A Devotional Guide for the School of Prayer, comprised of ...

[Pages:132]A Devotional Guide for the School of Prayer, comprised of materials drawn from the Bible and the writings of Ellen G. White, and issued under the auspices of the Ministerial Association. The compilation has been submitted for review to the Ellen G. White Estate.

Ministerial Association General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists

COMMUNION WITH GOD

? 1997 Ministerial Association

The author assumes full responsibility for the accuracy of all facts and quotations cited in this book.

All rights reserved. No portion of this book may be reproduced in any form, except for brief excerpts in reviews, without the written permission of the publisher.

Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are taken from the King James Version of the Bible. Texts credited to Amplified are from The Amplified Bible. Copyright 1965 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission of Zondervan Publishing House, Grand Rapids, Michigan 49506. Texts credited to NEB are from The New English Bible.? The Delegates of the Oxford University Press and the Syndics of the Cambridge University Press 1961, 1970. Reprinted by permission. Texts credited to RSV are from the Revised Standard Version of the Bible, copyright ? 1946, 1952, 1971 , by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the U.S.A. Used by permission. Texts credited to Weymouth are from Weymouth's New Testament in Modern Speech by Richard Francis Weymouth. Copyright by Kregel Publications 1978, a division of Kregel Inc. Used by permission.

ISBN #1-57847-011-0

Published by

The Ministerial Association General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists

Silver Spring, MD 20904

Printed in the U.S.A. by Pacific Press Publishing Association

Nampa, Idaho

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In 1962 the church at Saint Helena Sanitarium, California, enjoyed a revival and gained renewed strength through a "School of Prayer" conducted by the pastor and several retired workers of long experience who made up the faculty.

The school commenced with a Sabbath morning church service, after which classes met for six weeks on prayer-meeting night. To provide adequate time for instruction and participation, the usual time for prayer meeting was extended to an hour and a half. The class session consisted in a presentation by one of the members of the faculty, followed by a panel discussion or by small group meetings. There was also a daily period of personal study and prayer at home.

It soon became apparent that more effective work would be done if key quotations could be drawn together from the rich sources of the Ellen G. White writings and placed in the hands of the class members for personal study and contemplation. Fifty such studies, entitled Communion With God, were prepared by the faculty and duplicated. Those leading in this initial project were Elder C. M. Mellor, pastor of the Sanitarium church; Elder A. L. Ham, a former vice-president of the General Conference; Elder and Mrs. Taylor G. Bunch, who for long years carried responsibilities in conference leadership and pastoral work; and Miss Minnie Dauphinee, veteran college dean of women.

This "School of Prayer" proved to be such a blessing that the instructors were invited to present the program in other churches. For this, additional copies of the Communion With God guide were needed. Three thousand were distributed, yet the supply was soon exhausted and requests for more kept coming. It soon became evident that thousands of our members are eager for the blessing accruing from such periods of devotion. It was therefore felt wise that this study guide be published in an attractive but

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inexpensive form. Thus Communion With God has come into being under the sponsorship of the Ministerial Association of the General Conference. The content of these studies has been drawn almost entirely from the writings of Ellen G. White, whose inspired pen has produced so much on the importance and rewards of prayer. It has been difficult to condense into a few minutes' reading the wealth of material available from the messenger of the Lord; but all will agree that the initial "School of Prayer" faculty has made a fine selection.

It is suggested that first the pages for the day be read thoughtfully. Next, ponder the gems presented, asking the question, "Lord, how can I apply this to my own life?" Then one is ready to enter into that most important, sacred, and thrilling experience known to the Christian-- prayer! "Ye shall find Me when ye shall search for Me with all your heart."

Where "Schools of Prayer" are conducted, we urge that the student pursue still further study in the sources referred to in Communion With God. If such a program could be conducted in our churches throughout the world, what an inspiration that would be!

Nothing else will do so much for our members as an experience of deep devotion and prayer. Communion With God has been prepared with this in mind. It is with confidence, therefore, that we send forth this booklet. Let us all unite in praying for the promised revival and the showers of the "latter rain."

James A. Cress Secretary, Ministerial Association

Special thanks to Mr. and Mrs. Shelley whose generosity underwrote

the developement of this spiritual project.

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COMMUNION WITH GOD

Our prayer for each person that reads this book is that as you read you may know that you have been and you are right now prayed for by multitudes of your Christian brothers and sisters around the world. We are praying that you may sense the powerful presence of the Holy Spirit as you read these pages. He will inspire you with new insights and help you to develop a deep and meaningful relationship with the Trinity that will last until Jesus comes. By earnest sincere heartfelt prayer we can have the privilege to open the treasure house of Heaven and there awaits us multitudes of gifts and blessings which we will never receive unless we ask and earnestly seek the good Lord in prayer.

Has your Christian life become dry, meaningless and joyless? God has a wonderful way to change all that and completely revitalize, renew, invigorate and make your Christian life the most satisfying experience you ever had in your whole life.

God personally invites you and me through the Prophet Isaiah to develop on our knees an everlasting relationship that will bring complete fulfillment, great joy and total satisfaction to our lives.

This is an unconditional invitation irrespective of where we are spiritually. God says to you and me in Isaiah 1:18, "Come now and let us reason together." Here the Creator of the Universe says to us individually: Come now, I want to have a two-way communication with you, talk to me in sincere prayer, and I will talk to you by that still small voice.

My precious brothers and sisters, God promises that you will hear a voice behind you saying, "This is the way, walk ye in it." Isaiah 30:21. However this precious experience will not come to casual seekers, or if we love our position or possessions or worldly pleasures and sin more than we love the living God.

Multitudes of you brothers and sisters and this writer have turned the

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TV off and turned on prayer for lengthy periods of time every day, and as a result, our lives have become most joy filled and happy, contented, very satisfying and truly meaningful, and our prayer is that you may experience the same untold, unexplainable pleasures.

You can make this old fashioned yet revolutionary experience, this twoway communication with God, a most rewarding experience. And when you do, you will do anything to maintain it forever.

You'll never be the same person again if thoughtfully and prayerfully you read this book.

With much Christian love and best wishes, your brother and sister in Christ,

Tibor and Maria Shelley

THANKS AND APPRECIATION Without the kind suggestion and initiative of Elder Leo Ranzolin, General

Conference Vice President, and the help and encouragement of Elder James A. Cress of the General Conference Ministerial Association, this book would not have been reprinted. I am also eternally grateful to my loving wife Maria, who wholeheartedly supports me in all our missionary undertakings. I'm also grateful to my loving daughter, Esther Plewa, who helped me to reconstruct sentences for hours, even at 1:00 a.m., and also to Joan Jones for typing all the prayer thoughts and suggestions.

Of course, above all, we are thankful to God for all of His wonderful blessings. May He lead and guide continuously in all of our lives.

Tibor Shelley

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