The Necessity of Daily Bible Reading, and The Necessity of Daily Prayer, by J.R. Miller. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord.
~ Colossians 3:16
Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me. For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart: And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up. And thou shalt bind them for a sign upon thine hand, and they shall be as frontlets between thine eyes. And thou shalt write them upon the posts of thy house, and on thy gates.
~ John 5:39, Hebrews 4:12, Deuteronomy 6:6-9
Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee. Neither have I gone back from the commandment of his lips; I have esteemed the words of his mouth more than my necessary food. Thy words were found, and I did eat them; and thy word was unto me the joy and rejoicing of mine heart: for I am called by thy name, O LORD God of hosts.
~ Psalm 119:11, Job 23:12, Jeremiah 15:16
But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly.
~ Matthew 6:6
And when he had sent the multitudes away, he went up into a mountain apart to pray: and when the evening was come, he was there alone. And Jacob was left alone; and there wrestled a man with him until the breaking of the day. He went in therefore, and shut the door upon them twain, and prayed unto the LORD.
~ Matthew 14:23, Genesis 32:24, 2 Kings 4:33
The eyes of the LORD are upon the righteous, and his ears are open unto their cry. And it shall come to pass, that before they call, I will answer; and while they are yet speaking, I will hear.
~ Psalm 34:15, Isaiah 65:24
For this cause I bow my knees unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,
~ Ephesians 3:14
Probably prayer is less neglected in devotions, than is the reading of the Bible. Many people who would not go out any morning without a few moments of prayer, will go forth day after day into the thick of life's duties and perils, without reading even a verse of Scripture. They feel the necessity of asking God to keep, guide and bless them — but they fail to realise that it is in and through meditating on His Word, that God chiefly gives His richest and best blessings.
It is in His Word, that God reveals Himself. We cannot know what He is like, nor what the attributes of His character are — unless we ponder the Scriptures. We cannot learn what God's will is, nor what He would have us to do and to be — if we do not look into His Word. There is nothing that we need more, than to hear God speaking to us every morning. This is possible, only as we open the Bible and let its words whisper their messages to us.
No matter how familiar we may be with the teachings of the Scriptures, we need to ponder them anew every morning to keep their pure ideals and lofty requirements ever before us, lest we allow our standard of holy living to be lowered.
It is important, however, that we understand clearly what it is to pray. It is not enough that at stated times we go over certain forms of prayer. We only pray, when we speak to God what is in our heart as a desire, a longing, or a burden.
Jesus teaches that we are to pray to God as our Father. We must come to Him, therefore, as children — with the genuineness, the simplicity, the confidence of children. When we stand at God's throne of grace and speak the name "Father" and ask for a child's blessing — we are sure of instant welcome.
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