Doctrines of Prayer, Faith, and Peace by James Hastings: Hastings, James - Doctrine of Prayer: 016. Hopeful

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Doctrines of Prayer, Faith, and Peace by James Hastings: Hastings, James - Doctrine of Prayer: 016. Hopeful



TOPIC: Hastings, James - Doctrine of Prayer (Other Topics in this Collection)
SUBJECT: 016. Hopeful

Other Subjects in this Topic:

II.

HOPEFUL.

It is very necessary that in self-examination we should search with God the inmost secrets of the heart and bow in uttermost humility before Him. Yet it sometimes happens that, in the apprehension of thinking too favourably of ourselves, we fall into the opposite extreme. We disclaim all good, every better quality. Then, in the midst of this self-abasement, a voice within whispers, “How very humble thou art!” and thus pride strikes its roots, though quite secretly, in the soul. God is the God of truth. Therefore we cannot please Him by making ourselves worse than we are. We are to pass neither too gentle nor too harsh a judgment on ourselves, but one in harmony with truth. If in our own thoughts we disparage ourselves beneath our real worth, this inward untruth is again rebuked by the same voice that whispered in our ear of our marked humility. No doubt we are always to feel ourselves to be poor sinners; but if we are true Christians, we cannot forget that we are God’s children. No doubt we should sorrow that the power of sin is not yet utterly broken in us, that we are compelled, therefore, to stand perpetually on our guard; but it were ingratitude not to rejoice in God’s grace, which, provided our faith is a living one, we know not merely as pardoning mercy, but also as the living energy by which our inner nature is being more and more renewed. We are by no means so good that, in order to remain humble, we are absolutely compelled to regard ourselves as worse than we are. Even if we were so advanced, is not all self-complacency dashed to the ground by the single thought: “What had become of thee if thou hadst had no Saviour?”

There are two dangers, quite opposite in character, which are liable to confront us as we engage in the practice of Confession. On the one hand, there is the danger to regard confession as a mere matter of routine, and, in consequence, to think lightly of sin; on the other hand, we may be tempted to indulge in morbid self-examination. In both cases the great truth has been forgotten that confession is of no use unless we are ready to forsake the sins we own. If we are content to go on day after day, as many do, acknowledging the same sins without breaking loose from them, conscience will be dulled, and we shall become too familiar with sin to see its hatefulness in God’s sight. If on the other hand we are forever bemoaning our besetting sins and allowing ourselves daily to sink lower under the burden of them, we are surely dishonouring God, who is bidding us rise up from our faces to put away the accursed thing from amongst us. If, however, we forsake the sin which we confess, and daily prove the power of God to deliver us, and believe His word, “Sin shall not have dominion over you,” confession may be the path to untold blessing. [Note: Charles F. Harford-Battersby, Daily: A Help to Private Prayer, 21.]

It is of the first importance that in all the exercises of the secret chamber we should yield ourselves to the blessed influences of the Comforter, by whom alone we are enabled to pray with acceptance. An important caution in regard to this has been noted by Ralph Erskine. In his diary he writes, under the date, Jan. 23, 1733: “This morning . . . I was quickened in prayer, and strengthened to hope in the Lord. At the beginning of my prayer I discerned a lively frame in asserting a God in Christ to be the fountain of my life, the strength of my life, the joy of my life; and that I had no life that deserved that name, unless He Himself were my life. But here, checking myself with reflections upon my own sinfulness; vileness, and corruption, I began to acknowledge my wickedness; but for the time the sweetness of frame failed me, and wore off. Whence, I think, I may gather this lesson, that no sweet influence of the Spirit ought to be checked upon pretence of getting a frame better founded upon humiliation; otherwise the Lord may be provoked to withdraw.” When Thomas Boston found himself in danger of giving way to vain-glory, he took a look at his black feet. We may well do the same, but never so as to lose our assurance of sonship, or our sense of the preciousness of Christ. As Rutherford reminds us, “There is no law-music in heaven: there all their song is, ‘Worthy is the Lamb’.” And the blood of ransom has atoned for all sin. [Note: D. M. McIntyre, The Hidden Life of Prayer, 105.]