Go to the mercy-seat as a little child to a mother's knee!

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      (George Everard, "Jesus on the Holy Mount" 1884)

"As He was praying, the appearance of His face changed, and His clothes became as bright as a flash of lightning!" Luke 9:29
There is a transforming efficacy of true prayer! While Christ was praying, Divine light and glory came upon Him from above.

And so in another way, it is with the believer. Imagine a child of God who has had a difficult day of toil and anxiety. He has been all day long in contact with the world, its turmoil, its business--and perchance he has been ruffled with the evil tempers or angry words of those he has met.

But the evening comes. He has a quiet half hour for communion with his Best Friend. Then, as he dwells upon some sweet promise of the Word, as he rolls the burden of the day upon a Father in Heaven--there comes back a quiet joy, a calm peace into his soul. A new strength is imparted, and a new view is taken of life's duties and temptations. The discipline of heavenly wisdom is recognized, and instead of the jaded look and wearied spirit--there is power and life and gladness and hope found upspringing within the heart!

Never, never let the Christian be robbed of the comfort of prayer by the thought of being unfitted for its exercise. You are tempted, it may be, to think that because the mind has been overstrained, and you are tired and weary--that therefore it is impossible to make the effort for prayer.

Let it be just the other way: "I need the quiet of my Father's presence to soothe this throbbing brow, to rest this fainting heart--and I must have it." Then go to the mercy-seat as a little child to a mother's knee. Your words need not be many, but let them be from your heart--to the heart of your Father in Heaven!

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