We have been looking at the topic of prayer through the words of Samuel Chadwick from his book, The Path of Prayer.
He brings the point that "importunity prevails" in prayer. “Importunity” is defined as being persistent or demanding.
“Our Lord Himself prayed with intensity and importunity. He rose early to pray. He spent all nights in prayer.”
(Samuel Chadwick, The Path of Prayer, page 46)
We are invited to plead and persist until our prayers prevail. Prayer is not easy and most will find, it actually is work. It demands our emotions, our concentration, and our intensity. We wrestle in prayer with so much that is beyond our control.
“Maybe Coleridge [referring to Samuel Taylor Coleridge] was not far wrong when he spoke of prayer as the highest energy of which the human heart is capable and the greatest achievement of the Christian’s warfare on earth.”
(Samuel Chadwick, The Path of Prayer, page 47)
In this book, Chadwick points out the paradox of prayer:
- It’s so simple a child can pray, and so profound that even the wisest of persons cannot explain it fully.
- It’s so easy that those who have no strength can pray, and so strenuous it takes all energy away.
- It’s so natural that one does not need to be taught to pray, yet we seek to learn about it.
And hence, comes the cost of prayer. It takes discipline, time, and energy. We have to be intentional in making it a priority of our day or it will not happen at all.
Prayer is intense, and the reward great –
God is found by those who seek Him with all their heart.
Keep on wrestling.
“You will seek Me and find Me when you search for Me with all your heart.”
(Jeremiah 29:13, NASB)
Photo by Marko Blažević on Unsplash
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