The Value of the Morning Watch
By G. B. THOMPSON
THERE is nothing so important to Christians as to learn to pray. Jesus prayed. The stillness and darkness of the night found him, though weary with the cares and burdens of the day, amid the solitude of the mountains praying. “And in the morning, rising up a great while before day, he went out, and departed into a solitary place, and there prayed.” Morning is the golden time for prayer and for study of the Bible. “Satan well knows that one whom he can lead to neglect prayer and the searching of the Scriptures will be overcome by his attacks. Therefore he invents every plausible device to engross the mind.” In the life of every true Christian there should be times of silent meditation on the things of God. How fitting that in the morning hour, before the busy scenes and conflicts of other hours begin, we take a little time when the heart, in holy, quiet devotion, can, in the hush of the opening day, commune with its Maker! How fitting to sit, ere the toil of the day begins, at the feet of the Master, and receive from him such instruction as pilgrims journeying through an alien country need to guide them aright, and to save them from falling into the pitfalls of sin, or becoming entangled in the subtle webs woven by the enemy! True, we can not always sit in the quietude of silent meditation. Peter desired this when on the mount of transfiguration. But now, as then, human suffering and sorrow await us at the mountain’s base. Before we are fitted to minister to the needs of others, or cope successfully with the temptations which19beset us, we must take time to drink at the fountain, to receive from God the water of life. Truly that day is not wholly well spent that is spent without a quiet hour. Prayer is the breath of the soul. We may not be able to pray eloquently, but the Lord is our Father; and we should remember that parents take more pleasure in the stammering of their children than in the words of the most gifted orator. Jesus has bidden us to watch. “And what I say unto you, I say unto all, Watch.” We are to watch against the spirit of the world; watch against temptation; watch against Satan; watch against sin. We are also to watch for opportunities to do good, and be useful. We must constantly “watch and pray.”