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Changing One’s Spiritual Atmosphere

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Review and Herald Publishing Association · Takoma Park Station, Washington, D. C. · Jul 3, 1913

FromReview and Herald, Vol. 90, No. 27.

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Changing One’s Spiritual Atmosphere

By John N. Quinn

JOHN N. QUINN
At times the follower of Christ finds himself in the association of those whose interests are carnal, to whom the Christ life is unattractive. He does not descend to the plane on which those exist who are alienated from the life of God through the ignorance that is in them, and yet on parting from them he is conscious of having been to some extent affected by an atmosphere pregnant with poisons—poisons which lower the vitality of the soul. Heart hungry, he seeks the place of communion. Casting himself before God, he prays, and as he opens the Word of Truth, God draws nigh and floods the soul with light, and life, and power. He is in his normal atmosphere, and is light-hearted and free. Prayer to him is not the utterance of mere words; it is communion with the Source of purity and love. Prayer is not a continual agony of soul; it is rather a quiet talk with God, opening the life to him as one could not to the dearest friend on earth. And there is no enjoyment comparable with this one of being in touch with God, of having the assurance that every barrier is broken down, and that God by his Spirit has unhindered access to the life beset with temptation.
“We pass too hurriedly through the sacred circle,” is a statement altogether too true. We awake in the morning, and in a few hurried words express thanks to God for his care of the past night, ask to be kept through the day, and hurry away after a hasty glance at the Word of God. Night finds us physically tired after the stress and strain of the day; the mind is too weary to pray; a few tired words suffice, and we retire to rest. There is a more excellent way. It is well in the morning to pour out the soul in gratitude to God for his care; it is better to arise from the knees, open the Bible, and quietly talk to God. He always responds when we wait upon him with quiet trust in the certainty of his promises; he honors us when we take him at his word; and after half an hour of such communion in the morning one feels as if he is invincible. And he is, as he keeps his mind stayed on God through the entire day. When something unpleasant occurs, immediately the mind turns to God and help is given, a spirit of quietness and confidence pervading the soul. This is the experience open to each believer in Jesus Christ.
That prayer is not the mere utterance of words is well expressed in the following paragraphs:—
“An arrow, if it is drawn up but a little way, goes not far; but if it is pulled up to the head, flies swiftly and pierces deep. Thus prayer, if it is only dribbled forth from careless lips, falls at our feet. It is the strength of ejaculation and strong desire that sends it to heaven, and makes it pierce the clouds. It is not the arithmetic of our prayers, how many they are; nor the rhetoric of our prayers, how eloquent they are; nor the geometry of our prayers, how long they are; nor the music of our prayers, how sweet our voices may be; nor the logic of our prayers, how argumentative they may be; nor the method of our prayers, how orderly they may be; nor even the divinity of our prayers, how good the doctrine may be, which God cares for. He looks not for the horny knees which James is said to have had through the assiduity of prayer. We might be like Bartholomew, who is said to have had a hundred prayers for the morning and as many for the evening, and all might be of no avail. Fervency of spirit is that which availeth much.”
“As a painted fire is no fire, a dead man no man, so a cold prayer is no prayer. In a painted fire there is no heat, in a dead man there is no life; so in a cold prayer there is no omnipotency, no devotion, no blessing. Cold prayers are as arrows without heads, as swords without edges, as birds without wings; they pierce not, they cut not, they fly not up to heaven. Cold prayers do always freeze before they get to heaven.”
“It is not the gilded paper and good writing of a petition that prevails with a king, but the moving sense of it. And to that King who discerns the heart, heart-sense is the sense of all, and that which he only regards. He listens to hear what that speaks, and takes all as nothing where that is silent. All other excellence in prayer is but the outside and fashion of it. This is the life of it.”
Discord in the home, discord among believers, sin cherished, a love for this present evil world, are hindrances to effective prayer. “That your prayers be not hindered.”
God hears the prayer that goes not forth from feigned lips; and we have the happy assurance that God will answer the prayer that reaches the throne of grace. “Answers will be returned,” whether the prayer is for the forgiveness of sins, for acceptance in the Beloved, for strength to resist temptation, for peace, or for power to bring to others the blessedness of the everlasting gospel. Prove God; you will find him to be an ever-present helper, no matter what the need may be. Ask, nothing wavering, and you shall receive; God’s oath is the basis of our assurance.
Takoma Park, D. C.