The Ministry of Intercession: A Plea for More PrayerMurray, Andrew
Religion
The Ministry of Intercession: A Plea for More Prayer
Murray, Andrew
Intercessory prayer -- Christianity
2. "_My God will hear me._" _What a wondrous grace!_--Think of God in
His infinite majesty, His altogether incomprehensible glory, His
unapproachable holiness, sitting on a throne of grace, waiting to be
gracious, inviting, encouraging you to pray with His promise: "Call upon
Me, and I will answer thee." Think of yourself, in your nothingness and
helplessness as a creature; in your wretchedness and transgressions as a
sinner; in your feebleness and unworthiness as a saint; and praise the
glory of that grace which allows you to say boldly of your prayer for
yourself and others, "My God will hear me." Think of how you are not
left to yourself, and what you can accomplish, in this wonderful
intercourse with God. God has united you with Christ; in Him and His
Name you have your confidence; on the throne He prays with you and for
you; on the footstool of the throne you pray with Him and in Him. His
worth, and the Father's delight in hearing Him, are the measure of your
confidence, your assurance of being heard. There is more. Think of the
Holy Spirit, the Spirit of God's own Son, sent into your heart to cry,
Abba, Father, and to be _in you_ a Spirit of Supplication, when you know
not what to pray as you ought. Think, in all your insignificance and
unworthiness, of your being as acceptable as Christ Himself. Think in
all your ignorance and feebleness, of the Spirit making intercession
according to God within you, and cry out, "What wondrous grace! Through
Christ I have access to the Father, by the Spirit. I can, I do believe
it: 'My God will hear me.'"
3. "_My God will hear me._"--_What a deep mystery!_--There are
difficulties that cannot but at times arise and perplex even the honest
heart. There is the question as to God's sovereign, all-wise,
all-disposing will. How can our wishes, often so foolish, and our will,
often so selfish, overrule or change that perfect will? Were it not
better to leave all to His disposal, who knows what is best, and loves
to give us the very best? Or how can our prayer change what He has
ordained before? Then there is the question as to the need of
persevering prayer, and long waiting for the answer. If God be Infinite
Love, and delighting more to give than we to receive, where the need for
the pleading and wrestling, the urgency, and the long delay of which
Scripture and experience speak? Arising out of this there is still
another question--that of the multitude of apparently vain and
unanswered prayers. How many have pleaded for loved ones, and they die
unsaved. How many cry for years for spiritual blessing, and no answer
comes. To think of all this tries our faith, and makes us hesitate as we
say, "My God will hear me."
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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