Murray Meditations: Compartments

The man who wants to truly worship God, who wants to find and know and possess and enjoy God, must be in harmony with Him, must have the capacity for receiving Him. Because God is Spirit, we must worship in spirit. A. Murray

Michaela Wightman, Uganda

If God is not bound by space or time, why do we limit our worship of Him to certain places and times? It is too easy to develop a faith routine that becomes rote and compartmentalized. And yet, it seems that we love compartments. I could walk for hours around The Container Store drooling over the many shapes and sizes of boxes, bins, tubs, filing cabinets and crates. It's an obsession that grows the more it is fed. Even if you are not particularly organized, you cannot deny a certain lure from colorful, print covered boxes, boxes in which you can toss photos from a much cherished vacation or expense receipts until it is time to pull them out for the tax man to sort through.

Not only do we like to compartmentalize our stuff, we also like to compartmentalize our lives. We have our professional lives and our personal lives. This boundary can be good. Knowing how to focus our attention where and when it is needed gives us an edge in our work and helps us to live intentionally in our family and friend relationships. However, it is possible that we have become too skilled at dividing and conquering. It is possible that we find it too easy to fit God into a neat little faith box.


A man who seeks to pray earnestly in the church or in the closet spends the greater part of the week or the day in a spirit entirely at odds with that in which he prayed. His worship was the work of a fixed place or hour, not of his whole being. A Murray

Andrew Murray highlights the fact that when we only worship God in our places of worship, we spend the rest of our time missing out on the the joy of continual guidance, peace and heavenly conversation. Sometimes, more than just missing out on fellowship, we are actually at odds with the spirit in which we prayed.

Do you worship God, who is spirit, in spirit? Is your worship  a confined worship, or a spontaneous worship in the day-to-day moments of your life?   If  it is confined to certain times and places, then what happens during the other moments of your life?  Are those moments at odds with your worship moments? If so, then which of these two realities are your true worship?

Teach us Lord what it means to worship you in spirit and in truth! We long to know your presence every minute of the day and to hear your voice guiding us as we navigate the meaningful and the mundane.

But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for the Father is seeking such to worship Him. God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth. 

John 4:23-24

Murray Meditations: the Stammer

Let just the deep undertone of all our prayer be the teachableness that comes from a sense of ignorance and from faith in Him as a perfect teacher, and then we may be sure we shall be taught, we shall learn to pray in power. A. Murray  

Learning a new skill can be challenging and sometimes frustrating. It takes patience and perseverance to push through the awkward phase and the clumsy stage in order to finally arrive as master of a craft. Sad to say, but I sometimes feel that I am not willing to go through this learning process in order to gain the skill of effectual prayer. Many times I have purposed to be faithful in prayer; to lift up my family and friends daily; to meet my Abba Father in my secret prayer closet for blessed times of fellowship and refreshing. But soon life crowds in and my commitment wanes. My time is spent elsewhere and I am left with the hollow feeling that I am missing something great.

If this is true of you, don’t despair and don’t be ashamed. The Master Teacher is patient and full of grace. In faith, surrender to His skillful hands. Tell Him you are willing to be willing. He alone can teach us how to enter into a consistent, persevering prayer life that finds joy in His presence. Rest in the peace of knowing it is not accomplished through your own strength and efforts. He has given us His Holy Spirit. He lives within us and knows our needs before we ask. He starts the work in us and He finishes the work. He gives the longing, He gives the means, He gives the perseverance and He receives the glory for answered prayers.

As He begins to mold you and shape you on the potter’s wheel, then you will be able to say with Andrew Murray

“Let us take time not only to meditate, but to pray, to wait at the foot of the throne and be trained to the work of intercession. Let us do so in assurance that amid our stammering and fears, He is carrying on His work most beautifully. He will breathe His own life, which is all prayer, into us.”



  Photography by Trisha Fry

Murray Meditations

“As we grow in the Christian life, the thought and the faith of the beloved Master in His never-failing intercession becomes more and more precious, and the hope of being like Christ in His intercession gains an attractiveness before unknown. And as we see Him pray, as we remember that there is no one who can pray like Him, no one who can teach like Him, we feel the request of the disciples, ‘Lord, teach us to pray’ is just what we need. “A. Murray

The first and foundational prayer is the prayer of "Lord, teach us to pray". What a simple concept, and yet, I must confess that I have never prayed this prayer. Have you? As Murray so aptly instructs us, there is no one that can teach like Jesus. Not only is He the master teacher, but He delights in teaching us to pray. When we pray, we join Christ in His eternal work of intercession and in this way we become more Christlike. What a glorious thought.

We know that we are praying in God's will when we ask the Lord to teach us to pray.  He longs to commune with us in close fellowship. Is there anything more intimate or more sacred than prayer? Is there anything more accessible or more powerful than communing with our heavenly father?

“Though in its beginnings prayer is so simple that the most helpless child can pray, yet it is at the same time the highest and holiest work to which man can rise.” A. Murray

 All too often I fail to understand that prayer is the channel through which we take hold of Christ and His power. What a humbling and exciting thought. We have been given the privilege and the responsibility of joining Christ in His work. I am certain that the devil has gained a victory when we fail to access this power. How he plots and plans to keep Christians from engaging in the spiritual battle that wages by convincing us that there is little point to praying.

True prayer that takes hold of God's strength, that benefits much, to which the gates of heaven are really opened wide--who would not cry, "Oh for someone to teach me to pray this way?" A. Murray

Luke 10:37
Now Jesus was praying in a certain place, and when he finished, one of his disciple said to him, "Lord, teach us to pray, as John taught his disciples". (ESV)

Oh Lord, give me the longing to sit at your feet and learn to pray rightly, in truth and in faith. You are the author and the finisher...you give me the prayer and then you give the answer. Amen!

Murray Meditations

Do you often wonder if your prayers make a difference? Andrew Murray states, "Though in its beginnings prayer is so simple that the most helpless child can pray, yet it is at the same time the highest and holiest work to which man can rise."

We often speak of prayer as the centerpiece of our Christian walk, while at the same time failing to practice the art of prayer.  Perhaps prayer is an intellectual exercise which plays no real part in our daily lives. If prayer is truly the source of power for our personal Christian walk and the source of power for all of our ministering work, then it must became an integral part of our daily lives. It is my hope that through reading and reflecting on the writings of Andrew Murray, we can learn the joy and blessings of effectual prayer. What a blessing it will be when prayer regains its rightful place as the fragrant bouquet that graces the center of our spirituality.

Do you cry out for a deeper fellowship with your beloved Father? It is not only possible, but a promise. In faith, lay hold of this promise!

John 15:7
If you abide in Me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. (ESV)