On Personal Worship – In Your Quiet Place – 2

Private worship doesn’t just fit you for more meaningful corporate worship it also fits you for your daily responsibilities, challenges and opportunities. It is a worthy endeavor as a means of spiritual growth.

Yesterday we considered some suggestions to enhance your personal worship in your quiet place: ARRIVE – PREPARE – LISTEN – OPEN – LISTEN – RESPOND. Now we are ready for the next suggestion…

PRAY – Consider the following insight from some great men of God:

John Bunyan: “Prayer is a sincere, sensible, affectionate pouring out of the heart or soul to God, through Christ, in the strength and assistance of the Holy Spirit, for such things as God has promised – according to His Word – for the good of the church, with the submission to the will of God.”

That is an outstanding definition of prayer.

It is sincere – from a prepared heart.

It is sensible – not self-indulgent, not superfluous.

It is affectionate – a child entreating their Father.

It is effective – made confident by the sure intercession of Christ.

It is empowered – made strong and sure by the Holy Spirit.

It is certain – resting on God’s promises.

It is guarded – grounded in His Word.

It is expansive – seeking the edification of His body, the church.

And it is submitted – all things according to His will and for His glory.

Embracing that approach to prayer might well revolutionize your quiet time.

More:

Matthew Henry: “Prayer is to move us and oblige us, not to move or oblige God.”

Wow! Sort of makes you want to take back some of those prayers from the past. Maybe from yesterday? Maybe from today?

More – I love this:

Harry Emerson Fosdick: “Belief is itself a map of the unvisited land of God’s care; prayer is actually traveling the country. A mark of prayer is attentiveness. Prayer is fundamentally an act of listening. In prayer we are attentive to the Divine Lover.”