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In Touch With GOD

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Pacific Press Publishing Association · Mountain View, California · Jul 6, 1915

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 42, No. 26.

Read the full edition

In Touch With GOD

One of the many important and interesting chapters in the new book on prayer by William P. Pearce is entitled

LEARNING TO PRAY

You will be interested in reading the following selections from it:
“First, calm the mind. As a general thing, the mind does not like to converse with God. It is ever alert to the material, but sluggish to the spiritual. The soul that earnestly desires to hold converse with God, must not be hurried or disturbed in its communion. ‘Be still,’ said Jehovah, ‘and know that I am God.’ Not till the disquieted lake is calm can one get a vision of the stars, and not till his disturbed soul becomes quiet can one gaze on the unseen and eternal.”
“Second, close the eyes. There are so many things to attract one's attention, that without closed eyes, the thoughts are liable to wander. When Elijah prayed for rain, he ‘went up to the top of Carmel,’ and the record says, ‘He cast himself down upon the earth,’ and put his face between his knees.”
“Third, be thoughtful. God reads the thoughts. Words are the expression of thought. Ages ago, King Solomon said: ‘Be not rash with thy mouth, and let not thine heart be hasty to utter any thing before God: for God is in heaven, and thou upon earth: therefore let thy words be few.’ Eccl. 5: 2. ‘Prayers are not measured,’ as John Mott said, ‘by their extent, but by their content.’”
“Fourth, be reverent. Never take liberties in prayer. Pet phrases and familiarities are unbecoming.”
“Fifth, be personal. When the little church at Jerusalem prayed for Peter, Luke tells us it was ‘unto God,’ not men.”
“Sixth, be simple. Rhetoric and eloquence are in no sense requisite to real prayer. ‘God cares not,’ as Bishop Hall said, ‘about the arithmetic of our prayers, how many there are; nor the rhetoric of our prayers, how eloquent they be; nor the geometry of our prayers, how long they be; nor the music of our prayers, how sweet our voice 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.’ What He wishes is a childlike expression of love and tender solicitation.”
“Seventh, be sincere. . . . Jesus denounced the Pharisees for their insincere praying. . . . God considers the petition rather than the petitioner. The Lord is nigh unto all them that call upon Him . . . in truth.”
“Eighth, be specific and importunate. Ask for what is needed, not wanted, and ask until it is received. It is Jacob wrestling, and Abraham pleading, and Moses interceding, to the willingness to be blotted out of God's book, and the Syrophoenician woman supplicating. ‘My daughter,’ she said, ‘is grievously vexed with a devil.’”
“Lastly, be confidential. Robert Burns lamented that he could not ‘pour out his inmost soul without reserve to any human being without danger of one repeating his confidence.’ Not so with our heavenly Father. He can be trusted.”
This book abounds in these practical suggestions on the prayer life. The author has been particularly successful in emphasizing the points made, by short, appropriate experiences and illustrations. These serve to make the book as interesting as it is helpful and inspiring. Its scope is indicated by its chapter titles:
  • Prayer
  • Advantages of Prayer
  • Causes for Negligence in Prayer
  • Learning to Pray
  • Unanswered Prayer
  • Conditions to the Answer
  • Answered Prayer
  • The Wooing Prayer
  • The Circle Prayer
  • The Intercessory Prayer
  • Special Prayers
  • The World-Wide Prayer
  • The Curative Power of Prayer
  • The Prayers of Jesus
  • The Prayer Life
The book contains nearly three hundred pages, has a beautiful frontispiece and engraved chapter headings. Bound in cloth at $1.00; ten per cent higher in Canada.
Our representative in your district can furnish you with a copy on short notice. See list of representatives on this page.
PACIFIC PRESS PUBLISHING ASSN. Mountain View, California