Prayer is not a work that can be allocated to one or another group in the church. it is everybodys responsibility; it is everybodys privilege.
Prayer is the respiratory function of the church; without it we suffocate and die at last, like a living body deprived of the breath of life.
Prayer knows no sex, for the soul has no sex, and it is the soul that must pray. Women can pray, and their prayers will be answered; but so can man, and so should men if they are to fill the place God has given them in the church.
Let us watch that we do not slide imperceptibly to a state where the women do the praying and the men run the churches.
Men who do not pray have no right to direct church affairs.
We believe in the leadership of men within the spiritual community of the saints, but that leadership should be won by spiritual worth.
verse
Epaphras . . . is always wrestling in prayer for you, that you may stand firm in all the will of God, mature and fully asssured.
— Colossians 4:12-13
thought
Prayer is never the least we can do, it is always the most! Epaphras, a man, was always wrestling in prayer for the Colossians that they might progress to full spiritual maturity. Would that every church had an Epaphras!
prayer
Make me an Epaphras, Lord.
https://cmalliance.org/devotionals/tozer/
It might be a humbling experience for some of us men to be allowed to see just how much of lasting spiritual value is being done by the women of the churches.
As in the days of His flesh, Christ still has devout women who follow Him gladly and minister unto Him. The masculine tendency to discount these Select ladies does not speak too well for the male members of the spiritual community.
A little humility might better become us, and a bit of plain gratitude as well. If prayer is (as we believe it is) an integral part of the total divine scheme of things and must be done if the will of God is to be done, then the prayers of the thousands of women who meet each week in our churches is of inestimable value to the kingdom of God.
More power to them, and may their number increase tenfold. Let us beware, as men, however, that we do not fall into the weak habit of depending upon the women of the church to do our praying for us.
If our work prevents us, as it normally does, from having prayer meetings during the day, let us make up for it in some way and see to it that we pray as much as we should.
verse
There was also a prophetess, Anna, . . . She was very old; . . . a widow until she was eighty-four. She never left the temple but worshiped night and day, fasting and praying.
— Luke 2:36-37
thought
Praying Anna! Was it the praying of a godly mother that God used to impact you? Why mothers and not fathers, women and not men? Men, too, may be faithful pray-ers.
prayer
Thank You, Lord, for those praying women who have faithfully prayed for me over the years.
https://cmalliance.org/devotionals/tozer/
From Adam we inherit the instinct to meet our enemies head on, to try to win by direct assault, and it is only after many shocking failures that we learn that victories are not so won in the realm of the spiritual.
The carnal approach usually does little more than to alienate the enemy still further from us and, worse than all, it puts us in a position where God cannot help us.
The enemy never quite knows how to deal with a humble man; he is so used to dealing with proud, stubborn people that a meek man upsets his timetable. And furthermore, the man of true humility has God fighting on his side who can win against God? S
trange as it may seem, we often win over our enemies only after we have first been soundly defeated by the Lord Himself.
God often conquers our enemies by conquering us. He defeated Esau by defeating Jacob the night before on the bank of the Jabbok.
The conquest of Esau took place in his brother Jacob.
It is often so. When God foresees that we must meet a deadly opponent, he assures our victory by bringing us down in humbleness at His own feet.
After that, everything is easy. We have put ourselves in a position where God can fight for us, and in a situation like that, the outcome is decided from eternity.
verse
For whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted.
— Matthew 23:12
thought
Until we are convinced of our weakness, humility eludes us. Yet in utter humility we are candidates for the display of God's power and are not tempted to steal His glory.
prayer
Deliver me from pride, Lord, even if the means is crushing defeat.
https://cmalliance.org/devotionals/tozer/
In the kingdom of heaven, weak things become mighty and mighty things often prove to be useless.
God seeth not as man seeth, and the things that are held in high esteem among men may be scorned by the Most High God, maker of heaven and earth.
That carnal courage so prized in the kingdom of Adam may be the direct cause of constant and humiliating defeat among Christians.
God will not be under the necessity of using fleshly means to accomplish His spiritual ends. The bold strength of character which helps men to forge to the front, to get the best jobs, to overawe their opponents, may stand squarely in the way of all efforts to progress in the life of the Spirit. God still gives courage to the faint, and He knoweth the proud afar off.
verse
But he gives more grace. That is why Scripture says: 'God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.'
— James 4:6
thought
Humility is a quality extremely counter to contemporary culture. Indeed, it is generally viewed as weakness.
But genuine humility is strength and the result of God's grace.
prayer
Thank You, Lord, for those brothers and sisters who have modeled genuine humility to me. May I grow to know their strength.
https://cmalliance.org/devotionals/tozer/
To the man out of Christ, the fall of the year, in spite of its many charms, must surely bring with it a deep and hidden terror.
For it speaks of the approaching end, the time when it may be said,
The summer is ended, and we are not saved.
It would be good indeed if the autumn winds could preach to the lost soul of the brevity of life and the long winter ahead.
The true Christian will not be saddened by the winds that herald the approach of winter.
Like the wise and he has made his preparation, and while the gusty tempest howls over him, he will sleep sweet in Christ while the circle of the heavens moves on toward the consummation of all things of which Moses and the prophets have spoken.
Happy man who knows that everything is well with him and that he will be among the blessed in that day when the breath of Jesus, like a breeze of spring, shall stir the sleeping dead to life again after the long night.
verse
After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever. Therefore encourage each other with these words.
— First Thessalonians 4:17-18
thought
Each day we draw closer to the fall and winter of life. All of which point to the golden tomorrow. May we live today in the expectation of that tomorrow.
prayer
Lord, may I live today in the glow of the eternal tomorrow.
https://cmalliance.org/devotionals/tozer/
Autumn winds are blowing again.
The fall of the year brings with it a world of emotions as rich and varied as the notes of an organ.
The spring is more stimulating and fuller of expectation, but there is about the fall a quiet strength which the spring lacks.
It is not a wonder that so many serious-minded people love the fall, . . . We are not much given to moralizing on natural objects, but who can fail to notice the parallel between Gods great lovely world and the little tribes of flesh and blood who inhabit it
Is it not plain that every human being runs through the same stages as the seasons
Spring, the time of childhood and youth when all the world is big with promise, a promise which the later years invariably fail to keep.
Summer, the period of full power when life multiplies and it is hard to believe that it can ever end.
Autumn, with its repose after toil, a gracious tapering off of our fuller powers, a kindly preparation for our longer rest.
Winter, when the leaves have dropped away and the last sign of life has disappeared.
Then only faith remains to assure us that there will be for us a bright tomorrow.
verse
There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven: a time to be born and a time to die . . .
— Ecclesiastes 3:1-2a
thought
As certain as the seasons of life and of nature we experience, so certain is the brightest, most glorious season of all. By faith we know it shall surely dawn in our eternal tomorrow.
prayer
Great is Your faithfulness, O God. I trust You for all the tomorrows.
https://cmalliance.org/devotionals/tozer/
Volumes could be written in praise of the Holy Bible without using one word too many.
President Woodrow Wilson once said that the Bible is a book of such importance that no one unacquainted with it can be said to be an educated man, and one who is familiar with it can be said to be uneducated.
Sir Walter Scott, when he was dying, called for the book.
A servant inquired which of his thousands of volumes he meant, and the great man replied, The Bible, of course. For a dying man there can be no other book.
Even the skeptic, George Bernard Shaw, during the last years of his life, kept a Bible near him and never traveled without carrying a copy along with him.
We should all have several Bibles: a well-bound reference Bible for study and a large-print, plain-text Bible for devotional reading.
That many at least. And if we can afford it (and we can if we will cut down somewhere else), we should have a good modern translation or two.
There are dozens of them. Their chief value is to stimulate interest by affording a change of style and to throw sidelights upon the test of the familiar King James Version.
Money invested in Bibles is money well spent.
Time spent in reading the Bible is not likely to be time wasted.
The Bible is the supreme gift for friends and loved ones.
Words spoken in favor of the Bible are good words and, if they should fall upon the right ears, might prove to be apples of gold in pictures of silver.
verse
Simon Peter answered him, 'Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.'
— John 6:68
thought
To whom shall we go? to what? From Christ come the words of life. The Bible is to be read not just randomly but systematically. Concentrated study of it, with the Spirit's illumination, opens to us words of eternal life.
prayer
May I not treat Your Word superstitiously, Lord, as if it were a fetish. May I feed upon it to receive life.
https://cmalliance.org/devotionals/tozer/
The Bible is a life-bringing and a life-giving book.
It is not primarily concerned with any department of human thought for its own sake.
If the Bible speaks about the rainbow, it is that we may be reminded of Gods covenant of mercy with mankind.
If it tells the story of Abraham, it does so that we may learn to know the place of faith in our relation to God.
If it points us to the moon and the stars, it is that we may know now frail we are.
If it talks about the birds, it is to teach us to trust our Heavenly Father without fear or doubting.
It tells us about hell not to satisfy our morbid curiosity, but that we may steer our feet far from its terrors. It tells us about heaven that we may be prepared to enter there.
It writes the history of human disgrace that we may learn the value of divine grace.
It warns in order that it may turn our feet away from the paths that go down to the path of destruction.
It rebukes in order that we may see our own faults and be delivered from them.
verse
Open my eyes that I may see wonderful things in your law.
— Psalm 119:18
thought
As we expose ourselves to it, the Bible illumines the dark corners of heart and mind. It exposes sin but reveals the way of cleansing and forgiveness. It confronts us with eternal reality but comforts and encourages. May that precious treasure be open before us rather than gathering dust on a distant bookshelf.
prayer
Open my eyes, Lord, to see the light You project from Your Word.
https://cmalliance.org/devotionals/tozer/
The Bible is unique among books, which means simply that no book has been produced just like it.
The Bible is not a book of history, though it contains much history, and all it does contain is authentic.
It is not a book of science, though all its pronouncements upon the facts usually falling into the category of science are accurate and trustworthy. It is not a book of biography, though its biographical sketches are easily the most inspiring in the world. It is not a book of philosophy, though it is the sum of all that is deep and sound philosophy.
It is not a book of astronomy, though its references to the sun and the stars rate among the loftiest sayings ever recorded. It is not a book of psychology, though its knowledge of the workings of the human mind astonishes the reader and lays bare his soul.
It is not strictly a book of theology, though it is the source of all the true theology this fallen world will ever know.
What, then, is the Bible?
It is the Book of Life.?
The words that I speak unto you, said our Lord, they are spirit, and they are life.
verse
The Spirit gives life; the flesh counts for nothing. The words I have spoken to you are spirit and they are life.
— John 6:63
thought
Christ comes to us as the bread, the food of life. His words are spirit and life. This is the meaning of the sign of the feeding of the five thousand (John 6). One way He feeds us is through His word.
prayer
O Christ, feed me!
https://cmalliance.org/devotionals/tozer/