This is from the blog A Word in Season:
“For they are an uncontrolled people, false-hearted,
who will not give ear to the teaching of the Lord:
Who say to the seers, See not; and to the prophets,
Do not give us word of what is true,
but say false things to give us pleasure”
Isaiah 30:10 (BBE)
Most people would not blatantly say such things but God sees the heart. Many religious people do not want to hear truth. They do not want to concern themselves with the condition of their hearts, God’s house, nor the gravity of the day in which we are living. There is only the desire for positive words and good things to bolster our carnal ways. We have not come to this state of apathy by embracing His truth and walking in His Spirit. We are here because of our choices. We have a “church” where the people elect who would minister to them rather than whom God may send. We have our own agendas for how we want “our” church to look. It is not about God; it is about an atmosphere where we can feel comfortable, accepted and in control.
Truth has become something that fortifies our “doctrine”, our way of doing things and conducting our church/fellowship business. The ministration of the Word is no longer a fearful thing. It is not something which holds up the light, wonder and holiness of God; it has become tepid and impotent. Rather than bringing conviction it soothes our failures to live righteously. It makes light of sin and our carnal and worldly ways. Pastors and preachers who want to hold on to their “jobs” need to stay within the comfort zone or their replacement will easily be found. Those who love truth will speak it. These ones do not seek the approval of men for there is a knowledge deep within their hearts of a holy accountability unto Him who will judge all things. This is nothing new as noted by Francis Bacon in his day.
“In periods of unsettled faith, skepticism, and mere curious speculation in matters of religion, teachers of all kinds swarm like the flies in Egypt. The demand creates the supply. The hearers invite and shape their own preachers. If the people desire a calf to worship, a ministerial calf-maker is readily found. “The master of superstition is the people, and in all superstition wise men follow fools” (Bacon, Ess. 17).
There is always a “priesthood” quick to provide whatever the people want:
“…the people gathered themselves together unto Aaron,
and said unto him, Up, make us gods, which shall go before us…”
Exodus 32:1
Aaron quickly responded:
“…and fashioned it with a graving tool,
after he had made it a molten calf:
and they said, “These be thy gods, O Israel,
which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt”.
And when Aaron saw it, he built an altar before it;
and Aaron made proclamation, and said,
Tomorrow is a feast to the Lord”
Exodus 32:4-5
Notice how quickly they took the “new” and made it appear as if it was unto the Lord! Religion has not changed. There is nothing new under the sun. Surely this is a generation who loves to hear smooth and nice words. Whenever and wherever God’s people choose their own ministers the results will be the same.
It is during these times that God raises up true men and women who seek to live truth, speak truth and to confront the horror of such things. In God’s House the ministrations of His Spirit are not chosen by the people they are called…
“Paul, an apostle, not of men, neither by man,
but by Jesus Christ, and God the Father…”
Galatians 1:1
Brian Troxel
http://www.aword.info
This is a very important video from Send Rain; it is really incredible what the Lord revealed to her:
Symbolic Meanings That Lead To Victory
The Gates of Hell
A Sword is Sharpened (Ezekiel 21)
Blaise Pascal
Ezekiel 21: 27: “I will overturn, overturn, overturn, it: and it shall be no more, until he come whose right it is; and I will give it him.
Jeremiah 51: “Thou art my battle axe and weapons of war: for with thee will I break in pieces the nations, and with thee will I destroy kingdoms.”
Isaiah 63: 3-6: “I have trodden the winepress alone; and of the people there was none with me: for I will tread them in mine anger, and trample them in my fury; and their blood shall be sprinkled upon my garments, and I will stain all my raiment. For the day of vengeance is in mine heart, and the year of my redeemed is come. And I looked, and there was none to help; and I wondered that there was none to uphold: therefore mine own arm brought salvation unto me; and my fury, it upheld me. And I will tread down the people in mine anger, and make them drunk in my fury, and I will bring down their strength to the earth.”
This is from the blog A Word in Season:
“To him that overcomes
will I give to eat of the hidden manna…”
Revelation 2:7
It is not the process of overcoming that entitles us to eat of this “hidden mana”for there is nothing we can do to earn our salvation. However, it is in overcoming that we grow in our capacity to eat and walk within the provisions of this manna. Doctrine and teaching require simply a certain intellect; but living truth is ministered to us according to our development not our intellect. Jesus said to His disciples…
“I have yet many things to say unto you,
but ye cannot bear (support) them now”
John 16:12
The disciples’ lack of character and spiritual maturity hindered Jesus from sharing the deeper things. With the promise of the coming Holy Spirit the very nature and outlook of these same men would be radically transformed into new vessels. It is grievous to see and hear men and women speak of deep and wondrous truths with the flippancy of just another teaching. They neither understand nor are able to carry truth in a spirit of humility and the fear of God. They speak of Judgements, Sonship and other precious truths without the depth of character which should humble rather than exalt them. Martin Luther, whom God used to restore the truth of justification by faith, declared that the most dangerous doctrine in the church was “any truth carnally received”. Knowledge attained by carnal means “puffs up” without the ability to love and edify others. The real and living truth of God is the revelation of Christ Himself to the individual with the express purpose ministering to others by the development of the love of God. Any time there is a true seeing of Him men and women are immediately humbled and broken; for no flesh shall glory in His presence. Those who speak of high and lofty things without the corresponding humility and fear of the Lord have seen nothing but carnal concepts.
The true knowledge of God is revealed to those who have been weaned from the milk of the word to eat the meat of the word. The difference between these two stages of the Christian life is easily discerned. The milk of the word is for those who taste of its wonder and provision as an infant in Christ. This is a stage of great growth and delight to the Father’s heart.
“As newborn babes,
desire the sincere milk of the word,
that ye may grow thereby”
1 Peter 2:2
The issue is there is a failure to go on into the maturity of Him. The stage of the “strong meat” is where His people began to obey, walk and live God’s word. Jesus said to His disciples at the well of Samaria:
“…he said unto them,
I have meat to eat that ye know not of…
My meat is to DO the will of him that sent me,
and to finish his work”
John 4:32-34
While many in God’s house linger in the infancy stage the strong meat of God’s Word is withheld from them. It is not a question of “earning” it but of having a life that is able to bear the revelation of His character and heart. Men and women may be Christians for 50 years with all kinds of “deep” teachings and doctrines yet never able to become like Him in heart and character. There is no growth through the intellectual apprehension of a truth in God. Change only comes by virtue of SEEING HIM; where the life and soul of the beholder is humbled and captivated by a Holiness beyond description. The “strong meat” of the word is withheld from the carnal, the unstable, the proud and self-seeking ones for it must be borne in broken and contrite hearts. Purity of heart is necessary to see God in a way that affects the entire being. Truth is not a teaching; it is a portion of the life of Jesus and its apprehension is proportional to the purity of our hearts.
“Blessed are the pure in heart
For they shall see God”
Matthew 5:6
The milk of the Word, as good and precious as it is, must give way to the “strong meat”. The Epistle to the Hebrews was a strong admonishment to people who were failing to leave the milk:
“Of whom we have many things to say, and hard to be uttered, seeing ye are dull of hearing. For when for the time ye ought to be teachers, ye have need that one teach you again which be the first principles of the oracles of God; and are become such as have need of milk, and not of strong meat. For every one that uses milk is unskillful in the word of righteousness: for he is a babe” Hebrews 5:11-13
The Apostle goes on to say…
“But strong meat belongs to them that are of full age, even those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil” Hebrews 5:14
The condition of our hearts determines the depth of our understanding in the things of God.
“Whom shall he teach knowledge?
and whom shall he make to understand doctrine?
them that are weaned from the milk,
and drawn from the breasts”
Isaiah 28:9
The Way into the Holy things of God will be discovered by those whose hearts desire purity (freedom from agendas and recognition) and obedience. This is the very “meat” and sustenance of the true seeker of God.
“When I was a child, I spoke as a child,
I understood as a child, I thought as a child:
but when I became a man,
I put away childish things”
1 Corinthians 13:11
Many hold to deep teachings and concepts which can only result in a life…
“having a form of godliness,
but denying the power thereof:
from such (we are to) turn away…”
2 Timothy 3:5
Paul continues by declaring these same people are those who are…
“Ever learning, and never able to come
to the knowledge of the truth…”
2 Timothy 3:7
It is a day to be sober and honest within the very core of our being for an intellectual relationship with God will not sustain us in this hour. It is time to turn to Him with honest, open and contrite hearts and seek Him for Himself alone. May we cast off the things we count as “gain” in our standing with Him and come with purity of purpose and faith unfeigned. It is here we will see Him in truth which will bring a full transformation from all that we are (2 Corinthians 3:18).
“Knowledge without repentance
will be but a torch to light men to hell.”
Thomas Watson
Brian Troxel
http://www.aword.info
The Idolatry of Intelligence
This is from the blog Words from the Crucible:
Come, my people, enter thou into thy chambers,
and shut thy doors about thee: hide thyself as it were for a little moment,
until the indignation be overpast.
For, behold, the Lord cometh out of His place
to punish the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity:
the earth also shall disclose her blood, and shall no more cover her slain.
(Isaiah 26:20-21)
This is a cry of the Lord in this late hour to His people, as His hand lifts away from restraining every evil which the world brings upon itself.
As Babylon rears her head on every front, it is nearly time for the tally of her sins to be completed and the prayer of the saints to be answered by fire.
BUT in the short meantime, the Lord seals His faithful (Ezekiel 9, Revelation 7:3) – those who heed His calling and obey – that they may endure the coming trial of His wrath upon the nations. For the day into which we enter is the darkest of nights upon this world, and the brightest dawning of Christ in the hearts of His true people.
“…shut thy doors about thee:
hide thyself as it were for a little moment,
until the indignation be overpast.”
The secret place of the Almighty is the only safe habitation from the corruption of the powers of darkness unleashed. The doors of His tabernacle are the doors of our hearts, which must be uncompromisingly shut to the entering in of all but the King of Glory Himself. For outside, the sword will bereave; therefore, let not the inside also be filled with death. Every door not shut up to the enemy and his world is a door being widely opened to the judgement of God upon His enemies. And judgement will begin from His house. Many will be cut off from His house, and many will reveal that theyare cut off.
By the hand of God and the faith of His remnant, the doors of His house are already beginning to close. Be found remaining in Him, and He in you. For He is that house, as are His faithful.
“For, behold, the Lord cometh out of His place
to punish the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity:
the earth also shall disclose her blood, and shall no more cover her slain.”
– Brendan
Christian Exodus from California
A few days before the 17th of May, the Lord showed me the number 17. It bore witness with my spirit that it meant the 17th of May.
This is what happened on the 17th of May:
I was walking east out of Missoula, Montana on I-90 when this truck driver picked me up. His name was Rusla and he was originally from Belarus (near Russia and the Ukraine). He was a Christian who lived in Mount Vernon, Washington. During that trip, the Presence of God became very powerful. Rusla dropped me off in Belgrade where I camped out that night.
The next day (May 18th) I hitchhiked to Jackson, Wyoming where I camped out for one night. The next day (May 19th) I hitchhiked to West Yellowstone, Montana and camped out in the woods just north of town. That night I was attacked probably by several demons in my sleep. Before I went to sleep, there was this sense of foreboding or sense of dread. Later this evil presence came upon me and I became paralyzed and then the demons attacked me. It may have lasted fifteen minutes to half an hour.
Why did the demons attack me that night? Probably because the Presence of God was so strong on the 17th of May. I believe some demonic bondage was broken inside me on the 17th and that is why Satan was so furious.
I hitchhiked out of West Yellowstone the next morning (May 20th). A Christian friend picked me up outside of Belgrade and let me stay at his place in Three Forks for one night. I was using his laptop that evening and noticed that the number of page views on my High Plains Drifter blog (Google) was down drastically. The previous several months, I averaged between 250 and 400 page views per day on my High Plains Drifter blog. After May 20th, my average page views has been around 40 to 70 per day.
Something serious happened in the heavenly realm in the past several days for Satan to attack me like that. Praise the Lord! That’s good news. If Satan attacks you, that means you are destroying some aspect of his kingdom.
The next day (May 21st) I hitchhiked from Three Forks to Helena, Montana. Outside of Helena, this truck driver picked me up. He was originally from Russia; his name was Alex and he was from Mount Vernon, Washington. He later told me that he knew Rusla, the other truck driver, very well. We had a good laugh. It’s a small world. To me, this was confirmation that something definitely happened on the 17th of May: two truck drivers picked me up from Mount Vernon, Washington; they knew each other; they were both Christians (went to different churches); they both spoke Russian and English; Rusla picked me up just outside of Missoula, Alex dropped me off in Missoula. In the mouth of two or three witnesses, let every word be established.
Alex dropped me off on the east side of Missoula. I hitchhiked to Lolo and camped out there that night. Before I went to sleep, I went through a fascinating deliverance from a demon. It was like the demon was in a death throe when it manifested (it felt like I was dying); finally the demon came out. It lasted for about an hour. Praise the Lord! I am still being delivered from demons; curses are being broken.
When I think back on the power of the Presence of God in Rusla’s tractor cab on the 17th of May, I think of these scriptures:
Isaiah 10: 27: “And it shall come to pass in that day, that his burden shall be taken away from off thy shoulder, and his yoke from off thy neck, and the yoke shall be destroyed because of the anointing.”
I Corinthians 4: 20: “For the kingdom of God is not in word, but in power.”
Matthew 17: 21: “Howbeit this kind goeth not out but by prayer and fasting.”
Revelation 2: 24: “But unto you I say, and unto the rest in Thyatira, as many as have not this doctrine, and which have not known the depths of Satan, as they speak; I will put upon you none other burden.”
_____
Recent Page Views Per Day (High Plains Drifter blog):
4 May: 453
7 May: 471
10 May: 931
12 May: 300
16 May: 363
17 May: 258
19 May: 37
21 May: 197
24 May: 47
25 May: 75
27 May: 36
28 May: 58
_____
A Deeper Deliverance
Obedience: The Bondage Breaker
New Testament Circumcision
High Plains Drifter blog
The Deeper Work of the Cross by Watchman Nee
A Dream About General George S. Patton
What Can’t Kill You Will Only Make You Stronger
The Gates of Hell
A Parable About Lukewarm, American Christianity
What numbers do you see here?
The Lord Will Come With Fire
What do you do when murderous psychopaths who wield the power of life and death begin to threaten you with a permanent vacation to Siberia where you will enjoy making clay bricks with your bare hands while feasting on a starvation-diet? Do you shut up, keep your head down, and burn all your manuscripts? If you’re Solzhenitsyn, you actually create a plan of action that is quite the opposite. Here, in a few easy (frighteningly death-defying) steps, is how to take down a repressive authoritarian government with the power of your art.
- Samizdat
So, corrupt Neanderthalish government officials want to censor your work? No problem, just distribute full copies of the manuscript via samizdat! This time-honored, entirely illegal form of publication under repressive regimes that prefer to control the written word never fails to gather a reading public. Soon enough you will have enough notoriety that publishers in the “Capitalist Pig” areas of the world will begin printing your work for you. Solzhenitsyn eventually began using this form of publication preemptively to ensure that if his novels ever were published, the editors would not be able to selectively remove what they perceived to be offensive passages.
- Public letters of complaint to literati and journalists
On May 16, Solzhenitsyn wrote to a gathering of fellow Russian writers to complain about, “The no longer tolerable oppression, in the form of censorship, which our literature has endured for decades.” He went on, “Works…are proscribed or distorted by censorship on the basis of considerations that are petty, egotistical, and…shortsighted.” The response of the powers-that-be? They basically did that thing where a petulant child sticks his fingers in his ears and pretends not to hear when you tell him to brush his teeth. Solzhenitsyn wouldn’t let them off the hook, though, and penned another letter: “Does the Secretariat believe that my novel will disappear as a result of these endless delays, that I will cease to exist…?” After being told that the answer was essentially, Yes, yes we do hope that you cease to exist, he reminded them that the novel was actually already being read in samizdat form (because, preemption). He went on to note that his work was not so much a political work as it was a look at “universal and eternal questions.” Of course, this very concept of universal truth is precisely what Marxists refuse to admit exists since everything falls under the rubric of class struggle. So to them the mere fact of an artist talking about universal truth is very much a political attack.
- Public attacks on the KGB
Is your public feud with the entirety of your professional class not dangerous enough? Why not up the stakes and make a run at the secret police too? Solzhenitsyn, after having already been in the Gulag for 8 years and actually seeing it effect him spiritually for the better, wasn’t afraid of returning if need be*. After having half a dozen of his speaking engagements cancelled due to, as he discovered upon his arrival to speak, “Author’s Indisposition,” he finally managed to overcome his imaginary illnesses and arrive at a speaking engagement at which the audience hadn’t been warned away. He took his chance. To a crowd of five-hundred, he proclaimed, “There is a certain organization that has no obvious claim to tutelage over the arts, that you may think has no business at all supervising literature–but that does these things. This organization took away my novel and my archive…Even so, I said nothing, but went on working quietly…What can I do about it? Only defend myself! So here I am!”
In fact, he could do much more than he imagined, because as the KGB understood well enough, his literature was powerful beyond words, communicating a depth of despair and truth that had sunk into the hearts of the Russian people and would never be extracted by any amount of force or propaganda. A Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovitch had become a day in the life of all Russians. They’d all been touched by the pain of the Gulag in some form or another. Up until this moment, the secret had been kept, a sort of conspiracy between abuser and abused. But Solzhenitsyn, in speaking so boldly, finally broke the spell. At grave risk to himself (the KGB attempted to assassinate him in a ricin attack), he created one of the first chinks in the armor of the Communist Party.
The Gulag photo
- Soak up the Slander
If you can’t censor a writer, you can at least slander him mercilessly. According to Joseph Pearce’s biography A Soul In Exile, the editor of Pravda gave a speech in which he called Solzhenitsyn, “A psychologically unbalanced person, a schizophrenic.” He goes on to declare, “Of course we cannot publish his works.” This was but one of many slanderous accusations that he was a traitor and a capitalist pig. A few years later at a meeting of the Writer’s Union, he was systematically attacked, labeled “anti-social,” and finally kicked out of the Union. It was this final act of anti-free speech behavior that finally caused international sympathizers with the Soviet experiment to finally break ranks. Soon enough, criticism from intellectuals such as Jean Paul Sartre, Arthur Miller, and Kurt Vonnegut were made public. Now, as Pearce writes, Solzhenitsyn was, “a living symbol of the struggle for human rights in the face of state censorship.” This point was driven home triumphantly when he was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1970. Solzhenitsyn was unable to retrieve his Nobel for fear of never being let back into Russia, so he sent a printed speech. In it, he reveals the reason that a mere writer could cause so much discomfort among the political powers.
The task of an artist is to sense more keenly than others the harmony of the world, the beauty and the outrage of what man has done to it, and poignantly to let people know…By means of art we are sometimes sent—dimly, briefly—revelations unattainable by reason. Like that little mirror in the fairy tales—look into it, and you will see not yourself but, for a moment, that which passeth understanding, a realm to which no man can ride or fly. And for which the soul begins to ache…
Truly, an artist who reveals truth through beauty is stronger than any government and any artificially constructed set of beliefs that would lay claim upon us. Art reveals to us who we are, and such a truth cannot be silenced. Cheers to Alexander Solzhenitsyn for his bravery, his wit, his perseverance, and most of all for his poignant, honest, heartbreaking art.
*This reminds me of the legend of St. John Chrysostom, who had become such a thorn in the side of the Emperor that government leaders wanted to throw him in jail. Upon being advised that he would actually like that because it would allow him more uninterrupted time to pray, they decided to make him Patriarch of Constantinople instead.
All the credit for sourcing this essay goes to Joseph Pearce and his excellent biography, Solzhenitsyn: A Soul In Exile.
Soviet Censorship of Fyodor Dostoyevsky
Solzhenitsyn’s 10 Ways Ideological Regimes Destroy You
Man Has Forgotten God, Again
One Man’s Education is Another Man’s Marxist Brainwash
The Black Book of Communism
Solzhenitsyn, 9 Years after His Death
FOTM’s 157th Caption Contest
Terrorism and The Exhausted West
This is from the blog Pastor Jonathan Lee:
A.W. Tozer (1897-1963)
Every generation seems to have that person who stands out more than the rest. For the early twentieth century, it would seem that person is A. W. Tozer. The Bible gives us a brief story about a man named Enoch. Not much is known about him other than a few verses in the Bible. His life is summed up this way: “Enoch walked with God, and he was not, for God took him” (Genesis 5:24). Though Tozer did not leave this earth like Enoch, we can summarize his life the same way. Tozer walked with God, pursued after God, and then went home to be with God.
Tozer was a pastor, author, editor of The Alliance Witness Magazine, conference speaker, and one who walked with God and knew Him intimately.
One may not agree with everything that Tozer said on such things like Christians and the movies, or music styles in the church, but one cannot overlook the impact that Tozer has left on the world from his personal account that he shared of pursuing after God. He is a world changer not only because he was an American pastor who was a successful writer, but by his devotional writing which has changed the hearts and minds of so many people to desire God.
He was not only a gifted writer but also an ordained speaker. Warren Wiersbe, who heard Tozer preach, said, “To listen to Tozer preach was as safe as opening the door of a blast furnace.” He was a man in a whole different league when it came to his relationship with God.[1] Leonard Ravenhill said, “To enter into Dr. Tozer’s presence was an awe-inspiring event.”[2]
Another colleague, William F. Bryan, said, “I consider Dr. Tozer the most remarkable man of God that I have known personally. In my opinion, his greatest gifts were prophetic insight regarding biblical truth and the nature and state of the evangelical church of his generation. He was respected highly even by those that considered him severe and aloof; but to those who knew him, he was gracious and kind. I believe he was a lonely man, as many great men of God have been.”[3]
W. Tozer wrote prophetically in regard to the Christian community in the Western world. For example, in The Pursuit of God he wrote,
“The world is perishing for lack of the knowledge of God and the Church is famishing for want of His Presence.”
Discerning that modern Christianity was sailing through dense fog, he pointed out the rocks on which it could flounder if it continued its course.[4]
What stood out for Tozer to be able to be so close to God?
Aiden Wilson Tozer was born in 1897 into a small farming community in Pennsylvania.
God allowed Tozer to be effective for 44 years of ministry and out of those 44 years, 31 years he served as pastor of Southside Alliance Church in Chicago, though he had no formal theological training. He would be known not just as a key figure in the Christian and Missionary Alliance Church but a national figure for his writings and Tozergrams (pithy sayings gleaned from Tozer’s pulpit ministry or from his hours in his study).[5]
He and his wife Ada had seven children. They lived a very modest life; he and Ada never owned a car while they were married. He usually requested that his pastoral salary be lower than what was being offered as he trusted the Lord in their provision. Even when he became more well known, he signed away most of his book royalties.
Probably out of the 40-plus writings attributed to him, his best-known work is the Pursuit of God. The book came about from a God-inspired night as he rode a train from Chicago to Texas. The story is recounted by his friend:
“He was invited to speak at McAllen, Texas, and he thought on the long ride down there that he would write on this book. He boarded the train—the old Pullman train—at LaSalle Street Station in Chicago—the days when you would pull the curtain on the roommette and he would be all alone. Well, he asked for a little writing table, which the porter brought him and he started to write. Along about nine o’clock the porter knocked on the side of the door and said, ‘Friend, this is the last call for dinner—would you want something to eat?’ And he said, ‘Bring me some toast and some tea,’ which he did. [Tozer] kept on writing, all night long, this thing coming as fast to his heart as he could write, and when they pulled into the station, about 7:30 the next morning, at McAllen, Texas, that book was finished and all he had in front of him was just the Bible.”[6]
If anyone could be an expert at pursuing God, Tozer would be among the closest. We can learn from Tozer that we too can pursue God—just like Moses, who was close to God, still desired more of God by asking to see His glory (Exodus 33). Tozer wrote, “We pursue God because, and only because, He has first put an urge within us that spurs us to the pursuit.”[7] When you think about this truth, you can’t help but want the spark in your life to seek God and all His goodness. What a desire it is for the man or woman of God to taste and see that the Lord is good! Once you do, you don’t want to stop; it is in God that one is completely satisfied.
Tozer knew the nearness of God, as he would write,
“We need never shout across the spaces to an absent God. He is nearer than our own soul, closer than our most secret thoughts.”[8]
He wanted to share this with other believers. We have the nearness of God and we can pursue after Him in a deep relationship. He showed that it is possible to be close with God and how sweet that closeness can be.
Tozer remained faithful to his calling and was able to finally go home to be with the Lord in 1963.
He Was a Man of Prayer
What stands out about Tozer more than his contributions to the devotional life of the believer is the way he prayed. Tozer would say, “As a man prays, so is he.” His entire ministry of preaching and writing flowed out of fervent prayer. What he discovered in prayer soon found expression in sermons, articles, editorials, and books.[9]
Biographer Dr. David J. Fant Jr. said, “Tozer literally wrote The Pursuit of God [while] on his knees. Perhaps that explains its power and the blessing that has rested on it.”[10]
Tozer was known for not only his prayer life but how he prayed. Much of the battle was on his knees. He even had a pair of trousers that he kept in his office to pray in so he would not wear out the knees of his other pants. The story goes,
“Although [Tozer] never boasted about his devotional habits, those few who knew him well knew that the angular man with little formal schooling learned much about his Lord and his God in the secret place. Tozer spent incalculable hours in prayer. Most of his prolonged prayer time—with his Bible and hymnals as his only companions—took place in his church office on the back side of the second floor. He would carefully hang up his suit trousers and don his sweater and raggedy old ‘prayer pants’ and sit for a while on his ancient office couch. After a time his spirit would drift into another realm. In time, he would abandon the couch, get on his knees, and eventually lie face down on the floor, singing praises to the Lion of the Tribe of Judah.”[11]
For all those that knew Tozer, this was not some religious ritual. He had a close relationship with his Savior and this was how he engaged with the Lord.
Through the example of Tozer, we can learn that not only is there power in prayer but it is in our prayer time that we have sweet fellowship with the Lord. We are told to “be still and know that I am God” (Psalm 46:10). That happens when we spend time with the Lord in seeking after Him. We live in a very distracting time of life; that is why we must guard our time and have these moments of prayer like Tozer to see who God is and allow Him to reveal Himself to us.
_____
Recommended Reading:
A Passion for God: The Spiritual Journey of A. W. Tozer by Lyle Dorsett
The Pursuit of God by A. W Tozer
The Knowledge of the Holy by A. W. Tozer
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[1] Wiersbe, Warren. 10 People Every Christian Should Know. Pg. 114.
[2] Snyder, James L. The Life of A. W. Tozer In Pursuit of God. Pg. 6.
[3] IBID. Pg. 13
[4] Snyder, James L. The Life of A. W. Tozer In Pursuit of God. Pg. 14
[5] IBID. Pg. 70.
[6] Doresett, Lyle. A Passion for God: The Spiritual Journey of A. W. Tozer. Pg. 120
[7] Tozer, A. W. The Pursuit of God. Pg. 17.
[8] IBID. Pg. 72
[9] Snyder, James L. The Life of A. W. Tozer In Pursuit of God. Pg. 15
[10] Tozer, A. W. The Pursuit of God. Pg. 12.
[11] Dorsett, Lyle. A Passion for God: The Spiritual Journey of A. W. Tozer. Pg. 121
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Scribes and Prophets
The Cross is a Radical Thing
The World is the Battleground
Tozer on Why We Shouldn’t Pray for Revival
