souls before him in such and such holes, corners and secret places; and accordingly he will reward them."
He goes on to say, "Ah, Christians! Did you really believe this, and seriously dwell on this, you would:
1. Walk more thankfully.
2. Work more cheerfully.
3. Suffer more patiently.
4. Fight against the world, the flesh, and the devil, more courageously.
5. Lay out yourselves for God, his interest and glory, more freely.
6. Live with what providence has cut out for your portion, more quietly and contentedly. And,
7. You would be in private prayer more frequently, more abundantly.
Good words to ponder as we begin this new week. Join is this week on KESWICK TODAY as Colony grad, Chris Hughes and his wife, Kathy, share what God did in their lives through the ministry of the Colony of Mercy. If you cannot get the broadcast in your area, you can listen right from our website: www.americaskeswick.org.
No comments:
Post a Comment