Prayer is divinely powerful. It is a sword that never dulls, an arrow that never misses, a request that is never refused. To pray is to be united with all the saints, and be made holy as God pours out His grace to us as He answers us. There is never an unheard prayer.
A soul in prayer is a soul that the demons fear, that the saints rejoice in along with our Father. But, a soul not in prayer is tamed, a lukewarm and broken thing. It is contrary to be full of grace and not pray, the soul is hollow of the one who doesn’t pray.
We are peasants, lower than dirt, covered in muck and grime and all the worst evils, and God, our king, in His immaculate court, asks us to come to Him. His court, absolutely clean, not a single speck of dirt, there is no muck and grime to be found anywhere within. God, the king, sits in His throne, inviting every one of us, the peasants lower than dirt, to come to Him, to speak with Him, to ask things of Him, so that He may bless us in ways we could never have imagined. This should not be, since I am covered in the grime I have thrown myself in, and yet He asks me to come and ask of Him, so that He may provide and increase my joy, my hope, my life and soul. To come to His house, and ask of Him, is a gift beyond understanding in itself!
God has all the riches our soul can ever attain, and He created each of us that He might give us these, if only we ask and hope for them. We ask, and He grants us these things, which we always shall find to be more wonderful than ever it could have appeared. These gifts are not of the world, and may not look appealing, but to taste one, you want all the rest, and you will pray, because you understand you are God’s child, whom He created uniquely His to be joy. You would be willing to go through all the troubles of the world to gain one more moment of ecstasy of God, and yet all He asks us to do is pray, and He will show is in every little thing His hope and joy to be found.
As peasants, of dirt, we dare not trod on the cleanliness of God’s Kingdom except at His command; and He commands us come, come and experience all the joys of my house! He will clean us and give us homes, give us all that ever need and more, to be with Him, the most wonderful king.
These peasants need only two things; hope and humility. And both these can be gained by the prayer God asks us to use! Ask, and it will be given, including the power to pray! We only need to pray that we may truly pray. Even the smallest, most doubtful prayer has more power than the greatest power of this world, for that smallest prayer can overcome all evil and fill its void. Evil offers no wall to overcome, but a ditch in the earth, and prayer fills it so that we may cross.
We must remember that not having these two things we remain a peasant. One peasant scoffs at God’s invitation, and walks away, claiming he doesn’t need anything that God offers, that he can do better. God will not stop this man, but still sends invitation, knowing that He offers a greater joy than any happiness the peasant will find in this world. The other peasant, knowing he is lower than dirt, thinks he does his host a favor by not coming, understanding he is lower than dirt, and not wanting to be cleaned. We must first be in His presence before He can clean us, and the peasant in shame hides in the shadow, that God may overlook him. It is too sad for this man, beaten by the world, for he has confused the world’s love with God’s love, which is absolutely unconditional. Both these men are God’s creation, that they be unique, and come to Him, but He will not force either of them if they don’t want to to come.
That is why we must have hope and humility; so that we do not think we don’t need to come to God for anything, or that we cannot come to God for anything. We must remember always to come to God for everything, because He will grant us always what is best even though we may not think it, and we cannot ever provide what is truly important, and also that we can be cleaned so that we may enjoy Him and ourselves, as His perfect creation, unashamedly.
So incredible prayer as a gift is, the gift that leads to all gifts being given. It truly is the most wonderful weapon we as Christians have, for prayer can overcome any thing. Prayer is irresistible, for God has made it so that we may always come to Him, no matter who we are. Any greatest sinner can become the most wondrous of saints by the single act of prayer! Evil is only so low, but prayer allows God’s good to never end and always increase, until we don’t know how there could be anything more, but there is always more. And this more is not a more that we will ever grow tired of, but will always grow more expecting, more desiring, and He will provide this all by prayer.
How wondrous it would be, a saint, that we may in Heaven pray all our eternity, all our soul, for anything? There be no greater hope for man, no greater joy, than to be with God and pray. And prayer will always lead to more prayer.
Never forget to pray, for prayer can never be unhelpful. It always works, never a single failed prayer. There is no such thing, failure and prayer never go together, they are theologically impossible and exclusive. Prayer makes all impossible possible, and anything only in the realm of the possible is impossible by prayer; prayer can do anything, deliver from any evil, overcome any temptation, give hope and joy to any person. And all of this by prayer.
In Christ’s weakness do we gain our strength. “God’s weakness is greater than man’s strength.” In Christ, God has personally invited each and every one of us to pray with Christ, the Our Father, as the most perfect prayer. What prayer should God give except what He knows as the most perfect?
Every man should realize that when he prays, he does not pray as a chore or as a work for wages, but that he should be overjoyed, his heart tumultuous and fast-beating, for he is in the house of God.
God has invited us to His house so that we may ask of Him, but also that we may tell to Him. We can express our sorrows, as all the Psalms seem to do, our indignation, our feeling of abandonment, that when we come to God with our sorrow, He stands us up again and says; “Dearly beloved, I created you a unique and lovely person, I know the depths and greatness of your heart, I know how you have overcome before, how you have had joy in me before, and how I will grant you joy in me again.” Why should we only come to God in our joy? We come to God in our sorrow that He may replenish us, make us anew, and we may go back into the world and continue His good work.
To come into His house, alone that may fulfill my joy, erase my sorrow, for I know that God’s design is of the greatest care and love. I am the center of His creation, and yet not, I am to go out to others and share this revelation as I may. I am a uniquely loved being of God, His child, and I can only hope to show others what it is I feel. I cannot express with words, with pictures, with any image of any type, but I can only say how wonderful my God is, that He has created in me such a longing that only He can fulfill, and that He will fulfill it!
A cruel God that would create us with a hole that only He could fill, and He would not; but He asks me to come, so that I may have this hole filled, overfloweth, and I may share this fulfilled joy with others as it overflows. As my joy overflows, it overflows to others, who may take joy in God’s creation, and ultimately, God. I point to God, that is my answer for all happiness, wonder, beauty and truth. I stand awed, and joyful fit to burst with tears, that I am so loved, and knowing that you are so loved, I can only pray that God express this to you.
That is why you must take your sorrow to God, for He has created us to feel the depths of His heart’s sadness in loss, but also that most importantly He will fulfill His creation, work it anew, to what it was always meant to be! He meant His creation to be perfect, and He did not leave it aside, but has sent His son to instruct and make possible that we may have this hole filled, that we may come to Him and be washed by Christ.
In our weakness, we come to God, stronger than any man at that time, because we are united with Christ in His suffering. Prayer is stronger than any iron chain; iron may chain my body and submit it to the forces of the world, and it may work its all to subdue my mind in pain and bondage, but it can never hold down my heart, for my heart beats for God. I have faith that I shall never deny Christ, for He has worked in me and never denied me. I am not denied, how could I deny my friend? Never could I, that would be harder than the pain.
It would be a greater pain to lose Christ than to lose my life, for this life may be lost once, but Christ would be lost eternally. And by prayer have I gained this faith and hope, that Christ be shown in me, that I be just a mirror. I pray that it be me, a perfect mirror, that Christ smooth out the dents and scratches, so that people do not see me at all, but Christ’s love beaming down from heaven unto them through me. That is what I desire to be; a channel of Christ’s love, for I know that my cup shall overfloweth, and overfloweth to others. This joy cannot be contained, it is so great that it must be shared, and from that sharing it becomes greater, because when I pray I am the Lord’s palace, in all the splendor and majesty of His house, and I can barely breathe that I could describe the wonders of these moments to others when I bring tale of this to them.
My joy of God goes to them, and by them finding it the joy is increased in me tenfold, and the Lord’s joy goes even more into my soul, until I feel fit to burst, and He will fulfill me evermore, and I shall desire Him evermore, that is the ultimate end of His love.
This has all come because God has invited me to His house, to come and ask things of Him, and I asked Him for hope and joy, and He has given me more than I could ever have imagined myself receiving. I have a joy that words cannot express, it is a song of my spirit, more wonderful altogether and bringing light all the other joys of the Father.
All this because of only prayer. And I pray that you may also find this when you pray, that God also delivers such a joy.
Amtheomusings 