Thou restrainest prayer before God. Job xv. 4.
JOB'S friends were bent on discovering the cause of his sufferings in some secret failure and declension. This is why Eliphaz accused him so groundlessly. They did not know of those secret habits of intercession described in the first chapter. But this charge is eminently true of some professing Christians.
They restrain private prayer. ‑‑ The closet door is too seldom shut behind them, or it is kept shut for to brief a period. They do not give themselves time to get into the mid‑current of intercession and be borne forward by it whither it will. The voice of the Holy Spirit is barely able to assert itself amid the hubbub of voices within. They are so taken up with speaking of the Lord, or working for Him, that they slur over private audiences with Himself.
They restrain social prayer. ‑‑ Their minister never them in the gatherings for intercession on behalf of the work of the Church and the salvation of the lost. They forsake the assembling of themselves with the saints. Like Thomas, they are absent from the gathering in the upper room, and miss the smile of the Lord.
They restrain family prayer. ‑‑ Surely we ought to gather at least once a day around the family altar. Where Abraham pitched his tent he erected the altar. A prayerless home is apt to become a worldly and unhappy one. There is no such keystone to the arch of home‑life and home‑love, as the habit of family worship.
How foolish, how short‑sighted, how sinful, it is to restrain prayer! What wonder that your soul is famished when you fail to feed it, or impoverished when you neglect intercourse with heaven!
Be the first to react on this!
F.B. Meyer (1847 - 1929)
A contemporary and friend of D. L. Moody and A. C. Dixon, was a Baptist pastor and evangelist in England involved in ministry and inner city mission work on both sides of the Atlantic. Author of numerous religious books and articles, many of which remain in print today, he was described in an obituary as The Archbishop of the Free Churches.Meyer was part of the Higher Life Movement and was known as a crusader against immorality. He preached against drunkenness and prostitution. He is said to have brought about the closing of hundreds of saloons and brothels. Meyer wrote over 40 books, including Christian biographies and devotional commentaries on the Bible. He, along with seven other clergymen, was also a signatory to the London Manifesto asserting that the Second Coming was imminent in 1918. His works include The Way Into the Holiest:, Expositions on the Epistle to the Hebrews (1893) ,The Secret of Guidance, Our Daily Homily and Christian Living.
Frederick Brotherton Meyer, a contemporary and friend of D. L. Moody was a Baptist pastor and evangelist in England involved in ministry and inner city mission work on both sides of the Atlantic. Author of numerous religious books and articles, many of which remain in print today, he has been described as The Archbishop of the Free Churches.
Meyer was part of the Higher Life movement and preached often at the Keswick Convention. He was known as a crusader against immorality. He preached against drunkenness and prostitution. He is said to have brought about the closing of hundreds of saloons and brothels.
F. B. Meyer wrote over 40 books, including Christian biographies and devotional commentaries on the Bible. He, along with seven other clergymen, was also a signatory to the London Manifesto asserting that the Second Coming was imminent in 1918.
Frederick Meyer spent the last few years of his life working as a pastor in England's churches, but still made trips to North America, including one he made at age 80 (his earlier evangelistic tours had included South Africa and Asia, as well as the United States and Canada ). A few days before his death, Meyer wrote the following words to a friend:
Meyer was a Baptist pastor and evangelist in England, born in London. He attended Brighton College and graduated from London University in 1869. He studied theology at Regents Park Baptist College.
Meyer began pastoring churches in 1870. His first pastorate was at Pembroke Baptist Chapel in Liverpool. In 1872 he pastored Priory Street Baptist Church in York. While he was there he met the American evangelist Dwight L. Moody, whom he introduced to other churches in England. The two preachers became lifelong friends.
In 1895 Meyer went to Christ Church in Lambeth. At the time only 100 people attended the church, but within two years over 2,000 were regularly attending. He stayed there for fifteen years, and then began a traveling to preach at conferences and evangelistic services.
His evangelistic tours included South Africa and Asia. He also visited the United States and Canada several times.
He spent the last few years of his life working as a pastor in England's churches, but still made trips to North America, including one he made at age 80.
Meyer was part of the Higher Life movement and preached often at the Keswick Convention. He was known as a crusader against immorality. He preached against drunkenness and prostitution. He is said to have brought about the closing of hundreds of saloons and brothels.
Meyer wrote over 40 books, including Christian biographies and devotional commentaries on the Bible.