Prodigal: I sure am wore out from all these pumpkins.
Me: You are almost done.
This comes from the book Joy n Christ’s Presence by Charles Spurgeon
Beloved, it is not always easy to get at Jesus. It is very easy to kneel down to pray, but not so easy to reach Christ in prayer. Perhaps the cries of your own child have often hindered you when you were striving to approach Jesus. Perhaps knock comes at the door when you most wish to be alone. When you are sitting in the house of God, the person seated in front of you may unconsciously distract your attention. It is not easy to draw near to Christ, especially when you come directly from your workplace with a thousand thoughts and cares about you. You cannot always unload your burdens outside and go into the sanctuary with your heart prepared to receive the Gospel.
Ah, it is a terrible fight sometimes, a real fight with evil, with temptation, and I do not know what else. But, beloved, do fight it out!
1 John 4:15
Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him and he in God.
Prodigal: I would love to sit and jaw with you, but I got to be moving on.
Me: One more think before you go, and this might help.
Prodigal:I reckon I can give you a second.
This is from the book David: A Man of Passion & Destiny by Charles Swindoll
So often, when facing our giants, we forget what we ought to remember and we remember what we ought to forget. We remember our defeats and we forget the victories. Most of us can recite the failures of our lives in vivid detail, but we’re hard-pressed to name the specific, remarkable victories God has pulled off in our past.
Focus on the victories you have had with the Lord in the past. That will help your faith during this time.
Philippians 2:1-4
So if there is any encouragement in Christ, any comfort from love, any participation in the Spirit, any affection and sympathy, complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind. Do nothing from rivalry or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others.
Of all times to have the airline lose my luggage! It was only my toiletries case with my one pair of good shoes, but of all places to wind up without them!
I’d flown out to Farmington, New Mexico, for a one-day seminar sponsored by the Southwest Christian Writer’s Association. “No one will care about your shoes,” Margaret, the group’s president, assured me.
Doubtless Margaret was right, but of all times. Even as I said it, a phrase came to mind:”……we should at all times, and in all places, give thanks unto Thee.” At all times.
We met at the First Presbyterian Church. At the seminar’s close, several writers came up to the speaker’s stand. Suddenly there was a terrifying crack. Then a woman shouted, “Lie down! Everyone!”
Two men were outside, one of them brandishing a gun. The sound of exploding glass had come from the window. Later we learned that the men had been drinking and shooting at telephone poles. From the wall beyond the speaker’s stand the police recovered the tip of an electric screwdriver fired from a homemade pistol.
While Margaret filled out the police report, the rest of us said good-bye, each no doubt recalling a step forward or a delay that had kept him or her out of the line of fire.
For my part, I was tracing a trajectory, from the window to the wall, an inch over the spot where I’d been standing. I was thinking of a pair of two-and-half inch heels in a missing bag, and echoing a prayer:” ……we should at all times, and in all places, give thanks to Thee, O Lord.”
Hebrews 11:11
By faith Sarah, herself received power to conceive, even when she was past the age, since she considered him faithful who had promised.
Prodigal: I think I will spend a couple of minutes praying before I leave.
Me: That is a great idea.
This is from the book Out Live Your Live by Max Lucado
Gracious Lord, in the Bible you are called “the One who sees me,” and I know that your eyes are always upon me to guide and protect and bless and correct. You have given me eyes too. Grant me the power to use them to truly see. Help me see those you put in my path–really see them, with all their hurts, their desires, their longings, their needs, their joys, and their challenges. As you open eyes, prompt me to open wide my arms to offer whatever help and encouragement I have to give.
In Jesus’ name I pray. amen.
Give thanks unto the Lord, call upon his name, make known his deeds among the people. Sing unto him, sing psalms unto him, talk ye of all his wondrous works.
Prodigal: Thinking about my prayers to God from the past.
Me: Great reflection
This is from J. Oswald Sanders in Robust in Faith
I asked of God that He should give success
To the high task I sought for Him to do;
I asked that every hindrance might grow less
And that my hours of weakness might be few;
I asked that far and lofty heights be scaled—
And now I humbly thank Him that I failed.
For with the pain and sorrow came to me
A dower of tenderness in act and thought;
And with the failure came a sympathy,
An insight which success had never brought.
Father, I had been foolish and unblest
If Thou hadst granted me my blind request.
Habakkuk 3:17-18
Though the fig tree should not blossom, nor fruit be on the vines, the produce of the olive fail and the fields yield no food, the flock be cut off from the fold and there be no herd in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in the LORD; I will take joy in the God of my salvation.
