“For this shall every one that is godly pray unto Thee in a time when Thou mayest be found...” (Psa. 32:6). When a man is beginning to be godly, this is the first sign of the change that is being worked in him, “Behold, he prayeth” (Acts 9:11). Prayer is the mark of godliness in its infancy. Until he has come to pleading and petitioning, we cannot be sure that the divine life is in him at all. If he does not pray, you may suspect that he has only a name to live – and

Opportunities for service are to be found in every sphere, and mine was no exception. I shall only mention one case now that gave me great encouragement in seeking conversion even when it seemed apparently hopeless. God had given me the joy of winning souls before, but not in surroundings of such special difficulty. With God all things are possible, and no conversion ever takes place save by the almighty power of the Holy Ghost. ...I was now to prove the willingn

The promises of God are said to be "exceeding great and precious" (2 Pet. 1:4). This clearly indicates their great value and their broad reach as grounds upon which to base our expectations in praying. However exceeding great and precious they are, their realization – the possibility and condition of that realization – is based on prayer. How glorious are these promises to the believing saints and to the whole church! How the brightness and bloom, the fruitage and cloudless m

If God has called you to be really like Jesus, He will draw you into a life of crucifixion and humility, and put upon you such demands of obedience, that you will not be able to follow other people, or measure yourself by other Christians, and in many ways He will seem to let other good people do things which He will not let you do. Other Christians and ministers who seem very religious and useful, may push themselves, pull wires, and work schemes to carry out their plans, bu

Prayer will do more to bring a deep and lasting and sweeping revival, a revival that is real and lasting and altogether of the right sort, than all the organizations that were ever devised by man. If you will study the history of the living church, you will find it has been very largely a history of revivals. Humanly speaking the church of Jesus Christ owes its very existence today to revivals. Time and time again the church has seemed to be on the verge of utter shipwre

The main part of praying in the Spirit must lie not merely in the Spirit’s power, or in the Spirit’s teaching us the matter, but in the Spirit’s assisting us in the manner. There is but one manner of praying which the Lord accepts. You know what it is; I will briefly describe its attributes. He that cometh to God must remember that He is “a Spirit, and that they who worship Him must worship Him in spirit and in truth, for the Father seeketh such to worship Him” (John 4

The one who believes God is his God, and that all providences work for his good, patiently yields himself to the will of God. Thus faith is a living principle. The life of a saint is nothing else but a life of faith. His prayer is the breathing of faith (Jas. 5:15). His obedience is the result of faith (Rom. 16:26). A godly man lives in Christ by faith, as the beam lives in the sun: “...I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me...” (Gal. 2:20). Set Against Sin Th

"They that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament; and they that turn many to righteousness as the stars for ever and ever" (Dan. 12:3). That is the testimony of an old man, and one who had the richest and deepest experience of any man living on the face of the earth at the time. He was taken down to Babylon when a young man; some Bible students think he was not more than twenty years of age. If anyone had said, when this young Hebrew was carried away int

I read recently of a speaker who preached on the mercy of God “until it seemed there was nothing in God but mercy.” But I fear he misrepresented God. Such misrepresentation is easy, and to people who do not think deeply, and who do not want to take life seriously, it is pleasant, but it is unspeakably dangerous. If we are to win souls and save our own, we must not distort the picture of God’s character which we hold up to view. It is life eternal to know God and Jesus

In my inner life, I desire to be kept absolutely pure and lovely. O Holy and Spotless One, be in me the Crystal Fountain of Purity! O Lamb of God, be in me the Source of absolute meekness and humility! O Lover of men, be in me a Fire of unwaning, all-subduing Tenderness! Make me instantly sensitive to the least taint of impurity and uncharity. Before ever the suggestion has assumed a tangible shape, may I detect it and shelter in Thee. In my home life, may I be made

“But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thine inner chamber, and having shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret, and thy Father which seeth in secret shall recompense thee” (Matt. 6:6). To the man who withdraws himself from all that is of world and man, and prepares to wait upon God alone, the Father will reveal Himself. As he forsakes and gives up and shuts out the world, and the life of the world, and surrenders himself to be led of Christ into the s

"...Holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord" (Heb. 12:14). Let me try to draw a picture of Biblical holiness, that we may see it clearly before the eyes of our minds. Holiness is the habit of being of one mind with God, according as we find His mind described in Scripture. It is the habit of agreeing in God’s judgment, hating what He hates, loving what He loves, and measuring everything in this world by the standard of His Word. He who most entirely a

“When I call to remembrance the unfeigned faith that is in thee, which dwelt first in thy grandmother Lois, and thy mother Eunice…” (2 Tim. 1:5). “But continue thou in the things which thou hast learned and hast been assured of, knowing of whom thou hast learned them; and that from a child thou hast known the holy scriptures, which are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus” (2 Tim. 3:14-15). It is one of the highest honors God

“...Christ is all, and in all” (Col. 3:11). Christ is all – in regard of divine assistance. A Christian’s strength lies in Christ, “I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me” (Phil. 4:13). How is a Christian able to do duty, to resist temptation – but through Christ’s strengthening? How is it that a spark of grace lives in a sea of corruption, the storms of persecution blowing – but that Christ holds this spark in the hollow of His hand? How is it that

What kind of impression does your home-life give to your children? You cannot teach them what you do not know! You cannot give them what you do not possess! If you have an empty cupboard, you cannot provide food for your child. If you, yourself, are not right with God, you cannot influence your child Godward. It is home instruction that determines what your boys and girls will be. The devil will try to get at your child soon enough. Guard him as long as you possibl