But I Give Myself To Prayer.
But I Give Myself To Prayer.
Psalm 109 : 4
Lying tongues were busy against the reputation of David, but he did not defend himself; he moved the case into a higher court and pleaded before the great King Himself. Prayer is the safest method of replying to words of hatred. The psalmist prayed in no cold-hearted manner; he gave himself to the exercise—threw his whole soul and heart into it—straining every sinew and muscle, as Jacob did when wrestling with the angel. Thus, and thus only, shall any of us speed at the throne of grace. As a shadow has no power because there is no substance in it, even so that supplication in which a man’s proper self is not thoroughly present in agonizing earnestness and vehement desire is utterly ineffectual, for it lacks that which would give it force. “Fervent prayer,” says an old divine, “like a cannon planted at the gates of heaven, makes them fly open.” The common fault with most of us is our readiness to yield to distractions. Our thoughts go roving here and there, and we make little progress toward our desired end. Like quicksilver our mind will not hold together but rolls off this way and that. How great an evil this is! It injures us, and what is worse, it insults our God. What should we think of a petitioner if, while having an audience with a prince, he should be playing with a feather or catching a fly?
Continuance and perseverance are intended in the expression of our text. David did not cry once and then relapse into silence; his holy clamor was continued till it brought down the blessing. Prayer must not be our intermittent work but our daily business, our habit and vocation. As artists give themselves to their models, and poets to their classical pursuits, so must we addict ourselves to prayer. We must be immersed in prayer as in our element, and so pray without ceasing.
Lord, teach us so to pray, that we may be more and more efficacious in supplication.
Culled from Morning and Evening by Charles Spurgeon
Pray always pray;
the Holy Spirit pleads
Within thee all thy daily,
hourly needs.
Pray always pray;
beneath sin’s heaviest load
Prayer sees the blood
from Jesus’ side that flowed.
Pray always pray;
though weary faint, and lone,
Prayer nestles by
the Father’s shelt’ring throne.
Pray always pray;
amid the world’s turmoil
Prayer keeps the heart at rest,
and nerves for toil
Pray always pray;
if joys thy pathway throng,
Prayer strikes the harp,
and sings the angels’ song.
Pray always pray;
if loved ones pass the veil
Prayer drinks with them
of springs that cannot fail.
All earthly things
with earth shall fade away;
Prayer grasps eternity:
pray, always pray.
