Prayer
The following is a poem, written by William Cowper on the subject of prayer.
What various hindrances we meet,
In coming to the mercy seat!
Yet who that knows the worth of prayer,
But wishes to be often there?
Prayer makes the darkened cloud withdraw,
Prayer climbs the ladder Jacob saw,
Gives exercise to faith and love;
Brings every blessing from above.
Restraining prayer, we cease to fight;
Prayer makes the Christian’s armour bright;
And Satan trembles when he sees
The weakest saint upon his knees.
While Moses stood with arms spread wide,
Success was found on Israel’s side;
But when, through weariness, they failed,
That moment Amalek prevailed.
Have you no words? Ah! think again;
Words flow apace when you complain,
And fill your fellow-creature’s ear
With the sad tale of all your care.
Were half the breath thus vainly spent,
To heaven in supplication sent,
Your cheerful song would oftener be,
‘Hear what the Lord has done for me.’
Of Further Interest
Prayers on the Psalms
From the Scottish Psalter of 1595
Description
The following is a poem, written by William Cowper on the subject of prayer. What various hindrances we meet, In coming to the mercy seat! Yet who that knows the worth of prayer, But wishes to be often there? Prayer makes the darkened cloud withdraw, Prayer climbs the ladder Jacob saw, Gives exercise to faith […]
Latest Articles
Preparing Sermons with John Owen May 10, 2024
The following post first appeared (on October 24, 2016) on www.reformation21.org, a blog run by the Alliance of Confessing Evangelicals. It is posted here with their kind permission. After a cracking day at the Evangelical Library in London on “Reading John Owen” (opening, it has to be said, with Nigel Graham giving what may be […]
Finished!: A Message for Easter March 28, 2024
Think about someone being selected and sent to do an especially difficult job. Some major crisis has arisen, or some massive problem needs to be tackled, and it requires the knowledge, the experience, the skill-set, the leadership that they so remarkably possess. It was like that with Jesus. Entrusted to him by God the Father […]