PLUS

Acts 6:4 “But we will give ourselves continually to prayer, and to the ministry of the word.”

Charles Surgeon said the following about prayer:

“I would rather teach one man to pray than ten men to preach.”
“He who ploughs not in his closet will never reap in his pulpit.”

Prayer is a necessary prerequisite for power in the Christian life. Absent a hefty investment in prayer, our returns will be miniscule. Our time in prayer is more important than our time in preparation; in fact, it is a fundamental part of preparation. Absent time in prayer, our preparation will be inadequate and incomplete. Without time in prayer, even something as divine as preaching the gospel will fall flat.

Without time in prayer, we won’t see revival and repentance in our nation. Without time in prayer, we have no hope in returning America to its biblical foundation. Without time in prayer, we won’t see favorable rulings from our courts, favorable laws from our legislatures, or favorable actions from our executives. Without time in prayer, we won’t see meaningful results in any of our ministries.

PLEASE INSURE THAT PRAYER IS PART OF OUR PREPARATION FOR ALL THINGS. As we preach to our nation and its leaders through our words, our actions, and our votes, do we have divine power? We won’t if we don’t give ourselves continually to prayer.

Matthew 11:29-30 “Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”

Charles Spurgeon finished his last message (see the prior post) with the following:

“There never was his like among the choicest of princes. He is always to be found in the thickest part of the battle. When the wind blows cold he always takes the bleak side of the hill. The heaviest end of the cross lies ever on his shoulders. If he bids us carry a burden, he carries it also. If there is anything that is gracious, generous, kind, and tender, yea lavish and superabundant in love, you always find it in him. These 40 years and more have I served him, blessed be his name! and I have had nothing but love from him. I would be glad to continue yet another 40 years in the same dear service here below if so it pleased him. His service is life, peace, joy. Oh, that you would enter on it at once! God help you to enlist under the banner of Jesus even this day! Amen.”

We are given the opportunity to serve the choicest of princes, one who volunteers to carry the heaviest of loads. His yoke is easy, and His burden is light.

American Christians are in a thick battle for our nation. Christ offers to serve in the thickest part of the battle. American Christians are facing the stiff wind of resistance. Christ offers to serve on the windward side of the hill. American Christians are carrying a weighty burden. Christ offers to carry the heaviest part of our load. Why would we not take His yoke upon us?

PLEASE PRAY FOR AMERICAN CHRISTIANS TO TURN TO CHRIST TO CARRY THE HEAVIEST BURDENS OF OUR STRUGGLES. Christ stands ready to serve in the thickest part of the battle. We are foolish to fight on without Him.

Matthew 11:28 “Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.”

Charles Spurgeon, the Prince of Preachers, preached his last message on June 7^th, 1891. Illness would keep him out of the pulpit until his death a few months later. Though he didn’t know it at the time, he would close his entire preaching life with the following poignant thoughts (continued in the next post):

“Those who have no master are slaves to themselves. Depend upon it, you will either serve Satan or Christ, either self or the Saviour. You will find sin, self, Satan, and the world to be hard masters; but if you wear the livery of Christ, you will find him so meek and lowly of heart that you will find rest unto your souls. He is the most magnanimous of captains.”

Life can be hard, our burdens weighty, and our path arduous. As we plow through the challenges of life, we face stiff resistance and strong toil. Yet, we were never designed to struggle alone; similarly, our nation was never designed to struggle alone. God allows us to let him do the heavy lifting.

There is indeed heavy lifting to be done, in our lives and in our nation. In the name of pride and enlightenment, we have chosen to bear the burdens alone. Instead of being servants of a God who can shoulder our heavy-laden loads, we have become slaves to sin, self, Satan, and the world. All have revealed themselves to be hard masters, yet we plow on in our own strength with determination, defiance, and self-will.

We must step back and realize that in our self-sufficiency we are still serving a master, one requiring far more toil and drudgery than Christ with no results other than restlessness. PLEASE TURN TO GOD IN PRAYER TO BEAR OUR INDIVIDUAL AND NATIONAL BURDENS. Otherwise, we will continue serving a hard master instead of a magnanimous captain.

Colossians 1:9 “For this cause we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you, and to desire that ye might be filled with the knowledge of his will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding.”

Dr. Daniel Kim, long term pastor of Bible Baptist Church in Seoul Korea, said the following:

“How can I say ‘I love you’ and not pray for you?”

Great truth is contained in that short rhetorical question. If you are burdened for someone, then you will naturally pray for him. If you are troubled by something, then you will naturally pray for it. If your heart is touched by someone, then you will naturally pray for him. Prayer is an indication of your affection; it reveals the inclination of your heart.

Similarly, how can we say we love our country and not pray for it? If we are truly burdened for our nation, then we will naturally pray for it. If we are truly troubled by the direction of our nation, then we will naturally pray for it. If our heart is touched by our nation’s need for revival, then we will naturally pray for it. If we don’t pray, then we neither care for it nor do we love it.

There are several Christians who say they are burdened for our nation, troubled by the direction of our nation, and touched by our need for revival. Our prayer life belies a true passion about these issues.

PLEASE DEMONSTRATE YOUR LOVE FOR OUR NATION BY PRAYING FOR IT. Where are the Christians who would pray for America? We need them! We need Christians to pray for it.   Otherwise, how can we say that we love it?

REMINDER ABOUT THE PURPOSE OF PLUS: The PLUS ministry is all about getting people to pray as they should. Prayer for our nation and its leaders is the least you should do and the most you can do to make an impact. It is the most basic act of fulfilling our Christian citizenship responsibility. Use the PLUS website if it is helpful; use the PLUS social media tools if they are helpful; set your alarm to remind you if you must. Most importantly, put PLUS into practice by praying. Be burdened to pray for America and her leaders, and spread that burden to others by challenging them to pray as well. If we are to have hope that this nation will return to its Bible-based foundation, then we all must pray!

James 4:2-3 “Ye lust, and have not: ye kill, and desire to have, and cannot obtain: ye fight and war, yet ye have not, because ye ask not. Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts.”

Evangelist and pastor RA Torrey said the following:

“We are too busy to pray, and so we are too busy to have power. We have a great deal of activity, but we accomplish little; many services but few conversions; much machinery but few results.”

American Christians need God’s power. We need activity that yields accomplishment. We need services that yield conversions. We need machinery that yields results.

Instead we lack power. We are active without accomplishment. We have services without conversions. We attend to machinery without results.

We are too busy to pray, and wonder why we lack power and accomplishment, conversions and results. We are perplexed, though the formula is simple … pray! Pray regularly and fervently. Ask often for God’s power. Prayer is a far better use of our time than relying on ourselves for meaningful results.

PLEASE MAKE THE WISEST USE OF YOUR TIME BY PRAYING REGULARLY AND FERVENTLY FOR GOD’S POWER. If we are too busy for prayer, then we are too busy for power. Our busyness will self-perpetuate activity and self-prevent accomplishment.

NOTE: Please share the PLUS ministry and the need to pray for our nation and its leaders with others. We must spread the message that the power to change our country comes from stepping aside from life’s busyness to beg for God’s power.