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The safety of prayer

Prayer is a harbour to the shipwrecked man, an anchor to them that are sinking in the waves, a staff to the limbs that totter, a mine of jewels to the poor, a healer of diseases, and a guardian of health. Prayer at once secures the continuance of our blessings, and chases always the cloud of our calamities. O blessed prayer! You are the unwearied conqueror of human woes, the firm foundation of human happiness and the source of ever-enduring joy. The man who can pray truly, though languishing in extreme poverty, is richer than everyone else. The wretch who never bows the knee, though proudly seated as monarch of all nations, is of all men the most destitute.
JOHN CHRYSOSTOM (349-407AD)

I love the way Chrysostom moves from how prayer secures our blessings to how it keeps them. I was reading Richard Sibbes’ The Saint’s Safety in Evil Times’ earlier this week. He says “prayer gets blessings, thankfulness witnessed by obedience keeps them”. I think the reason we are prayerless is that we are not thankful. Sibbes is warning us that God does not take kindly to a ungrateful or prayerless heart! May the Lord help us to express our gratefulness in prayer for His blessings in good times and bad times! Amen!
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