Keep before me Thy great commission to “go into all the world and preach the Gospel” as a preacher . . . and teacher of the Gentiles (Mark 16:15–16). Lift up mine eyes to look on the fields white to harvest (Matt 9:37–38, John 4:35–38); let me never forget that I myself was a bondman to sin (Deut 16:12, John 8:31–36, Rom 6:16–18, 22), and remain a debtor to Greek and barbarian (Rom 1:14). Make me willing to become all things to all men, that some might be saved (1 Cor 9:22).
I have received this ministry, even as I received mercy; I did not choose Thee, Savior, but Thou me; and to this I have been ordained (2 Cor 4:1–5; John 15:16. Let me take heed to what I have received and fulfill it.
25. When the Morning Light is Dawning
1 When the morning light is dawning,
As the shadows flee away
I can hear the Master calling
To the secret place to pray.
As I enter in the stillness
And behind me shut the door
My Lord Jesus from the fullness
Of His grace gives more and more.
2 When my burdened heart is bearing
Sorrow, bitterness and pain
Or the tempter comes ensnaring
Me to fall in sin again
I find refuge, pardon, mercy
As I call on Jesu’s Name
He’ll not fail me nor forsake me—
He’ll not put my soul to shame.
3 In the day’s long, weary hours
Filled with toil and anxious care
I receive the Spirit’s power
As I raise my heart in prayer
For my great High Priest is pleading
There amid shining host
For the help my soul is needing,
Saving to the uttermost.
4 When the sun has set at evening
And my work at last is done
Once again I kneel, believing
On the Name of God’s dear Son
And I pray our heav’nly Father
For His sake will safely keep
All who in my household slumber
Through the hours of darkness deep.
5 Every morning, every evening,
Through the hours of every day,
Savior, keep me ever heeding
Thine own Word, to watch and pray:
Till at last I stand before Thee
Faultless at the throne of grace
And behold Thee in Thy glory
Safe in heaven—face to face!
8.7.8.7.D
Tune: By the Riven Rock I’m Resting
Preparatory Reading: Old Testament: Exodus 1; New Testament: Matthew 25 Psalm: 25
1 Timothy 2:8
8I will therefore that men pray every where, lifting up holy hands, without wrath and doubting.
All that is “good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth;” all the Gospel’s testimony to the “one Mediator . . . the man Christ Jesus, who gave Himself a ransom for many;” all must be effected by the ordained means of prayer (2:1,3–6). Therefore under God’s good hand to effect salvation among mankind, Paul says, I will . . . that men pray. This is more than affectionate exhortation (2:1); it is his inspired “counsel,” reflecting “all the counsel of God” revealed, and “the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God” decreed (Acts 2:21; 20:27). It is a necessary part of the plan given the apostle “in all the churches” (1 Cor 3:10–11, 4:16–17). It is integral to what he has taught the elders and saints at Ephesus as “a preacher, an apostle . . . a teacher of the Gentiles in faith and verity” (Acts 20:36; Eph 6:18). No prayer, no Christian; no prayer, no church; no prayer, no Gospel ministry; no prayer, no missions. I will therefore that men pray: The fullness of the stature of the manhood of Christ is manifest in prayer. Real men are men of God; real men know God by prayer. Jacob became as a prince of power with God as he wrestled and wept all night in prayer, till he cried at daybreak, “I will not let Thee go, except Thou bless me” (Gen 32:24–31; Hos 12:3–4). The Church’s hope for “a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty” rests on prayer; and such prayer is a man’s job. Prayer requires all a man can be and bring to it: sanctifying his resolve, tenacity, courage, forethought, energy, initiative and responsibility for Christ’s people and their households. I will therefore that men pray: what a man truly is, he is on his knees. King Solomon was never so regal as when he knelt down and spread forth his hands to dedicate the first Temple; almost all that followed that golden moment was his decline and fall (2 Ch.6:1–9:12). I will therefore that men pray everywhere: Wherever the congregation assembles, men must pray everywhere. Under any conditions, on all occasions, whatever else be lacking from the Church’s worship men are to pray. The preacher may be absent, and the sermon with him; bread and wine may fail from the Lord’s Table; perhaps no Bible is at hand to read—but in this the Church may still worship, and without this the Church does not worship—the men pray. So the Lord Christ ordains: “If two of you shall agree on earth as touching anything that they shall ask, it shall be done for them of My Father which is in heaven. For where two or three are gathered together in My Name, there am I in the midst” (Matt 18:19–20). Such worshippers the Father seeks (John 4:23–24).
26. Teach Us, Lord to Pray
1 As we wait upon Thee,
Jesus, day by day,
By Thy Word and Spirit,
“Teach us, Lord, to pray.”
For us interceding
At the Throne on high,
Savior, hear us pleading:
“Teach us” to draw nigh.
2 After Thine own manner,
“Teach us Lord, to pray:”
In Thy chosen pattern,
From our hearts to say:
“O our heavenly Father,
Hallowed be Thy Name,
All Thy kingdom gather,
All Thy will make plain.”
3 “For this day supply us
Daily bread and care;
All our sins forgive us,
As we others spare.
Keep us and deliver,
In temptation’s hour:
Thine the kingdom ever,
Glory Thine, and power!”
4 Thou hast shown our Father
Is no unjust judge;
He his needy children
Never will begrudge.
“Ask: it shall be given,
Seek and ye shall find;
Knock—the door shall open”
Is Thy promise kind.