A Short Talk On Prayer

by N/A | Category: N/a | Mar 1951

Last month I reminded you of the great importance of the regular reading of your Bible. With the privilege of listening to God I want to link the privilege of speaking to Him. Neglect of either of these exercises will be harmful to your spiritual progress.

Real prayer brings us into conflict with spiritual forces. The Psalmist learned this, for he described his exercise in prayer in the terms of a military operation-" 0 LORD, in the morning will I order my prayer unto Thee and will keep watch "(Psalm 5.8). Such prayer cannot but prevail. You will have noticed, probably, that when you get on your knees to pray you are seized with an inclination to get it over as quickly as possible. You suddenly feel tired and it is a real effort to carry on. Yet if a friend called to see you at that moment no doubt you could converse for long enough. Now that urge to get prayer over as quickly as possible comes from your great adversary, and every time you yield to it he gains a victory. If you grasp this fact you will have learned the reason for the spiritual inertia which attacks your prayer-life, and you will know how to deal with it.

Always remember that your heavenly Father knows what you have need of before you ask Him. So let prayer be simple and direct - don't try to imitate someone else. Pray over your simple daily problems as well as over what you consider to be the big issues of life. Pray not only for yourself. If you study the prayers of the apostle Paul you will see how this great man of God conducted a prayer campaign for others. Much is to be learned from his method of address, his clarity of purpose and his intense earnestness.

Another important point - don't confine your prayers to asking. When you learn something precious about the Lord Jesus Christ speak to God about it. He delights in His Son and He loves to hear what you have discovered about Him. This is what we call" communion." My experience has been that times of liberty and delight in prayer have followed a period of meditation on God's Word. When our minds are full of God's thoughts then we are "in tune" with Him and this is just the right condition for communion.

I have dealt very briefly with this important matter of prayer, but I hope the hints I have given will help you. Ponder them carefully. I hope you will learn the secret of prevailing prayer. Here is a second prescription for spiritual health:

"You have your Bible and you have your knees: use them!

"Prayer is the simplest form of speech,

That infant lips can try;

Prayer, the sublimest strains that reach

The Majesty on high."

N/A | Mar 1951
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