CALLING UPON THE LORD JESUS
"I
say unto you, Ask,
and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it
shall be opened unto you."
-LUKE
11:9 [KJV]
Wherever
there is true prayer, there is importunity. Wherever the Lord brings
trials upon the soul, He pours out upon it the spirit of grace and
supplications. He thus encourages and enables the soul to be
importunate with Him. The blessings and benefits of perseverance and
importunity in prayer the Lord has brought prominently before us in
two parables—one, of the man in bed with his children,
who would not get up and relieve his friend, but yet was overcome by
his importunity; and the other, of the woman, who had a cause at
issue, and went before the judge, who feared not God, neither
regarded man; yet by her continual going to him, overcame him at last
by her importunity [LUKE
11:5-8; 18:1-7].
Thus
importunity and perseverance form the very feature of true prayer. If
the child of God has a burden—if he is labouring under a strong
temptation—if his soul is passing through some pressing trial— he
is not satisfied with merely going to a throne of grace and coming
away. There is at such times and seasons, as the Lord enables, real
importunity; there is a holy wrestling; there are fervent desires;
there are unceasing groans; there is a labouring to enter into rest;
there is a struggling after deliverance; there is a crying unto the
Lord, until He appears and manifests Himself in the soul.
-Gospel
report by preacher J.C. Philpot (1802-1869 A.D.)
May
1st, EARS FROM HARVESTED SHEAVES
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