–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)

                    –T.V. Olsen  (“They Walked Tall”)

       “It is better to hear the rebuke of the wise than for a man to hear the song of fools.”

                    –Ecclesiastes 7:5 (NKJV)
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It has often been said that “the good is the enemy of the best,” but is that always true?  It depends much upon circumstance and context and perspective.  You can never do gooder, but you can be better; neither can you be bester.  On the other hand there are so many who are satisfied with the good.  That’s why there is so much mediocrity in our society.  Why can’t a person strive to be better?  Why can’t they become the best?  There are many reasons, but one is that good is good enough.
       But what about God?  He cannot ever be better for He is already the best.  In another way, we have often heard the expression, “God is good–all the time; and all the time–God is good.”  There is nothing half-hearted with God.  There is nothing mediocre in God.  He cannot be any less and He cannot be any more–He is God.  
       In studying Psalm 119, I am seeing that the Psalmist has said that “It is good for me that I have been afflicted, that I may learn Your statutes” (119:71, NKJV).  That is so contrary to much of today’s preaching and thinking.  Affliction is good?  Read the writings of Paul and Peter and they say the same thing.  Now, let’s go on to verse 72, “The law of Your mouth is better to me…”  Affliction is good, but the law, the commandments, the Word of God is better.

               “A little that a righteous man has is better than the riches of many wicked.” (37:16, NKJV)
               “Because Your lovingkindness is better than life, my lips shall praise You.” (63:3, NKJV)
               “This also shall please the LORD better than an ox or bull, which has horns and hooves.” (69:31, NKJV)
               “For a day in Your courts is better than a thousand.  I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God than dwell in the tents of wickedness.” (84:10, NKJV)
               “It is better to trust in the LORD than to put confidence in man.”  (118:8, NKJV)
               “It is better to trust in the LORD than to put confidence in princes.” (118:9, NKJV)
               “The law of Your mouth is better to me than thousands of coins of gold and silver.” (119:72, NKJV)

       We need to be careful of our thoughts and our priorities.  I might say here, you’ll do this if you know what’s good for you.  Live for the Lord, it is better by far than anything the world has to offer.  In fact, the world is the enemy of God, so if we desire the things of the world we are degrading, not becoming better.  Better life than death, both in the physical realm and the spiritual.  
       We work as unto the Lord, therefore, we do the best we can.  We walk through this life the best we know how.  Can we do better?  Most likely, at times, but we strive to do the best, we try to better ourselves.  Contemplate the above Psalms today and throughout the week.  See what is “better.”  See how to become “better.”  Along the way, in the school of God, we get better.  The writer of the book of Hebrews said, “But, beloved, we are confident of better things concerning you, yes, things that accompany salvation, though we speak in this manner.” (6:9, NKJV)  There are “better” things that accompany salvation.  We find them as we go through the school of God and life.  Oh, and don’t forget that “obedience is better than sacrifice.” (1 Samuel 15:22, NKJV)  Have you noticed that obedience is mentioned so much in regard to true worship and life with God.  Better than sacrifice; if you love me keep my commandments–obey.