WELCOME TO THE LAND OF MORE AND MORE, Part 4

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

MORE ABUNDANT LABOR

The apostle Paul confessed in 1 Corinthians 15:10: “I labored MORE ABUNDANTLY than they all: yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me.”

Paul’s laboring was hard work and toil that resulted in weariness. He didn’t work half-heartedly but with that word perissoteron meaning “superabundantly, exceedingly.” I know that many times you feel weary and overwhelmed as you care for your family. Don’t give in, dear mother. God’s grace will enable you (2 Corinthians 12:9, 10).

MORE BLESSED TO GIVE

Acts 20:35: “I have showed you all things, how that so laboring ye ought to support the weak, and to remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how he said, It is MORE BLESSED to give than to receive.”

Don’t you love the story of Jesus watching the rich people dropping their gifts in the collect box. Then came a poor widow who gave two small coins. Jesus said: “Of a truth I say unto you, that this poor widow hath cast in MORE THAN they all” (Luke 21:1-4 and also written in Mark 12:43).

In Exodus 36:5 it tells us how the Israelites brought "MUCH MORE THAN ENOUGH for the service of the work." What a wonderful attitude. It is easy to have a stingy attitude and only give what is absolutely necessary, isn't it? But God wants us to have an attitude of giving MORE THAN ENOUGH in every area of our lives. This is the character of God. He always gives MORE THAN we deserve. I love these words . . .

He might have doled His blossoms out quite grudgingly,

He might have used His sunset gold so sparingly,

He might have put but one wee star in all the sky,

But since He gave so lavishly, why should not I?

MORE THAN CAN BE NUMBERED

Psalm 40:5: “Many, O LORD my God, are thy wonderful works which thou hast done, and thy thoughts which are to us-ward: they cannot be reckoned up in order unto thee: if I would declare and speak of them, they are MORE THAN CAN BE NUMBERED”

Psalm 139:17, 18: “How precious also are thy thoughts unto me, O God! How great is the sum of them! If I should count them, they are MORE IN NUMBER than the sand.”

God’s blessings to us are more than can be numbered. Our greatest blessing is His great salvation He wrought for us upon the cross. We must not ever take it for granted. I believe that we should thank Him every day for His eternal redemption He sacrificed for us. We should teach our children to do this also.

MORE EARNEST HEED

Hebrews 2:1: “Therefore we ought to give MORE EARNEST HEED to the things which we have heard, lest at any time we should let them slip.” It is so easy to let things slip, isn’t it? It’s easy to let our daily Bible reading slip away. It’s easy to get so busy we forget to gather the family for daily Bible reading and prayer. But we dare not do this.

The HCSB translation says that we should “pay even MORE attention.” Not just attention but MORE! We should pay more attention to listening to the Holy Spirit speaking us. Is He whispering to you to take more diligence in managing your home and keeping it clean. Or perhaps more persistence in getting up in time to have a good start to the day and not let it run away with you. God will help you in whatever area He is speaking to you about.

MORE EARNEST PRAYER

When Jesus was nearing the time of His agony on the cross, He “PRAYED MORE EARNESTLY, and his sweat was as it were great drops of blood falling down to the ground” (Luke 22:44).

What did Jesus do in His agony? He prayed MORE earnestly. That’s your answer too. You will never have to endure that agony that Jesus faced when He took upon Himself the sin of the world, but you can know that He understands what you are going through as you face your trials and heartaches.

James 5:16 says: “The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth MUCH.” It’s not only prayer, but FERVENT prayer that avails much.

PRAYER:

Dar Father, please teach me how to pray fervently because Your Word tells me that it has great power and effectiveness. Please enable me to pass on this passion of fervent prayer to my children too. I want them to not only be children who pray but pray fervently.

Amen.”

AFFIRMATION: