–Proverbs 13:7 (NKJV)
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               “For the poor you have with you always, but Me you do not have always.”
                         –John 12:8 (NKJV)

               “So He called His disciples to Himself and said to them, ‘Assuredly, I say to you that this poor widow has put in more than all those who have given to the treasury.'”
                         –Mark 12:43(NKJV)

               “For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sakes He became poor, that you through His poverty might become rich.”
                         –2 Corinthians 8:9 (NKJV)

Poverty is not a lack of money!  In my experience with life, with people, with students I have seen many times the statement by Jesus in John put to use.  It is very apparent in our society today.  Foolishness abounds, folly is rampant!  In my study of Psalm 119, two things that are apparent:  the seeking of knowledge and obedience.  
       I came across a very good piece of information written by a friend of mine, Anne Landry.  She does a good job of briefly explaining poverty.  

               1)  Academic poverty — you can’t learn if you can’t be disciplined.
               2)  Emotional poverty — you feel useless, unwanted, and you have unwarranted anger.
               3)  Mental poverty — you allow the mind to become lazy and unaware of its surroundings thereby giving way to inability to think, recall and to focus.
               4)  Social poverty — you become a complainer, an agitator causing the loss of respect and friendships.  You also begin to blame others for your difficulty.
               5)  Spiritual poverty — you forget to allow God to give you what you as a child need in your life at this time.  Believing God for what you need is not just for adults.  God loves you and wants what is best for you.  He wants you to have joy and peace.

Sometimes I just have to shake my head when I see the antics of those around.  Look at the stupidity of the nonsensical talk regarding gender.  Think of the time wasted in Congress over hearings regarding the finding of aliens.  Oh, and the money wasted; they call it pork-barrel spending.  
       Paul understood what wealth, true wealth was.  He wrote to the Philippians, “Not that I speak in regard to need, for I have learned in whatever state I am, to be content:” (4:11).  Then again to Timothy, “Now godliness with contentment is great gain.” (1 Timothy 6:6, NKJV)  Rich, poor, in-between, contentment is what Paul learned.  If all you have is beans to eat, be content.  Contentment drives away the attitude of poverty.  Some, who have enough, think they need more–that is a type of poverty.
       The man who gains the whole world, but loses his soul is a poor, wretched man indeed (Matthew 16:26).  Jesus tells us, “For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. (Matthew 6:21, NKJV)  Real treasure, as well as poverty begins with the heart.  What is wealth anyway?  Paul declares that because Jesus came to us in our poverty (spiritual) we became rich when we accepted Him.  
       Sometimes, no, many times, my patience is pushed to the edge by those of foolish minds, by the “poor” who walk among us.  When I look at the foolishness presented by the media, I want first to show anger, then to cry, then pity comes forth, but then I see the realization of the truth of God’s Word.  Our riches and wealth are in Christ Jesus.  In Him, I have all I need.

                         –Zane Grey  (Captives of the Desert)

       “It is good for me that I have been afflicted, that I may learn Your statutes.”

                         –Psalm 119:71 (NKJV)
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               “We are assured and know that [God being a partner in their labor] all things work together and are [fitting into a plan] for good to and for those who love God and are called according to [His] design and purpose.”
                          –Romans 8:28(Amplified)

               “And we know that all that happens to us is working for our good if we love God and are fitting into his plans.”
                         –Romans 8:28(TLB)

Last week I wrote regarding the goodness of God; that He is good.  I want to continue in that vein this morning.  He is good!  I can’t get that out of my mind.  I am constantly saying to myself throughout the day and if I wake up at night that God is good.  He was good to me yesterday and also my yesteryears.  He is good to me today, and I know that He will be good to me tomorrow.
       I want to share some thoughts I found in reading Charles Bridges (1794-1869).  He was a very renowned minister in England and was one of the leaders of the Evangelical party in the Church of England.

               He is good–He is goodness.  Good in Himself–good in His essence–good in the highest degree.  All the names of God are comprehended in this one of Good.  All the acts of God are nothing else but the effluxes of His goodness distinguished by several names according to the object it is exercised about.  When He confers happiness without merit, it is grace.  When He bestows happiness against merit, it is mercy.  When He bears with provoking rebels, it is patience.  When He performs His promise, it is truth.  When He commiserates a distressed person, it is pity.  When He supplies an indigent person, it is bounty.  When He supports an innocent person, it is righteousness.  And when He pardons a penitent person, it is mercy.  All summed up in this one name–Goodness.  None so communicatively good as God.

       The Psalmist declares, “You are good, and do good; teach me Your statutes.” (Psalm 119:68, NKJV)  Because God is good to us we should seek to learn more of Him, of His nature, of His character, of His goodness.  Because He is good and we belong to Him, we should then seek to do good. (Matthew 5:16)  Truly, we cannot be good like the Lord, but through us people should see His goodness because we are good.
       It is because He is good that we receive His blessings.  It has nothing to do with our goodness.  He cares for us, He bestows His goodness.  When I think of His goodness I think of all the times He has cared for me; in the good and the bad, He was there and He cared and He was good.  The song by Charles Weigle comes to mind:

               “If my heart could tell a story
               If my life would sing a song
               If I have a testimony
               If I have anything at all

               No one ever cared for me like Jesus
               His faithful hand has held me all this way
               And when I’m old and grey
               And all my days are numbered on the earth
               Let it be known in you alone
               My joy was found
               Oh my joy, my joy.”

God is good–all the time.  And all the time–God is good!

                    –Zane Grey  (The Border Legion)

       “For He bruises, but He binds up; He wounds, but His hands make whole.”

                    –Job 5:18 (NKJV)
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I hope you didn’t stay in the mulligrubs from where I left off last Monday with the first part of Psalm 102.  We left in the “woes” of pain, sorrow, despair, and discomfort.  But take heart, it is in those times that we learn to pray, where we moan for the Lord to help us.  Stephen Marshall wrote, “A man that is destitute knows how to pray.  He needs not an instructor.  His miseries indoctrinate him wonderfully in the art of prayer.  Let us know ourselves destitute that we might know how to pray.”  Friend, without the Lord we are truly destitute.

          12 — But You, O LORD, shall endure forever, and the remembrance of Your name to all generations.
          13 — You will arise and have mercy on Zion; for the time to favor her, yes, the set time, has come.
          14 — For Your servants take pleasure in her stones, and show favor to her dust.
          15 — So the nations shall fear the name of the LORD, and all the kings of the earth Your glory.
          16 — For the LORD shall build up Zion; He shall appear in His glory.
          17 — He shall regard the prayer of the destitute, and shall not despise their prayer.  (NKJV)

       Right from the start, we see that the Psalmist recognized the character of God.  His greatness and mercy.  It is important in the midst of the uncertainties of the times, in the midst of our personal trials that we know–we know–that God sits on the throne.  He is working, always, and in due time He will arise to act.  This is true, not only for us as individuals, but in this case referring to Israel.
       God is a builder, but He is also a rebuilder.  Here we see that Jerusalem is in rubble, yet the people take pleasure in the stones and the dust.  How?  Why?  Because they know that God will keep His covenant.  He will rebuild Jerusalem.  John wrote, “And he carried me away in the Spirit to a great and high mountain, and showed me the great city, the holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God.” (Revelation 21:10, NKJV)
       The Lord will appear, He will reign out of the City of David, the whole earth, every country, every kingdom, every leader will bow to Him.  All will fear and show reverence to the Lord of Glory.  The prayers of the downtrodden and destitute will be answered in completeness.  But this is not only about the Millennial Reign of Christ; it is not just about the restoration of Jerusalem and Israel–it is about each of us as well.  We have walls that have crumbled in one way or another.  We cry out for the Lord to hear us.  It may be feeble, but He does hear.  He will build and rebuild our lives, but we need to cry out to Him, and even in this day, in this hour, He will not despise our prayer, but will reach down to bring us to Him.

               “Lord, teach us how to pray aright
               With reverence and with fear;
               Though weak and sinful in your sight,
               We may, we must draw near.”
                       –James Montgomery

                         –1 Peter 3:12 (NKJV)
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               “Pray without ceasing.”  –1 Thessalonians 5:17 (NKJV)
                “I desire therefore that the men pray everywhere…”  –1 Timothy 2:8 (NKJV)

Prayer, we are commanded to pray.  Prayer–it is one of our greatest weapons against the enemy.  Prayer–it is one of our greatest tools in building the Kingdom.  Prayer–we ought, we must pray for each other.  Paul said often that he mentioned others in his prayers.  It is vital we pray.  If we want fellowship (relationship) with the Lord we must pray.  The Bible is full of exhortations that we pray, and there are plenty of examples.
       For me, prayer is so hard.  I read all the books on how to pray.  A Christian should not pass through this life without reading E.M. Bounds, but then it is oh, so frustrating.  

               “Whatever affects the intensity of our prayer affects the value of our work.”
               “A lack of ardor in prayer is the sure sign of a lack of depth and of intensity of desire; and the absence of intense desire is a sure sign of God’s absence from the heart!”
               “Our prayer-chamber should have our freshest strength, our calmest time, its hours unfettered, without obtrusion, without haste.”

These are just a few quotations from the pen of the great prayer-warrior Bounds.  Bounds writes to give us encouragement, to give us direction, but when I try to pray like him, all I get is frustration and depression.  Then I think of the Lord’s Prayer (or Disciples’ Prayer if you want to be more modern).  It was very short, in fact it is really an outline of how to pray.  We praise God, acknowledge who He is and His character.  We seek His will and to do that we must have knowledge of the Scriptures.  We petition for daily needs, we ask for our sins to be forgiven and our debts, and we acknowledge that we must forgive as well.  We pray not to be led into temptation (it comes easily enough on its own).  
       Let me share with you a couple of writings regarding prayer.  I have changed the format some, but not the wording.  I hope that you can follow.  They both come from “God Is No Fool” by Lois A. Cheney.

               #1 One morning I awoke with a desire I wanted to fulfill.  It concerned a way I wanted to be.  This was a matter to lay before God.  This was a matter for prayer.  The desire was for a power and goodness, and I wanted the prayer to be right.  I would preface my request with an acknowledgement of my unworthiness.  This wasn’t false; I knew it, and God would accept it.
               All day phrases and words came to me.  My special prayer took shape.  I would set aside a time.  I would approach him in truth.  In the evening I closed myself away from others.  I read from his word.  I reviews the phrases and words of my very special prayer.  Before I got really settled down, I was flooded with the answer, and I was the way I wanted to be.  But I felt cheated.  I had wanted that moment of communication with God.  Then I thought I heard something.  “I heard you this morning.”  I think I have a lot to learn about prayer.

               #2 One morning I awoke with a desire I wanted to fulfill.  It concerned a way I wanted to be.  This was a matter to lay before God.  This was a matter for prayer.  The desire was for a power and goodness, and I wanted the prayer to be right.  I would preface my request with an acknowledgment of my unworthiness.  This wasn’t false; I knew it, and God would accept it.
               All day phrases and words escaped me.  my special prayer lay limp and wouldn’t take shape.  I would set aside a time.  I would approach him in truth.  In the evening I closed myself away from others.  I read from his word.  I fought for phrases and words–I felt embarrassed and mute.  And the world got bigger, and God got greater, and I got smaller.  Frustrated, I jerked to reality, and suddenly I was flooded with the answer, and I was the way I wanted to be.
               But I felt confused…I had wanted that moment of communication with God, but I had found myself impotent and alone.  Then I thought I heard something.  “I heard you this morning.”  I think I have a lot to learn about prayer.

       Pray without ceasing!  We pray in conversation with God.  The more of His word we have in our hearts and minds, the more easily it is to communicate with Him.  If you want a relationship it is important to realize that He is with you every step of the way and if you are walking with Him, you should be talking with Him.  When I came across the idea from Rosalind Rinker’s book about this it totally changed my prayer life.  Of course there is a time for formal prayer, there are special occasions in which we pray, but most of our prayer should simply be a conversation with the Lord, about everyday life, about whatever comes to our mind, about situations, circumstances, issues, problems, that we are facing.  One other thing I have done since I retired is to keep a “prayer calendar.”  This helps me in praying for the needs of others.
       Let me conclude this little more lengthy devotion with words that are meant for you and me today, in this hour in which we live.  They are words from Peter, “But the end of all things is at hand; therefore be serious and watchful in your prayers.” (1 Peter 4:7, NKJV)