Category Archives: Prayer

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Perpetual Prayers

Pray Constantly

A healthy pastor’s prayer life is one that is faithful to the “New Testament Adverbs of Devoted Prayer”: he prays constantly (Rom. 12:12), persistently (Eph. 6:18), steadfastly (Col. 4:2), and unceasingly (1 Thess. 5:17).

If you are anything like me it’s easy to consume your prayer time with immediate needs. These are things for which you depend on God alone, but are also somewhat passing in nature. Maybe it’s the health of a church member, an upcoming decision in leadership, or the lifting up of requests you’ve received. There is a danger, I think, in letting the temporal matters dominate your prayer life. It makes it all the more harder to exhaust the soul in the kind of prayer Jesus advocates for in the Parable of the Persistent Widow.

We would do well to have a list of things to “always to pray and not lose heart.” Every pastor would benefit from making his own list, but to help you along the way, here are seven items that make up the “Perpetual Prayer” category in my prayer list.

7 PERPETUAL PRAYERS

Love. It all begins here doesn’t it? “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself” (Luke 10:27) Furthermore, above all the individual parts of godliness we are to “put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony” (Col. 3:14). I pray for God to increase my love for His glory more than my own, for the sacrificial love for my wife to which I am called, the tender love of a Daddy for his children, and that our church would make good on John 13:15, “By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”

Faith. We live by faith and not by sight, but oh how I desperately want to often see. It’s therefore quite normal for me to channel my inner Peter and cry, “Lord, help my unbelief!” I pray that He would give me faith to move mountains, that our church would be a community vibrant and in faith, and that God would bring many people faith through our ministry of preaching the word. “How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? And how are they to preach unless they are sent? . . . So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ” (Rom. 10:14-15, 17).

Sound Doctrine. The truth of Scripture, illuminated by the Spirit, is the ordinary way in which God sanctifies His people (John 17:17). I want to always be “increasing in the knowledge of God” (Col. 1:11) and thus enabled more and more to wield the “sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God” (Eph. 6:17). I long to be a pastor who is faithful to “teach what accords with sound doctrine” (Tit. 2:1) and that our church would not perish because we have so deeply loved the truth (2 Thess. 2:10). I also pray for my wife and young boys to cherish the words of God and to feast daily upon them for nourishment and life.

Wisdom. To be honest, I’m not sure I prayed much for wisdom before we planted IDC. But every since the church began my immediate response when members ask how they can pray for me is, “For God to give me wisdom.” Everyday I feel like Solomon in 1 King 3:8-9 when he says to God, “Your servant is in the midst of your people whom you have chosen, a great people, too many to be numbered or counted for multitude. Give your servant therefore an understanding mind to govern your people, that I may discern between good and evil, for who is able to govern this your great people?” Left to my own designs I will make a wreck of my home and church. But if God would increase my fear of Him, that would would be the beginning on immovable wisdom (Prov. 1:7, 9:10).

Holiness. I want to be holy as He is holy (1 Pet. 1:16), and I must be. I need to strive for that “holiness without which no one will see the Lord” (Heb. 12:14). I echo so many towering pastors of old in the belief I have no reason to expect my family’s and church’s holiness to rise above my own. May the Lord conform me increasingly and supernaturally to the image of Christ (Rom. 8:29)! I long for a growing distaste of the word and a sweeter savor of Christlikeness. I pray that God would make our church into the “holy nation” that it is (1 Pet. 2:9). May the Spirit move in my family to help us love nothing more than to please God and so experience His happiness through holiness.

Unity. Aside from the prayers for wisdom, few items more dominate my petitions for our congregation as this one. “Behold, how good and pleasant it is when brothers dwell in unity!” (Psa. 133:1) I pray our church would reflect to glorious unity of the Triune God as we “maintain the spirit of unity in the bonds of peace” (Eph. 4:3). I hope we would increasingly lay aside secondary and tertiary preferences for the sake of unity in the gospel. May we be one even as the Godhead is one (John 17:20-22). I want this unity to permeate my “little church” as well, that our home would be one of joyful harmony in the Spirit.

Evangelism. I must do this work (2 Tim. 4:5) and we – as a home and church – must do this work as well (Matt. 28:18-20). I pray he gives us all confidence and courage in the gospel, “for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes” (Rom. 1:16). I want to be ready in season and out of season (2 Tim. 4:2) with the words of life. I pray He would make me – and us – not only faithful in evangelism, but fruitful in evangelism as well. He “desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth” (1 Tim. 2:4) and so want the faith to expect Him to fulfill this desire through our collective faithfulness in evangelism. There is always an familial accent on this point as our children are all young and, as best we can tell, unconverted. May God give me winsome boldness and may He raise their dead hearts.

UNTIL DEATH OR GLORY

I love these seven prayer categories. Until I die or Jesus returns these prayers will necessarily need to occupy a perpetual place in my ministry.

What other ones would you add?

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Pastors Need Prayer

john-newton

John Newton is a pastoral counselor par excellence. One only needs to read his letters to see uncommon wisdom and skill in using the balm of Scripture.

Preachers all across the world will ascend to the sacred desk this morning and will plead with people to cling to Christ. Their pleading will need power. An old letter from Newton humbly captures this posture we ought to always have when preaching:

I trust I have a remembrance in your prayers. I need them much: my service is great.

It is, indeed, no small thing to stand between God and the people, to divide the word of truth aright, to give every one portion, to withstand the counter tides of opposition and popularity, and to press those truths upon others, the power of which, I, at times, feel so little of in my own soul. A cold, corrupt heart is uncomfortable company in the pulpit.

Yet in the midst of all my fears and unworthiness, I am enabled to cleave to the promise, and to rely on the power of the great Redeemer.

I know I am engaged in the cause against which the gates of hell cannot prevail. If He died and rose again, if He ever lives to make intercession, there must be safety under the shadow of his wings: there would I lie.

In his name I would lift up my banner; in his strength I would go forth, do what He enables me, then take shame to myself that I can do no better, and put my hand upon my mouth, confessing that I am dust and ashes—less than the least of all his mercies.

May preachers all across the world preach today in such prayerful dependence.

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14 Prayers for Godliness

Pray Persistently

For well over a year Willem Teellinck’s The Path of True Godliness sat patiently on my shelf waiting to be read. Earlier this week Teellinck’s treatise finally got the nod and so far the book is outstanding.

In his introduction to Teellinck’s life and ministry Joel Beeke writes, “People were drawn to his ministry by his sincere conversation and preaching, faithful visiting and catechizing, godly walk and selfless demeanor, and simple practical writings. He demonstrated the conviction that a pastor ought to be the godliest person in the congregation.” That final sentence resonates with me:

“The pastor ought to be the godliest person in the congregation.”

HOLY ASPIRATION

I don’t worry so much about whether or not the pastor is the godliest person in the congregation, but if he aspires and strives for supreme holiness in all things. As M’Cheyne famously said, “A holy minister is an awful weapon in the hands of the Lord.” I so desperately want to be an sharp sword or pointed arrow with which God assaults his vaunted foes fortress of darkness.

An ordinary overflow of that aspiration should be a life of prayerful pleading for God to increase one’s holiness. I am therefore always on the lookout for anything that provides new and specific fervor to my prayers for holiness. Teellinck’s book has already given me a plethora of new points in my prayers for godliness.

In “Book 1” he gives fourteen aspects of godliness’ true character. Simple, yet profound, these point were great encouragements to me, so I ended up personalizing them into items of prayer. Maybe they will be of help for your ministry and life of prayer.

PRAYING FOR GODLINESS

  1. Help me to increasingly believe in You and Your Son; to fear You, love You, and cling to You.
  2. Compel me to pray persistently, read Your Word diligently, to meditate on it, to keep it in my heart, to speak about it, and to glorify You and praise You in song.
  3. Make me meek and patient in everything You have me do.
  4. Let me remember and keep your holy day of rest.
  5. May I love the regular assembling of Your church.
  6. Give me a heart for the concerns and causes of Your people.
  7. Let my heart be one of humility, one that mourns for not only my own sins but also for those of the nation and to rejoice greatly we Your Spirit moves in powerful progress.
  8. Guide me to show love to my neighbors, to support the needy, visit the sick and prisoners.
  9. May I not return evil for evil, but do good to those who cause me grief and bless those who curse me.
  10. Make me humble, modest, pure, wise, and sincere in all manner of life.
  11. Help me be diligent, prudent, and upright in the pursuit of my calling.
  12. May my words be seasoned with salt, ones that defend the innocent, and may I always shame and despise an evil tongue.
  13. Fill my heart with many holy desires, give me hunger and thirst for righteousness, and long for the Spirit’s gifts.
  14. In short, may I practice “whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, [help me] think about these things.”
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A Place to Pray

Pray Persistently

The real estate agent’s mantra of, “Location, location, location,” has an unexpected correlation to the pastor’s life of prayer. For when it comes to extended times in private prayer, location is everything.

And we know this because of our Lord’s practice.

JESUS AT PRAYER

The gospels bear witness not only to Christ’s commitment in prayer, but also how Jesus went about devoting himself to pray. And one common theme is His departure to a quiet place for the purpose of prayer:

  • “And when it was day, he departed and went into a desolate place.” – Luke 4:42
  • “In these days he went out to the mountain to pray, and all night he continued in prayer to God.” – Luke 6:12
  • “And he came out and went, as was his custom, to the Mount of Olives [to pray].” Luke 22:39
  • “And rising very early in the morning, while it was still dark, he departed and went out to a desolate place, and there he prayed.” – Mark 1:35
  • “Jesus withdrew again to the mountain by himself.” – John 6:15

As under-shepherds who are to model their ministry after the True Shepherd, we pastors need to make extended prayer an increasingly normal part of our work. But if we are ever to persevere in this labor we need to each find a regular place for what the old divines called “closet prayer.”

FIND A CLOSET

Thomas Brooks, in his gem entitled The Secret Key to Heaven: The Vital Importance of Private Prayer, says, “Christ choosing solitude for private prayer, doth not only hint to us the danger of distraction and deviation of thoughts in prayer, but how necessary it is for us to choose the most convenient places we can for private prayer. Our own fickleness and Satan’s restlessness call upon us to get into such places where we may freely pour out our soul into the bosom of God [Mark 1.35].”

When I first read Brooks’ book a few years ago one of the first changes I made was to find a dark and quiet place to pray each day. The church I was serving at back then was replete with classrooms that fit the criteria for solitude in prayer. Unfortunately, about nine months later we left to plant a church, a church with no building or office space. My greatest fear, seriously, about planting our church was, “Where I am going to pray in solitude now?” Well, I took the old Nonconformists literally and decided to go into the closet. And I now have a new found love for walk-in closets. Once the door is closed and my ear buds are playing sound deafening white noise I know I have arrived to my desolate place.

And then I am able to get down to the business of extended closet prayer without worldly distractions and interruptions. I very much feel the health of my ministry depends on such time. When I find discouragement and lethargy reigns in my pastoring I can be sure I haven’t darkened the closet door as I ought.

Do you have a place of solitude for extended prayer? If not, consider a closet. Opportunities for persistent prayer awaits.

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Preachers Need Prayers

Resound Slider NT

In Ephesians 6:19-20 Paul says, “[Pray] also for me, that words may be given to me in opening my mouth boldly to proclaim the mystery of the gospel,for which I am an ambassador in chains, that I may declare it boldly, as I ought to speak.”

He is in chains in a Roman prison at this time, thus it’s interesting to note he doesn’t ask the Ephesians to pray for his release. Rather, he asks them to pray for him to boldly preach the gospel. Are you in a time of suffering and hardship? It’s not wrong to ask for God to release you from your trial, but don’t forget to ask God to empower you to proclaim the gospel boldly in your suffering. Your chains, like Paul’s, just might be the very vehicles God has ordained for sinners to come to faith in His Son.

WHAT PREACHING MUST BE

If ever there was an illuminating and pointed truth on preaching, it’s Ephesians 6:20. For here we see apostolic teaching on what preaching must be. I wonder what adjectives you want to attach to preaching? Complete this sentence, “I look for preaching that is __________.” What came to mind? Preaching that is short, entertaining, compelling, funny? Or do you, like Paul, long for preaching that is bold. The preaching of the Gospel is the means by which God awakens dead sinners, assaults the kingdom of Satan, and establishes the kingdom of His Son. Such bold preaching will always need prayer. Alistair Begg, a master of boldly proclaiming the mystery of the gospel, said, “The devil is unafraid of prayerless proclamation.” Can God use preaching not saturated with prayer? Sure. But we have no reason to expect He will.

THE FURNACE ROOM

In the latter half of the 19th century five young college students were waiting to hear the great Charles Spurgeon preach when a man walked up and asked, “Gentlemen, let me show you around. Would you like to see the furnace room of this church?” They were not particularly interested, for it was a hot day in July. But they didn’t want to offend the stranger, so they consented. The young men were taken down a stairway, a door was quietly opened, and their guide whispered, “This is our furnace room.” Surprised, the students saw 700 people bowed in prayer, seeking a blessing on the service that was soon to begin in the auditorium above. Softly closing the door, the gentleman then introduced himself. It was none other than Charles Spurgeon.

He was the Prince of Preachers because his people were mighty in praying for his preaching.

Look anywhere in church history and you’ll see behind every powerful preacher is a prayerful people. Do you pray specifically for the preaching ministry of your church? I believe with my whole heart that the power of your church’s pulpit will advance only as far as your prayers for it.

A few weeks ago at IDC we began an informal meeting from 4:30-4:45 to pray for the night’s sermon and preacher. I like to think of it as our own little furnace room. And I take it to be no mere coincidence that after our first Furnace Room gathering a brother in our church, who aspires to pastoral ministry, preached a sermon that was received with unusual force in the congregation.

Preachers need the prayers of their people. Pastor, how can you build a culture in your church where preachers are regularly lifted up in prayer?

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Helping Your Church to Pray

A Praying Church

What is the most common ministry priority that a pastor neglects? Last week wise Mr. Croft answered, “More than any other aspect of a pastor’s calling, prayer is the most difficult to maintain.”

It surely is no stretch to say the same thing is the true of most churches. The most neglected ordinary posture of Christian obedience has to be prayer, doesn’t it? Thabiti Anyabwile once wrote, “I can’t think of a single Christian I’ve met who did not believe that prayer is important, and not only important but a vital part of the Christian life. . . . But despite its universally accepted status, prayer remains for many Christians a difficult task, a duty without joy and sometimes seemingly without effect. Christians may waver between the poles of neglect and frustration when it comes to prayer.”

I want to think today about that first pole of prayer on which so many churches and their members stand: the pole of neglect.

A HOUSE OF PRAYER

We planted IDC with four distinct things we wanted to be true of our church. Things that would be palpably present in our life together, so much so a guest would quickly recognize them. One of those things is that we would be a praying church. Why? First, a rich prayer life would point towards growing dependence on and obedience to God. Additionally, it would also reflect the clear biblical distinction that God’s people are a praying people and His house is one of prayer.

Such sentiment is all fine and dandy, and even can sound compelling on a website, but if it isn’t a reality it’s all empty hope. So we had to consider what things could we do to see prayer permeate the life of our body. What things would help us veer away from neglecting prayer?

Here are nine ways we are trying to answer that question. I hope some of them will stir you up to consider the place of prayer in your church.

9 WAYS TO PROMOTE PRAYER IN A LOCAL CHURCH

Be a praying pastor.In many ways, it all starts here. Praying churches must have a praying pastor. Just as the holiness of the church will rarely exceed the holiness of their pastor, so too will the prayer life of the church have a clear link to the pastor’s prayer life.

Be praying elders.Every installed elder is called to the ministry of word and prayer, so the collective elder body ought to a be band of praying brothers. One way we try to encourage this at IDC is to have one elders’ meeting each month be largely dedicated to praying for individual church members and pressing issues. If a church member was a fly on the wall in our elders meetings I would want him or her to say, “Wow, they pray a lot.”

Teach on prayer. Christlikeness is caught and taught, and prayer seems to be a discipline most consistently caught. But we still must teach on it. We need to give our members biblical categories to understanding what they are catching with the soul’s glove. One thing I’ve done is set aside a week each year to preach on prayer. Sure, that’s not a lot, but oh how I trust it will bear fruit in the long run. Furthermore, the pulpit isn’t the only vehicle for teaching on prayer. Which leads to the fourth point.

Infuse your corporate gatherings with prayer. Do you pray, and pray often, in your church’s weekly worship gathering? Let your gatherings abound in prayer, and prayers of all kinds: praise, confession, petition, and thanksgiving. In addition to shorter times for prayers of praise, confession, and illumination we have an extended time each week for a pastoral prayer. I stand up in front of the congregation and pray for 6-7 minutes, asking the Lord to meet us in our need and send His gospel to the ends of the earth. I always preface that time of prayer by explaining (teaching) why we would do such an odd thing – odd according to our culture at least. Guests regularly say they were struck by how much we pray in our gatherings. Make no mistake, some of them don’t like it all that much. But that’s ok, we are a peculiar praying people.

Have a monthly prayer meeting. The prayer meeting has fallen on hard times, but I long to see it return to prominent place in the American church. On the third Monday night of each month our church gathers to pray for an hour and fifteen minutes, and oh how I wish you could see the Spirit breathe life into our midst through these meetings. We are careful not to let this just become yet another church gathering that occupies our people’s time. So we encourage small groups to consider taking a break from their normal meeting time to join with us for prayer night. For those families with young children who have difficulty staying up for the prayer night, we simply encourage one of the spouses to come for prayer.

Pray regularly in discipleship gatherings. In one-on-one discipling relationships, as well as in men’s and women’s gatherings, we want prayer to have a regular place. This helps us be faithful to the biblical exhortations to cultivate a ceaselessly praying spirit.

Encourage your church members to pray through a membership directory.We give our members an old-school pictorial directory and exhort them to pray through the entire directory once a month. Not only will such prayer aid the church’s unity, it will also discipline members in the work of intercessory prayer.

Have a dedicated time to pray for the preacher and the sermon.Now, this practice is brand new, only a week old in fact. Last week I was reading Spurgeon’s An All-Round Ministry where the Prince recounted a conversation with another pastor on the matter of encouraging his church in prayer. This pastor said,

I cannot get the people to pray. The bulk of them have not been in the habit of taking public part in the prayers, and it seems impossible to get them to do so. What shall I do?

Spurgeon replied,

‘It may help you if you call in your church-officers on Sunday mornings, before the service, and ask them to pray for you, as my deacons and elders do for me. My officers know what a trembling creature I am; and when I ask them to seek strength for me, they do so with loving hearts.’ Don’t you think that such exercises tend to train men in the art of public prayer? Besides, men are likely to hear better when they have prayed for the preacher. Oh, to get around us a band of men whose hearts the Lord has touched! If we have a holy people about us, we shall be the better able to preach. Tell me not of a marble pulpit; this is a golden pulpit.

I read that, emailed it to our elders, and we decided to start setting aside a fifteen-minute period before the corporate gathering to pray for the night’s preaching. I then invited a group of people we thought would be interested and able in joining the endeavor. Over fifteen people gathered (a great number for the size of our church) to pray, and how wonderful it was! I hope to see this grow and set our church aflame through the word and prayer.

ONE SIZE DOESN’T FIT ALL

We are by no means perfect in any of these areas, nor in our aim to be a praying church. But we are trying. And these eight areas have already brought tangible fruit in our church’s life of prayer. So take whatever might fit your church body, apply it with faith and love, and labor to be a praying church.

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A Week to Wield

Pray, Meet, Read

As best I can tell, I usually spend about 25 hours a week in preparing a sermon. And this week is one in which I am not scheduled to preach.

I am thus left to consider how to best wield those 25 hours as a weapon for God’s glory. The normal battle plan on weeks like these is to deploy three regiments named Pray, Meet, and Read.

THE TEMPTER TALKS

I have discovered that Satan loves to scheme in two particular – and paradoxical – areas on the weeks when I don’t preach. First, he tempts unto laziness. “Take a break. Indulge yourself and have a rest,” he says. It is true that I must find ways to rest this week so my soul can be sustained over the long-haul. But the Worm’s deceitful distortion is to turn Sabbath-like rest into slothfulness.

Second, and here’s where the paradox comes in, he tempts unto labor. “Get everything done that you’ve placed on the back burner. Redo the church website. Finish the first draft of that book. Edit that research paper for seminary. Complete Bavinck’s fourth volume in Reformed Dogmatics. And, oh yeah, repair the fence while your at it.” There is a very real temptation to take all this extra time, pour my energy out in labor, only to find myself completely spent and disillusioned when the next week begins.

Sometimes the temptation flies from one area more than the other, but many weeks I find the snares to be dialectically tense; it seems like his fiery darts of laziness and labor come simultaneously.

So what is a pastor to do?

3 WAYS TO MAXIMIZE YOUR TIME OUT OF THE PULPIT

Pastors are stewards, and “it is required of stewards that they be found faithful.” Stewardship means faithfulness in the ministry of word, prayer, and care. Thus, on weeks out of the pulpit I want to labor diligently in those three areas of faithfulness. Hence the deployment of Pray, Meet, Read.

Pray.I try to use the extra hours on hand for extended prayer on particular issues. I delineate a few things pressing in life and ministry, carve out time for the prayer closest, and then try to take hold of God in those areas. For example, I aim aiming to “get through” to God on the future leaders of IDC, future location of IDC, and cultivation of godliness in my young boys.

Meet. In the days leading up to my “off” week I purpose to schedule 6-10 different meetings with people in our church. This is on top of the regularly recurring church meetings and discipleship gatherings. Usually, I meet with members I just want to connect with or members whom I need to speak with about something upcoming in the life of our church. I have meetings this week with almost all our small group leaders to talk about a small adjustment we are making to group life this fall.

Read. Finally, I select a couple of books that I want to plow through over the course of five days. These are books that either speak to a theological issue needing attention in my ministry, an upcoming sermon series, or are ones I trust will simply fuel joy and maturity in ministry. I have four books on tap this week:

RESTING BY WORKING

As I fix my eyes on the week ahead, I expect the Serpent’s paradoxical temptations to laziness and labor to be constantly present. So I combat it with a paradox of my own: resting by working. Remember, this isn’t a sabbatical or vacation. Although I am not preaching, I am still working. And so  I confront the snares named Laziness and Labor with “Pray, Meet, Read.” Not only do these three areas summarize faithful ministry, they also are the ways in which I ordinarily best rest. Communion with God and His people refuel my soul, and so I pour my energy into them to get His energy from them.

Maybe there are other ways that you can rest in the work. Find them. Hone them. Then wield them the next time you are scheduled to be out of the pulpit.

Prayer is the principal work of a minister and it is by this he must carry on the rest. – Thomas Hooker

Prayerlessness is the most subtle disclosure of our independence from God and is our depraved heart’s declaration of sovereignty. – Paul Tautges

Teach them to Pray , 33.
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A Double Portion for Your Hearers

When The Seats Are Empty
A few weeks ago I mentioned how faithful attendance to their church’s corporate gathering is the most powerful, yet least talked about, way church members can encourage their pastor.

Yet, as every pastor knows, there are two menacing enemies to such encouragement; one is named Summer, and that other goes by the moniker of Holiday.

We know the feeling full well. The school year ends and it’s not uncommon to find the chairs or pews a bit less full in the warm months of the year. Or a national holiday decides to land on a Saturday or Sunday and your flock scatters to four winds of family, fun, vacation, and party.

Summer and Holiday can steal the joy of any preacher.

But they need not succeed in such thievery.

A DOUBLE PORTION OF BLESSING

Earlier this week I listened to an old Piper sermon on Charles Simeon and came across the best way to combat the blues preachers often feel when Summer and Holiday decide to show up.

Simeon face peculiar opposition for much of his ministry. As a way to protest his appointment at Trinity Church the church locked the pew doors on Sunday mornings. The pewholders refused to come and refused to let others sit in their personal pews. Simeon set up seats in the aisles and nooks and corners at his own expense. But the churchwardens took them out and threw them in the churchyard.

This happened for over ten years. And here’s what Simeon said about such discouragement,

In this state of things I saw no remedy but faith and patience. The passage of Scripture which subdued and controlled my mind was this, ‘The servant of the Lord must not strive.’ It was painful indeed to see the church, with the exception of the aisles, almost forsaken; but I thought that if God would only give a double blessing to the congregation that did attend, there would on the whole be as much good done as if the congregation were doubled and the blessing limited to only half the amount. This comforted me many, many times, when, without such a reflection, I should have sunk under my burden. (Moule, 39)

SIMEON’S WISDOM FOR TODAY

The next time time Summer and Holiday creep up on you let Simeon’s wisdom drive you to pray for God to give a double blessing to the congregation that does attend. Who knows? Maybe, in His abounding kindness, there will be as much good done as if the congregation were doubled and the blessing limited to only half the amount.