Again, the moment a person calls on the Lord he is saved. But the evidence is not that one time in their life they were sincere when they prayed a prayer. The evidence of their salvation is. . . is there genuine repentance? Is there faith? And do both those evangelical graces continue on in their life and grow?
The prayer of one who does not consider himself a sinner is not accepted by the Lord.
Who knows when the end is reached? Death may be the beginning of life. How do I know that love of life is not a delusion after all? How do I know that he who dreads to die is as a child who has lost the way and cannot find his way home? How do I know that the dead repent of having previously clung to life?
The doings of men, their prayers, fear, wrath, pleasure, delights, and recreations, are the subject of this book. [Lat. , Quicquid agunt homines, votum, timor, ira, voluptas, gaudia, discursus, nostri est farrago libelli. ]
Every time in my life when I have chosen to delay following inspired counsel or decided that I was an exception, I came to know that I had put myself in harm's way. Every time that I have listened to the counsel of prophets, felt it confirmed in prayer, and then followed it, I have found that I moved toward safety.
I often had to run very quickly to be on time, and from being a fleet runner was generally successful; but when in doubt I prayed earnestly to God to help me, and I well remember that I attributed my success to the prayers and not to my quick running, and marvelled how generally I was aided.
Christ had given the apostles a world-wide commission, embracing all the nations; but intellectually they did not understand what He meant. They found that out as they followed the impulse of the Spirit.
You can set up an altar to God in your minds by means of prayer. And so it is fitting to pray at your trade, on a journey, standing at a counter or sitting at your handicraft.
Prayer is the preview of God's action.
Not prayer without faith, nor faith without prayer, but prayer in faith, is the cost of spiritual gifts and graces.
There is nothing that torments Satan more than the sight of a faithful in prayer.
Jane," I said quietly. She opened her eyes, she had been far away in prayer. "Yes, Mary? Forgive me, I was praying. " "If you go on flirting with the king with those sickly little smiles, one of us Boleyns is going to scratch your eyes out.
A culture that does not teach prayer soon runs mad with desire.
If a man does not argue with the thoughts that the enemy secretly sows in us, but by prayer to God uproots conversation with them, this is a sign that his mind has attained wisdom, and that he has found a short path.
Prayer opens our lives for God so his will can be done in and through us, because in true prayer we habitually put ourselves into the attitude of willingness to do whatever God wills.
No man can hinder our private addresses to God; every man can build a chapel in his breast, himself the priest, his heart the sacrifice, and the earth he treads on, the altar.
The kingdom of heaven is not come even when God's will is our law; it is fully come when God's will is our will.
As you consider your own life, are there things that you need to change? Have you made mistakes that still need to be corrected? If you are suffering from feelings of guilt or remorse, bitterness or anger, or loss of faith, I invite you to seek relief. Repent and forsake your sins. Then, in prayer, ask God for forgiveness. Seek forgiveness from those you have wronged. Forgive those who have wronged you. Forgive yourself.
Prayer concerns God, whose purposes and plans are conditioned on prayer. His will and His glory are bound up in praying.
Prayer is no mere exercise of words or of the ears, it is no mere repetition of empty formula.