Luther on Prayer

"You are to look closely at this command and stress it that you do not consider prayer an optional work and act as if it were not a sin for you not to pray. You should know that praying is earnestly enjoined, with the threat of God's supreme displeasure and punishment if neglected. It is enjoined just as well as the command that you should have no other gods and should not blaspheme and abuse God's name but should confess and preach, laud and praise it...He who does not do this [i.e., pray] should know that he is no Christian and does not belong in the kingdom of God." Ewald M. Plass, ed., What Luther Says: A Practical In-Home Anthology for the Active Christian, 1705.

My Dear Daughters

(An excerpt from a letter from Rev. Legh Richmond to his daughters. It provides much food for thought and has some valuable, practical Christian insight into how we should live as Christians.)

My dear daughters,
With a heart full of affection, I sit down to express a few sentiments and intimations of my wishes, as connected with your conduct. Keep them constantly with you, and let them be read over, at least once a week. May God render them useful to you!

AMUSEMENTS. Plays, balls, concerts, cards, dances, etc., etc.
Serious, consistent Christians, must resist these things, because the dangerous spirit of the world and the flesh is in them all. They are the 'pomps and vanities of this wicked world,' so solemnly renounced by God. To be conformed to these seductive and more than frivolous scenes--is to be conformed to this world, and opposed to the character and precepts of Christ. Those who see no harm in these things--are spiritually blind; and those who will not hear admonition against them--are spiritually deaf. Shun, my dear girls, the pleasures of sin--and seek those pleasures which are at God's right hand for evermore. You cannot love both!

BOOKS.
The characters of people, are speedily discerned by their choice of books. I trust that you will never sacrifice time, affection, or attention to novels. Do not be ashamed of having never read the fashionable books and novels of the day. A Christian has no time, and should have no inclination for any reading which has no real tendency to improve the heart. There are too many valuable books on a variety of worthy subjects, which ought to be read--to allow for time to be dedicated to unwholesome and useless ones!

MUSIC.
Shun all the wretched foolishness and corruption--of light, silly, and amorous songs; on the same principle that you would shun books of the same nature. Sacred music is the true refuge of the Christian. I wish your ears, your hearts, and your tongues were often tuned to such melodies. The play-house, the opera, and the concert-hall--have deluged our society with perversions of the heavenly art of music. Music was designed to lead the soul to heaven--but the depravity of man has greatly corrupted God's merciful design for music.

DRESS.
Aim at great neatness and simplicity. Shun finery and show. Do not be in haste to follow new fashions. Remember, that with regard to dress--that Christians ought to be decidedly plainer, and less showy than the people of the world. I wish it to be said of my daughters, "With what evident and befitting simplicity, are the daughters of Mr. Richmond attired."

BEHAVIOR IN COMPANY.
Be cheerful--but not gigglers.
Be serious--but not dull.
Be communicative--but not overbearing.
Be kind--but not servile.
In every company support your Christian principles, by cautious consistency.

Beware of silly or thoughtless speech--although you may forget what you say--others will not.

Remember! God's eye is in every place, and His ear is in every company!

Beware of levity and familiarity with young men; a sincere, yet modest reserve, is the only safe path. Grace is needful here; ask for it--you know where.

PRAYER.
Strive to preserve a praying mind through the day--not only at the usual and stated periods--but everywhere, and at all times, and in all companies. Prayer is your best preservative against error, weakness and sin.

Always remember that you are in the midst of temptations; and never more so than when most pleased with outward objects and people.

Pray and watch; for though the spirit is willing--yet the flesh is deplorably weak.

RELIGION.
Keep ever in mind--that you have a Christian profession to sustain--both in pious and worldly company. Be firm and consistent in them both. Many eyes and ears are open to observe what you both say and do--and will be, wherever you go. Pray to be preserved from errors, follies, and offenses, which, bring an evil name upon the ways of God.

You may sometimes hear ridicule, prejudice, and censure assail the godly--it ever was, and will ever be so! But, "Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of Me. Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven!" Do not be ashamed of Christ here--and He will not be ashamed of you hereafter.

Initiate and encourage serious conversation, with those who are truly serious and conversable. Never go into pious company, without endeavoring to improve the souls of others. Whenever you can find a congenial friend, talk of heaven and eternity, and your soul and your Savior. This will be as a shield to your head--and your heart!

ESTIMATE OF THE CHARACTER OF OTHERS.
Look first for grace. Do not disesteem godly people on account of their foibles, or deficiencies in matters of little importance. Gold, even when unpolished, is far more valuable than the brightest brass. Never form unfavorable opinions of religious people hastily, "love hopes all things." Prize those families where you find consistent family prayer; and suspect evil and danger, where it is avowedly unknown and unpracticed. Always remember the astonishing difference between the true followers of Jesus, and the unconverted world--and prize them accordingly, whatever be their rank in society.

Good manners and piety form a happy union; but poverty and piety are quite as acceptable in the eyes of God; and so they ought to be in our eyes. Experience proves that the proportionate number of the truly godly among the poor, is much greater than the corresponding proportion of numbers among the rich.

Your affectionate father.

The Great Dearth - the death of a land

Amos 8:11-13

"Behold, the days come, saith the Lord GOD, that I will send a famine in the land, not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the LORD: And they shall wander from sea to sea, and from the north even to the east, they shall run to and fro to seek the word of the LORD, and shall not find it. In that day shall the fair virgins and young men faint for thirst."

O Almighty God, Creator of heaven and earth, everlasting God, Prince of peace, King of kings, and Lord of Lords, our Sovereign Redeemer, have mercy upon this land, for there is a great dearth of hearing the Word of the Lord and great apostasy has overshadowed us. Surely our pastors have become brutish and have not sought Thy great Name, O Lord; they do not prosper and their flocks have scattered. Your people have gone a whoring after other gods, which are not gods. We have become a people of unclean lips, a people who are fat with the abundance of goods, and yet gaining the world, we are losing our souls and the souls of our children. Our shepherds say no more, "Where is the Lord?" and they that handle Your Word know You not. Our wise men are dismayed; they have rejected the Word of the Lord and there is no wisdom in them.

O Lord, mine heart within me is broken because of the prophets; all my bones shake. For the land is full of adulterers; for because of swearing the land mourneth; the pleasant places of the wilderness are dried up, and their course is evil, and their force is not right. For both prophet and priest are profane; yea, and in the house of God is their wickedness found. Our watchmen have become blind; they are ignorant, men of slumber who know not the way of the Lord, shepherds who cannot understand. They feed themselves, and not Thy sheep; the diseased have they not strengthened, and they have not sought that which was lost.

We grope for the wall like the blind, and we grope as if we had no eyes: we stumble at noonday as in the night; we are in desolate places as dead men. We roar all like bears, and mourn sore like doves: we look for judgment, but there is none; for salvation, but it is far off from us. For our transgressions are multiplied before thee, and our sins testify against us: for our transgressions are with us; and as for our iniquities, we know them; in transgressing and lying against the LORD, and departing away from our God, speaking oppression and revolt, conceiving and uttering from the heart words of falsehood. And judgment is turned away backward, and justice standeth afar off: for truth is fallen in the street, and equity cannot enter. Yea, truth faileth; and he that departeth from evil maketh himself a prey. We are poor, and we are foolish for we have not know the way of our God, and those who do have burst the bands and thrown off thy yoke.

When I saw all this, my heart trembled within me, for Thy great wrath is being poured out upon us for our iniquities which are great before you. But, though the fig tree shall not blossom, neither shall fruit be in the vines; the labour of the olive shall fail, and the fields shall yield no meat; the flock shall be cut off from the fold, and there shall be no herd in the stalls: yet I will rejoice in Thee O Lord; I will joy in the God of my Salvation. Thou O Lord are my strength, and you shall make my feet as the hinds feet, you shall cause me to walk on my high places for the glory of Your holy Name. Therefore will I not fear, though the earth be removed, and though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea; though the waters thereof roar and be troubled, though the mountains shake with the swelling thereof, for you O Lord are my refuge and strength, a very present help in the time of trouble.

Surely, there is a river, the streams whereof shall make glad the city of God, the holy place of the tabernacles of the most High. You are in the midst of her; she shall not be moved: You shall help her, and that right early.

O people of the living God, be still and know that He is God. He will be exalted among the heathen, He will be exalted in the earth. Blessed be the name of the LORD from this time forth and for evermore. From the rising of the sun unto the going down of the same the LORD'S name is to be praised. The LORD is high above all nations, and his glory above the heavens. Who is like unto the LORD our God, who dwelleth on high, Who humbleth himself to behold the things that are in heaven, and in the earth! For of him, and through him, and to him, are all things: to whom be glory and dominion, both now and for ever, world without end.

Amen.

JOHN SUTCLIFF, "THE PRAYER CALL OF 1784"

Upon a motion being made to the ministers and messengers of the associate Baptist churches assembled at Nottingham, respecting meetings for prayer, to bewail the low estate of religion, and earnestly implore a revival of our churches, and of the general cause of our Redeemer, and for that end to wrestle with God for the effusion of his Holy Spirit, which alone can produce the blessed effect, it was unanimously RESOLVED, to recommend to all our churches and congregations, the spending of one hour in this important exercise, on the first Monday in every calendar month.

We hereby solemnly exhort all the churches in our connection, to engage heartily and perseveringly in the prosecution of this plan. And as it may be well to endeavour to keep the same hour, as a token of our unity herein, it is supposed the following scheme may suit many congregations, viz. to meet on the first Monday evening in May, June, and July, from 8 to 9. In Aug. from 7 to 8. Sept. and Oct. from 6 to 7. Nov. Dec. Jan. and Feb. from 5 to 6. March, from 6 to 7; and April, from 7 to 8. Nevertheless if this hour, or even the particular evening, should not suit in particular places, we wish our brethren to fix on one more convenient to themselves.

We hope also, that as many of our brethren who live at a distance from our places of worship may not be able to attend there, that as many as are conveniently situated in a village or neighbourhood, will unite in small societies at the same time. And if any single individual should be so situated as not to be able to attend to this duty in society with others, let him retire at the appointed hour, to unite the breath of prayer in private with those who are thus engaged in a more public manner.

The grand object of prayer is to be that the Holy Spirit may be poured down on our ministers and churches, that sinners may be converted, the saints edified, the interest of religion revived, and the name of God glorified. At the same time, remember, we trust you will not confine your requests to your own societies [i.e. churches]; or to your own immediate connection [i.e. denomination]; let the whole interest of the Redeemer be affectionately remembered, and the spread of the gospel to the most distant parts of the habitable globe be the object of your most fervent requests. We shall rejoice if any other Christian societies of our own or other denominations will unite with us, and do now invite them most cordially to join heart and hand in the attempt.

Who can tell what the consequences of such an united effort in prayer may be! Let us plead with God the many gracious promises of His Word, which relate to the future success of His gospel. He has said, “I will yet for this be enquired of by the House of Israel to do it for them, I will increase them with men like a flock.” Ezek. xxxvi.37. Surely we have love enough for Zion to set apart one hour at a time, twelve times in a year, to seek her welfare.

Attached to John Ryland, Jr., The Nature, Evidences, and Advantages, of Humility (Circular Letter of the Northamptonshire Association, 1784), 12.