Читать книгу Prevailing Prayer: What Hinders It? онлайн

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We may say of every act of prayer as George Herbert says of public worship:

“When once thy foot enters the church, be bare;

God is more than thou; for thou art there

Only by His permission. Then beware,

And make thyself all reverence and fear.

Kneeling ne’er spoiled silk stocking; quit thy state.

All equal are within the church’s gate.”

The wise man says: “Keep thy foot when thou goest to the house of God, and be more ready to hear than to give the sacrifice of fools; for they consider not that they do evil. Be not rash with thy mouth, and let not thine heart be hasty to utter anything before God; for God is in heaven, and thou upon earth—therefore let thy words be few.”

If we are struggling to live a higher life, and to know something of God’s holiness and purity, what we need is to be brought into contact with Him, that He may reveal Himself. Then we shall take our place before Him as those men of old were constrained to do. We shall hallow His Name—as the Master taught His disciples, when He said, “Hallowed be Thy Name.” When I think of the irreverence of the present time, it seems to me that we have fallen on evil days.