Ready Access but Little Power

I do not mean that our access to God is surrendered. That remains intact, guaranteed through the blood and Person of Christ (Hebrews 10:19; Ephesians 2:18; 3:12). The working value of the blood of Christ implies a cleansed life (1 John 1:9), and we must never forget that that is the only basis upon which we can speak to God.

But we can be deprived of our power in prayer. Real power in prayer to deal effectually with situations as they arise is rather rare, the reason being that the devil robs souls of the keen edge of their inner life without their knowing it. How much and for how long he can do this, some of us know to our sorrow, but once our eyes have really been opened to it, we should watch most carefully (“be vigilant,”* (1 Peter 5:8) as Peter puts it) and see that we are not drawn out of the current of the Spirit.