'Voices From The Past' Vol. 1 — November 13

God's will and Word must be the rule of our prayers. Our prayers are bound by divine precepts, promises, and prophecies. To wander beyond these leads to our loss. The Christian may have anything from God if he truly seeks to secure God's honour in it and not his own will. There is no cause for enlargement in the guideline set for our prayers: 'If we ask anything according to his will he hears us' (1 John 5:14). Power in prayer is only available to a regenerate person. If our children cry out in great distress we hasten to help them. Our relationship to God as sons may well strengthen our hope that we shall be heard. We must draw near to God with humility. Subjects present their petitions to the king upon their knees. A special purpose of prayer is to exalt God. He that is proud in prayer thwarts God's purpose in the institution. Beggars who live wholly upon another's charity have the least reason to be proud. The proud beggar never got anything at God's door. God draws near to the humble, and his ears and heart are open to their prayers. We should also pray from the heart, for God respects heart-prayer above anything. There is no going to God in a disguise. Your prayer without heart is a sacrilege, not a sacrifice. When the heart is the leader of the choir, then the voice is pleasant in God's ears. The Lord is near to all that call upon him in truth. If you pray from the heart, God is pleased out of his grace and goodness to pardon and pass by many imperfections in your duty. Seek God also with fervency. It is not the length of your arm, but the strength of it. Fervency is like the wings of a bird that mounts it up to heaven (James 5:16). Moses' earnest cry (I speak with reverence) fastened God's hands. Importunity prevails with God.

Devotional Readings taken from Puritan Devotional Readings 'Voices From The Past Vol.1.'
George Swinnock, Works, 1:120-127
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