Storms Beneath Our Feet, Sky Above All Blue

In a recent post I mentioned McIntyre's book The Hidden Life of Prayer: The life-blood of the Christian. Chapter 7 is called "The Hidden Riches of the Secret Place." There, one benefit of secret prayer that McIntyre notes is that "prayerfulness produces a singular serenity of spirit" (105). He continues:

When one looks into the quiet eyes of him that sitteth upon the throne, the tremors of the spirit are stilled. Pharaoh, king of Egypt, is but a noise; and the valley of the shadow of death is tuneful with songs of praise. Storms may rave beneath our feet, but the sky above is blue. We take our station with Christ in heavenly places; we dwell in the Sabbath of God.

'Here I lie,' said Thomas Halyburton when his death-hour was drawing near, 'pained without pain, without strength yet strong.' Seguier, a French Protestant, who was sentenced to death, was mockingly asked by one of his guards how he felt. He replied, 'My soul is as a garden, full of shelter and fountains.'

May we know that secret place so that in the day of our dying we shall be serene and assured within, ready to glorify God in death. The Hidden Life of Prayer is available at amazon. Take up, and read!