Sunday, 6 June 2021
Title: What’s Your Oxygen Level?
By Elder Bryan Lee.  李惠隆

Luke 11:1a (Scripture in KJV)
“And it came to pass, that, as he was praying in a certain place, when he ceased, one of his disciples said unto him, Lord, teach us to pray.”

A few days ago I browsed through a very old little book in my library written by R.A. Torrey
(Born 1856, died 1928), well known for his position as the first Dean of the Moody Bible Institute of Chicago. The book is titled  “How to Obtain Fullness of Power”. In it he wrote amongst other things about the power of prayer. What I am sharing with you today are thoughts from this little inspiring book.

The average Christian is spiritually poor and powerless because the Christian fails to ask God as recorded by the apostle James: “Ye have not, because ye ask not” (James 4:2).
God has put His own infinite power at our disposal, and He has proclaimed over and over again, in a great variety of ways in His word, “Ask and ye shall receive” (Matt 7:7). Thousands upon thousands have taken God at His word in this matter, and they have always found it true.

God delights to answer prayers: “Call upon Me,” He cries, “I will deliver thee, and thou shalt glorify Me” (Psalm 50:15). There is a place where strength can always be renewed; that place is the presence of the Lord: “They that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint” (Isaiah 40:31).

How little time the average Christian spends in prayer! We are too busy to pray, and so we are too busy to have power.

How much time does the average Christian spend daily in prayer? Pastor Edwin Lutzer of Moody Church, Chicago in one of his messages mentioned that the average American Christian spends less than 5 minutes in prayer. I wonder if there is any difference with the Malaysian Christian.
Satan the master deceiver wants us to busy ourselves with work and church programmes so that we have no time to approach the Throne Room of God with earnest, persistent, and believing prayer.

Prayer has the power to bring us a true knowledge of ourselves and our needs. There is nothing more necessary than for us to know ourselves: our weaknesses, our sinfulness, our selfishness; how that in us (that is to say, in our flesh) “dwelleth no good thing” (Romans 7:18). Lives of power have usually begun with a revelation of the utter powerlessness and worthlessness of self. If we are to have fullness of power, it is necessary that we see ourselves as we are by nature, in the flesh. This is accomplished through prayer. If we sincerely pray the psalmist’s prayer: “Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me and know my thoughts” (Psalm 139:23), He will do it.

Prayer has the power to cleanse our hearts from sin— from secret sin and from known sin (Psalm 19:12 – 13 ).  In answer to David’s prayer after his disastrous fall, God washed him thoroughly from his iniquity and cleansed him from his sin (Psalm 51:2). Many a man has fought for days, months, and years against some sin that has been marring his life and sapping his spiritual power. David finally went to God in prayer, persisting in that prayer until God blessed him. And he emerged from the place of prayer a victor.

Prayer brings the fullness of the Spirit’s power into our hearts and lives. One great reason why so many of us have so little of the Holy Spirit’s power in our lives and service is that we spend so little time and thought in prayer. We “have not, because we ask not.” Every precious, spiritual blessing in our own lives is given by our heavenly Father in answer to true prayer. Prayer promotes our own spiritual growth and our likeness to Christ as almost nothing else can. The more time we spend in real, true prayer, the more we will grow in likeness to our Master. 

There is mighty power in prayer. It has much to do with our obtaining fullness of power in Christian life and service. Whoever will not take time for prayer may as well give up all hope of obtaining the fullness of power God has for him. It is “they that wait upon the Lord” who “shall renew their strength” (Isaiah 40:31). No matter what the time or the place, if we are to know fullness of power, we must be men and women of prayer. I am thankful for the 40-50 faithfuls who turn up every Saturday morning to pray for one another and for the church.

In his book “Prayer”, Pastor John Onwuchekwa writes “Prayer is oxygen to the Christian.” He says “To be a Christian without prayer is no more possible than to be alive without breathing. Prayer is breathing.”
Recently India ran out of oxygen in their fight against the pandemic and many countries came to their rescue by flying in oxygen cylinders and oxygen generators. People were dying by the thousands for lack of oxygen. In the current pandemic we must monitor our oxygen level when we self quarantine. If your oxygen level falls below 94 per cent, you will experience shortness of breath. You must check into the hospital. You are becoming critical.

Prayer is oxygen to the Christian. Make sure it’s above 95 percent. Check into the Throne Room of God!

Lord, Teach us to pray!

Free pdf: https://vdocuments.net/how-to-obtain-fullness-of-power-r-a-torrey.html

班底浸信教会
每日灵粮
星期日，2021 年 6 月 6 日
标题：你的氧气指数是多少？
作者；李惠隆长老
翻译：林良億姐妹

路加福音 11:1 耶稣在一个地方祷告，祷告完了，有个门徒对他说：“求主教导我们祷告，像约翰教导他的门徒。

几天前，我在图书馆里浏览了R.A. Torrey（生于 1856 年，死于 1928 年）写的一本非常古老的书。作为芝加哥慕迪圣经学院第一任院长，他的职位使 Torrey略有名气。这本书的标题是“如何获得完整的力量？”。 他在书中也写了关于祈祷的力量。今天我要和大家分享的是我对这本鼓舞人心小书的想法。

一般平常的基督徒在灵性上是贫穷和无能为力的，因为基督徒没有像使徒雅各所记录的那样求问上帝：“你们得不着，是因为你们不求”（雅各书 4:2）。上帝已赐给我们祂自己无限的能力，在祂的话语中以多种方式一遍又一遍地宣告：“祈求，你们就必得着”（马太福音 7：7）。在这件事上，成千上万的人信靠上帝的话，他们一直认为这是真的。

上帝乐意回答祷告：“求告我，”他呼喊，“我必搭救你，你也要荣耀我”（诗篇 50:15）。总会有使人重新得力的地方；那地方就是与耶和华同在：“但那等候耶和华的必从新得力。他们必如鹰展翅上腾 ；他们奔跑却不困倦，行走却不疲乏。“（以赛亚书 40:31）。

一般普通的基督徒花在祷告上的时间是多么少啊！我们太忙没有祷告，所以我们太忙导致于没有能力。

一般基督徒平均每天花多少时间祷告？芝加哥慕迪教会的 Edwin Lutzer 牧师在他的一篇分享中提到，美国基督徒平均花在祷告上的时间不到 5 分钟。我想知道与马来西亚基督徒有什么不同。撒但身为欺骗大师，要我们忙于工作和教会计划，使我们没有时间以恳切、坚持和有信心的祷告来接近上帝的宝座。

有能力的祷告让我们真正了解自己和需要。没有什么比我们更需要了解自己：我们的弱点、罪恶、自私；在我们里面（也就是说，在我们的肉体上）“没有良善的”（罗马书 7:18）。有力量的生命通常是由自我理解开始，了解我们自己是完全无能为力和毫无价值的。如果我们要拥有完整的能力，就必须看到自己肉体的本性。这是通过祷告来完成的。如果我们真诚地祈求诗篇里的祷告：“上帝啊，求你鉴察我，知道我的心；试炼我，晓得我的意念”（诗篇 139:23），上帝就会成就。

祷告有能力洁净我们的心，使我们脱离隐藏的罪和已知的罪（诗篇 19:12-13）。大卫在灾难性的跌倒后应允了他的祷告，”求你将我的罪孽洗除净尽，并洁除我的罪！（诗篇 51:2）”。许多人已经与一些损害生命和削弱属灵力量的罪抗争了几天、几个月甚至几年了。大卫终于在祷告中来到上帝面前，坚持祷告，直到上帝祝福他。他从祈祷中以一个胜利者的身份站起来。

祷告将圣灵充满的能力带进我们的心和生活。很多人在生命侍奉中几乎没有圣灵的能力，一个重要原因是因为我们花在祷告灵修上的时间太少了。我们“没有，是因为我们没有要求”。我们生命中每一个宝贵的属灵祝福，都是我们的天父回应真正祈祷而赐下的。祷告祈求是唯一的办法来促进我们自己的属灵成长和促进我们更像基督。我们花在真正，真实的祈祷上的时间越多，我们就越像我们的主基督。

祷告有大能。这与基督徒在生命侍奉中，获得完全的能力有很大的关系。不花时间祷告的人，不如放弃上帝为他准备充满能力的所有希望。 “等候耶和华的人，必从新得力”（以赛亚书 40:31）。无论何时何地，如果我们要了解所谓的“充满力量”，我们必须成为祈祷者。我很感谢每周六早上出席的 40-50 名信徒，他们为彼此和教会祈祷。

John Onwuchekwa 牧师在他的《祷告》一书中写道：“祷告是基督徒的氧气。”他说：“做一个没有祷告的基督徒，就像没有呼吸一样活着。祈祷同等于在呼吸。”

近期，印度在抗击疫情的过程中氧气不足，许多国家空运氧气瓶和制氧机进行救援。成千上万的人因缺氧而死亡。在当前的大流行中，我们在自我隔离时必须监控我们的氧气指数。如果您的氧气水平低于 94%，您会感到呼吸急促。 你必须去医院检查， 因为已经进入病危状态了。

祷告是基督徒的氧气，确保它高于 95%。随时报到入住上帝的宝座室里！

求主教导我们祷告！

免费 pdf：https://vdocuments.net/how-to-obtain-fullness-of-power-r-a-torrey.html