0065. Call to Prayer

Call to Prayer

"Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need" (Heb_4:16).

1. The Day of Temptation Is a Call to Prayer. We are taught, "Watch and pray, lest ye enter into temptation". Christ taught His disciples to say, "Lead us not into temptation".

The conies are but a feeble folk, yet they build their houses in the rocks. We too may be feeble, and fall to the tempter’s wiles, but if we will hide ourselves in Him, in prayer, He will deliver us.

2. The Hour of Need Is a Call to Prayer. In the Psalms we read of the ship that was in the midst of a storm and when they called unto the Lord, He heard them pray and brought them to their desired haven (Psa_107:28-30).

Illustration: During the war of the sixties, a man on picket duty became inwardly alarmed. He was a Christian, and in the hour of his fear, he sang, "Jesus Lover of My Soul."

Years afterward, when crossing the Atlantic, the same man was singing the same song in the parlor of the ship. When he had finished, a stranger walked up and asked him if he had not, on a certain night during the war, been on picket duty, and if he had not sung that song. When he replied in the affirmative, the stranger said, "I had slipped up near, and I held up my gun, ready to fire, when I heard you sing, ‘Cover my defenseless head with the shadow of Thy wing.’ I turned away; I could not kill a man who trusted in his God."

3. The Greatness of Our Task Is a Call to Prayer. We should pray the Lord of the harvest to thrust forth laborers into harvest (Mat_9:38).

4. The Need of Israel Is a Call to Prayer. We should pray for the peace of Jerusalem, "They shall prosper that love Thee".

5. The Yearnings of the Holy Spirit within Us Is a Call to Prayer, and whenever there is a burden upon our spirit that will not let us go, we must not refuse to pray (Rom_8:26).

Illustration: A mother felt a tremendous drawing to prayer in behalf of her son, who was a missionary. She prayed until the burden went away and she was assured that all was well.

Later on, her son wrote her, and it turned out that at the very hour at which she prayed, he was miraculously delivered from a bear. Without any possible explanation, a bear, that was about to attack him, had turned upon his heels and gone away.

Bless God for the privilege of prayer.

"O Thou that hearest prayer

How sad this life would be–

How hard each heavy cross to bear,

Could we not come to Thee!

When faith seems lost in fear,

And hopes are dimmed by care,

In Thee we find refreshing cheer.

Thou blessed hour of prayer!"

Autor: R.E. NEIGHBOUR