To Feed a Hungry World
Often we hear people say, “There is no time!” Yes, in our modern century with high-speed trains and planes—even then, there is no time. There is simply not enough time. Why? Perhaps we want too much, or we have poor planning. Or maybe our plans go contrary to the will of God. Whom do we consult when we make our plans? Notice what apostle James says: “Go to now, ye that say, To day or to morrow we will go into such a city, and continue there a year, and buy and sell, and get gain: Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away. For that ye ought to say, If the Lord will, we shall live, and do this, or that” (James 4:13-15).
Maybe we ask God too little or too seldom. Or maybe we don’t ask at all.
A common Christian family’s morning starts off with everyone in a rush, everyone hastening. Someone is taking a shower, someone is getting ready for work, someone is getting some breakfast, and so on. Morning worship is done with a rush, and some don’t even do it! Why? There is no time to pray. . . . Stop!!! Let us stop for a moment and reassess our priorities. What do we have time for, what don’t we have time for?
At first let us think about why we need to pray, and who needs prayer the most, God or us?
It is also necessary for each of us to open our heart to God. “Prayer is the opening of the heart to God as to a friend. . . . Prayer does not bring God down to us, but brings us up to Him... And yet the children of earth, who need so much the help that God only can give, seem satisfied to walk without the light of His Spirit, the companionship of His presence.”1
“Keep your wants, your joys, your sorrows, your cares, and your fears before God. You cannot burden Him; you cannot weary Him. He who numbers the hairs of your head is not indifferent to the wants of His children. ‘The Lord is very pitiful, and of tender mercy’ (James 5:11). His heart of love is touched by our sorrows and even by our utterances of them. Take to Him everything that perplexes the mind. Nothing is too great for Him to bear, for He holds up worlds, He rules over all the affairs of the universe. Nothing that in any way concerns our peace is too small for Him to notice. There is no chapter in our experience too dark for Him to read; there is no perplexity too difficult for Him to unravel. No calamity can befall the least of His children, no anxiety harass the soul, no joy cheer, no sincere prayer escape the lips, of which our heavenly Father is unobservant, or in which He takes no immediate interest. ‘He healeth the broken in heart, and bindeth up their wounds’ (Psalm 147:3). The relations between God and each soul are as distinct and full as though there were not another soul upon the earth to share His watchcare, not another soul for whom He gave His beloved Son.”2
It is plain and clear that prayer is necessary to us, instead of to God!
You may ask, “How much and when is it necessary to pray?” The answer is simple. “Continue in prayer, and watch in the same with thanksgiving” (Colossians 4:2). “There is no time or place in which it is inappropriate to offer up a petition to God. There is nothing that can prevent us from lifting up our hearts in the spirit of earnest prayer. In the crowds of the street, in the midst of a business engagement, we may send up a petition to God and plead for divine guidance, as did Nehemiah when he made his request before King Artaxerxes. A closet of communion may be found wherever we are. We should have the door of the heart open continually and our invitation going up that Jesus may come and abide as a heavenly guest in the soul.”3
Remembering my childhood when my parents taught me how to pray, I can say that their example was sincere. Each morning, waking up we enjoyed the calm singing of Father and the pleasant smell coming from kitchen. My father usually woke us up (Mother was already in the kitchen). He reminded us that after we took care of personal things, we needed to devote time for our personal prayer. When all the children (five of us) were gathered and ready, Mother joined us and we all had family morning worship. Usually Father read some verses from the Bible. After he explained the texts, each child had to recite a verse. We all sang a hymn after which we knelt down in a circle and would pray. Father usually prayed and thanked God for safekeeping through the night, for divine blessings, gifts, and for the blood that was shed on the cross for our sins. Then he asked for blessings and safekeeping for each and every one of us throughout the day. At the end we all said “Amen,” and went to the kitchen where we were then served breakfast. After breakfast we each went to do our chores, and in the evening again we were gathered for evening worship, which was spent in the same way as morning worship. Only our personal prayers were offered before we went to sleep. As far as I can remember, we never left the house or went to sleep without prayer. If Father was not home, Mother conducted worship. Yes, our parents taught us from the time of our birth, because they had read “Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it” (Proverbs 22:6). Since we were trained this way from childhood, we have implemented the same ways and have taught our children the same way.
You may ask, “If we have family worship, why do we need to have our own personal devotions?”
“The daily service [in the ancient Hebrew sanctuary] consisted of the morning and evening burnt offering, the offering of sweet incense on the golden altar, and the special offerings for individual sins. And there were also offerings for sabbaths, new moons, and special feasts.”4
In carrying on the daily routine, as parents we should care not only for the material welfare of our children, and for the spiritual education as well. Personal morning and evening devotions will not only teach the children to trust in the Lord and to rely on His saving power, but also to understand that we all need to depend on it.
“All members of the family center in the father. He is the lawmaker, illustrating in his own manly bearing the sterner virtues: energy, integrity, honesty, patience, courage, diligence, and practical usefulness. The father is in one sense the priest of the household, laying upon the altar of God the morning and evening sacrifice. The wife and children should be encouraged to unite in this offering and also to engage in the song of praise. Morning and evening the father, as priest of the household, should confess to God the sins committed by himself and his children through the day. Those sins which have come to his knowledge and also those which are secret, of which God’s eye alone has taken cognizance, should be confessed. This rule of action, zealously carried out by the father when he is present or by the mother when he is absent, will result in blessings to the family. . . .
“The father must not betray his sacred trust. He must not, on any point, yield up his parental authority.
“The father . . . will bind his children to the throne of God by living faith. Distrusting his own strength, he hangs his helpless soul on Jesus and takes hold of the strength of the Most High. Brethren, pray at home, in your family, night and morning; pray earnestly in your closet; and while engaged in your daily labor, lift up the soul to God in prayer. It was thus that Enoch walked with God. The silent, fervent prayer of the soul will rise like holy incense to the throne of grace and will be as acceptable to God as if offered in the sanctuary.”5
Certainly, younger children do not understand the necessity of personal prayer. From the very beginning we must teach them the Lord’s Prayer. In due time, as they learn from those who give them the example, they too will pray to God and bring forth their petitions and requests. “We should pray in the family circle, and above all we must not neglect our own personal prayer, for this is the life of the soul. It is impossible for the soul to flourish while prayer is neglected. Family or public prayer alone is not sufficient. In solitude let the soul be laid open to the inspecting eye of God. Secret prayer is to be heard only by the prayer-hearing God. No curious ear is to receive the burden of such petitions. In secret prayer the soul is free from surrounding influences, free from excitement. Calmly, yet fervently, will it reach out after God. Sweet and abiding will be the influence emanating from Him who seeth in secret, whose ear is open to hear the prayer arising from the heart. By calm, simple faith the soul holds communion with God and gathers to itself rays of divine light to strengthen and sustain it in the conflict with Satan. God is our tower of strength. . . .
“It was thus that Enoch walked with God. These silent prayers rise like precious incense before the throne of grace. Satan cannot overcome him whose heart is thus stayed upon God.”6
Dear friends, how much time do we spend in prayer and study of the Word of God?
How much time do we spend in nature, contemplating and communicating with God?
How much time do we spend studying our own heart and, through the eyes of Jesus, see all the filth thereof and, with His power, overcome it?
How much time do we spend teaching our children to make time for God and to commune with Him? Are you silent? Let everyone answer for himself or herself. One day, all will give account for themselves and their children, for whom we almost do not have time.
Oh! At last it is Friday evening just before the opening of the Sabbath. Now we can rest and read a little, since we’ve been so busy all week and have had no time due to cares, turmoil, and so forth. You take a book and start reading with great interest, but not even 15 minutes have gone by and you are already asleep, and the book goes back on a shelf until a better opportunity when we’ll have more free time. Now comes Sabbath morning. All of us go to church, sometimes forgetting our Sabbath school lessons and Bibles at home. We begin with a hymn, “Lord, I Love You” and we sing—not thinking about the words. Stop! What love towards God? About what love do we sing? How many times have we thought about Christ during the past week? Do we only have to love Jesus on Sabbath during Divine Service?
We know the verses,“So ought men to love their wives as their own bodies. He that loveth his wife loveth himself. . . . Nevertheless, let every one of you in particular so love his wife even as himself; and the wife see that she reverence her husband” (Ephesians 5:28, 33). If the husband or wife does something wrong, we quote these verses to each other. Yes, we really love each other. We consult, we converse, and we try to spend more time together. If the husband loves his wife, she tries to show mutual love and to make him happy. It is great!
But how do we understand the verse,“Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it” (Ephesians 5:25)? The husband is called to love his wife “ even as Christ also loved” (not only loved in mere human power), “and gave himself for it.” If a husband would actually give his life for his wife, we all would speak of the great deed he had done. Everyone would say, “What a great act of love!”
But the love of God is greater than that! Unfortunately, very few exalt and praise it—most of the time we forget it. . . . There is just not enough time to kneel down and thank God for His love, for the cross of Calvary, and for His gift of salvation.
“Christ’s love for His children is as tender as it is strong. And it is stronger than death. . . . Although sin has existed for ages, trying to counteract this love and obstruct its flowing earthward, it still flows in rich currents to those for whom Christ died.”7
What do we do with this love? Do we respond to it? What do we render to it, and how much time do we give? How much time do we spend talking with the Lord? . . . Not enough? Why?
The sad answer: “Because my people hath forgotten me” (Jeremiah 18:15).
Imagine: the husband or the wife repeats: “I love you” but does not sleep in or contribute to the sustenance of the home. He or she is gone every night. His or her salary never makes it home. He or she shows up once a week for a few hours and beautifully declares, “I love you” and again disappears for a week. In such a case I am sure there would be no limit to your indignation, and at some point you would firmly declare that you can’t do this anymore. And if it should continue this way your patience will come to an end, and you will file for divorce. A sad story; another family crash.
Dear friends! This is actually the kind of relationship most of us have with Jesus. We come on Sabbath for 2 or 3 hours, in the morning sing a few hymns, “Lord, I Love You” or “I Wish to Glorify the Saviour,” and so forth. We stay for the lesson and sermon, and then leave for home without remorse that we have played the hypocrite before the Lord. While at home, we enjoy a good meal and, of course, rest. This rest continues till the closing of the Sabbath. And we forget that there is an afternoon study. But for this part we don’t have time since we decided to rest. When dismissed from the Sabbath hours, again we dive into a busy schedule doing that which attracts us most. We find time to wash the car, watch some video shows, browse the web, chat with friends, play tennis, table pool, and/or other occupations that Satan has laid in our path.
You may say: I need to work. After all, I have a family to look after. Correct. We should work: “For even when we were with you, this we commanded you, that if any would not work, neither should he eat”(2 Thessalonians 3:10). Yes, but if we pay attention only to work, forgetting about God and our duties to Him, we will work for a bag with holes, and we will never have enough. “Except the Lord build the house, they labour in vain that build it: except the Lord keep the city, the watchman waketh but in vain. It is vain for you to rise up early, to sit up late, to eat the bread of sorrows: for so he giveth his beloved sleep” (Psalm 127:1, 2).“Godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out. And having food and raiment let us be therewith content. But they that will be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and hurtful lusts, which drown men in destruction and perdition. For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows” (1 Timothy 6:6-10). If a person wishes to give that which is God’s to God, and that which is Caesar’s to Caesar, he or she would find the time.
The majority of modern Christians seek churches which don’t require a lot of time, change of character, effort, or contribution. Yet God calls for a change of character, and people leave God’s church and go to find one with less requirements. But the Lord does not leave us. He does not file a divorce for such a disgraceful relationship toward Him. Instead, He is longsuffering and bids us: “Return, My children!” “For I have no pleasure in the death of him that dieth, saith the Lord God: wherefore turn yourselves, and live ye” (Ezekiel 18:32). “For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the Lord, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end. Then shall ye call upon me, and ye shall go and pray unto me, and I will hearken unto you. And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart” (Jeremiah 29:11-13).
Dear Reader! If you value earthly, temporary things above the heavenly, and if you haven’t found enough time for God, then you have lived your life in vain. Let us trust more in God and in His sure promises. Then we will see the blessing: “Prove me now herewith, saith the Lord of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it” (Malachi 3:10).
My grandmother [from the former Soviet bloc] who used to tell us about their past history and about the great struggles in her life as she had lived during a time of famine, said that she did not remember any of the believers dying of starvation at that time. They helped each other; even nonbelievers brought food; everyone had something to eat, and they experienced God’s hand over them. True, they did not live in prosperity, but nobody died of hunger. The same history was shared by our brethren and sisters from Romania. They testified that they did not suffer so much during the economic crisis. God helped them in answer to their humble prayers.
Many examples show that God blessed His people miraculously.
Ask and it shall be given - but ask in faith, and if it is according to His will, surely ye shall receive.
“Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:6, 7).
I am sure that some may contradict these concepts and say: Unbelievers never pray and ask; they live a carefree life of ease, and they never devote time for God. Yet they have everything in abundance! A very interesting remark. Again, let us turn to the Holy Scripture—what does it tell us? “Ye have said, It is vain to serve God: and what profit is it that we have kept his ordinance, and that we have walked mournfully before the Lord of hosts? And now we call the proud happy; yea, they that work wickedness are set up; yea, they that tempt God are even delivered” (Malachi 3:14, 15).
God’s people have been tried in all ages. But - there is one “BUT”. “They that feared the Lord spake often one to another: and the Lord hearkened, and heard it, and a book of remembrance was written before him for them that feared the Lord, and that thought upon his name” (verse 16).
What did Asaph, King David’s chief musician say about the supposed “prosperity” of unbelievers: “As for me, my feet were almost gone; my steps had well nigh slipped. For I was envious at the foolish, when I saw the prosperity of the wicked. For there are no bands in their death: but their strength is firm. They are not in trouble as other men; neither are they plagued like other men. . . . Behold, these are the ungodly, who prosper in the world; they increase in riches. . . . When I thought to know this, it was too painful for me; until I went into the sanctuary of God; then understood I their end” (Psalm 73:2-5, 12, 16, 17).
When did Asaph discover that he was wrong for envying the unrighteous? It was not until he entered into the tabernacle of the Lord that he understood their end. Only then did He acknowledge God’s power, greatness and justice. Then he laid his hold upon God.
The Lord appeals to each one of us: “Be still, and know that I am God: I will be exalted among the heathen, I will be exalted in the earth.” “O come, let us worship and bow down: let us kneel before the Lord our maker. For he is our God; and we are the people of his pasture, and the sheep of his hand” (Psalm 46:10; 95:6, 7). Today if you hear His voice, find time—that is, MAKE time—for prayer and devotion to God, then everything else shall be added unto you.
We all are familiar with the story of Paul when he stood before Felix and preached the truth. He spoke about abstinence and a future judgment. “Felix trembled, and answered, Go thy way for this time; when I have a convenient season, I will call for thee” (Acts 24:25). That was the most important moment in Felix’s life, but he missed the opportunity. He never found the time. And the door was shut forever.
Dear Reader: Find time for God and for your children so that later you may not regret reaping the fruits of your carelessness. Find time!