Perseverance in prayer

It is true that the prayers recorded in the Bible are short in printed words, but the godly men of God spent sweet and holy hours in combat. They won with few words but with a long wait. Moses' prayers seem short, but Moses prayed to God with fasting and mourning for forty days and nights. What is said of Elijah's prayers can be concentrated in a few paragraphs, but surely Elijah, who "praying, praying", spent many hours of rude struggle and elevated communion with God, before he could with firm audacity, say to Ahab: "There will be no rain or dew in these years, except by my word." The verbal account of Paul's prayers is short; yet Paul "prayed unceasingly by day and by night." The "Lord's Prayer" is a divine epitome for childish lips, but the man Christ Jesus prayed many whole nights before doing his job; and these prolonged and sustained devotions gave to his finished work and perfection, and to his character the fullness and glory of his divinity.

Spiritual work is overwhelming and men are reluctant to do it. Prayer, true prayer, means a use of serious attention and time, which flesh and blood reject. Few people are of such strong grain that they are costly effort when superficial work passes through the market with ease. We can get used to our begging prayers until they satisfy us, at least we keep the decent formulas and quiet the conscience, which is a deadly opium! We can weaken our prayers and be unaware of the danger until the fundamentals are gone. Quick devotions result in weak faith, feeble conviction, and dubious piety. Spending a short time with God means being small for God. The lack of prayer makes the character narrow, miserable and careless.

It takes time for God to permeate our spirit. Short devotions break the channel of God's grace. It takes time to get God's full revelation. The little dedication and the haste cast a blur to the picture. H. Martyn laments that the "lack of private devotional reading and the scarce prayer for dedicating himself to incessant making of sermons", has produced a estrangement between God and his soul. He himself considered that he had spent too much time in public ministrations and too little in "private" communion with God. He felt the need to set aside his time for fasting and solemn prayer. As a result of this he gives the following account: "This morning I was helped to pray for two hours." William Wilberforce, the Pair of Kings, says: "I must set aside more time for private devotion. I have lived too devoted to the public. Shortening private devotions exhausts the soul, weakens and discourages it. I have been busy late into the night. " Of a failure in Parliament, he says: "Let me tell you my shame and shame, for it is all probably because my devotions have been curtailed and God has let me stumble." More loneliness in the early hours of the day, was his remedy.

Extensive prayer in the early hours of the day works magically to rekindle and invigorate a decayed spiritual life; It will also manifest itself in a holy life, which has become so rare and difficult due to the limited and rapidity of our devotions. A Christian character in its sweet and peaceful fragrance would not be such an extraordinary and unexpected inheritance if our devotions were prolonged and intensified. We live narrowly because we pray sparingly.

With enough time in our oratories there will be fat in life. Our ability to speak to God in communion with him is the measure of our ability to continue in his company at the other hours of the day. Quick visits are deceiving and disappointing. Not only are they illusory but they also cause us losses in many ways and of many rich legacies. From the permanence in the oratory we derive instruction and triumph. We come out with new teachings and great victories are often the result of great and patient waiting, until words and plans are exhausted and the silent and patient watchman wins the crown.

Jesus Christ says with decided emphasis: "And will not God bring justice to his chosen ones, who cry out to him day and night?" Prayer is the most important occupation and to dedicate ourselves to it there must be calm, time and purpose; otherwise it degrades until it becomes small and petty. True prayer achieves the greatest results for good, while the effects of poor prayer are of little consideration. We cannot measure the scope of true prayer; nor the shortcomings of its imitation. We need to relearn the value of prayer, to re-enter the school of prayer. There is no other subject whose knowledge costs so much work and, if we want to learn the wonderful art, we must not settle for fragments here and there with "a short talk with Jesus", but demand and retain with an iron fist the best hours of the day for God. and for our devotions, or there will be no prayer worthy of the name.

Yet our age is not distinguished by prayer. There are few men who pray. The prayer is discredited by the preacher. In these times of precipitation and noise of electricity and steam, men do not take time to pray. There are preachers who "say prayers" as a part of their program, on regular or fixed occasions; but who "wakes up to take hold of God?" Who prays as Jacob prayed, until he is crowned as a prevailing intercessory prince? Who prays as Elijah prayed, until the closed forces of nature were opened and the famine-stricken earth flourished like God's garden?

Who prays like Jesus Christ prayed on the mountain "and spent the night praying to God?" The apostles "persisted in prayer", the most difficult task for men and even for preachers.

There are lay people who give their money - some of them in great abundance - but do not give themselves to prayer, without which their money is a curse. There are multitudes of ministers who preach and deliver great and eloquent sermons on the need for revival and the extension of the kingdom of God, but there are not many who make prayers, without which the preaching and organization are worse than vain; this is out of fashion, it is almost a lost art; therefore, the man who can bring preachers and the church back to prayer will be the greatest benefactor of our age.