Charles Spurgeon on Prayer - Day 4

EFFECTUAL PRAYER

"As soon as you began to pray, an answer was given, which I have come to tell you, for you are highly esteemed."

Daniel 9:23

To what shall I liken the pleadings of Daniel? It seems to me as though he thundered and lightninged at the gate of heaven. He stood there before God and said, "O Most High, You have brought me to this place as You brought Jacob to the Jabbok, and with You all night I mean to stay and wrestle till the break of day. I cannot and will not let You go unless You bless me." No prayer is at all likely to bring down an immediate answer if it is not a fervent prayer. "The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much" (James 5:16 KJV), but if it is not fervent, we cannot expect to find it effectual.

We must get rid of the icicles that hang about our lips. We must ask the Lord to thaw the ice caves of our soul and make our hearts like a furnace of the fire heated seven times hotter. If our hearts do not burn within us, we may well question whether Jesus is with us. Those who are neither cold nor hot He has threatened to spew out of His mouth (Rev 3:16). If He is "a consuming fire," He will not commune with us until our souls grow to be like consuming fires, too.

O, for a mighty cry! A prevailing cry! A heaven-shaking cry! A cry that would make the gates of heaven open! A cry that God's arm could not resist! A cry of saints knit together in love and filled with holy passion! Let God throw the stone into the stagnant pool of His church, and I can see the waves of revival going out all around the world. God's kingdom will spread, and days of refreshing will come from the presence of the Lord.

Let us now say in His sight that even if He does not please to hear us at the beginning of the supplication, it is our desire to wait upon Him until He does. You still remain hidden behind the mountains, yet we wait for You as they that wait for the morning. But tarry not, O our God! Make haste our Beloved.

Holy Spirit, light a fire in my soul of passionate love for Jesus. By Your presence melt the icicles that have chilled my heart. Amen