Prayer: Sweet Intercourse With Jesus
By Lydia Jane Shaw
Prayer is sweet intercourse with Jesus; is the expression of our desires unto God. It is a privilege with which our Maker has favored us, and an act of obedience which he has required of us, to pray without ceasing and in everything give thanks. Prayer is the direct means of obtaining blessings from God; for his promises are that if we ask, we shall receive. Need we feel ourselves poor with such spiritual wealth within our reach? “We have a never-failing bank,
A more than golden store;
No earthly bank is half so rich,
How can we then be poor?” And there is One who is always ready to come to our assistance in every time of need; one who is more ready to give than earthly parents are to give good gifts to their children; and why should we shrink to come near to Him whose nature is love, who styles himself our Father, and who invites us to come to him with this most blessed assurance, “I will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters;” also, “As many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God,” “and if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint heirs with Christ,” “to an inheritance incorruptible, undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in Heaven for you.” We may approach him with all the confidence, affection, and even familiarity, of children, and feel that it is good to draw nigh unto God; for he heareth us, and is ever ready to bestow real blessings. Every child of God may rest assured that there is in him to whom he makes his desires known, attributes of mercy and kindness. The Lord is gracious and full of compassion, long-suffering, and of great kindness. The Lord is good to all, and his tender mercies are over all the works of his hand. “Then earnest let us be,
And never faint in prayer;
God loves our importunity,
And makes our cause his care.” Let me be able to say in truth, Our Father in Heaven, and he own the relationship, what more can I want? I am sure of his presence, his love, and his protection. I know then that he will guide me by his counsel, and afterward receive me to glory. “Prayer is appointed to convey,
The blessings God designs to give.
Long as they live, should Christians pray;
They learn to pray when first they live.” Wyoming Co., N. Y., March 20, 1872.