Secret Devotion Is The Very Essence Of Vital Christianity

Keep the altar of private prayer burning. This is the very life of all piety. The sanctuary and the family altar borrow their fires here. Therefore let this fire burn well. Secret devotion is the very essence, evidence and barometer of vital and experiential religion.

Burn here the fat of your sacrifices. Let your closet seasons be, if possible, regular, frequent and undisturbed. Effectual prayer availeth much.

Let us examine ourselves in this important manner. Do we engage with lukewarmness in private devotion? Is the fire of devotion burning dimly on our hearts?

Do the chariot wheels drag heavily? If so, let us be alarmed at this sign of decay. Let us go, with weeping, and ask for the Spirit of grace and supplications.

– Selected (anonymous)

I was thinking about these things today and I wrote down:

YOU CAN GAUGE HOW CLOSE YOU ARE WITH GOD BY LOOKING AT YOUR PRAYER LIFE.

HOW NATURALLY DO YOU SPEND TIME WITH HIM THROUGHOUT THE DAY?

HOW COMFORTABLE ARE YOU IN PRAYER?

DO YOU LONG FOR MOMENTS TO MEET WITH HIM AND ENTER HIS PRESENCE WHERE THERE IS FULLNESS OF JOY?

Also reminds me of this quote:

Some saints have never had so much of heaven brought down into their hearts, as when they have been with God in private prayer. Oh the secret manifestations of divine love, the secret kisses, the secret embraces, the secret influences, the secret communion with God, that many a precious Christian has had in the most solitary places.
(Thomas Brooks)