John G Lake
"I wonder if there is anything that could not be accomplished through the love of God? Paul says there is not. "Love never faileth." Try it on your wife; try it on your children; try it on your neighbors.
I sometimes say I believe I had the hardest boys to handle that were ever born. They were strictly like the old man. After a while, I saw there was only one way under God's earth to handle them. One day I went off to pray, and I said, 'Lord God, help me to love these boys regardless of what they do or say.' I had to love them in some dreadful places, some awful circumstances. They tried me to the limit on that prayer. Then the other day they all happened to drop into Spokane while we were away, and in a few days I received a letter from Edna. She said, 'Dad, your ears must be warm. The Lake clan got together , and we sat down all night discussing you. And you would not have to apologize if you heard it.
There was only one way to tie your boys to you. There is only one way to tie your girls to you. There is only one way to be a blessing to them. But it takes so much of the grace of God, and we sometimes despair and break down.
One day I said, 'God, I have prayed for these fellows until I am prayed up, and I just take the whole bunch and hand them over to you. I give the whole outfit to you. They are too much for me.' And you know, my troubles somehow dissolved. They began to disappear.
Sometimes we need to comprehend the bigger love, the greater heart of God's love. It is a good thing to detach your soul. Do not hold people; do not bind people. Just cut them loose and let God's love have them. We sometimes hold people with such a grip when we pray for them that they miss the blessing. Then your humanity is exercising itself, and the Spirit is being submerged.
Let your soul relax and let the Spirit of God in you take over. There is no substitute for the love of God. You have the capacity to love. All the action of the Spirit of God has its secret there."
"I wonder if there is anything that could not be accomplished through the love of God? Paul says there is not. "Love never faileth." Try it on your wife; try it on your children; try it on your neighbors.
I sometimes say I believe I had the hardest boys to handle that were ever born. They were strictly like the old man. After a while, I saw there was only one way under God's earth to handle them. One day I went off to pray, and I said, 'Lord God, help me to love these boys regardless of what they do or say.' I had to love them in some dreadful places, some awful circumstances. They tried me to the limit on that prayer. Then the other day they all happened to drop into Spokane while we were away, and in a few days I received a letter from Edna. She said, 'Dad, your ears must be warm. The Lake clan got together , and we sat down all night discussing you. And you would not have to apologize if you heard it.
There was only one way to tie your boys to you. There is only one way to tie your girls to you. There is only one way to be a blessing to them. But it takes so much of the grace of God, and we sometimes despair and break down.
One day I said, 'God, I have prayed for these fellows until I am prayed up, and I just take the whole bunch and hand them over to you. I give the whole outfit to you. They are too much for me.' And you know, my troubles somehow dissolved. They began to disappear.
Sometimes we need to comprehend the bigger love, the greater heart of God's love. It is a good thing to detach your soul. Do not hold people; do not bind people. Just cut them loose and let God's love have them. We sometimes hold people with such a grip when we pray for them that they miss the blessing. Then your humanity is exercising itself, and the Spirit is being submerged.
Let your soul relax and let the Spirit of God in you take over. There is no substitute for the love of God. You have the capacity to love. All the action of the Spirit of God has its secret there."
