On Prayer -From my Reading Corner-

 

I am reading a great book by John Bunyan, Prayer; and I  would like to share with you some of the lines that must be written down, and remembered, and lived.

“With God is plenty of grace, even as in a river there is plenty of water. 
A pond, a pool, a cistern, will hold much, but a river will hold more. 
From this throne {of grace} come rivers and streams of water of life, 
to satisfy those that come for life to the throne of God. 
Further, as by a river is showed what abundance of grace proceeds from God through Christ, 
so it shows the unsatiable thirst and desire of one that comes indeed aright to the throne of grace for mercy. 
Nothing but rivers will satisfy such a soul; 
ponds, pools, and cisterns, will do nothing…
They that are saved, are saved to receive abundance of grace; 
‘They which receive abundance of grace, and of the gift of righteousness, 
shall reign in life by One, 
Jesus Christ’-
Rom 5:7″

And he continues saying,

“What comes from this throne of grace is pure grace, 
and nothing else; 
clear grace, free grace, grace that is not mixed, 
nor need be mixed with works of righteousness which we have done; 
it is of itself sufficient to answer all our wants, 
to heal all our diseases, and to help us at a time of need. 
It is grace that chooses, 
it is grace that calls, 
it is grace that preserves, 
and it is grace that brings to glory: 
even the grace that like a river of water of life proceeds from this throne. 
And hence it is that, 
from first to last, 
we must cry, 
‘Grace, grace unto it!’ 
(Zec 4:7)”

Teaching Them What We Almost Forgot

I still remember so vividly those days when we would hold their tiny hands to help them take their first steps; or how I used to take those little hands in mine, to show them how to properly hold the pencil; The days in which we invested hours to teach them how to ride a bike without training wheels or try a new pair of skates have passed by.

We have taught them how to read, to write, to be polite at the table, to speak different languages, to love books, to read their Bibles, to say “thank you” and “please”; to love and obey Mom and Dad; to live with open hands; to take a plane; to use wisely their time on their computer, to live happy, to set the table, to bake and cook; to drive and swim…

But, we almost forgot to teach them how to pray. 

We taught them, since they were little infants, that they should pray, we would lead them into prayer, and they would see that prayer was indeed part of our family. But we just realized we had never set apart a special time to teach them how to pray.

One disciple asked the Master, “Lord, teach us to pray, just as John taught his disciples.” He knew that certain things do not “just” happen, they most be learned.  And someone needs to teach them.

A barber, in a cool spring in the 1530’s asked Martin Luther to teach him how to pray, he answered him writing a short treatise entitled “A Simple Way to Pray; for a Good Friend

This is another reminder on how we fail as parents every day and yet God’s grace comes and lifts us up, and helps us to keep up with the race.

How are we teaching our children to pray?

At the family table.

We bring our Bibles, and read the Lord’s Prayer together every day; we make it ours and pray over it, we meditate on its words, we talk about its meaning, and then we pray.

Several books will be our companions this summer, and we have started with these:

I will post the new titles as soon as they arrive in the mail and we start studying them.

A Simple Way to Pray

Praying the Lord’s Prayer, by J.I Packer

When You  Pray: Making the Lord’s Prayer Your Own

A Method For Prayer: Freedom in the Face of God

A Diary of Private Prayer

A prayer guide that has been a great blessing to me, is the one Valerie put together a while ago. 





We took time in December to ponder and study the Incarnation, we waited during the Advent season, and then we celebrated the God-Man in the Manger  We did not want to miss the opportunity to study the Atonement, and we placed a cross where the Christmas tree was; we celebrated the risen Christ, and studied what this means; but, on how to pray, we almost forgot to teach them that.

We think we are teaching them, yet we are just learning.

>Learning Contentment, Day by Day -part five-

>My thoughts and notes on the book, The Art of Divine Contentment by the Puritan author, Thomas Watson.

Thank you for joining me on this journey…

The book is over, my life goes on.

I pray that God will find me always content.

Never wanting more…
Always longing for Him.
Never complaining…
Always satisfied in Him.

Other Posts in this series:

The School of Contentment -part one-
Learning Contentment -part two-
Divine Contentment -part three-
Contentment, Be Welcome -part four-

>Contentment…Be Welcome -part four-

>I am enjoying reading and doing some notes in my red art  book…

The book which I have been studying is “The Art of Divine Contentment”, by Thomas Watson.

Chapters  12 and 13

God willing, I will be here tomorrow, to share His goodness, His teaching…

Other posts in this series:

The School of Contentment -part one-
Learning Contentment -part two-
Divine Contentment -part three-

>Divine Contentment -part three-

>These are my notes on the book I am reading….”The Art of Divine Contentment” by Thomas Watson.
Chapter 11

Contentment must be learned, practiced, it does not come softly, but its rewards are beyond this world.

My heart has been challenged by the words of this Puritan author; letters, words, sentences, all encompassing, all falling like rain, watering my soul.

May god grant us grace to live for tomorrow…

Abiding in Him,

Posts in this series:

The School of Contentment -Part One-
Learning Contentment -Part Two-
Contentment, Be Welcome -Part Four-

>Learning Contentment -part two-

>Learning Contentment (part 2)

My older Daughter comes to me…”Mom, I just read this, a child from my online school, lost his Dad two days ago…”

We read the news…tears and prayers followed, contentment never comes easy….

So, in a quiet spot of my garden, I took out my book, “The Art of Divine Contentment” by Thomas Watson, my notebook, my markers…a cup of tea and this is what I learned (chapters 4- 10)….

Thank you for joining me as I keep on reading, learning…

See you tomorrow,

Becky