Personal Prayer

Abstract

"Prayer is a response; it is man's reaction to a great discovery. It is the discovery that God is not only really there in His light and joy and bliss in the fabric of the material universe, but He is there for us, He has acted on our behalf; He has achieved something stupendous to which we contributed nothing. It is a response to an enormous gift which we find placed in our hands. Prayer is a response to God's Word, to His self-communication. If that is the case, then the Bible must be our primary text book to help us to pray more effectively. We are not called to the hothouse cultivation of a spiritual life, the nurturing and polishing of our sanctity, but to rightly hear the Word of God and give God due answer in that prayer, which is part of our delighted obedience. We must begin by listening, by hearing that Word of God which is addressed to the deepest parts of our personality, the word of conviction and salvation, the word of law and free grace"