Morning By Morning #285

Let us lift up our hearts and our hands to God in heaven.

Lamentations 3:41

From the pen of Charles Spurgeon:

Prayer is an undertaking that actually teaches us our unworthiness, a very beneficial lesson for such proud beings as we are. If God favored us with blessings without requiring us to pray for them, we would never know how poor we really are. But true prayer forces us to inventory our wants and needs, which unveils our hidden poverty. Prayer is the believer’s way of applying for God’s divine wealth and is thus a confession of human emptiness.

In fact, the healthiest state for a Christian is always to be empty of self, while constantly depending upon the Lord for supply; always to be poor in self and rich in Jesus; and weak as water personally, but mighty through God to do great things for Him. The use of prayer, therefore, because it gives adoration to the Lord, places the human creature exactly where he should be—in the very dust. Thus, prayer, in and of itself, is a great benefit to Christians—apart from the answer it brings. Just as a runner gains strength for an upcoming race through daily exercise, we acquire energy for the great race of life through the holy work of prayer. Prayer feathers the wings of God’s young eaglets so they may learn to soar above the clouds. Prayer shields the bodies of God’s warriors and sends them forth into combat with their tendons firm and their muscles strong.

An earnest prayer warrior exits his prayer closet just as the sun rises from the east, rejoicing like a strong runner fully prepared to run his race. Prayer is the uplifted hands of Moses routing the Amalekites more than it is the sword of Joshua (see Ex. 17:8 – 13), and it is the arrow shot from Elisha’s room predicting the defeat of the Arameans (see 2 Kings 13:14–19). Prayer enshrouds human weakness with divine strength, turns human foolishness into heavenly wisdom, and gives troubled mortals the peace of God. The truth is—we really do not know what prayer cannot do!

We thank You, O great God, for Your “mercy seat” (Ex. 25:17 KJV)—an amazingproof of Your miraculous loving-kindness. Help us to approach it properly by prayer throughout this day!

From the pen of Jim Reimann:

One of the major reasons for prayer is this: our heavenly Father desires our fellowship. Jeremiah wrote: “The LORD appeared to us in the past, saying: ‘I have loved you with an everlasting love; I have drawn you with loving-kindness’” (Jer. 31:3). Later he went on to say, “This is what the LORD says, he who made the earth, the LORD who formed it and established it—the LORD is his name: ‘Call to me and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know’” (Jer. 33:2 – 3).

The very God of the universe desires to commune with us! And if we truly love Him, we will reciprocate from a heart filled with love. Many mistakenly use the following verse to indicate Jesus is knocking on the door of an unbeliever’s heart, but these words were written to the church:

“Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with me” (Rev. 3:20).

Will I keep Him waiting or will I open the door through prayer right now?