‘Prayer and the Word’ Teaching John 8:1-2

Text:  “Pray without ceasing.  In everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.”

1 Thessalonians 5:17-18.

          “But speak thou the things which become sound doctrine…that they may teach…that the Word of God be not blasphemed.”

Titus 2:1-5.

Good morning, Christian Teacher!  Only after you have been taught of the Lord God can you and I ever dare to teach others the mysteries of Christ’s Kingdom.  Of ourselves, we have no Spiritual authority to teach others.  In the will and by the grace of the Living Lord God, we can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth us.  Hallelujah!  What a vocation!

“My voice shalt Thou hear in the morning, O Lord; in the morning will I direct my prayer unto Thee, and will look up.”  (Psalm 5:3)

“Howbeit when He, the Spirit of Truth, is come, He will guide you into all truth; for He shall not speak of Himself; but whatsoever He shall hear, that shall He speak; and He will show you things to come.  He shall glorify Me (Christ Jesus); for He shall receive of Mine, and shall show it unto you.” (John 16:13-14)

The prayerless Christian is a powerless Christian!  Hide God’s Word in your heart!  Only those who fellowship with the Almighty can achieve anything mighty in the service of King Jesus.  Meditate on this!

The opening two verses of John Chapter 8: impart to the sincere Christian God’s two-fold means of grace for any serious attempt at ministering to other precious souls: Prayer and the Word of God.

We Christian teachers, Pastors, active service laymen and lay women, can do NOTHING of any lasting benefit if we do not first engage ourselves fully in these two powerful means of grace:  Prayer and the Word. (John 15:5)

“Call upon Me (the Lord God), and I will answer thee, and show thee great and mighty things, which thou knowest not.”  (Jeremiah 33:3)

“Thy Word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against Thee.  Blessed art Thou, O Lord; teach me Thy statutes.”  (Psalm 119:11-12)

Jesus often went out into a quiet place, such as the mount of Olives in today’s Bible reading, in order to spend time alone with God the Father.  Christ the Son of God was continually in communion with God the Father, and therefore we see a sound Christian practice being established for us, His people, by our Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ.  Follow His lead!

We are Christians because we have been Spiritually born again, born from Above, regenerated by the God the Spirit - and seek at all times to emulate Christ Jesus in our beliefs and our daily practice of Christian faith.

We cannot call ourselves Christian and be anything less than like Christ!  Christ likeness must be our goal continually. Amen?

After having spent the night in fellowship and prayer with God the Father, Christ Jesus arose ‘…early in the morning…’ to go unto the temple to fellowship with those whom He had saved, and to teach all others His truth.  Surely you and I - as professing followers of Christ - can try to practice a similar routine in life? 

Our first allegiance is to Christ Jesus as our Saviour and Lord.  Fellowship with our Heavenly Father through Him, in the power of God the Holy Ghost, is our very first priority.  All else should take second place in our lives.

“Come unto Me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.  Take My yoke upon you, and learn of Me; for I am meek and lowly in heart; and ye shall find rest unto your souls.”  (Matthew 11:28-29)

Well, let us ask ourselves:  Are we labouring for the Lord?  Or are we leaving the labour to someone else instead?  IF we desire to ‘…labour…’ for the Lord, then we must first ‘…learn of Him…’ in order to do any work in His service.  Makes plain sense to me, my friend.  Does it make sense to you?

We Christian servants of Christ can only receive Spiritual wisdom to give out to others IF we have first taken the time to be in the Presence of God and to enquire into His Word.  That’s powerful two-way fellowship - with God and man.  We speak to God in prayer, and He speaks to us by His written Word.

Thought:  ‘Satan trembles when he sees the weakest saint upon his knees’  The Puritan, Thomas Watson.