No 5
(Not length but strength)
“Beginning to sink, he cried, saying,
Lord, save me.” Matthew 14:30
Sinking times are praying times with the
Lord’s servants. Peter neglected prayer before starting upon his journey, but
when he began to sink his danger made him a petitioner, and his cry though
late, was not too late. In our hours
of bodily pain and mental anguish, we find ourselves as naturally driven to
prayer as the wreck is driven upon the shore by the waves. The fox goes to its
hole for protection; the bird flies to its nest for shelter and even so the
tried believer hastens to Jesus for safety. Heaven’s harbour of refuge is
prayer; thousands of weather-beaten vessels have found a haven there and the
moment a storm comes on, it is wise for us to make for it with full sails.
Short prayers are long enough. There
were but three words in the petition which Peter gasped out, but they were
sufficient for his purpose. Not length
but strength is desirable. A sense of need is a powerful teacher of
brevity. If our prayers had less of the tail feathers of pride and more wing
they would be all the better. Verbiage is to devotion as chaff is to the wheat.
Precious things lie in small containers, and all that is real prayer might have
been uttered in a petition as short as that of Peter’s.
Our limits are the Lord’s opportunities
and when danger forces an anxious cry from us, the ear of Jesus hears and with
him ear and hand go together. At the last moment we appeal to our Master but
his swift hand makes up for our delays by instant and effectual action. Are we
engulfed by the waters of affliction? Let us then lift up our souls unto our
Saviour, and we may rest assured that he will not allow us to perish. When we
can do nothing, Jesus can do all things; let us call upon His powerful aid upon
our side for He Himself said “And I give
unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man
pluck them out of my hand.” John