Magnificent Prayer #34
Magnificent Prayer #34
O LORD, the king rejoices in your strength. How great is his joy in the victories you give!
You have granted him the desire of his heart and have not withheld the request of his lips.
Selah
Psalm 21:1–2
One may not get into the spirit of prayer the minute he goes to prayer, or the second he falls upon his knees. It may take a little while to get into the spirit of prayer, to get in touch with the forces of the skies.
Sometimes when we build a fire there is just a coal or a small chunk of ember. What do we do? We shave some fine kindlings; place them upon the coals; then blow lightly until a small blaze leaps up. Then we put on some more kindling; then we put on the fuel, and soon there is a roaring fire, and the room is comfortably warm.
Oftentimes when we’ve gone to prayer, we were dry, and the devil did his best to keep us dry, but we had gone to prayer, and meant to pray clear through before we quit. We weren’t in a hurry. We had plenty of time for prayer. We would read [some Psalms and portions of the gospel of John or perhaps the thirteenth chapter of first Corinthians]. We’d testify to His goodness, meditate, reflect, sing a hymn, pray awhile, praise Him, and keep this up.
Don’t quit. Don’t get up off your knees. Stay there until you hear from Heaven. Stay there until you get into a spirit of prayer. We get what we want, that is, we get what we pray for. If we want the spirit of prayer badly enough, and will go down in earnest, it will be ours to enjoy.
W. J. HARNEY
Pray About It: Sometimes the fire of prayer starts with just a spark. When it fails to ignite right away, we give up. It’s too much trouble, too hard. Yet the greatest, most productive times of prayer are the result of blowing lightly on the spark and waiting. And then adding a bit of fuel and waiting. Don’t be impatient. The best times you’ve missed in prayer have been the times you got up and walked away too soon.
Today, don’t get up too soon. Pray until you know you’re finished.
Unless I had the spirit of prayer, I could do nothing.
CHARLES G. FINNEY
From the book
