Prayer and the Word | Andrew Murray
"When Moses entered the Tent of Meeting to speak with the Lord, he heard the voice speaking to him from between the two cherubim above the atonement cover on the ark of the Testimony. And he spoke with him". Numbers 7:89
With regard to the connection between prayer and the Word in our private devotions, the expression of a new convert has often been quoted: “When I pray, I speak to God; when I read the Bible, God speaks to me.”
When Moses went in to pray for himself or his people and to wait for instructions, he found Someone waiting for him. What a lesson for our morning watch!
A prayerful spirit is the spirit to which God will speak. A prayerful spirit will be a listening spirit waiting to hear what God will say. In my communion with God, His presence and the part He takes must be as real as my own.
As we enter the place of secret prayer, let us be as eager to hear Him speak as we are to say what is on our hearts. The highest blessing of prayer will come as we cease to pray and allow God to speak.
Prayer and the Word are inseparably linked; power in the use of either depends upon the presence of the other. The Word gives you a subject for prayer. It shows you the path of prayer, telling you how God would have you come.
It gives you the power for prayer—courage in the assurance that you will be heard. And it brings you the answer to prayer as it teaches what God will do for you.
On the other hand, prayer prepares your heart to receive the Word from God himself, to receive spiritual understanding from the Spirit, and to build faith that participates in its mighty working.
In prayer and His Word, God must be everything. Make God the aim of your heart, the one object of your desire. Prayer and His Word will result in blessed fellowship with God, the interchange of thought, love, and life—dwelling in God and God in you.
— The Believer’s Daily Renewal
