Pastor Buddy’s Blog

Journal,

I called attention in my last journal entry of an excellent teaching on prayer that Nathan provided last Sunday. I would encourage all our readers to take time and listen to a  teaching that can help shape your prayer life. The teaching has been posted on the Christian Challenge web site.

Here it is: (Just click on ‘Lord teach us to pray’. Note: You may want to finish reading this blog first.)

http://www.christianchallenge.org/audio/sermons/index.html

Now about ’secret’ prayers.

Of course all of us have secret prayers but not all of us understand the importance of these kinds of prayers. Secret prayers are those prayers that are known only to us and by our heavenly Father. These are personal, intimate prayers.

Jesus said, “But you, when you pray, go into your inner room, close your door and pray to your Father who is in secret, and your Father who sees what is done in secret will reward you.” (Mt6:6)

In line with ’secret prayers’, this brings me to how the Lord helps to shape our spiritual walk with Him. I’ve found over the years that the Lord will put in my hands the exact book I need to read at just the exact time. (He does this for all of us.)

One book that I read as a young minister had a profound impact on my walk with the Lord. It was ‘God’s Smuggler,’ by Brother Andrew. Brother Andrew’s walk of faith simply amazed me. I decided if he could have that kind of walk, why could I not have the same walk. Of course Brother Andrew was a man of prayer. So Buddy Martin needed to be a man of prayer.

Some years later there was another book that served the same purpose. It was the biograhy of George Mueller. I read how that this great man of prayer never prayed for anything simply because he wanted it, or even that he felt it was needed for the work of God. He always prayed for those things the Holy Spirit laid on his heart. You can call these ‘prayers of communion.’   – Communicated to us by the Spirit of God –

The awesome thing was that George Mueller never asked anyone for money. Nor did he let the needs of his ministry to be known to anyone except his staff. Nor did he pass offering plates, etc. Mueller actually prayed in the English equalivent of $7,200,000.00 to meet the needs of all the orphans that he cared for.

He would pray with his Bible open before him and his finger upon a particular promise. George Mueller recorded over 50,000 prayers that had been answered with 5,000 that were answered the very day he made the prayer. Yes, George Mueller actually kept a prayer journal.

As I read George Mueller’s biography, the Lord impressed my heart to take the  spiritual principles that Mueller used into my own walk with the Lord.  If it worked for George Mueller, why would it not work for Buddy Martin. 

And so from the early days of Christian Challenge I decided not to pass offering plates. But I also decided to take our needs to the Lord, in secret. What I discovered is that Jesus meant what He said — “Your Father who sees what is done in secret will repay you.”

But I also discovered something else. There are two kinds of prayers, fleshly prayers, and spiritual prayers. This is why George Mueller shared two very important prayer tips:

1) With open Bible before him, and his finger upon a promise, he would appeal to that promise, and so he received what he asked.

2) He discovered that after meditating on the Scriptures he was more able to experience a meaningful prayer time.

Perhaps William Bridge, the Puritan writer said it best –

“Reading without meditation is unfruitful; meditation without reading is hurtful; to meditate and to read without prayer upon both is without blessing.”

The issue is that our Bible is literally a living book simply because it is filled with the testimony of Jesus Christ. When we present ourselves before the Lord by taking to heart the Scriptures, this causes a spiritual arrangement of our heart. Out of this comes true spiritual praying. The Holy Spirit impresses our praying.

Well, enough for now. I’ll be ministering this evening on the subject, ‘Because You Prayed.’

Think about it.

Blessings,

Buddy