Spiritual Prescription PRAYING WHEN YOU DON'T FEEL LIKE IT
Then they cried unto the Lord in their trouble, and he delivered them out of their distresses. Ps. 107:6.
If it is true that the relationship with Jesus is the entire basis of the Christian life, and that prayer, direct communication with God, is vital to that relationship, then it stands to reason that Satan will do everything in his power to prevent us from seeking God through prayer.
One of the most effective traps has always been to entice us to sin. He causes us to fall and fail, and then tells us that it's hopeless, that there is no point in seeking God any longer. Satan is much more interested in the use he can make of our bad behavior to cause us to break off our relationship with God, than he is in any of the bad things we do in themselves.
When we really believe that there is nothing we can do of ourselves to commend ourselves to God, nothing we can do to earn or merit God's salvation, then we will continue to seek the faith relationship with God, regardless of what happens in terms of our falling and failing and sinning. "When we feel that we have sinned and cannot pray, it is then the time to pray. Ashamed we may be and deeply humbled, but we must pray and believe."--Thoughts from the Mount of Blessing, p. 115.
There is power in prayer. It is only through prayer and communion with God that we will ever have strength to overcome the devices of Satan. The more we understand the importance of prayer, the more we will pray. We have been promised that "not one sincere prayer is lost. Amid the anthems of the celestial choir, God hears the cried of the weakest human being. We pour out our heart's desire in our closets, we breathe a prayer as we walk by the way, and our words reach the throne of the Monarch of the universe. They may be inaudible to any human ear, but they cannot die away into silence, nor can they be lost through the activities of business that are going on. Nothing can drown the soul's desire. It rises above the din of the street, above the confusion of multitude, to the heavenly courts. It is God to whom we are speaking, and our prayer is heard."--Christ's Object Lessons, p. 174.
Then they cried unto the Lord in their trouble, and he delivered them out of their distresses. Ps. 107:6.
If it is true that the relationship with Jesus is the entire basis of the Christian life, and that prayer, direct communication with God, is vital to that relationship, then it stands to reason that Satan will do everything in his power to prevent us from seeking God through prayer.
One of the most effective traps has always been to entice us to sin. He causes us to fall and fail, and then tells us that it's hopeless, that there is no point in seeking God any longer. Satan is much more interested in the use he can make of our bad behavior to cause us to break off our relationship with God, than he is in any of the bad things we do in themselves.
When we really believe that there is nothing we can do of ourselves to commend ourselves to God, nothing we can do to earn or merit God's salvation, then we will continue to seek the faith relationship with God, regardless of what happens in terms of our falling and failing and sinning. "When we feel that we have sinned and cannot pray, it is then the time to pray. Ashamed we may be and deeply humbled, but we must pray and believe."--Thoughts from the Mount of Blessing, p. 115.
There is power in prayer. It is only through prayer and communion with God that we will ever have strength to overcome the devices of Satan. The more we understand the importance of prayer, the more we will pray. We have been promised that "not one sincere prayer is lost. Amid the anthems of the celestial choir, God hears the cried of the weakest human being. We pour out our heart's desire in our closets, we breathe a prayer as we walk by the way, and our words reach the throne of the Monarch of the universe. They may be inaudible to any human ear, but they cannot die away into silence, nor can they be lost through the activities of business that are going on. Nothing can drown the soul's desire. It rises above the din of the street, above the confusion of multitude, to the heavenly courts. It is God to whom we are speaking, and our prayer is heard."--Christ's Object Lessons, p. 174.
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