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Steps to Christ
God. These silent prayers rise like precious incense before the throne
of grace. Satan cannot overcome him whose heart is thus stayed upon
God.
There is no time or place in which it is inappropriate to offer up a
petition to God. There is nothing that can prevent us from lifting up
our hearts in the spirit of earnest prayer. In the crowds of the street,
in the midst of a business engagement, we may send up a petition to
God and plead for divine guidance, as did Nehemiah when he made
his request before King Artaxerxes. A closet of communion may be
found wherever we are. We should have the door of the heart open
continually and our invitation going up that Jesus may come and abide
as a heavenly guest in the soul.
Although there may be a tainted, corrupted atmosphere around us,
we need not breathe its miasma, but may live in the pure air of heaven.
We may close every door to impure imaginings and unholy thoughts
by lifting the soul into the presence of God through sincere prayer.
Those whose hearts are open to receive the support and blessing of
God will walk in a holier atmosphere than that of earth and will have
constant communion with heaven.
We need to have more distinct views of Jesus and a fuller compre-
hension of the value of eternal realities. The beauty of holiness is to
fill the hearts of God’s children; and that this may be accomplished,
we should seek for divine disclosures of heavenly things.
Let the soul be drawn out and upward, that God may grant us a
breath of the heavenly atmosphere. We may keep so near to God that
in every unexpected trial our thoughts will turn to Him as naturally as
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the flower turns to the sun.
Keep your wants, your joys, your sorrows, your cares, and your
fears before God. You cannot burden Him; you cannot weary Him.
He who numbers the hairs of your head is not indifferent to the wants
of His children. “The Lord is very pitiful, and of tender mercy.”
James
5:11
. His heart of love is touched by our sorrows and even by our
utterances of them. Take to Him everything that perplexes the mind.
Nothing is too great for Him to bear, for He holds up worlds, He rules
over all the affairs of the universe. Nothing that in any way concerns
our peace is too small for Him to notice. There is no chapter in our
experience too dark for Him to read; there is no perplexity too difficult
for Him to unravel. No calamity can befall the least of His children, no