Prayer, I. Who Can Pray So That God Will Hear?
(1) Ps. 66: 18 — “If I regard iniquity in my heart, the LORD will not hear me.”
FIRST PROPOSITION: The one who regards iniquity in his heart cannot pray so that God will hear.
The word translated “regard” means primarily to “see “or to “look.” Then it comes to mean to “look at with favor,” to “respect,” “approve,” “regard.” God will not hear the man who in his heart looks upon sin with any favor or allowance, God looks at sin with abhorrence. He is of “purer eyes than to be hold evil.” (Hab. 1: 13 — “Thou art of purer eyes than to behold evil, and canst not look on iniquity,” etc.) The Hebrew verb here is the same as that translated “regard” above. We must have the same attitude toward sin that He has to be heard of Him. If we regard sin, He will not regard us when we pray. Herein lies the very simple explanation why many of us pray and are not heard.
(2) Prov. 28: 9 — “He that turneth away his ear from hearing the law, even his prayer shall be abomination.”
SECOND PROPOSITION: He that turneth away his ear from hearing the law, his prayer is an abomination. He cannot pray so that God will hear.
If we turn our ears away from what God says to us in His law, He will turn His ears away from what we say to Him in our prayers. We have an illustration of this in Zech. 7: 11-13:
“But they refused to hearken, and pulled away the shoulder, and stopped their ears, that they should not hear. Yea, they made their hearts as an adamant stone, lest they should hear the law, and the words which the LORD of hosts hath sent in his Spirit by the former prophets: therefore came a great wrath from the LORD of hosts. Therefore it came to pass, that as he cried, and they would not hear; so they cried, and I would not hear, saith the LORD of hosts.”
Many are saying, “The promises of God are not true. God does not hear my prayers.” Has God ever promised to hear your prayers? God very plainly describes the class whose prayers He hears. Do you belong to that class? Are you listening to His words? If not, He has distinctly said He will not listen to your prayers, and in not listening to you, He is simply keeping His word.
(Compare Prov. i: 24, 25, 28, R.V. — “Because I have called, and you refused; I have stretched out my hand, and no man regarded; But ye have set at nought all my counsel, and would none of my reproof.... Then shall they call upon me, but I will not answer; They shall seek me diligently, but they shall not find me.”
(3) Prov. 21: 13 — “Whoso stoppeth his ears at the cry of the poor, he also shall cry, but shall not be heard.”
THIRD PROPOSITION; Whoever stoppeth his ears at the cry of the poor cannot pray so that God will hear.
If we will not listen to the poor when they cry unto us in their need, God will not listen unto us when we cry unto Him in our need. The world’s maxim is, “The Lord helps those who help themselves.” The truth is, The Lord helps those who help others.
(4) Luke 18: 13, 14 — “And the publican, standing afar off, would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven, but smote upon his breast, saying, God be merciful to me a sinner. I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other: for every one that exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted.”
FOURTH PROPOSITION: The great sinner, who is sorry for and humbled by his sin, and who desires pardon, can pray so that God will hear.
The question is often asked, “Shall we get unconverted people to pray? “What do you mean by unconverted people? If a man is sorry for his sin, and wishes to forsake it and find mercy, and is willing to humble himself before God and ask for pardon, he is taking the very steps by which a man turns uround, or is “converted.” To tell a man he must not pray under such circumstances, is to tell him that he must not be converted until he is converted; that he must not turn until he is turned round. To get him to pray is just the thing to do, ‘For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.” (Rom. 10: 13.)
But how, some one may ask, can he pray until he has faith? The answer is very simple. This prayer itself is the first act of faith. The first and most natural and most proper thing for one who honestly wishes to turn from sin and to believe on Christ and to be saved to do, is to pray. The Lord Jesus looked on with delight when he could say to Ananias of the stubborn rebel, Saul of Tarsus, “Behold, he prayeth.” (Acts 9: 11 — “And the Lord said unto him, Arise, and go into the street which is called Straight, and inquire in the house of Judas for one called Saul of Tarsus: for, behold, he prayeth.”) We should be sure, however, that the sinner really is sorry for sin and really wishes to forsake it before we tell him to pray for pardon. You can get him on his knees even before this, and so get him to realize that he is in God’s presence, so that his rebellious heart may be humbled, but do not have him pray until he really does wish to turn from sin.
(5) i Jno. 5: 13-15, R.V. — “These things have I written unto you, that ye may know that ye have eternal life, even unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God. And this is the boldness which we have toward him, that, if ive ask anything according to his will, he heareth us: and if we know that he heareth us whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions which we have asked of him.”
FIFTH PROPOSITION: Those that believe on the name of the Son of God can pray so that God will hear.
The promises of the New Testament cannot be applied indiscriminately to all men. A great mistake is often made by taking promises made to the believer and applying them as if they referred to all classes of men; or, by taking promises made to those that have surrendered absolutely to the will of God, and applying them as if they referred to all professed believers. When we find promises with “we” and “ye” in them, we should study the context and find out who the “we’s” and “ye’s” are, and whether we belong to that class.
(6) Ps. 34: 15, 17 — “The eyes of the LORD are upon the righteous, and his ears are open to their cry... The righteous cry, and the LORD heareth, and delivereth them out of all their troubles.”
Prov. 15: 29 — “The LORD is far from the wicked; but he heareth the prayer of the righteous.’”
Prov. 15: 8 — “The sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination to the LORD: but the prayer of the upright is his delight.”
SIXTH PROPOSITION: The righteous and the upright can
pray so that God will hear.
NOTE. — The words translated righteous and upright have practically the same significance. They both mean primarily “right” or “straight.” (The latter may mean also “level” or “even.”)
(7) Ps. 32: 6 — “For this shall every one that is godly pray unto thee in a time when though mayest be found; surely in the floods of great waters they shall not come nigh unto him.”
SEVENTH PROPOSITION: The godly (or merciful) can pray
so that God will hear.
The word translated “godly” in this passage is so translated three times in the Authorized Version (four times in R.V.) But its primary significance is “kind,” or “merciful.” It could be so translated in at least almost every passage where used. It is frequently translated “saints.”
(8) Ps. 145: 19 — “He will fulfil the desire of them that fear him: he also will hear their cry, and will save them.”
EIGHTH PROPOSITION: Those that fear God can pray so
that God will hear.
To fear God means to have that reverent regard for God that is due him and that manifests itself in glad obedience to His will. (Heb. 12: 28, 29; 1 Pet. 2: 17; Rev. 14: 7; 2 Cor. 7: 1; 2 Sam. 23: 3; Prov. 8: 13; 16: 6; Is. 11: 2, 3; Ps. 2: 11; 25: 14; 33: 18; 34: 7, 9; Rev. 19: 5;Ps. 115: 11; 118: 4.)
(9) i Jno. 3: 22 — “And whatsoever we ask, we receive of him be cause we keep his commandments, and do those things that are pleasing to his sight.”
NINTH PROPOSITION: Those that keep Gods commandments and do those things which are pleasing in His sight can pray so that God will hear.
Here we find one of the greatest secrets of prevailing prayer, If we listen to God’s commandments God will listen to our prayers. If we do as He bids us in His word, He will do as we ask him in our prayers. If we do what pleases Him, He will do what pleases us. This is the converse of (2) above. The one who turns away his ear from hearing God’s law cannot pray so that God will hear; the one who turns his ear to listen attentively to God’s Word can pray so that God will hear. This explains why some men’s prayers are heard and some men’s are not. To keep His commandments means more than merely yield obedience to them; it means to guard them as a precious possession, to treasure them. It is the opposite of the spirit of those “critics” who are trying to pare down the Word of God to the smallest possible dimensions. The more they can give away of God’s Word the more they seem delighted. They cannot pray so God will hear. If they have so little regard for God’s Word, God wilt have very little regard for theirs.
(10) Jno. 15: 7, R.V. — “If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatsoever ye will, and it shall be done unto you.”
TENTH PR OPOSITION. Those who abide in Christ, and Christ’s words abide in them, can pray so that God will hear. They can ask whatsoever they will and it will be done unto them.
This is the other great secret of prevailing prayer. It is closely related to the preceding. What is it to abide in Christ? It is to continue in living union with Him. To bear the same recation to Him that the living healthy branch, the continuously fruit-bearing branch, does to the vine. This branch has no independent life of its own. Its sap and vigor all come from the vine. Its leaves, buds, blossoms, fruit are all the product of the life of the vine in it. So we abide in Christ in so far as we have no in dependent life of our own. In so far as we do not seek to have any thoughts, plans, feelings, purposes, works, fruit of our own, but let Christ think his thoughts, feel His feelings, purpose His purposes, work His works,] bear His fruit, in us. When we do this, and in so far as we do this, we may ask whatsoever we will and it shall be done.
It may be asked: “But what if we ask something contrary to God’s will? “We cannot in so far as we abide in Christ; our prayers themselves will be the outcome of the Christ-life in us. The Father heareth Hini always and will hear Him when He prays through us. Note that He says also, “And my words abide in you.” It is through His words, and only through His words, that Christ imparts His life to us and lives His life in us. The words of Christ are the vehicle of the life of Christ. It is vain, then, to talk or think of abiding in Christ if we neglect His words. We must let His words sink deep into our souls and form us, mould our thoughts, our feelings, our purposes, our plans, our actions. u If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatsoever ye will, and it shall be done unto you” is the way the promise reads.
(n) Ps. 91: i, 14, 15 — “He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most high shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.... Be cause he hath set his love upon me, therefore will I deliver him: I will set him on high, because he hath known my name. He shall call upon me, and I will answer him: I will be with him in trouble; I will deliver him, and honor him.”
ELEVENTH PROPOSITION: The one who dwells in the secret place of the Most High, who sets his love upon God and knows His name, can pray so that God will hear.
What is it to dwell in the secret place of the Most High? The word translated ‘* secret place,” means primarily “a covering,” then “hiding-place,” “protection.” It is translated “protection” once, and “hiding-place” a number of times. To dwell in the secret place of the Most High, means, then, to put oneself and keep oneself under the protection of the Most High, to be covered and hid from all harm by Him. It means to leave all our welfare absolutely to Him, and to look to Him and to trust Him to take care of it.
To know His name, means to know Him as he has revealed Himself to us. That is only possible through the study of the Word.
(12) Ps. 37: 4 — “Delight thyself also in the LORD; and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart.”
TWELFTH PROPOSITION: He that delighteth himself in
the Lord can pray so that the Lord will hear.
If our delight is in Him, our great prayer will be for Him self, and He is always willing to give Himself. With Himself He will grant every other desire of our hearts. If our delight is in Him, it will be His delight to give us what we ask. Do you delight in the Lord? Remember that “delight” is a very strong word.
(13) Ps. 37: 5 — “Commit thy way unto the LORD; trust also in him; and he shall bring it to pass.”
THIRTEENTH PROPOSITION: He that committeth his way unto the Lord and trusteth in Him can pray so that God will hear.
The word here translated “commit” means literally “roll.” (See Marg. A.V. and R. V.) To commit our way unto the Lord is to roll it upon Him, leave its direction and protection entirely to Him. Have you done this? Put the entire guidance and out come of your life in His hands, and your way will always be so near His that He can hear your faintest whisper when you call unto Him.
(14) Ps. 9: 12 — “When he maketh inquisition for blood he remembereth them: he forgetteth not the cry of the humble.”
Ps. 10: 17 — “LORD thou hast heard the desire of the humble: thou wilt prepare their heart, thou wilt cause thine ear to hear.”
FOURTEENTH PROPOSITION: The humble can pray so that
God will hear.
The Revised Version translates the words differently in these two passages. In Ps. 9:12, it translates it “poor.” In 10: 17, it translates it “meek.” The two words so translated are closely related, almost identical, and are from the same root. (According to one reading they are precisely the same.) The thought of the words is “the afflicted” who bear their affliction with meekness and humility. This latter thought is especially true of the word used in Ps. 10: 17. (See also Zeph. 2:3 — “Seek ye the LORD, all ye meek of the earth, which have wrought his judgment; seek righteousness, seek meekness: it may be ye shall be hid in the day of the LORD’S anger.” )
(15) Ps. 69: 33, R.V. — “For the LORD heareth the needy; and despiseth not his prisoners.”
Ps. 102: 17 — “He will regard the prayer of the destitute, and not despise their prayer.”
FIFTEENTH PROPOSITION: The needy and the destitute
can pray so that God will hear.
The word translated “destitute” is a very strong word, meaning primarily “naked.” Those to whom man does not listen are just the ones to whom God does listen. “The hungry he hath filled with good things; and the rich he hath sent empty away.” (Luke 1: 53, R.V.) The poor cannot get a hearing down here, but they can up there. The more a man has, the more attentively the world listens to him; the more a man needs, the more attentively God listens to him.
(16) Jas. 5: 13, R.V. (first half) — “Is any among you suffering? let him pray.”
SIXTEENTH PROPOSITION: The suffering ones among
God’ s people can pray so that God icill hear.
Men ofttimes hesitate to pray to God because their afflictions are so many. These afflictions are a warrant for praying, and a guarantee that God will hear you. (Compare Matt. 11: 28.) Many are saying, u My troubles and sorrows are so many, what shall I do?” Pray. “Is any among you suffering let him pray.”
(17) Is. 19: 20 — “And it shall be for a sign and for a witness unto the LORD of hosts in the land of Egypt: for they shall cry unto the LORD because of the oppressors, and he shall send them a saviour, and a great one, and he shall deliver them.”
Jas. 5: 4 — “Behold, the hire of the laborers who have reaped down your fields, which is of you kept back by fraud, crieth: and the cries of them which have reaped are entered into the ears of the Lord of Sabaoth.”
SE VENTEENTH PR OPOSITION: The oppressed can pray so
that God will hear.
The oppressed cry for justice down here, but only get greater oppression; but God will hear if they cry to Him, and will deliver and avenge them. Israel cried to Pharaoh and were only sent to more bitter bondage, to make bricks without straw. Israel cried to Jehovah, and He brought them forth with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm. So will He do again when the oppressed cry to Him and not to human governments.
(18) Ex. 22: 22, 23 — “Ye shall not afflict any widow, or fatherless child. If thou afflict them in any wise, and they cry at all unto me, I will surely hear their cry.”
EIGHTEENTH PROPOSITION: Widows and fatherless chiLdren can pray unto God in their oppression so that God will hear. (19) Jas. i: 5 — “If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall ba given him.”
NINETEENTH PROPOSITION: The child of God who lacks
wisdom can pray so that God icill hear.
If we lack human wisdom we can have God’s wisdom. If we are full of our own wisdom we can not have His.
(20) Acts. 10: 24, 31, 32 — “And the morrow after they entered into Cesarea. And Cornelius waited for them, and had called together his kinsman and near friends.... And said, Cornelius, thy prayer is heard, and thine alms are had in remembrance in the sight of God. Send therefore to Joppa, and call hither Simon, whose surname is Peter; he is lodged in the house of one Simon a tanner by the sea side: who, when he cometh, shall speak unto thee.”
(Compare Acts n: 14 — “Who shall tell thee words, whereby thou and all thy house shall be saved”y
TWENTIETH PROPOSITION: The man who is sincerely seeking the truth, and obeying the truth as fast as he finds it, even though he does not yet know the truth as it is in Jesus, and so is not as yet saved, can pray so that God will hear.
II. To Whom to Pray.
(i) Acts 12: 5 — “Peter therefore was kept in prison: but prayer was made without ceasing of the church unto GWfor him.”
FIRST PROPOSITION: We should pray to God,
Much so-called prayer is not to God. There is very little thought of God in it. We think of the audience, we think, it may be, of our need; but there is not a clear, deep sense that we have come into the presence of the all holy, almighty, all-loving One, and are laying hold upon Him for His help. This is one of the most frequent causes of failure in prayer. We do not really pray to God. The first thing to do when we pray is to actually come into God’s presence, to dismiss from our minds, so far as possible, all thought of our surroundings and look to the Spirit to present God to our minds and make Him real to us. It is possible by the Holy Spirit’s aid to have God so really present that it almost seems as if we could see and touch Him. Indeed, we do see Him with the spirit’s eyes, and touch Him with the hand of faith.
(2) Matt. 6: 9 — “After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Faihet which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name.”
Luke n: 13 — “If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children; how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him?”
Jno. 16:23 — “And in that day ye shall ask me nothing. Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in my name, he will give it you.”
SECOND PROPOSITION: We should pray to the Father.
Various modes of address to him are found in the prayers recorded in the Bible. Father. (Jno. 17: 1.) Holy Father. (Jno. 17: 11.) Righteous Father. (Jno. 17: 25.) Our Father which art in Heaven. (Matt. 6: 9.) “Lord, thou art God, which has made heaven, and earth, and sea, and all that in them is.” (Acts 4: 24.) “God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of Glory.” (Eph. 1: 17.) “Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.” (Eph. 3: 14.) “Our God and Father.” (1 Thess. 3: 11, R. V.)
(3) Acts 7: 59, R.V. — “And they stoned Stephen, calling upon the Lord, and saying, Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.”
2 Cor. 12: 8, 9 — “For this thing I besought the Lord thrice, that it might depart from me. And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.”
Acts. 9: 9, 10, 13, 14, 17, 20, 21 — “And he was three days without sight, and neither did eat nor drink. And there was a certain disciple at Damascus, named Ananias; and to him said the Lord in a vision, Ananias. And he said, Behold, I am here, Lord.... Then Ananias answered, Lord, I have heard by many of this man, how much evil he hath done to thy saints at Jerusalem: And here he hath authority from the chief priests to bind all that call on thy name.... And Ananias went his way, and entered into the house; and putting his hands on him said, Brother Saul, the Lord, even Jesus, that appeared unto thee in the way as thou earnest, hath sent me, that thou mightest receive thy sight, and be filled with the Holy Ghost.... And straightway he preached Christ in the synagogues, that he is the Son of God. But all that heard him were amazed, and said; Is not this he that destroyed them which called on this name in Jerusalem, and came hither for that intent, that he might bring them bound unto the chief priests?”
2 Tim. 2:22 — “Flee also youthful lusts: but follow righteousness, faith, charity, peace, with them that call on the Lord out of a pure heart.” (Compare 4:8 — “Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing.”)
i Cor. i: 2 — “Unto the church of God which is at Corinth, to them which are sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints, with all that in every place call ^tpon the name of Jesus Christ our Lord, both theirs and ours:”
Rom. 10: 12, 13 — “For there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek: for the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon him. For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.” (Compare v. 9 — “That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.”)
THIRD PROPOSITION: We should pray to the Lord Jesus
Christ.
One of the most distinctive characteristics of Christians is that they pray to Jesus Christ. They were spoken of in apostolic days as those who called on the name of Jesus. (Acts 9: 14, 21.) Paul described them as those” that call upon the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.” (1 Cor. 1:2, R.V.)
QUESTION: Ought we to pray to the Holy Spirit?
ANSWER: There is no recorded prayer in the Bible to the Holy Spirit, but the communion of the Holy Spirit is spoken of. This may imply prayer, but it may mean the partaking of the Holy Spirit. (Compare 1 Cor. 10: 16.) We are dependent upon the Holy Spirit for everything, and so must look to Him, which implies prayer. Yet it is the Father and the Son who give the Holy Spirit. (Jno. 14:16, 17; 15:26; Acts 2:33.) It would seem then that if we wished Him, instead of praying directly to Him, we should pray to the Father or Son for Him.
HI. For Whom to Pray.
(i) i Chron. 4: 10 — * ‘And Jabez called on the God of Israel, saying, Oh that thou wouldst bless me indeed, and enlarge my coast, and that thine hand might be with me, and that thou wouldst keep me from evil, that it may not grieve me! And God granted him that which he requested.”
Ps. 106: 4, 5 — “Remember me, O LORD, with the favor that thou bearest unto thy people: O visit me with thy salvation; That I may see the good of thy chosen, that I may rejoice in the gladness of thy nation, that I may glory with thine inheritance.”
2 Cor. 12:7, 8 — “And lest I should be exalted above measure through the abundance of the revelations, there was given to me a thorn in the flesh, the messenger of Satan to buffet me, lest I should be exalted above measure. For this thing I besought the LORD thrice, that it might depart from me”
Heb. 5: 7 — “Who in the days of his flesh, when he had offered up prayers and supplications with strong crying and tears unto him that was able to save him from death, and was heard in that he feared.”
Jno. 17: i — “These words spake Jesus, and lifted up his eyes to heaven, and said, Father, the hour is come; glorify thy Son, that thy Son also may glorify the.”
FIRST PROPOSITION: We should pray for ourselves.
A prayer for self is not by any means necessarily a selfish prayer. We may pray for something for ourselves in order that God may be glorified by our receiving it. (Jno. 17: 1; Ps. 50: 15.) If we would pray more for ourselves, God would be more glorified in us, and we would be a greater blessing to others. It was well for the world that Jesus spent so much time in prayer for Himself. If we would be fit to pray for others we must spend much time in prayer for ourselves. It is a bad sign when one is always praying for others and never for himself. He is not like his Master.
(2) Jas. 5: 16 —” Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of
a righteous man availeth much.”
Rom. i: 9 — “For God is my witness, whom I serve in my spirit in the gospel of his Son, that without ceasing I make mention of you al ways in my prayers.”
SECOND PROPOSITION: We should pray for one another — i. e., believers should pray for fellow-believers.
(3) Eph. 6: 19, 20 — “And for me, that utterance may be given unto me, that I may open my mouth boldly, to make known the mystery of the gospel. For which I am an ambassador in bonds; that therein I may speak boldly, as I ought to speak.”
Col. 4: 3 — “Withal praying also for us, that God would open unto us a door of utterance, to speak the mystery of Christ, for which I am also in bonds.”
2 Thess. 3: i, 2 — “Finally, brethren, pray for us, that the word of the Lord may have free course, and be glorified, even as it is with you: And that we may be delivered from unreasonable and wicked men: for all men have not faith.”
Acts 13: 2, 3 — “As they ministered to the Lord, and fasted, the Holy Ghost said, Separate me Barnabas and Saul for the work whereunto I have called them. And when they had fasted and prayed, and laid their hands on them, they sent them away.”
Matt, g: 38 — “Pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he will send forth labourers into his harvest.”
THIRD PROPOSITION’: We should pray for Ministers of the Word.
Those whom God has called to devote their lives to the ministry of the Word should be the especial objects of the prayers of God’s people. The neglect of prayer on the part of God’s people accounts very largely for the absence of power on the part of God’s ministers.
(4) i Thess. 3: 9-13 — “For what thanks can we render to God again for you, for all the joy wherewith we joy for your sakes before our God; Night and day praying exceedingly that we might see your face, and might perfect that which is lacking in your faith? Now God himself and -our Father, and our Lord Jesus Christ, direct our way unto you. And the Lord make you to increase and abound in love one toward another, and toward all men, even as we do toward you: To the end he may stablish your hearts unblameable in holiness before God, even our Father, at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ with all his saints.”
FOURTH PROPOSITION: We should pray for those who have
been converted through our ministry.
It is remarkable how often Paul writes to his converts about his praying for them. We find Jesus also praying for His con verts in Jno. 17: 9-26:
1 ‘I pray for them: I pray not for the world, but for them which thou hast given me; for they are thine. And all mine are thine, and thine are mine; and I am glorified in them. And now I am no more in the world, but these are in the world, and I come to thee. Holy Father, keep through thine own name those whom thou hast given me, that they may be one, as we are. While I was with them in the world, I kept them in thy name: those that thou gavest me, I have kept, and none of them is lost, but the son of perdition; that the Scriptures might be fulfilled. And now come I to thee; and these things I speak in the world, that they might have my joy fulfilled in themselves. I have given them thy word; and the world hath hated them, because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that thou shouldest keep them from the evil. They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. Sanctify them through thy truth, thy word is truth. As thou hast sent me into the world, even so have I also sent them into the world. And for their sakes I sanctify myself, that they also might be sanctified through the truth. Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their word; that they may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me. And the glory which thou gavest me I have given them; that they may be one, even as we are one: I in them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one; and that the world may know that thou hast sent me, and hast loved them, as thou hast loved me. Father, I will that they also, whom thou hast given me, be with me where I am; that they may be hold my glory, which thou hast given me: for thou lovcdst me before the foundation of the world. O righteous Father, the world hath not known thee: but I have known thee, and these have known that thou hast sent me. And I have declared unto them thy name, and will declare it; that the love wherewith thou hast loved me may be in them, and I in them.”
It is to be feared that few modern ministers pray for their converts with the frequency and intensity that Paul did for his. u Night and day praying exceedingly” he writes in one place.
(5) Jas- 5: T4’ l6 — “Is anv sick among you? let him call for the elders of the church; and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord:... Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.”
FIFTH PROPOSITION: We should pray for sick brethren.
(6) i Jno. 5, 16 — “If any man see his brother sin a sin which is not unto death, he shall ask, and he shall give him life for them that sin not unto death. There is a sin unto death; I do not say that he shall pray for it.”
SIXTH PROPOSITION: We should pray for any brother we
see sinning a sin not unto death.
(7) Eph. 6: 18, R.V — “With all prayer and supplication praying at all seasons in the Spirit, and watching thereunto in all perseverance and supplication for all the saints.”
SEVENTH PROPOSITION: We should pray for all the saints.
Christ’s prayer took in all believers in all ages. (Jno. 17: 9, 20.) Our sympathies, and consequently our prayers, should take in the whole Church of Christ. It is astounding how narrow is the circle taken in by the prayers of the average
Christian. Every child of God is my brother, and should be re« membered in my prayers. Let us give our prayers a wide! sweep. (Compare Ps. 36:10 — “O continue thy loving kindness unto them that know theej and thy righteousness to the upright in heart.”)
(8) i Chron. 29: 19 — “And give unto Solomon my son a perfect heart, to keep thy commandments, thy testimonies and thy statutes, and to do all these things, and to build the palace, for the which I have made provision.”
EIGHTH PROPOSITION: We should pray for our children.
(9) i Tim. 2: 2, 3 — “For kings, and for all that are in authority; that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty. For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Sa viour.”
NITNH PROPOSITION: We should pray for our riders.
It is to be feared that most Christians to-day are grievously disobedient to God at this point. The present fashion is to rail at our rulers. This is in direct disobedience to God’s Word. (Jude 8:9, R.V.; 2 Pet. 2:10, 11; 1 Pet. 2:17.) Christians can accomplish far more for “good government” by praying for than by railing at the powers that be.
(10) Jer. 29: 7 — “And seek the peace of the city whither I have caused you to be carried away captives, and pray unto the LORD for it: for in the peace thereof shall ye have peace.”
TENTH PROPOSITION: We should pray for the city where we live.
A Christian should be interested in all lands and in all places. But we have an especial responsibility and duty in prayer, as well as service, toward the place where God puts us.
(u) Rom. 10: i — “Brethren, my heart’s desire and prayer to God for Israel is, that they might be saved.”
Joel 2: 17 — “Let the priests, the ministers of the LORD, weep between the porch and the altar, and let them say, Spare thy people, O LORD, and give not thine heritage to reproach, that the heathen should rule over them: wherefore should they say among the people, where is their God?”
Is. 62: 6, 7 — “I have set watchmen upon thy walls, O Jerusalem, which shall never hold their peace day nor night: ye that make mention of the LORD, keep not silence, and give him no rest, till he establish, and till he make Jerusalem a praise in the earth.”
ELE VENTH PROPOSITION: We should pray for Israel.
It is a sin not to. 1 Sam. 12:23 — t l Moreover as for me, God forbid that I should sin against the LORD in ceasing to pray for you: but I will teach you the good and the right way.”
An especial blessing is pronounced upon those who pray for Jerusalem. Ps. 122:6, 7 — “Pray for the peace of Jerusalem: they shall prosper that love thee. Peace be within thy walls, and prosperity within thy palaces.” Jerusalem is very dear to God. 1 Kg. 11: 13 — “Howbeit I will not rend away all the king dom; but will give one tribe to thy son for David my servant’s sake, and for Jerusalem’s sake which I have chosen.” Zech. 2:7, 8, 10-12 — “Deliver thyself, O Zion, that dwcllcst with the daughter of Babylon. For thus saith the LORD of hosts: After the glory hath he sent me unto the nations which spoiled you: for he that toucheth you, toucheth the apple of his eye. Sing and rejoice, O daughter of Zion: for, lo, I come, and I will dwell in the midst of thee, saith the LORD. And many nations shall be joined to the LORD in that clay, and shall be my people: and I will dwell in the midst of thee, and thou shalt know that the LORD of hosts hath sent me unto thee. And the LORD shall inherit Judah, his portion in the holy land, and shall choose Jerusalem again. Be silent, O all flesh, before the LORD: for he is raised up out of his holy habitation.”
(12) Luke 6: 28 — “Bless them that curse you, and pray for them which despitefully use you.”
Matt. 5: 44, R.V. — “But I say unto you, Love your enemies, and pray for them that persecute you.”
TWELFTH PROPOSITION: We should pray for them that
despitefully use us and persecute us.
(Compare Luke 23: 34; Acts 7: 60.) We have an especial obligation of prayer toward those who do us wrong.
(13) i Tim. 2: i — “I exhort therefore, that, first of all, supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks, be made for all men.”
We should pray for all men. The love of God takes in the world. (Jno. 3: 16.) So should our prayers: but there are certain classes, as seen above, toward whom we have an especial obligation of prayer.
IT. When to Pray.
(1) Dan. 6: 10 — “Now when Daniel knew that the writing was signed, he went into his house; and, his windows being open in his chamber toward Jerusalem, he kneeled upon his knees three times a day and prayed, and gave thanks before his God, as he did aforetime.”
Ps. 55: 16, 17 — “As for me, I will call upon God; and the LORD shall save me. Evening and morning, and at noon, will I pray, and cry aloud: and he shall hear my voice.”
Acts 10: 9, 30 — “On the morrow, as they went on their journey, and drew nigh unto the city, Peter went up upon the housetop to pray about the sixth hour:... And Cornelius said, Four days ago I was fasting until this hour; and at the ninth hour I prayed in my house, and, behold, a man stood before me in bright clothing.” (See also Acts 2: i, 15 — “The third hour.”)
FIRST PROPOSITION: The holy men of the Bible prayed
three times a day, evening, morning and at noon.
(2) Ps. 119: 146, 147 — “I cried unto thee; save me, and I shall keep thy testimonies. I prevented the dawning of the morning, and cried: I hoped in thy word.”
Mark i: 35 — “And in the morning rising up a great ‘while before day he went out, and departed into a solitary place, and there prayed.”
SECOND PROPOSITION: We should pray very early in the
morning, before dawn,
(3) Luke 6: 12 — “And it came to pass in those days, that he went out into a mountain to pray, and continued all night in prayer to God.”
THIRD PROPOSITION: Our Master and Example “continued
all night in prayer to God.”
This was on the eve of a decisive step in His life, the choice of the twelve. A similar thing occurred at a great crisis in His life, when the multitude wished to take Him and make Him king. (Jno. 6: 15. Compare Mark 6: 46-48.) It is a good example to follow. There are some who strangely object to whole nights spent in prayer. They say that faith takes at once what it asks. Had not the Saviour faith? (Compare also Is. 40: 31.) Nights of prayer to God are followed by days of power with men. It is recorded of John Livingston that he spent a night in prayer and religious intercourse with a company like minded, and that the next day he preached with such power in the kirk of Shotts that 500 people dated their conversion or some definite advance in their spiritual life from that sermon. Of course, one can keep a night of prayer in a false and legal way.
(4) Ps. 88: i — “O LORD God of my salvation, I have cried day and night before thee.”
FO UR TH PR 0 POSITION: We should pray day and night.
At all times our heart should be looking up to God, and this upward look of the heart will be frequently uttering itself in a cry to Him.
(5) Matt. 14: 19 — “And he commanded the multitude to sit down on the grass, and took the five loaves, and the two fishes, and looking up to heaven, he blessed and brake, and gave the loaves to his disciples, and the disciples to the multitude.”
Acts 27: 35 — “And when he had thus spoken, he took bread, and gave thanks to God in presence of them all; and when he had broken it, he began to eat.”
i Tim. 4: 4, 5 — “For every creature of God is good, and nothing to be refused, if it be received with thanksgiving: For it is sanctified by the word of God and prayer;”
FIFTH PROPOSITION: We should pray at every meal.
(6) Ps. 50: 15 — “And call upon me in the day of trouble: I will deliver thee, and thou shalt glorify me.”
Ps. 81:7 — “Thou calledst in trouble, and I delivered thee; I answered thee in the secret place of thunder: I proved thee at the waters of Meribah.”
Ps. 77: i, 2 — “I cried unto God with my voice, even unto God with my voice; and he gave ear unto me. In the day of my trouble I sought the LORD: my sore ran in the night, and ceased not: my soul refused to be comforted.”
Ps. 86: 7 — “In the day of my trouble I will call upon thee: for thou wilt answer me.”
SIXTH PROPOSITION: We should pray to God in the day of trouble.
(Compare Ps. 18: 6; 120: 1; 118: 5 — Here two different Hebrew words are used, but both are from the same root as the words used in passages given above.)
(7) Ps. 3: i, 2 — “Lofd, how are they increased that trouble me! many are they that rise up against me. Many there be which say of my soul, There is no help for him in God. Selah.”
SEVENTH PROPOSITION: We should pray to God when those increase who trouble us and many rise up against us.
When enemies increase we should not despair but cry to God. Then we can lie down without fear to sleep. “We need not fear though ten thousands of people set themselves against us round about. (Compare vv. 5, 6.)
(8) i Chron. 5: 20 — “And they were helped against them, and the Hagarite’s were delivered into their hand, and all that were with them: for they cried to God in the battle, and he was entreated of them; be cause they put their trust in him.”
EIGHTH PROPOSITION: We should pray to God in the day
of battle.
Victory is of the Lord (Prov. 21:31, R.V.), therefore, in every battle we should cry to Him.
(9) 2 Chron. 14: 8, 9, n — ‘* And Asa had an army of men that bare targets and spears, out of Judah three hundred thousand; and out of Benjamin, that bare shields and drew bows, two hundred and four score thousand: all these were mighty men of valor. And there came out against them Zerah the Ethiopian with a host of a thousand thousand, and three hundred chariots; and came unto Mareshah.... And Asa cried unto the LORD his God, and said, LORD, it is nothing with thee to help, whether with many, or with them that have no power: help us, O LORD our God; for we rest on thee, and in thy name we go against this multitude. O LORD, thou art our God; let no man prevail against thee.”
20: 1-4, 12 — “It came to pass after this also, that the children of Moab, and the children of Ammon, and with them others besides the Ammonites, came against Jehoshaphat to battle. Then there came some that told Jehoshaphat, saying, There cometh a great multitude against thee from beyond the sea on this side Syria; and, behold, they be in Hazazon-tamar, which is En-gedi. And Jehoshaphat feared, and set himself to seek the LORD, and proclaimed a fast throughout all Judah. And Judah gathered themselves together, to ask help of the LORD: even out of all the cities of Judah they came to seek the LORD.... O our God, wilt thou not judge them? for we have no might against this great company that cometh against us; neither know we what to do: but our eyes are upon thee.”
NINTH PROPOSITION: We should pray to God when out
numbered by enemies and when we have no might against
and know not what to do.
When there is nothing else left to do, there is one thing that always remains — pray to God.
(10) 2 Chron. 13:13-16 — “But Jeroboam caused an ambushment to come about behind them: so they were before Judah, and the ambushment was behind them. And when Judah looked back, behold, a battle was before and behind: and they cried unto the LORD, and the priests sounded with the trumpets. Then the men of Judah gave a shout and as the men of Judah shouted, it came to pass, that God smote Jeroboam and all Israel before Abijah and Judah. And the children of Israel fled before Judah: and God delivered them into their hands.”
TENTH PROPOSITION: We shouldpray to Godwhen in great
extremities.
(11) Ps. 60: ii — “Give us help from trouble: for vain is the help of man.”
ELE VENTH PROPOSITION: We shouldpray to God when all
human help fails.
(12) Jonah 2: 7 — “When my soul fainted within me I remembered the LORD: and my prayer came in unto thee, into thine holy temple.”
TWELFTH PROPOSITION: We should pray to God when our
soul faints within us.
(13) Ps. 61: 2 — “From the end of the earth will I cry unto thee, when my heart is overwhelmed: lead me to the rock that is higher than I.”
THIRTEENTH PROPOSITION: We should pray to Godwhen
our heart is overwhelmed.
(14) Ps. 130: i — “Out of the depths have I cried unto thee, O LORD.”
FOURTEENTH PROPOSITION: We should pray unto God
when in the depths.
(15) Deut. 4: 25-29 — “When thou shalt beget children, and children’s Children, and ye shall have remained long in the land, and shall corrupt yourselves, and make a graven image, or the likeness of any thing, and shall do evil in the sight of the LORD thy God, to provoke him to anger; I shall call heaven and earth to witness against you this day, that ye shall soon utterly perish from off the land whereunto ye go over Jordan to possess it: ye shall not prolong your days upon it, but shall utterly be destroyed. And the LORD shall scatter you among the nations, and ye shall be left few in number among the heathen, whither the LORD shall lead you. And there ye shall serve gods, tha work of men’s hands, wood and stone, which neither see, nor hear, nor eat, nor smell. But if from thence thou shalt seek the LORD thy God, thou shalt find him, if thou seek him with all thy heart and with all thy soul.”
FIFTEENTH PROPOSITION: We should pray to God in the day when we are being chastened for sin, when we are in a far country and desiring to come back to God.
The chastisements of God are a call to prayer.
(16) Is. 55: 6 — “Seek ye the LORD while he may be found, call ye upon him while he is near.”
SIXTEENTH PROPOSITION: We should call upon God while
He is near and may be found
(17) Ps. 116: i, 2 — “I love the LORD, because he hath heard my voice and my supplications. Because he hath inclined his ear unto me, therefore will I call upon him as long as I live.”
SEVENTEENTH PROPOSITION: We should pray to God as
long as we live.
The last utterances of Christ were prayers, The last words of the Bible are prayers.
(18) Luke 18: i — “And he spake a parable unto them to this end, that men ought always to pray, and not to faint.”
Eph. 6: 18, R.V. — “With all prayer and supplication praying at aft seasons in the Spirit, and watching thereunto in all perseverance and supplication for all the saints.”
i Thess, 5: 17 — “Pray without ceasing.”
EIGHTEENTH PROPOSITION: We should pray always and
not faint, at all seasons, without ceasing.
A Christian should breathe an atmosphere of prayer. Faith in God has always an upward look. True trust in God is constantly crystallizing into definite prayer to God.
V. Where to Pray.
(i) Matt. 6:6, R.V. — “But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thine inner chamber, and having shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret, and thy Father which seeth in secret shall recompense thee.”
FIRST PROPOSITION: We should pray in secret, in our inner chamber.
Shut in alone with God, the world shut out. There is a temptation when prayer is offered in presence of others to think of what observers are thinking of us. True prayer is taken up with God, not with men. The especial form of this danger which Christ is guarding against in this passage is that of ostentatious piety, hypocrisy, praying to be seen of men. The Heavenly Father is “thy Father which is in secret” “Thy Father which seeth in secret.” Every one should have a secret place to meet God, a place in which he is absolutely alone with God.
(2) Matt. 14: 23 — “And when he had sent the multitudes away, he went up into a mountain apart to pray: and when the evening was come, he was there alone.” (Luke 6: 12; 9: 28.)
SECOND PROPOSITION: Jesus was wont to go apart into the mountains to pray.
The primary purpose of His seeking this place to pray seems to have been that He might be alone with God. The mountains were His “secret” place. Further than this the mountains, in their majesty, seem to bring God wonderfully near to us and us wonderfully near to God
(3) Mark 1:35 — “And in the morning, rising up a great while before day, he went out, and departed into a solitary place, and there prayed.”
THIRD PROPOSITION: Jesut went into a solitary place to pray.
The purpose of this is essentially the same as in (1) and (2.)
(4) Acts 16:25 — “And at midnight Paul and Silas prayed, and sang praises unto God: and the prisoners heard them.”
FOURTH PROPOSITION: The prisoner should pray in prison.
Doubtless some of the most acceptable and effective prayers that God has ever heard have ascended to Him from prison-cells. Prayer transforms a prison-cell into a portal of heaven.
(5) Jonah 2: 2, R.V. Marg. —” I called by reason of mine affliction unto the LORD; And he answered me; Out of the belly of Sheol cried I, and thou heardest my voice.’*
FIFTH PROPOSITION: We may pray to God in the very jaw* of death.
(6) Jno. 17: i — “These words spake Jesus, and lifted up his eyes to heaven, and said, Father, the hour is come; glorify thy Son, that thy Son also may glorify thee.” (See context.)
SIXTH PROPOSITION: We should pray to God in the assembly of believers.
(7) Acts 27: 35 — “And when he had thus spoken, he took bread, and gave thanks to God in presence of them all; and when he had broken it, he began to eat.” (See context.)
SEVENTH PROPOSITION: We should pray to God in the
presence of the unsaved.
In doing so we must ever be on guard against praying to be seen and heard of men. By far the greater part of our praying should be in secret. But there should be public acknowledgment of our sense of dependence upon God.
(8) i Tim. 2: 8, R.V. — “I desire therefore that the men pray in every place, lifting up holy hands, without wrath and disputing.”
EIGHTH PROPOSITION: We should pray in everyplace.
VI. For What to Pray.
A. PRAYERS RELATING TO GOD.
(1) Matt. 6: 9 — “After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name.”
FIRST PROPOSITION: We should pray for the hallowing of Gods name.
The supreme desire of every believer’s heart should be that God be duly honored and reverenced. This should be the highest motive in all our prayers. The chief purpose of all our prayers should be that God may be glorified in granting our petitions. (Compare Jno. 17: 1; 12: 27, 28.) How deep and intense is your desire that God’s name may be hallowed, and how often do you really pray for this? To what extent is this the ruling motive of your prayers?
(2) Matt. 6: 10 (a) — “Thy kingdom come.
SECOND PROPOSITION: We should pray for the coming of
God s kingdom.
God’s kingdom will surely come anyway, but our prayers will hasten the coming of that kingdom. Little do most of us realize how far our prayers go in hastening the coming of God’s kingdom, and how far our neglect of prayer goes in retarding the coming of that kingdom. The coming of God’s kingdom is one of the in tensest desires of the true believer’s heart. Yet this prayer is often uttered thoughtlessly and mechanically.
(3) Rev. 22: 20 —” He that testifieth these things saith, Surely I come quickly: Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus.
THIRD PROPOSITION: We should pray for the coming of
Gods king, Jesus.
The kingdom will never come until the King comes. Yet there are many who have prayed often that the kingdom of God would come, who have never prayed once that the King would come. This prayer stands as the climax of Christian aspiration. It is the final prayer of the Bible. The whole revelation of the Book leads up to this. How often have you prayed for this?
(4) Matt. 6: 10 (b), R. V.” Thy will be done as in heaven, so
on earth.”
FOURTH PROPOSITION: We should pray that Gods will be
done on earth as in heaven.
God’s will is the most desirable thing in the universe to the true child of God. (Compare Jno. 4: 34.) He wishes it done in himself, but not only in himself, but everywhere and in every person and thing. No other prayer rings out quite so heartily from an understanding soul as this, u Thy will be done.”
(5) Hab. 3: 2 — “O LORD, I have heard thy speech, and was afraid: O LORD, revive thy work in the midst of the years, in the midst of the years make known; in wrath remember mercy.”
Ps. 85:6.
FIFTH PROPOSITION: We should pray for the reviving of
God’s work and Gods people.
There is much prayer for revival in these days, but how much of that prayer is governed by the thought that it is God s work and Gods people that must be revived? How much of our concern is, because it is God’s work that is languishing and Gods people that are fainting? Far too often, it is only the interests of men that are to be subserved by a revival, that we have in view in our prayers and efforts for revival. Prayer for the reviving of God’s work and God’s people is a prayer that God is especially pleased to answer. All through the centuries of Israel’s history, and of the Church’s history, God has granted His reviving grace in answer to prayer. Prayer has been the most prominent human element in great revivals. It has been back of everything else. There have been extraordinary revivals with out extraordinary preaching; there have never been extraordinary revivals without extraordinary praying.
B. PRAYERS RELATING TO MINISTERS OF THE WORD.
(6) Matt. 9: 38 — “Pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that He will send forth laborers into His harvest.”
SIXTH PROPOSITION: We should pray the Lord of the har
vest that He send forth laborers into His harvest.
How often and how earnestly have you prayed this prayer? Christ has given us a very urgent command to do so. Have you obeyed it? There was never a time when there was a greater need for laborers than to-day. The fields are white and open to the harvesters as perhaps never before in the history of the Church and the world. The way to get the right sort of laborers is to pray for them. There are a great many professed laborers in the Lord’s harvest in these days whom He surely never sent. The way to get the right laborers for any particular field is to pray for them. ( Compare Acts 1: 24.) If Paul and Barnabas had taken to God in prayer the matter of whether Mark was God’s man to take with them on their second missionary journey, instead of trying to settle it themselves, it is quite certain there would have never been occasion to write one of the saddest verses in the Bible. (Acts. 15: 39.) Many another bitter separation among brethren over ministers could have been avoided in the same way.
(7) Col. 4: 3 — “Withal praying also for us, that God would opem unto us a door of utterance, to speak the mystery of Christ, for whicn 1 am also in bonds.”
SEVENTH PROPOSITION: We should pray for a door of utterance to be opened for those who preach the Word.
That is the way to get open doors, ask for them. There are few more pitiable sights than men who believe God has called them to preach who can find no open door. True prayer to God to open a door, and a willingness to enter the door God opens, would solve the difficulty. If there is any place where the Gospel ought to be preached, but where there is no open door, pray for it. Paul was in a most unlikely place to find an open door when he made this request. He was in prison, but God heard the prayer and Paul entered a door to an audience to whom he is still preaching Many a door in heathen lands seemingly closed and barred against the Gospel, has been opened in the same way. Prayer to God will open more doors than appeals to human governments.
(8) Eph. 6: 19, 20, R.V. — “That utterance may be given unto me in opening my mouth, to make known with boldness the mystery of the Gospel, for which I am ambassador in chains; that in it I may speak boldly as I ought to speak.”
EIGHTH PROPOSITION: We should pray for utterance to be given to ministers of the Word in opening their mouths, to make known with boldness the mystery of the Gospel, that in it they may speak boldly, as they ought to speak.
Not only open doors are needed, but open mouths to enter the opened doors. Ministers of the Word greatly need boldness in this time-serving and compromising age, and in all ages, and God’s children should be in constant prayer that ministers of the Word may have this needed boldness. If even fearless Paul felt the need of prayer along this line, how much more do ordinary men need it. There are plenty to-day to criticise the timidity of preachers of the Word; how many are there who are in constant and earnest prayer that they may be given utterance, to make known with boldness the mystery of the gospel? Praying will accomplish far more along this line than grumbling and criticising. (See Acts 4: 29, 31.)
(9) 2 Thess. 3: i, R.V. — “Finally, brethren, pray for us, that the word of the Lord may run and be glorified, even as also it is with you.”
NINTH PROPOSITION: We should pray for ministers of the Word, that the Word of the Lord may run and be glorified.
We complain of the slow progress of the Word. Are we
praying that it may run?
(10) Ps. 132: 9 (a) — “Let thy priests be clothed with righteousness.”
TENTH PROPOSITION: We should pray that God’s ministers may be clothed with righteousness.
The text applies primarily to priests, and the preacher of the Word is, strictly speaking, no more a priest than any other believer; but he does in a peculiar way represent God, and God’s honor is involved in his walk. We may then quite legitimately apply to him this petition for the Old Testament representative of God. We should desire and pray for the righteous walk of those who represent God. This is sadly needed in this day when so many of them are falling into sin, and when the enemies of the Lord are so glorying in their downfall. We live in a perilous time, and we do well to pray for all saints, but especially for those in whose steadfast righteousness God is peculiarly honored, and in whose fall God is peculiarly dishonored. Let us often and earnestly pray that God’s ministers be clothed with righteousness.
C. PRAYERS FOR SPIRITUAL BLESSINGS.
(n) Matt. 6: 12 — “And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.”
Ps. 25: ii — “For thy name’s sake, O LORD, pardon mine iniquity; for it is great.”
Ps. 51: i — “Have mercy upon me, O God, according to thy lovingkindness: according unto the multitude of thy tender mercies blot out my transgressions.”
Luke 18: 13 — “And the publican, standing afar off, would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven, but smote upon his breast, saying, God be merciful to me a sinner.”
Hos. 14: 2 — “Take with you words, and turn to the LORD: say unto him, Take away all iniquity, and receive us graciously: so will we render the calves of our lips.”
Ex. 34: 9 — “And he said, if now I have found grace in thy siht, O Lord, let my Lord, I pray thee, go among us; for it is a stiffnecked people; and pardon our iniquity and our sin, and take us for thine heritance.”
Ex. 32: 31, 32 — “And Moses returned unto the Lord, and said, Ob, this people have sinned a great sin, and have made them gods of gold
Yet now, if thou wilt forgive their sin — and if not, blot me I pray thee, out of thy book which thou hast written.”
i Kg. 8: 47-50 — “Yet if they shall bethink themselves in the land whither they were carried captives, and repent, and make supplication unto thee in the land of them that carried them captive saying, We have sinned, and have done perversely, we have committed wickedness; And so return unto thee with all their heart, and with all their soul, in the land of their enemies, which led them away captive, and pray unto thee toward their land, which thou gavest unto their fathers, the city which thou hast chosen, and the house which I have built for thy name: Then hear thou their prayer and their supplication in heaven thy dwelling place, and maintain their cause, and forgive thy people that have sinned against thee, and all their transgressions wherein they have transgressed against thee, and give them compassion before them who carried them captive, that they may have com* passion on them.”
Acts. 8: 22 — “Repent therefore of this thy wickedness, and pray God, if perhaps the thought of thine heart may be forgiven thee.”
ELEVENTH PROPOSITION: We should pray for forgiveness of our sins.
It is sometimes said that believers ought not to pray for forgiveness of sin, but simply to confess their sins. That comes from forcing 1 Jno. 1:9 (“If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness”) beyond what it says, and contradicts the plain teachings of the Word elsewhere. It is true that God has provided pardon for all the believer’s sins on the ground of the all-sufficing atoning blood of Christ, but what God has thus provided we appropriate to ourselves by confession of sin and prayer for pardon. Prayer for pardon is a proper acknowledgment to God of our guiltiness. Prayers for pardon are more frequent in the Bible than prayers for almost anything else. Of course, we ought not to pray again and again for the forgiveness of some sin that we have already laid before God, and that has thus been put away forever.
(12) Ps. 139: 23, 24 — “Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts: And see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.”
TWELFTH PROPOSITION: We should pray the Lord to
search us and try us.
The true child of God will desire that every evil way in him be searched out and brought to light. This work can never be thoroughly and satisfactorily done by any process of personal self examination. God must do it, and He does it in answer to prayer. It needs to be done frequently. Sin and selfishness and carnality and worldliness surround us as the very atmosphere we breathe, and are constantly creeping into our hearts and lives unawares. Each day should close by our going into God’s presence and laying our inmost lives and outward walk before him, and asking Him to search them through and through, and to lay bare to us whatever in them is hateful to Him. This will be to us a painful, but a salutary process.
(13) Ps. 51: 7 — “Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean: wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.”
Ps. 19: 12 — “Who can understand his error? cleanse thou me from secret faults.”
THIR TEE NTH PR 0 POSITION: We should pray for cleansing from sin.
The Hebrew verb translated “cleanse” in both of these passages means to clear “or acquit.” (See R. V. of Ps. 19: 12. ) This prayer is a prayer for pardon — cleansing from guilt — rather than for cleansing from the presence of sin.
(14) Ps. 51: 10 — “Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me.”
FOURTEENTH PROPOSITION: We should pray God to create in us a clean heart.
It is vain for us to try to cleanse our own heart. A clean heart requires a creative act that God alone can perform. He will do it in answer to prayer. He will create in us a heart that loves righteousness and hates sin.
(15) Ps. 119: 117 — “Hold thou me up, and I shall be safe: and I will have respect unto thy statutes continually.”
FIFTEENTH PROPOSITION: We should pray God to hold
us up.
If God holds us up we “shall be safe.” We are never safe unless God does holds us up. It is a hopeless task to try to stand alone. The way is too slippery, and not one of us is sure footed.
He “that thinketh he standeth” needs to “take heed lest he fall.” (1 Cor. 10: 12.) The only sure way of taking heed is by humble, honest and earnest prayer. God is abundantly able and willing to hold us up. (1 Cor. 10: 13.)
(16) Ps. 19: 13 — “Keep back thy servant, also from presumptuous sins; let them not have dominion over me: then shall I be upright, and I shall be innocent from the great transgression.”
SIXTEENTH PROPOSITION: We should pray to be kept back from, and delivered from the dominion of t presumptuous sins.
The word here translated presumptuous, means primarily boiling, then swelling, insolent, arrogant, proud. Pride and arrogance are common to us all. God alone can keep us back from them.
(17) Ps. 119: 10 — “With my whole heart have I sought thee: O let me not wander from thy commandments.”
SEVENTEENTH PROPOSITION: We should pray that God
will not let us wander from His commandments.
“Prone to wander” is what every child of Adam is. Unless we are constantly looking to God to keep us from wandering we are sure to go astray from the straight path of His Word. But He is very ready to keep us from wandering if we look to Him to do it.
(18) Matt. 6: 13, R.V. (a) — “And bring us not into temptation.” Mark 14: 38, R.V. — “Watch and pray, that ye enter not into temptation: the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.”
EIGHTEENTH PROPOSITION: We should pray that we be
not brought, nor enter into temptation.
This is the prayer that springs from a true knowledge of self. If we have true humility we will recognize our own weakness and this petition will be often upon our lips. No man who has any true knowledge of himself will court temptation. He will flee from it and pray God not to bring him into it. Many a man who has made seemingly great attainments in the spiritual life, has fallen because he has lost the spirit of this prayer. It is one of the most suggestive petitions of the wonderful prayer which Jesus taught His disciples.
(19) Matt. 6: 13 (b), R.V. —” But deliver us from the evil one.*’
NINETEENTH PROPOSITION: We should pray to be d&
liver ed from the Evil One.
Anyone who carefully and candidly studies the New Testament and human history must be convinced of the existence and awful power, cunning and malignity of the Evil One. We must realize that our only security against his wiles and his power is in constant prayer to God.
(20) Ps. 141: 3 — “Set a watch, O LORD, before my mouth; keep the door of my lips.”
TWENTIETH PROPOSITION: We should pray that the dooi
of our lips be kept.
This is the only way in which our speech can be governed. “The tongue can no man tame: it is a restless evil” (Jas. 3: 8, R.V.), but God can govern it and will in answer to prayer.
Under the immediately preceding heads (17, 18, 19, 20), we have a fourfold keeping: our lips kept from uttering what they ought not, our feet kept from wandering where they ought not, and we ourselves kept from doing what we ought not and from all the power of the enemy.
(21) Ps. 86: ii (a) — “Teach me thy way, O LORD; I will walk in thy truth: unite my heart to fear thy name.”
Ps. 119: 33 (a) — “Teach me, O LORD, the way of thy statutes; and
I will keep it unto the end.”
25: 4 — “Shew me thy ways, O LORD; teach me thy paths. 5f
143: 10 (a) — “Teach me to do thy will; for thou art my God: thy
Spirit is good; lead me into the land of uprightness.”
TWENTY-FIRST PROPOSITION: We should pray Jehovah to teach us His way, the way of His statutes, His path, to do His will.
We will never know His way nor how to do His will until He
Himself teaches us, and He will not teach us unless we ask Him
to. We can, however, ask Him with absolute confidence that He
will teach us.
(22) Ps. 90: 12, R.V. — “So teach us to number our days, that we may get us an heart of wisdom.”
TWENTY-SECOND PROPOSITION: We should pray the Lord to so teach us to number our days that we may get us a heart of wisdom.
(23) Luke ii: i — “And it came to pass, as he was praying in a certain place, when he ceased, one of his disciples said unto him, Lord, teach us to pray, as John also taught his disciples.”
TWENTY- THIRD PR 0 POSITION: We should pray to be taught to pray.
“We know not how to pray as we ought,” but the Lord is just as ready to teach us to-day by His Spirit (Rom. 8: 26, R.V.), and by His Word, as He was to teach His disciples when here, by word of mouth.
(24) Ps. 119: 18 — “Open thou mine eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of thy law.”
TWEN TY-FO UR Til PR 0 POSITION: We should pray the Lord to open our eyes to behold wondrous things out of His ovm Word.
We shall never see nor appreciate the wondrous things of God’s Word until God Himself opens our eyes to behold them. This He does in answer to prayer. Prayer gives a keenness of perception to spiritual beauty of which the prayerless man never dreams. No amount of study of Hebrew or Greek, or mere intellectual study of any sort, will open spiritual eyes blinded by sin. The prayerless eye can no more see the spiritual beauty of God’s truth revealed in the pages of the Bible, through the spectacles of linguistic knowledge, than the blind natural eye can see the beauties of the natural world through any spectacles no matter how scientifically constructed. There must be natural sight to discern natural beauty. There must be spiritual sight to discern spiritual beauty. A man who has sight can see more beauty without spectacles, than a sightless man can with the best glasses ever constructed. So the man who has spiritual sight can see more beauty in the Word of God without the aid of scholarship, than the spiritually sightless man can with all the aids of the most recent and most approved scholarship. There is many a modern Bartimeus occupying a theological professorship who needs to cry: “Lord, that I might receive my sight.” (MarklO:51.) But they go on, the blind leading the blind, and both are falling into the ditch of destructive criticism. Only prayer will open our eyes to a real appreciation of the Bible. One can see more of its beauty and learn more of its truth in an hour at the feet of Jesus, than in four years at the feet of men, who, professing themselves to be wise, are become fools. (Rom. 1: 22.) Every minister and every believer needs to take a course in that Seminary in which one matriculates by prayer. The most ignorant and most learned child of God will find that the Bible opens up wonderfully by prayer. One ought never to open his Bible, even for a few moments’ study, without at least breathing to God the substance of the Psalmist’s prayer.
(25) Ps. 31: 3 — “For thou art my rock and my fortress: therefore for thy name’s sake lead me, and guide me.”
Ps. 27: ii — “Teach me thy way, O LORD, and lead me in a plain path, because of mine enemies.”
Ps. 139: 24 — “And see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.”
TWENTY-FIFTH PROPOSITION: We should pray to be led
and guided.
Who knows the way he ought to take? Perils are on every hand, but there is ever an unerring hand within reach to lead us safely on. We grasp that hand by prayer. We need God’s guidance at every step of the way. We cannot altogether trust the wisest human guides. We do not need to. It is our privilege not only to ask God to lead us, but to lead us “in a plain path.” (Ps. 27: 11.) He is ready to lead us in the way everlasting.
(26) Eph. i: 16-19, R.V. — “Cease not to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers; that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto you a spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him; having the e)’es of your heart enlightened that ye may know what in the hope of his calling, what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints, and what the exceeding greatness of -his power to us-ward who believe, -according to that working of the strength of his might which he wrought in Christ.”
TWENTY-SIXTH PR OPOSITION: We should pray for a spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.
The only way to really know Christ is through that spirit of wisdom which God gives in anwer to prayer. No amount of unaided searching will ever find Him out.
The result of receiving this u spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him” will be, that we shall have the eyes of our hearts enlightened so that we shall know what is the hope 02
Prayer 44 i
His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, and what is the exceeding greatness of His power to us-ward who believe.
(27) Col. i: g, 10, R.V. — “For this cause we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray and make request for you, that ye may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, to walk worthily of the Lord unto all pleasing, bearing fruit in every good work, and increasing in the knowledge of God.”
TWENTY-SEVENTH PROPOSITION: We should pray to be filled with the knowledge of His will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, to walk worthily of the Lord unto all pleasing, bearing fruit in every good work, and increasing in the knowledge of the Lord.
This prayer is worthy of deep and careful meditation.
(28) Eph. 3: 14, 16, R.V. — “For this cause I bow my knees unto the Father... that he would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, that ye may be strengthened with power through his Spirit in the inward man.”
TWENTY-EIGHTH PROPOSITION: We should pray God the Father that He would grant us according to the riches of His glory, that we may be strengthened with power through the Spirit in the inner man.
The result of the inward strengthening thus granted will be: First, that Christ will dwell in our hearts through faith; second, that we, being rooted and grounded in love, shall be made strong to apprehend together with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ which passeth knowledge; third, that we shall be filled unto all the fulness of God. (vv. 17-19.)
Surely that is a glorious and inexhaustible prayer.
(29) i Thess. 3: 12 — “And the Lord make you to increase and abound in love one toward another, and toward all men, even as we do toward you.”
TWENTY-NINTH PROPOSITION: We should pray the Lord to make us to increase and abound in love one toward another, and toward all men.
Many of us bewail our lack of love. This verse indicates the way to get it. Ask for it. In this way He will establish our hearts unblamable in holiness before our God and Father, at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. (V. 13.)
(30) i Thess. 5: 23, R.V. — “And the God of peace himself sanctify you wholly; and may your spirit and soul and body be preserved entire, without blame at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.”
THIRTIETH PROPOSITION: We should pray the God of peace to sanctify us wholly, and that our spirit and soul and body be preserved entire, without blame at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.
The word for “wholly” in this passage is an extremely strong word; it is a double word, and means “perfect in every respect,” absolutely perfect. Nothing short of absolute perfection will satisfy the true child of God. We may have already attained a relative perfection, a condition of maturity (Phil. 3: 15; 1 Cor. 2: 6; 2 Cor. 13: 11), but we pray for absolute perfection, and in answer to our prayers it shall be ours at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.
(31) Ps. 27: 4, R.V. — “One thing have I asked of the LORD, that will I seek after; that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life to behold the beauty of the LORD and to inquire in his temple.”
THIRTY-FIRST PROPOSITION: We should pray for personal nearness to and communion with God and the glad contemplation of His beauty.
This was the Psalmist’s supreme request. He longed not so much for Jehovah’s gifts as for Jehovah Himself.
(32) Luke ii: 13 — “If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children; how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him.”
Acts 8: 15 — “Who, when they were come down, prayed for them that they might receive the Holy Ghost.” (Compare Jno. 4: 10. Compare 7: 37-39.)
THIRTY-SECOND PROPOSITION: We should pray for the
gift of the Holy Spirit.
(33) Ps. 51: 12 (a) — “Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation.”
Prayef 443
THIRTY-THIRD PROPOSITION’: When the jot, of the salvation of the Lord has been lost, we should pray for its restoration.
T>. PRAYERS FOR TEMPORAL BLESSINGS.
(34) Jas. i: 5 — “If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him.”
THIRTY-FOURTH PROPOSITION: We should pray for
wisdom.
This is not altogether a temporal blessing, but this promise covers wisdom in temporal matters as well as in spiritual. We have a right to ask God for wisdom in all the affairs of life (Compare Prov. 3: 6.)
(35) Matt. 6: n — “Give us this day our daily bread.”
THIRTY-FIFTH PROPOSITION: We should pray for our
daily bread.
The exact meaning of the word translated “daily’’ is hard to determine, as it is used nowhere else, except in the parallel passage Luke 11: 3. Various translations have been suggested, such as “sufficient bread,” “bread proper for our sustenance,” “needful bread,” “bread for the coming day.” They amount to about the same thing. In any case the thought is that we are to depend upon God from day to day to supply our physical need as it arises. The petition does not give us any warrant to ask God for stores for future need, but it does invite us to ask God for sufficient supplies for each day’s need as it arises. In the Old Testament (Gen. 27: 28; 1 Chron. 4: 10) we find prayers for large earthly prosperity which were answered. (Compare also Gen. 28: 3.)
(36) Jas. 5: 14-16 — “Is any sick among you? let him call for the elders of the church; and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord: And the prayer of faith shall save the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up; and if he hath committed sins, they shall be forgiven him. Confess your faults one to another, and pray one -for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.”
THIRTY-SIXTH PROPOSITION: We should pray to the Lord for healing in physical weakness. (Compare Ps. 103: 3J
In Judges 16: 28, we find Samson praying for extraordinary physical strength for an extraordinary emergency. The strength was granted, and God to-day gives men extraordinary strength for extraordinary emergencies. This fact gives us no warrant for tempting God by overwork.
(37) Ps. 17: 8, 9, R.V. — “Keep me as the apple of the eye; Hide me under the shadow of thy wings, from the wicked that spoil me, my deadly enemies, that compass me about.”
THIRTY-SEVENTH PROPOSITION: We may pray to God for keeping from the wicked who spoil us and the deadly enemies who compass us about.
This will afford us surer protection in a lawless city or in the perils of the foreign field than carrying firearms for self-defense. (Compare also Is. 19: 20, R.V.; Ps. 59: 1; 2 Thess. 3: 2.)
(38) Ps. 122: 6 — “Pray for the peace of Jerusalem; they shall prosper that love thee.”
THIRTY-EIGHTH PROPOSITION; We should pray for the
peace of Jerusalem. (Compare Is. 62: 6; Ps. 51: 18.)
(39) Jer. 29: 7 — ‘* And seek the peace of the city whither I have caused you to be carried away captives, and pray unto the LORD for it; for in the peace thereof shall ye have peace.”
THIRTY-NINTH PROPOSITION: We should pray for the
peace of the city in which God has placed us.
It is doubtful if we can accomplish much in some cities by our votes, but there is no city in which we cannot accomplish much by our prayers. There is a place where the influence of a child of God counts more than at the polling-booth or the caucus — that is at the throne of grace. There are many to-day urging Christians to vote as they pray. The average nineteenth century Christian needs more to be urged to pray as he votes. If he were to vote as he prayed he would not vote at all. Prayer needs to be made a power which it is not in municipal affairs.
(40) i Jno. 5: 14 — “And this is the confidence that we have in him, that, if we ask any thing according to his will, he heareth us.”
FORTIETH PROPOSITION: We should pray for anything
which is according to the will of God.
The question arises, How are we to know what is according to the will of God? The answer is simple: By the promises of His Word, and by the leadings of His Holy Spirit. Whenever I find God promising anything in His Word I know it is His will to give it. Whenever the Holy Spirit leads my heart to pray for any thing, I know that this also is according to the will of God. (Rom. 8: 26, 27.)
(41) Phil. 4: 6, 19, R.V. — “In nothing be anxious; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God.... And my God shall fulfill every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus.”
FORTY-FIRST PROPOSITION: We should pray for everything we need.
It is our privilege to live a life absolutely free from anxious thought. This is only possible by taking every need, great and small, to the Father in trustful prayer. Then the peace of God which passeth all understanding shall guard our hearts and thoughts in Christ Jesus.” (V. 7.)
VII. How to Pray.
(i) Jno. 14: 13, 14 — “And whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If ye shall ask anything in my name, I will do it.”
Jno. 15: 16 — “Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain; that whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in my name, he may give it you.”
FIRST PROPOSITION: We should pray in the name of Jesus Christ.
QUESTION: What does it mean to pray in the name of Christ?
ANSWER:
See Luke 24: 47 — “And that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem.” (Compare Acts 10: 43.)
Matt. 7: 22 —” Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works?
Mark 9: 38, 39 — “And John answered him, saying, Master, we sawone casting out devils in thy name, and he followed not us: and we forbade him, because he followed not us. But Jesus said, Forbid him not; for there is no man which shall do a miracle in my name, that can lightly speak evil of me.”
Acts 3: 6 — “Then Peter said, Silver and gold have I none; but such as I have give I thee: In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth rise up and walk.”
i Cor. 6: n — “And such were some of you: but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus ‘, and by the Spirit of our God.”
Eph. 5: 20 — “Giving thanks always ‘for all things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ”
Col. 3: 17 — “And whatsoever ye do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father by him.”
Jas. 5: 14 — “Is any sick among you? let him call for the elders of the church; and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord.”
Jno. 16: 23, R.V. — “And in that day ye shall ask me nothing. Verily, verily, I say unto you, If ye shall ask anything of the Father, he will give it you in my name,
To pray in the name of Christ is to pray relying upon what Christ is and has done, to pray on the ground of Jesus Christ’s acceptability with the Father. When I go to a bank with my own name on the check I ask money in my own name, and if I have that much money there I get what I ask. When I go to a bank with another man’s name on the check, I ask in his name, and it matters nothing whether I have money in the bank or not. If he has I get it. Jesus Christ has given to believers in Him the right to put His name upon their checks. We have nothing in the bank of Heaven, no claim upon it. He has unlimited credit there. If we ask God in our own name, on the ground of any claim we have upon Him, we will get nothing. But if we come renouncing any claim of our own and simply trusting in the claims of Christ, we will get “whatsoever we ask.”
The distinctive characteristic of Christian prayer is, that it is prayer in the name of Christ. It is that which radically distinguishes Christian prayer from pagan prayer.
(2) Ps. 145: 18 — “The LORD is nigh unto all them that call upon him, to all that call upon him in truth.”
SECOND PROPOSITION: We should call upon the Lord “in
truth.”
QUESTION: What is it to call “in truth? “ANSWER: The primary meaning of the word translated truth” is “firmness,” then faithfulness,” then ’ truth as opposed to falsehood,1’ •” good faith,” “sincerity as opposed to hypocrisy.” This latter is evidently the meaning here. (Compare Josh. 24: 14; 1 Sam. 12: 24; 1 Kg. 2: 4; Is. 10:20.) To call upon the Lord in truth is to ask Him for that which we really desire and to really depend upon Him to give it. There is much prayer that is not in truth. People constantly ask God for things which they do not really desire. They also constantly ask Him for things which they do not expect Him to give, and for which they are not depending upon Him at all. Before asking God for any thing we should ask ourselves, Do I really desire this? and then, Do T really expect God to give it? and Am I depending upon Him for it?... There is very much that is called prayer that is really profanity, taking the sacred and awful name of God in vain.
(3) Jer. 29: 12, 13 — “Then shall ye call upon me, and ye shall go and pray unto me, and I will hearken unto you. And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart.”
Deut. 4: 29 — “But if from thence thou shalt seek the LORD thy God, thou shalt find him, if thou seek him with all thy heart and with all thy soul.”
THIRD PROPOSITION: We should pray unto the Lord with
all our heart and all our soul.
Many prayers are sincere so far as they go, but the whole heart is not in them. We must not expect such prayers to have much power with God. When our whole heart is in the asking, His whole heart will be in the giving.
(4) Acts 12: 5, R.V. — “Peter therefore was kept in the prison: but prayer was made earnestly of the church unto God for him.”
FO UR TH PR OPOSIT1 ON: We should pray earnestly — intensely.
The word translated “earnestly” in this passage is a very strong word. It means, literally, “stretched-out-ly.” It is a pictorial word. It pictures the mind stretched out in intensity of desire. The same word is used of our Lord’s praying in Luke 22: 44, where, in the intensity of His agony,” His sweat be came as it were great drops of blood falling down upon the ground. “It is the prayer into which the whole soul goes in an intensity of de sire that lays hold upon God. These indifferent, heartless, bloodless prayers, that we offer, and soon forget what we ask for, count little with Him. Paul called upon the believers in Rome to “strive together” with him in their prayers to God. (Rom. 15: 30.) The word for “strive” means, literally, “to enter a contest,” “to struggle,” “to con tend,” “to endeavor with strenuous zeal.” It is the word from which our word “agonize” is derived. There seems to be little praying of this sort in our day. Some fancy it is a mark of faith to take things easy in prayer as well as else where. They call it “the rest of faith.” This is evidently a form of faith the Lord Jesus had not learned. Heb. 5: 7 — “Who in the days of his flesh, when he had offered up prayers and supplications with strong crying and tears unto Him that was able to save Him from death, and was heard in that He feared.” If this kind of praying is rare, it has power to-day when it is found, even as it had in the olden time. (Compare Gen. 32: 26.)
(5) Rom. 12: 12, R.V. — “Rejoicing in hope; patient in tribulation; continuing steadfastly in prayer.”
Col. 4:2, R.V. — “Continue steadfastly in prayer, watching therein with thanksgiving.”
Luke 18: 1-8 — “And he spake a parable unto them to this end, that men ought always to pray, and not to faint; saying, There was in a city a judge, which feared not God, neither regarded man: And there was a widow in that city; and she came unto him, saying, Avenge me of mine adversary. And he would not for a while: but afterward he said within himself, Though I fear not God, nor regard man: yet be cause this woman troubleth me, I will avenge her, lest by her continual coming she weary me. And the Lord said, Hear what the unjust judge saith. And shall not God avenge his own elect, which cry day and night unto him, though he bear long with them? I tell you that he will avenge them speedily. Nevertheless, when the Son of man cometh, shall he find faith on the earth?”
FIFTH PROPOSITION: We should pray with steadfast continuance — perseverance.
The true and earnest prayer will not give up because his petition is not heard the first time. It is a form of spiritual laziness that tries to palm itself off as submission to the will of God, that concludes because we do not get a thing the first time we ask for it that it is not the will of God to give it. God often tests our faith and our earnestness. (Compare Matt. 20:31; 15-23-28.) Of course there are times when we can count the thing we have asked for as already ours (Jno. 11:4; 1 Jno. 5:14, 15; Mark 11:24; R.V.), sc need not continue praying.
Some say it indicates a lack of faith to ask anything a second time, and not take it by simple faith upon the first asking. But Jesus prayed three times for the same thing. (Matt. 26: 44.)
(6) Matt. 6:7 — “But when ye pray use not vain repetitions, as the heathen do: for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking.”
SIXTH PROPOSITION: We should not use vain repetitions
when we pray.
The word here translated “use vain repetitions” means, literally, “to stammer or stutter,” and thus to repeat the same thing over and over. The thought is, as the rest of the verse clearly shows, that we are not to keep repeating the same request over and over in the same prayer, as if God saw some merit in each time it was offered, and thus multiplied merit in the frequency with which it was repeated. It applies directly to the Roman Catholic practice of rattling off so many “Pater Nosters” or other prayers. There is repetition that comes from intense earnestness. (Contrast the 26th and 37th verses of 1 Kg. 18.)
7) Dan. 9: 3 — “And I set my face unto the LORD God, to seek by prayer and supplications, with fasting, and sackcloth, and ashes.”
Acts 14: 23 — “And when they had ordained them elders in every church, and had prayed with fasting, they commended them to the Lord, on whom they believed.”
Acts 13:2, 3 — “As they ministered to the Lord, and fasted, the Holy Ghost said, Separate me Barnabas and Saul for the work whereunto I have called them. And when they fiad fasted and prayed, and laid their hands on them, they sent them away.”
SEVENTH PROPOSITION: We should pray with fasting.
This, of course, does not mean that we should fast every time we pray. But there are times of emergency or of special crisis in work, or in our individual lives, when men of downright earnestness will withdraw themselves from even the gratification of natural appetites, that would be perfectly proper under other circumstances, that they may give themselves up wholly to prayer. There is peculiar power in such prayer. Every great crisis in life and work should be met in that way. On the appropriateness of fasting in the present dispensation see also Matt. 9: 15 — “And Jesus said unto them, can the children of the bridechamber mourn, as long as the bridegroom is with them? But the days will come, when the bridegroom shall be taken from them, and then shall they fast.”
(8) 2 Chron. 7: 14 — “If rny people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.”
EIGHTH PROPOSITION: In times when ice have wandered from God we should pray with humiliation of self and renunciation of sin.
(9) Phil. 4:6 — “Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God.”
Col. 4: 2 — “Continue in prayer, and watch in the same with thanksgiving.”
NINTH PROPOSITION: We should pray with thanksgiving.
In approaching God to ask for new blessings we should not neglect to return thanks for blessings already granted. Doubtless one reason why so many of our prayers lack power is because we have neglected to return thanks for blessings already received. God is deeply grieved by this thoughtlessness and in gratitude of which so many of us are guilty. (See Luke 17: 17, 18, E.V.)
(10) Matt. 18: 19, 20 — “Again I say unto you, That if two of you shall agree on earth as touching anything that they shall ask, it shall be done for them of my Father which is in heaven. For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them.”
TENTH PROPOSITION: We should pray in union with others.
God everywhere emphasizes and blesses the unity of believers and there is especial power in united prayer. Note that the two must not merely agree together to ask, they must agree concerning the thing that they ask — i. e., there must be real unity of de sire concerning this specific thing. It is very easy to get some one to unite with me in asking some thing I desire, but still there may be no unity of desire. The other asks it simply be cause I wish it. But when the Holy Spirit leads two believing hearts to beat as one concerning some coveted blessing, then there is power, — when, for example, two persons in a community have a common desire for the outpouring of the Spirit in that community. Whenever you can find another whose heart the Holy Spirit is drawing out in the same direction He does yours, you can approach God with great confidence of obtaining this thing.
(n) Matt. 21:22 — “And all things, whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive.”
ELE VENTH PR 0 POSIT ION: We should pray believing.
Believing in this place does not mean a general trust in God, but the unwavering expectation of getting the thing we ask. (See Jas. 1:5, 6.) Indeed, faith goes beyond expecting and reckons the thing asked as already ours. What we thus reckon ours be comes ours in actual experimental possession. (Mark 11:24, R.V.) God delights to honor the faith that counts on Him.
QUESTION: How can we have such faith?
ANSWER: (a) By the Word of God. (Rom. 10:17; compare Rom. 4:20, 21, R.V.) (b) By the Holy Spirit’s teaching. Rom. 8:26, 27, R.V. — <l And in like manner the Spirit also helpeth our infirmity: for we know not how to pray as we ought; but the Spirit himself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered; and he that searcheth the hearts know. eth what is in the mind of the Spirit, because he maketh intercession for the saints according to the will of God.”
(12) Eph. 6: 18, R.V. — “With all prayer and supplication praying at all seasons in the Spirit, and watching thereunto in all perseverance and supplication for all the saints, and on my behalf.”
Jude 20, R.V. — “But ye, beloved, building up yourselves on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Spirit.”
TWELFTH PROPOSITION: We should pray in the Holy
Spirit.
All approach to God should be in the Holy Spirit’s power. The true believer has no confidence in the flesh. (Phil. 3: 3, R.V.) The flesh may prompt me to pray for many things. That is no reason for asking them. I should no more follow the promptings of the flesh in praying than in sinning. I should submit every desire to the Holy Spirit, and seek His guidance in prayer. Very much prayer of many excellent people is in the flesh, and is, of course, not answered. Many a minister’s longing for a revival, many a wife’s longing for the conversion of her husband, is thoroughly carnal. We should pray in the Holy Spirit, under His prompting and guidance. As the disciples said to Jesus during His earthly life, “teach us to pray,” so we should look constantly to the “other Paraclete” (Jno. 14:16; 16:7) to teach us to pray, and He will. This thought disposes of all the objections against prayer from the standpoint of its “subjecting the infinite wisdom of God to the foolish whims of finite creatures.” Those who thus talk are ignorant of the Bible doctrine of prayer. It disposes also of most of the other objections that the spiritually superficial and ignorant urge against prevailing prayer.
VIII. Hindrances to Prayer; or, Why Many Prayers Are not Answered,
(1) Jas. 4:3, R.V. — “Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may spend it in your pleasures.’
FIRST PROPOSITION; Prayer is often unanswered because it is offered from a selfish purpose.
The chief purpose in prayer should be that God may be glorified in the answer. If we ask merely that we may receive for use in our pleasures, or for our own gratification in one way or another, we “ask amiss,” and need not expect to receive what we ask. This explains why many prayers remain unanswered.
(2) Is. 59: i, 2 — “Behold the LORD’S hand is not shortened, that it cannot save; neither his ear heavy, that it cannot hear: But your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hid his face from you, that he will not hear.”
SECOND PROPOSITION: Prayer is unanswered because sin separates between the one who prays and the God to whom he prays. (Compare Deut. 1: 43-45.)
If we ask God for anything and do not get it, we should not conclude necessarily that it is not God’s will to give the thing we have asked. We should rather ask if there is any sin in our outward or inward lives that is separating us from God and closing His ear to our cry. So long as we hold on to sin or have any controversy with God, we cannot expect Him to heed our prayers.
(3) Ezek. 14: 3, R.V. — “Saying, Son of man, these men have taken their idols into their heart, and put the stumbling block of their iniquity before their face: should I be inquired of at all by them?”
THIRD PROPOSITION’: Prayer is unanswered when the one
who prays takes idols into his heart.
Many professedly Christian men and women have idols in their hearts as truly as the ancient Israelites. They do not recognize these things as idols, but they are. Anything upon which we have set our heart, and would not give up for Christ’s sake, is an idol and hinders prayer. God often calls our attention to the fact that we have an idol by not answering our prayer, and thus leading us to ask why our prayer is not answered. Thus we discover the idol, put it away and God hears our prayer.
(4) Mark u: 25, 26 — “And when ye stand praying, forgive, if ye have aught against any; that your Father also which is in heaven may forgive you your trespasses. But if ye do not forgive neither will your Father which is in heaven forgive your trespasses.”
FOURTH PROPOSITION: Prayer is unanswered because we do not forgive those against whom we have something.
This is one of the commonest hindrances to prayer. Far more common than we think. Prayer is answered on the basis that our sins are forgiven, but God cannot deal with us on the basis of forgiveness while we are harboring ill-will against those who have wronged us. Anyone who is harboring a grudge against another has fast closed the ear of God against his own cry.
(5) Jas. i: 5-7, R.V. — “But if any of you lacketh wisdom, let him ask of God, who giveth to all liberally and upbraidcth not; and it shall be given him. But let him ask in faith, nothing doubting: for he that doubteth is like the surge of the sea driven by the wind and tossed. For let not that man think that he shall receive anything of the Lord.”
FIFTH PROPOSITION: Prayers are unanswered because of our unbelief — i. e., because we question whether we shall receive that which God has promised.
God demands that we shall believe His “Word absolutely To question it is to make Him a liar. Many do this when they plead his promises, and it is no wonder that their prayers are not answered.
(6) i Pet. 3: 6, 7 —” Even as Sarah obeyed Abraham, calling him Lord; whose daughters ye are, as long as ye do well, and are not afraid with any amazement, likewise, ye husbands, dwell with them according to knowledge, giving honor unto the wife, as unto the weakel vessel, and as being heirs together of the grace of life; that your prayers be not hindered.
SIXTH PROPOSITION: The prayers of husbands are hindered, because they do not render to their wives that considerate regard which is their due.
It is doubtless also true that the prayers of wives are hindered because of their failure in duty toward their husbands. If husbands and wives should seek diligently for the cause of their unanswered prayers, they would often find it in their relations to one another and actions toward one another as husband and wife.
IX. The Results of Prayer.
(1) Jas. 5:16, R.V. — “Confess therefore your sins one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The supplication of a righteous man availeth much in its working.”
FIRST PROPOSITION: Prayer availeth much in its working,
How much?
Vv. 17: 18 — “Elijah was a man of like passions with us, and he prayed fervently that it might not rain; and it rained not on the earth for three years and six .months. And he prayed again; and the heaven gave rain, and the earth brought forth her fruit.”
i Kg. 18: 37, 38 — “Hear me, O LORD, hear me, that this people may know that thou, LORD, art God, and that thou hast turned their heart back again. Then the fire of the LORD fell, and consumed the burnt offering, and the wood, and the stones, and the dust, and licked up the water that was in the trench.” (See also passages under Section VI.)
The great secret of the poverty and powerlessness of the average believer and average church is found in Jas. 4: 2 — uYe have not because ye ask not.”
(2) Jno. 14: 13, 14 — “And whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If ye ask anything in my name, I will do it.”
SECOND PROPOSITION: Prayer secures the very thing asked.
(3) i Jno. 3: 22 — “And whatsoever we ask, we receive of him, be cause we keep his commandments, and do those things that are pleasing in his sight.
THIRD PROPOSITION: Whatsoever we ask from God we re. ceive when we keep His commandments and do the things that are pleasing in his sight.
(4) i Jno. 5: 14, 15 — “And this is the confidence that we have in him, that, if we ask anything according to his will, he heareth us: And if we know that he hear us, whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we desired of him.”
FO UR TH PR 0 POSITION; If we ask anything according to His will He hears us, and when our prayer is heard the thing asked is ours.