Preface

On most occasions that I decide to read a book, which honestly doesn't happen that often, I usually skip right to the meat...Chapter 1. Over the years, I've started a lot of books and finished very few. And more times than not, I skip around reading only the chapters that look interesting. But with Murray's book, I started at the very beginning, to get an idea of why he decided to compile 31 daily devotionals on this subject. And its all boiled down in the closing sentences of the preface. Quotes from the book will be indicated appropriately, but keep in mind, the words were written over 100 years ago, so the language is sometimes a little complex.
"May He use them [the words from this book] to draw us all to Himself, to learn in practice and experience the blessed art of waiting only upon God. Would God that we might get some right conception of what the influence would be of a life given, not in thought or imagination or effort, but in the power of the Holy Spirit, wholly to waiting upon God."
How many times have I convinced myself that I am waiting on God...only to find that I am still relying on my own efforts and power to make things happen. A word that Murray uses time and time again in this book is "impotence". Now in today's society, that word carries a different connotation...but in this context, it breaks down to this: "useless and powerless". Wow, how impotent are my attempts, energies and efforts at bringing about God's will in my own life. It's only by yielding completely to Him and allowing Him to work through me, that I experience true power and usefulness. We'll see this concept more as we proceed.
And off we go. The stage is set for 31 days of remarkable insight into the concept of waiting on God; insight shared with us by Andrew Murray, not insight from me.