Praying God's Will For Your Life Order Printed Copy
- Author: Stormie Omartian
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About the Book
"Praying God's Will For Your Life" by Stormie Omartian explores the power of prayer and how it can align our lives with God's purpose. The book provides practical guidance on how to pray effectively, surrendering to God's plan and seeking His will in all aspects of our lives. Through personal anecdotes and scriptures, Omartian encourages readers to trust in God's timing and direction, leading to a more fulfilling and purposeful life.
William Chalmers Burns
William Chalmers Burns was born in the Manse of Dun, in Angus, on April Ist, 1815. He was the third son of the Parish Church minister there. After leaving school, he went to Edinburgh to be apprenticed with an uncle to the legal profession. His eldest sister, a gay young lady, was converted to God, and became a bright witness for the Lord Jesus in 1831, and it was by means of her decided testimony that William was first awakened to a sense of his need of salvation, and led to put his trust in the Son of God, as his Redeemer and Saviour.
It was shortly after his conversion that he walked into the manse of Kilsyth, where the family then resided, having walked on foot the thirty-six miles from Edinburgh, to tell his mother and his sisters the glad news of his conversion, and to say that his desire now was to relinquish his study of law, and devote himself entirely to the preaching of the Gospel of God’s grace to his fellowmen.
And this he did heartily and with all his might, first in the neglected Parts of Scotland, and latterly among many heathen millions of the great Chinese Empire, then scarcely touched by the feet of God’s messengers of peace.
Mr. Burns’s name came into prominence in connection with a wonderful work of grace in Dundee, while he was preaching for Robert Murray M’Cheyne, then on a visit to Palestine, for the evangelization of the Jews. During Mr. Burns’s preaching in Dundee, a remarkable awakening took place; thousands were aroused to their condition in the sight of God, truly converted, and set on the heavenward way.
Remarkable scenes were witnessed in the old church of St. Peter’s, near to which M’Cheyne’s body now lies, awaiting the first resurrection. It was on the evening of a Lord’s Day in Kilsyth, after preaching to a crowded congregation, that Mr. Burns felt constrained to intimate to the people that he would preach to the people in the open air, before returning to Dundee the following day.
Deeply burdened with the souls of the people, he went into the village and invited the people, who thronged into the old church, until every seat and passage was filled. And the Lord helped His servant to preach straight to the people with great power, with the result that the whole congregation became melted under the message, many weeping aloud and crying to God for mercy. A glorious work of conversion followed.
Meetings for prayer and preaching of the Gospel continued in the churchyard, the market-place and elsewhere for weeks, while Mr. Burns returned to Dundee to resume his ministry. The work progressed in Dundee with increased interest, until the return of Mr. M’Cheyne, who greatly rejoiced in all that the Lord had done during his absence, through the ministry of His servant.
There was no jealousy, but the deepest gratitude, and these two true ministers of Christ rejoiced together over the Lord’s doings, which were indeed marvellous in their eyes.
From that time onward, until the Lord’s call came to go to China, Mr. Burns gave himself almost wholly to itinerant Gospel preaching, through Perthshire, up as far north as Aberdeen, preaching in barns, on market-places, and wherever the people could be gathered together to hear the Word. His message was plain, and to the point; thousands were awakened and many saved. But the adversary opposed. Time and again Mr. Burns was stoned, and bore the marks of these brands of the enemy for many days.
Believing it to be the call of the Lord, he went forth to China as the first missionary of the Presbyterian Church of England, in June, 1847. When questioned by those interested in his out-going, how long it would take him to prepare for the voyage, he replied with all simplicity, “I will be ready to go to-morrow.”
On a brief visit to his home, to take farewell of his sister, he silently wrung her hand, took a last glance around their old home, and with a small bag in his hand and his mother’s plaid across his arm, went forth, in the Name of the Lord with the Gospel to China’s benighted people, of whom it was said “a million a month” were dying without having once heard the Gospel.
For years this solitary witness toiled alone, at times with a few helpers, in the great heathen land, amid overwhelming hindrances, but his faith in God never faltered. On and on he went, sowing the seed which others would reap, until he reached the borders of the great kingdom of Manchuria, where, in a small, comfortless room in Nieu-chang, wearied and worn in labours abundant, he fell asleep on April 4th, 1868, his last audible words being, “For Thine is the Kingdom and the Power and the Glory.”
It is of this great land that the story of grace related in the following pages is told, and those who saw and shared in its joyful results, say that it was no doubt part of the result of William Burns’s sowing, in his earlier years in China.
Giving Is the Greatest Wealth
If you want to become wealthy, there are certain things you must understand and certain things you must do. First, you must understand what kind of wealth you’re pursuing and how the economy functions that generates this wealth. Second, you must wisely invest the required resources in order to realize an increase of the wealth the economy produces. These principles hold true whether you’re pursuing wealth in God’s economy or in the world’s economies. Now, the kind of wealth God’s economy produces and the kind of wealth the world’s economies produce are very different. The former makes us “enriched in every way to be generous in every way” (2 Corinthians 9:11), while the latter threatens to pierce us with “many pangs” (1 Timothy 6:10) and even to steal our soul (Matthew 16:26). But in either case, we must value (desire) what each economy offers (Matthew 6:19–21), we must understand how each economy works (Luke 16:1–8), and we must invest in ways that take advantage of that economy’s production (Matthew 25:14–30). Obtaining the riches we desire depends on whether or not we meet these conditions. To those who wish to become truly rich, the Bible offers this astounding promise: God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that having all sufficiency in all things at all times, you may abound in every good work. (2 Corinthians 9:8) “The true riches of grace and joy are the returns on the investment of generous giving.” Just think about this for a moment. The Source of all that exists, the Fountain of “all grace” (1 Peter 5:10), is willing to put his infinite resources to work on our behalf to meet our needs and bless our labors. All grace, all sufficiency, at all times. Who would not want this? So, how do we become the beneficiaries of such an incredible promise? The answer is found in the context in which the promise is made. God’s Gracious Economy of Joy In 2 Corinthians 8–9, Paul encourages and exhorts the Corinthian Christians to contribute generously to the relief of the suffering believers in Jerusalem (1 Corinthians 16:1–4). As he does, he describes how God’s beautiful economy of grace works to produce a wealth of joy. He starts by pointing to the grace of God clearly evident in the Macedonian Christians. These believers were living in “extreme poverty,” and yet they experienced an “abundance of joy” in being redeemed by Christ, which “overflowed in a wealth of generosity” in their contribution to the poor in Jerusalem (2 Corinthians 8:2). Then Paul points the Corinthians directly to the grace that Jesus showed them when, “though he was rich, yet for [their] sake he became poor, so that [they] by his poverty might become rich” (2 Corinthians 8:9). Then Paul describes how the contribution the Corinthians give will “not only [supply] the needs of the saints but . . . also [overflow] in many thanksgivings to God” (2 Corinthians 9:12). In other words, this is how God’s economy of grace works to produce a wealth of joy for everyone involved: The grace of Jesus overflows in his incredible generosity to redeem and give eternal joy to the Corinthian believers (Hebrews 12:2). This grace experienced by the Corinthians (and Macedonians) produces in them an abundance of joy that overflows in their generous giving to meet the needs of the Jerusalem saints, which also produces joy for them since “it is more blessed to give than to receive” (Acts 20:35). This grace of provision produces in the Jerusalem saints an abundance of joy that overflows in thanksgivings to God, not only for his provision, but also for “the surpassing grace of God” evident in the Corinthians (2 Corinthians 9:14). And this whole gracious economic cycle glorifies God (2 Corinthians 9:13), the Source of all grace. Over and over again, God’s grace produces joy, which then produces generosity, which then produces joyful thanksgiving and praise back to God. This is God’s wonderful kingdom economy, where the true riches of grace and joy are the returns on the investment of generous giving to meet the needs of others. This is why we at Desiring God love to think of money as “the currency of Christian Hedonism.” Amazing Promise for the Joyfully Generous Now, in God’s economy of grace, like any economy, an investment is required in order to see wealth increase. What is this investment? Joyful generosity that meets the needs of others, overflowing from a heart transformed by God’s overwhelming grace. And as with any economy, the size of our return depends on the size of our investment. Paul makes this clear when he reminds the Corinthians, “Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows bountifully will also reap bountifully” (2 Corinthians 9:6). This agricultural principle is also an economic principle: the size of one’s investment determines the size of one’s return. “In God’s gracious economy of joy, we don’t need to fear running out of grace and joy.” Paul isn’t trying to manipulate the Corinthians into giving more. Nor is he promoting an equation that says if one gives more money, one will get more money. No, this is an economy that produces grace-fueled joy. Joy in God — joy in the grace of forgiveness and reconciliation we’ve received from God, and joy in the grace of God we see in others — is the return on the investment of gracious giving. And this economy works only when each person is free to “give as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver” (2 Corinthians 9:7). Paul wants the Corinthians (and us) to have as much joy in God as possible, so he’s exhorting them to invest in order to see that return. And that’s when he holds out the amazing promise: God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that having all sufficiency in all things at all times, you may abound in every good work. (2 Corinthians 9:8) In God’s gracious economy of joy, we don’t need to fear running out of grace and joy. Paul wants us to know that if we trust God and invest well in generous giving to meet the needs of others, “God will supply every need of [ours] according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:19). True Prosperity Theology The Corinthians knew Paul didn’t mean that giving generously would ensure they would become wealthy. Reading all of 2 Corinthians (as well as 1 Corinthians) makes that clear. Rather, as he wrote in a letter to Timothy, he wanted the Corinthian Christians not to set their hopes on the uncertainty of riches, but on God, who richly provides us with everything to enjoy . . . to do good, to be rich in good works, to be generous and ready to share, thus storing up treasure for themselves as a good foundation for the future, so that they may take hold of that which is truly life. (1 Timothy 6:17–19) Paul knew that the gospel of Christ was true prosperity theology. Unlike the terrible version of our day that cloaks a ruinous worldly desire to be rich (1 Timothy 6:9) in a pious appearance of serving God, Paul called his readers to invest in the economy of God by giving to meet the needs of others in order to have “that which is truly life” — that which truly gives joy. And that is true prosperity. The point is this: in God’s economy of grace, generous giving to meet the needs of others is a means of investing in joy — our own and others’. And to those willing to make this investment, God promises his all-abounding grace so we will have all sufficiency at all times for every good work he calls us to. For “he who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will supply and multiply your seed for sowing and increase the harvest of your righteousness. You will be enriched in every way to be generous in every way, which through us will produce thanksgiving to God” (2 Corinthians 9:10–11). Article by Jon Bloom
