Prayer: God Matures Everyone in Silence

Prayer: God Matures Everyone in Silence    Matt 6:6            by Kelly Durant

⁶ But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly.

2.There was a ship out at sea with passengers and a storm came up. The ship was getting tossed up and down and everywhere and many people were getting scared as they felt the ship was out of control. One woman went running to the cabin where the captain was gripping very tight the wheel of the rudder and she yelled, “Captain, Will we be alright”? He responded, “Well, just pray, go back in your room and pray for us all! The woman nearly fainted and said, “Oh no, has it come to that”?! This is awful!

To confront the storms of life prayer should not be our last option but our first one! There is one aspect of prayer that so many people overlook, it was right from the beginning as Jesus did it, it was prayer alone in silence, most of the time with no one around, like in your closet.  

All of us need to grow spiritually. I want you to be blessed beyond what you imagine. I want you to contemplate on this: God wants you (and me) to spend more quality time with Him, alone in silence.

3.The way God wants us, is by getting us close to Him in silence.  But sadly in today’s world, few people ever experience a real prolonged silence. Let’s start with a small step, how many of you today will commit to a full 10-15 minutes of prayer daily in total silence?  Raise your hand!

Matt 4: 1 Then was Jesus led up of the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil (Jesus conquered temptation in the desert) The idea is to not hear anyone’s voice, only the voice of God.

Before Jesus got started, He gave us an example of how to pray, and it was for many days in the desert alone with no one. Many of you may think, yeah, right, do you think I can get a 40 day vacation to go off by myself somewhere to just pray? It is true most of us probably will never get to fully experience what Jesus did, but imagine if you could get at least a small glimpse of it? You would understand Jesus better, you would become more like Jesus as you do what He did and that is the practice of prayer all alone.

4.Here is a reality, most people are lazy, and they prefer that another person, like some spiritual church leader, pray for them and they do not want to pray deeply in silence as God intended. Why is that? It is because from the prayer time we spend with God many things come to our minds in our silence, many things God wants to use to bring us closer to Him. 

Since these things remembered in meditation can often be unsolved problems, most people usually want to just tune them out and they do not want to think about them; but it is in silence that God can communicate to us the best. Prayer is not just us talking to Him, it is listening also.

Why do you and I pray anyway? Because when we do we get a real connection to God, we get protection from temptation, and we get we get empowered for our specific tasks that He needs us to do for Him.

5. Just looking at Jesus in the desert place, what happened in his experience? Jesus had absolutely no sin at all so Satan, the accuser of the saints could not discourage him with his own faults, or family and personal problems (as he does with most of us), so he had to tempt Jesus not with lust, or money, but with pride and power.

Pride is Satan’s biggest offer. Each temptation exposed to Jesus involved Him doing a miracle that would be an abuse of God’s power. Satan knew Jesus was God’s Son who would bring healing, love, and salvation to everyone, so he played on his pride with the temptation to show off how powerful he could be actually to get Him to manipulate for his own presumably justifiable reasons the laws of nature. 

Satan wanted Jesus to alter the laws of physics set in place tempting that a stone to be made into bread; he wanted Jesus to stop the laws of gravity if he were to fall, and worse, he wanted Jesus to submit to the worship of Satan himself by passing over to the dark side of Satan’s destructive kingdom; but deep inside Jesus knew very well that Satan’s kingdom would become hell and the souls of angels and men would be judged, incarcerated, and torturingly punished for eternity for their destructions and rebelliousness towards God for worshipping Satan. 

If Jesus would have done any miracle for personal gain he would have sent all creation on a course of destruction, which was Satan’s motive. Satan is at war with God and all humanity to destroy as much as possible of God’s creation and the souls of people. Satan delights in destroying your happiness, your family, your relationships, and he loves causing discord with our fellow saints in the churches and Corps. How do you defeat him? With prayer!

6. Another time and place…Matthew 14:13  When Jesus heard of it, he departed thence by ship into a desert place apart: and when the people had heard thereof, they followed him on foot out of the cities.

Escaping from people from time to time to be by yourself is actually copying Jesus’ prayer habits! Alone prayer time strengthens you and me in the battle as it did with Jesus to do the work. It obliges you and me to have some alone time with God so He can recharge our spirits, like you recharge a battery. 

Prayer is intended to give you a silent time alone with God so He can reveal to you things you do not know about yourself, so you can see your actions as He sees them, and some things about yourself will not be so nice. It is comparing your stained life beside his white holiness that we see clearly. All we need to do is confess our sins and He loving, time after time, forgives them. 1 John 1:9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

There is the reality that many people do not see their own actions as God and others see them. 

Proverbs 20:6 Most men will proclaim everyone his own goodness: but a faithful man who can find?  In a group setting some people will boast, I’ll be there for prayer time, I’ll be there to evangelize, I’ll be there to teach a class, but then when the day comes, where are they?  Allow the Holy Spirit to talk to your spirit while in prayer so you remember where you missed God’s mark. People will show up to eat, but will they show up to pray?

Prayer brings the presence of the Holy Spirit in your life, and it causes you to remember and see the truth of your actions and of others around you. Prayer changes your outlook and attitude to be more thankful, to be encouraged, and to be empowered to do jobs & tasks outstandingly.

7.Here is an observation, and I can tell you now by experience, after learning a few things at the Brengle Holiness Institute, that there are some people that have difficulty passing a few hours in silence just to pray alone. A majority of people as Christians are not so happy when they have to be all alone for any long period of time. (with no interruptions of cell phones or tv). 

Imagine some Officers, as old and mature in the Lord as they are, were confessing how hard it was for them to just sit in silence to commune with God. Most all of us are use to being in action and praying with someone and for someone, but for praying alone, most all of us only do it for a few minutes.

It can be concluded that many people do not like total silence and being alone, but like it or not, Jesus showed us by His example that it is the only way for God to work in your life, helping you to win the victories over the sins you may not see you have. 

For the longest time I have been wondering how is it some Corps and churches some people developed into being willing on fire servants for Jesus and yet some other places the people seem so slow, and complainy and do not willing to do much? How is it some really put their heart into things and others do not? The answer is very simple, all things that people do is a reflection of their prayer time with Jesus! A reflection of their depth with God!

8. Mark 6:31 And he said unto them, Come ye yourselves apart into a desert place, and rest a while: for there were many coming and going, and they had no leisure so much as to eat.

The people that pass time with Jesus start to act and be more like Jesus! If Jesus himself spent time alone with God, not just in the beginning of his calling, but time after time he separated himself from the crowd with the disciples, how much more do you and I need to do it too!

While at Brengle we did a test to see if one were an introvert or extravert type personality. I am more extravert than introvert (but years ago I was more introvert). Do you know what you are? Well, the interesting thing is most extraverts are social, they like to work with others and it came to light they do not like to pray in silence, but they prefer to pray with someone. But even though silent prayer is harder for some, even though it is easier to just be busy for the Lord doing all kinds of activity, if we do not learn to practice quieting down our spirits we will be like the oil lamp that starts burning the wick and not the oil. We will not last long and our light will be flickeringly dark and ugly.

Prayer in silence allows God time to reveal to us things and it allows time for Him to fill us up with His Holy Spirit and living Word. So many times I have prayed and just sat there in silence and even after just 10 minutes God seems to bring to my mind verses from the Bible for my encouragement. Have you ever had that experience?

9.Matthew 6:6 But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly.

If you do not hear God in silence, then ask yourself, am I treating God lovingly?  Prayer, sadly for some is a let down instead of what it is intended to be, a praise time where you feel the Holy Ghost coming to you teaching you, rebuking you, and guiding you into all wisdom.

How do you pray really? Prayer for some people is never very uplifting and they get tired of it because their prayers are more like complaints than praises. Instead of worshipping and praising our Father in heaven being thankful, they begin with a selfish petition. 

“Oh, God, one more time I ask you to give me faith.  You know my needs. I have asked you for years now and I don’t know why you leave me suffering. Give me patience. Help others to respect me more because I do so much for you. In you name amen.”

Can you see what is wrong? There is an approach to God as if He is supposed to do everything for you as you want it. Prayer for some people is actually a selfish thing, not one of just thanking, trusting, and loving God. Done right, prayer fills you with energy and love!

10.Many times our prayer meetings have been one person praying after another, and this is good, all different styles are accepted, but I recall in some prayer vigils when I have told everyone to just be silent for 10 minutes it seems someone could not wait to break the silence after 5 minutes because it seems too uncomfortable.  It is true, prayer is communication by speaking from the heart, but it is also a time when listening to God should take place. 

Recall even John in Revelation recorded that he had to wait in silence for half an hour while in heaven.   Revelation 8:1 And when he had opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven about the space of half an hour. And recall John had silence and prayer for the last several years of his life on the deserted island of Patmos. And on the deserted island look how much God spoke to him!

11. Here is something new for you to think about, God may make you uncomfortable in prayer before He comforts you in prayer. He wants to clean you and teach you, but He never can if you will not allow Him all the time He needs to speak to you in silence. 

Prayer is like cleaning your house, you walk in at the end of the day praise God for having a home but it is dirty so in order to enjoy your free time in peace, you first clean it up and wash the dishes, and then you are able to make a meal, and then just sit in peace to relax. Or you can do it vice versa, you can eat, relax, enjoy it, and then clean it. Listening brings on cleansing, and talking to God is like relaxing having a family chat. 

I want to challenge you. I think there is not a single person here that will fast and prayer in the desert for 40 days as Jesus did. But here is the situation, some of you maybe have not even done it ever in your life for even 40 minutes. How many of you have gone into a closet with no distractions and prayed in absolute silence for even 4 hours? It is not easy, but the benefits are worth it!

Remember each of you, and me included are in God’s progressing plant to mature and grow into more love and holiness. The Holy Spirit will talk to you, so give God, Jesus time. It is your responsibility to love and communicate your heart to God daily without ceasing. I Tess 5:17 Pray without ceasing!  Will you as of today start listening and communicating to God in silence more now since you and I discovered more on how Jesus did it?

Old Age and Blessings!

Old Age and Blessings!   Kelly Durant  

Leviticus 19:32

32 Thou shalt rise up before the hoary head, and honor the face of the old man, and fear thy God: I am the LORD.

 

2.There is a quote in English that says: No wise man ever wished to be any younger! There are a lot of benefits to growing old, but I am referring to growing mature in the Lord! And… Like they say, wrinkles should be on the face, not on the heart!

Let’s look up Titus 2:2,3

2 That the aged men be sober, grave, temperate, sound in faith, in charity, in patience.

3 The aged women likewise, that they be in behavior as becometh holiness, not false accusers, not given to much wine, teachers of good things;

4 That they may teach the young women to be sober, to love their husbands, to love their children,

 

That scripture tells the elderly to be serious, temperate, strong in faith, love and patience. The youth can learn a lot from the more mature.

What is old really? (In different countries people die at different ages).

 

3. It is the job of the young to learn from the aged and experienced and the older ones should be good examples and teachers! That is if they are close to the Lord! You lived all those years and all you know can benefit many people, so all the elders here need to consider they have a job in our Corps church, they should be mentors to the younger. 

 

That is what the Word commands us to do and we need to retain the old mentality of respect for our elders! It is Biblical. Most older people are conservative, that is they have seen and learned through the years that we must conserve Godly ways in our families, and society, because if not, all other roads lead to bitterness, chaos, division, and destruction, or to clarify, the consequences of sin. 

 

Today we have a generation of kids that disrespect the elderly and their parents, and according to the 10 commandments to honor your father and your mother, if a child insulted his parents breaking this commandment, he was to be stoned to death! God is serious about us respecting those that are older, especially parents!

Deuteronomy 21: 18 “If a man has a stubborn and rebellious son who will not obey the voice of his father or the voice of his mother, and who, when they have chastened him, will not heed them, 19 then his father and his mother shall take hold of him and bring him out to the elders of his city, to the gate of his city. 20 And they shall say to the elders of his city, ‘This son of ours is stubborn and rebellious; he will not obey our voice; he is a glutton and a drunkard.’ 21 Then all the men of his city shall stone him to death with stones; so you shall put away the evil from among you, and all Israel shall hear and fear.

 

4. There are many articles about how we age and most of them state how people often get more mellow, more friendly, more happy, and even more productive. KFC was started after Col Sanders retired from the military, in his late 50s. Many people go on to accomplish great things in business, in writing, in service to the community. Old age is a blessing! It can be the most productive years.

 

And let’s look at the way God has acted throughout the Bible history. He called Abraham and Sarah when they were old to raise their son. He called Moses when he was 40 but he was still too young and impulsive. Then God didn’t call him again until he had watched sheep for another 40 years, and he then was ripe enough to go on to free the children of Israel at age 80! 

 

Many of God’s prophets were not used by God until they had become aged men. I think some people at age 40 are still not yet mature. It is not the age of the body that matters as much as the age of the spirit and how much you have learned. “I will be your God throughout your lifetime -- until your hair is white with age. I made you, and I will care for you. I will carry you along and save you (Isaiah 46:4)

 

5. It is God’s plan that we grow more mature in Him. There are some people that get older and still make the same mistakes over and over though, and that is because they are not seeking God every day. Some people just get older but not wiser.  Let’s look up…Proverbs16:31

31 The hoary (grey) head is a crown of glory, if it be found in the way of righteousness.

 

In other words, if you are old with grey hair, and you are close to the Lord, living in righteousness, you are wearing a crown of glory! But the older ones must live in the path of righteousness, and that is a purity that comes after years of practicing righteousness.

 

Here, and in other cultures, grey haired people are usually taken to be wise, but wisdom does not always come with grey hair. So why is it that some people hide their age? My mother wore a wig that was the color of her hair when she was 40, so even though when she was 80, she appeared about 60. That is what she chose, but natural is fine too. The heart is what matters!

 

6. Sometimes, some people may equate old with slow and useless. In my time here with the Salvation Army I have met many older and retired Officers and what I have seen is amazing. They are a sharp productive group of people! I have seen some retire at 65 and keep working another 20 years! And just like some of you here, your memory of Bible stories and of life experiences remains lucid. 

 

I’d say the average life span of a Salvationist Officer right now must be at least 80-90. Even though we live a busy stressful life for the Lord, it is as though the Lord blesses us with length of days for serving Him. Look up

Ps 92:13‑15

13 Those that be planted in the house of the LORD shall flourish in the courts of our God.

14 They shall still bring forth fruit in old age; they shall be fat and flourishing;

15 To shew that the LORD is upright: he is my rock, and there is no unrighteousness in him.

 

I want to tell you, in our 14 years of ministry in Atlanta we got to know hundreds of people. There are people right now that I know that have lived for the Lord, been active in the church, and lived holy lives and prospered in usefulness throughout many years. On the other hand, some people I have known that have been slow to get close to the Lord, I have seen over time grow increasingly weak or in worse condition than how they use to be! Age will regenerate you and you will feel young when you live for the Lord, or age will kill you, when you are not on the right path spiritually!

 

7. The U.S. is made up of a majority of people of all races that are getting older! It is our job to bring them into fellowship and love! Many of them have solitary lives and they pray every day to keep their health so they can get around to walk to buy food and help others. And we always need to thank our church drivers who pick up these weaker ones here who do not drive due to their age or heath. 

 

We need to thank those who visit the elder in the Community Care ministries too. Remember, the people out in the world, those that have not known righteousness and our loving, life renovating Christian way of life, are not anywhere near as happy as we are in our Christian life in the Corps. We can see the effects of time on earth without God in the people that in the rest homes being not so old, and yet they can be amongst the vulgar grouchy ones. But we must minister to all elderly.

 

One time when Regina was in the hospital, there was an elderly lady beside her that had had an operation to cut out a cancer and she was going to die within a few weeks. Despite that she cussed like a sailor and had no reverence to God; she was old but not pure or righteous in any form or fashion. It was ugly to hear. Sad, right? Righteousness in old age is everything according to scripture! Righteousness is within the same as category as holiness, which we preach, and it induces respect.

 

8. Will you be energetic, in love with the Lord, and with life, and blessed because you planted in His house and won souls to Jesus? We have all met many older people in my time and isn’t it true that we see amazing things happen in the Salvation Army? 

 

Most teachings of service, generosity, and encouragement, all come from the older faithful ones! My question to you who are younger is, how is it going to be for you when you are older with grey hair?

 

Will you be old and bitter about how you don’t have what you wanted out of life? Will you complain how others treated you unfairly, how you should have been richer, or blame how your family held you back!? Age & time is a collection of what was lived day to day and only you answer to God for all things! Daily living in God’s word and in His praises will always be renovating your Spirit even though the outward body is wasting away.  But we as humans with our mistakes and sins and with our own carnal minds, tend to degenerate and discourage, so counter it and live in God’s praises and will from day to day! 

 

9. Here is some reality news…each of you (and me) are dying! So, if we are dying no matter what we do to be healthy, and some of us will pass on to glory before others do, why not live out our glory in Jesus Christ already? Paul said he died daily, and that implied that he, and we, must kill the bad in ourselves that is preventing us from being holy and right with God and only obeying Jesus matters! 

 

2 Corinthians 4:16

Therefore, we do not lose heart. Even though our outward man is perishing, yet the inward man is being renewed day by day.  Our internal spirit can be renovated! Each one of us is responsible for the effect of what we are feeding into our minds and spirits. 

 

With age we get better or bitter. Like wine that gets more fine, or like vinegar that gets more tart!  Let’s remember our very own William Booth, who started this movement late in life yet he accomplished great things! Let’s respect and pray for those that are elderly here today and let us make plans to grow old gracefully, full of His grace, and His love, and His righteousness, and His wisdom, and His patience, and His faithfulness! Pray for those you know who are elderly today!