ANSWERED PRAYER

I Kings 18:37; Psalm 91:15; Luke 11:9

Prayer should be an important element in our life. I do believe that those that pray regularly see their prayers answered. When all others around us are discouraged and turning their back on God, prayer warriors are sorely needed.

Elijah was a prayer warrior. God strengthened him for what God needed him to do. His prayer was not loud and boisterous nor self-centered. It was simply sent through heavens gates to touch the ear of God almighty. It was a simple request for the demonstration of God’s great and mighty power in consuming a water drenched sacrifice offered to God. Such a simple prayer. “Hear me, O LORD, hear me, that this people may know that thou art the LORD God, and that thou hast turned their heart back again.”

Would it not be wonderful to hear this prayer offered of an evening to God that this day, may the hearts of the people be turned back to God? Notice how he phrased his prayer to God. He got God’s attention – “Hear me, O LORD, hear me.” I may be downstairs in my study and my wife upstairs and she wants my attention and she calls, “HEY”.

Notice the plea or request that Elijah has for the LORD. “that this people may know that thou art the LORD God”. This very first request was for the honor and glory of God. We must get this idea in our mind, our reason for being here, our purpose in life is to honor and glorify God.

The second request is “that thou hast turned their heart back again.” That is our quest today. We need to pray that God will use us to reach out to those that have strayed from God and turn their hearts back to Him. Here is the sequence that I see here. Hold God up to unbelievers. Serve God by drawing those that stray back to the fold.

God has made a promise to us.Psalm 91:15 “He shall call upon me, and I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble; I will deliver him, and honour him.”

When we make the Lord our habitation, our dwelling place and continually turn to Him, we find that he knows us. We become familiar because He is our heavenly father and desires to cover us with His wings according to Psalm 91:4 Psalm. 91:11 speaks of His angels he has charged to keep us in our ways. We see He answers our call to Him. He is concerned for us. His promise is to be with us in trouble. He has promised to deliver us and honor us

Through our simple prayers, not only can we communicate with God, but we can plead with Him to change the hearts of people that have turned away from Him.

Luke 11:9 And I say unto you, Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you.

We need the faith to ask, seek and knock. Notice the three steps given to us here. We need the faith to ask. First consider the glory of God. Ask that He might be lifted up and all glory will be God’s. Ask God that we might be diligent in serving God in all areas in our life. Then we ask for our needs.

We are then to seek. Search out what the Lord would have us to do. God has a purpose for us. He has something for us to do. Let us seek that purpose and find God’s desire in our life. He wants us to seek the salvation of the lost.

We need to see the return of some that have strayed. The desire of our heavenly father is that His people will turn to Him. His desire is that the lost be saved by trusting in His Son, Jesus Christ. May we raise a chorus of prayers to heaven that the Holy Spirit will touch hearts today, convict the lost of their need for a savior, and that those that have grown cold will yield and turn to serve.

We are called to knock so that doors shut to us will be opened. Sometimes it seems that entrance is denied and doors are shut. Knock. Allow the door to be opened. We understand that in a physical manner, we should do the same in a spiritual way. There are times that we need to knock to gain entrance. Let us be persistent and knock to gain entrance. May prayer become a habit for us in this day and age.

What is your prayer today?

61 – March – 02 – THIS DAY IN BAPTIST HISTORY PAST

 

A Baptist Warrior

 

1793 – Samuel (Sam) Houston was born on March 2, 1793.  After enlisting in the U.S. Army, he became a Lieutenant, lawyer, district attorney, adjutant general, congressman, and the governor of Tennessee.  He accomplished all of this before moving to Texas in 1832, where he arrived from Virginia.  Almost immediately he was elected major general of the Texas troops.  When war broke out with Mexico he dealt a crushing blow to Santa Anna and won Independence for the Republic of Texas.  He was elected governor of Texas in 1859.  Houston’s conversion was doubtless due primarily to his wife Maggie Lea prior to 1840 but didn’t make a public profession until 1854 when he was united with the Baptist Church of Independence, Texas and was baptized by Dr. R.C. Burleson on Nov. 19 of that year.  He regularly led in public prayer, was a regular attendant, even at prayer meeting service and when he lay dying at his home in Huntsville, he expressed to his family and friends his clear faith in his Savior.  After Texas was admitted to the Union he served for fourteen years in the U.S. Senate.  He was inaugurated governor of Texas on Dec. 21, 1859, and these became the most trying days for there was great ferment before the Civil War.  Houston was in the minority for secession but the majority of the people voted to secede on Feb. 23, 1861.  His office was declared vacant and he retired to his farm outside of Huntsville where he died on July 26, 1863.  Today Sam Houston is one of the most revered names in Texas and in the United States.
Dr. Greg J. Dixon, from: This Day in Baptist History Vol. I: Cummins Thompson /, pp. 86.

 

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323 – Nov. 19 – This Day in Baptist History Past

 

A warrior and a preacher

 

1842 – Patrick Hues Mell, while the pastor of the Baptist church in Oxford, Georgia, was ordained to the gospel ministry. While serving there he also served as the professor of ancient languages at Mercer University from 1841-1855, and at the University of Georgia in 1856. He began serving as the Vice-chancellor of the U of Ga. from 1860-1872. He held the post of Chancellor until 1888. Dr. Mell was a gifted parliamentarian and was President of the Southern Baptist Convention from 1863-1871, and again from 1880-1887, and the moderator of the Georgia Baptist Convention for thirty-one years. Dr. Mell was born in Liberty County, Georgia, on July 19, 1814. He was fourteen when his father died and only sixteen when his mother passed away. As the eldest son he had to provide means of support for himself and his dependent brothers and sisters. He was saved in the summer of 1832 at the age of eighteen and baptized by Pastor Samuel Law at North Newport Church, Liberty County, GA. His desire for education was so great that he borrowed money to enroll in Amherst College in Amherst, Mass. During the Civil War, in response to the call by the governor of the state for volunteers to serve for six month periods, Dr. Mell, though still a professor in the university, raised a company of men over which he was elected captain. Later he was elected colonel. He remained in actual service six months at different points within the state. Dr. Mell had to overcome great difficulties to “press toward the mark of the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.”  These difficulties only strengthened his character for Christ.  [William Cathcart, The Baptist Encyclopedia (Philadelphia: Louis H. Everts, 1881), 2:777. This Day in Baptist History II: Cummins and Thompson, BJU Press: Greenville, S.C. 2000 A.D. pp. 632-34.]  Prepared by Dr. Greg J. Dixon

 

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