Page 284 - That I May Know Him (1964)

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The Preciousness of Secret Prayer, September 23
Trust in him at all times; ye people, pour out your heart before him:
God is a refuge for us.
Psalm 62:8
.
A deep sense of our need and a great desire for the things for which
we ask must characterize our prayers, else they will not be heard. But we
are not to become weary and cease our petitions because the answer is not
immediately received. “The kingdom of heaven suffereth violence, and
the violent take it by force” (
Matthew 11:12
). The violence here meant
is a holy earnestness, such as Jacob manifested. We need not try to work
ourselves up into an intense feeling, but calmly, persistently, we are to
press our petitions at the throne of grace. Our work is to humble our souls
before God, confessing our sins, and in faith drawing nigh unto God.... It
is the design of God to reveal Himself in His providence and in His grace.
The object of our prayers must be the glory of God, not the glorification of
ourselves....
God has honored us by showing how greatly He values us. We are
bought with a price, even the precious blood of the Son of God. When His
heritage shall conscientiously follow the Word of the Lord, His blessing
will rest upon them in answer to their prayers. “Therefore also now, saith
the Lord, turn ye even to me with all your heart, and with fasting, and with
weeping, and with mourning: and rend your heart, and not your garments,
and turn unto the Lord your God: for he is gracious and merciful, slow to
anger, and of great kindness” (
Joel 2:12, 13
)
In secret prayer the soul should be laid bare to the inspecting eye of
God.... How precious is secret prayer—the soul communing with God!
Secret prayer is to be heard only by the prayer-hearing God. No curious
ear is to receive the burden of petitions. Calmly, yet fervently, the soul is to
reach out after God; and sweet and abiding will be the influence emanating
from Him who sees in secret, whose ear is open to the prayer arising from
the heart. He who in simple faith holds communion with God will gather
to himself divine rays of light to strengthen and sustain him in the conflict
with Satan
[273]
28
Ibid
.
29
The Youth’s Instructor, November 3, 1898.
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