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Worship Quote of the Week (WQOTW)
Welcome to the Worship Quote Of The Week, a worship ministry brought to you by Carl Stam,
Director of the Institute for Christian Worship at the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in
Louisville, Kentucky. These regular Tuesday morning e-mail messages, sent out by an email
list server, contain thoughtful materials that relate to a Christian view
of worship or prayer. Some are selections of the Scriptures. Some are taken from hymns or
worship songs. Still others are drawn from the writings of various authors (ancient and
contemporary) on the subject of worship and prayer.
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This Week's Quote (08/05/2008):
Answers to Prayer
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There is an important health update at the end
of this message. Prayer partners, please read.
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If God already knows what is going to happen and what is best for us, even what we are going to say in our prayers, why do we pray? How should we pray? Today's WORSHIP QUOTE deals with the nature of prayer. I have included catechism questions from two historic documents and a wonderful excerpt from C. S. Lewis's essay "The Efficacy of Prayer."
WHAT IS PRAYER?
Question 98. What is prayer?
Answer: Prayer is an offering up of our desires unto God, for things agreeable to his will, in the name of Christ, with confession of our sins, and thankful acknowledgment of his mercies.
---The Westminster Shorter Catechism, 1647, www.ccel.org/creeds/westminster-shorter-cat.html
[This next one is very similar. If you have read the first one, you can see where these early Baptists went for their start on this question and answer.]
Question: What is prayer?
Answer: Prayer is an offering up our desires to God (Psalm 62:8), by the assistance of the Holy Spirit (Romans 8:26), for things agreeable to his will (1 John 5:14; Romans 8:27), in the name of Christ (John 16:23), believing (Matthew 21:22; James 1:6), with confession of our sins (Psalm 32:5- 6; Daniel 9:4), and thankful acknowledgments of his mercies (Philippians 4:6).
---The Baptist Catechism, Charleston Association of 1813, www.reformedreader.org/ccc/bapcat.htm
ANSWERS TO PRAYER
There are, no doubt, passages in the New Testament which may seem at first sight to promise an invariable granting of our prayers. But that cannot be what they really mean. For in the very heart of the story we meet a glaring instance to the contrary. In Gethsemane the holiest of all petitioners prayed three times that a certain cup might pass from Him. It did not. After that the idea that prayer is recommended to us as a sort of infallible gimmick may be dismissed.
---C. S. Lewis (1898-1963), "The Efficacy of Prayer," in THE WORLD'S LAST NIGHT AND OTHER ESSAYS. New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1960, p. 5. (Modern edition, January 2003, ISBN-13: 9780156027717)
[For another tutorial on God-pleasing prayer, it's not a bad idea to study what Jesus taught his disciples (Matthew 6:9-13 and Luke 11:2-4). If you have a moment, look up the verses that are cited in the second catechism question above.]
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HEALTH UPDATE & PRAYER REQUEST
FOR CHIP STAM, CANCER PATIENT
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Thank you for your continued prayers for my full recovery.
MEDICAL UPDATE
Several hours after last week's WORSHIP QUOTE was sent, I got a call from my doctor. He said that more of the results came back from the bone marrow biopsy (July 24)--and there is no sign of active cancer. This is a matter for great rejoicing. They will do another PET scan and CT scan in about six weeks to see if the small suspicious area in my arm "does anything"; but for the present, the doctors are considering me to be still "IN REMISSION." This is great news. God is good.
Yesterday (August 4) I had a body scan at the hospital. That is the one where they inject the patient with radioactive materials and then wait for two and half hours before taking the pictures (They also asked me to drink 48 ounces of liquid while I waited). Tomorrow morning, August 6, I have an appointment to see Dr. Chowhan, the oncologist, and I will also receive my monthly Zometa treatment.
I will continue to post updates at www.caringbridge.org/visit/carlstam and with these WQOTW message in hopes that it will aid you in prayer.
Trusting the Great Physician,
Chip Stam
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Chip Stam
Director, Institute for Christian Worship
School of Church Music and Worship
The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary
Louisville, Kentucky
www.wqotw.org
www.sbts.edu/icw
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