Give yourselves to prayer and the ministry of the Word. If you do not pray, God will probably lay you aside from your ministry, as He did me, to teach you to pray.
Interpretation
Prayer and commitment to ministry are essential for a fruitful spiritual life.
In this quote, Robert Murray M'Cheyne emphasizes the importance of prayer and the study of the Word of God in Christian ministry. He warns that neglecting prayer can lead to being sidelined in one's spiritual responsibilities, as he experienced, suggesting that prayer is crucial for sustenance and effectiveness in ministry.
In practice
During a church meeting, to highlight the importance of prayer in our daily lives.
I ought to pray before seeing any one. Often when I sleep long, or meet with others early, it is eleven or twelve o'clock before I begin secret prayer. I feel it is far better to begin with God-to see His face first, to get my soul near Him before it is near another.
Rose early to seek God and found Him whom my soul loveth. Who would not rise early to meet such company?
I ought to spend the best hours of the day in communion with God. It is my noblest and most fruitful employment, and is not to be thrust into any corner.
Live near to God, and so all things will appear to you little In comparison to eternal realities.
If I could hear Christ praying for me in the next room, I would not fear a million enemies.
The greatest need of my people is my own holiness.
Prayer is not overcoming God's reluctance. It is laying hold of His willingness.
Prayer begins by talking to God, but it ends by listening to Him. In the face of Absolute Truth, silence is the soul's language.
Jesus' pattern prayer, which is both crutch, road, and walking lesson for the spiritually lame like ourselves, tells us to start with God: for God matters infinitely more than we do.
If by losing the spirit of prayer, you mean losing the heavenly sensations of deep devotion, I am afraid that does not matter a scrap.
Before we go to our knees to receive the Baptism of Fire, let me beg of you to see to it that your souls are in harmony with the will and purpose of the Holy Spirit whom you seek.
Without God's Spirit, there is nothing we can do that will count for God's kingdom. Without God's Spirit, the church simply can't be the church.
Subscribe for the occasional hand-picked quote. No noise.