Magnificent Prayer #138
Magnificent Prayer #138
And he said, I will not let thee go, except thou bless me. And he said unto him, What is thy name? And he said, Jacob. And he said, Thy name shall be called no more Jacob, but Israel: for as a prince hast thou power with God and with men, and hast prevailed. And Jacob asked him, and said, Tell me, I pray thee, thy name. And he said, Wherefore is it that thou dost ask after my name? And he blessed him there. And Jacob called the name of the place Peniel: for I have seen God face to face, and my life is preserved. And as he passed over Penuel the sun rose upon him, and he halted upon his thigh.
Genesis 32:26–31 KJV
I would not taste of death until I have seen Thee! Even were I told that death was but translation, I would not taste it till I had seen Thee! No chariot of fire can bear me to glory unless the glory be already in my heart! In vain Thy crystal river shall sparkle if I have no eye for beauty! In vain Thy choristers shall sing if I have no ear for music! In vain Thy day shall be nightless if I have no thirst for knowledge! In vain Thy sea shall be stormless if I have no wish for expansion! In vain Thy work shall be painless if I have no mission for my hands! In vain Thy city shall be gateless if there be no love imprisoned in my soul! Not to seek Thee in heaven would I come; come and seek me on earth! I would be translated before death; I would taste Thy grapes in my desert. Thy Life is not beyond the grave; it is here, it is now. I can reach it without dying; I can breathe it without expiring. I need not the wings of a dove to find it; I require not an angel’s flight to lead me to its rest. I have heard men say, “Death is the gate of Life.” Nay, Thou art the gate, and Death is the shady avenue. Not on the other side would I see Thy face unveiled; meet me on this bank of the crystal river! Meet me in the mist and in the rain! Come to me in my cloud! Speak to me in my struggles! Wait for me at the opening of the valley! Translate me into Thy presence ere I tread the narrow way! Send me the morning before the evening! Show me heaven ere I die!
GEORGE MATHESON
Pray About It: The deepest goal of prayer is to see God in the way that He allows Himself to be seen by men and women today. The result will be a dramatic change. We cannot see God in this way and remain the same.
Today, worship God and express your extreme hunger and thirst to see Him. Catch the spirit of George Matheson, the great hymn writer. His most famous composition expresses even more of his passion for His Lord:
Oh Love that wilt not let me go.
O Love that wilt not let me go,
I rest my weary soul on Thee;
I give Thee back the life I own,
That in Thine ocean depths its flow
May richer, fuller be.
GEORGE MATHESON
From the book
