Árdís - 01.01.1966, Blaðsíða 13

Ársrit Bandalags lúterskra kvenna
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of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to show
his might in behalf of those whose heart is blameless toward him.”
(II Chronicals 16:9).
There is another collateral doctrine concerning the presence
of God, the doctrine of His special presence with His people on
particular occasions. I shall mention three such:—
1. There is God’s special presence in our prayers. When we
truly pray, God draws near. Prayer can give no greater benefit
than this — that it brings God into one’s life. Prayer is not, in its
primary essence, asking God to do things for us. It is the lifting
up of the sluice gates so that the water can run into the dock, the
opening of a door through which He can enter, the making, widen-
ing, and deepening of a channel through which His life can flow
into our hearts.
When God comes into our lives, He has always one great pur-
pose in mind and that is TO BLESS US. Sometimes He hurts our
pride, hits our contentious spirits and dismisses our empty boasts.
At other times, He calls us to a dangerous service, to a painful
sacrifice, or to a humbling self-surrender. But in it all, He is always
purposing a blessing for us. Apart from all the answers to our
prayers, and bigger and better than them all, is the fact of God’s
special presence in prayer. That alone ought to make us pray. Paul
caught the idea when he wrote to the Thessalonians that they
should be “PRAYING WITHOUT CEASING”.
2. Then there is God’s presence in our pain — whether physi-
cal, mental or spiritual. “I will be with him in trouble.” (Psalm
91:15).
In the great Ninety-first Psalm, which describes so wonder-
fully the safety of the saint, the secret is found to be bound up
in the special presence of God. “He will cover you with his pinions,
and under his wings you will find refuge.“ (Psalm 91:4). Such a
person lives a charmed life. Dangers may multiply and close around
the man of God, but God draws nearer still — a very present help
in trouble. (Psalm 46:1).
Every trouble becomes a blessing when it brings God nearer
to the troubled one.