COMMUNION WITH GOD: PRAYER

201. Prayer is the soul's sincere desire,
Unuttered or expressed;
The motion of a hidden fire
That trembles in the breast.

Prayer is the burden of a sigh;
The falling of a tear;
The upward glancing of an eye,
When none but God is near.

Prayer is the contrite sinner's voice
Returning from his ways,
While Angels in their songs rejoice,
And say--"Behold, he prays.'

Prayer is the Christian's vital breath,
The Christian's native air,
His watch-word at the gate of death:
He enters Heaven with prayer.--J.Montgomery

202. In the secret of His presence, how my soul delights to hide!
Oh, how precious are the lessons which I learn at Jesus' side!
Earthly cares can never vex me, neither trials lay me low;
For when Satan comes to tempt me, to the secret place I go!

When my soul is faint & thirsty, 'neath the shadow of His wing
There is cool & pleasant shelter, & a fresh & crystal spring;
And my Saviour rests beside me, as we hold communion sweet;
If I tried, I could not utter what He says when thus we meet!

Only this I know: I tell Him all my doubts, my griefs & fears:
Oh, how patiently He listens! and my drooping soul He cheers:
Do you think He ne'er reproves me? what a false friend He would be,
If He never, never told me of the sins which He must see!

Would you like to know the sweetness of the secret of the Lord?
Go & hide beneath His shadow: this shall then be your reward;
And whene'er you leave the silence of that happy meeting place,
You must hold & bear the image of the Master in your face. --Ellen Lakshmi Goreh

203. In a factory where delicate fabrics are woven the operators are required, when the threads at any time become tangled, to press a button which calls the foreman to come & put matters right. On one occasion, however, a woman who was an old hand at the work thought she could disentangle the threads without the foreman's help, but she made things much worse. When the foreman did come she said, "I did my best, sir."
His answer was, "Remember that doing your best is to send for me."
When things get in a tangle, doing our best is sending for the Master, asking Him to straighten them out for us.

204. God shapes the World by prayer.

205. Confessing sin is not informing God, it is agreeing with Him.

206. Did not God sometimes withhold in mercy what we ask, we should be ruined at our own request.

207. Prayer is not monologue, but dialogue; God's voice in response to mine is its most essential part. Listening to God's voice is the secret of the assurance that He will listen to mine.

208. In prayer, while we seek in appearance to bend God's Will to ours, we are in reality bringing our will to His.

209. Turn the Bible into prayer.

210. We ask for silver & God sometimes sends His denials wrapped in gold.

211. two friends stood in a large railway station & watched an express train with the most modern of engines go flying through. "What a powerful engine!" remarked one of them to his friend, who was the Station-master of that station. "Yes!" said the Station-master who was a Christian, "On the rails. But off the rails it is the weakest thing in the World. And," he added, "how like the Christian! His power lies in communion with his Lord & Saviour, but when he leaves the path of communion he is the weakest person in the World."

212. The story is told of a certain minister who was disturbed to see a shabby old man go into his church at noon every day & come out again after a few minutes. What could he be doing? He informed the caretaker & bade him question the old man. After all, the place contained valuable furnishings.
"I go to pray," the old man said in reply to the caretaker's questioning.
"Come, come now," said the other, "you are never long enough in the church to pray."
"Well, you see," the shabby old man went on, "I cannot pray a long prayer, but every day at twelve o'clock I just comes & says, `Jesus, it's Jim' & waits a minute & then comes away. It's just a little prayer, but I guess He hears me."
When Jim was injured some time later & taken to the hospital, he had a wonderful influence on the ward. Grumbling patients became cheerful & often the ward would ring with laughter.
"Well, Jim," said the sister to him one day, "the men say you are responsible for this change in the ward. They say you are always happy."
"Aye, sister, that I am. I can't help being happy. You see, it's my Visitor. Every day He makes me happy."
"Your visitor?" The sister was puzzled. She always noticed that Jim's chair was empty on visiting days, for he was a lonely old man, with on relations. "Your visitor? But when does he come?"
"Every day," Jim replied, the light in his eyes growing brighter. "Yes, every day at twelve o'clock He comes & stands at the foot of my bed. I see Him & He smiles & says, `Jim, it's Jesus'."

213. No answer to prayer is an indication of our merit; every answer to prayer is an indication of God's mercy.

214. The prayer that is faithless is fruitless.

215. The answer of our prayers is secured by the fact that in rejecting them God would in a certain sense deny His own nature.

216. If we be empty & poor, it is not because God's hand is straitened, but ours is not opened.

217. GOD HEARS OUR PRAYERS
If radio's slim fingers
Can reach out in the air
And pluck the sweet
Melodies found lingering there
And send them at once to both you & me
Direct to our homes or wherever we be;
If the old refrain on the violin
Can reach us so clearly above Earth's din,
If the voice that is singing sweet & low
Is not torn asunder by storm clouds of woe;
If whispering hope from the strings of the harp
Can travel for miles, speak to our heart;
If the strains of the organ we can hear through the night,
And pleads in the darkness, "Lead kindly light";
If all of these things we can hear in the air,
Then why should we doubt that God hears our prayers?

218. If we are weak in communion with God we are weak everywhere.

219. The man who walks with God always gets to his destination.

220. The hand of faith turns the knob which makes the contact & throws the switch which turns on what little power you have. The hand of hope tunes with expectancy feeling for the frequency upon which God is broadcasting, & suddenly His great broadcasting station booms in with tremendous positive volume & power & certainty--& the messages come through loud & clear!
But if you're not skillful to tune in your fine tuning & absolutely zero in at the dead centre, or rather live centre of God's perfect frequency--with tremendous concentration & without distraction--if you allow any other signals to pull you off course or distort with static, God's message may become faint, distorted, interrupted, unclear, or even totally jammed by the static & power of the Enemy! Be sure your battery is well-charged by His power, fresh & renewed--that your contact is good & clean & firm--that you're tuning in attentively, accurately, with patient determination, waiting even in silence, if need be, while you wait for God's signal!
If you wait with faith & patience, without distraction, & with the utmost concentration, sooner or later you'll receive some of the most beautiful music you've ever heard, & some of the most powerful, thrilling, & amazing messages that will really stir you to action! You'll dance to His tunes, & battle according to His signals--His directions--& you'll know you're fulfilling His Will--the purpose for which you were created, regardless of the consequences!

221. Mr. Spurgeon once came to Bristol. He was to preach in the three largest Baptist chapels in the city, & he hoped to collect 300 pounds, which were needed immediately for his orphanage. He got the money. Retiring to bed on the last night of his visit, Spurgeon heard a voice which, to him, was the voice of the Lord, saying, "Give those 300 pounds to George Muller.' "But, Lord," answered Spurgeon, "I need it for my dear children in London.' Again came the word, "Give those 300 pounds to George Muller." It was only when he had said, "Yes, Lord, I will," that sleep came to him.
The following morning he made his way to Muller's Orphanages, & found George Muller on his knees before an open Bible, praying. The famous preacher placed his hand on his shoulder & said, "George, God told me to give you these 300 pounds." "Oh," said Muller, "dear Spurgeon, I have been asking the Lord for that very sum." And those two prayerful men rejoiced together.
Spurgeon returned to London. On his desk, he found a letter awaiting him. He opened it, to find it contained 300 guineas. "There!" cried he with joy, "the Lord has returned my 300 pounds with 300 shillings interest."

222. I cannot tell why there should come to me
A thought of someone miles & miles away,
In swift insistence on the memory,
Unless there be a need that I should pray.

Too hurried oft are we to spare a thought
For days together for some friend away:
Perhaps God does it for us, & we ought
To read His signal as a call to pray.

Perhaps just then, my friend has fiercer fight;
Some overwhelming sorrow or decay
Of courage, darkness, some lost sense of right,
And so, in case my friend needs prayer, I pray.

Friend, do the same for me, if I, unsought,
Intrude upon you on some crowded day;
Give me a moment's prayer in passing thought;
Be very sure I need it, therefore pray.--E. Middleton

223. How lovely are the faces of
The men who talk with God--
Lit with an inner sureness of
The path their feet have trod;
How gentle is the manner of
A man who walks with Him!
No strength can overcome him, &
No cloud his courage dim.
Keen are the hands & feet--ah, yes--
Of those who wait His Will,
And clear as crystal mirrors are
The hearts His Love can fill.
Some lives are drear from doubt & fear
While others merely plod;
But lovely faces mark the men
Who walk & talk with God.

224. God's chief gift to those who seek Him is Himself.

225. I seldom made an errand to God for another but I got something for myself.

226. A naturalist walking with his friend through the busy streets of a great city, stopped suddenly, and asked: "Do you hear a cricket?"
"Of course not," laughed his friend. "You could never hear a cricket with all this roar of traffic."
"But I hear a cricket," persisted the naturalist, and, turning over a stone, he uncovered the insect.
"Did you actually hear that cricket chirping above the noise of the street?" asked his friend in astonishment.
"Certainly," said the naturalist. "I spend my time listening to nature, whether I am in the forest, the field, or the town. Everyone hears that for which he is listening."
Taking a coin from his pocket, he dropped it on the pavement, and each passer-by put his hand in his pocket to see if he was the one who had dropped it.
For what are you listening? Gold or God? Your ears are tuned to listen for something, even as the receiving set is tuned to receive the program from a distant radio station. God's ears are tuned to hear our prayers. Are ours tuned to hear His commands?

227. A violent storm struck Tupelo, Mississippi. The following day a Negro asked his friend if he had prayed while the storm raged. The man replied in his unique and fascinating way, "Co'se I did! Who wouldn't pray in a storm lak dat?" A third Negro, hearing what was said added, "I 'security de Lawd heard plenty strange voices roun' here las' night!"

228. When I was young, I said to God, "Lord, tell me the mystery of the Universe." God seemed to say, "That knowledge is reserved for Me alone." So I said, "God, tell me the mystery of the peanut." God seemed to say, "Well, George, that's more nearly your size!" And the Lord told me!--Dr. George Washington Carver.

229. It is good to pray for the repair of mistakes, but praying earlier would likely keep us from making so many.

230. God can pick sense out of a confused prayer.

231. Because God is the living God, He can hear; because He is a loving God, He will hear; because He is our covenant God, He has bound Himself to hear.

232. Grass cannot call for dew as I do. Surely the Lord Who visits the unpraying plant will answer to His pleading child.

233. Even your simple little transistor radio or the more complicated telephone set, work much on these same principles, designed for pre-selected frequency responses by its creator, when operated properly by the various operators which control these frequencies, both at the broadcasting station & you at the receiver. The broadcasting station operates with tremendous power on a certain frequency--sometimes on several frequencies. But you, the operator of the receiver, need not have much power or wisdom yourself, but only the simplest of skill to know how to turn on your own little individual power source, make contact with your own tiny battery--your own spirit--just a tiny little mini-volt of power or faction thereof--just enough to activate your own circuit, & then only enough skill to tune in to the powerful frequency of the broadcasting station to receive sounds dropped out of the sky!--Tune, turn on, & receive His dropouts--or rather, turn on whatever little power or strength of the Spirit that you have that He's already charged your tiny battery with--your own spirit--so that your circuits might be activated to receive His powerful messages dropped out of the Heavens!--Dad

234. It's one thing to take what the Lord gives, but it's another thing to have enough faith to ask Him to give you something good enough to operate in!
Reminds me of the guy I once knew who was so desperate for a car that he said, "Lord, please give me a car! I gotta have a car, Lord--just any old car!" So that's exactly what he got--exactly what he asked for--a real clunker! You get what you ask for, & what you have faith for! God takes you exactly at your word!--Dad.

235. Prayer's like a mathematical problem: The more complicated the problem is & the more factors involved, the more difficult the solution. The bigger the problem & the more parts there are to the problem, the harder it is to work out the answer. But for a simple little problem like two plus two, it's easy to get a simple answer like four, because you have very little involved. Then it's easy to get the answer.

236. When we miss out on prayer we cause disappointment to Christ, defeat to ourselves & delight to the Devil.

237. God tells us to burden Him with whatever burdens us.

238. When a good man falls, he falls on his knees.

239. Let the day have a blessed baptism by giving your first waking thoughts into the bosom of God. The first hour of the morning is the rudder of the day.

240. What is the life of a Christian but a life of prayer?

241. It's a little bit like Astrology: All the stars, constellations, sun, moon, planets & all, have to be in a certain conjunction & positioned at just the right time in order to get the right results. You can't rush God, the planets or the stars. You have to wait till they're in that position. You've got to wait till it's God's time. But if you wait on God's time & you shoot straight at the right time, you'll get the right answer!--Dad.

242. I silenced an atheistic Jew in the park once by insisting on reading him nothing but the Bible, & a hush fell on the whole crowd, who said to him, "Shut up, we want to hear what the Bible has to say!" Never underestimate the power of the Word!--Or, for that matter, the power of prayer!--I've oftentimes shut up some vain babblers or hecklers just by starting to pray. There are very few people who don't respect prayer or at least your right to pray.
Ho did it at a big New York TV talk show & it hushed the whole crowd, & when he finished, some were in tears! There's something electrifying about prayer! Or how about a little praise! If you all started praising the Lord together, what could they do? You could drown them out! I'm convinced a sincere song, prayer, praise, or Bible reading could do a lot more good than all the arguing in the World. However, that might not be fair to the poor weak M.C. if you've agreed to be interviewed, unless you have to do it to bring peace! So you don't necessarily have to resort to such extreme measures unless you're in an emergency & need to get extraordinary results!--Dad

243. God said to Israel one time that bad things were happening because He said, "No man stirreth himself to call upon Me!" (Isa.64:7) My Mother told me of an incident that happened to an old missionary who was preaching in China in the pulpit one Sunday morning & the Communists invaded the town, threw open the front doors of the Church & just mowed the people down with machine guns including the preacher in the pulpit, a horrible, horrible massacre!
Here were all these Christians of this small village in China totally massacred! My Mother was horrified when she heard the news! She asked, "God, why? Why did You let that happen to all those precious Chinese Christians & that pastor, a good missionary that's gone clear to China to evangelise them?"
"Why Lord?" She was kind of angry with the Lord. "Why did You let that happen?" And God spoke back to her just as clear as she ever heard the voice of the Lord:
"Because My people pray not for My missionaries!" There is God passing back the buck! We're trying to blame God, but He's putting the responsibility on you! Now if you can pray & your prayers can change things, then if things are not changed it's your fault for not praying & believing & asking God to do something else.--Dad

244. Prayer should be the key of the day & the lock of the night.

245. Jesus has never slept for an hour while one of His disciples watched & prayed in agony.

246. If you can't pray as you want to, pray as you can. God knows what you mean.

247. I have many times been driven to my knees by the utter conviction that I had nowhere else to go.

248. Men of God are always men of prayer.

249. Let's take the radio for another example: You're going to send a radio message across the World for someone over there to pick it up. Number one: Your transmission won't have any power at all unless it's plugged into the current, the Holy Spirit, God's Power, the main current, the main line.
Your transmitter has to be in good condition. If it's faulty or out of tune or on the wrong channel, it won't transmit like it ought to & won't get the message through clear.
On top of that, it's got to be beamed in exactly the right direction at God's satellite. God, in a sense, really controls the limits of the direction of the prayer, because if you don't beam it in the general area where He wants it to go so it hits His satellite, it will miss the point all together. It won't do a bit of good if you're firing off in some other direction. You've got to be right on target in the direction God wants it to go, or it won't bounce right.
But if you're in tune, the Holy Spirit directs it. If your set is automated & the Holy Spirit is absolutely in control, then it's automatically tuned just right--power, beam, direction, everything--by the Lord's Own Computer, & it can't miss! But if you've been fooling around with the dials & the settings, you can mess up the whole works by trying to do it your way.
Also, the Lord has to have His satellite of His Will in just the right position to bounce it down to the receiver, & the receiver's got to be in just the right position to receive it. The satellite is on a fixed orbit that you can't change, like God's overall plan that is fixed. You must aim within that fixed orbit. Then, depending on your prayer & the recipient of your prayer, & providing conditions are right & you aim right in the direction that God has already sent the satellite of His Will, you can hit right on target! It's got to go according to God's general direction if you want it to work.
Then if your receiver gets in the right position he'll receive it. If the recipient is tuned in right & has the right power & is on the right channel, he will get the message.
So there are an awful lot of factors which affect the whole process of prayer. Which is one reason, of course, why you don't always get the answer right away. The trouble may be with you, or it's maybe not God's time 'cause His satellite isn't in the right position yet, or the trouble may be at the other end.--Dad.

250. Never, never may we forget that if we would do good to the World, our first duty is to pray!

251. Whatever else you make a business of, make a business of prayer.

252. The prayers of the Christians are secret, but their effect cannot be hidden.

253. I know no blessing so small as to be reasonably expected without prayer, nor any so great but may be obtained by it.

254. How come it takes so long for some prayers to be answered? Again, the picture of the billiard table: The balls are numbered, & the player is supposed to hit a ball of a certain number in proper sequence at a certain time in the game.
But you can't hit that ball until its number comes up.--And of course, the One Who created the game numbered the balls!--And you don't regulate where that ball's going to be at the time it's supposed to be hit. That's all ordered by the way the balls were scattered in the first place. You have to wait until your ball & that ball are in just the right position regarding that corner pocket to make the right shot to get the ball where you want it to go.
In a way, it's almost like the Lead Player is God, & He is the One that made the breakshot that scattered the balls originally. And as you go along, He plays too & keeps changing the position of the balls by His shots. The only difference is, God is not trying to beat you. He's actually trying to help you win if you're on His side, like playing doubles: Your partner is God, & your opponent's partner is the Devil! God's shots are made to try to make it easier for you.
It's like when you play partners: Your partner, God, tries to "set it up" for you. The same is true in another game, croquet: God is like your partner & He tries to give you set-ups to make it easier for you to shoot. Of course, it doesn't matter how good God sets things up, if you don't shoot straight it won't do any good.
And no matter how good your shot is, that ball, planet or person has to be in a certain position for it to hit right. You may be firing away, maybe even hitting the planet right, but if the object of your prayers is not at the right angle of reflection it's not getting through to him.--Dad

255. Prayer is the key to Heaven's treasures.

256. I had rather stand against the cannons of the wicked than against the prayers of the righteous.

257. The mightier anyone is in the Word, the more mighty he will be in prayer.

258. God's Promises are to be our pleas in prayer.

259. I fell asleep one time when I was praying in our little house in Downham, England. The family were all sitting round me at Christmastime & I was praying away & I fell asleep praying & they said I kept right on praying. That was the funniest feeling I ever had. I was so surprised when I woke up & I was still praying!--Dad

260. It's just like a telephone call. You're almost like the exchange. And God sends the main call from His Spirit to your mind. And then you have to make the connection to send it on to the party that needs to receive it. But if you just think about them & then don't pass on the thought to the Lord in the form of a desperate plea for them & instead you just cut it off, it's just like you're turning the phone off on God!
It's like when He's trying to make a phone call & He gives you the number & you put it through. He tells the operator--you're the operator. God is the One that's calling, & He tries to put it through you because He wants to show you what Love really is.
`Love is making a connection like that from to somebody who needs your love. You are the connection between God & that person, in Love. In everything we do in witnessing, God is the One Who's sending the message, right? And they are the one He wants to get it to.
But it has to go through you.--You're the operator. And if you don't make the connection, if you're lazy & slow & negligent & you don't care & you don't even want to be bothered with these calls & so you don't make the connection, then it's a broken connection, & they never get the message, & they never receive the Love, & so there's never any answer.--Dad.

261. "Mama!" said the little boy as he was kneeling down to say his bedtime prayers, "What does `Fi-shu-die' mean?" "Fi-shu-die?" said the mother. "Yes, you know--`Fi-shu-die before I wake.'"

262. There is an Eye that never sleeps
Beneath the wing of night;
There is an Ear that never shuts,
When sink the beams of light:

There is an Arm that never tires,
When human strength gives way;
There is a Love that never fails,
When earthly loves decay.

That Eye is fix'd on Seraph throngs;
That Arm upholds the sky;
That Ear is fill'd with Angel songs:
That Love is throned on High.

But there's a power, which man can wield,
When mortal aid is vain,
That Eye, that Arm, that Love, to reach,
That listening Ear to gain.

That power is prayer, which soars on High
Through Jesus to the Throne,
And moves the Hand, which moves the world,
To bring Salvation down. Amen. J.A.Wallace

263. A friend of mine, Miss L. Dennis of the Heart of Africa Mission, spent her Christmas Day as the only European in a Congo village. She was without food at dinner time, and kneeled at her bedside in the tiny one-roomed native hut to pray, "Give me this day my daily bread." As she arose, out flew a little hen with a loud, "Tuck, Tuck, Tuck." She had laid her first egg under the bed.

264. To talk with God,
No breath is lost--
Talk on!

To walk with God,
No strength is lost--
Walk on!

To wait on God,
No time is lost--
Wait on! Dnyanodaya (Indian Poet)
265. Martha was busy & hurried
Serving the Friend Divine,
Cleansing the cups & the platters,
Bringing the bread & the wine.

But Martha was careful & anxious,
Fretting in thought & in word.
She had no time to be learning
While she was serving the Lord.

For Martha was cumbered with serving, Martha was troubled with things.
Those that would pass with the using
She was forgetting her wings.

But Mary was quiet & peaceful
Learning to love & to live.
Mary was learning His precepts,
Mary was letting Him give--

Give of the riches eternal,
Treasures of mind & of heart,
Learning the mind of the Master,
Choosing the better part.

Do we ever labour at serving
Till voices grow fretful & shrill?
Forgetting how to be loving?
Forgetting how to be still?

Do we strive for things & possessions
And toil for the perishing meat?
Neglecting the one thing needful?
--Sitting at Jesus's feet!

Oh, service is good when He asks it,
Labour is right in its place,
But there is one thing far better--
Looking up into His face.

There's so much that He would tell us,
There are so many truths oh so deep!
This is the place where He wants us
And these are the things we can keep!--Grandmother.

266. God still speaks to those who take the time to listen.

267. If you would have God hear you when you pray, you must hear Him when He speaks.

268. A Christian in great perplexity prayed but found no relief in prayer. Looking up from where he knelt, his eye alighted on a card, "Try Thanksgiving!" He did, & the Lord gave him peace & removed his cares. (Phil.4:6; 1Tim.2:1)

269. How much does a prayer weigh? The only man I ever knew who tried to weigh one still does not know.
Once upon a time he thought he did. That was when he owned a little grocery store on the West side. It was the week before Christmas after the World War. A tired looking woman came into the store & asked him for enough food to make up a Christmas dinner for her children. He asked her how much she could afford to spend.
She answer, "My husband was killed in the war, I have nothing to offer but a little prayer."
This man confesses that he was not very sentimental in those days. A grocery store could not be run like a bread line.
So he said, "Write it on paper," & turned about his business.
To his surprise, the woman plucked a piece of paper out of her bosom & handed it to him over the counter & said, "I did that during the night watching over my sick baby."
The grocer took the paper before he could recover from his surprise, & then regretted having done so! For what would he do with it, what could he say?
Then an idea suddenly came to him. He placed the paper, without even reading the prayer, on the weight side of his old-fashioned scales. He said, "We shall see how much food this is worth."
To his astonishment the scale would not go down when he put a loaf of bread on the other side. To his confusion & embarrassment, it would not go down though he kept on adding food, anything he could lay his hands on quickly, because people were watching him.
He tried to be gruff & he was making a bad job of it. His face got red & it made him angry to be flustered.
So finally he said, "Well, that's all the scales will hold anyway. Here's a bag. You'll have to be put it in yourself. I'm busy."
With what sounded like a gasp or a little sob, she took the bag & started packing in the food, wiping her eyes on her sleeves every time her arm was free to do so. He tried not to look, but he could not helping seeing that he had given her a pretty big bad & that it was not quite full. So he tossed a large cheese down the counter, but he did not say anything; nor did he see the timid smile of grateful understanding which glistened in her moist eyes at this final betrayal of the grocer's crusty exterior.
When the woman had gone, he went to look at the scales, scratching his head & shaking it in puzzlement. Then he found the solution. The scales were broken.
The grocer is an old man now. His hair is white. But he still scratches it in same place & shakes it slowly back & forth with the same puzzled expression. He never saw the woman again. And, come to think of it, he had never seen her before either. Yet for the rest of his life he remembered her better than any other woman in the world & thought of her more often.
He knew it had not been just his imagination, for he still had the slip of paper upon which the woman's prayer had been written: "Please, Lord, give us this day our daily bread." (Matt.6:11)

270. If you "Trust in the Lord with all thy heart & lean not unto thine own understanding, & in all thy ways acknowledge Him, He shall direct thy paths." (Pro.3:5-6) In order for Him to direct your path you should do the first three things: Trust Him, acknowledge Him & don't lean to your own understanding!--Dad.

271. When you're really asking & praying, you know good & well if you're asking for a fish He'll not give you a serpent, & if you're asking for bread He'll not give you a rock. (Matt.7:9,18)--Dad

272. Sinning stops praying &...Praying stops sinning.

273. I knelt to pray when day was done,
And prayed "O Lord bless every one,
Lift from every saddened heart the pain,
And let the sick be well again."

And then I woke another day,
And carelessly went upon my way.
The whole day long I did not try
To wipe a tear from any eye.

I did not try to share the load
Of any brother on the road.
I did not even go to see
The sick man just next door to me.

Yet once again when day was done,
I prayed "O Lord bless everyone."
But as I prayed, unto my ear
There came a voice that whispered clear.

"Pause, hypocrite, before you pray,
Whom have you tried to bless today?
God's sweetest blessings always go,
By hands which serve Him below."

And then I hid my face and cried,
"Forgive me, God, for I have lied.
Let me but live another day,
And I will live the way I pray!"

274. Let's have a little seance with Jesus, right now, shall we? Let's hold hands to show our unity in the Spirit, show our love, our affection, touch! There's a lot in touch that's important! You kind of mix auras, you feel the current flowing on the line, you complete the circuit! It doesn't mean that you guys who can't reach the other guys at the end of the line are not completing the circuit, you've got one long line & a lot of electricity on that, praise the Lord?--Dad.

275. Prayer is weakness leaning on omnipotence.

276. Gipsy Smith was once asked how to start a revival. He answered:
"Go home, lock yourself in your room, kneel down in the middle of your floor. Draw a chalk mark all around yourself & ask God to start the revival inside that chalk mark. When He has answered your prayer, the revival will be on."

277. A Chinaman brought a number of his friends to the mission. When asked how he succeeded in getting so many to come, he said, "I got on my knees & talkee, talkee, talkee. Then I got up & walkee, walkee, walkee." Pray & then work. Prayer without works is vain. Praying without working like working without praying, is dead. Let us all talkee & walkee.

278. A sergeant-major, converted some time ago in a Salvation Army hut while on duty in the Middle East, had charge of the locomotive which ran between Cairo & Haifa. After his conversion he made it a practice, before starting on each journey, to pray for the safety of the train & of his passengers. On one journey the engine suddenly stopped, for no apparent reason. A civil engineer on the train, as well as the engine staff tried in vain to discover the cause of the breakdown which took place at 3 o'clock on a week morning. As dawn approached, two workmen came running farther down the line with the news that a rainstorm had made a hole in the permanent way large enough to engulf the whole train had it proceeded. "What luck!" the passengers said. But the driver quietly gave his witness & spoke of the prayer he offered for their safety every time he took his place on the footplate. Strangely enough, as it seemed to the passengers, the engine started without a hitch when the track had been repaired after a 14-hour holdup.

279. "Men ought always to pray & not to faint!" (Luke 18:1) It's too bad that we seem to sort of pull our antenna in when we get busy physically & then we don't seem to have as good reception. But it's probably because antennas are all quite frail & delicate. Your spiritual sensitivity is a very sensitive part of your spiritual equipment, & you've got to keep it well protected. You couldn't run around with your antenna sticking up all the time while you're working hard in the kitchen.--Dad.

280. If we do not "come apart", we will come apart.

281. Testified Olga Kristensen, who spent forty years in China as a Missionary:
"Toward the end of my stay I had nearly 80 refugees at the mission station besides the women living there. One night we heard the bandits approaching. There were shots at the end of the street. We all knew that without intervention, murder & disaster were on the way. I went into my closet & prayed to God for a word to calm myself & the others with me. My tortured soul then found a word I had often read before, but which now had a real meaning for me--`When thou liest down, thou shalt not be afraid: yea,...thy sleep shall be sweet. Be not afraid of sudden fear, neither of the desolation of the wicked, when it cometh.' Could I have a better message? I brought it to all the others & told them to go to rest. When I was going to bed I was tempted to lie down with my clothes on, but after a little struggle I undressed &, lying down, slept soundly. Next morning the dead were lying outside our premises. There had been fighting & murder, but no one had even gone so far as to knock on our door."

282. Spurgeon was once asked the reason of his marvellous power in the ministry. Pointing to the floor of the Metropolitan Tabernacle, he said, "In the room beneath, you will find 300 praying Christians. Every time I preach they gather there, & uphold my hands by continuous prayer & supplications. It is in that room that you find the secret of the blessings."

283. We mutter & sputter,
We fume & we spurt;
We mumble & grumble,
Our feelings get hurt;
We can't understand things,
Our vision grows dim,
When all that we need is
A moment with Him.

284. When we pray unitedly, joining hands in a circle, we can feel that unity in both flesh & spirit & a united strength & power like electricity flowing through us, having made the contact & the connection with our hands from one to the other in a continuous circle symbolising the unending eternity of the Hereafter, a circle being endless & encompassing all within it!--Dad.

285. Thank You for Your Word, Lord, that gives us the faith that we can come boldly before the throne of grace seeking help, Lord, in time of need, & that Your Spirit Herself will make intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered, in Jesus's name! (Heb.4:16; Rom.8:26)--Maria

286. You've got to have an antenna, feet on the Word, & you've got to turn it on & tune in!--Dad.

287. Intercession is standing in other people's shoes & representing them before God.

288. The World is too much with us!!--Every great man of God in the Bible, from Moses to Jesus, had to go away alone into his mountain for awhile, away from the multitude & its incessant demands & needs, in order to have time to meditate & pray, & to produce, from communion with God, the laws of God, for the needs of man.--Dad

289. Biographers of Fenelon tell us that he lived in such intimate fellowship with God that his very face shone. Lord Peterborough, a sceptic, was obliged to spend a night with him at an inn. In the morning he rushed away, saying, "If I stay another night with that man I shall be a Christian in spite of myself." Someone else said of him, "His manners were full of grace, his voice full of love, & his face full of glory."

290. Archibald Orr Ewing, a successful business man in Glasgow, went to China as a missionary. Through communion with his Lord Jesus Christ, his features became so radiant that the people there gave him a new name--"Mr. Glory-face". (Exo.34:29; 2Cor.3:18;4;6.)

291. Lord, be within me
--To strengthen me; without me
--To preserve me; over me
--To shelter me; beneath me
--To support me; before me
--To direct me; behind me
--To bring me back; around me
--To fortify me.--Lancelot Andrews

292. Take away everything I have, but do not take away the sweetness of walking & talking with the King of Glory!

293. We have become so engrossed in the work of the Lord that we have forgotten the Lord of the work.

294. One of the many interesting stories of the Bible is that of Elijah & the ravens. You remember that God sent ravens to bring His servant food, when he was at the brook, hiding from Ahab. Sometimes we seem to think that such wonderful things happened long ago, but that they do not happen any more. But in this we are mistaken. God still cares for His people. He is always near, when they need Him.
David Brainerd was a famous missionary who went to the Indians to preach the Gospel. As a result of his labours, many of the Indians found their Saviour. Brainerd was a man of prayer. In his diary he tells of his experiences on his many travels. And he often mentions how the Lord heard & answered his prayers.
One day, on one of his many journeys to visit an Indian tribe, he was overtaken by a severe storm. He looked for a place of shelter & eventually found one in a hollow log of a very large tree. While there, he prayed for the Indians & also that the Lord would take care of him & his needs.
When meal time came, he was hungry, but there was nothing to eat. He noticed a squirrel approaching the tree. The squirrel chattered a while. When the little animal disappeared, Brainerd noticed that he had left a few nuts behind. The missionary ate those nuts.
Three days the storm continued, & for three days Brainerd remained in the log. Each day the squirrel came to deposit some nuts at the entrance. David Brainerd knew that the Lord had sent that squirrel.

295. After Charran & our four oldest children sang at an old folks' home & led all 55 people in prayer to receive Jesus, the people who were having a party drew numbers to receive little prizes. Many of them gave the prizes they had won to the children.
We were given several very useful things but the miracle was that 3-year-old Lara needed a nightie & one of the prizes was a beautiful warm flannel nightie that fit her perfectly!--And yet these were prizes being given to old people! Thank You Jesus for how He always supplies!--Job & Charran

296. The camel at the close of the day
Kneels down upon the sandy plain
To have his burden lifted off,
And rest to gain.

My soul, thou too shouldst to thy knees
When daylight draweth to a close
And let thy Master lift thy load,
And grant repose.

Else how canst thou tomorrow meet,
With all tomorrow's work to do,
If thou thy burden all the night
Dost carry through?

The camel kneels at break of day
To have his guide replace his load;
Then rises up anew to take
The desert road.

So thou shouldst kneel at morning dawn,
That God may give thee daily care;
Assured that He no load too great
Will make thee bear.

297. It is said that Moody could not stand long prayers in public. At one of his meetings he called on a brother to pray, & he became lost in an eulogy on the Almighty. As Moody saw no landing in sight, he suddenly said, "While the brother is finishing his prayer let us sing number 75." A medical student happened to be bored with the long prayer, & was just reaching for his hat to leave when Moody's sudden switch from the prayer to the song arrested his attention. He put his hat down, remained in the service, & was converted. The student was the famous missionary afterward, Sir William Grenfell.

298. Marie had a friend who took her to the casino. She had never gambled before & prayed that the Lord would anoint her & make her win--& she won $110. A week later, another friend took her & she just sat there & watched him play, praying that he'd win & he won $100. When she later told him about it, he gave her the $100.--Johannes & Joanna, Pacific.

299. The granting of prayer, when offered in the Name of Jesus, reveals the Father's Love to Him, & the honour which He has put upon Him.

300. I remember reading years ago a simple story of an old violinist. He was poor, but possessed an instrument which never failed to charm by its soothing mellowness. Played as he could play, it never failed to awaken responsive chords in the heart! Asked to explain its charm, he would hold out his violin &, tenderly caressing its graceful curves say: "Ah, a great deal of sunshine must have gone into this wood, & what has gone in comes out."
How much of God's sunshine has entered your life? How much time have you spent in the radiance of His presence? It is only too true of all of us that if more of God's radiance had entered into our souls we should be better able to radiate peace & hope to the crowds around us.