My Personal Holdfast

Text“My God wit hear me.” Micah 7 +7.

CONFIDENCE IN PRAYER ESSENTIAL TO PREVAILING. — I. THE RE-SULTS OF CONFIDENCE. — A RESORT IN THE WORST OF TIMES, —

NOT A FORLORN HOPE. — A BULWARK AGAINST DESPAIR. —

Om PATIENCE ENCOURAGED. — THE PUNCTUALITY OF GOD. — AN AN-

-. SWER TO ENEMIES. — RISING AGAIN ASSURED. — CONFIDENCE

: THAT LIGHT WILL COME. — II. THE REASON FOR THE CONFI-

-DENCE. — THE FAITHFUL PROMISER. — PAST EXPERIENCE. —

PHILOSOPHY TESTED BY A POST. — III. THE CONFIDENCE IN.

As EXERCISE. — LEADS TO APPLYING TO GOD FIRST. — TO REAL PRAYER. — HOW TO PRAY.

- OsserveE that the prophet has no sort of doubt.

sf He insinuates no “if” or “but” or “peradventure,” but Bs. he says it straight out as a fact of which he is infallibly

z convinced — “My God will hear me.” What a blessed ee thing it is that a child of God knows and feels that oa this is true; wherever he fails, he will succeed at the

throne! If all other friendly ears are closed, his

Friend of friends will hear him. Lose your confi- -dence in the power of prayer, and I know not what

remains to you. If you are obliged to say, “My God

will of hear me” — if that is the language of your

unbelieving spirit — the tendon-Achilles is cut, and you

cannot stand with confidence, much less run with

a delight. With faith in prayer you have heaven’s

i TREASURES AT YOUR DISPOSAL;

but if you ask waveringly, you find that warning true,

“He that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven

with the wind and tossed. Let not that man think that he shall receive anything of the Lord.” It isa

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very wide question, that of God’s hearing the prayer

ny of men, and I should need a considerable time to. describe particularly whose prayers the Lord will — hear, and what prayers He will hear, and how it —

is true that He always hears, whatever His answer may be. But it will be a far better thing if, without debate, you can personally say for yourself, “Let others say what they will, and judge what

they please in this matter, I am persuaded by the he - Spirit of all grace that my God will hear me.’ If, —

so far as you yourself are concerned, you have this. assurance, your own feet are upon a rock, and you need not trouble about the sand and the mire. This. assurance, “My God will hear me,” is better than all the aid of mortal men, and a greater wealth than the mines of India could afford you. I. I shall try to speak, in the first place, upon THE RESULTS OF CONFIDENCE -

in prayer in believers. When they can truly say, “My God will hear me,” the best consequences will’ come of it. Think of what will happen to them. To begin with, in the worst of times God is their resort.

In reading the chapter we saw that the times were

desperate. The nation had become rotten throughout; ‘the good man is perished out of the earth; and’ there is none upright among men.” Justice was: openly sold; bribes were unblushingly taken, and even openly demanded. In business all were dishonest; “the best of them is a briar; the most upright is sharper than a thorn hedge.” In domestic

Sok no trusting friend or Eepane or wife Or * son or daughter. The Grote land had become corrupt; and as the prophet surveyed it with tears in his, ie eyes, he could see nothing worth the looking upon, / and he cried, *‘ Therefore I will look unto the Lord; gn & will ae for the God of my salvation: ey God will ae ‘oe a hear me.’ oe: ‘His conviction that God would hear his prayer was. his last comfort, and it led him to close his eyes upon, the spectacle of universal crime and look heavenward, and heavenward only. When you have faith in prayer you will, in the cloudy and dark day, find consolation in looking to God, who is.the blessed sun from whom a brighter day will come. Instead of being overcome by doubt you will gather up your faith, which else might have been scattered among men, and you will place the whole of it upon God, who. still remains true and faithful and holy. Men who; have confidence in prayer have perpetual errands at the throne, for they have abundant trials in the wick-° edness of men, and they look for more abundant: mercies from the Lord. If they are in straitened circumstances they run to their Father in heaven to ask that their daily bread may be given them; and if they enjoy plenty, with equal earnestness they pray that their abundance may be sanctified. In any case the believer has abundant reasons for PRAYING WITHOUT CEASING. Another blessing which we derive from the certainty that God hears our prayer is that our eyes are

led to look to God with hope. Not only do we turn

OS eo thekord becuse Ge have He sue eee ra prophet says, “Therefore will I look unto the Lord. our God, not as a forlorn hope, but as the sure source

but hope remains forever in the box, which is not that

of Pandora, but of Jehovah. It is one of the best of our blessings that we “through patience and comfort of

‘ - to keep hope alive in the human bosom: it is the

direst of calamities when it dies out. Whence the

- suicide — the plunge into the dark wave, or the crimson gash that lets out a soul? Are not those é gates of grim death opened as hope flies away?

Whence that listlessness, that lethargy, that want of —

energy, that letting things drift to ruin? It is because hope has quitted the helm, and the ship is drawn upon the rocks. Kill hope in a man, and you have killed the man’s best self. The spirit of a man will sustain his infirmity; but “a wounded spirit, who can bear?” Now, a firm conviction that God will hear prayer is a life-buoy to a sinking hope. He will not give all up

who believes that his God will hear him. a Surely, these are two choice blessings — to be ena- “bled to look always to God, and to look towards Him é evermore with hope; but we go further. A full conviction of the certainty that God will hear our prayers helps us to wait with patience. ‘I will wait for the

God of my salvation.” He may not answer me to-

day, but He will hear me. To-morrow may not bring

‘because we look to Him with joyful expectation. The I will wait for the God of my salvation.” We view —

of salvation to us. Many things are taken from us, ee

the Scriptures may have hope.” It is no small thing ray.

He is not whee present when we need Him, Bab wel find Him “a very present help in trouble.” We find

ae it good to wait, because we have no fear of being disappointed. In all difficulties, and under all opposi- — ;; tion, we shall be able to endure with patience the wilh tae of the Lord, if we remain firm in the assurance that: prayer is heard of the Lord. I often repeat Ralph Erskine’s ditty: sie ae “Ym heard when. answered, soon or late, ay ‘ae Yea, heard when I no answer get; Oh I’m kindly answered when refused,, And treated well when harshly used.” — Itisso. No good thing will the Lord withhold from; them that walk uprightly; and, therefore, if an answer. to prayer be withheld, it is because what we sought: was not for our real good. Ai flat denial in form may be a full grant in essence, since all our prayers are - comprehended in “Thy will be done;” and this is the standing corrective for all that we ask amiss. If, then, in prayer we do not have our will of God in one bs way, yet we shall have it in another; for we ever- ‘more, in the inmost depths of our soul, are praying, “Nevertheless, not as I will, but as thou wilt.” The Lord will either give us wee we ask, or do some better thing for us.

enemies. ‘Rejoice not against me, O mine enemy, iam -my God will hear me.” The foe has seen me fall,

“Where is thy God?”

“prayer. Observe that it gives us an answer rors our

and he has hastened to set his foot upon me; but 1

do not lie there in despair, surrendering myself to, be

Bice by him, for “My God will hear me. How.

bravely can we deride derision, and pour scorning upon the scorners, even when they are in their glory, — when we firmly believe that the Lord heareth prayer! They reckon that we are defeated, that we have no — one to plead our cause, that we shall never be heard of again, and they have very ingenious ways of telling Ss us these cruel persuasions of theirs. We answer them ‘by declaring boldly that our heavenly Father has — heard our cries, and that, before long, He will make this clear even to our foes. ‘Then mine enemy shall see it, and shame shall cover her which said unto me, *

WE FIGHT A WAITING BATTLE. Fabius saved Rome by waiting, and we, also, are saved by the hope which waits upon the Lord, and ides the time of the faithful promise. The saint is no ‘Cesar, who boastfully writes, “venz, vidz, vici;” but his dispatches are written with the pen of patience, and here is one of them, “I wait for the Lord, my — soul doth wait, and in His word do I hope.” We are — of the tribe of Gad, of whom it is written, “A troop — shall overcome him: but he shall overcome at the for ‘me, my heart i is Faker! Rete, thee cona which. comes” of defending the “Lord’s own a:

is Piss that my a ebee, liveth, and that, Osgan aioe my skin worms devour this body, yet shall my Lord a vindicate me and all others who have been faithful. wo. f Again, our confidence in a prayer-hearing God = sustains us with the bright PROSPECT OF RISING -when we are down. What saith the prophet? “Rejoice not against me, O mine enemy! when I fail, I shall arise.” What if I have slipped? What if, through pressure of pain and sorrow, my spirits have -sunk within me? What if Iam a broken and crushed man? Yet I can pray, and I do pray, and my God will hear me; therefore I shall arise again. Oh, blessed thought! The Christian may fall very low, ‘but underneath him are the everlasting arms. Even though we fall into the grave, blessed be God we can fall no lower; and then comes the rising from among - the dead, the rising to the throne. It makes my spirit leap within me to think how this conviction that God hears prayer begets in us the joyful certainty that we cannot be left in the dust, but we must arise, and shake ourselves, and put on our beautiful array. A firm conviction that the Lord hears prayer gives the soul confidence that Baie. LIGHT WILL COME to it. The prophet says, “When I sit in darkness, ae springs out ee that little word, ee My God

E will hear me.” If I am plunged in darkness fi shall still pray; and as the Lord will hear me, He will give ca me light. Prayer lights candles where there are none. ~My God: my light. It cannot be that a Christian ie should be in the dark and have his God with him: for nie if his God be with him it must be light round abou vhin! Joy and comfort must spring up in the most -. barren misery if we know how to pray: the desert.. shall rejoice and blossom as the rose if the feet sie ane es supplication touch it. They said that where the Tartar’s foot fell the grass was withered; but we may I say that where the believer’s knee touches, all 4 made fruitful. God keep us in this conviction; forI Mex eS say again, if this goes, all goes: if there is no more oe i i power in prayer, religion is either a nullity, or a mere piece of fanaticism, or a juggle of priestcraft. All those are the results of holding firmly to the ae doctrine of effectual prayer; and to us most excellent a eee results they are.. oe II. And from this I pass on to notice Ns 3 THE REASON FOR THE CONFIDENCE ae which believers exhibit in the matter of prayer. They speak not without reason when they say, “My God will hear me.” Why do we thus believe? We believe it first, and mainly, because of the faithful Promiser. The character of the Lord God, who has. promised to answer prayer, the truthfulness of the Lord Jesus, who has said, “If ye shall ask anything in My name I will do it,” and the wisdom of the Holy

F God Gincel constrains us to cae upon His a without S doubt. ‘It is declared, over and over, —

a seeketh, findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened.” ‘We have the command “Ask, and it shall fe given you.” I had rather have one little promise in the corner of the Bible to support my faith than IL “would have all the pore of scientific men to sustain my opinion. The history of philosophy is, in brief, the history of fools. All the sets of philosophers that have yet lived have been more successful in contradicting those that: came before them than in anything else. Within a; few years the evolutionists will be cut in pieces by — some new dreamers. The reigning philosophers of the present period have in them so much of the — vitality of madness that they will be a perpetual sub- — ject of contempt; and I venture to prophesy that, before my head shall lie in the grave, there will hardly bea notable man left who will not have washed his. hands of the present theory. That which is taught to-day for a certainty by savants will soon have been so disproved as to be trodden down as the mire in the streets. The Lord’s truth liveth and reigneth, but ‘man’s inventions are but for an hour. I am no pro- -phet, nor the son of a prophet; but as I have lived to see marvellous changes in the dogmas of philosophy, 1 ers to see still more. SEE HOW THEY HAVE SHIFTED.

They used to tell us that the natural depravity of our a; a the inspired Scriptures of truth, that “He that By ie 5 in sin, fl tou? sith mimic sentiment a i, dear babe was perfect. Now what do they tel us? fe that if we do not inherit the ia sit

the primeval oysters, or other creatures, from which ea we have ascended or descended. We bear in our bodies, if not in our souls, the effects of all the tricks - a of the monkeys whose future was entailed upon us by — evolution. This nonsense is to be received by learned 4 societies with patience, and accepted by us with rever-Bs ence, while the simple statements of Holy Writ are ig regarded as mythical or incredible. I only mention this folly for the sake of showing that the opponents — of the Word of God constantly shift their positions, like quicksands at a river’s mouth; but they are equally dangerous, whatever position they occupy. In the announcement of heredity philosophical thought He has deprived itself of all power to object to the. Biblical doctrine of original sin. This is of no consequence to us, who care nothing for their objections;: but it ought to be some sort of hint to them. ME I feel ashamed to add anything to the first over- -whelming reason for faith, for that is enough and more than enough; yet, since faith is so often weak, we — Ks may place beneath it another prop. We believe in prayer because of: toh OUR PAST EXPERIENCE, ar Certain of us could not say less than “My God will: RS hear me,” for if we did we should be traitors to the sis Ue Seca a a itness. ‘of our ree 1 shall ‘not turn this into an experience-meeting, but, if I did, what testimonies we

answers which I have personally received; but all the saints of God are one in their testimony upon this ee

point.

When the philosopher said that there was no aie thing as matter, he who hurt his head against a post ‘was convinced of the contrary; and when another great theorist said that there was no such thing as mind, he who had been heart-broken with sorrow could not be converted to the opinion. It is hard to argue against our experience and consciousness. We are case-hardened. The Creol proverb says, “When the musquito tried to sting the alligator, he wasted his time:” and the case is much the same when

infidels deal with us. It would be needful to convince us that facts are not facts, that deliverances from

trouble were not deliverances, that supplies of necessities were not supplies. I am ready to disbelieve my

aa eyes, for they have often deceived me; I am ready to

discredit my ears, for they have misled me; but I cannot disbelieve my personal experience, especially when it does not consist of a few scattered incidents, but of a chain of facts. The Lord has listened to my - voice when I have cried to Him, and this I know as certainly as I know that I have lived upon this earth; therefore I believe that “my God will hear me” in the present and in the future.

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4 loot roils a third head. oo ‘us CO1 THE EXERCISE OF THIS CONFIDENCE ts” ‘in 1 prayer. I have shown you the results of this c one ‘Sj ‘fidence, and some few of the reasons for it; now le us see whither the exercise of this confidence leads — us. What are we doing when we carry this assurance” into action? Our confidence that the Lord hears prayer is seen in our looking to Him first and foremost. a all times. For our eternal salvation we look to — God alone, accepting that divine system in which, by — is a water and by blood, we are saved from sin, through an faith, Our confidence does not lie in our own — - resolves, or moral virtue, or spiritual attainments, but. ‘in Him to whom we cry in prayer, “Hold thou me up, and I shall be safe.” We are glad of the aid of if mt - friends in smaller concerns; but even there our first — -~ resort is to our God in heaven, for we each one feel. this to be his chief defence — “My God will hear me.” a This also impels us really to pray. Since God will hear us, we will pray to Him, and we do. Alas! we

have many
SINS IN REFERENCE TO PRAYER.

Our slackness in prayer, and our unbelief as to prayer, are crimes for which we ought to cover our faces with. shame; but when we walk with God aright, when we keep His commandments, and abide in His love, then He gives us life, joy, and power tn prayer, and then. we become conscious of success at the throne. That. power being bestowed upon us, we come to pray as — naturally as a child cries. We ought to have set. times for private prayer; it is most healthful that we s

not eiinse which are quice. eect ne time ek, “season. The Lord is always willing; therefore let us be always praying in one form or another. Let us - pray, no matter what may be the trial, no matter what the joy, no matter what the company. Pray without ceasing, because it is always true — ‘‘My God will

hear me.” You know how it was said of a holy man as he walked the sap “There goes the man that

“This i eAiiesenet of a great life, Fail here, and you fail everywhere.

As for you, poor souls, who cannot say, ‘My God,” pee I tell you that you may not pray? Far from it. If you have a desire to pray, encourage that desire. Let your heart go up to Him who says to you, “seek ye the Lord while He may be found.” Instead of telling you not to pray, I would direct you

me HOW TO PRAY. y

You have need, first, to have a God to pray to, for - till then you cannot say, “JZy God will hear me.” God can only be yours in the saving sense by Christ’s “being yours. Jesus says, “No man cometh unto the Father but by Me.” God becomes our God by faith which appropriates Him as He is revealed in His Son Jesus Christ. Look to Jesus, for He is the mercy- ‘seat, and so the way to God in prayer. The Gospel that we have preeched to you is not “Pray,” but “Believe”: “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved.” Then, being saved, you will be able. to pray with assurance of prevailing. Come to

this my prayer, that those who hear or roe thie sermon may be able to say, even as Thine pa

servant most boldly says, “My God will hear me. Pm Grant it, I pray Thee, for Jesus’ sake.