Page 27 His people, ,I will teach you which way to go. Don’t be like the horse and mule which have no understanding. There is a great need for understanding among the Lord’s people today. Scores of Christians have imbibed a doctrine that essentially throws out the element of understanding and reduces them to that of a horse or mule where they expect God to pull them to the left and to the right saying, ,Go here; go there. Go here; go there. This is what you do in this situation. This is what you don’t do in this situation. And the Lord says to His people, ,Do not be like that. The point of the passage is simply this: God teaches, instructs, and guides us by giving us understanding. Therefore, seek understanding. And that brings us to the passage that we opened with: Brethren, DO NOT BE CHILDREN IN UNDERSTANDING; however, in malice be babes, but IN UNDERSTANDING BE MATURE. (1 Cor. 14:20, NKJV) I would like to close this chapter by making the following proposition: God’s will for you and me is not like a train track. It’s like a parking lot.
Because [prayer for the church] is secret and therefore unrewarded by men, we shall only undertake it if we long for their spiritual welfare more than for their thanks.
John Stott