How They Prayed, Vol. Two: “Oh, for five hundred Elijahs!”

“Oh, for five hundred Elijahs,” exclaimed Charles Spurgeon, “each one upon his Carmel, crying unto God, and we should soon have the clouds bursting into showers! Oh, for more prayer, more constant, incessant prayer! Then the blessing would rain upon us.”
These words of Spurgeon’s are quoted on page sixty-one of the book, How They Prayed Vol. Two, written and compiled by Edwin and Lillian Harvey.

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Apart! Apart! Every minister―of all men―apart!

How They Prayed Vol. 2, written and compiled by Edwin and Lillian Harvey, is written to show how ministers of God’s word have discovered prayer to be the foundation of a work which endures and bears lasting fruit. “Get your sermon preparation well done before the Sabbath,” urges Samuel Chadwick. “Turn into bed in good time on Saturday night, and out of it early on Sunday morning. Get three hours with God before you go to the pulpit; get at Him by reading, believing, and praying over His Book. Talk with Him till He talks with you and says, “Go in this thy strength.”
S. Chadwick, p. 34

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How They Prayed, Vol. Two: Rise Early!

When the glory of the Father
Is the goal of every prayer―
When before the Throne in Heaven
Our High Priest presents it there―
When the Spirit prompts the asking,
When the waiting heart believes―
Then we know of each petition
Everyone who asks receives.

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How They Prayed, Vol. Two: “Getting Windward of the Almighty!”

“A plain man once said in the presence of the writer, ‘You must get up soon of a morning if you intend to get to windward of the Almighty.’ He spoke the truth.”―Thomas Champness, How They Prayed Vol. 2, p. 33
This is the main thrust of the first two chapters of How They Prayed Vol. 2, written and compiled by Edwin and Lillian Harvey, a book which focuses on the importance of prayer in the lives of all who would serve God and minister to others. Gerhardt Tersteegen echoes the same thought:

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A Common Fault—Justifying Oneself

Who among us relishes being told his or her faults? Self-justification is generally our spontaneous reaction. Yet Pascal advises otherwise: “When people detect in us what are actually imperfections and faults, it is clear that they do us no wrong, since it is not they who caused them; and it is clear, too, that they do us a service, inasmuch as they help us to free ourselves from an evil, namely, the ignorance of these defects. We should not be angry because they know them and despise us; for it is right that they should know us for what we are, and that they should despise us if we are despicable.”
Pascal. p. 179

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Hallowed Work

I asked of God that He should give success
To the high task I sought for Him to do;
I asked that every hindrance might grow less
And that my hours of weakness might be few;
I asked that far and lofty heights be scaled;
And now I humbly thank Him that I failed.
For with the pain and sorrow came to me
A dower of tenderness in act and thought;
And with the failure came a sympathy,
An insight which success had never brought.
Father, I had been foolish and unblest
If Thou hadst granted me my blind request.
—J. Stuart Holden. P. 146

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Make Something of Yourself—How?

Most of us find that we are being urged in a thousand ways to step up, make something of ourselves often at the cost of others, and realize our full potential. While in Christ, we certainly can become the full-orbed person we were created to be, the way to achieve this is often the reverse of what the world would advise. In the book Royal Insignia, we are reminded of our Master’s example and urged to follow in His steps. On page 194, we read Campbell Morgan’s comments on Christ’s washing His disciples’ feet in the thirteenth chapter of St. John’s Gospel:

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Always Be Aware You May Be Wrong

Royal Insignia is the title given to a compilation on the subject of humility, written and compiled by Edwin and Lillian Harvey, and it makes us ask the question, “What indeed is the sign that we are true followers of Jesus Christ? Watchman Nee puts this exact question to us in the following quotation from the above-mentioned book:
“Circumcision was a sign that marked out the Jew from the rest of mankind. What is the corresponding mark of our Christian life before men? Is it charity? Wisdom? Sincerity? Zeal? Other men have these. None of them is peculiar to the people of God, but there is one that is. It is a seemly absence of self-confidence! What distinguishes God’s own is that their confidence in the flesh is destroyed and they are cast back upon Him.

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Its Hard to Hit an Object Near the Ground

I think it is safe to assume that nearly everyone wishes to be credited for what he or she has accomplished and is often irked when the praise due to them is accorded to someone else.
Edwin and Lillian Harvey, co-authors of the compilation Royal Insignia, have devoted several readings in their book to this subject. The following are quotations from these readings:
“One day a friend of mine, when passing down a Glasgow street, saw a crowd at a shop door, and had the curiosity to look in. There he saw an auctioneer holding up a grand picture so that all could see it. When he got it into position, he remained behind it and said to the crowd, “Now, look at this part of the picture . . . and now at this other part,” and so on, describing each detail of it. Said my friend, “The whole time I was there, I never saw the speaker, but only the picture he was showing.” That is the way to work for Christ.

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Revealed Unto Babes

Childhood often holds a truth with its feeble finger, which the grasp of manhood cannot retain, which it is the pride of utmost age to recover,” says John Ruskin.

“Spiritual childhood is better than natural childhood,” writes Alfred Cookman in the same vein, “for it combines all that is good in a child’s heart with what is valuable in that same heart when matured. The trust may be stronger and more perfect, and purity purer, something much more than the innocence of ignorance.”

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