Episodes

Don't Panic; Richard will be back with us tomorrow. October 1, 2023, our October Surprise month is here! Unbelievable quick! Thank You for listening and encouraging the podcast principal, Fred, and Richard Durrington, your amiable announcer. We have some new stuff coming and some news in a day or two, I am praying, which you may find interesting, but today we commence with day one of our October wrap-ups to year five and prayerfully a launch into year 6! This month, we will hear every day, a...

The Apostle Paul was distressed, buffeted by Satan. Evidently, Paul's practice of buffeting his body was insufficient to keep him humble. Paul prayed three times for relief from the thorn in his flesh, and when the answer came back, (no) My grace is sufficient for you, Paul's response was: "And He has said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness." Most gladly, therefore, I will rather boast about my weaknesses, that the power of Christ may dwell in me. 10 The...

We have seen the futility of trying to manipulate God from His will through the error of Balaam. We have also seen the glory of God as He answers the particular prayer of Abraham's servant in an eerily precise way. Today, we will see God answer our prayers even as they may be vague, but He knows our hearts and grants even those imprecise prayers, even as He answers our specific prayers as He knows the deepest desires of our hearts. To His glory, He knows what we need, and although He answers d...

God’s abundant life is learned through prayer. In the book "Devoted to God" by Sinclair Ferguson writes of God's perfect will: "The Lord is the Master of the jigsaw puzzle of our lives. The pieces may be strangely shaped; often we cannot see how they fit together; but eventually when the big picture is complete we will see that each piece was perfectly shaped. He leads us by ways we could not have guessed, into situations we never expected, to fulfill purposes we could never have imagined." "...

One correction - I mention Isaiah 66:2 in this episode. When I said it, I should have listened to myself. (Now I know what Cathy feels like.) The verse I had in mind was Isaiah 65:24 "It will also come to pass that I will answer before they call; while they are still speaking, I will hear. So think about that verse when you hear Isaiah 66:2 (which is a great verse, too.) We have also republished a companion Episode: "Personal/Powerful Prayer Lessons - God is the Same Yesterday, Today, and Fo...

My best days are many times sleepless nights. God has often made the most resounding impact on His hard-headed slave -me- through sleepless nights wrestling with Him. This delayed episode is just one occasion of God's work on a dull hearer. We will see how dangerous it is to believe we pray primarily to get what we want. We follow Balak and Balaam as they persist in prayer, which is clearly against God's will. Ploy 1: Everyone thinks it's a good idea. Ploy 2: Really distinguished men think...

After the visit of my son-in-law Derek and my daughter Casaundra, chop liver compared to Seven, Lincoln, French, and Freddie, my grandbabies, my heart was full, and I was convicted over how I let the myriad mercies go by almost unnoticed. After this break, we begin with a prayer based on Psalm 33. A prayer of renewal, joy, and worship of our Holy God, Savior, Comforter, refuge, and strength. Psalm 33:20 "Our soul waits for the LORD; He is our help and our shield. 21 For our heart rejoices in ...

Sound consistency changes? Pray on patient friends. Romans 12:1-2 I urge you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship. 2 And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect. To pray the will of God is every Christian's goal; we grow into that goal, as we...

This is the first revision of our Signature Episode; it is worth a listen, even if you have heard the previous one. In examining the Duty, Glory, and Excellency of prayer, we are reminded that: I am a Sinner. Being human means being complex beyond what we can express or understand. We are lonely beings because of our sins. Added and expanded from our original episode: We are reminded of the essence of sin: "Sin always aims for the worst: each time it tempts or entic...

We are in a five-minute devotional, and we maintain converse with God; fellowship or community with God is grown and developed through reading the whole counsel of God and talking to Him. (Prayer) A soul that does not set its affections and things above disobeys the commands and loses the most gracious and delightful discoveries of the word of God." Excerpt From The Saint's Everlasting Rest Richard Baxter The Bible is a unit. We learn of God throughout the Bible, not just a part. ...

Back to our Extended Ryle, we are almost done reviewing the book. Beloved brethren, whether you are just beginning your conversation with our Savior or starting again for the third (or one hundredth) time as you get to know God through prayer, J.C. Ryle expresses like no other the encouragement we need to press on to know the Lord as Hosea exhorts us - chapter 6 verse 3. Perhaps the most poignant exhortation to prayer ever: "Wait not because you feel unworthy. Wait for nothing....

madhouseministries.org, mention Gossards in the note, please. There is momentum to every new endeavor, any new start-up effort, or adventure. The momentum starts out slowly, and as it gains speed, as it were, it becomes more prominent and different, even if only by a few degrees than had been anticipated. The Free Range Preacher on Prayer has come to that point. As in any other ministry, that momentum not only increases the possibilities of that ministry but also offers an opportunity for a br...

The God of all comfort is our all in all. "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort; 4 who comforts us in all our affliction so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God. 5 For just as the sufferings of Christ are ours in abundance, so also our comfort is abundant through Christ. 6 But if we are afflicted, it is for your comfort and salvation; or if we...

Our five-minute devotional today is longer than five minutes, but we also take care of a bit of business in this episode. I know many of you pray for the Free Range Preacher on prayer, and I do thank you. It is also one of the reasons we have confidence when the unexpected happens. For the last few weeks, I have been able to be the helper for Cathy's health bumps and not the helpie! Today we consider three passages: "Now to Him who is able to do exceeding abundantly beyond all that w...

Editor's note (that's Fred) We have had some life stuff in the providence of God and s little none-sense of Fred, which have delayed this episode. For the providence of Almighty God, we are thankful. As per my none-sense, I edited this a little differently this time, and instead of the process being shorter, it was much longer. I am sorry and was about to say I'll not be doing that again, but Richard has already told me a time or two or 321, "Don't make promises you can't keep! So, I'll tr...

In examining the question, "What is Prayer?" We accidentally learn why we pray. Even though no Biblical person asks why we pray? Their lives reveal our anguished need for prayer. We are sinners. Until glory, we struggle with sin. Prayer is the act of faith that assures our soul. We are complex lonely beings, and prayer brings us into the arms of our heavenly Father, who knows us, holds us, and comforts us. Some of my favorite prayers: Hannah, 1 Samuel 1. Fathers calling out for their child...

J.C. Ryle is beginning to wrap up his treatise on "A Call to Prayer." In the first step in this short, from his perspective, and final set of appeals, he has specific admonish for those in need of saving grace, and next time, to the prayerless child of God. Samples: "Oh, prayerless reader, who and what are you that you will not ask anything of God? Have you made a covenant with death and hell? Are you at peace with the worm and the fire? Have you no sins to be pardoned? Have you no fear of et...

In 1951, “Nature, Man, and God” by Willian Temple was published much later than I thought. In this book, the finest description of the heart of true Christian worship can be found: “Quicken your conscience with the Holiness of God. Feed your mind with the Word of God.
Purge your imagination with the Beauty of God. Open your heart with the Love of God. Devote you will to the Purpose of God.” The verbatim prayer I pray each day, and add: “Teach me today of Thee Thyself. Help me to live:
At...

Five minutes of truth is our food for inexhaustible hope, peace, and comfort. Bless the LORD, O my soul, And forget none of His benefits; 3 Who pardons all your iniquities; Who heals all your diseases; 4 Who redeems your life from the pit; Who crowns you with lovingkindness and compassion; 5 Who satisfies your years with good things, So that your youth is renewed like the eagle. Psalm 103:2-5 Our soul humble Church knows it very well, "Wonderful are Thy works, And my soul knows it very well....

It is not any hyperbole or overstatement to say prayer puts all He has done for my soul into proper perspective. His promises of eternal life have been affirmed as only could be, by sincere converse, prayer, and the word, with my Savior. Part of what we have labeled "the grammar of prayer" we have talked about: The Foundation - our relationship with Almighty God. The Frame - The Holy Spirit and Faith. Today, in general, we know the Holy Ghost is our teacher and leader, who convicts us of our...

Category Five-Minute Devotional A new feature, long ago and far away, we started what I wanted to be a short daily devotional. Neither The Free Range, F.O.P. (Fred's Operating Procedure) or production were quality enough to make that reality. After all my Maestro - Richard Durrington's work, we can faithfully meditate on two weekly Devotional episodes. We begin with verse 1 of Psalm 103: Bless the LORD, O my soul; And all that is within me, bless His holy name. God is:...

I scoff on the lapel of all who say the Bible is not relevant to our day. Habakkuk faced times similar to our tumult he saw terrible judgment coming, and God confirmed the news in answer to his prayer, yet he confesses: Yet I will exult in the LORD, I will rejoice in the God of my salvation. 19 The Lord GOD is my strength, And He has made my feet like hinds’ feet, And makes me walk on my high places. Habakkuk 3:18-19 How was he able to make that confession in the face of such unbelievable ti...

How do you distinguish between a cherry tree and a pare tree? I use all my knowledge in plantology to know how. But critically: Samual Rutherford wrote: "Wrestle, fight, go forward, watch, fear, believe, pray; and then ye have all the infallible symptoms of one of the elect of Christ within you." J.C. Ryle, Rutherford, and all serious teachers of the word of God emphasize the symptoms of true faith. Or the evidence of true faith. Why? Because the Bible heavily focuses on that necessity. J...

In examining the question, "What is Prayer?" We accidentally learn why we pray. Even though no Biblical person asks why we pray? Their lives reveal our anguished need for prayer. We are sinners. Until glory, we struggle with sin. Prayer is the act of faith that assures our soul. We are complex lonely beings, and prayer brings us into the arms of our heavenly Father, who knows us, holds us, and comforts us. Some of my favorite prayers: Hannah, 1 Samuel 1. Fathers cal...