thoughts by Andrew Murray Archives - Daily Devotionals by Thoughts about God

Published September 19, 2023

Not of This World

“And the world hates them because they do not belong to the world, just as I do not. They are not part of this world any more than I am.” John 17:14, 16

In His last night Jesus took pains to make clear to His disciples the impassible gulf between Him and the world and also between them and the world (John 16:16-21). He had said of the Spirit: “The world at large cannot receive Him, because it isn’t looking for Him and doesn’t recognize Him.” (John 14:17). “The world would love you if you belonged to it, but you don’t. I chose you to come out of the world, and so it hates you.” (John 15:19)

One great mark of the disciples was to be as little a part of the world as Christ was. Christ and the disciples had become united in the cross and the Resurrection; they both belonged to another world, the kingdom of heaven.

Why is it that faith in the Holy Spirit is practiced so little by Christians?

The world rules too much in the lives of Christians. The “world offers only the lust for physical pleasure, the lust for everything we see, and pride in possessions” (1 John 2:16) – all this robs the heart of its desire for that true self-denial necessary for receiving the Holy Spirit.

by Andrew Murray
Used by permission
From: ‘Teach Me to Pray‘
published by Barbour Publishing, Inc.

Christ in Me

“Examine yourselves to see if your faith is really genuine.” 2 Corinthians 13:5

Christ is in me. What a difference it would make if we could take time every morning to focus on the thought. Christ is in me.

Christ made it clear to His disciples. The Spirit would teach them; “When I am raised to life again, you will know that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you” (John 14:20). Through the power of God we who believe were crucified with Christ and raised again with Him. As a result Christ is in us! Through faith in God’s Word, the Christian accepts it.

Paul expresses this thought in the prayer of (Ephesians 3:16); “I pray that from His glorious, unlimited resources He will give you mighty inner strength through His Holy Spirit.” Notice that it is not the ordinary gift of grace, but a special revelation of the riches of His love that Christ may dwell in your heart by faith. Have you been able to grasp that?

Paul said: “I fall to my knees and pray to the Father” (Ephesians 3:14). That is the only way to obtain the blessing. Take time in prayer in His presence to realize: ‘Christ dwells in me.” Even in the midst of your daily schedule, look upon your heart as the dwelling place of the Son of God. Then Christ’s words: “Those who remain in me, and I in them, will produce much fruit.” (John 15:5) will become your daily experience.

By Andrew Murray
Used by permission.
From: ‘Teach Me to Pray‘
published by Barbour Publishing, Inc.

Exceedingly Abundantly

‘By His mighty power at work within us, He is able to accomplish infinitely more than We would ever dare to ask or hope.” Ephesians 3:20

In the great prayer which Paul had just written, he had apparently reached the highest expression possible of the life to which God’s mighty power could bring the believer. But Paul is not content. In this doxology he rises still higher and lifts us up to give glory to God
as “able to accomplish infinitely more than we would ever dare to ask or hope.” Pause for a moment to consider what ‘infinitely more’ means.

Think of the words,

“he has given us all of his rich and wonderful promises” (2 Peter 1:4).

Think of

“the incredible greatness of his power for us who believe him.“

This is the same mighty power that raised Christ from the dead: (Ephesians 1:19-20). With these words Paul hopes to lift our hearts to believe that God is able to do

‘infinitely more than we would ever dare to ask or hope.’

The power of God that works in us is nothing less than the exceeding power that raised Christ from the dead. This should cause us to think that there is something that God will do in us that is beyond all our imagination.

As we worship Him in prayer, let us believe that the Almighty God, who is working in our hearts, is able and willing to fulfill every one of His exceeding great and precious promises.

By Andrew Murray
Used by permission.

From: ‘Teach Me to Pray‘,
published by Barbour Publishing, Inc.

Learn more about knowing Jesus at: http://thoughts-about-god.com/four-laws/

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A Song of Love

Published November 8, 2022

A Song of Love

“There are three things that endure – faith, hope and love – and the greatest of these is love.” 1 Corinthians 13:13

Today is wholly devoted to the praise of love. The first three verses of 1 Corinthians 13 speak of the absolute necessity of love as the chief thing in our religion.

“If I could speak in any language in heaven or on earth. . . if I had the gift of prophesy . . . if I had the gift of faith so that I could speak to a mountain and make it move . . . if I gave everything I have to the poor and even sacrificed my body . . . but if I didn’t love others” then, three times repeated, “I would only be making meaningless noise like a loud gong or a clanging cymbal . . . what good would I be? . . . I would be of no value whatsoever.” If I have not love, I am of no value.

There are fifteen things said about love, but one sentence sums up its whole nature: “It does not demand its own way” (verse 5). And again: ‘Love will last forever” (verse 8). Prophesies, unknown languages, and knowledge shall vanish away. Even faith and hope shall be changed into sight. But love lasts forever.

“Love does not demand its own way.” Think and pray about this.

“Love will last forever” Consider all that means.

“The greatest of these is love.” Let this love rule in your life.

God is love. ‘God is love, and all who live in love live in God, and God lives in them: 1 John 4:16

Let your heart be filled with love so that, by God’s almighty power, you may be a witness to the transforming power of love. Then you will be a blessing to all around you.

By Andrew Murray
Used by Permission
From: ‘Teach Me to Pray‘, published by Barbour Publishing, Inc.

The Desire for God

“All night long I search for You.“. Isaiah 26:9

What is the best and most glorious thing that a man needs every day and can do every day? Nothing less than to seek, to know, to love, and to praise God Himself. As glorious as God is, so is the glory which begins to work in the hearts and lives of people who give themselves to live for God.

Have you learned to seek this God, to meet Him, to worship Him, to live for Him and for His glory? It is a great step forward in the life of a Christian when we truly see this and consider fellowship with God every day as the chief end of our lives.

Take the time to ask yourself whether knowing your God and loving Him with your whole heart is the utmost desire of your heart. You can be certain that God greatly desires that you should live in this intimate fellowship with Him. He will, in answer to your prayer, enable you to do so.

Begin today by speaking these words to God in the stillness of your soul:

“O God, You are my God; I earnestly search for You. My soul thirsts for You; my whole body longs for You … I follow close behind You” (Psalm 63:1 & 8).

“(I) search for Him with all (my) heart” (Psalm 119:2).

By Andrew Murray
Used by permission
From: ‘Teach Me to Pray‘,
published by Barbour Publishing, Inc.

The Light of His Countenance

“God is Light”
John 1:5

“The LORD is my Light”
Psalm 27:1

Every morning the sun rises, and we walk in its light and perform our daily duties. Whether we think about it or not, the light of the sun shines on us all day. Likewise, the light of God shines on His children every morning. But in order to enjoy the light of God’s countenance, the soul must turn to God and trust Him to let His light shine in upon it.

Just as you need the light of the sun each hour, so, too, is the heavenly light of the Father’s countenance indispensable. If we expect the sun to rise each day and receive its light, we can also confidently count on God to let His light shine on us. Make sure that the light of God shines on you as you commune with Him in the morning. Then expect His light to remain with you all day long.

Remember, it is the ardent longing of your heavenly Father that you should dwell and rejoice in His light. So, do not rest until you know that the light of His countenance and His blessing is resting on you. Then you will experience the truth of the words:

“They will walk in the light of your presence, LORD. They rejoice all day long in your wonderful reputation.” Psalm 89:15-16.

by Andrew Murray
Used by permission
From: ‘Teach Me to Pray‘,
published by Barbour Publishing, Inc.

The God of All Grace

“After you have suffered a little while, He will restore, support and strengthen you, and He will place you on a firm foundation.” 1 Peter 5:10

Peter picks up the theme of our being perfectly equipped in Christ with these words: “He will restore, support, and strengthen you, and He will place you on a firm foundation.” God Himself must be the one object of our hope and trust in our work, our needs, and our desires.

Just as God is the center of the universe, the one guide that orders and controls its movements, so God must have the same place in the life of the believer. With every new day our first thought should be: Only God can enable me this day to live as He would have me to live.

What should be our attitude towards this God? Shouldn’t we humbly place ourselves in His hands and confess our absolute helplessness? We must yield ourselves in childlike surrender to receive from Him the fulfillment of His promise:

“The God of peace equip you with all you need for doing His will.” Hebrews 13:20.

Some of us have learned how absolutely indispensable it is to meet with God every morning in prayer and to allow Him to take charge of our life for the day. This is exactly the point Peter is trying to get across. In light of what this day might hold for us, our heart must rest on God and His Word to restore, support, and strengthen us.

By Andrew Murray
Used by permission.

From: ‘Teach Me to Pray‘,
published by Barbour Publishing, Inc.

The Unreached

“See, my people will return from far away, from…. as far south as Egypt.” Isaiah 49:12

Will the unreached come to Christ: Does God have such a plan?

“Let Egypt come with gifts of precious metals; let Ethiopia bow in submission to God” (Psalm 68:31).

“I, the Lord, will bring all to pass at the right time” (Isaiah 60:22).

Pray for those who are yet without the Word: China with her hundreds of millions without Christ; India with its millions; millions each year living in darkness. If Christ gave His life for them, you can give yourself up to intercede for them.

If you have not started to intercede, begin now. God’s Spirit will draw you on. Persevere, however hesitant you are. Ask God to give you some country or people group to pray for. Can anything be nobler than to do as Christ did – to give your life for the unreached?

Pray with confident expectation of an answer.

“Ask me and I will tell you some remarkable secrets about what is going to happen here” (Jeremiah 33:3).

“This is what the Sovereign Lord says, I am ready to hear Israel’s prayers. . . and I am ready to grant them their requests” (Ezekiel 36:37).

Both texts refer to promises definitely made, but their fulfillment would depend upon prayer.

By Andrew Murray
From: ‘Teach Me to Pray‘, published by Barbour Publishing, Inc.
Used by permission

The Omnipotence of God

“I am God Almighty.” Genesis 17:1

When Abraham heard these words he fell on his face and God spoke to him. God filled his heart with faith in what He would do for him. O Christian, have you bowed in deep humility before God until you felt that you were in living contact with the Almighty?

Read in the Psalms how the saints of old gloried in God and in His strength.

“The Lord protect me from danger” (Psalm 27:1)

“God remains the strength of my heart.” (Psalm 73:26).

Take time to appropriate these words and to adore God as the Almighty One, your strength.

Christ taught us that salvation is the work of God and quite impossible to humans. When the disciples asked: “Then who in the world can be saved?” His answer was:

“Humanly speaking, it is impossible. But not with God. Everything is possible with God.” (Mark 10:26-27).

If we firmly believe this, we will have courage to believe that God is working in us all that is well-pleasing in His sight.

Think how Paul prays for the Ephesians, that through the enlightening of the Spirit, they might “begin to understand the incredible greatness of His power for us who believe Him.” (Ephesians 1:19). When we fully believe that the mighty power of God is working within us, we can joyfully say, ‘God is the strength of my life.”

By Andrew Murray
From: ‘Teach Me to Pray‘
Used by permission

Alone with God

“One day as Jesus was alone, praying….” Luke 9:18

“He went higher into the hills alone.” John 6:15

Human beings need to be alone with God. Our fall consisted in our being brought, through the lust of the flesh and the world, under the power of things visible and temporal. Our restoration through salvation is meant to bring us back to the Father’s love and fellowship.

We need to be alone with God, to yield ourselves to the presence and the power of His Holiness. Christ on earth needed it. He could not live the life of a Son here in the flesh without at times separating Himself entirely from His surroundings and being alone with God. How much more must this be indispensable to us!

Alone with God — that is the secret of true power in prayer. There is no true holiness, no clothing with the Holy Spirit and with power, without being alone daily with God.

When our Lord Jesus gave us the command to pray to our Father in secret, He gave us the promise that the Father would hear such prayers and mightily answer them in our life before others. What a privilege it is to begin every morning with intimate prayer. Let it be the one thing our hearts are set on — seeing, finding, and meeting God alone. The time will come when you will be amazed at the thought that one could suggest five minutes were enough.

By Andrew Murray
Used by permission.
From: ‘Teach Me to Pray‘, published by Barbour Publishing, Inc.

The Thoughts of God

“For just as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My thoughts higher than your thoughts.” Isaiah 55:9

God reminds us that as high as the heavens are above the earth, so high His thoughts are above ours. They are altogether beyond the power of our comprehension. When God laid out all His promises to Abraham, they were indeed thoughts higher than the heavens.

God tells us that we are made in His image. By grace we are actually renewed again into that image. As we gaze upon God’s glory in Christ, we are changed into the same image by His Spirit. These, too, are thoughts beyond our comprehension – our minds cannot take them in.

God, by His Holy Spirit, convey to our hearts the life and the light that can make us feel at home with these thoughts dwelling in us. But we need daily, prayerful fellowship with God if we are to enter into His mind and to have His thoughts make their home in us. It is by faith that God will not only reveal the beauty and the glory of these thoughts but will actually work in us their divine reality.

Just think of what Paul writes: “No eye has seen, no ear has heard, and no mind has imagined what God has prepared for those who love Him” (1 Corinthians 2:9). But as we pray God will reveal them through His Spirit.

by Andrew Murray
Used by Permission

The Power of Time

“Couldn’t you stay awake and watch with Me even one hour?’ Matthew 26:40

Every minute spent in prayer is valuable. If ten minutes is all the time you can give, see what you can do in that time. Most people can spare more time. If you will only persevere from day to day, time will come of its own accord.

Is it possible that Christians can say that they cannot afford to spend a quarter or half an hour alone with God and His Word? When a friend comes to see us or we have to attend an important meeting or there is anything to our advantage or pleasure, we find time easily enough.

But God has a right to us and longs for us to spend time with Him, and we find no time for fellowship with Him. Even God’s own servants are so occupied with their own work that they find little time for that which is all-important – waiting on God to receive power from on high.

Dear child of God, let us never say, “I have no time for God.”
Let the Holy Spirit teach us that the most important and profitable time of the whole day is the time we spend alone with God. Communion with God through His Word and prayer is as indispensable to us as the food we eat and the air we breathe.

Whatever else is left undone, God has the first and foremost right to our time.

By Andrew Murray
Used by Permission

From: ‘Teach Me to Pray‘, published by Barbour Publishing, Inc.
Used by permission.

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Joy in God

Published February 11, 2021

Joy in God

“For the kingdom of God is not a matter of what we eat or drink, but of living a life of goodness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.” Romans 14:17

A Christian man said to me shortly after his conversion:

“I always thought that if I become religious, it would be impossible for me to do my worldly business. The two things seemed so contrary. I seemed to be a man trying to dig a vineyard with a bag of sand on his shoulders. But when I found the Lord I was so filled with joy that I could do my work cheerfully from morning till night. The bag of sand was gone: the joy of the Lord was my strength.”

Many Christians do not understand that the joy of the Lord will keep them and enable them for their work. Read the Scriptures and see how the kingdom of God is pure joy and peace through the Holy Spirit. God will

“keep you happy and full of peace as you believe in Him…. through the power of the Holy Spirit.” (Romans 15:13).

Then try to realize that the Holy Spirit will give this joy and peace of Christ in your hearts. It is wrong to think of the Holy Spirit as a matter of grief and self-reproach, of disappointments, of something too high and holy. The great gift of the Father is meant to keep us in the joy and peace of Christ.

Listen attentively to the voice of the Spirit each day as He points you to Jesus Christ, who offers you His wonderful fruit: love, joy, peace.

By Andrew Murray
used with permission

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The Suffering

Published October 27, 2020

The Suffering

“Share the sorrow of those being mistreated, as though you feel their pain in your own body.” Hebrews 13:3

We live in a world of suffering! The persecuted believers in Islamic countries, the famine stricken millions, those in poverty and wretchedness, refugees from armed conflict – and so much more. In our smaller circles, in thousands of homes and hearts, there is great sorrow! In our own neighborhood, how many need help or comfort? Let us have a heart for the suffering. Jesus sacrificed all and identified Himself with our suffering! Let us in our measure do so too. It will stir us to pray, to work to hope, to love more. And in a way and time we do not understand, God will hear our prayers.

Pray always without giving up.

“Jesus told His disciples a story to illustrate their need for constant prayer and to show them that they must never give up” (Luke 18:1).

Have you begun to feel that prayer is really the help needed for this sinful world? The very greatness of the task makes us despair! What can our ten minutes of intercession accomplish? It is okay that we feel this: It may be the way in which God is calling and preparing us to give more of our time to prayer. Give yourself wholly to God, pour out your heart to others in love, and look to God in dependence and expectation. To a heart thus led by the Holy Spirit, it is possible to pray always and not give up.

By Andrew Murray
Used by permission
From: ‘Teach Me to Pray‘
published by Barbour Publishing, Inc.

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Absolute Dependence

Published May 30, 2020

Absolute Dependence

“Yes, I am the vine, you are the branches… For apart from me you can do nothing.” John 15:5

The Christian Life is a life of Absolute dependence. At Hampton Court there was a vine that sometimes bore a couple thousand cluster of grapes. People were amazed at its productivity. Later the secret was discovered. Not too far from Hampton Court flows the River Thames. The vine had stretched its roots hundreds of yards under the ground until it came to the riverbed. There, in all the nutrients of the river bottom, it found rich nourishment and moisture. The roots drew the sap all the distance to the branches.

The vine had the work to do. The branches simply had to depend upon the vine and receive what it gave.

That is exactly what Christ desires you to understand. Christ desires that in all your work, the very foundation should be the simple acceptance that Christ must care for all.

As you depend on Him He supplies your needs by sending down the Holy Spirit. Jesus wants you to be dependent as you serve Him. Day by day, hour by hour, in everything you do, simply abide before Him. Live in the total helplessness of one who can do nothing.

Absolute dependence upon God is the secret of power at work. You and I have nothing unless we receive it from Jesus.

By Andrew Murray
Used by Permission

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Why is it that faith in the Holy Spirit is practiced so little by Christians?

Further Reading

“Examine yourselves to see if your faith is really genuine.” 2 Corinthians 13:5

Further Reading

‘By His mighty power at work within us, He is able to accomplish infinitely more than We would ever dare to ask or hope.” Ephesians 3:20

“There are three things that endure – faith, hope and love – and the greatest of these is love.” 1 Corinthians 13:13

Further Reading

Further Reading

Further Reading

“After you have suffered a little while, He will restore, support and strengthen you, and He will place you on a firm foundation.” 1 Peter 5:10

Further Reading

“See, my people will return from far away, from…. as far south as Egypt.” Isaiah 49:12

Further Reading

“I am God Almighty.” Genesis 17:1

Further Reading

FURTHER READING

“For just as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My thoughts higher than your thoughts.” Isaiah 55:9

FURTHER READING

“Couldn’t you stay awake and watch with Me even one hour?’ Matthew 26:40

FURTHER READING

Follow Us On:

FURTHER READING

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“Share the sorrow of those being mistreated, as though you feel their pain in your own body.” Hebrews 13:3

Pray always without giving up.

FURTHER READING

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“Yes, I am the vine, you are the branches… For apart from me you can do nothing.” John 15:5

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