Young People’s Blog

“For God is not unrighteous to forget your work and labour of love…in that ye have ministered to the saints, and do minister” (Hebrews 6:10).

Sometimes, when we do something for people, they take it for granted, and do not even bother to thank us. My wife and I often send a wedding present to a newly married couple, and occasionally they do not send us a thank you note, or even let us know that they received it safely. On another occasion a woman and her teenage son had a flat tire in front of our home, and neither of them knew how to change a tire. I happily did it for them, but again, they just drove off and did not bother to say thank you.

This verse tells us that when we do something for a fellow Christian, it is really done for the Lord, and He will not forget. Even if the other Christian does not say thank you, the Lord will remember it, and will reward us in a coming day. God has already done so much for us by sending His Son to die for us, but then He rewards us for any little thing that we do for Him. What a gracious God we have!

“Among the chief rulers also many believed on Him [the Lord Jesus]; but because of the Pharisees they did not confess Him… for they loved the praise of men more than the praise of God” (John 12:42-43).

These are very sad verses to read, for we see that many of the rulers of the Jews were convinced of who the Lord Jesus was, and wanted to follow Him. However, they were afraid of the Pharisees, and did not want to be put out of the synagogue. As it says in verse 43, they loved the praise of men more than the praise of God.

The same thing can happen today. Some people really want to believe the gospel, but are afraid of the laughter and criticism of their friends. They would rather risk going to hell than to put up with the disapproval of other people. But as someone has said, “Friends can laugh you into hell, but they will never laugh you out of it!” How much better it is to value the praise of God instead of the praise of men!

“Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together…but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching” (Hebrews 10:25).

It takes energy and effort to get together with other Christians at meetings such as a prayer meeting, or a reading meeting. Perhaps we think that we can simply read and pray at home, and it is important to do this. But we need one another, and we should be a help to one another. We can do this when we come together to pray, or to read the Word of God.

The day which is approaching is the day of judgment for this world, and the more we see things going toward that day, the more we need to get together with one another. The world is getting worse, and we are seeing that day of judgment getting closer. Let us remember the importance of meeting together with other believers!

“For he that is entered into His [God’s] rest, he also hath ceased from his own works” (Hebrews 4:10).

Some of us like to have everything in perfect order in our lives, whether in our personal life, our home life, our school life, or our work life. There is nothing wrong with leading an orderly life, but if we expect everything to go perfectly smoothly in our life, we will find that the Lord continually allows something to disrupt that perfection that we want. Why does He do this? It is because He wants us to enter into His rest.

God’s rest is not down here, in a world of sin. No, His rest is up there in heaven, where the Lord Jesus is sitting on His Father’s throne. When the Lord Jesus comes for us, we will go to be with Him, and enjoy that heavenly rest. God does not want us to settle down and become too comfortable here, for it is not our rest. He wants us to enjoy His rest, by faith, and to rise above our problems down here.

“The word of God is quick, and powerful…and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart” (Hebrews 4:12).

When we read the Word of God, we find that it reaches into our hearts, and shows what our thoughts are in the sight of God. The word translated “discerner” could be also translated “critic,” for the Bible is able to show whether our thoughts and intentions are good or bad. This verse certainly speaks to those who are not saved, for it brings them into the presence of God. However, this verse is also needful for us as believers, for the Word of God points out things in our life that we need to confess and get rid of, so that we can enjoy better communion with the Lord. At first, we may feel uncomfortable when this happens, but when we deal with sin that is exposed, and confess it to the Lord, we are freed from it, and we will be much happier. The Lord exposes our sin because He loves us!

“If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me” (Psalm 66:18).

There is one time in our lives when it is not right to pray. If I have sinned, and the Lord has brought it to my attention, then He wants me to confess it and be restored in my soul. If I think I can simply ignore the sin, and continue to go to the Lord in prayer, I will find out that the Lord will not hear me, as we read in this verse. It is not that the Lord does not know I am praying, for He knows everything, and hears everything. But He will not answer, and we will not have the sense in our souls that we are praying according to His will, for we are deliberately going on with unjudged sin in our lives.

Perhaps we can explain it this way: If I have spoken disrespectfully to my father, will I feel comfortable asking him some time later if he will help me fix a problem with my bike? No, my father will expect me to say I am sorry and make it right with him for speaking disrespectfully to him, before asking him for something. It is the same with the Lord; He wants to enjoy our company, and loves us too much to allow us to go on in sin.

“The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much” (James 5:16).

After reading yesterday’s verses, we might think that it does not matter whether we pray intelligently or not, because God will always answer according to His perfect will. But it does matter, for if we pray continually in a wrong way, then we are often disappointed in the way the Lord answers. We are not really walking with the Lord, and may even think somehow that the Lord made a mistake. I remember a Christian woman many years ago who became so angry when the Lord did not answer her prayer in her way that she would not go out to the meetings and would not remember the Lord. This was a very serious way to react, for she was really saying that she knew more than the Lord did!

It is a wonderful honor to be able to pray, for as someone has said, prayer is based on the immense privilege of our having common interests with God. This means that we really want the Lord’s will, whether for ourselves or for others. When we pray intelligently, we are encouraged as we see how the Lord answers our prayers.

“We know not what we should pray for as we ought…but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us…He maketh intercession for the saints according to the will of God” (Romans 8:26-27).

Many times in our lives we do not know exactly what to pray for. Perhaps we are in the middle of a big problem, and our first thought is to ask the Lord to take us out of the trouble. Or perhaps we pray earnestly for something, such as a new job, that seems to us to be just right. I well remember praying that I might get a certain job one summer, and I did not get it. Was I ever disappointed! But a few days later another job opportunity came along, a much better one, and I got it! The Lord knew about that better job, and made me wait for it. I was very thankful that the Lord had done this, and thanked Him again and again.

When we pray in an imperfect way, the Spirit of God intercedes for us. That means that He pleads before God for us, but according to the will of God. Then what happens? God answers our prayer according to His perfect will, and not according to our limited knowledge of what is good for us. This is very comforting and very reassuring! We can pray in the confidence that the Lord will always answer according to His perfect will.

“Now is My soul troubled; and what shall I say? Father, save Me from this hour: but for this cause came I unto this hour. Father, glorify Thy name” (John 12:27-28).

It is truly an awesome thought to realize that the Lord Jesus, the Creator and Sustainer of the universe, was so troubled that He prayed to His Father in this way. On the one hand, He shrank back from being made sin, and going into death. Yet He knew that there was no other way that our sins could be washed away. One simple expression stated it — “Father, glorify Thy name.” Whatever glorified the Father’s name was what He would do. Because of this, Jesus went ahead to the cross, and suffered for sin.

This is a good lesson for us too. Sometimes, when we do not know what to do in a particular situation, we should ask ourselves, What will glorify the Lord? Usually the answer is simple, and we can go ahead and do what would bring honor and glory to God.

“Lord, teach us to pray” (Luke 11:1).

Prayer was not generally the privilege of people in the Old Testament, although we know that some in the Old Testament did pray. Moses was close to the Lord, and asked directly for certain things. Women like Hannah prayed, and her prayer is recorded for us. David, Solomon, Elijah and Elisha also prayed. However, most people in the Old Testament did not know how to pray. That is why, when the disciples saw the Lord Jesus praying, they asked Him to teach them to pray.

Now, since the beginning of Christianity, it is the privilege of every Christian to pray. True prayer is when we do not want our own will, but rather want God’s will. Yes, it is all right to pray for something we want, but sometimes we want things that would not be good for us. God always answers our prayers, but sometimes He says, “No,” because it is not His will. We will speak more about this tomorrow.