Adapted from "Odors from Golden Vials" by Charles E. Orr, 1912
Prayer is a Coming to God
Here are some Bible expressions that demonstrate this.
- He that comes to God
- Whosoever will let him come
- He that comes unto me
- Come unto me, all you who labor and are heavy laden
- He is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him
- Come to the waters
- Come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.
God is the Christian's Father
In prayer we should come to him as a child to its father. God loves this familiarity. This is not irreverence. We can come to him familiarly and yet reverently. We can conceive of God both as the Supreme Ruler of the universe on his throne in heaven and as our Father by our side. We should be so conscious of his being with us that when we go into our closets we shall almost feel like holding the door ajar to admit him. Then, a little closer still, we can conceive of him as being in our own hearts. So turn our voice inward and speak to him in our own heart brings him nearer. We see him then, not as a ruler in heaven only, but as a ruler in our own hearts. When we come to God, we can have this view of him.
We should come to God in prayer and speak to him, thanking him or making a request of him, as familiarly as with the closest friend. In true prayer, we talk personally with God; we embrace him as our closest companion; we see him and hear him and speak to him and feel his presence as we do that of a friend. This seeing and hearing and making him a person with us is in the province of faith. In prayer we "close our eyes to things that are seen and open them to things unseen."
Prayer is a coming to God and embracing him, a drinking in of his life and spirit, a leaning on him, and feeling the beating of his heart warm with love.
Enoch walked with God three hundred years. We don't suppose that walk was in silence, but in conversation. We don't know what was said, and it's not God's purpose that we should know. But we can come to him, and he will teach us what to say.
Prayer is more than bending the knee and saying some words.
It is the shutting of the closet door and being alone with God. It is the coming of the soul, tremulous with love and holy awe, before his sacred presence and at the same time, a talking to him in childlike innocence and confidence. It is Father and child in the most intimate conversation and sweetest companionship. The little child climbs upon its father's knee and delights itself in his companionship. There in the sacred silence the heart seems to talk with heart, and the spirit of the child is fashioned into the likeness of the parent. Such is the companionship that the trusting child of God has with his Father. There he finds rest.
