The Art of Divine Contentment: An Exposition of Philippians 4:11 by Thomas Watson. Excerpt 22

Watson has been writing about excuses for not being contented. He continues:
2. The second branch of the objection is, but my husband takes ill courses; where I looked for honey, behold a sting.

It is sad to have the living and the dead tied together; yet, let not your heart fret with discontent; mourn for his sins, but do not murmur. For, 1. God hath placed you in your relation, and you cannot be discontented but you quarrel with God. What! for every cross that befalls us, shall we call the infinite wisdom of God into question? O the blasphemy of our hearts!
2. God can make you a gainer by your husband’s sin; perhaps you had never been so good, if he had not been so bad. The fire burns hottest in the coldest climate. God often by a divine antiperistasis turns the sins of others to our good, and makes our maladies our medicines.

The more profane the husband is, oft the more holy the wife grows; the more earthly he is, the more heavenly she grows; God makes sometimes the husband’s sin a spur to the wife’s grace. His exorbitances are as a pair of bellows to blow up the flame of her zeal and devotion the more. Is it not thus? Doth not thy husband’s wickedness send thee to prayer? thou perhaps hadst never prayed so much, if he had not sinned so much. His deadness quickens thee the more, the stone of his heart is an hammer to break thy heart. The apostle saith, “the unbelieving wife is sanctified by the believing husband;” (1 Cor. 7. 14) but in this sense, the believing wife is sanctified by the unbelieving husband; she grows better, his sin is a whetstone to her grace, and a medicine for her security.

Thomas Watson lived from 1620-1686, in England. He wrote several books which survive. This blog, God willing, will post excerpts from his The Art of Divine Contentment: An Exposition of Philippians 4:11, over a number of weeks, on Sundays.
 
My source for the text is here, and I thank the Christian Classics Ethereal Library for making this text (and many others) available. The previous excerpt is here.
 
Philippians 4:11 Not that I speak because of lack, for I have learned in whatever state I am, to be content in it. (World English Bible, public domain.) 

Does the Bible really say that? Excerpt from my book, 5

Was praying for unbelievers important in the early church?
Praying for sinners is important, but an examination of the New Testament indicates that another type of prayer was more important to the early church.

What is prayer? Aspects of prayer
Perhaps we should start by looking at what prayer is. Let’s face it! “Prayer” usually means “asking God for things we want.” There should be more to prayer than that. In the churches I attend, the most frequent prayers are for the sick, and for bereaved families. This is important. It is asking God for things we want for others, rather than for ourselves, but even that isn’t nearly all that prayer should be. Someone has suggested that there is more than one type of prayer, and that we should use all of these kinds of prayer, on a regular basis, when we communicate with God. The ACTS acronym is useful in remembering that:
Adoration: praising God for what and Who he is.
Examples: 1 Kings 8:22 Solomon stood before Yahweh’s altar in the presence of all the assembly of Israel, and spread out his hands toward heaven; 23 and he said, “Yahweh, the God of Israel, there is no God like you, in heaven above, or on earth beneath; who keeps covenant and loving kindness with your servants, who walk before you with all their heart;
Acts 4:24 When they heard it, they lifted up their voice to God with one accord, and said, “O Lord, you are God, who made the heaven, the earth, the sea, and all that is in them; (The church, praying after Peter and John’s release.)

Confession: stating our sins and asking forgiveness.
Examples: Psalm 51:1 Have mercy on me, God, according to your loving kindness.
According to the multitude of your tender mercies, blot out my transgressions.
2 Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity.
Cleanse me from my sin. (David, praying for forgiveness about his adultery with Bathsheba.)
1 John 1:9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and righteous to forgive us the sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

Thanksgiving: thanking God for specific things He has done.
Examples: Daniel 2:23 I thank you, and praise you, you God of my fathers, who have given me wisdom and might, and have now made known to me what we desired of you; for you have made known to us the king’s matter.
Matthew 11:25 At that time, Jesus answered, “I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you hid these things from the wise and understanding, and revealed them to infants.

Supplication: asking for things we want God to do, for others (also known as intercession) or for us.
Examples: Matthew 6:11 Give us today our daily bread.
Mark 14:36 He said, “Abba, Father, all things are possible to you. Please remove this cup from me. However, not what I desire, but what you desire.”
Romans 10:1 Brothers, my heart’s desire and my prayer to God is for Israel, that they may be saved.

(The material above is currently available as a graphic, oriented in landscape mode, so that it may be projected. See here. You are free to use that graphic for any non-commercial use.)

All of the types of prayer above are things we tell God, and we should tell this sort of thing to God. But prayer should be two-way communication. We should listen for God’s voice, and pay attention when He speaks to us, audibly or in our thoughts.

The above is an excerpt from my recently published e-book, Does the Bible Really Say That?, which may be obtained free of charge, or purchased from Amazon for $0.99, which is the lowest price Amazon lets an author set. Scripture quotations are from the World English Bible, public domain.

The previous post in this series is here.

Thanks for reading!