The praying sinner receives mercy because his prayer is grounded on the promise of pardon made by Him whose right it is to pardon guilty sinners. The penitent seeker after God obtains mercy because there is a definite promise of mercy to all who seek the Lord in repentance and faith. (Adapted from E.M. Bounds, The Necessity of Prayer)
It is the Divine promise of mercy, of forgiveness and of adoption which gives the poor sinner hope. This encourages him to pray. This moves him in distress to cry out, “Jesus, thou Son of David, have mercy upon me.” (Adapted from E.M. Bounds, The Necessity of Prayer)
While salvation is promised to those who believe, the believing sinner is always a praying sinner. God has no promise of pardon for a prayerless sinner just as He has no promise for the prayerless professor of religion. (Adapted from E.M. Bounds, The Necessity of Prayer)
We know the end of the story – God wins, there is a new Heaven and a new earth, His people are preserved. Keep this in mind when your heart is filled with anxiety and trepidation about the things of this world. Since God is in control and His love for you is perfect, there is nothing of any real consequence to fear.
It sometimes seems like the unjust and ungodly succeed while the righteous suffer unfairly. Of course God is ultimately in control and, in the light of eternity, He will reward the faithful and condemn those who have brought misery on His people. Remember, however, to let Him be the judge; it’s not a role for us to take since none of us are without our own sins.
How little have we lived in the likeness of the Son, and in sympathy with Him--for God and His glory alone. Let us take time, until the Holy Spirit discover it to us, and we see how wanting we have been in this. True knowledge and confession of sin are the sure path to deliverance. (Adapted from Andrew Murray, With Christ in the School of Prayer)
This joyous, care-free, peaceful experience bringing the believer into a joyousness, living simply by faith day by day, is the will of God. So that not only is it God’s will that we should find full deliverance from all care and undue anxiety, but He has ordained prayer as the means by which we can reach that happy state of heart. (Adapted from E.M. Bounds, The Necessity of Prayer)
One who has been disobedient may pray. He may pray for pardoning mercy and the peace of his soul. He may come to God’s footstool with tears, with confession, with penitent heart, and God will hear him and answer his prayer. But this kind of praying does not belong to the child of God, but to the penitent sinner, who has no other way by which to approach God. It is the possession of the unjustified soul, not of him who has been saved and reconciled to God. (Adapted from E.M. Bounds, The Necessity of Prayer)
The promises of God to sinners of every kind and degree are equally sure and steadfast, and are made real and true by the earnest cries of all true penitents. It is just as true with the Divine promises made to the unsaved when they repent and seek God, that they are realized in answer to the prayers of broken-hearted sinners, as it is true that the promises to believers are realized in answer to their prayers. (Adapted from E.M. Bounds, The Necessity of Prayer)
This magnificent prayer demonstrates many attributes that mark the prayers of a victorious believer. Nehemiah earnestly confessed the sins of his people, he implored God to hear him, and he asked for success in the work he believed God had called him to. This is an ideal model for all who humbly desire to faithfully serve their Lord.