May everything fade out in prayer! - by Carl Eichhorn

"Is any among you afflicted? let him pray.
Is any merry? let him sing psalms."
James 5:13
According to the Apostle's will, every Christian's state of mind should manifest itself in prayer. As soon as the mood of the heart fades away in prayer, no ill-feeling will occur. How easy is it to get to complaints and moanings when days of suffering come! In many faces it is engraved, how much the soul is soaked with bitterness and displeasure. Let us transform our worries and complaints into prayers, then the pressure will give way, the heart will breathe, and the prayer may finally open out to thanksgiving and praise.

In the Psalms we notice that often in the deepest distress the prayer suddenly evolves into thanks and praise through the certainty of being heard. Prayer is a lever that brings the heaviest burdens out of the place. It is a universal remedy for all ailments. If someone is of good courage, he can easily get into a mood of light-headedness. A praying person never loses his balance. He does not sink into calamity, -he is not leaped up by happiness. The joy of the Christian becomes a pure and deep joy, as it fades out into thanksgiving. At the same time we are given a benchmark by which we can measure the joy being divine or sinful. A joy in which we can not look up to God in heartily thanksgiving, is no good. It is either impure in itself or it has taken our hearts so strongly that there is no room left for God. Both are reprehensible.
"And they that rejoice, as though they rejoiced not"! (1 Cor 7:30) 
Unto that we attain when we let the joy of God become loud in thanksgiving. The singing of Psalms does not have to be done with a loud voice, it can also take place in the middle of the bustle of everyday's world in the hidden depths of the heart. "Singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord." Of course, the singing of the heart is also expressed in the song. But sometimes the mouth sings songs of victory and jubilation, and the heart knows nothing about it. Let us consecrate all the joyful hours of this life through the thanksgiving and praise we offer to God! For It is a good thing to give thanks unto the LORD, and to sing praises unto thy name, O most High.

Even when the mighty waves (of suffering, distress and sorrows) are great and roar horribly, you - Lord on high - are still greater (Ps. 92:1, 93:4). In the constant praise of God and in the thankful adoration lies a wonderful power. If you are happy today, so let your song of thanksgiving ascend to heaven! But if you are oppressed by anything, then remember that God is greater than the hardships and worries that torment you, and praise him for it! Then you will learn that thanking and praising the name of the most High truly is a good thing. It is the way to new salvation and new blessings.

Carl Eichhorn
(* 1810/07/11; † 1890/02/08)
Source with kind permission by: Evangeliums.net
Translation: Lucas Meyer

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