Prayer Revisited

Let me offer one more reason for why, according to Thomas Brooks, we ought to engage in much private prayer. Here is the 7th reason that I have given...

"Consider, that secret duties [i.e., private prayer] are the most soul-enriching duties.

"Consider that, as secret meals make fat bodies, so secret duties make fat souls; and as secret trades bring in great earthly riches, so secret prayers make may rich in spiritual blessings, and in heavenly riches.

"Private prayer is that privy key of heaven that unlocks all the treasures of glory to the soul. The best riches and the sweetest mercies God usually gives to his people when they are in their closets upon their knees. Just as the warmth the chickens find by sitting close under the hen's wings cherishes them, so the graces of the saints are enlivened, and cherished, and strengthened by the sweet secret influences which their souls fall under when they are in their closet-communion with God.

"[T]he more our gifts and parts and graces are exercised, the more they are strengthened and increased. All acts strengthen habits. The more sin is acted, the more it is strengthened. And so it is with our gifts and graces; the more they are acted, the more they are strengthened."

Pray, my friends!