Written by: John Sernaque
Dear Reader,
Books / Pr - Prayer (2002) / Chapter 1—God Invites Us To Pray
Chapter 1—God Invites Us To Pray
A Foretaste of Heaven—Rest yourself wholly in the hands of Jesus. Contemplate His great love, and while you meditate upon His self-denial, His infinite sacrifice made in our behalf in order that we should believe in Him, your heart will be filled with holy joy, calm peace, and indescribable love. As we talk of Jesus, as we call upon Him in prayer, our confidence that He is our personal, loving Saviour will strengthen and His character will appear more and more lovely.... We may enjoy rich feasts of love, and as we fully believe that we are His by adoption, we may have a foretaste of heaven. Wait upon the Lord in faith. The Lord draws out the soul in prayer, and gives us to feel His precious love. We have a nearness to Him, and can hold sweet communion with Him. We obtain distinct views of His tenderness and compassion, and our hearts are broken and melted with contemplation of the love that is given to us. We feel indeed an abiding Christ in the soul. We abide in Him, and feel at home with Jesus. The promises flow into the soul. Our peace is like a river, wave after wave of glory rolls into the heart, and indeed we sup with Jesus and He with us. We have a realizing sense of the love of God, and we rest in His love. {Pr 11.3}
No language can describe it, it is beyond knowledge. We are one with Christ, our life is hid with Christ in God. We have the assurance that when He who is our life shall appear, then shall we also appear with Him in glory. With strong confidence, we can call God our Father.—(The S.D.A. Bible Commentary 3:1147, 1148.) {Pr 12.1}
When we enter into God’s presence in prayer, we are receiving a foretaste of heaven. God welcomes us with an open heart ready to give us His precious love. He longs for us to draw near to Him that He may draw near to us. When we commune with Jesus, it is as if we are in heaven at the foot of His throne. He hears every word, every petition presented before Him, ready to fulfill every one of His promises. In turn, filling our hearts with holy joy, calm peace, and indescribable love. Prayer is our gateway to heaven, where we may see and receive the glory of God.
Our Father,
We thank You for giving us yet another opportunity to come to the foot of Your throne in prayer. For being there for us always, even unto the end of the world. For giving us the chance to speak to You and to hear Your voice. To see and receive all of Your heavenly glory. For pouring out Your precious love unto Your children. We are sorry that we have sinned against You and pray for Your forgiveness. We thank You for Your mercy as we are not even worthy to tie the strap on Your sandal. We thank You for abiding in us that we may receive Your character. For always letting us know we can have confidence that You are our personal Savior. As we come to You in prayer, we contemplate the self- less sacrifice You made on our behalf and want You to know how much we love You. We thank You for Your promise that we are heirs to the Royal Family in heaven and that You have gone to prepare a mansion for us there. We look forward with joyful hearts to the day when we will be able to enter into Your heavenly kingdom and experience an eternal peace. As we abide in You and You in us, we feel an indescribable love that reaches the depths of our soul. We surrender our whole being into Your hands and pray for Your continual presence in our life. We pray that You do not take Your Spirit of Light from us, as Your promise to us is that You will never leave us nor forsake us. Let us hear Your voice and follow wherever You lead. We thank You for hearing and answering our prayers, and it is in the name of Christ Jesus, we pray. Amen.
