[Songs in the Night - July 14]
Ask, and ye shall receive, that your joy may be full. John 16:24
IN THE cultivation of the spirit of praise, thanksgiving,
and loving appreciation of all the manifest
goodness of God is the Christian's secret of a happy
life.
And in order to the cultivation of such a spirit
it is necessary that we continually call to mind his acts
of mercy and of grace; that in our prayers we frequently
tell him how all his goodness is remembered,
how every fresh evidence of his love and care causes
faith to take deeper root and makes the sense of his
presence and favor more fully realized; and how
through such experiences our love and joy are made to
abound more and more.
We love him because he first
loved us; and every time we see some new mark of his
love, our love, if we have truly appreciative hearts,
is called out more and more, and we are made to rejoice
in God, in whose presence is fulness of joy.
It is
to this end that our Lord encourages our frequent coming
to God in prayer with large requests for his favor,
saying, "Ask, and ye shall receive, that your joy may
be full." Z'96-211 R2031:5 (Hymn 115)