RESULTS OF PRAYER
‘Let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering … and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching.’
Here we have the results of prayer offered in accordance with the will of God.
I. Loyalty to God and the truth.—This is—
(a) Based upon the clearness and brightness of our sustaining hope. The Revised Version translates the first sentence thus: ‘Let us hold fast the confession of our hope.’ Hope is faith in exercise; hope rests on faith, and at the same time quickens faith, and is the ground of a bold confession (1 Peter 3:15).
(b) Strengthened and increased by the knowledge we have of the fidelity of God (Hebrews 5:2-3; see also Hebrews 6:17-18; Hebrews 11:11; Hebrews 12:26; Hebrews 12:28.)
II. Emulation in Christian service.—Having enjoined ‘faith’ and ‘hope’ the Apostle must enforce the chief grace. Love is promoted and displayed by service; to provoke love is to promote service.
(a) Each will be animated by a spirit of unselfishness. ‘Considering one another,’ paying due regard to the conditions, circumstances, and characters of others.
(b) A spirit of unselfishness and self-sacrifice will prove the most powerful incentive to Christian love and work. Life begets life; love begets love; activity generates activity. To provoke means to urge, to spur, to excite, to arouse; we should ever be on the watch for opportunities to urge each other on in Christian work, and to spur one another to higher attainments in the Christian life. Communion with God will promote this better than anything else.
III. A delight in Christian fellowship.—This is one of the most practical fruits of a devotional spirit.
(a) A prayerful spirit promotes a holy delight in the service of the sanctuary.
(b) Neglect of the ‘house of God’ is the natural consequence of neglected devotions. Private prayer sharpens the appetite for public worship. The reason St. John the Divine saw such visions on the rocky Isle of Patmos was that he was in the Spirit on the Lord’s Day.
(c) Fellowship with Christians in the house of God promotes mutual affection and develops increased zeal. ‘So much the more as ye see the day approaching.’