It was yesterday's pilgrimage to stir ourselves to continue diligently in prayer. Today's theme is God's guarding of the heart and mind with peace. It is a consequence of the kind of prayer which bears worry to the Lord 'casting your burden on Him for He careth for you'; of that sort of prayer which brings every matter to Him; of earnest and beseeching prayer; of thankfulness of heart in prayer. God will keep our hearts and minds in answer to prayer like that.
Our hearts and minds are guarded by peace. There is no peace to the wicked. At this time of our lives we need to shut out all the storms from the harbour of our souls where our affections and thoughts are at anchor. Peace (which comes by prayer) is that great harbour bar. On it are dashed all the riotous emotions, wild thoughts and fears which may assault our souls. And behind that wall of safety lie the tranquil waters where our souls rest undisturbed.
It is a peace which surpasses all understanding. It is a peace beyond the understanding of how it comes to us. It surprises us. It is bestowed upon us as a necessary consequence of such praying as we have been considering. How it steals upon us remains mysterious to the last, but its presence is undeniable. If it has been missing a long time how welcome it is!
It is a peace beyond understanding in that it penetrates beyond the mind and emotions into the very soul. It beggars description. It stills the throbbing breast. Every thought and every feeling are enriched and permeated by it and its contribution to our welfare is mighty in the subduing of our turbulent past.
It is beyond understanding too, in this, that, unlike the world which prizes peace as freedom from the alarms of war in order to pursue personal advantage, it is present in the soul when the world's form of peace is notably absent and its advantages withdrawn. Such peace is powerful in the midst of an alien world. It is a table in the presence of enemies. 'In me ye shall have peace, said the Saviour. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.' It is an anointing of our souls. It is a cup which runneth over. To have it now will more than make up for its earlier lamentable absence.
Such peace is the Saviour's gift. 'Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.'