fices of God are a broken spirit; a brok en and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise” (Ps. 51:17). Paul learned this and was able to say, “But God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Ghrist, by whom the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world” (Gal. 6:14). Unclean thoughts also limit the ef fectiveness of our prayers. Man is in herently inclined toward sin and sla very to his baser appetites. The prophet Jeremiah said, “the heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wick- Spiritual Graces Most Needed Help me to walk so close to Thee That those who know me best can see I live as godly as I pray. And Christ is real from day to day. I see some once a day, or year, To them I blameless might appear; 'Tis easy to be kind and sweet To people whom we seldom meet; But in my home are those who see Too many times, the worst of me. M y hymns of praise are best unsung If He does not control my tongue, When I am vexed and sorely tried And my impatience cannot hide. May no one stumble over me Because Thy love they failed to see; But give me. Lord, a life that sings. And victory o'er the little things. Give me Thy calm for every fear, Thy peace for every falling tear; Make mine, O Lord, through calm and strife, A gracious and unselfish,life; Help me, with those who know me best, For Jesus' sake to stand the test. — Author Unknown ed, who can know it” (Jer. 17:9). It is impossible even to understand and explain our own actions when we find ourselves thinking thoughts and doing evil things of which we had believed ourselves incapable. Here, again, Satan lays seige to the mind and emotional life of the believer and seeks to defeat him and bring him to reproach before the world. Some 16
THE UNY IELD ING HEART (continued) hatred, or resentment, or an unforgiv ing spirit serves only to destroy our spiritual communion with God. It is right here in the heart that Satan selects his battlefield and so often de feats us as believers. Jealousy and envy will also limit our prayer life and our usefulness to God. This was another problem David had to face. When he looked at those who had no time for God and noted that they seemed to prosper he had to remind himself, “Fret not thyself be cause of evil doers, neither be thou en vious against the workers of iniquity” (Ps. 37:1). Paul reminded the Corin thians that every believer, every mem ber of the body of Christ is of great significance to God and the Church, and that we are not to despise the posi tion another occupies. Satan would try to make us jealous of others who have a place of service more prominent than we, but if we allow ourselves to be come jealous it will render our prayer life ineffective for God. Covetousness and greed will also limit our prayer life. This is another area in which Satan very effectively attacks us as believers. If he can per suade us to put temporal things above our relationship and stewardship to the Lord, he has succeeded in getting us to bow before the idol of material ism. In this day of “trying to keep up with the Jones” we need to remem ber the words of the Apostle Paul, “Look not every man upon the. things of others but upon his own.” The antidote to such a disease as coveteousness and greed is to be found in the fruitbearing presence and con trol of the Holy Spirit in our lives, as suggested in Gal. 3:25, “If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit. Let us not be desirous of vain glory, provoking one another, envying one another.” There is a sense in which all sins of the mind and emotional life have their root in the sin of pride. A haughty spirit, a selfish attitude, ex posed and easily hurt feelings, self worship—these are abominable to God. David knew this and wrote, “The sacri
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