God looks not at the elegancy of your prayers, to see how neat they are;
nor yet at the geometry of your prayers, to see how long they are;
nor yet at the arithmetic of your prayers, to see how many they are;
nor yet at the music of your prayers,
nor yet at the sweetness of your voice,
nor yet at the logic of your prayers;
but at the sincerity of your prayers, how hearty they are.
—Thomas Brooks
Is there a reader today feeling past it, tired or unused? Let me tell you from personal experience, it is possible to feel like that at any age. But, whoever you are and however old you are, as a Christian you have no sell-by date in God’s service.
Writer and confirmed atheist Matthew Parris once wrote an article in The Times. Here are some of his comments about what he sees in African Christians and how it challenges his beliefs.
It doesn’t matter how young or old, how fit or disabled, how many of how few, how academic or intellectually challenged your group is. When you minister under the anointing of the Holy Spirit, God moves!
Do you sometimes feel dragged down by your past failures?
Do you have painful memories of missed opportunities, mishandled situations, or wrong choices?
This weight from the past need not prevent you from moving forward into a bright future.
When I saw this photo of the rooster I felt that warm glow that comes with good memories.
We ought to be Martha and Mary in one. We should do much service and have much communion at the same time. For this we need great grace. It is easier to serve than to commune. Joshua never grew weary in fighting the Amalekites, but Moses, on the top of the mountain in prayer, needed two helpers to sustain his hands.
Thomas Chalmers said: “Every man is a missionary, now and forever, for good or for evil, whether he intends or designs it or not. He may be a blot radiating his dark influence outward to the very circumference of society, or he may be a blessing spreading benediction over the length and breadth of the world. But a blank he cannot be.”
Here are some quotes to inspire us.