THE THREE IN THE FURNACE
“’O LORD, are you not God in heaven? You rule over all the kingdoms of the nations. In your hand are power and might, so that none is able to withstand you. [W]e will stand and cry out to you in our affliction, and you will hear and save’” (2 Chron 20:6,9 ESV).
“Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego answered and said to the king, ‘O Nebuchadnezzar, we have no need to answer you in this matter. If this be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of your hand, O king. But if not, be it known to you, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the golden image that you have set up’” (Dan 3:16-18 ESV).
“There was no doubt as to God’s power to save [the three]. Yet the way in which God would work out his plan was less clear. God’s power is sometimes extended in dramatic ways to deliver his people, as when he parted the Red Sea. [A]t other times, that same power is withheld, and his people are allowed to suffer” The ESV Study Bible (ref#125, p1592).
“The Lord’s power as readily controls the rage of the wicked as the rage of the sea” Charles Spurgeon (ref#34, Aug 12th AM).
Prayer Meeting
Behold, dear Lord, we come again,
To supplicate thy grace;
We feel our leanness and our wants;
We want to see thy face.
Thou know’st, dear Lord, for what we’re come;
Each heart is known to thee.
Lord, give our burdened spirits rest,
And bid us all go free.
We’ve nothing of our own to plead,
We come just as we are;
And who can tell but God may bless,
And drive away our fear?
While one is pleading with our God,
May each one wrestle too;
And may we feel the blessing come,
And cheer us ere we go.
Then shall we sing of sovereign grace
And feel its power within;
And glory in our Surety, Christ,
Who bore our curse and sin.
For this we come, for this we plead,
In spite of every foe;
Until thou give this blessing, Lord,
We would not let thee go
D. Herbert (ref#224, song #677).
Bonnie's Prayer Affair 