Now this morning, we're going to take the
two points that we spoke about yesterday morning.
First of all, the reading of the Word,
and then prayer.
In 1 Peter 2, in the 2nd verse,
we have these words.
As newborn babes desire the sincere milk of
the Word, that ye may grow thereby.
John Bunyan gives us a statement that has
influenced my life tremendously.
This is his statement.
This book will keep you from sin, or
sin will keep you from this book.
How true.
It's either one or the other.
It's either the book or sin.
If you give attention to the book, you
lose your desire for sin.
If you neglect the book, then sin may
overcome you and master you.
This book will keep you from sin, or
sin will keep you from this book.
But you say it's not interesting.
You tell me that you can read books
written by men, but you cannot find any
interest in the Word of God.
You remind me of a young woman who
picked up a book of poems and tried
to read them.
She found them so uninteresting that she threw
them down in despair.
Some time later, she met the young man
who had written the poems.
She fell in love with him, and she
promised to marry him.
Then one day, during the engagement, she picked
up the book of poems again, read them
once more.
To her utter amazement and astonishment, she found
them the most interesting poems she had ever
read in all her life.
What made the difference?
They were just as dry as ever, just
as uninteresting as ever.
The difference was not in the poems.
The difference was in her.
She had fallen in love with the author.
Therefore, everything that he had written was of
interest to her.
The same is true in regard to the
Word of God.
Unless you fall in love with the Lord
Jesus Christ, the author, you'll find the Word
of God uninteresting.
But once you fall in love with Him,
once you are definitely saved, and once you
are walking with Him in the fullness of
the Spirit, you'll find everything, everything in the
Word of God of unusual interest and delight.
Everything has to do with your relationship to
the Lord Jesus Christ.
Now let me ask you the question.
How should you read the Word of God?
Let me say three things.
First of all, you should read it as
the children of Israel gathered the manna.
Do you remember how they gathered the manna?
They gathered it daily, morning by morning.
Some of them, you'll remember, tried to go
out and gather enough to do them for
several days on the one morning.
And to their amazement, they discovered that it
went bad, and that they had to go
out again and gather it once more.
It had to be gathered morning by morning.
The same is true in regard to the
Word of God.
You cannot read sufficient in a single day
to last you for an entire week.
You must read it day by day, morning
by morning.
I started reading God's Word after I was
saved at sixteen years of age.
With the exception of one single day, I
cannot remember missing a solitary day in all
the years that have passed and gone.
Day by day, morning by morning, I have
read God's Word.
I read sometimes two or three chapters, sometimes
four or five chapters.
But I make it a point to read
it, to read it morning by morning, day
by day.
I would rather go without my meal than
go without reading the Word of God.
I think if I owe anything to God's
blessing upon my ministry, I owe it perhaps
to the fact that morning by morning I
have faithfully read His Word, been nourished by
it, and morning by morning it has been
my meat and my drink.
Just as the children of Israel gathered manna
morning by morning, so I gather manna as
I pour over the sacred pages of God's
Word.
Then in the second place, I read it
as I eat fish.
How do you eat fish?
If you come across a bone, do you
take up your platter of fish and throw
it away?
Do you say, I'll never eat fish again?
No, no one ever eats fish like that.
I take my platter of fish, I start
eating it, I come across a bone.
I don't throw the platter of fish away
just because I've run across a bone.
I take the bone out, lay it on
the side of my plate, and I go
on eating fish.
Then I come to another bone.
I take it out, too, and lay it
on the side of my plate.
But I go on eating fish.
I'm not going to throw my fish away
just because I've come across a bone.
I'm going to go on eating fish.
And you'll discover, if you do that, that
when you start reading the same verses again,
as you go through the Word of God
once more, that some of the passages that
you thought were bones, you'll discover that you
can digest them after all, you can understand
them, and they become your meat and your
drink.
It's a case of reading the Word of
God morning by morning.
I would never dream of going to my
office or going to my work before turning
first of all to God's Word and poring
over its sacred pages.
Only then do I have strength to do
the work that God has for me to
do.
It may be that you are weak as
a Christian because you have neglected God's Word.
I urge you to read it, and to
read it morning by morning.
Then in the third place, I read it
as I read a letter.
How do I read a letter?
Do I turn over to the second page
and read a paragraph from the second page?
And then do I put the letter up
in a pigeonhole and leave it for a
week?
And then do I take it down and
turn to the end of the letter to
see who wrote it, to read the signature,
and then put it up in a pigeonhole
again for another week?
And then do I take it down once
more and turn to the beginning to see
how I'm addressed?
No.
I start with the first word in the
letter.
I read through to the last word in
the letter.
Then I know the contents of the letter.
There is no other way to read the
Word of God.
Now, there are other ways to study God's
Word.
I'm not talking about the studying of the
Word of God.
I'm talking about the reading of the Word
of God.
If you want to read the Word of
God, the only way is to read it
from beginning to end.
To start with the first word in Genesis
and go through to the last word in
Revelation.
Then go back to the first word in
Genesis again and go through to the last
word once more in Revelation.
That's the way I've read the Word of
God ever since I was converted.
I can't tell you how many times I've
read it through, scores upon scores of times,
because time after time I've gone through God's
Word from beginning to end.
In that way, I never miss a passage.
I read the entire Word.
You know, there are a lot of people
who depend on the Daily Light.
Now, the Daily Light is wonderful.
I have a Daily Light.
I use the Daily Light.
And I often read it for family worship.
I believe in the Daily Light.
But if I depend entirely upon the Daily
Light for my spiritual nourishment, then I'm going
to miss very, very important passages that are
in God's Word but are not in the
Daily Light.
Therefore, I do not depend upon the Daily
Light for my private devotions.
I turn to the Book of God, and
I read His Word from beginning to end,
right from Genesis to Revelation.
In that way, I get to know the
contents of the Word.
Now, after I've read the Word of God,
then what do I do?
Well, then, of course, after I've read perhaps
three or four or five chapters from God's
Word slowly, carefully, prayerfully, then I turn to
prayer.
And I spend the last half of the
morning watch in prayer.
Now, there are three things I'd like to
say about prayer.
Let me first of all read Psalm, the
fifth chapter, and the third verse.
My voice shalt thou hear in the morning,
O Lord.
In the morning will I direct my prayer
unto Thee, and will look up.
This is the only verse in the Bible
where the word morning occurs twice.
But because it occurs twice, I'm interested in
it.
My voice shalt thou hear in the morning,
O Lord.
In the morning will I direct my prayer
unto Thee, and will look up.
And so morning by morning, I turn to
the Word of God, and I turn to
prayer.
And I've done it now for over sixty
years, and I'm going to do it as
long as I have strength until I meet
my Savior face to face.
Now, there are three things I want to
say about the prayer life in connection with
the morning watch.
First of all, there are enemies to the
prayer life.
And the first enemy, interruptions.
Do you know what I mean?
Just when you have settled down to pray,
and you have been getting on splendidly, suddenly
there's a knock on the door.
A friend calls.
There's an interruption of some kind.
The telephone rings.
And you find that because of interruptions, your
prayer life is interfered with.
Now, how did I overcome interruptions?
First, by having a place for prayer.
And second, by having a time for prayer.
If you do not have a place for
prayer, and also a time for prayer, you're
going to face interruptions.
My place for prayer when I'm at home
is my study.
If I'm away at a Bible conference, sometimes
I go out to the woods, and I
pace back and forth under the trees.
But I find a place to which I
can go morning by morning.
If I'm in a hotel room, I make
the hotel room my place for prayer.
Wherever I am, I choose a place for
prayer, and I go back to that same
place morning by morning, and pour out my
heart to God in prayer.
Thus I have a place for prayer.
Do you have a place for prayer?
Then I have a time for prayer.
My time is in the morning.
Now, you may find it better to pray
in the afternoon or in the evening.
I don't know.
But I like to pray before I go
to my office, before I go to my
work, before I commence my day's work.
I like to put God first.
And so, during all the days of my
Christian life, from morning to morning, I have
gotten alone with God, and I have had
a time for prayer.
And my time, as I've stated, is in
the morning.
And I've kept that time for the last
60 years or more, and God has wonderfully
blessed as a result.
Do you have a time for prayer?
If you want to avoid interruptions, then I
suggest that you have a time for prayer
and you have a place for prayer.
Now, in the second place, another enemy, another
obstacle.
What is it?
Drowsiness.
Do you know what I'm talking about?
You've been praying for perhaps only 5 or
10 minutes.
Then you become drowsy.
You get sleepy.
Why?
Because, perhaps, of your attitude when you pray.
What do you do when you pray?
I suppose you kneel down at your bedside.
I suppose you lay your hands upon your
bed.
Then you place your head down on your
hands, and you close your eyes.
Wonderful position to go to sleep.
Wonderful position to become drowsy.
You couldn't assume a better position.
I never pray like that.
I don't want to become drowsy.
I want to be wide awake, and I
want to keep wide awake when I'm talking
to God.
What do I do?
I never kneel when I pray.
I'm talking now about the morning watch when
I'm alone with God.
I never stand when I pray.
I never sit when I pray.
I walk when I pray.
For over 60 years now, I have walked
while I have prayed.
I clear away the furniture.
I make sure that I can walk up
and down the room, or back and forth
under the trees, or wherever I am.
I pace back, and I pace forth.
But I walk all the time I'm praying.
Do you know?
I've never once become drowsy.
If I should become drowsy and fall asleep
while I was walking, I'd crash to the
floor, but I'd be awake and up again
in a moment.
But that's never happened, and that never will
happen.
As long as I keep my eyes open,
as I turn at either end of the
room for just a fraction of a second
so as to see where to turn, and
then close them again, as long as I
look up to God, as long as I
keep exercising, keep walking, I never become sleepy.
I never become drowsy.
I want to be my best for God,
and I can be my best when I'm
walking.
And so I have walked back and forth
for over 60 years now.
I've walked hundreds upon hundreds of miles.
I cannot begin to tell you how far
I have walked.
And you know, I never have to take
special exercise.
I never have to play golf.
I never have to do anything in order
to keep in shape.
I find that I get all the exercise
I need as I walk.
And by walking back and forth, I can
get sufficient exercise to do me for the
entire day.
And so as I pray, I get exercise.
I keep in shape.
I keep fit.
I walk as I pray.
Have you ever tried it?
If you never have, I suggest that you
try walking when you pray.
And you'll discover to your amazement that whereas
when you knelt to pray, ten minutes seemed
a long time.
You'll find if you walk when you pray,
half an hour will be gone before you
realize it.
Even an hour will pass.
Just last night, I decided to spend special
time in prayer in the evening.
And I started walking and praying.
To my own amazement, when I looked at
my watch at the end of my prayer
hour, I found that I'd been praying for
well over an hour, well over an hour,
as I walked back and forth and it
only seemed 15 or 20 minutes.
And I suggest, therefore, that when you pray
next time, you walk and you'll never be
drowsy, I can assure you.
In the third place, the third enemy, wandering
thoughts.
You know what I mean when I talk
about wandering thoughts?
You've been praying for five minutes and then
presently you're thinking about what you're going to
do on the morrow or what you did
yesterday.
You're planning for the future and you discover
that instead of praying, you're planning, you're thinking.
Thinking and planning instead of praying.
Wandering thoughts.
You'll never get anywhere as long as you
allow wandering thoughts to fill your mind.
How did I overcome this third enemy to
the prayer hour?
I never pray silently when I'm alone with
God.
I never pray silently when I'm observing the
morning watch.
I always pray out loud.
I talk to God just as I'm talking
to you now.
As I walk back and forth up and
down the room, I look up.
I never look down because God is up.
God is above.
And as I look up and walk, I
open my mouth and I pray out loud
when I'm alone with God.
And by praying out loud, no wandering thoughts
come to my mind.
I'm able to continue praying for an indefinite
time as I talk aloud to the Lord
Jesus Christ.
I've done that for over 60 years now.
And I suggest you try it.
You'll be amazed at how long you can
pray and how long you can be alone
with God if you'll only pray out loud.
You'll be amazed at the difference in your
prayer hour and in the keeping of the
morning watch.
So let me say that when I pray,
I avoid interruptions by having a place for
prayer and a time for prayer.
I avoid drowsiness by walking as I pray.
I avoid wandering thoughts by praying out loud.
I've done it for over 60 years, and
I'm going to do it as long as
God gives me strength.
Now let me say in closing, you and
I have had many thrills in our lives.
I could tell you of many thrills that
I've had in my life.
But I want to say without any fear
of contradiction that there's one thrill that I've
had that has been greater than any other.
And that is the thrill of the morning
watch.
I've never grown tired of it.
I've never been weary of it.
Morning by morning, as I conclude the morning
watch, during the rest of the day, I
look forward to the coming morning when again
I'll be able to find myself in the
presence of God once more observing the morning
watch.
That's been the greatest thrill that I've ever
known in my Christian life.
And if you've never had it, if you've
never experienced it, let me suggest to you
that you observe the morning watch.
Spend the first half of it by pouring
over the sacred pages of God's Word, or
the first quarter of it.
And then spend the last half of it,
or the last three quarters of it, by
pouring out your heart in prayer and supplication.
If you will, you'll find that God will
meet you in the most wonderful and glorious
way.
Bible study and prayer will become a reality
in your life, and you'll be a power
for God.
He'll use you as you never otherwise could
possibly be used.
I advise most strongly that you commence observing
the morning watch.
Now let me close with the verse that
I've already quoted.
Here it is, the 5th Psalm, the 3rd
verse.
My voice shalt thou hear in the morning,
O Lord.
In the morning will I direct my prayer
unto thee, and will look up.
That's the verse that has meant so much
to me, and that's the verse that will
mean so much to you if you'll only
start to observe it.
Let me advise you, let me plead with
you, let me urge you to keep the
morning watch.