“Pray without ceasing.” (1 Thes. 5: 17.) There is a great difference between prayer and the life of prayer. Almost everyone prays, but very few pray without ceasing. This is the habit of devotion. This is the altar of incense ever burning in the Holy Place. This is the fragrance of a heart that lives in the presence of the Holy One, and breathes the very life of God. This is the deep undertone of a sanctified life. It is from this that the sweetness, the gladness, the holiness, and the helpfulness come. Lord, teach us the habit of prayer, the prayer that springs spontaneously from the heart, and which neither secular duty, satanic temptation, nor the waves of sorrow, can interrupt, but which is only stimulated by the things that try us, until every experience becomes transformed into an occasion for communion and fellowship with God.”

I love the above quote by A.B. Simpson.  I don’t know that man, but I think he understood something that we have a hard time getting sometimes.

God has been doing a new sanctifying work in my heart, and I have been absolutely overwhelmed by His grace and love.  I am rejoicing, and at the same time, deeply sobered by the heart of God.  I have never seen so clearly how easy it is for every human being, no matter what they profess, to simply miss walking in the reality of God’s grace.  The heart of man within himself is truly evil.  If every man or woman is not willing to consider his own heart in these days, what havoc will be wrought.  We Christians say Amen to a statement like that readily, but I wonder if we have done it ourselves.  Have we asked God to show us our own heart?  Have we truly received His grace into our hearts and been filled with His Spirit?  Do we realize how serious it is for us to profess Christ if we have not?  Souls are being devoured by the enemy.  If we only see what a person does or hear what he says and don’t fight for his soul with true faith in God, do we realize that we can thoughtlessly shove him right over the brink?   Are we willing to stop and consider our own hearts before God?  Are we willing to rally for the sake of His kingdom, believe God and realize that there is no power in our own hand?  I’m convinced that if I fail to understand how helplessly dependant my soul is on God, and receive His Divine nature into my heart by His Spirit, I will never make it.  This is a true war.