On Prayer

"Righteous art thou, O Lord, when I plead with thee: yet let me talk with thee of thy judgments: Wherefore doth the way of the wicked prosper? wherefore are all they happy that deal very treacherously? Thou hast planted them, yea, they have taken root: they grow, yea, they bring forth fruit: thou art near in their mouth, and far from their reins. But thou, O Lord, knowest me: thou hast seen me, and tried mine heart toward thee: pull them out like sheep for the slaughter, and prepare them for the day of slaughter" (Jer. 12:1-3). "Truly God is good to Israel, even to such as are of a clean heart. But 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... They are not in trouble as other men; neither are they plagued like other men... Their eyes stand out with fatness: they have more than heart could wish... Behold, these are the ungodly, who prosper in the world; they increase in riches... Surely thou didst set them in slippery places: thou castedst them down into destruction" (From Psm. 73). "Wherefore do the wicked live, become old, yea, are mighty in power? Their seed is established in their sight with them, and their offspring before their eyes. Their houses are safe from fear, neither is the rod of God upon them. Their bull gendereth, and faileth not; their cow calveth, and casteth not her calf. They send forth their little ones like a flock, and their children dance. They take the timbrel and harp, and rejoice at the sound of the organ. They spend their days in wealth, and in a moment go down to the grave. Therefore they say unto God, Depart from us; for we desire not the knowledge of thy ways. What is the Almighty, that we should serve him? and what profit should we have, if we pray unto him? ... How oft is the candle of the wicked put out! and how oft cometh their destruction upon them! ... They are as stubble before the wind, and as chaff that the storm carrieth away. God layeth up his iniquity for his children: he rewardeth him, and he shall know it. His eyes shall see his destruction, and he shall drink of the wrath of the Almighty... One dieth in his full strength, being wholly at ease and quiet... And another dieth in the bitterness of his soul, and never eateth with pleasure. They shall lie down alike in the dust, and the worms shall cover them... That the wicked is reserved to the day of destruction? they shall be brought forth to the day of wrath. Who shall declare his way to his face? and who shall repay him what he hath done? Yet shall he be brought to the grave, and shall remain in the tomb" (From Job 21). "Knowest thou not this of old, since man was placed upon earth, That the triumphing of the wicked is short, and the joy of the hypocrite but for a moment? Though his excellency mount up to the heavens, and his head reach unto the clouds; Yet he shall perish for ever like his own dung: they which have seen him shall say, Where is he? ... His bones are full of the sin of his youth, which shall lie down with him in the dust... He hath swallowed down riches, and he shall vomit them up again: God shall cast them out of his belly. Because he hath oppressed and hath forsaken the poor; because he hath violently taken away an house which he builded not; Surely he shall not feel quietness in his belly, he shall not save of that which he desired" (From Job 20). "Be not thou afraid when one is made rich, when the glory of his house is increased; For when he dieth he shall carry nothing away: his glory shall not descend after him. Though while he lived he blessed his soul: and men will praise thee, when thou doest well to thyself. He shall go to the generation of his fathers; they shall never see light. Man that is in honour, and understandeth not, is like the beasts that perish" (Psm. 49:16-20).

"When the wicked spring as the grass, and when all the workers of iniquity do flourish; it is that they shall be destroyed for ever" (Psm. 92:7). "Your words have been stout against me, saith the Lord. Yet ye say, What have we spoken so much against thee? 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. Then 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. And they shall be mine, saith the Lord of hosts, in that day when I make up my jewels; and I will spare them, as a man spareth his own son that serveth him" (Mal. 3:13-17). "Woe to them that are at ease in Zion, and trust in the mountain of Samaria, which are named chief of the nations, to whom the house of Israel came! ... Ye that put far away the evil day, and cause the seat of violence to come near; That lie upon beds of ivory, and stretch themselves upon their couches, and eat the lambs out of the flock, and the calves out of the midst of the stall; That chant to the sound of the viol, and invent to themselves instruments of musick, like David; That drink wine in bowls, and anoint themselves with the chief ointments: but they are not grieved for the affliction of Joseph. Therefore now shall they go captive with the first that go captive, and the banquet of them that stretched themselves shall be removed" (Amos 6:1,3-7). "Perverse disputings of men of corrupt minds, and destitute of the truth, supposing that gain is godliness: from such withdraw thyself. But 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. But thou, O man of God, flee these things; and follow after righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, meekness" (I Tim. 6:5-11). What you have read here is a collection of some of the most powerfully wise sayings in the history of the world. And just what is it that qualifies these sobering statements from the holy scriptures to be such? Well, as the very first passage shows, even some of the most righteous and wise men of God in history have been tempted with feeling like many who are not making God's commandments the priority of their lives, are being blessed and shown more favor than themselves. So it is certain that this very same temptation has visited every true follower of the only true God and his Son Jesus Christ, at one time or another. There have always been those who prosper in this life in many ways, who do not follow after what is right in the sight of God. Therefore the temptation to feel that they are blessed in their disobedience is always there when one is drawn toward looking at the appearance of things.

As our vast collection of fearful passages have shown, it would be very wise for one and all to heed the admonition of Jesus, who told us, "Judge not according to the appearance, but judge righteous judgment" (Jn. 7:24). The key to being free from being ill affected by seeing the worldly prosperity of those who do not love the righteousness of God, is simply TO love Jesus and the righteousness that he is; and be circumcised in heart from the love of this world thereby. The beloved apostle gave it to us straight: "Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world. And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever" (I Jn. 2:15-17). But it was Jesus who gave us the greatest and most simplistic instruction on how to live free from the love of this world: "Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed? (For after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things. But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you" (Mat. 6:31:33). The apostle Paul also added some like minded seasoning to the recipe: "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" (Philip. 4:6,7). The truth is that no money, or worldly state, or person or people can make you truly happy apart from your heart being purified from sin and filled with "righteousness, and peace, and joy in the holy Ghost" (Rom. 14:17). That understanding and reality is what motivated the apostle Paul to write the following: "Not that I speak in respect of want: for I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content" (Philip. 4:11). The contentment he spoke of here is not some 'getting by' mentality, but rather a fulfillment of peace in ALL worldly states, because he kept his heart free from the wrong things, and FULL of the RIGHT things! (Col. 3:5-15) HALLELUJAH! This Gospel is REAL my friend, and it is NOT a Gospel of words, but of POWER! (I Cor. 4:20; II Cor. 3:6) And that means power to cleanse the heart from sin and all of its symptoms of unrest and unruly worldly desire, and KEEP it that way (Gal. 5:16; Tit. 2:11,12; I Jn. 3:3; I Pet. 1:4,5). So what we have left is just a couple of very relevant and powerful scriptures that sum it all up for us here: "Fret not thyself because of evil men, neither be thou envious at the wicked: For there shall be no reward to the evil man; the candle of the wicked shall be put out" (Prov. 24:19,20). And last but not least: "Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the WHOLE DUTY of man. For God shall bring EVERY work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil" (Eccl. 12:13,14). As for me, all I can say to the evident truth of the matter, is AMEN!