Satan trembles when he sees the weakest saint upon his knees

Jesus, where'er Thy people meet,
There they behold Thy mercy-seat;
Where'er they seek Thee Thou art found,
And every place is hallowed ground.

For Thou, within no walls confined,
Inhabitest the humble mind;
Such ever bring Thee where they come,
And going, take Thee to their home.

Dear Shepherd of Thy chosen few,
Thy former mercies here renew;
Here to our waiting hearts proclaim
The sweetness of Thy saving Name.

Here may we prove the power of prayer,
To strengthen faith and sweeten care,
To teach our faint desires to rise,
And bring all heaven before our eyes.

Lord, we are few, but Thou are near,
Nor short Thine arm, nor deaf Thine ear;
O rend the heavens, come quickly down,
And make a thousand hearts Thine own!

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What various hindrances we meet
In coming to the mercy-seat;
Yet who, that knows the worth of prayer,
But wishes to be often there!

Prayer makes the darkened cloud withdraw,
Prayer climbs the ladder Jacob saw,
Gives exercise to faith and love,
Brings every blessing from above.

Restraining prayer we cease to fight;
Prayer makes the Christian's armour bright;
And Satan trembles when he sees
The weakest saint upon his knees.

When Moses stood with arms spread wide,
Success was found on Israel's side;
But when through weariness they failed,
That moment Amalek prevailed.

Have we no words? ah, think again!
Words flow apace when you complain,
And fill your fellow-creature's ear
With the sad tale of all your care.

Were half the breath thus vainly spent
To heaven in supplication sent,
Our cheerful song would oftener be-
'Hear what the Lord has done for me.'

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These two wonderful hymns on the subject of prayer were written by William Cowper (1731-1800). Here is a man who knew and felt the power and worth of prayer. Here is a man who knew that, through men and women's prayers, God worked out His purposes. He knew that prayer strengthens Christians, and brings God's "every blessing from above" to them.

Cowper, through the hymns that he wrote, has encouraged so many saints to pray fervently and persistently, so that, even over two centuries after his death, our hearts are in tune with his, when he wrote "have we no words? ah think again. Words flow apace when you complain..." and so on. Although the external world around us changes in its fashions and crazes, the spiritual battle remains essentially the same for all Christians throughout the centuries. Don't our hearts cry out within us when we read Paul's words, inspired by the Holy Spirit, in Romans 7: "For what I am doing, I do not understand. For what I will to do, that I do not practice; but what I hate, that I do."? When we read this, don't we just want to shout out, "Yes Paul, I feel exactly the same! I have the same struggle going on within me!"? And, if you're anything like me, you feel a certain sense of relief that you're not the only person who has these struggles. While God is God and sinners are sinners, the battles will remain the same - until the Lord Jesus comes again and all things are put right.

"No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it." 1 Corinthians 10:13

To get back to the topic of prayer, if Cowper had such a godly approach and understanding of prayer, how then could he write the following words in a letter to William Bull in October 1782?

"Prove to me that I have a right to pray, and I will pray without ceasing, yes and praise too, even in the belly of Hell, compared with which Jonah's was a palace, a temple of the living God...I have not even asked a blessing upon my food these ten years, nor do I expect that I shall ever ask it again."

Don't these words fill us with a sense of dread - and rightly so? Cowper had lost all sense of the assurance that he previously knew, that the Lord Jesus was willing and able to answer his prayers. He didn't believe that anyone else should stop praying - only himself - he even said in his letter to Bull "There is not a Man upon earth that might not be the better for it [Bull's advice about prayer], myself only accepted." On a similar note, in January 1784, in a letter to Newton, Cowper was writing about the "existence of divine truth, that he who once had possession of it should never finally lose it." Continuing, he wrote "I admit the solidarity of this reasoning in every case but my own...God's ways are mysterious, and he giveth no account of his matters."

If Cowper, who penned some of the most encouraging words about prayer, could cease himself to pray for over a decade, how do we stand a hope of continuing in prayer?

The words of JC Ryle concerning Peter's denial of the Lord Jesus are brought to my mind:

"Peter was a chosen apostle of Christ. He had enjoyed greater spiritual privileges than most men in the world. He had received the Lord's Supper and the teaching of the upper room (John 13-17). He had been plainly warned of his danger. He had protested most loudly what He was going to do. Yet this very man denied his gracious Master, and that repeatedly and after intervals giving him space for reflection. He denied Him once, twice, three times! The best and highest saint is a poor, weak creature even at his best times. Whether he knows it or not, he carries within him an almost boundless capacity of wickedness, however fair and decent his outward conduct may seem. There is no enormity of sin into which he may not run if he does not watch and pray and find himself upheld by the grace of God."

I suppose one of the things we can learn from looking back at Cowper's enigmatic and rather confusing spiritual life, is to always remember that "the best and highest saint is a poor, weak creature even at his best times." Cowper's sinful nature had extended to infecting his mind, so that he was not thinking in a right way about God's word and His promises to him, and this had lead him to disobey God and stop praying to Him. Let us take heed from this great man's life: "if you think you are standing firm, be careful that you don't fall!" 1 Cor 10:12. No Christian is too good or too strong to fall into any sin, unless God's grace restrains us. Never trust your own ability to stand or succeed in the battle against sin.

Thank God that He is a God who loves sinners, and is full of mercy and compassion, and saves us by His grace alone! If He loved and saved the chief of sinners, then my sin is not too great for Him to forgive! Thanks be to God that "where sin abounded, grace abounded much more" (Romans 5:20). It will redound to God's glory and the glory of the Lamb when we poor, weak sinners, who trusted God so little, and ran into sin so often and so gladly, stand before His throne in heaven, fully redeemed and washed clean forever in Jesus' blood. Praise be to Him.

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All Cowper quotes are taken from the excellent book "William Cowper: The Man of God's Stamp" by George M Ella (published by Joshua Press)

The picture of Cowper is from The Cowper & Newton Museum website:

http://www.mkheritage.co.uk/cnm/index.html