[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":4},["ShallowReactive",2],{"reading-0418":3},"APRIL 18\r\nAnd he shall bring it to pass (Psalm 37:5).\r\nI once thought that after I prayed that it was my duty to do\r\neverything that I could do to bring the answer to pass. He taught\r\nme a better way, and showed that myself-effort always hindered His working, and that when I prayed and definitely believed Him for\r\nanything, He wanted me to wait in the spirit of praise, and only do\r\nwhat He bade me. It seems so unsafe to just sit still, and do\r\nnothing but trust the Lord; and the temptation to take the battle into our own hands is often tremendous.\r\nWe all know how impossible it is to rescue a drowning man who tries to help his rescuer, and it is equally impossible for the Lord to\r\nfight our battles for us when we insist upon trying to fight them\r\nourselves. It is not that He will not but He cannot Our interference hinders His working. --C. H. P.\r\n\r\nSpiritual forces cannot work while earthly forces are active.\r\nIt takes God time to answer prayer. We often fail to give God a\r\nchance in the respect It takes time for God to paint a rose. It\r\ntakes time for God to grow and oak. It takes time for God to make bread from wheat fields. He takes the earth. He pulverises. He\r\nsoftens. He enriches. He wets with showers and dews. He warms with\r\nlife. He gives the blade, the stock, the amber grain, and then at last the bread for the hungry.\r\nAll this takes time. Therefore we sow, and till, and wait and trust\r\nuntil all God's purpose has been wrought out We give God a chance in this matter of time. We need to learn this same lesson in our\r\nprayer life. It takes God time to answer prayer. --J. H. M.",1783499792051]