Psalms 55:17

Evening, and morning, and at noon, will I pray, and cry aloud: and He shall hear my voice.

Prayer

I. The nature of our prayer. Prayer is the humble expression of our wants and of our desires to Almighty God; and it comprehends, at least, the following particulars.

1. Prayer is an acknowledgment of the being and of the providence of God; “He that cometh to God must believe that He is;”--an expression of our dependence upon God; and a profession of our belief in His omnipotence, goodness, grace, and bounty--“that He is the rewarder of them that diligently seek Him.”

2. Prayer re-establishes communion between God and man. It opens and maintains intercourse with the skies.

3. Prayer is the grand means by which we obtain our spiritual blessings from the hands of God.

4. But nothing is real prayer except it arise sincerely from the heart, and is presented through Jesus Christ, the Mediator between God and man, accompanied at all times by a measure of faith (John 14:6; James 1:6).

II. In the manner in which the author of our text performed this duty. This was distinguished by fervour, regularity, and frequency.

1. Fervour in prayer is the earnest manner in which we breathe out our desires to God; not so much the strength of the voice, as the ardour of the soul (Romans 8:26).

2. Regularity was associated with the psalmist’s performance of this duty. He had stated times for prayer. And do not creatures, circumstanced as we are, need every help?

3. Frequency is another thing signified. (Sketches of Four Hundred Sermons.)