Right and Wrong Praying
“Find thy happiness in God, and he shall give thee the askings of thy heart.” This is the exact rendering of the fourth verse of the thirty-seventh Psalm, and it throws a flood of light upon the important question of what is right and what is wrong prayer. A great deal of prayer is born of selfishness, and takes on the airs of dictation to our Heavenly Father. It is not humble supplication, born of a devout, submissive spirit; but it amounts to a demand. When we go into our bank and present a check for one thousand dollars, we have a right to demand that sum from the paying-teller, provided that sum stands to our credit 011 the books of the institution. But God’s promises to his children are not unconditional; and we have no such spiritual assets standing to our credit that we may presume to dictate to the God of wisdom and of love.
The hackneyed illustration of ’ drawing on the bank of faith ‘? may be very misleading.
What is laid down distinctly as the indispensable quality of right asking in the above quoted verse from the Psalm? It is a right feeling tozvards God. When a soul comes into such an entire submissiveness towards God that it can honestly say, “Not as I will, but as thou wilt;” when that soul delights in seeing God reign, and in seeing his glory advanced, then its desires will be so purified and so strained from the dregs of selfishness that they may be fearlessly poured out before God. In this frame of unselfish submissiveness the soul may indeed come boldly to the throne of grace, and ask for grace suited to its every hour of need. The desires of God and the desires of a sincere Christly soul will agree. God loves to give to them who love to let him have his way. They are as willing to accept his u no” as his c ( yes,” for they are seeking not their own glory, but his; they find their happiness in the chime of their own desires with the will of God.
A capital illustration of the difference between right and wrong desires is furnished in the biographies of James and John. These two fishermen-disciples come to our Lord and say to him, i ‘Master, we would thou shouldst do for us whatsoever we shall desire. n Then bolts out the amazing request that he would place one of them on his right hand and the other on his left, when he set up his imperial government at Jerusalem or elsewhere. Disguise it as they might, they were selfish office-seekers. Their dream was of twelve thrones, with their own in the centre; his foresight saw instead of this three crosses of agony and shame, his own in the centre. It was not a crown, but a cup of suffering, that was in preparation, and he tenderly inquires if they were ready for that. As long as those two ambitious disciples found their happiness in self-seeking, Jesus would not and could not give them the askings of their hearts.
Now, look on a few years farther, and you will find those two identical men uttering the strongest declarations in behalf of God’s willing?
ness to hear and answer prayer. Their own hearts have been so renewed by the Holy Spirit, they have become so consecrated to their Master’s service, and they are in such complete chime with him, that they are not afraid to come to him and say, “Do for us what we desire.” Having purified and unselfish desires, they rejoice to discover how fully and delightfully they are satisfied — even more abundantly than they asked. So one of them (James) declares that if any of us lack wisdom we must ask of God, who giveth liberally. And then — as if he remembered what a disgracefully selfish prayer he had once been guilty of — he says, “Ye ask and ye receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your own pleasures.” The other disciple (beloved John) exclaims, c ( Whatsoever we ask we receive of him, because we keep his commandments, and do those things that are pleasing in his sight.” It is not self any longer that is to be pampered, but God that is honored. Just as soon as those two Christians found their supreme happiness in Christ and his cause, they received the askings of their hearts. Christ and they were at one. As a kind father loves to grant the reasonable requests of a dutiful son, so does our Heavenly Father love to grant righteous and reasonable requests through Jesus, the Intercessor.
The only c ( prayer-gauge” I believe in is that which gauges the character of our prayers and the spirit in which we offer them. The very first essential to all right prayer is unconditional submissiveness to God’s will. “Nevertheless, Father, not as I will, but as thou wilt.” The richest blessing that prayer can bring is to bring us into closer communion and agreement with the all-holy and the all-loving One. Dr. BushnelPs illustration of the” bow-line n represents this most happily. A man stands in the bow of the boat, and draws upon a line attached to the shore. His pull does not move the solid ground one hair’s breadth, but it does move his boat towards the land. So when I attach the line of my desire fast to the everlasting throne, faith does not expect to move the throne, but to draw me closer to it; and when I get more and more into harmony with God, I receive what my heart most desires. Finding my happiness in Christ, I am satisfied. Money, health, promotion, ease, and all kindred cravings, are only lawful when they are subordinated to the higher love; and the moment they get the upper hand we must expect to be dismissed as John and James were wrhen self got the upper hand in them.
The question now arises, What are right desires? As far as my ignorance has been enlightened by the Word, I would reply that every desire is a right one which aims only to please God and not self. Grace does not forbid desires, or reduce us to a spiritual emasculation. It encourages at the same time that it purifies and directs our desires. Nay, the Bible exhorts us to 4 ‘desire spiritual gifts.” Wisdom from above, strength for the hour of need, faith, the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, and kindred blessings, are in harmony with God’s promises. These are the very things he has told us to covet. For them we are to ’ c open our mouths wide” and our hearts; and when we do this we are filled unto all the fulness of God. Our Heavenly Father does not hand over to us the reins when our selfishness grasps after them. Nor does he allow our ignorance to be the judge of what is best for us. He often surprises us by sending something better than what we petitioned for. But infinitely the best thing which he can give us is his favor, which is life. If we find our supreme happiness in this — oh, how our souls are purified of low, selfish, wayward, and wicked desires; and with what banqueting on his love, and with what foretastes of heaven, our best askings are answered!