A Call to Prayer

“Hear me as I pray, O Lord. Be merciful and answer me! My heart has heard you say, ‘Come and talk with me.’ And my heart responds, ‘Lord, I am coming.’” Psalm 27:7-8 NLT

In 1845, William W. Walford composed a beautiful hymn that still contains a great message for us today. I wonder if the author had this verse in Psalms in mind when he wrote the hymn, especially verse 3:

                   Sweet hour of prayer! sweet hour of prayer!

Thy wings shall my petition bear

To Him whose truth and faithfulness

Engage the waiting soul to bless.

And since He bids me seek His face,

Believe His Word and trust His grace,

I’ll cast on Him my every care,

And wait for thee, sweet hour of prayer!

David was a man of prayer. Many of his psalms deal with prayer. He sought the Lord in mostly all the circumstances of his life, in the good times and the bad. He trusted the Lord to protect him. His prayers always contained words of praise to the Lord for the blessings he received.

The Bible tells us that prayers never die. Revelation 8:3-4 “And another angel came and stood at the altar, having a golden censer; and there was given unto him much incense, that he should offer it with the prayers of all saints upon the golden altar which was before the throne. And the smoke of the incense, which came with the prayers of the saints, ascended up before God out of the angel’s hand.”

As a follower of the Lord Jesus Christ, I have found it is important to have a consistent prayer life, a daily slot and spot where I take time to read the Word of God and talk to Him in prayer. When I was working, it meant getting up a bit early, and my day went much better when I did this. Besides this time that is set apart, I also find myself praying throughout the day, as situations or people come to my mind. I want to always be sensitive to the still small voice of God, as expressed in our chosen Scripture verse whispering: “Come and talk with Me,” and to answer, “Lord, I am coming.”

I do not think God keeps a record of the number of minutes or hours that we spend in prayer, or what beautiful words we pray, He just wants us to have consistent communication with Him.

James 5:16 “The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.”

Prayer: Thank you, Lord Jesus, for the privilege of prayer, of being able to communicate with you every day, knowing that you hear every cry of our hearts, and we can rest assured the answers are on the way.

Devotion by Anne Johnston