Welcome to Daily Growth Point, I’m Pastor John Bingham.

I heard of a preacher who taught on the importance of aligning our heart’s with God in prayer. He used the analogy of a boat coming up to a dock. He described the process of pulling on a rope that is moored to the dock, and he pointed out that the person on the boat is pulling on the rope, but he isn’t moving the dock — he is moving the boat to align itself with the fixed point.

IN the same way, prayer requires that we surrender and submit ourselves and our will to God’s will. We’re not using prayer to change God’s will, but prayer helps to change our hearts to His will. There is no legitimate prayer that does not begin with a commitment to God’s will rather than our own.

When we pray the way Jesus instructed, we are positioned for God to work great things in our lives.

Welcome to Daily Growth Point, I’m Pastor John Bingham.

Dr. John Rice told a story about a prayer that highlights a trap many of us fall into . When their oldest daughter Grace was a little girl, the custom of their family was to gather at the table and pray before their meal.

Dr. Rice said that he noticed a peculiar trait in his daughter. Just before he would finish praying, she would begin saying, “Amen, Amen.” He then said, “As I thought on it, I realized that I was just saying the same words day after day, and she said, ‘Amen’ because she knew I was almost finished.”

Prayer is not just a ritual featuring meaningless repetition of words we say with our eyes closed. Prayer is pouring out our hearts before God. The power and provision of God flow into our lives in response to our prayers. Don’t let a lack of sincere prayer keep your life from experiencing the power and presence of the Lord.

Welcome to Daily Growth Point, I’m Pastor John Bingham.

The story is told that one day a man went into the bookstore owned by Benjamin Franklin. When he found the book he wished to purchase, the clerk told him it was one dollar.

He objected, “That price is too high. Ask your boss if he will lower it.” When Franklin arrived, He heard the man’s request then promptly raised the price of the book.

The man asked why the price kept increasing. Franklin said, “Do you not see that you are wasting my time? The price of the book was one dollar. But because you are wasting my time, the price of the book has to go up.”

None of us has enough time to do everything that could be done. The key to making good decisions and spending our lives wisely is to order our priorities so that the best of our time, energy, and resources are devoted to the things that truly matter.

Welcome to Daily Growth Point, I’m Pastor John Bingham.

In her book, The Hiding Place, Corrie ten Boom told the story of asking her father about something he didn’t think she was old enough to understand.

She wrote, “He turned to look at me, … but to my surprise he said nothing. At last he stood up, lifted his traveling case off the seat and set it on the floor. ‘Will you carry it off the train, Corrie?’ He said. I stood up and tugged at it. … ‘It’s too heavy,’ I said.

‘Yes.’ He said, ‘and it would be a pretty poor father who would ask his little girl to carry such a load. It’s the same way, Corrie, with knowledge. Some knowledge is too heavy for children. When you are older and stronger, you can bear it. For now you must trust me to carry it for you.’”

Many times the burdens that we carry are self-imposed. We find ourselves weighed down, because we have taken on things we should not. Do not allow yourself to be encumbered by burdens you were never meant to carry.

Welcome to Daily Growth Point, I’m Pastor John Bingham.

Ira Sankey, told the story of a British actress who was saved in a most unusual way. As she walked down the street one day, she heard a group singing in preparation for a Bible study.

The song stuck in her mind and her heart, and she finally went and got a hymn book that had the song in it and sang it over and over until she had learned it by heart. In just a few days, she had given her heart to Christ.

In her final debut she chose to sing that one hymn that had drawn her heart to receive God’s great mercy and forgiveness:

“Depth of Mercy can there be,

Mercy still reserved for me?

Everyone of us who are saved have been the recipients of God’s mercy. In turn, He commands us to show mercy toward others, because a merciful heart rests on the foundation of undeserved forgiveness.

Welcome to Daily Growth Point, I’m Pastor John Bingham.

I read about a children’s Sunday School teacher who taught her pupils from the parable of the Pharisee and the publican praying in the Temple. When she finished her lesson she called on one of her students to pray. The little boy said, “God, thank You that I’m not like that Pharisee!”

If we set out to justify ourselves, we can always find a reason why what we have done is not as bad as others. Sometimes we will even rationalize our behavior.

But God doesn’t grade on a curve. He does not compare us to what others are doing, but rather to the perfect standard of His Son. He sees us as we really are, and He will not accept any attempt to avoid personal responsibility.

The only hope we have is to abandon our efforts and rest on the finished work of Jesus Christ, so confess your sins and trust in Him for salvation.

Welcome to Daily Growth Point, I’m Pastor John Bingham.

In 1944, during a massive storm, the SS Richard Montgomery, a ship loaded with thousands of tons of bombs, broke up and sank not far from the English coast. Despite the danger posed by the unexploded ordinance, the decision was made to leave it in place for fear of setting off a massive explosion. It would be more dangerous to try to remove the bombs than it was to leave them in place.

Every human being is born with a lethal danger within — a sin nature that we inherit passed down from Adam. But we are not just sinners by nature, we are also sinners by choice. Our sin problem requires a solution.

Jesus Christ Himself was the only one to ever live perfectly and not carry the sin nature. When He died on the cross, He died in our place and we can receive the gift of salvation through Him. It is only by accepting His sacrifice on our behalf that we can have salvation.

Welcome to Daily Growth Point, I’m Pastor John Bingham.

For much of history in many parts of the world, the Word of God was only available on a limited basis. Even today there are groups of people who do not have the Bible available in their own language.

Yet in our nation with the Scriptures in bookstores, online, on mobile device, and easy to find, far too many Christians ignore the blessings of the Bible.

King George V of England once wrote, “It is my confident hope that my subjects will never cease to cherish their noble inheritance in the English Bible, which is the first of national treasures. Its spiritual significance is the most valuable thing the world affords.”

When we open that blessed Book, we hold in our hands what God has revealed. It is sad to not have a copy of the Bible, but it is tragic to have the very Word of God and ignore it.

Welcome to Daily Growth Point, I’m Pastor John Bingham.

On his twenty-fifth birthday, Ford Porter prayed, “Oh God, give me a ministry that will reach souls for Christ, encircle the world, and be carried on long after I am gone.”

In 1933, Porter wrote a tract called, “God’s simple Plan of Salvation” which has been used around the world in many languages. To date, over half a billion of these tracts have been distributed all with the message that God’s plan of salvation is by grace through faith without anything else.

Those of us who have recieved the gift of eternal life have also recieved the command to take the good news to others. Both salvation and God’s plan to make it known are simple. We recieved the gift of salvation by faith, and we are to make it known with humble dependance on the Holy Spirit.

Welcome to Daily Growth Point, I’m Pastor John Bingham.

When the disciples rejoiced at the victories they had seen in their work, Jesus pointed out to them that they were rejoicing in the wrong thing. The great reason we have for joy in our lives is not found in this world but in the next. Because of the gift of salvation we have received, we have the hope of eternal life that can never be taken away.

Matthew Henry said, “Joy and peace as believers arises chiefly from our hopes. What is laid out upon us is but little, compared with what is laid up for us (in glory); therefore the more hope we have the more joy and peace we have.”

Any temporal blessing we receive has a limited impact on our lives. But our names are written in Heaven forever, and our eternal destiny has already been sealed by God. This gives us cause to rejoice no matter our circumstances!