Here a prayer, there a prayer, everywhere a prayer prayer.

I'm literally surrounded by the topic of prayer. That's God's doing, so, pay attention.

Sorry. More from Charles Spurgeon. I think the reason I am drawn to preachers like him and D.L. Moody is because they were what I strive to be. They were truly Spirit-filled men of God who let themselves be used for great things. And they did it un-apologetically. So humor me. You might get something out of it.

Tonight I'll simply quote Spurgeon and let you ponder it and draw your own conclusions. This portion of this sermon is titled, "The condition of a believer who is being prepared for greater honor and wider service." I think this should speak to all of us JGenners. Buckle up!

Is it not a curious thing that, whenever God means to make a man great, He always breaks him in pieces first? There was a man whom the Lord meant to make into a prince. How did He do it? Why, He met him one night, and wrestled with him! You always hear about Jacob's wrestling. Well, I dare say he did; but it was not Jacob who was the principal wrestler: "There wrestled a man with him until the breaking of the day." God touched the hollow of Jacob's thigh, and put it out of joint, before He called him "Israel"; that is, "a prince of God." The wrestling was to take all his strength out of him; and when his strength was gone, then God called him a prince. Now, David was to be king over all Israel. What was the way to Jerusalem for David? What was the way to the throne? Well, it was around by the cave of Adullam. He must go there, and be an outlaw, and an outcast, for that was the way by which he would be made king.

Have none of you ever noticed, in your own lives, that whenever God is going to give you an enlargement, and bring you out to a larger sphere of service, or a higher platform of spiritual life, you always get thrown down? That is His usual way of working; He makes you hungry before He feeds you; He strips you before He robes you; He makes nothing of you before He makes something of you. This was the way with David. He is to be king in Jerusalem; but he must go to the throne by the way of the cave. Now, are any of you going to heaven, or going to a more heavenly state of sanctification, or going to a greater sphere of usefulness? Do not wonder if you go by the way of the cave. Why is that?

It is, first, because, if God would make you greatly useful, he must teach you how to pray. The man who is a great preacher, and yet cannot pray, will come to a bad end. A woman who cannot pray, and yet is noted for the conducting of Bible classes, has already come to a bad end. If you can be great without prayer, your greatness will be your ruin. If God means to bless you greatly, He will make you pray greatly, as He does David, who says in this part of his preparation for coming to his throne, "I cried unto the Lord with my voice; with my voice unto the Lord did I make my supplication."

God wants to use you for greater things. I sincerely want you all to be closer to God and more useful to Him, even if that means a little breaking. So don't forget to pray today.

Happy March 12th. (I'm shameless)