Episodes

October 7, 2022 - Inspired by J.C. Ryle’s treatise on Prayer. The extended introduction for our October episodes ends at the 7:20 mark, and while there is some benefit (I believe) in listening to it again, if you would like, you can fast forward to that mark and begin the episode. We turn shortly to our Biblical calls to our relationship with God, the definition of our faith; prayer is a command, and often we chase after that which does not satisfy. We are genuinely seeking God to quench our ...

October 6, 2022 - Inspired by J.C. Ryle’s treatise on Prayer. The extended introduction for our October episodes ends at the 7:20 mark, and while there is some benefit (I believe) in listening to it again, if you would like, you can fast forward to that mark and begin the episode. “I have read the lives of many eminent Christians who have been on earth since the Bible days. Some of them, I see, were rich, and some poor. Some were learned, and some unlearned. Some of them were Episcopalians and...

October 5, 2022 - Inspired by J.C. Ryle’s treatise on Prayer. The extended introduction for our October episodes ends at the 7:20 mark, and while there is some benefit (I believe) in listening to it again, if you would like, you can fast forward to that mark and begin the episode. ““I beseech you in all affection to attend to the subject I bring before you. Do not say that my question is too close. If your heart is right in the sight of God, there is nothing in it to make you afraid. Do not tu...

October 4, 2022 - Inspired by J.C. Ryle’s treatise on Prayer. The extended introduction for our October episodes ends at the 7:20 mark, and while there is some benefit (I believe) in listening to it again, if you would like, you can fast forward to that mark and begin the episode. J.C. Ryle: “I have looked carefully over the lives of God’s saints in the Bible. I cannot find one of whose history much is told us, from Genesis to Revelation, who was not a man of Prayer. I find it mentioned as a ...

The extended introduction for our October episodes ends at the 7:20 mark, and while there is some benefit (I believe) in listening to it again, if you would like, you can fast forward to that mark and begin the episode. J.C. Ryle boldly asserts: “This is one of the common marks of all the elect of God, “They cry unto him day and night” (Luke 18:1). The Holy Spirit, who makes them new creatures, works in them the feeling of adoption, and makes them cry, “Abba, Father” (Rom. 8:15). The Lord Jesu...

October 2, 2022 - Inspired by J.C. Ryle’s treatise on prayer. The extended introduction for our October episodes ends at the 7:20 mark, and while there is some benefit (I believe) in listening to it again, if you would like, you can fast forward to that mark and begin the episode. J.C. Ryle boldly asserts: “To be prayerless is to be without God, without Christ, without grace, without hope, and without heaven. It is to be on the road to hell. Now can you wonder that I ask the question, Do you...

October 1 2022 - Inspired by J.C. Ryle’s treatise on prayer. More than forty years ago, after a year of salvation and being enamored with God’s word, I could still not pray. My patient exacerbated mentor said, (basically), “Get over yourself, prayer is a command, and you need to start obeying that command. In the last four years of the podcast, I have resisted mentioning that truth. By 2018 prayer was no longer a command but the sweetest and most necessary time of my day. In the last few wee...

Our continual supplication is understanding. Understanding brings us to the knowledge of the perfect love of Christ, and in our longing, we know our redeemer listens, and our salvation is sure. Tav Psalm 119:169-176 169 Let my cry come before Thee, O LORD; Give me understanding according to Thy word. 170 Let my supplication come before Thee; Deliver me according to Thy word. 171 Let my lips utter praise, For Thou dost teach me Thy statutes. 172 Let my tongue sing of Thy word, For all Thy c...

Through God’s word, we find: Awe, due God. Praise due God. Peace from God. Hope for salvation. Love and the knowledge our ways are before God. Shin Psalm 119:161-168 161 Princes persecute me without cause, But my heart stands in awe of Thy words. 162 I rejoice at Thy word, As one who finds great spoil. 163 I hate and despise falsehood, But I love Thy law. 164 Seven times a day I praise Thee, Because of Thy righteous ordinances. 165 Those who love Thy law have great peace, And nothing...

Educate/Encouragement Of exclamatory prayer, Rolland Hill said: "I like 'exclamatory' prayer; it reaches heaven before the devil can get a shot at it." Exclamatory prayer is those spontaneous moments we cry emphatically, a revelation from God, the realization of answered prayer, or even the rehearsal of praises to our God. It is not a prayer I had thought about much, but after some consideration, I realized these prayers are profound, keep our eyes on our Creator, Savior and Sustainer, and l...

Sincere/Encouragement 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 n...

Instruction/Encouragement Trusting the Lord for His divine Providence. Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, the eternal God, our Creator, Sustainer, our Savior, hears every prayer. Long or short, when we pour out our hearts to Him, He is our ever-present help in time of need. We see 8 word, 6 word, and even 3 word prayers can be most effective. Psalm 130:1-2 Out of the depths I have cried to Thee, O LORD. 2 Lord, hear my voice! Let Thine ears be attentive To the voice of my supplications. And sin...

Category - Exhortation We will see how and where I learned to say blessings before meals, why I avoided those prayers as much as possible, and why I felt like a hypocrite saying grace 95% of the time. Contemplating prayer before meals and exactly what that entailed, I came to the conviction that I broke every principle of prayer. What did Jesus say when He blessed the meals? There is a Jewish tradition, a formula for blessing meals. Acknowledging Baruch Atah Adonai (God who is ever blessed, ...

Category - Exhortation After a heartfelt review of our expected growth in prayer, we thought it fitting to play Marvin and Chapman's rendition of "Tis So Sweet to Trust in Jesus," for our learning of the art of prayer must begin with stumbling faltering steps of faith. Let David, Peter, Paul, and Jeremiah show us that one day discipline in prayer-craft will yield the fruit of a growing, Biblical, dynamic, sincere, God-glorifying prayer life, which will tutor us in the abundant life Jesus promi...

While studying, for the first time in any depth: Matthew 14:16-20 16 But Jesus said to them, "They do not need to go away; you give them something to eat!" 17 And they *said to Him, "We have here only five loaves and two fish." 18 And He said, "Bring them here to Me." 19 And ordering the multitudes to recline on the grass, He took the five loaves and the two fish, and looking up toward heaven, He blessed the food, and breaking the loaves He gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave to...

This is our first interview in two years; Chad and Joanna are sincere gifted musicians who will lead you to worship through God’s leading and His anointing. You will love to listen to the joy of these two loving hearts of these two ministers. What a glorious hour of fellowship with my former Worship Pastor-Chad Marvin and his cohort Joanna Chapman. (A praise for all of you, as you hear two beautiful voices, not just mine!) “Hymns” just dropped, as you young people say… “Hymns” is a set of beau...

Rescues from adversaries or our sins come from meditation on the word of God….” The sum of Thy word is truth, And every one of Thy righteous ordinances is everlasting.” Resh Psalm 119:153-160 153 Look upon my affliction and rescue me, For I do not forget Thy law. 154 Plead my cause and redeem me; Revive me according to Thy word. 155 Salvation is far from the wicked, For they do not seek Thy statutes. 156 Great are Thy mercies, O LORD; Revive me according to Thine ordinances. 157 Many are ...

The easy part: My grumpy old man prayer (when I remember to employ it) brings much more peace and rest to my soul and is more effective in my personal, face-to-face conflicts. The hard part: Occasionally I watch various news outlets, and hearing an evil or just plain dumb statement, my fleshly reaction is judgment and anger. Grumpy Old Man Prayer (GOMP) Expansion. No matter the source, personal or something observed, when my fleshly anger rises, I take notice of it and in the easy part and ...

Amidst the anger of false teaching on prayer, unbiblical promises, and taking advantage of those not schooled in the will of God, feeling Holy Spirit's permission (I believe) to vent a little about our need to come into God's throne room in sincerity, I did here. Prayer is not: A formula. A magic set of words. If said just right, an incantation will bring you whatever you ask. (Unless you ask for God's will, you can be assured He will do His will, but it is in the balance of probabilities, ...

Full Episodes coming in two days! Our God and our Savior is available to us at all times, we commune with Him from dawn to dawn from now to eternity. Qoph Psalm 119:137-144 145 I cried with all my heart; answer me, O LORD! I will observe Thy statutes. 146 I cried to Thee; save me, And I shall keep Thy testimonies. 147 I arise before dawn and cry for help; I wait for Thy words. 148 My eyes anticipate the night watches, That I may meditate on Thy word. 149 Hear my voice according to Thy lo...

Walking by faith equals peace, leading us to trust in the good Providence of our Holy God and Savior. We have had a short delay, and all is good. Prayerfully the unexpected time off is over, yet we commit our time and circumstances to His divine wisdom. Our trust is in His faithfulness, not in ourselves. His word enlightens us to our benefit. So join us once again in our reading of this Psalm as we read with the purpose of God teaching us today. Tsadhe. Psalm 119:137-144 137 Righteous art Th...

Top Ten Reasons we pray for our Spiritual Leaders. 10. Our leaders fall into “all the saints.” Ephesians 6:18 9. We forget. The best of men are men at best. (J.C. Ryle) 8. Protected by God. (Hedge about them) 7. Protected from other pastors. Galatians 2:11 ff (Even in the battle for the truth leaders have conflicts.) 6. Protection from Evil opposition 5. Sincere friendships. Like Timothy, Epaphroditus, and Titus 4. Power in their ministries. Ephesians 6:19-20 3. Peace in the Church. Hebr...

No matter what motivates us at the beginning of our prayer discipline, our prayers will glorify God, conform us to His will, and open up to us eternal life during our earthly sojourn. Maturing in the faith will not only see a convergence of the reasons we pray and the results of our prayer, but they will one day meld together, becoming the goal of our supplication every time we commune with Holy God. The Ultimate reason/result of our prayer? God glory alone. Our Chief reasons/results of our p...

New to prayer, beginning again after a multitude of fits and starts? We review the most fundamental principle of prayer, start talking to God. Set aside everything you know about prayer and talk. Children learn to talk by talking, and we know to pray by praying. Listen as I take my “how do children learn to talk” to ridicules levels, and hear how babies as they learn to talk, tell stories and events which to steal from Shakespeare, “This learned baby is too cunning to be understood.” Yet, t...