Prayer
17 exhortations from the Birmingham breaking of bread, 1867–1899, that dwell on this.
- Prayer: Elijah, Brevity, and the Lord’s PrayerNo. 17 · 1 February 1870 · 33 min read aloud · Read: Philemon
Starting from Paul’s references to prayer in Philemon, the speaker argues that acceptable prayer is brief, intelligent and reverent, citing Elijah’s short prayer at Mount Carmel against the long cries of the prophets of Baal.
- Philemon: Brotherly Love and Christian CourtesyNo. 44 · 1 May 1873 · 21 min read aloud
Taking Paul’s letter to Philemon as a model, Roberts urges brethren to imitate apostolic warmth in their intercourse and letters: using genuine words of affection, invoking God’s blessing on one another, and thanking God for faithful fellow-labourers.
- Sardis: A Name to Live, and DeadNo. 50 · 1 January 1874 · 20 min read aloud · Read: Revelation 3
Takes the Lord’s message to the ecclesia in Sardis as instruction for every ecclesia, including Birmingham, beginning with his assurance ‘I know thy works’.
- Reading the Word and Prayer: Rejoicing in GodNo. 59 · 1 October 1874 · 21 min read aloud · Read: Psalm 21
The speaker urges the brethren to use the present opportunity to examine themselves, since after the Lord’s arrival judgment will be too late to amend; mere sorrow and resolution do not help unless they lead to the word of God.
- Keeping the Things of Christ in MemoryNo. 60 · 1 November 1874 · 18 min read aloud
The speaker says that those called by the gospel must see their present life as part of God’s long plan, and that acceptance at Christ’s coming follows from the course pursued now, as harvest follows seed-time.
- Humility, Prayer and Mercy: Principles of the KingdomNo. 61 · 1 December 1874 · 21 min read aloud · Read: Psalm 28, Daniel 2
Noting that the events of Daniel’s image have run their course without us and that the end is near, the speaker says the question at Christ’s appearing will be whether our lives have been in harmony with the principles of the kingdom, which differ from the world’s wisdom.
- Obeying the Commandments of the Sermon on the MountNo. 72 · 1 December 1875 · 43 min read aloud
Beginning from the breaking of bread, the exhortation says obedience is the great lesson of the faith and the test by which Christ’s friends will be known at his coming.
- The Enduring Word, Damascus and Spiritual WorshipNo. 86 · 1 July 1877 · 29 min read aloud · Read: Isaiah 17
Taking the statement that “the word of the Lord endureth for ever”, the exhortation says it assures the stability of the universe and, more importantly, the certainty of what God has said to individuals.
- Daniel: Adversity, Temperance, Integrity and Open PrayerNo. 90 · 1 December 1877 · 25 min read aloud
Taking Daniel, read that morning, as a brother “greatly beloved”, the exhortation first shows that apparent evil (the captivity, like the good figs of Jeremiah 24) may be God’s way of leading His people to good.
- Paul as Model: Recognition of GodNo. 103 · 1 January 1879 · 22 min read aloud
Taking up the apostle Paul as the model Christ has set before disciples, the exhortation dwells on his constant, practical recognition of God in all he did, shown in his use of “if the Lord will”, his appeals to God as witness, and his habit of prayer.
- Praise, Hardness of Heart, and Daily ReadingNo. 106 · 1 April 1879 · 25 min read aloud · Read: Psalm 95
On Psalm 95, the exhortation says praise is reasonable because the Lord is a great God and Creator, notes why “the deep places of the earth” are mentioned, and describes the full praise that will be offered when Christ and his brethren are manifested.
- Proverbs 28: Contending, Prayer, Mercy, Lion and BearNo. 120 · 1 June 1880 · 22 min read aloud · Read: Proverbs 28
Takes points from Proverbs 28 as read that morning. Verse 4 shows Christ and his brethren contending with the wicked, which the writer distinguishes from mere contentiousness, and says a believer should not expect to be well spoken of by the world.
- Daniel’s Prayer: God’s Greatness, Seventy WeeksNo. 126 · 1 December 1880 · 33 min read aloud · Read: Daniel 9
Taking the Daniel 9 reading, notes that Babylon’s fall shows God’s purpose standing sure and that reading the Scriptures together relieves the feeling that present evils must last.
- Paul’s Prayer for the Colossians: Knowledge and FruitfulnessNo. 136 · 1 January 1882 · 25 min read aloud · Read: Colossians 1
Taking the first chapter of Colossians, the exhortation says Paul gave thanks for the brethren because of their love to all the saints on account of the hope laid up for them, and that this is the love believers should have, not an attachment to personal qualities.
- Jeremiah 14: Forgetting God and False ProphetsNo. 182 · 1 September 1887 · 27 min read aloud · Read: Jeremiah 14
From the drought described in Jeremiah 14, the exhortation says Israel’s calamities came because they forgot God and neglected His law, and that this is written for our learning, so that the world’s forgetfulness of God and the risk of drifting with it are warned against.
- Why the Prophets Condemn and Judgment ApproachesNo. 184 · 1 November 1887 · 24 min read aloud · Read: Ezekiel 20, Luke 18
The exhortation asks why the prophets, unlike other national writers, are full of condemnation of Israel, and answers that they spoke by divine impulse because Israel had set God aside, and that it is reasonable for God’s will to be law since all things are of Him.
- David’s Humble Origin, Trial and CovenantNo. 305 · 1 February 1899 · 22 min read aloud Printed after his death
The exhortation says the meeting helps us see beyond our present surroundings, backward and forward, and that the Scriptures supply the material for this.