Carl Trueman offers some Thoughts on ‘Divine Reading’ – Reformation21 Blog.
Prayer
All posts tagged Prayer
Tim Challies highlights 6 Deadly Enemies of Marriage | Challies Dot Com.
There are very few books I can recommend without a single caveat or reservation. Richard Barcellos’ new book, The Lord’s Supper as a Means of Grace: More than a Memory, is one of them. Writing in an incredibly clear, straightforward style (unlike so many other theological works these days), Barcellos spells out exactly what his aims are in this book: to demonstrate how the sacrament of the Lord’s Supper is a means of grace to the faith of believers in Jesus Christ. He then proceeds to do exactly that, presenting arguments based on sound exegesis of several Scripture passages. He then turns to historical Reformed Confessions and Catechisms to show that he’s not presenting a novel idea, but rather perhaps reminding his readers of what has often been forgotten. Key points include the meaning of “communion,” how the Spirit applies Christ’s work to our souls, and how prayer (also a means of grace) is crucial to our understanding of the sacraments.
I heartily recommend this book for the following people: students, teachers, pastors, Baptists who want to understand historic Baptist doctrine, PCA members, Roman Catholics, students of biblical Greek, bloggers, anyone who wants to understand the distinction between an “ordinance” and a “sacrament” (it’s probably not what you think), and basically everyone else.
More than a mem’ry
Grace transcending time and space
All should read this book
You can (and should) purchase the book here!
Listen to an interview with the author (featuring me & Jonathan Tomes from The Confessing Baptist) here!
So the prayer for illumination and the prayer of consecration have similar functions. In neither instance is attention focused on the imperfect elements on the table or the failures of the pastor and others leading the service. These prayers focus the attention of the community on the Lord, who alone dispenses grace to broken and sinful humankind.
Most of us would agree that the prayer of consecration should not be excluded from the communion service. Neither should we intentionally skip the prayer for illumination when we are about to hear the Word of the Lord. Unless God works a miracle of grace when we worship, we will have been little more than entertained by a sermon and engaged in a senseless act at the table. These two prayers may seem insignificant to a casual observer, but they stand at the threshold of those moments in worship when God interacts with the believing community.
via Shedding Light on the Prayer for Illumination | Reformed Worship.
Brandon Adams, over at Contrast, mentioned this sermon in a recent post, so I added it to my ever-growing iPod playlist of sermons, lectures, and books to listen to. In this sermon, Pastor Tim Conway challenges his listeners to transform their hesitant, casual, rote, and vague prayers into thoughtful, planned, logically argued pleas to our gracious Father. Implement the 10 methods of pleading he suggests in this sermon, and I guarantee you’ll never complain about a boring prayer meeting again.
You can download, watch, or listen to Pastor Conway’s stirring sermon here.
The Sovereign Logos 