THE MOST IMPORTANT
ASPECT OF A BELIEVER'S LIFE IN THIS WORLD IS PRAYER.
In personal, private prayer
we commune with the eternal, triune God. Prayer is an acknowledgement of our
weakness in the flesh because of sin, and of our need for constant supplies of
Divine grace. In private prayer we open our hearts to God and pour out our
souls before him.
Let us never be pretentious and hypocritical before
God in prayer. He sees all and knows all. "The Lord looketh on the
heart." God is not interested in how we speak to him, the length of our
prayers, the frequency of our prayers, or even the words we use in prayer. God
looks upon our hearts. He hears what we say in our hearts. He is interested in
and has regard for the attitudes, the motives, and the desires of our hearts.
True prayer,
like all other graces and acts of worship, is a heart work. You may memorize
little religious sayings, and call them prayers. You may read and recite prayer
books, and think you are praying. You may repeat the earnest prayers of other
people, and suppose that you have prayed. But true prayer cannot be taught or
learned by men, any more than breathing can be. It is not an art or skill.
Prayer is the breath of the renewed soul. Prayer is born in the heart by the
grace of God. It is the power and grace of the Spirit in a man's heart that
teaches him to pray. Indeed, true faith is prayer, and true prayer is faith. We
ought to live in an unceasing attitude of prayer, always acknowledging our sin,
always seeking God's will, always trusting his grace. In this sense, let us
"Pray without ceasing". But let us never neglect private prayer.
Truly, prayer is a source of strength and consolation to the believing heart.
Above all things, our prayer life reveals our true heart attitude toward God
and ourselves. What we are in prayer before God, we truly are. Our faith in
Christ, our sense of our sinfulness and weakness in the flesh, our dependence
upon God's providence, and our reverence for God are all manifest by our
attitude about prayer.