by Jerry Senn
“Take time to be holy, speak oft with Thy Lord. Abide in Him always and feed on His Word. Make friends of God’s children, help those who are weak, forgetting in nothing His blessings to seek.” Those are words from a very old song I learned as a child. It captures the attitude of prayer taught in Scripture.
S. D. Gordon, of an older generation, wrote short devotional books, one I was given early in my ministry by Rudy, my older brother, a preacher of the gospel. Its title is “Quiet Talks on Prayer.” One comment is especially helpful for those who desire to improve their prayer lives.
“The great people of the earth today are the people who pray. I do not mean those who talk about prayer; nor those who say they believe in prayer; nor yet those who can explain about people; but I mean those people who take time and pray.”
John Bunyan once said: “You can do more than pray after you have prayed, but you cannot do more than pray until you have prayed.”
The Soul’s Sincere Desire
Prayer is the soul’s sincere desire,
Uttered or unexpressed—
The motion of hidden fire,
That trembles in the breast,
Prayer is the burden of a sigh,
The falling of a tear,
The upward glancing of an eye,
When none but God is near.
— James Montgomery