Cashing Checks

As my husband is fond of quoting, Spurgeon says:

A promise from God may very instructively be compared to a check payable to order. It is given to the believer with the view of bestowing upon him some good thing. It is not meant that he should read it over comfortably, and then have done with it.

No, he is to treat the promise as a reality, as a man treats a check. He is to take the promise, and endorse it with his own name by personally receiving it as true. He is by faith to accept it as his own. ...

This done, he must believingly present the promise to the Lord, as a man presents a check at the counter of the Bank. He must plead it by prayer, expecting to have it fulfilled.

I was thinking tonight of all that I would wish for God to do in and for our family.  So much I want Him to guard us from.  So much for Him to enable us for.  So much for Him to provide.  So much for Him to teach and grow.

It's convicting, to realize how often I read lavish promises in the Bible and then more or less forget them.  So as a starting point, I pulled out some index cards to write some concrete prayer points from where I was reading today.  Not difficult, and a very big encouragement.  I hope to keep it up.

So tonight, I'm praying for our family...

- That we will not rely on our own abilities or resources, but trust in God's awesome resurrecting power. ...indeed, we had the sentence of death within ourselves so that we would not trust in ourselves but in God who raises the dead. --2 Corinthians 1:9

- That the Lord would give us peaceful, refreshing sleep, that we would give Him all our worries and cares, and that He would guard us and shelter us from all harm. In peace I will both lie down and sleep, for You alone, O LORD, make me to dwell in safety. --Psalm 4:8

- That the Lord will give us a desire for communion with God and would enable us to pray fervently, without ceasing, and with great, eager faith. In the morning, O LORD, You will hear my voice; in the morning I will order my prayer to You and eagerly watch. --Psalm 5:3

- That the Lord will help us wisely hold back words that do not give grace and do not fit the moment's need. He who guards his mouth and tongue guards his soul from troubles. --Proverbs 21:23


May He do far more abundantly beyond all we could ask or think!