DRAWING NEAR
September 29
Praying for Others
"With all prayer and petition pray at all times in the Spirit,
and with this in view, be on the alert with all perseverance and
petition for all the saints" (Eph. 6:18).
God wants you to look beyond your own problems and pray for the needs
of others.
The great preacher D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones wrote, "Before the outbreak
of the Spanish Civil War, in Barcelona, Madrid and other places,
there were psychological clinics with large numbers of neurotics
undergoing drug treatments and others attending regularly for
psychoanalysis and such like. They had their personal problems, their
worries, their anxieties, their temptations, having to go back week
after week, month after month, to the clinics in order to be kept
going.
"Then came the Civil War; and one of the first and most striking
effects of that War was that it virtually emptied the psychological
and psychiatric clinics. These neurotic people were suddenly cured by
a greater anxiety, the anxiety about their whole position, whether
their homes would still be there, whether their husbands would still
be alive, whether their children would be killed.
"Their greater anxieties got rid of the lesser ones. In having to
give attention to the bigger problem they forgot their own personal
and somewhat petty problems" (The Christian Soldier: An Exposition of
Ephesians 6:10 to 20 [Grand Rapids: Baker, 1978], p. 357).
That's a negative illustration of a positive principle: your own
problems pale as you pray in the Spirit on behalf of others. Praying
"in the Spirit" (Eph. 6:18) is praying in concert with the Holy
Spirit--in harmony with His Person and will. It's synonymous with
praying according to God's will (1 John 5:14).
As the Holy Spirit intercedes for you (Rom. 8:26-27), you are to
intercede for others. That's not always easy in our contemporary
religious environment where self-centeredness is praised rather than
shunned, and more and more professing Christians are embracing the
health, wealth, and prosperity heresy. But God's mandate is for us to
love one another, pray for one another, and look out for one
another's interests (Phil. 2:3-4). Let that mandate govern all your
relationships.
Suggestions for Prayer:
Make a list of people you want to intercede for. Spend time
praying for each person, asking God to show you specific ways to
minister to his or her needs.
For Further Study:
Read Philippians 2:1-11.
What should be your attitude toward other believers?
How did Christ set an example of proper attitudes?
Drawing Near, Copyright 1993 John F. MacArthur, Jr.
All rights reserved. Used by permission.
http://www.gty.org
~~~
1 John 5:14
14 This is the confidence which we have before Him, that, if we ask
anything according to His will, He hears us.
Romans 8:26-27
26 In the same way the Spirit also helps our weakness; for we do not
know how to pray as we should, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for
us with groanings too deep for words;
27 and He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit
is, because He intercedes for the saints according to the will of
God.
Philippians 2:1-11
2:1 Therefore if there is any encouragement in Christ, if there is
any consolation of love, if there is any fellowship of the Spirit, if
any affection and compassion,
2 make my joy complete by being of the same mind, maintaining the
same love, united in spirit, intent on one purpose.
3 Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of
mind regard one another as more important than yourselves;
4 do not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also
for the interests of others.
5 Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus,
6 who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard
equality with God a thing to be grasped,
7 but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being
made in the likeness of men.
8 Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming
obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.
9 For this reason also, God highly exalted Him, and bestowed on Him
the name which is above every name,
10 so that at the name of Jesus EVERY KNEE WILL BOW, of those who
are in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
11 and that every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to
the glory of God the Father.
~~~
These devotions are posted with permission from John MacArthur's
first (1993) devotional work, _Drawing Near_, and they are also sent
out daily for free to several folks via e-mail.
In addition, John's second (1997) devotional, _Strength for Today_,
is also available free via e-mail only. _Strength for Today_ follows
the same format as what you have seen here from _Drawing Near_, but
with different monthly themes.
If you would like to receive daily devotions via e-mail from either
of these series, just let me know (via e-mail), and I will gladly add
you to the list(s) of your choice.
You can hear John MacArthur daily via the Internet by visiting:
http://www2.oneplace.com/Ministries/Grace_to_You/
and
http://www.gty.org.uk/
You may email John MacArthur in care of Grace to You at:
letters@gty.org
NOTE for those of you reading via newsgroups: If you wish to reach
me, please contact me via e-mail for quickest results.
In Christ,
Peter
Peter G. Chase :: Columbus, Ohio, USA
pchase1@wideopenwest.com
STOP! Who do you think Jesus Is?
http://www.gty.org/Gospel
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To forgive is to set a prisoner free, and to discover that the prisoner was you. -Alistair Begg
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