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Phil. 4: 5-7.
(a)
Moderation means "yieldingness", if such a word is permissible. This quality must
not of course be shown in stewardship--in such a capacity we may yield nothing,
"no, not for an hour". But in the matter of our own rights and liberties we can
afford to let much go for the sake of Christ and His people, as did Paul.
(b)
Prayer is not worry, it is a committal to God.
(c)
God assures one answer to every true prayer: "The peace of God . . . . . shall
garrison your hearts and minds."
Psalm 61:
(a)
What is prayer? . . . . .
It is a cry.
(b)
Where may I pray? . . . . .
From the ends of the earth.
(c)
When may I pray? . . . . .
When heart is overwhelmed.
(d)
What shall I say? . . . . .
Lead me to Christ; higher than 1:
(e)
What is my assurances? . . . . .
Thou hast been . . . . . I will trust.
Numb. 7: 89.
"And when Moses was gone into the tabernacle of the congregation to speak with
Him, then He heard the voice of one speaking with him from off the mercy seat that was
upon the ark of the testimony, from between the two cherubim: and he spoke unto Him."
The basis of prayer is the offering of Christ, for without the "sacrifice of peace
offerings" of verse 88, Moses would not have drawn near. Since "He is our peace" we
have "access" (Eph. 2: 14-18).
The association of prayer is the recognition of "all saints". It was in "the tabernacle of
the congregation". The goal of prayer is the same as the symbolic teaching of the
cherubim "from between the two cherubim". This of course must be learned from
Scripture. The cherubim at the gate of the garden of Eden, on the mercy seat, leaving and
returning with the glory of the Lord, as described by Ezekiel, and present during the book
of the Revelation, where the A.V. calls them "the four beasts", are pledges of the
restoration of man and his lost dominion. "We see not yet all things put under him
(Adam, Psa. 8:), but we see Jesus." These features being present and recognized, the
prayers of the Lord's people will be less likely to wander and miss their mark.