LIFE CHANGING PRAYER compiled by Debra Maffett

perfections of the Savior? A Christian's whole life should be a visible
representation of Christ. The example of patriarchs, prophets,
apostles, and saints, as recorded in the Old and New Testaments,
plainly show, that, to be "followers of those who through faith and
patience inherit the promises," we should be much in private prayer.
But, to the spiritually-minded Christian, the example of Christ
vastly transcends all others. The examples of the best of men are
defective. His alone is the perfect pattern. To be an imitator of him in
all his moral virtues is the duty and privilege of a Christian. And, of
all others, they are the happiest who come the nearest to his bright
example.
Private prayer has many advantages.
In secret we may more freely, fully, and safely unbosom our souls to
God, than we can do in the presence of others.
In public, confessions of sin are made in general terms. In private,
we may descend to particulars. "The heart knows his own bitterness."
(Proverbs 14.10.) Every Christian has his secret faults, from which he
desires to be cleansed. (Psalm 19.12). He has not the grosser vices of
the ungodly to confess. But, becoming daily more acquainted with
the spirituality of God's law, and the deep depravity of his own heart
— he feels himself continually prone to err, and discovers within
him a variety of things of a sinful nature, which he desires heartily
and sincerely to confess at the throne of grace:
the thought of foolishness,
a proud look,
a vain imagination,
a sinful inclination,
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