"Devotions From Dad" (Message #6 - Teach Us To Pray)

If you have not previously read the reason for these postings, please go here so you can start at the beginning.

MESSAGE #6
(Delivered on September 23, 1953 at Prayer Meeting)

Teach Us To Pray

Luke 11:1 - And it came to pass, that, as he was praying in a certain place, when he ceased, one of his disciples said unto him, Lord, teach us to pray, as John also taught his disciples.

INTRODUCTION:

1. Seeing Jesus pray gave them an appreciation and appetite for prayer. When we see that He now has a continual ministry of intercession on our behalf, it will give us a like desire.

2. They learned that there was a close connection between his public life of Power and His secret life of Prayer.

3. We all need to enroll in the school of prayer and learn the Divine Art of Prayer. Here alone can we earn our M.P. degree – master of Prayer.

Each word of the disciples request has a blessed meaning:

I.  LORD. Here is our Divine Instructor
    1.  Every pupil needs a teacher
         1)  One who knows His subject
         2)  One who has a gift of teaching
         3)  One who has patience
         4)  One who will descend to the pupil’s need.

Jesus never taught his disciples to preach, only to pray. Knowing how to speak to God is more important than knowing how to speak to men. There must be power with God before there can be power with men.

II. TEACH. Here is confession of Ignorance
     1.  At first nothing seems so simple
     2.  Later nothing seems so difficult
     3.  Our minds are so darkened by sin
     4.  Much is needed to make prayer acceptable
          1)  Must be to the Glory of God
          2)  Must be according to his will
          3)  Must be in the full assurance of faith
          4)  Must be in the name of the Lord Jesus
          5)  Must be with perserverance.

III. US.
     1.  We read of the great power in prayer of men in the old testament
     2.  We read of the power of prayer manifested by disciples
     3.  We read of the power of prayer of saints of centuries
     4.  These promises are for us as well
          1)  Thou has committed thy work in our hand
          2)  Thou cants’glorify thy name through us.

IV. TO PRAY. Here is the Subject we would study.
     1.  The power of heaven is at our disposal
     2.  Our own spiritual life depends upon it (as air)
     3.  The world of sinful men are dependent upon it
     4.  There is a great danger of
          1)  Praying from force of habit
          2)  Praying according to some form (stereotype)

CONCULSION:
1. Has this created a hunger in your heart for prayer?
2. Does it not put a finger on one of the great weaknesses of our life?
3. Will you, this very night, ask the Lord to enroll you in “His School of Prayer”?
4. Come in complete confidence that He will instruct you fully if you will but wait upon Him.
5. Above all remember that, “Practice Makes Perfect.”

If you find the sermon outline of interest to you, or would like to share it with others, that is fine. All we ask is that you honor Dad by giving credit where credit is due.  Please make sure to include his name, Rev. Kenneth G Farnsworth somewhere within the notes.  Better yet, pass on my link to these postings! 

"Devotions From Dad" - Table of Contents For Messages To Come

If you have not previously read the reason for these postings, please go here so you can start at the beginning.  Links in the Table of Contents will be activated once a message has been posted.

I thought you might like to know the titles of the messages to come, so here is a table of contents.

This is from Dad's Binder #4

Binder Entitled:
“Messages on Spiritual Life”

Table of Contents

1. Prevailing Prayer - Original Message Missing
2. Why Prayers Fail - Original Message Missing
3. Problems in Prayer - Original Message Missing
4. Talking With God - Original Message Missing
5. Why We Need to Pray - Original Message Missing
6. Teach Us to Pray
7. The Secret Place
8. Lord Teach Us to Pray
9. The Pattern of Prayer
10. Prayer Power
11. Prayerless Disciples
12. Brother Why Bother to Pray
13. Three Secrets of Successful Prayer
14. Laboring in Prayer
15. Three Steps in Successful Prayer
16. The Battlefield of Prayer
17. Hindrances to Prayer
18. Fasting and Prayer
19. Prayer
20. The Great Unemployment Problem
21. My God Will Hear Me
22. The Ministry of Prayer
23. Perseverance in Prayer
24. A Fruitful Prayer Life
25. Praying in the Spirit
26. Praying Meeting Topic
27. The Privilege of Public Prayer
28. Prayer That Does Not Faint

"Devotions From Dad" - Getting to Know Dad

If you have not previously read the reason for these postings, please go here so you can start at the beginning.

Before we start looking into the messages on prayer, I thought it was only appropriate that you get to know Dad just a little bit. As I told you, Dad LOVED the Lord. As we started into "That Long Goodbye", the most difficult thing for the whole family was seeing Dad robbed not only of his memory, but also his sight. After his retirement Dad spent the better part of his days reading and studying God’s word. Slowly, that too was taken from him. We offered to play CDs of the Bible being read, but it was too difficult for him to follow. One day – close to the end of his life Dad said, “If I could ask God for one thing right now, it would be to restore my sight for just one day so that I could read the Bible!” He was still “with it” enough to know that being able to read God’s word was a “treasure” and would bring him comfort.

How many of us feel that way? Do we take our sight for granted? Not only for seeing our family, friends and surroundings, but for our ability to read God’s word. I certainly know that I am guilty of neglecting God’s word for many less-important “things”. How I wish I had the hunger that Dad showed – even at 91 ½ years old – to delve into the comfort and teaching that the Bible gives us. That’s why these messages are so important to me. They were truly inspired by God, and are God’s words which were shared through Dad. Perhaps now, even more than when I was able to hear Dad preaching, I will glean some of the hunger he had for the Lord.

I have to share a cute story about Dad when he was in the nursing center. First you have to understand that Dad could not see, he could not stand, had a hard time even sitting for very long, and was extremely weak. One day my husband went to visit Dad and brought along his brother who was visiting from Pennsylvania. As they approached the room they could hear my Dad talking. Phil and Steve thought that he was talking with someone in his room. When they looked in the door, there sat Dad, in his bed, with not a sole in the room. They stopped for a moment and realized that Dad was “preaching”. Yep, sitting in bed, with a strong voice, preaching to an empty room – but not in Dad’s mind!! Phil went up to Dad to say “hello” and to let him know Steve was there visiting as well. Dad then “stopped his preaching”, introduced Phil and Steve to the “congregation” explained that Steve was visiting from Pennsylvania, and encouraged everyone to make them feel welcomed at the end of the service. Without “skipping a beat” Dad went back to his preaching as Phil and Steve sat there listening. Dad kept it up for 35 minutes, and was still going strong when they finally had to excuses themselves and leave. They both said it was a wonderful message and that they had thoroughly enjoyed listening to it. In retrospect they were the last ones to ever hear Dad preach. Yep, Dad never lost his love for sharing the gospel. How many times he might have “preached” like that we don’t know, but perhaps even in his final days he was able to touch a soul that was in need of the Lord.

On the day that Dad passed away Mom, 3 of us girls, and two of the son-in-laws were there with him.  Throughout those final months we would often go into his room and sing hymns to him.  Sometimes he would join us, and on a rare occasion or two he would even "lead/direct" the singing (as he used to do when he was a Pastor).  In those final hours we spent most of the time either singing to him or playing CDs for him.  As the time was nearing an end, the Hospice nurse told us that it would not be much longer.  (BTW, the Lord even provided a Christian Hospice nurse to be with us until the end.)  The song we started to sing was, "His Eye is on the Sparrow".  We sang the first verse, and as we started into the chorus, all of us hesitated and almost stopped singing. As you may or may not know, the words to the chorus are... "I sing because I'm happy, I sing because I'm free..."  It seemed much to "peppy" to sing during the final moments of someone's life, but at THAT VERY MOMENT - at the completion of that phrase - that is when Dad slipped from our hands into the waiting arms of the Lord whom he loved and served for so many years.  It still brings tears to my eyes to remember that.  God was so awesome to "Free" Dad at the same time we were singing about it. The nurse was able to tell us that he was going, allowing us a final moment to kiss him, tell him how much we loved him, and let him know that one day soon we would all be together again. 

Finally, I would like to share a little video of Dad’s life. I created this video when our church honored his 65 years of ministry (several years before he passed away). It was only appropriate that it was played during his funeral as well. I hope it will allow you to get to know this wonderful man just a little bit. He is singing with the angels now, and fellowshipping with the Lord, and I know he is waiting for the day that his beloved wife, 4 daughters, son-in-laws, grandchildren, and great grandchildren join him in glory.

(The file was too large to upload here, so please go to this link and watch the presentation.)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eSwPRy0AXKg 

A couple of final notes regarding the sermons.

First of all, since Dad always preached from the King James Version of the Bible, that is what I will use when quoting the scripture he used.

Also, you will see that many sermons are not necessarily in date order. I believe that is because Dad probably preached a message or a series at one time, and then when he eventually used those notes for another time he added additional messages to the series. Some of them before the original message, and some after. Sadly, a few of the sermons are missing because we figure he removed them to preach at a different time. My sisters tried their best to make sure each series was put together in one book, but it was not always possible.

I guess that is enough to help you know a little bit about Dad. Now it is time to share some of the “Devotions From Dad”. I hope and pray that someone, somewhere, might need one of these lessons and that they will be blessed.

I know this is rather "wordy", but if for nothing else, I'm creating this series of blog postings for my myself...   something to help me remember my Dad.  I invite you to following along with me on this journey. 

Debbie
(The youngest of Dad’s 4 girls)

Please leave me a comment if you are following this series - it would be of great encouragement to me! Thanks!

The BEST DIY Project EVER! - Introduction to "Devotions From Dad"

“Devotions From Dad”

Introduction

It is August 2nd, 2010, 12:30 AM, got up to go to the bathroom, and now I can’t get back to sleep. I have tossed and turned until I think my dear hubby was ready to shove me out of the bed. At 1:00 I finally got up and moved into our spare bedroom to sleep. 1:30 comes and goes, and still sleep eludes me. I have a lot on my mind tonight; projects I would like to do, painting that is going to be started on Tuesday, the difficult week I have ahead at work, and finally – thoughts of my Dad who passed away one year ago this month on the 19th. He was exactly 91 ½ years old to the day. It’s hard to believe that it has been almost a year already. The last 4 years of his life he slowly slipped away from us as we had “That Long Goodbye” - with the final 6 months being the most difficult. As we celebrated his 91st birthday he made a comment that it would probably be the last birthday he ever celebrated. That night he fell, and thus began his final – DIFFICULT days here on earth.  Up until that night Mom had cared for Dad, but at that point it was no longer possible.  Within several days he was moved into a nursing facility where he would spend those final months.

So why in heaven’s name am I telling you all this? Well, you see, tonight Dad “talked” to me. Well, not in a “verbal” sense, but kind of in a “written” sense. When 2:00 AM came – with sleep still far in the distance, I decided to get up and put something with my purse to take to work in the morning. While downstairs I sat down in my living room (which is totally torn up with all the remodeling), and my eyes fell on “Dad’s Book”. What is that? Well, Dad (Rev. Kenneth G. Farnsworth) was a Baptist minister. He either served as a Pastor, teacher, or Chaplin for over 65 years of his life. Dad was a down-to-earth preacher, who was easy to understand and a true “Teacher” of the Word!! His messages often hit you where you needed it (like it or not), or provided comfort in your times of need. Dad spent more hours on his knees in prayer in one year’s time than most of us will spend in a lifetime. How I miss being able to go to Dad. Just to talk with him, ask his opinion, advice, or (most of all) asking him to pray. When Dad prayed, it was TRULY as if you were standing in the presence of God. Dad never thought he would pass away in this life; he was awaiting the Lord’s return to take us all to glory at the same time.

I guess I still haven’t told you about “Dad’s Book”. It’s one of his sermon books. Dad was one of the most organized men you would EVER want to meet. Dad kept records on EVERYTHING. Not in a “hording” kind of way, but in a very neat, concise kind of way. If you wanted to know about Dad’s first car, he could tell you when he bought it, how much he paid for it, what kind of mileage it got, how much he paid for a gallon of gas, when he sold it, and how much he sold it for. If you wanted to take a trip that had previously been taken by Dad, he could tell you exactly how many miles away it was, how long it would take to get there, and even where to find the rest stops along the way (no… I’m NOT kidding). Dad was the same way with his record keeping of messages. When Dad started preaching in 1941, he purchased a small black 3-ring binder (the kind that holds a half sheet size paper), and placed his preaching notes/outlines into that binder. He dated each message as to where and when it was delivered. Thus began the “Black Binder Collection” – each message typed up by Dad. Those black binders grew into a collection until Dad began using other means to catalog his messages. In the end, there were 21 black binders. There were enough to give his 4 daughters and every grandchild one of "Dad’s Binders, with a couple left over to give to some dear friends. Each binder was numbered and was in date order. At Dad’s funeral each of us girls, and all the grandchildren, were given a binder – the number of the book corresponding with the order you fell into within the family. Two of my sisters had taken the books and had neatly tied up each one with a black ribbon... just a little “memento” from Dad or Grandpa to hold on to.

Now I have to be honest here, the book is something I have treasured, and have proudly displayed it on a table in the living room, but that’s pretty much it. I didn’t want to “disturb” the pretty ribbon, so I kept it tied up – without really looking into it or seeing what treasures might lay within. Until tonight that is. Tonight, as I sat in the living room my eyes fell upon that book, and it really made me miss Dad. I honestly held the book to my heart and thought about how I missed talking to Dad and learning from him. That is when I decided to slip off that little black ribbon and look inside. That is when my eyes fell upon the Table of Contents for MY book. And what was it about? Prayer! As I turned to the first message in my book, this was the title: Teach Us To Pray.  (This gives you an idea of what all Dad's notes look like.)

I just stopped in amazement… this is JUST WHAT I NEEDED!!!! God was talking to me through Dad’s own words. Words that so long ago had taught others were now being revealed to me. Even though Dad is gone, his wonderful lessons are still available to help and guide me. This is when I had my thought. Dad LOVED to preach… LOVED to teach people... and LOVED to share the gospel. Why should his words, which were already in written form, be lost forever? Why keep them bound up in that little black book? Why not share them with others? So this is what I have decided to do... share his messages.

As I have been visiting other “bloggers”, I have noticed that MANY of girls talk about their love for the Lord… and talk about their Christian faith. I thought, “What better way of sharing Dad’s words of wisdom than to put his messages on my Blog?” Now I understand that not everyone will be interested in this, and to tell you the truth, I have never been so bold as to share my faith in this way, but I truly feel led by the Lord to do this. So, I am going to entitle each posting that is related to this topic as “Devotions From Dad”. If you’re not interested, then please feel free to skip over this post – it certainly is not going to hurt my feelings, but I DO hope you will return to check out my other blog entries. If it IS of interest to you, then I encourage you to return whenever a new post appears. I am going to type up each post exactly as Dad has it in the book. It is in outline form, so obviously he expounded on each point, but I can already tell you, that the little tidbits he has for each point will touch you and help you to grow in your faith… especially in your prayer life as the first series reveals.

Depending on how things go, I might borrow some of the other books to post as well.  I'll see how it goes because I know it will take a lot of time and effort to do this, so I'm also not sure how often I will post. Perhaps there is not anyone out there who cares to even read these postings. All I know, is that it is now 3:45 AM – I still haven’t slept, I have a long day ahead of me, but yet I felt led by the Lord to get this down on paper while it was fresh in my mind. I did not feel that it could wait until the morning when it would be so easy to just “forget about the whole thing” and never get this idea into fruition. I started out this posting saying “The BEST DIY project EVER” because what could possibly be more important than getting our own LIVES in order?

So, I encourage you to put down that paint can, wait on the sewing project, and let those “thrifty finds” wait just a few minutes longer, and take a journey along with me, and see if “Devotions From Dad” might be able to help you in your walk with the Lord. I look forward to the days ahead when I can share some of Dad’s insights with you. I’m tired now, and think I can finally lay my head down and sleep. I hope to see you all often.  I would love it if you would leave me a comment to let me know what you think.

If you find any of the sermon outlines of interest to you and would like to share it with others, that is fine. All we ask is that you honor Dad by giving credit where credit is due. Please make sure to include his name, Rev. Kenneth G Farnsworth somewhere within the notes. Better yet, please pass on my link to these postings!

The One That Got Away, and Other Thrifty Finds

It's hard for me to even start this posting as I am in mourning about "The One That Got Away"!!!!  On Fridays I am lucky enough to only work a half day.  This means that Friday afternoons can be spent going to garage sales or thrift stores.  Oh, HOW IT WISH I had skipped the garage sales today and headed directly to one of my favorite GW stores!!!!!!   You can imagine my delight when I found this little beauty at the back of the store with their furniture...

Be still my heart!!!  This bench was absolutely beautiful and in perfect condition.  Not sure where I would put it, but I just HAD to have it.  How much?  Would I be able to afford it?  Searching, searching... where's the price tag??  Just then a GW employee walked up and had the nerve to tape a "SOLD" sign on it!!!!  Nooooooooo!  I said, "Are you serious?  Is this really sold???"  "Yes it is" she informed me... "another lady JUST bought it."  How much did it sell for I asked.  $19.95!!!!!  Can you believe it?  Only five minutes earlier and that baby could have been mine.  Well, I guess it just wasn't meant to be, but that doesn't mean that I can't have a short period of mourning!!!

So moving on, I did pick up a few little "Thrifty Finds" to share with you...

First I found a little bed for our Grandson, Noah.  He had long-ago outgrown the bed we had for him, so now he will have his own "big boy" bed at Grandma's house!! (Note to self:  Clean out the bedroom this bed needs to be placed in!!!)  I found the mattress at one garage sale for $3.00, and the frame at another garage sale for $2.00.  A nice coat of paint on the bed and we'll be in business... all for the low, low price of $5.00!!  SWEEET!!!

I also found these things.  Glass Bottle and small apothecary jar ($1.99 each).   Four books ($.50 each).  Four marble eggs with the holder ($5.00).

At first I didn't really like the holder that the eggs were in... it was all chipped.  However, I remember reading another blog where they said that things don't always have to be "perfect" to be beautiful.  I have a few ideas about what I'm going to do with this.

Finally, something I know everyone is going to be extremely jealous about. 

Don'tcha just LOVE the pink floral sheet?  And the netting canopy is just "to die for"!!!!  Ohhhhhh, the PROJECTS I can do with these things. 

WAIT!!!!!  I can hear your screams all the way through my computer.  You're probably saying, "Just when we thought she was getting into this whole blogging and shabby chic thing, she goes and buys this????"   Never fret my friends.. DON'T quit following my blog... I DO have something WONDERFUL in mind for this, but it doesn't have anything to do with decorating.  Well, yes it does, but not really.  Oh, I don't know - you'll just have to wait until I can complete my project and post a blog on it.  It only cost me $9 for this project, so if it doesn't work out I haven't lost a whole lot.  Guess we'll just have to see how it goes.  Be sure to check back!!!

So, I guess that's it for today.  I'm slowly recovering from missing out on the bench (sniff, sniff), but given a day or two I'm sure I'll be just fine.   

I am NOT a "Hoarder"!!!

My daughter just doesn't get it!!  The other day she came into my kitchen, put her arm around me, and said, "Mom, I think we need to have an intervention... you're becoming a 'Hoarder'!"  All because she saw this...

She doesn't understand the concept that I am gathering things for my remodeling.  I haven't really been able to "work" on things a lot because I have been sick, PLUS I wasn't sure which direction I was going with things.  Was I going with black? Cream (excuse me... "Heirloom White")??  Teals???  What fabric was I going to use?  I have about a bazillion small little samples... decisions, decisions, decisions!!!!

Well, the paint colors have been selected, the painter is coming in this week to start painting, the fabric has been chosen and purchased, so now I just need to do the work!!!!  Seriously, look at the pictures... don't you see a LOT of potential there?  Little bits of "decorating gold" that just need to be refined and polished (er... painted) up???  There are at least 4 chairs, one hutch, one cabinet, 4 tables, and countless number of little knick-knacks that have to be redone.  (YIKES... maybe I AM a hoarder!!!!)  Naaaaaahhhh, I'm telling you, my home will soon be the envy of my daughter.  Yep!  I'll make her eat those words!!!  A "Hoarder" indeed... I think not!!!!!!

I will post updates on all these little gems once I get them done.  Ya... it's gonna be a while - don't hold your breath!!!

Powder Room Makeover

I thought I would post a few pictures of the first room of our home makeover projects I took on just recently. In July of 2009 our son got married and moved away.  With both of the kids gone (leaving a big hole in my heart and free time on my hands), I decided it was time to attack the house and get some remodeling done.  Sadly, as usual, I don't have any "before" pictures. I HAVE to learn to start doing that!!! Let's just say it was BADLY in need of an update. The walls (in this very small powder room) were DARK forest green. Need I say more? The floors were the original linoleum from when we built the house in 1988, contractor grade cabinet, and a soffit (which I ALWAYS hated) over the florescent lights. Get the picture?

Let me go back just a little bit. You see, I did NOT start out making over this bathroom. My original project was to make over the master bedroom and bathroom. HUH??? Stick with me a minute here... Well, I knew that we were going to rip up the carpet (mauve – I’m hanging my head on that one – can’t believe I ever did that) in the bedroom and bathroom (yes, the bathroom had carpet in it), and lay new flooring down. I REALLY wanted tile in my bathroom, but didn't think we could afford it – especially to have someone come in and lay it. Everyone kept telling me how "easy" (riiiiiight) it was to put down tile, so I came up with an sneaky excellent plan! I told hubs that we should “practice” laying tile in the powder room. After all, it was just a square room, no weird angles – easy peasy – right??? Of course, if we were going to lay a new floor we may as well replace the cabinet, sink, and toilet – don’t you agree??? Sooooooo, off we went to buy all of the supplies we needed to lay this new floor. Ok, OK – it WASN’T quite as easy as I was lead to believe. First of all, hubs was left in charge of removing the toilet (no problem), AND the faucet and cabinet. This (turns out) to be a MAJOR problem. We turned off the water to the house (because there was NO turn off valve at the sink), he does his little “plumbing bit”, turns back on the water to the house, and the spraying FLOODING of water begins. (Wonderful husband he is – “plumber” he is NOT!!!). Water shut off – REAL plumber called in (next day of course). Turns out that the plumber we called is a “Jack of all trades”. He tells us that he would be “more than happy" to lay the tile for us. Oh no… we wanted to do that ourselves. Fast forward (after our somewhat feeble attempt at laying the floor) – that “Jack of all trades” not only repairs plumbing, but laid the floor, installed the toilet, installed the new cabinet, as well as doing all the renovating in the master bathroom. (He is now our “go to” guy!!!) Cost a lot more than we originally planned, but hey, it sure does look pretty (not to mention a LOT easier)!!!!

ANYWAY, on with the pictures… This is the closest I can come to a “before” picture. The wallpaper had already been stripped, but some of the forest green paint was still evident. (I seriously don’t even remember ever having a baby blue bathroom… what was I thinking??) Tile was in the process of being laid and grouted.

 

 

Don’t you just love painting pictures!!!!??? This picture gives you a glimpse of the paint on the walls. Very soft yellow, then I did a glazing technique over it. I wanted to put wainscot on the bottom half and was going to leave it white, but it wasn’t the look I was going for. So, I ended up painting it the same soft yellow as the rest of the room.

Here is hubby installing helping to install (trust me, it was a JOINT effort) the wainscot. It was so much fun to see everything start coming together.

(It looks like there are stripes on the wainscot, but that’s just the lighting.) I was already falling in love with this room, and it wasn’t even finished!!

See my posting about the covering I made for the round window.

Remember how I told you that there was a soffit with florescent lights? Well, this was my own idea of how to fix that. I didn’t want to rip out the soffit and deal with all that mess, plus I thought it would be kind of nice to have the light shining above, so I decided to take out the open plastic grate that was below the light. I took pieces of the same wainscot that I used on the lower half of the room, and cut pieces to fit within the same area that had previously held the grate. I painted them and snapped them together giving me a solid ceiling BELOW the light, but still allowed the light to shine ABOVE the soffit.I was then able to install decorative lighting BELOW the soffit – which I put on a different switch with a dimmer. Now I can have as much OR as little light as I want.

Here are the after photos once everything was complete and decorated. I’m still wondering if I should put something above the towel rack, but I don’t know what it would be or if it would be too much. If you have any suggestions please pass them on!

Need to install the towel ring above the light switch.

Check out my posting about labels for the toilet paper rolls.

It's so hard to get good pictures of such a small bathroom, but I hope you get a general feel for it.  I am in LOVE with the new lighter/brighter color (who wouldn't be after living with forest green for umpteen years!!).

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