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The Secret of Spiritual Power, March 17
They that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall
mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary;
and they shall walk, and not faint.
Isaiah 40:31
.
Much prayer is necessary to successful effort.
Prayer brings
power. Prayer has “subdued kingdoms, wrought righteousness, obtained
promises, stopped the mouths of lions, quenched the violence of fire, ...
turned to flight the armies of the aliens” (
Hebrews 11:33, 34
).
Jesus lived in dependence upon God and communion with Him. To
the secret place of the Most High, under the shadow of the Almighty, men
now and then repair; they abide for a season, and the result is manifest
in noble deeds; then their faith fails, the communion is interrupted, and
the lifework marred. But the life of Jesus was a life of constant trust,
sustained by continual communion; and His service for heaven and earth
was without failure or faltering.
Christian workers can never attain the highest success until they learn
the secret of strength. They must give themselves time to think, to pray, to
wait upon God for a renewal of physical, mental, and spiritual power. They
need the uplifting of His Spirit. Receiving this, they will be quickened
by fresh life. The wearied frame and tired brain will be refreshed, the
burdened heart will be rested.
Prayer is the breath of the soul. It is the secret of spiritual power.
No other means of grace can be substituted, and the health of the soul
be preserved. Prayer brings the heart into immediate contact with the
Well-spring of life, and strengthens the sinew and muscle of the religious
experience.
Family prayer and public prayer have their place, but it is secret com-
munion with God that sustains the soul-life. It was in the mount with
God that Moses beheld the pattern of that wonderful building which was
to be the abiding-place of His glory. It is in the mount with God—the
secret place of communion—that we are to contemplate His glorious
ideal for humanity. Thus we shall be enabled so to fashion our character-
building that to us may be fulfilled the promise, “I will dwell in them, and
walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.” (
2
Corinthians 6:16
).
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