DRAWING NIGH to GOD....series..."Transforming Power In_Sincere Prayer"

 

"Drawing Nigh to God"

by Minnie E. Dauphinee

 

"This is the confidence that we have

 in him, that if we ask any thing

according to his will, he hearth us."

 -1 John 5:14

 

A few years ago a Christian woman picked up a card on which were these words_

"PRAYER CHANGES THINGS
PRAYER CHANGES YOU"

 

The thought expressed upon her mind that she felt she must share it with as many others as possible. Therefore, she paid to have the words appear for one month on five hundred billboards in New York subways, where millions of people saw them.

"Prayer changes you." Dr. Alexis Carrel says: "If you make a habit of sincere prayer, your life will be very noticeably and profoundly altered. Prayer stamps with its indelible mark our actions and demeanor. A tranquility of bearing, a facial and bodily repose, are observed in those whose inner lives are thus enriched. Within the depths of consciousness a flame kindles. And man sees himself. He discovers his selfishness, his silly pride, his fears, his greeds, his blunders. He develops a sense of moral obligations, intellectual humility....

 

 "Prayer is a force as real as terrestrial gravity... It is the only power in the world that seems to overcome the so-called 'law of nature'; the occasions on which prayer has dramatically done this have been termed 'miracles.' But a constant, quieter miracle takes place hourly in the hearts of men and women who have discovered that prayer supplies them with a steady flow of sustaining power in their daily lives."

Ellen G. White writes, "Communion with God[prayer, Bible study, and meditation] imparts to the soul an intimate knowledge of His will." When our lives are in harmony with God's will, our prayers also will be in harmony with His will, and more and more our characters will reflect Christ's character.