You Aren't Unusable

You Aren't Unusable 

by David Brenneman 

"Sweet hour of prayer! Sweet hour of prayer!

That calls me from a world of care,

and bids me at my Father's throne

Make all my wants and wishes known.

In seasons of distress and grief,

my soul has often found relief,

and oft escaped the tempter's snare by thy return, sweet hour of prayer!

Sweet hour of prayer! sweet hour of prayer! The joys I feel, the bliss I share of those whose anxious spirits burn with strong desires for thy return!

With such I hasten to the place

where God my Savior shows his face, and gladly take my station there, and wait for thee, sweet hour of prayer!

Sweet hour of prayer! sweet hour of prayer! Thy wings shall my petition bear to him whose truth and faithfulness engage the waiting soul to bless.

And since he bids me seek his face,

believe his word, and trust his grace, I'll cast on him my every care,

and wait for thee, sweet hour of prayer!"

This song was in my mind this morning long before reading my Bible.  Curious to see all the words, I stumbled upon something wondrous.  The author, W. W. Walford was a blind man, also a preacher. Gifted most certainly by God to have such a memory that he had the whole Bible memorized.  

God CAN use anyone, in any situation, for His glory.  What's interesting and comforting to me is yet another apparently infirmed person, who, under the Old Testament law wouldn't have been able to serve, was doing so under the law of Christ. 

We can easily be discouraged in out life's situations towards inactivity in Christ Jesus.  We can also make ourselves believe we ARE serving when in fact we are sidestepping the calling of God in our lives.  As I have been repeatedly reminded, God has no problems.  He only has situations.  Your situation is possibly different than my situation but all-in-all they are simply situations. 

The message of Sweet Hour of prayer points towards a joyful time with our Savior and Lord.  A time unplugged from the world. A time of refreshing and reflection.  There will come a day, according to the Bible, that there will be much more than a sweet hour of prayer but a sweet time in eternity.

Our situations may threaten to overwhelm us.  Believe it or not this is something that is normal.  It's the effect that Satan strives for.  Yet the more we remember the situations that Jesus has gotten us through, the less we see them as worldly defined problems.  

Was still reading this morning about the last moments of Jesus on the cross before He breathed His last.  It is recorded that when He knew that Scripture had been fulfilled, He permitted the sour wine and then breathed His last.  What a profound thought. All Scripture written about Him and what He came to do was 100% entirely fulfilled.  In this too, Satan had lost.  He lost in His attempts to get Him to sin.  He had thought in this moment that He had won.  In 3 days he would find that indeed he had lost.  His battle plan had to change from that moment onward.  I love being reminded of the particulars of Satan losing. 

This too ads more value to a sweeter time in prayer.  We waste so much of the minutes of our lives on things that do not matter in light of eternity.  We are so easily lulled into a false sense of security.  We are so easily convinced of what we have decided we deserve.  Sin disguised in so many wonderful things.  

Something that I have learned since this blog ministry started is that the more I remove the world's noise the more clearly my thinking has become.  The more I remove the influences of the world and replace those with the Godly influences that the Spirit has prepared, the more peace that comes to stay in my heart and mind.  

My hope for all who read this who are saved is that you would reprioritize your life.  Remove those wasted moments that you can't get back and replace them with quality time with Jesus.  Find truly Godly men to listen to and learn from them.  Find as much time as you can to sit at the feet of Jesus and learn.  Remove the noise of the world.  Stop listening to those voices telling you what you deserve.  Question things the world recommends.  Everything from the advice of doctors to politicians. 

The world will never have your best interests in mind. The world, in this short term, is entirely influenced by Satan. 

To those who are not saved in Christ Jesus...oh you look for pleasure and satisfaction in this world around you and deep down you know it isn't working. 

Jesus knows your heart way better than you do.  He is so in love with you!  He so longs for a relationship with you if only you would open up and let Him in.  

People will always let you down, but Jesus is the promise maker and the promise keeper. 

Your sweet hour of prayer can begin today, in this here and this now.  

If a blind man can paint such a wondrous portrait of the love of Christ Jesus and His relationship with those who believe...imagine what you will see yourself.