Morning By Morning #50

This is what the Sovereign LORD says:

Once again I will yield to the plea of the house of Israel and do this for them.

Ezekiel 36:37

From the pen of Charles Spurgeon:

Prayer is the forerunner of mercy. If you look at biblical and church history, you will see that nearly every great blessing came from above only after times of supplication. I am sure you have found this true in your own life as well. God has favored you with blessings many times, yet fervent prayer has always been the prelude to any great blessing you have received.

When you first found peace with God through the blood of the cross, you had been earnestly praying, interceding with God that He would remove your doubts and deliver you from your troubles. Then came your assurance, which was the result of prayer. Every time you have been blessed with heavenly times of joy, you have felt compelled to look upon them as answers to your prayers. And when you have been delivered from severe trials and have experienced great help during times of great danger, you have been able to say, “I sought the LORD, and he answered me; he delivered me from all my fears” (Ps. 34:4).

Prayer is always the preface to blessings, going before them as their shadow. When the sunlight of God’s mercy shines on our needs, it casts a shadow of prayer far across the landscape. Or, using another illustration, when God piles up His blessings, creating a large hill of them, He Himself shines across them. This casts a huge shadow of prayer across our spirit, so we may rest assured that if we are diligent in prayer, our pleadings are the shadows of His mercy. In this way prayer is connected with the blessing in order to show us the value of intercession.

If we received blessings without even asking, we would think of blessings as commonplace, but prayer makes those blessings more precious than diamonds. The things we ask for are precious, but we do not realize just how precious until we have sought them earnestly through prayer.

Prayer makes the darkened cloud withdraw,

Prayer climbs the ladder Jacob saw,

Gives exercise to faith and love,

Brings every blessing from above.

William Cowper, 1731-1800

From the pen of Jim Reimann:

We often tend to forsake prayer until our circumstances turn tough. The psalmists were much the same, for they wrote: “In my anguish I cried to the LORD, and he answered” (Ps. 118:5). “The LORD has heard my weeping. The LORD has heard my cry for mercy; the LORD accepts my prayer” (Ps. 6:8-9).

Yet prayer is moment-by-moment access to God’s throne of grace, whether in distress or not. “We have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand” (Rom. 5:2). Prayer is the very gateway to God, and our access to Him cost Him the death of His Son.

“Open for me the gates of righteousness; I will enter and give thanks to the LORD. This is the gate of the LORD through which the righteous may enter. I will give you thanks, for you answered me” (Ps. 118:19 – 21).

“In the morning my prayer comes before you” (Ps. 88:13).