The Privilege of Every Christian II
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“Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of
grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.” Hebrews 4:16
Prayer
generates power
I have taken a lot of space
with Exodus 33, but we go on to see something more. As wonderful as a friendly
encounter with God is, we want to see beyond that fact, in order to realize the
power of prayer: “Elijah was a man with
a nature like ours, and he prayed earnestly that it would not rain; and it did
not rain on the land for three years and six months.” Elijah’s prayer
sealed the heavens and it did not rain for 3 ½ years. That’s power! Go with me
also to Revelation 8:3-5: “Another
angel, having a golden censer, came and stood at the altar. He was given much
incense, that he should offer it with the prayers of all the saints upon the
golden altar which was before the throne. And the smoke of the incense, with
the prayers of the saints, ascended before God from the angel’s hand. Then the
angel took the censer, filled it with fire from the altar, and threw it to the
earth. And there were noises, thunderings, lightnings, and an earthquake.” That’s
power! Then Acts 1:14 with 2:1,2: “These
all continued with one accord in prayer and supplication… they were all with
one accord in one place. And suddenly there came a sound from heaven, as of a
rushing mighty wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting.” That’s
power!
Marc and Melodie Sankey, Methodist
missionaries to Mexico, went through many agonizing months, when their
8-year-old boy, Logan, contracted a serious and rare fungus, affecting his eye.
It carried a 90% mortality rate. Of course, the parents and many others were in
constant, desperate prayer. The prognosis went from bad to worse, as time went
by. At a Methodist camp in Florida, healing services were held on two Saturdays,
during the camp, and Melodie, in particular, wanted to be there. It was God’s
sovereign time to answer prayer and after tears and fervent prayer in that
meeting, Logan was anointed, and his parents believed that God had touched him.
And He had! There was marked improvement
immediately, although treatment continued for several months. His vision was
restored to 20/20 without any permanent damage, physically or psychologically.
I have a CD, in which Logan, as an adult, sings with his family, such songs as “Thank you, Lord, for your blessing on me!” That’s
power!
Jim Cymbala is a well-known
pastor in New York City, one who knew of the power of prayer since his
conversion. He held prayer meetings every Tuesday night and taught his
congregation that it was the most important meeting of the week. And then, his
teenage daughter ran away from home. During the long period, when they heard
nothing from her, their only recourse was the best one. It was prayer. During
one prayer meeting, a lady, sensitive to the voice of the Holy Spirit, let it
be known that she felt that, if they would pray again at that moment, God would
do something. The next morning Mrs. Cymbala came into her husband’s office and
said, “Come down, Jim, our daughter is in the living room!” She never left
again and today is married and in Christian service. That’s power!
A successful Christian businessman
in Ohio with a ministry of personal evangelism was diagnosed with cancer and
given, at the most, two years to live. His doctor ordered biopsies from 22
points in his body. The night before the operation, he was lying in his
hospital bed alone with the Lord, and committed his situation into God’s hands.
He accepted the will of God, but had only one request: “Lord, let the time that
I have left to live be the most productive of my life.” And then, he felt a
strong warmth flow through his body and somehow knew that God was healing him.
Hours after the operation, the doctor burst into the hospital room, where he was
visiting with his wife, and exclaimed, “We can’t find any cancer in any part of
your body!” They later received a letter from a missionary lady, who didn’t
know of the diagnosis. She named a date and asked if anything was wrong on that
day, because she had had a heavy burden for him. As she prayed the burden
lifted… at just the time, when the warmth entered his body in the hospital.
That’s power! In these three cases there were special moments, when God moved
in sovereign power, but we don’t arrive at these moments without a habitual
practice of prayer.
I want you to see by the
Bible, the company that God gives to aid us in prayer. We already mentioned the
angel at the altar in heaven, who offers incense with the prayers of all the saints. We may think that our
words are weak and ineffective, but let’s consider Jacob’s dream from Genesis
28:12: “Behold, a ladder was set up on the earth, and its top reached to heaven;
and there the angels of God were ascending
and descending on it.” Jesus
revealed the meaning of this dream to His disciples, at the moment when
Nathanael came to Him in John 1:50-51: “You
will see greater things then these. Amen,
amen, (literal Hebrew) I say to
you, hereafter you shall see heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and
descending upon the Son of Man.” He
is speaking of prayer offered in the name of the Son of Man, our Ladder into
the Holy of Holies. Angels ascend with the prayers and descend with the
answers.
I offer a compilation of
verses, which show that angels accompany prayer: “The whole multitude of the people was praying outside at the hour of
incense. Then an angel of the Lord appeared to (Zacarias), standing on the right side of the altar of
incense… The angel said to him… your prayer is heard… (Lk.1:10-13). “About the ninth hour of the day, he saw
clearly in a vision an angel of God coming in and say to him, ‘Cornelius!’…
‘Your prayers and your alms have come up for a memorial before God’ (Ac.10:3,4).
“Peter was therefore kept in prison, but
constant prayer was offered to God for him by the church… Behold, an angel of
the Lord stood by him, and a light shone in the prison; and he struck Peter on
the side and raised him up, saying, ‘Arise quickly!’ And his chains fell off
his hands” (Ac.12:5,7). “I set my
face toward the Lord God to make request by prayer… Yes, while I was speaking
in prayer, the man (angel) Gabriel…
reached me about the time of the evening offering… He informed me… At the
beginning of your supplications the command went out, and I have come to tell
you…” (Dn.9:3,21,23). And in heavenly places, described in Revelation 5:8,
there are 24 elders and four powerful living creatures with golden bowls full
of incense, which are the prayers of the saints.
How does Jesus
want us to pray?
I
don’t know if you have heard a doctrine, which is based on three words, 1
Thessalonians 5:17, “Pray without
ceasing”. I want to mention it, in order to point to the instruction of
Jesus concerning prayer. Some have arrived at the conclusion that we are to be
continually in prayer throughout the day, whether working or playing, and in
the night during waking hours. I will say that it is certainly not a bad
practice, but my point is, that it is not what Paul was teaching the
Thessalonians. A problem arises, when this kind of prayer is
substituted for taking time alone with God. Also, I think there is a danger in it of
altering the essence of prayer. To better understand exactly what Paul means in
1 Thessalonians 5:17, it will help us to see how he used the term “without
ceasing” on four other occasions:
Ro.1:9:
“God is my witness, whom I serve with my
spirit in the gospel of His Son, that without
ceasing I make mention of you always in my prayers.”
If
Paul was continually in prayer for the Romans, he wouldn’t have opportunity to
prayer for other churches.
1
Thess.1:3: “Remembering without ceasing your work of faith,
labor of love, and patience of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ.”
Was
Paul thinking about this every hour of the day?
1
Thess.2:13: “For this reason we also
thank God without ceasing, because
when you received the word of God which you heard from us, you welcomed it not
as the word of men, but as it is in truth, the word of God, which also
effectively works in you who believe.”
Does
that mean that Paul walked around all day, thinking and saying, “Thank you,
God, for the Thessalonians?”
2
Tim.1:3: “I thank God, whom I serve with
a pure conscience, as my forefathers, did, as without ceasing I remember you in my prayers night and day.”
Paul
goes as far as to say that night and day he
prayed for Timothy. Even during the night on his bed, he prayed for him, but
does it mean that all day and all night, he didn’t stop praying? Of
course not.
These
passage clearly show us the meaning of the words “without ceasing”, so that we can know that to pray without ceasing
does not mean to be praying without a break. Then, what does it mean? Simply,
that we are to pray habitually and not break the habit.
Paul
also said that when he prayed for the Ephesians, he did not cease to give thanks for them, mentioning them in his prayers
(Eph.1:16). Then he said in 3:14, “I bow
my knees to the Father… that He would grant you…” So, it is quite evident
that Paul does not mean that he was praying for the Ephesians all day long,
thanking God for them. It’s a matter of common sense. Of course, the fact that
Paul habitually prayed on his knees, does not make it a law to do so. It means
that there was a time, or maybe more than one time a day, when Paul put other
activities aside and was on his knees before the Father.
Jesus
taught us to pray this way (Mt.6:6): “But
you, when you pray, go into your room, and when you have shut your door, pray to
your Father who is in the secret place; and your Father who sees in secret will
reward you openly.” The danger in misinterpreting 1 Thessalonians 5:17, is
that with a wrong interpretation, we will begin to
change our concept of prayer and the need to take time to be alone with
God, as Jesus showed that we must do. We will substitute for that need, praying
while we work, rest and play, and abandon the habit of entering a place, where
we cannot be interrupted in our communion with God. In so doing, we disobey the
instructions of Jesus and our relationship with God suffers the consequences.
Not
only did Jesus instruct us about how to pray, but He gave us plenty of
examples. He is our greatest example in prayer and the Gospels teach us that He
customarily got alone with His Father:
Mk.1:35:
“Now in the morning, having risen a long
while before the daylight, He went out and departed to a solitary place; and
there He prayed.”
Mk.6:46:
“And when He had sent them away, He
departed to the mountain to pray.”
Lk.5:16:
“So He Himself often withdrew into the
wilderness and prayed.”
Lk.6:12:
“Now it came to pass in those days that
He went out to the mountain to pray, and continued all night in prayer to God.”
Lk.9:28:
“Now it came to pass, about eight days
after these sayings, that He took Peter, John, and James and went up on the
mountain to pray.”
Lk.11:1
(a time to which we have already referred): “Now it came to pass, as He was praying in a certain place, when He
ceased, that one of His disciples said to Him, ‘Lord teach us to pray, as John
also taught his disciples.”
Lk.22:41:
“And He was withdrawn from them about a
stone’s throw, and He knelt down and prayed…” Mt.26:42: “Again, a second time, He went away and
prayed, saying, ‘O My Father, if this cup cannot pass away from Me unless I
drink it, Your will be done…” Mt.26:44: “So He left them, went away again, and prayed the third time, saying
the same words.”
Besides
these examples, we have John 17 in its entirety, in which he prays to the
Father. It is true that prayer is conversation with God, as some are quick to
point out, but I think we have already shown that it is more than conversation.
It is a generator, which produces power that can stop rain and cause it to fall
again, it can remove mountains and trees, bring multitudes to repentance, and
bring the fear of God upon entire nations. We rob ourselves and the church of
tremendous advantages, when we fail to take in the whole concept of prayer.
The secret of
success in prayer
Please read John15:1-7, in which Jesus teaches of being one with
Him in order to assure consistent answers to prayer. First of all, He declares,
“I am the true vine”, then He adds, “You are the branches”. Any natural grapevine
will confirm His teaching that the branch is totally dependent on the vine for
life, “If anyone does not abide in Me,
he is cast out as a branch and is withered.” Therefore, He continues, we
must abide in Him and then, the life that flows from the vine will flow through
us; that is, He will be in us. He brings us to this absolute and essential
conclusion: “Without Me you can do
nothing.”
However, if we are one with Him and we live according to the
knowledge of His word, our will made one with His, then: “You will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you.” In other
words, that position in Christ, will guarantee 100% results in prayer!
I have no way of knowing how many, who read this article, are
willing to join me in confessing that our present position in prayer is not
what it should be. I also do not know what must happen so that I will live up
to what I have taught here. Prayer must become the number one priority in our
lives. No one will question that music plays an important role in the church,
but music is not the supreme need; teaching and preaching are vital in the
church and in evangelism, but it is not the most important part. The Christian
education that parents must give their children is of high importance, but
again it is not the number one priority. The supreme and so often the most
neglected activity in the individual Christian, as well as in the church
corporately, is prayer.
I am convinced that the Lord must begin to correct our
deficiency by a work that brings humiliation. Have you noticed that the very first
requirement in the oft-repeated promise of the Lord in 2 Chronicles 7:14 is, “if My people who are called by My name will humble themselves”?The
Laodicean curse of self-sufficiency, i.e. “I
have need of nothing”, is the product of an extreme arrogance! I hope that I quote Leonard Ravenhil with reasonable
accuracy after hearing him assert a number of times: “He who is self-confident has no desire to pray; he who is
self-sufficient does not need to pray; and he who is self-righteous cannot
pray.” All these egocentric conditions must suffer an ignominious defeat,
in order that the people, who are called by His name today, can be reduced to
prayer.
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July 17, 2020 at 3:18 AM
Thanks brother "Blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs is the kingdom of God " ,it's the humble who receives grace, and the childlike who is absolutely dependent on the Father who receives the answer. God bless Lowell thanks for the stirring encouragement Amen.
July 17, 2020 at 4:17 AM
Thank you for your comment! It is absolutely true. We need to see the biblical concept of pride and humility. Habakkuk's majestic statement, which inspired the New Testament writers and the reformists, carries the Bible definition (2:4): "Behold the proud, his soul is not upright in him; but the just shall live by his faith." The just one humbly confides in God; the proud is self-reliant. The proud one justifies himself; the humble one, like the publican, recognizes his sin and guilt. This morning I'm thinking about how different Christians view sin. Let me give an example: Someone might say, "I sinned today... I did not pray." Another says, "I sinned today... I prayed and I sinned in my prayer." See what I mean? The first sees the holiness of God on a much lower level than the second. Because the second sees it clearly, he is much more conscious of his lack and need of God.
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