A Few Thoughts on Prayer

The Bible records many things about prayer. That should not be surprising. The Bible is God’s word and prayer is the means of communicating with God. Consequently, examples and instructions pertaining to prayer are commonly seen throughout the Scriptures. It takes a careful collective examination of these references to prayer to craft a credible understanding of this multi-faceted topic.

Perhaps, it is good to begin with John’s record of Jesus dealing with the Samaritan woman. Christ tells her, “God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth” (John 4:23). From this we understand that prayer is of necessity a spiritual enterprise. In order to pray to God, one must first have spiritual life. As Paul reminded the Ephesian believers, every man and woman who enters this world is born spiritually “dead in trespasses and sins” (Ephesians 2:1). As anyone who has ever stood in a cemetery understands, the dead cannot speak.

One must be born again, regenerated by the Spirit of God, to have spiritual life. As Jesus told Nicodemus, “That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Marvel not that I said unto thee, ye must be born again” (John 3:6-7). The Apostle Paul emphasized to Titus that the new birth does not occur by our own works, but by the work of the Spirit of God. Paul explains that this new birth is “not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his [God’s] mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost” (Titus 3:5).

The Spirit of God uses his word to impress the claims of Christ and his gospel upon our spiritually dead souls to create new life in us. Peter teaches this truth in his first epistle. “Seeing ye have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit…being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth forever” (I Peter 1:22-23). As we then exercise faith in Christ, we are born again. “But as many as received him [Jesus], to them gave he power [authority] to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name: which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God” (John 1:12-13).

The New Testament goes to great lengths to present the foundation of a life of communion with God. It begins with repentance toward God and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ to receive spiritual life, eternal life. This is prayer’s source. There is no communion with God that does not begin with new life.

But new life alone does not guarantee answers to prayer. New life gives an audience with God, but it is loving obedience that gives confidence that our prayers are heard and answered. “And whatsoever we ask, we receive of him [God], because we keep his commandments, and do those things that are pleasing in his sight” (I John 3:22). God gives new life to repentant sinners that they might walk with him in obedience and enjoy him forever. Do you have this life? Are you walking in loving obedience?

A Peace That Lasts

Immediately prior to his crucifixion, Jesus spoke of the Comforter who would come upon his own return to the Father following his resurrection. “And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you forever…for he dwelleth with you and shall be in you. I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you” (John 14:16-18). Jesus promised his disciples that he would come to them and abide with them in the Person of the Holy Spirit.

It is in this context that he makes this wonderful promise. “Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid” (John 14:27). Take a moment to let that promise grip your soul. The emphatic element is that there is a genuine and significant difference between how the world gives and how Christ gives. Christ gives good gifts and lasting gifts. On the other hand the world gives that which does not satisfy and that which does not endure.

For example, the world might give wealth, but such riches are uncertain (I Timothy 6:17); they “certainly make themselves wings; they fly away as an eagle toward heaven” (Proverbs 23:5). Jesus warned about laying up riches on earth where moth and rust corrupt and where thieves break through and steal (Matthew 6:19). In short, riches cannot purchase a lasting peace. Solomon captured the elusive promise of wealth in this manner. “He that loveth silver shall not be satisfied with silver; nor he that loveth abundance with increase: this is also vanity” (Ecclesiastes 5:10).

Genuine, lasting peace is both the rarest and most sought after commodity known to man. Yet Jesus offers it as a gift in the Person of His Holy Spirit to those who trust him as Savior. True peace comes from a right standing before God. Since Adam’s disobedience God in the Garden of Eden, every man and woman has been born a sinner before God. And so it is that “by one man [Adam] sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned” (Romans 5:12). Every cemetery that we pass by is a testimony to the universality of sin and its just consequences.

Now, mankind, through his sin, is alienated from God and quite literally stands as the enemy of God in need of reconciliation. God has provided this means of reconciliation “through the blood of his [Jesus’] cross…and you, that were sometime alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now hath he reconciled in the body of his flesh through death, to present you unblameable and unreprovable in his [God’s] sight” (Colossians 1:20-22). Paul reminded the Corinthian believers “that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them” (2 Corinthians 5:19).

Paul testified to the believers in Rome that Christ Jesus “was delivered [on the cross] for our offences, and was raised again for our justification” (Romans 4:25). Jesus died for our sins and all those who accept him as their Savior have their sins forgiven and stand justified before God. Paul puts it this way, “Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ” (Romans 5:1). This peace is the source of all comfort for now and eternity. No wonder Christ said,  “Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.” Do you know this peace?

God’s Rule in the Affairs of Men

Chapter 21 of Second Chronicles records God’s dealing with Jehoram, a wicked king of Judah. The Scriptures record that he did not walk in the ways of Jehoshaphat, his father, or Asa, both godly kings of Judah. Rather, he “walked in the way of the [evil] kings of Israel, and hast made Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem to go a whoring [departing from the LORD after idols]…and also hast slain thy brethren of thy father’s house, which were better than thyself” (v. 13).

For these sins “the LORD stirred up against Jehoram the spirit of the Philistines, and of the Arabians…and they came up into Judah, and brake into it, and carried away all the substance that was found in the king’s house, and his sons also, and his wives” (vs. 16-17). Note that it was the LORD who stirred up the spirit of these nations against Judah. We are not told how he did it, but merely that he did.

God’s sovereign control over the affairs of men was emphasized to Isaiah, the prophet, when the LORD declared that he would use Cyrus to deliver the Jews from a future captivity. This prophetic utterance was two hundred years before Cyrus was born! He became king of the Medes and Persians and ultimately defeated the Babylonians. He then opened the door for the Jews to return from their Babylonian captivity and rebuild the temple in Jerusalem. God sovereignly directed all of this from the moment he declared it.

Speaking prophetically to Cyrus, the LORD declared, “I am the LORD, and there is none else, there is no God beside me: I girded thee, though thou hast not known me: that they may know from the rising of the sun, and from the west, that there is none beside me. I am the LORD, and there is none else. I form the light, and create darkness: I make peace, and create evil [calamity]: I the LORD do all these things” (Isaiah 45:4-7).

He not only does all these things sovereignly, but he does them in perfect measure in accordance with his will. There is no such thing as unintended consequences in God’s oversight of men’s affairs. He knows when to bring judgment and when to restrain. He shapes the affairs of men’s lives through the hardships and calamities of life. Yet at the same time “he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sendeth rain on the just and the unjust” (Matthew 5:45).

Through such events and workings God shows that “the most High ruleth in the kingdom of men, and giveth it to whomsoever he will, and setteth up over it the basest of men” (Daniel 4:17). Yet this God who rules the nations uses the same wisdom and might to care for all of his creation. Jesus taught “Are not five sparrows sold for two farthings, and not one of them is forgotten before God? But even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not therefore: ye are of more value than many sparrows” (Luke 12:6-7).

The Apostle Paul summarized our right response to these truths well. God “giveth to all life, and breath, and all things…and hath determined the times before appointed, and the bounds of their habitation; that they should seek the Lord…for in him we live, and move, and have our being” (Acts 17:26-27; emphasis added).

A Sure Foundation

Jesus at the conclusion of his Sermon on the Mount makes a remarkable claim. He essentially says that those who take heed to do as he says will not be destroyed by life’s frequent troubles and hardships. “Whosoever cometh to me, and heareth my sayings, and doeth them, I will shew you to whom he is like: he is like a man which built an house, and digged deep, and laid the foundation on a rock: and when the flood arose, the stream beat vehemently upon that house, and could not shake it: for it was founded upon a rock” (Luke 6:47-48).

It is a remarkable claim indeed! As the Preacher of Ecclesiastes points out throughout his sermons, life is challenging, difficult, frustrating, and frequently disappointing, but not meaningless. Notwithstanding Christ promises a sure stand to those who follow him. He does not say that his disciples will not be touched by difficulties, but rather that they will endure, even triumph, in and over them.

On the other hand and with equal authority, our Lord warns that those who disregard his teachings are headed for certain destruction. “But he that heareth, and doeth not, is like a man that without a foundation built an house upon the earth; against which the stream did beat vehemently, and immediately it fell; and the ruin of that house was great” (Luke 6:49). Those who have not built their lives on the sure foundation of Jesus Christ will be swept away when the storms of life arise.

Only Jesus, the Son of God, could guarantee safe passage through all of life’s trials and difficulties. No other religious teacher could dare make such a claim. He himself is that rock upon which we are to build “for other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ” (I Corinthians 3:11). To refuse him and his teaching is to brazenly (and foolishly) invite defeat. The Psalmist grasped this principle plainly. “Except the LORD build the house, they labor in vain that build it” (Psalm 127:1).

Our Savior made himself the dividing line between those that hear and do his sayings and those that hear and do not his sayings. The key is believing. We are all confronted with the claims of Christ. Our lives hinge on whether we believe him or not. One either does or does not believe. The Psalmist encourages us with his testimony concerning the word of the Lord. “I esteem all thy precepts concerning all things to be right” (Psalm 119:128; emphasis added).

Jesus told Pilate before his crucifixion “for this cause came I into the world, that I should bear witness unto the truth. Every one that is of the truth heareth my voice” (John 18:37). On the other hand, Christ rebuked the Pharisees saying, “If ye were Abraham’s children, ye would do the works of Abraham. But now ye seek to kill me, a man that hath told you the truth, which I have heard of God: this did not Abraham” (John 8:39-40).

The words of Christ are truth. To believe them is to build your life on a sure foundation. To reject them is to invite eternal loss. Do you hear and do his sayings, or do you hear and do not his sayings?

Do Unto Other As You Would Have Them Do Unto You

Jesus provided us a very plain and practical summary of God’s standard of righteousness as expressed in the Old Testament when he was concluding his Sermon on the Mount. “Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them: for this is the law and the prophets” (Matthew 7:12). Jesus taught that a love rightly expressed toward God and toward our fellow man was the very heart of God’s message in the Old Testament.

We should not be surprised that this summary is expressed in the context of our relationship with others. After all, six of the ten commandments deal with our relationship to others. The love that we are to have for God is here assumed by our Lord because we cannot love our fellow man rightly without first loving God.

What does it mean then to treat others as I would have them treat me? This command is not glib rhetoric, but is comprehensive instruction that Christ expects us to perform. First and perhaps foremost we must apply this standard to every relationship that we encounter, whether it be with the cashier at the grocery store or our best friend. Why? Every man, woman, and child bears the image of God, our Creator, and as such is worthy of our respect and honor, no matter how tarnished that image may be (Genesis 1:26-27).

Jesus gave further insight to the full implication of this command later in an encounter with a certain lawyer. “And, behold, a certain lawyer stood up, and tempted him [Jesus], saying, Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life? He [the Lord] said unto him, What is written in the law? How readest thou? And he answering said, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind: and thy neighbor a thyself” (Luke 10:25-27).

The Scriptures tell us that the lawyer “willing to justify himself, said unto Jesus, And who is my neighbor?” (Luke 10:29). Jesus answered his question by relating a story of a man traveling from Jerusalem to Jericho who “fell among thieves, which stripped him of his raiment, and wounded him, and departed, leaving him half dead.” (Luke 10:30). A priest passed by and ignored the man as did a Levite. Both of these men, owing to their duties and station of life, would have been expected to aid this poor man, but they did not. Finally, a Samaritan passed, saw the man, and “when he saw him, he had compassion on him…and bound up his wounds…brought him to an inn, and took care of him” (Luke 10:33-34).

Jesus asked the lawyer which of these three “was neighbor unto him that fell among the thieves? And he [the lawyer] said, He that had mercy on him. Then said Jesus…Go, and do thou likewise” (Luke 10:36-36). It is clear that love is no respecter of persons and the command to do unto others as we would have them do unto us extends to all those we encounter. The image of God in every man demands it; that this image is marred requires us to show mercy to every man. This is the teaching of the Old Testament and the expectation of our heavenly Father.

Doing the Unexpected

In his Sermon on the Mount, Jesus taught that love does what is unexpected. “But I say unto you which hear, love your enemies, do good to them which hate you, bless them that curse you, and pray for them which despitefully use you. And unto him that smiteth thee on the one cheek offer also the other; and him that taketh away thy cloke forbid not to take thy coat also. Give to every man that asketh of thee; and of him that taketh away thy goods ask them not again” (Luke 6:27-30).

Love does not do what is natural, but rather what is unexpected. It is natural for us to rise up in anger when we are wronged, to want to get even with those who take advantage of us, or to retaliate against those who speak evil of us or insult us. Such responses are natural, but they are wrong. They are wrong because any thought, word, or deed that is not consistent with the character of God is wrong. The Bible calls such behavior sin. We don’t use such words today, but God still does.

Love requires that we act and not react when someone does us wrong in either word or deed. For the child of God, the heavenly Father has freed us from the earthly matters of payback or getting even. Paul writes to the believers in Rome, “Recompense to no man evil for evil. Provide things honest in the sight of all men. If it be possible, as much as lieth in you, live peaceably with all men. Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath: for it is written, vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord. Therefore, if thine enemy hunger, feed him; if he thirst, give him drink: for in so doing thou shalt heap coals of fire on his head. Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good” (Romans 12:17-21).

It is possible that we may not live peaceably with some, but it should never be so because of us. Rather, we should allow God’s wrath to respond, not our own. Consequently, we can do that which is unexpected. We can feed our enemies and give them drink. In other words, we can work to meet their needs. This is how we overcome evil. We leave the matter with God and do the unexpected.

Christ Jesus set the example for us to follow when it comes to leaving such matters to the Father when he suffered for our sins on the cross.  “For even hereunto were ye called: because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that ye should follow in his steps: who did no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth: who, when he was reviled, reviled not again; when he suffered, he threatened not; but committed himself to him that judgeth righteously” (I Peter 2:21-23).

Love does the unexpected. By the grace of God, learn to act and not react. Solomon admonishes us “He that is slow to wrath is of great understanding: but he that is hasty of spirit exalteth folly” (Proverbs 14:29). Trust God to deal with wrongdoings and work to overcome evil with good. By faithful practice make the unnatural that which is natural!

Love Ye Your Enemies

In his Sermon on the Mount, Jesus taught his disciples the necessity of a godly or godlike love. The Jews were familiar with the Old Testament charge “Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself” (Leviticus 19:17). But Jesus wanted to show that the true expectation of that commandment contemplated all people, even one’s enemies. In fact, the love with which God loves us is most clearly manifest in the love that we show to our enemies.

We will all have enemies in our lifetime, those that are against us for some reason or another. Jesus said, “Love your enemies, do good to them which hate you, bless them which despitefully use you” (Luke 6:27-28). This is a tall order and, but for the grace of God, is beyond our capability. The human heart is full of pride and does not suffer the ill will of others charitably. But doing good, blessing, and praying is the expectation of God. He would have us know that anything short of such behavior is unworthy of Him.

This call to a godlike love is repeated often in Scripture. Paul wrote to the believers in Rome, “Bless those that persecute you, bless, and curse not” (Romans 12:14). He added to this in summary fashion “if thine enemy hunger, feed him; if he thirst, give him drink…be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good” (Romans 12:20-21). The Apostle Peter commanded his audience likewise “love as brethren, be pitiful, be courteous: not rendering evil for evil, or railing for railing: but contrariwise blessing” (I Peter 3:9).

The ability to love our enemies is godlike because it is both like God, and it is of God. First, it is like God because it is exactly how God acted toward us as sinners. The Scriptures teach “God commended [proved or demonstrated] his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8). All sin is against God. We may think of our sins as merely against one another, but all sin is an affront to a holy God. Thus, while we were actively rebelling against God, Christ died for our sins. Paul’s letter to the Colossians testifies to this. “And you, that were sometime [in the past] alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now hath he [God] reconciled” (Colossians 1:21). We are to love our enemies because God loved us when we were his enemies and sent his Son.

Second, loving our enemies is godlike because it is of God. We cannot love our enemies unless his love reigns in us and is manifested through us. This enabling is the unique privilege of the children of God. Returning to Christ’s teaching in his Sermon on the Mount, he pointed out that those who love their enemies testify to their relationship with the Father. “But love ye your enemies, and do good, and lend, hoping for nothing again; and your reward shall be great, and ye shall be the children of the Highest: for he is kind unto the unthankful and to the evil. Be ye therefore merciful, as your Father also is merciful” (Luke 6:35-36; emphasis added).

Paul’s command to the believers in Ephesus briefly summarizes these considerations. “Be ye therefore followers of God, as dear children; and walk in love, as Christ also hath loved us, and hath given himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God” (Ephesians 5:1).

Conviction, Commitment, and Courage

It takes courage to fight the Lord’s battles. Most are familiar with the record of David’s battle with the giant, Goliath. It took great courage for a young man to face a much larger opponent who was a trained soldier with only a sling and some stones. Yet, he did so, and he won the victory. David’s courage in this matter speaks volumes to each of us. His courage is inspiring, but there is more to it than meets the eye.

David’s courage was rooted firmly in his faith in the Lord’s person, presence, and protection. We would say that he had a conviction pertaining to his knowledge of God. First, he had no doubt that Israel’s God was the true and living God. Consequently, he took offense at Goliath in that “he defied the armies of the living God” (I Samuel 17:36).

His confidence in both the presence and protection of God was born in the fields while keeping his sheep. He testified how “there came a lion, and a bear, and took a lamb out of the flock: and I went out after him, and smote him, and delivered it out of his mouth…the LORD that delivered me out of the paw of the lion, and out of the paw of the bear, he will deliver me out of the hand of this Philistine” (I Samuel 17:34-36).

It was this unshakable conviction about his God that led David to commit to the battle. “David said to Saul, let no man’s heart fail because of him [Goliath]; thy servant will go and fight with this Philistine” (I Samuel 17:32). David firmly believed that his God was worthy of honor and reverence and that this Philistine had defied this truth about God.

Likewise, David was thoroughly convinced that God was with him and would deliver him as he accepted the challenge of Goliath for the Lord’s sake. This truth carried him into the battle. “Then David said to the Philistine, thou comest to me with a sword, and with a spear, and with a shield: but I come to thee in the name of the LORD of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom thou has defied. This day will the LORD deliver thee into mine hand…that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel” (I Samuel 17:45-46).

What was true for David then remains true for us now. David’s conviction of truth committed him to a path that honored and displayed that truth. That commitment disregarded the circumstances and persevered with accompanying courage. It belongs to us today as God’s children to be convinced of his truth and commit to following it no matter the consequence. The necessary courage arises when we trust the Lord. David may have had his encounter with Goliath in mind when he wrote, “Wait on the LORD: be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart: wait, I say, on the LORD” (Psalm 27:14).

You cannot fight the good fight of faith without courage, and neither can you fight it without conviction and commitment. All three are needed. The Apostle Paul captured the proper sentiment as he concluded his first letter to the believers in Corinth. “Watch ye, stand fast in the faith, quit you like men, be strong” (I Corinthians 16:13).

What is That in Thy Hand?

God appeared to Moses in the midst of the burning bush on the backside of the desert at Mount Horeb. It was there that the LORD revealed to Moses that he was chosen to lead his people, the Jews, out of Egypt. Moses resisted God’s plan for himself and offered a number of excuses as to why God should choose someone else.

His first excuse was that he was common and unknown. “Who am I, that I should go unto Pharaoh, and that I should bring forth the children of Israel out of Egypt?” (Exodus 3:11). Moses’ assessment of himself was accurate, but that was not important. God promised him “Certainly I will be with thee” (Exodus 3:12). When it comes to serving God “not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called” (I Corinthians 1:26). God is pleased to use the common things that the glory might all accrue unto himself. Paul captured this truth in one of his letters to the Corinthian believers when he spoke of his ministry among them. “But we have this treasure [the gospel ministry] in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us” (2 Corinthians 4:7).

God was working with Moses to impress indelibly on his heart that God’s presence with him was provision enough. Yet Moses resisted and answered God “But, behold, they will not believe me, nor hearken unto my voice: for they will say, The LORD hath not appeared unto thee” (Exodus 4:1). God demonstrated to Moses that it was not Moses’ effort that would convince the people of Israel, but rather the power of God. “And the LORD said unto him, what is that in thy hand? And he said, a rod. And he said, cast it on the ground, and it became a serpent; and Moses fled from before it” (Exodus 4:2-3).

God brings his power to bear upon what we already have to use it for his glory. Recall the record of the young lad who had only five loaves and two fishes (John 6:5-14). Christ fed 5,000 men with that which the boy had brought with him. Serving God is never about who we are or what we have. Serving God is always about making ourselves available for him to use.

Finally, Moses made one last argument to God asserting his unsuitability for the task. “And Moses said unto the LORD, I am not eloquent…but I am slow of speech, and of a slow tongue” (Exodus 4:10). God pointed out to Moses that it was not Moses’ words that would convert the hearts of his people, but God’s word through Moses. “And the LORD said unto him, Who hath made man’s mouth? Or who maketh the dumb, or deaf, or the seeing, or the blind? Have not I the LORD? Now therefore go, and I will be with thy mouth, and teach thee what thou shalt say” (Exodus 4:11-12).

The work of God is accomplished by God’s own power and his own word. If we know him as Lord and Savior, we have the great privilege of being used by him to advance his work. Tell me, what is that in thy hand? Are you willing to use it for the Lord?

Warning and Reward

In Psalm 19, David testifies to God’s revelation of himself through creation and through his written word. He uses the terms law, testimony, statutes, commandment, judgments to refer to the Scriptures that were available to him at that time. Today, we have the completed revelation of God in what we call our Bible. David’s inspired account in Psalm 19 is true of all of God’s revelation because it is God’s revelation of himself, not man’s opinion.

David shares several of the benefits that accrue from giving the right attention to God’s word. Here is just one, “Moreover by them [God’s judgments] is thy servant warned: and in keeping of them there is great reward” (Psalm 19:11). God’s word provides both warning and reward.

Mankind needs warning. We live in a world that is cursed by the fall and darkened by the corruption of sin. Consequently, “the whole world lieth in wickedness” (I John 5:19). If we don’t recognize that, it is because we ourselves are deceived. Jeremiah testified “the heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?” (Jeremiah 17:9). Jesus himself testified “men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil” (John 3:19). Dark hearts living and attempting to navigate in a dark world need warning.   

We need a beacon of truth that speaks to both what we cannot see as well as that which we choose not to see. God’s word is that truth. We need to understand the implications of our choices and pursuits as well as our accountability to God, the Creator.  God’s word gives that understanding. We need to know that “it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment” (Hebrews 9:27). God’s word gives that warning. It is clear, emphatic, reliable.

But his word also promises reward to those who keep his testimony. The true blessings of life come from following God’s word and keeping his commandments. The Psalmist records those who delight in and meditate upon God’s word shall “be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper” (Psalm 1:2-3). This is quite a promise. Those who keep his word shall draw from an unfailing source of nourishment, live fruitful lives, endure hard times well, and know prosperity in all the arenas of life. Solomon spoke of this life in this manner. “The blessing of the LORD, it maketh rich, and he addeth no sorrow with it” (Proverbs 10:22).

The word of God does indeed provide both warning and reward. But it is more than just a roadmap that directs us to a blessed life. It is the very portal that brings us into a living relationship with the God of the word, the Source of all blessings, the Giver of all good things. His word brings us to him. “O send out thy light and thy truth: let them lead me; let them bring me unto thy holy hill, and to thy tabernacles. Then will I go unto the altar of God, unto God my exceeding joy” (Psalm 43:3-4; emphasis added). “Thou wilt show me the path of life: in thy presence is fullness of joy; at thy right hand there are pleasures forevermore” (Psalm 16:11). You can only know this God through his word!