Chapter 11 - Petition

Chapter 11 selected 7 scripture passages to help us study the Biblical practice of petition (with my personally assigned title for each passage):

2 Thessalonians 1: 1-12 (Petition for the Thessalonians)
Colossians 1: 1-13 (Petition for the Colossians)
Matthew 7: 7-12 (Jesus says: Ask, seek, knock”)
James 5: 13-20 (Practical petitions)
Genesis 18: 16-33 (Intercessory petitions)
John 14: 1-14 (Properly prioritizing petitions)
1 John 5: 13-21 (Petition confidently)

The hymn for the week was "My Faith Looks Up to Thee” by Ray Palmer. (If you are not familiar with the song, just Google the hymn name and you will get multiple sources to read and/or hear it, as well as its history.)

The meditation selections included excerpts from the writings of Albert E. Day, Georgia Harkness, Glaphre Gilliland, James Stewart, Will Campbell, John Powell and D. M. M’Intyre. (Googling their names may give you some insight into their backgrounds and experiences, if that's of any interest to you.)

Some of the interesting quotes from the meditations included:

· “ ‘What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them.’ … There is a limitation in the passage itself which is usually overlooked; ‘What things soever ye desire, when ye pray.’ There are many things we naturally desire… but those same things disappear when we begin to pray. They and prayer just do not seem to go together.”
· “In many discussions of prayer, petition if not ruled out is placed on the lower rounds of the ladder.”
· “Seek God first… if you seek success…, acceptance…, increased income…, vindication…, happiness…, health…, to be useful…, to be helpful to others…, to be spiritual… We tend to use God instead of seek Him. We want God to do our bidding more than we want Him.”
· “Jesus never outgrew it… (petitionary prayer).”
· “When you pray, say ‘Our Father.’ … Fathers are kinfolks! … kinfolks have claims and designs on each other.”
· “The prayer of faith, like some plant rooted in a fruitful soil, draws its virtue from a disposition which has been brought into conformity with the mind of Christ.”

What do any of these quotes (or any of the meditations in Chapter 11 not quoted) mean to you? I look forward to your responses.

John