01 What is prayer?

Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me. (Revelation 3:20)

To pray is to let Jesus come into our hearts. This teaches us, in the first place, that it is not our prayer which moves the Lord Jesus. It is Jesus who moves us to pray. He knocks, and thereby makes known His desire to come in to us. Our prayers are always a result of Jesus’ knocking at our hearts’ door.

This throws new light upon the old prophetic passage:  “And it shall come to pass, that before they call, I will answer; and while they are yet speaking, I will hear” (Isaiah 65:24). yes, indeed, before we call, He graciously makes known to us what gift He has just decided to impart to us. He knocks in order to move us by prayer to open the door and accept the gift which He has already appointed for us.

From time immemorial, prayer has been spoken of as the breath of the soul, and the figure is an excellent one indeed. The air which our body requires envelopes us on every hand. The air itself seeks to enter our bodies and, for this reason, exerts pressure upon us. It is well known that it is more difficult to hold one’s breath than it is to breathe. We need but to exercise our organs of respiration, and air will enter forthwith into our lungs and preform its life-giving function to the entire body.

The air which our souls need also envelops all of us at all times and on all sides. God is round about us on every hand, with His many-sided and all sufficient grace. All we need to do is to open our hearts. Prayer is the breath of the soul, the organ by which we receive Christ into our parched and withered hearts. He says “if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him”. Notice carefully every word here. It is not our prayer which draws Jesus into our hearts, nor is it our prayer which moves Jesus to come into us. All He needs is access. He enters in of His own accord, because He desires to come in. And He enters in everywhere He is not denied admittance. The air enters in quietly when we breathe, and does its normal work in our lungs, so Jesus enters quietly into our hearts, and does His blessed work there.

He calls it to “sup” with us. In biblical language the common meal is symbolical of intimate and joyous fellowship. This affords a new glimpse into the nature of prayer, showing us that God has designed prayer as a means of intimate and joyous fellowship between God and man.

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To pray is nothing more than to lift the eye of the prayer unto the Saviour who stands and knocks, yea knocks through our very need, in order to gain access to our distress, sup with us, and glorify His name.

Let us think of patients who are ill with tuberculosis. The physicians in the older days put them out in the sunlight and fresh air, both in summer and in winter (today they give them drugs and in rare occasions operate on them). There they would lie until a cure was gradually effected by the rays of the sun. The recovery of these patients is not dependent upon their thinking, in the sense of understanding the effects of the sun’s rays or how these work (or how the drugs work for that matter). Neither does their recovery depend upon the feelings they experience during the rest cure. Nor does it depend upon their wills in the sense of exerting themselves to become well. On the contrary, the treatment is most successful if the patients lie very quietly and are passive, exerting neither their intellects nor their wills.

Prayer is just as simple. We are all saturated with the pernicious virus of sin; every one of us is a tubercular patient doomed to die! But “the Sun of righteousness” has arisen “with healing in His wings”. All that is required of us, if we desire to be healed both for time and for eternity, is to let the Sun of righteousness reach us, and then to abide in the sunlight of His righteousness.

To pray is nothing more than to lie in the sunshine of His grace, to expose our distress of body and soul to those healing rays which can in a wonderful way counteract and render ineffective the bacteria of sin. To be a Christian is in truth to have gained a place in the sun.

Prayer is something deeper than words. It is present in the soul before it has been formulated in words, and it abides in the soul after the last words of prayer have passed our lips. Prayer is an attitude of our hearts, an attitude of the mind. Prayer is a definite attitude which He in heaven immediately recognizes as prayer, as an appeal to His heart. Whether it takes the form of words or not does not mean anything to God, only to ourselves.

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What is the spiritual condition? What is the attitude that God recognizes as prayer? I will give two answers here:

1. Helplessness

This is unquestionably the first and surest indication of a praying heart. As far as we can see, prayer has been ordained only for the helpless. It is the last resort of the helpless; indeed, the very last way out. We try everything before we finally resort to prayer.

Listen to this, you who are often so helpless that you do not know what to do. At times you do not even know how to pray. Your mind seems full of sin and impurity. Your mind is preoccupied with what the Bible calls the world. God and eternal things seem so distant and foreign that you add sin to to sin by desiring to approach God in such a state of mind.

Listen, my friend! Your helplessness is your best prayer. It calls to the heart of God with greater effect than all your uttered pleas. He hears it from the very moment that you are seized with helplessness, and He becomes actively engaged at once in hearing and answering the prayer of helplessness. He hears today as He heard the helpless and wordless prayer of the sick man of the palsy (Mark 2).

If you are a mother, you will understand very readily this aspect of prayer. Your infant child cannot formulate in words a single petition to you. Yet the little one prays the best way he knows how. All he can do is cry, but you understand very well his pleading cry. Moreover, the little one need not even cry. All you need to do is to see him in all his helpless dependence upon you, and a prayer touches your mother-heart, a prayer which is stronger than the loudest cry.

2. Faith

“But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him” (Hebrews 11:6).

I come now to another aspect of that attitude which constitutes the essence of prayer, that condition of the heart which God recognizes as prayer rising to Him from earth, whether it is uttered or not. Without faith there can be no prayer, no matter how great our helplessness may be. Helplessness united with faith produces prayer. Without faith our helplessness will only be a cry of distress in the night.

I need but mention faith, and every man  and woman of prayer will know that we are touching upon one of the aspects of prayer life about which we are the most sensitive. The Bible contains many pointed passages about praying in faith if we expect to be heard.

My doubting friend, your case is not as bad as you might think it is. You have more faith than you think you have. You have faith enough to pray; you have faith enough to believe that you will be heard. Faith is a strange thing; it often conceals itself in such a way that we can neither see nor find it. Nevertheless, it is there; and it manifests itself by definite and unmistakable signs.

Thew essence of faith is to come to Christ. This is the first and the last and the surest indication that faith is alive. A sinner has nothing but sin and distress. The Spirit of God has made that clear to him. And faith manifests itself clearly and plainly when a sinner, instead of fleeing from God and his own responsibility, as he did before, comes into the presence of Christ with all his sin and distress. The sinner who does this believes.

It is written “him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out“ (John 6:37), and  “we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9).

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02 Difficulties in prayer

“And this is the confidence that we have in him, that, if we ask any thing according to his will, he heareth us:” (1 John 5:14).

To pray is to open our hearts to Jesus. And Jesus is all that we sinners need both for time and eternity. He “was made unto us wisdom from God, and righteousness and sanctification, and redemption” (1 Corinthians 1:30, RV). This gives us the biblical view of the purpose of prayer, it’s place and significance in the divine salvation.

Jesus said once, “without me ye can do nothing” (John 15:5). He knew how literally true these words are, how entirely helpless we are without Him. But at the same time He said “ask, and it shall be given unto you” (Matthew 7:7) – all that you need and more besides.

He never grew tired of inviting, prompting, encouraging, exhorting, even commanding us to pray. The many and various admonitions to prayer in the Bible shed remarkable light upon prayer.They show us that prayer is the heartbeat in the life of a saved person. Permit me to cite a few of the gracious admonitions to prayer which the Lord has given us:

“Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you:
For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened.
Or what man is there of you, whom if his son ask bread, will he give him a stone?
Or if he ask a fish, will he give him a serpent?
If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your Father which is in heaven give good things to them that ask him?” (Mattew 7:7-11).

“Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you:
For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened.
Or what man is there of you, whom if his son ask bread, will he give him a stone?
Or if he ask a fish, will he give him a serpent?
If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your Father which is in heaven give good things to them that ask him?” (Mattew 7:7-11).

“If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you”  (John 15:7).

“Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God” (Philippians 4:6).

If I were to give an expression to this meaning in my own words, I would put it as follows: Jesus comes to a sinner, awakens him from his sleep in sin, converts him, forgives him, and makes him His child. Then He takes the weak hand of the sinner and places it in His own strong, nail-pierced hand and says: “Come now, I am going with you all the way and will bring you safe home to heaven! When you get into trouble or difficulty, just tell Me about it. I will give you everything you need, and more besides, as long as you live.”

My friend, do you not also think that that is what Jesus meant when He gave us prayer? And that is the way we should make use of it. That is why He desires to answer our prayers, graciously and abundantly. Prayer should be the means by which I, at all times, receive all that I need, and, for this reason, it should be my daily refuge, my daily consolation, my source of rich and inexhaustible joy in my life.

From this it is very apparent also that a child of God can grieve Jesus in no worse way than to neglect prayer. For by so doing he severs the connection between himself and the Saviour, and his inner life is doomed to be withered and crippled, as in the case with most of us. Many neglect prayer to such an extent that their spiritual life gradually dries out.

Why do most of us fail so miserably in prayer? I think we will all admit, both to ourselves and to others, that to pray is difficult for all of us. The difficulty lies in the very act of praying. To pray, really to pray, is too much of an effort. That the natural man that prayer is an effort is not strange in the least. He “receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him”  (1 Corinthians 2:14).

The natural man looks upon prayer as a burdensome task. Most unspiritual people never assume this burden. Some do, however, and pray to God a little each day. But they feel it a heavy requirement, and they do so only because they think that our Lord is strict regarding this and insists that it be done. It cannot help but to  surprise us when wee find that this view is also prevalent also among believing Christians. At conversion we were led into a life of earnest, diligent prayer. Our seasons of prayer were the happiest time of the day. But after a longer or shorter period of time, we began to encounter difficulties in our prayer life. Prayer, which was once the free, happy, grateful communication of a redeemed sloul with God, had become a matter of duty, which we performed because we had to. And the more of an effort praying is, the more easily it is neglected.

However, two certain requirements must be maintained if the art of prayer is to be acquired; practice and perseverance. Without practice no Christian will become a real man or woman of prayer. And practice cannot be attained without perseverance. There are, however, a few pitfalls that we fall into that can cause extra difficulties in our prayer life. Although there are many of these, I will concentrate on three major ones in this chapter of the study:

1. We think we must help God to fulfill our prayer

This has never been God’s intention. We are to pray; God Himself will take care of the hearing and the fulfillment. He needs no help from us for that. It is remarkable to what extent we are influenced by the thought that we, by means of our prayers, must help God to some extent to answer our prayers. If nothing more, we at least think that we ought to suggest to God how He should go about giving us the answer. To most of us prayer is burdensome because we have not learned that prayer consists in telling Jesus what we or others lack. We do not think that is enough. Instinctively we feel that to pray cannot be so easy as all that.

When we get to know Jesus better and better, we learn to trust Him with everything. We lay everything at His feet, and our prayers become quiet, confidential and blessed conversations with Him, our bets Friend, about the things that are on our minds, whether it be our own needs or the needs of others. We experience wonderful peace and security by leaving our difficulties, both great and small, with Him and find that He knows our needs even better than us and is able to supply all our need – and more.

2. We make use of prayer for the purpose of commanding God to do our bidding

This is the second great and very common mistake which wee make in prayer. But God never intended that prayer should be used for that purpose. God does not permit us to issue orders to Him. God has not given us His promises and the privilege of prayer in order that we might use them to pound a demanding fist upon the table before God and compel Him to do what we ask.

Most of us have a great deal to learn in this connection. We are too impatient at all times and not least when we pray. This is especially true when there is something urgent, either with us or with someone who is dear to us. We go to God, speak imploringly to Him, and expect Him to intervene at once. The distress of our dear ones and our love for them give us boldness in prayer, and we become almost importunate. Often, too, we have wonderful confidence that God will intervene.

3. We forget to pray in the name of Jesus

Every believer who has lived for God for some time has had  a greater or less number oof blessed experiences in his prayer life, hours when God, so to speak, lifted us up into His lap and drew us unto His own heart, hours when He whispered into our wondering souls words that cannot be uttered. Our hearts were filled with unspeakable joy. We had never realized before that it was possible to experience anything so blessed here on earth.

Then we begin to pray. We simply could not refrain from it. Our hearts were full, and it felt so good to speak with God out of a full heart. It was easy to pray now. We saw God plainly because we were close to Him. We saw how good He is. Our hearts were so full of love and gratitude that we could happily have carried the entire world to the Lord in prayer upon our shoulders.

While praying one day we failed to experience our usual joy and the usual zeal which we had been experiencing for some time. We thought “It will return. Right now I will pray only for the most necessary things. I will intercede for others  when the right zeal returns to my heart.” But the blessed feeling we had once experienced in our hearts did not return, and gradually we fell back into our old ways of praying.

Why did this happen? Simply because we had not learned to pray in the name of Jesus Christ. Not even when we sat in the lap of God and our hearts were full of the bliss of heaven, did we learn to pray in the name of Jesus. We prayed in the name of our own heart, in the name of our own love and solicitude. This became very apparent later. When our solicitude had disappeared, our boldness to continue in prayer as we formerly had done also disappeared.

To pray in the name of Jesus is, in all likelihood, the deepest mystery in prayer. We have seen that Jesus wills of His own accord to come in to us and, in His power, deal with our needs. Our prayers become real prayers as we live in Christ and our prayers are also Christ-like. Our prayers to God should not be offensive in any way or go against the will of Jesus Christ.

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03 Prayer as work

“Pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he will send forth labourers into his harvest.” (Matthew 9:38).

When Jesus took leave of the eleven apostles at the ascension, He entrusted to them a superhuman task. He charged them to go and make Christworshippers of all the nations. They were to begin in Jerusalem, He had said. That was not far away. The city lay at the foot of Mount Olivet, and they could see it from where they were standing. In the city were the executioners of Jesus, with His innocent blood upon their hands, ready to annihilate everyone who dared to mention the name of the Nazarene publicly. And even though the Eleven should be fortunate enough to escape these murderers, what did they have to preach? A crucified Messiah, a stumbling-block to the Jews and foolishness to the Greeks.

As they looked westward from Mount Olivet beyond the Mediterranean Sea towards Rome, the centre of the world, the outlook appeared no brighter. There they would be confronted by the strongest empire which had ever been welded together, the mightiest culture and the richest intellectual life which the world has known to this day. It was almost irony to send out out from Galilee eleven common labourers to win this mighty cultural empire for Christ. True, their number was later augmented by an academically trained co-labourer, Paul; but he, too, said that he was determined not to know anything or preaching anything, even in the great cultural centres, save Jesus Christ and Him crucified.

But He who sent them knew what He was doing. He had equipped them for their superhuman task in a twofold manner. Objectively, He had equipped them with the Messianic gift itself, the Holy Spirit, through whom the powers of the whole celestial world were put at the disposal of the little Christian congregation. Subjectively, He had equipped them with prayer, the means by which all of these objective celestial powers are imparted to the individual believer and to the congregation.

“Again I say unto you, That if two of you shall agree on earth as touching any thing that they shall ask, it shall be done for them of my Father which is in heaven” (Matthew 18:19).

“And Jesus said unto them, Because of your unbelief: for verily I say unto you, If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible unto you” (Matthew 17:20).

“Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God” (Philippians 4:6).

He who sent them knew that this weapon, this piece of equipment, would make them invincible. “Nothing shall be impossible unto you” were His words. When at His ascension He took leave of His friends as far as His physical presence was concerned, He extended His almighty arm so far down that we insignificant and sinful men can reach it every time we bend our knees inprayer. Whenever we touch His almighty arm, some of His omnipotence streams upon us. into our souls and into our bodies. And nott only that, but, through us, it streams out to others.

It is our Lord’s will that we who have received access to these powers through prayer should go through this world transmitting heavenly power to every corner corner of a world which sorely needs it. Our lives should be, according to our Lord’s plans, quiet, but steadily flowing, streams of blessing, which through our prayers and intercessions should reach our whole environment. And it is taken for granted that we, too, like His friends, will “begin at Jerusalem” and then go farther and farther “unto the uttermost parts of the earth“.

It is His will that we should begin at home. As we go in and out among our dear ones day by day, we should transmit to them by intercessory wireless that supernatural power which will enable them to lead victorious lives and which will put thanksgiving and joy into their hearts and upon their lips, instead of a series of disheartening defeats, bringing discouragement to both body and soul. For God hears prayers. Heaven itself would come down to our homes. And even though we who constitute the home all have our imperfections and our failings, our home would, through God’s answer to prayer, become a little paradise.

It is our Lord’s will also that we should include our neighbours in our prayers. As soon as we see them in the morning we should say to God, “Lord, bless my neighbours today. Give them according to their several needs!” Yet how unhappy the relationship between neighbours often is! As a rule trouble begins with little things, either a fence or a piece of road. First misunderstanding, then offence, then unfriendliness, then enmity, and finally a lawsuit. If we will employ the holy magic of intercession, our relations will gradually become amicable even with neighbours who are otherwise obdurate and difficult to deal with.

Wherever we go, we meet people who are in need of something. If the Spirit could give us that open eye of love which sees both visible and invisible needs, everything we saw would give raise to prayer. We would turn to the Lord and tell Him the needs both of our friends and of our enemies. That is how He would like to have us pray. It is written, “Pray without ceasing” (1 Thessalonians 5:17).

Prayer is the most important work in the kingdom of God. It is our Lord’s will that we should enter into this work as soon as we have been won for God. We should by prayer enter into the work which has been begun by our Christian parents and for which they have sacrificed, striven and prayed. We should enter and build upon their work, first and foremost by means of prayer. Remember what Jesus Himself said in Matthew 9:37-38: “Then saith he unto his disciples, The harvest truly is plenteous, but the labourers are few; Pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he will send forth labourers into his harvest.” Our first task is to get the workers whom the Lord desires for the various tasks in His vineyard. Let us particularly notice that this should be done by means of prayer.

A part of our labour in prayer must also be devoted to our leaders. They have a great responsibility. A leader must have not only wisdom and experience, but also great personal courage, enabling him to dare to act according to his own convictions and not merely the desires of a majority. It often requires a great deal of strength and perseverance to carry out the things one believes to be the will of God, and to do so even when the opposition is triumphant and friends grow weary.

We should also pray for those who preach, for the ministers and the evangelists. It is hard to be a preacher. In the first place, there is a great responsibility involved in preaching the gospel, in rightly dividing the Word. In the next place, a preacher is exposed to unusually many and great temptations. In particular he is tempted along two lines, either to conceit or to discouragement, depending upon how well he succeeds or how badly he fails in his work as a preacher. If you hear preachers who appear to you to have become conceited, pray God earnestly that they may become so humble and poor in spirit that they can feed the flock of God. On the other hand, if you hear a preacher who is getting discouraged, ask God to give him new courage.

Finally, we have intercessory prayer for the unconverted. This part of our labour in prayer is perhaps the one we understand best and carry out best. Most believers long for a spiritual awakening. To desire to see souls saved is the impelling motive in nearly all the Christian work of our day. In this respect awakenings are always the order of the day now. People speak a great deal about revivals; much is done to bring them about also, and not a little praying is done with this in mind. We notice, too, that God now and then sends us an awakening. Nevertheless, awakenings occur very seldom. The work of the Spirit can often be compered to mining. The Spirit can blast a sinner’s hardness of heart to pieces, but it often takes time and planning to bore the holes in which to put the dynamite.

Still, we keep praying, and God answers prayer. It is a job we have to do as Christians. Through it, we can be strengthened by the Spirit, and He can lead us and guide us where we ought to go.

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04 Wrestling in prayer, Part 1

“Watch and pray, that ye enter not into temptation: the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.” (Matthew 26:41)

Most of us cannot quite understand how prayer can involve difficulty and anguish. Why should praying entail so much suffering? Why should our prayer life be a constantly flowing source of anguish? If we will reflect but for a moment, however, we shall see that it really cannot be otherwise. If prayer is, as we have seen, the central function of the new life of faith, the very heartbeat of our life in God, it is obvious that our prayer life must become the target against which Satan directs his best and most numerous darts. He understands better than we do what prayer means to ourselves and to others. That is why his chief attack is directed against our prayer life. If he can in one way or other weaken it, his prospects of stealing our life in God without our even noticing it are of the very best.

This is not only the most painless way of stealing from our spiritual life; it is also the quickest way, the way which creates the least sensation. Satan desires above all to provide himself with servants who think they are God’s children and who are looked upon as children of God by others. For this reason Satan mobilizes everything that he can commandeer in order to hinder our prayer. He has an excellent confederate in out own hearts: our old Adam. Our carnal nature is, according to our bitter experience, enmity against God (Romans 8:7); and our old nature realizes that it can expect nothing but mortification (death) every timer we really approach God in prayer.

It is important for us to bear this clearly in mind. In the first place we shall be able, by so doing, to account for something which we formerly could not understand, namely the aversion to prayer which we feel more or less strongly from time to time. Our disinclination to pray should not make us anxious or bewildered. It should merely strengthen the old truth that “the flesh lusteth against the spirit“. We shall have our carnal natures with us as long as we live here below, and we must endure the discomfort that that entails. We should deal with the unwillingness of our flesh in this respect in the same way as we deal with all the other sinful desires of our flesh. We should take it to God and lay it all before Him, and the blood of Jesus Christ will cleanse us from this sin as it does from all other sin.

Thus our carnal nature aligns itself against prayer, day in and day out, and the man or woman of prayer who is not mindful of this cannot avoid becoming a victim of the stealthy tempter. As long as we think we shall “get” time to pray we still do not know a great deal about our own carnal natures. That our wrestling is not against flesh and blood, but against the spiritual wickedness in the heavenly places (Ephesians 6:12) we see plainly when we begin to take notice of the outward hindrances which are placed in the way of our prayers from day to day. When those hours of the day  come, in which we should be having our prayer-sessions with God, it often appears as though everything has entered int a conspiracy to prevent it, human beings, animals, and, above else, the telephone. It is not difficult to see that there is a veiled hand in the plot. Woe to the Christian who is unacquainted with these foes!

The first and the decisive battle in connection with prayer is the conflict which arises when we are to make arrangements to be alone with God every day. If the battle is lost for any length of time at this point, the enemy has already won the first round. But even though we do gain the victory at the threshold of out Quiet Time, our prayer-struggle is by no means over. Our enemies will pursue us deliberately into our Quiet Time, and here our carnal natures and Satan will take up the battle anew, though from a somewhat different angle. Now every effort will be concentrated upon making our prayer session as short as possible, or upon distracting us so completely that we are not even now able to be alone with God.

Why should we have definite seasons of prayer? Is not this a remnant of salvation by good works? Is there not something about this which smacks of medieval religion? Is it not because people desire to merit something before God by praying many times? Is it not because people think that they can acquire greater merits the more often they present themselves before the All-Highest, pay Him their respects, and bring Him their commendation?

Of course it can be done in that way. And many, no doubt, do look upon prayer as a service which they render to the Lord, because they think that to do so is in accordance with His desires in the matter. But let us nail this one thing down: We do not need definite seasons of prayer for God’s sake. He does not need them. On the contrary, it is we who need them.

We are on the whole disposed to emphasize activity in prayer to much. From the time we begin until we have finished, we are busily engaged in speaking with God, and we feel almost as though there is something wrong or something lacking in our prayer if we do not talk continuously to God. There is activity in prayer, of course, and it includes speaking with God. But not that alone. In the quiet and holy hour of prayer we should also be still and permit our souls to be examined by the Physician of our souls. We should submit to scrutiny under the holy and penetrating light of God and be thoroughly examined, spiritually X-rayed so to speak, in order to ascertain just where our trouble lies.

Remember the words in Psalm 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.“

To sum up this Part 1 of Wrestling in prayer, we have come so far in our discussion about prayer that we could, no doubt, conclude that that even though the battle are fought on different fronts, one main thought cuts through: All wrestling in prayer must bring us into harmony with the Spirit of prayer. Or, as we have already seen, all our difficulties in prayer arise from the simple fact that we are not in harmony with the Spirit of prayer. Our prayer is too often a wrestling with the Spirit of prayer. From this it is easy to understand why our prayer life becomes burdensome and strenuous, also why we achieve no results, why our prayers are one continuous wrestling with the Spirit of prayer, leave our whole prayer life to wither and die.

The real purpose of our wrestling in prayer is, therefore, to render us so impotent and helpless, not only in connection with our physical and spiritual needs, but, above all, our inability to pray, that our prayer really becomes a prayer for the Spirit of prayer. No matter what we pray for, whether it be temporal or spiritual things, little things or great things, gifts for ourselves or for others, our prayers should really resolve themselves into a quiet waiting for the Lord in order to hear what it is that the Spirit desires to have us pray for at that particular time.

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05 Wrestling in prayer, Part 2

“Now I beseech you, brethren, for the Lord Jesus Christ’s sake, and for the love of the Spirit, that ye strive together with me in your prayers to God for me; 

That I may be delivered from them that do not believe in Judaea; and that my service which I have for Jerusalem may be accepted of the saints;” (Romans 15:30-31)

These words of the apostle afford us a glimpse into another aspect of the struggle involved in praying. He speaks in this passage of intercessory prayer taking the form of a struggle. He has given expression to the same thought in slightly different words in Colossians 4:12-13. “Epaphras, who is one of you, a servant of Christ, saluteth you, always labouring fervently for you in prayers, that ye may stand perfect and complete in all the will of God. For I bear him record, that he hath a great zeal for you, and them that are in Laodicea, and them in Hierapolis.”

This kind of wrestling in prayer has often been misunderstood. It has been conceived of as a struggle in prayer against God, the thought being that God withholds His gift as long as possible. They must be wrung from Him in one way or another. Prayer is looked upon as a means by which God can be made to relent, and be moved to give us an answer to our prayers. If our prayers do succeed in accomplishing this, it is because we have fought with God, stormed Him with supplications, convinced Him by our crying needs, and, on the whole, persevered until He has yielded.

It is not necessary to be very familiar with the Bible in order to know that this view of wrestling in prayer is pagan, and not Christian. God is Himself good. It is not necessary for us to pray or wrestle in prayer in order to make God kind or generous. “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.” (James 1:5) He is not only good; He is omniscient, knowing at all times what is best for us. It is not necessary for us to try to teach Him what is best for us by argument, persuasion, or much talking.

The idea that to wrestle in prayer is t wrestle against God is usually based upon certain passages of Scripture. Jacob’s wrestling with God recorded in Genesis 32:24-32 is one of those passages. Here we are told how Jacob struggled with God. He refused to give up, saying “I will not let Thee go, except Thou bless me.” And God did bless him. However, he strained the hollow of his thigh as a result.

The New Testament passage usually cited is the one about the struggle which the Canaanite woman had with Jesus in Matthew 15:21-28. Here we are told of a woman of Gentile ancestry who met with Jesus near Tyre. She asked Him to heal her daughter who was grievously vexed with a demon. But Jesus did not answer her a word. The disciples, however, interceded for her, saying “Send her away; for she crieth after us.” The Jesus replied “I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” But the woman was in great distress and would not give up. She came and worshiped Him , saying “Lord, help me,” Still, Jesus did not relent, answering her in such hard words as these, “It is not meet to take the children’s bread, and cast it to dogs.” Still the woman refused to yield. Quickly but humbly she seized upon Jesus’ own metaphor about the dogs, saying: “It is not necessary to take the bread away from the children and give it to the dogs; they will be perfectly satisfied with he crumbs that fall from their masters’ table.” Then Jesus yielded and granted her supplication.

Why did not Jesus answer the woman when she asked Him so meekly for help? Because He did not care for her? No, and again no! When the  disciples interceded for her, why did Jesus make a reference to the idea that He had been sent only to the chosen people? He had made exceptions to this rule before in Matthew 7:5 for instance. That Jesus did not do this because He wanted to be contrary is clear to everyone who has learned to know Jesus. When He, nevertheless, followed the strange procedure which He did, it was because He had a special purpose in so doing. Everyone who has walked with Jesus for some little time and has had some experience in prayer-fellowship with Him, knows that this is not a unique instance but one which recurs from time to time in the lives of every believers. Jesus answers not a word. We cry, again and again, each time more loudly and more vehemently than the time before. But not a word from Jesus. After some time has elapsed, He speaks. But the words we hear are sharp, stern words from Scripture, piercing to the dividing of our very joints and marrow, in the same way as His words about the dogs fell upon the ears of the Canaanite woman. Or as He said to His own mother at the wedding in Cana: “Woman, what have I to do with thee?” Or as He answered the nobleman of Capernaum: “Except ye see signs and wonders, ye will not believe” (John 4:48).

Every time Jesus sees that there is a possibility of giving us more than we know how to ask, He does so. And in order to do so He often has to deal with us in ways which are past our understanding. He answers not a word to our many supplications. Will He then not hear us? Yes, He will; He began to hear us from the very moment that we began to pray. But if He had given us the things we prayed for immediately, He would not have succeeded in giving us what He had appointed for us. We find a typical illustration in of this in  John 11. Lazarus had become ill, and the sisters had sent Jesus this beautiful message concerning their brother: “Lord, he whom Thou lovest is sick.” And the sisters rejoiced to think that Jesus would hurry and come and heal their dear brother. But Jesus did not come. Lazarus became worse and worse; he died and they had to bury him.

Now, why did Jesus deal with them in this way? Jesus had from the beginning decided to help them. He had also decided to give them more then they asked of Him. That is why He delayed His coming until Lazarus was dead and buried. He wahted to raise him from the dead. Why did He want to do this? In the first place, more of God’s power was made manifest to “the glory of God” as Jesus calls it in verse 40. Secondly, He could teach them a lesson in true humility. He could  point out how impatient they had been, and how they had murmured against Him.

After this inquiry, let us return to the striving which the apostle exhorts us to engage in when we pray for others. After what we have seen, it has become clear to us that we cannot interpret this to mean that we can compel God to give an answer to our prayers which He is reluctant to give. Much to the contrary; our struggling must be in line with the wrestling we have just described. The only difference is that in the wrestling which we have discussed the prayers concerned ourselves, while, in the striving mentioned by the apostle, our prayers are for others.

Our intercessory prayer involve much striving on out part for exactly the same reasons as we have mentioned in the preceding pages (Part 1). There is something about God’s attitude towards our prayers for others which is hard and often impossible to understand. And that is what precipitates the struggle. Our striving is a struggle, not with God, but with ourselves. First there is selfishness, then there is our love of ease. That is why Jesus admonishes us to watch and pray.

In Mark 9:29, Jesus says: “This kind can come forth by nothing, but by prayer and fasting.” Here Jesus introduces us to the greatest struggle with prayer. While Jesus and three of the apostles were on the Mount of Transfiguration,  a man had brought his son, possessed of a dumb spirit, to the other apostles. The latter had tried to cast out the evil spirit,  but they had not succeeded. When  Jesus came down, the father brought his son to Him and and Jesus healed the boy. As soon as the apostles had come into the house and they were alone with Jesus, they asked Him why they could not cast out the evil spirit, to which Jesus replied: “This kind can come forth by nothing, but by prayer and fasting.” Fasting is entirely in line with what we have said above about the necessity of having quiet and secluded seasons of prayer, and is in reality only a prolongation of the latter.. It has not been ordained for God’s sake, but for our sakes. It is we who need to fast.

Let us now consider briefly those circumstances in life in which Christians should feel the need of fasting. First on the list come times of special temptation. Secondly, it is wise to do so when facing a great or important choice. Thirdly we can mention occasions where we are planning or carrying out difficult tasks. It can also be applied before great and mighty acts. Of course, fasting is voluntary, and can not be forced on anyone. Fasting is an agreement between one specific individual and God, and is not to be done as  a public display.

Fasting helps to give that inner sense of spiritual penetration by means of which we can discern clearly that for which the spirit of prayer would have us pray in exceptionally difficult circumstances. At the same time, it helps to cleanse our souls of any impure motives which might be present when we pray for mighty acts.

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06 The misuse of prayer

“Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts.” (James 4:3)

From the very beginning we approach prayer with a grave misconception.  Our selfishness knows no bounds. In more or less naive self-love we look upon everything with which we come in contact as existing for our sakes, as something for us to make use of and to utilize to our own advantage. We think and act as though everything – inanimate things, plants, human beings, even our own souls – were created for the purpose of bringing gratification to selfish desires. And we make no exception for God.

As soon as we encounter Him, we immediately look upon Him as another means of gaining our own ends. The natural man in his relationship to God has this one purpose more or less consciously in mind: How can I, in the best way, make use of God for my own personal advantage? How can I make Him serve me best now, in the future, and throughout all eternity?

The natural man looks upon prayer, too, in this light. How can I make use of prayer to the greatest possible advantage for myself? This is the reason why the natural man seldom finds that it pays to pray regularly to God. It requires too much effort, takes too much time, and is on the whole impractical for the simple reason that one even forgets to pray. But when this same man gets into trouble in one form or another and cannot help himself or get help from anybody else, then he thinks that it might pay to pray to God. He then prays to Him as a last resort, often crying aloud in his distress; and when God does not put Himself at his disposal immediately and answer him, this man is not only surprised, but disappointed and offended, deeply offended. Why should there be a God, if He is not at the disposal of those who need Him? That God should exist for any other purpose than to satisfy the selfish desires of men, does not even occur to such people. Many are for ever finished with prayer after such an experience. Why pray if God won’t give you what you pray for?

It is not very difficult for us, who have opened our hears to the Spirit of prayer and have learned a little about prayer, to see that such people have misunderstood the meaning of prayer. The use to which they put prayer is wholly and completely a misuse of prayer. They pray in direct opposition of the very idea of prayer. That this does not lead to good results, but becomes a source of disappointment, is self-evident.

But it is not only the natural man who in this way misunderstands and misuses prayer. Unfortunately, many believers are often guilty of doing the same thing. We, too, have a carnal nature; and when we can gain some advantage or be delivered from some great suffering or misfortune, we have no objections whatsoever to praying. On the contraty, we, too, manifest a desire to pray, which is nothing short of wonderful.

We should well note that the temptation to misuse is native to us and comes automatically, therefore, to every believer. In Matthew 20:20-23 we have a typical example of misunderstood, misused and unanswered prayer. The sons of Zebedee came with their mother to Jesus one day and asked Him for the highest places of honour in the earthly kingdom which,  so they thought, was about to be established. Their prayer was no doubt offered in all innocence and good faith. They were cousins of Jesus and, together with Peter, had already been given positions of preference in the intimate circle of Jesus’ friends. What they desired was that Jesus at this early hour should also promise them the leading positions in the kingdom when it had reached its consummation.

Verse 24 says that when the other apostles heard what the two had done, they became offended. But Jesus reacted in an entirely different way; and what should we emphasize here? It is true that He replied immediately by saying explicitly that He could not comply with their request, but otherwise He took very kindly and understandingly to the whole affair. He advised them of their fault and explained everything to them. Such a tender and fervent tone runs through the whole admonition which Jesus gave them that it warms our souls. It tells us what Jesus’ attitude is towards us when we come by families into His presence and ask Him to favour us in every possible way and to avert from us all danger and all unpleasantness. He does not become angry with us as we might expect. He understands us, advises us of our mistakes, and tells us how we should pray.

This is what the Spirit of prayer undertakes to do every time we misuse prayer and ask for things for ourselves, for our own enjoyment. Lovingly and kindly, but firmly, He reminds us that this is not in accordance with the true meaning of prayer. He shows us that this is to pray amiss, and points out mistakes. To begin with, perhaps, we do not understand what He means. All we experience is inner unrest, both while we pray and after we have prayed. Besides, of course, we notice that our prayer is not granted.

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07 The meaning of prayer

“And whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son.” John 14:13

Prayer life has it’s own laws, as has all the rest of life. The fundamental law in prayer is this:Prayer is given and ordained for the purpose of glorifying God. Prayer is the appointed way of giving God an opportunity to exercise His supernatural powers of salvation, and in so doing He desires to make use of us. Through prayer we should give God the opportunity of gaining access to our souls, our bodies, our homes, our neighbourhoods, our countries, to the whole world, to the fellowship of believers and the unsaved.

If we will make use of prayer, not to wrest from God advantages for ourselves and for our dear ones, nor to escape from tribulations and difficulties, but to call down upon ourselves and others those things which will glorify God, then we shall see the strongest and boldest promises of the Bible about prayer fulfilled also in our weak little prayer life. Then we shall see such answers to prayer as we have never thought were possible. It is written “And this is the confidence that we have in him, that, if we ask any thing 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.” (1 John 5:14-15.) The apostle establishes from his own prayer experience as well as from that of his readers the fact that if we pray for anything according to the will of God, we already have what we pray for the moment we ask. It is immediately sent on its way from heaven to us. We don’t know exactly when it will arrive; but he who has learned to know God through the Spirit of God has learned to leave this in His hands and to live just as happily whether the answer arrives immediately or later.

By this time no doubt some of my sincere praying readers are feeling down. After what has been said so far, you might begin to suspect that you have misunderstood and misused the sacred privilege of prayer altogether. You might in your daily prayer have been speaking to God about everything, about greater as well as lesser things. You might even have asked Him for most significant things. And now you you might be afraid that this is a misuse of prayer, and that you should therefore cease at once. A deep sigh arises from your heart.

No, my friend! You should by no means cease to pray. On the contrary, you should pray God for still greater simplicity of mind in your daily conversations with Him. Pray that you may become so confidential with Him that you can speak with Him about everything in your daily life. That is what He desires. That is just how He would have us pray. You will no doubt recall that it is written “Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God.” (Philippians 4:6.) He knows that our daily lives are made up of little things, not great things. Therefore He beckons to us in a friendly way and says “Just bring all those little things to me; I am most willing to help you.”

Be sure to remember that nothing in your daily life is so insignificant and so inconsequential that the Lord will not help you by answering your prayer. Some day you may perhaps be looking for some keys that you have lost. You must have them, and you’re in a hurry, and cannot find them. Go trustingly to the Lord and tell Him about your predicament. Or perhaps your little boy is out playing. You need him at once to run an errand for you. But you cannot take the time to look for him or run the errand yourself. Tell it confidently to your Father in heaven. Do not forget, however, what was mentioned above, that prayer id ordained for the purpose of glorifying the name of God. Therefore, whether you pray for big things or little things, say to God “If it will glorify Thy name, then grant me my prayer and help me. But if it will not glorify Thy name, then let me remain in my predicament, and give me power to glorify Thy name in the situation in which I find myself!”

Some think that this will weaken the power and intensity of our prayers, but this is due to a misunderstanding of prayer as a whole. To pray is to let Jesus into our need, and only by praying in this way shall we succeed in opening our hearts to Him. This will give Jesus the opportunity to exercise His power on our behalf, not only as He wills, but also when He wills. Peace and tranquillity will then fill our hearts. As mentioned earlier, restlessness in prayer comes from striving against the Spirit of prayer. But when we in prayer seek only to glorify the name of God, then we are in complete harmony with the Spirit of prayer. Then our hearts are at rest both while we pray and after we have prayed. The reason is that we now seek by our prayers only that which will glorify the name of God. Then we can wait for the Lord. We have learned to leave it to Him to decide what will best serve to glorify His name, either an immediate or delayed answer to our prayer.

At this point let us say a few words about unanswered prayers.It cannot be denied that they cause us all a great deal of difficulty, especially our children. They have been taught to pray to Jesus, and they have been told that He is kind and good, and that He helped all who came to Him when He lived here below on earth. As a result they pray to Him for everything, large and small, and they expect in all sincerity to receive that for which they have prayed.

A great cricis enter into the life of the child. The child has prayed to Jesus for something, but has not received an answer to his prayer. Here is it necessary for us to come to assistance of the child and explain the situation. And in speaking with children we must speak graphically; otherwise they will not be able to understand us. We must illustrate by means of examples. We can tell them, for instance, that we read in the papers every now and then about children who have accidentally shot themselves either with an air rifle or an ordinary gun and have become cripples for the life, and sometimes children have been killed that way. How did that happen? Because they had asked their fathers and mothers for air rifles and because they were so unfortunate as to receive what they had asked for.. If only their fathers and mothers had had sense enough not to give them dangerous weapons, they would have been spared the terrible misfortune. This will teach the child that God is merciful even when He declines to give us things that we ask of Him.

Even Jesus prayed a prayer which the Father did not fulfill; and He prayed three times “Father, if it be possible, then let this cup pass from me.” That was in Gethsemane when Satan, by tempting Jesus, endeavoured to render obscure that which all the way had been clear to Jesus, that He must suffer and die in order to save the human race. But in the dark hour of temptation we see the pure and obedient mind of Christ. He tells His Father candidly how He feels in temptation’s darkness. But the real desire of His prayer is nevertheless this: “Not as I will, but as Thou wilt.”

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08 Forms of prayer

“Trust in him at all times; ye people, pour out your heart before him: God is a refuge for us. Selah.” (Psalm 62:8)

Prayer is part of our soul’s life with God and is marked therefore by some of that many-sidedness and indestructibility which we find in life in general. This is also true of all forms of prayer, the way in which prayer is expressed. As we have seen, this may vary from the quiet, meditative mood to that of energetic, even violent, striving. Prayer is, as shown earlier, a condition of mind, an attitude of hearts, which God recognizes as prayer whether it manifests itself in quiet thinking, in sighing, or in audible words.

Because prayer is an expression of man’s personal life with a personal God, it readily assumes the forms and characteristics of personal life. We know that conversation between persons does not take place according to certain prescribed rules and regulations, but occurs freely and spontaneously as the occasion may require. That is what makes conversation personal, gives it life and freshness. The more personal conversation is in this sense of the word, the more it becomes real communication, a mutual exchange of ideas in which life speaks to life. So also with prayer. It should be free, spontaneous, vital fellowship between the created person and the personal Creator, in which life should touch life. The more that prayer becomes the unconfined, free and natural expression of the desires of our hearts, the more real it becomes.

As a vital means of communication between the soul and God, prayer can assume very different forms, from quiet, blessed contemplation of God, in which eye meets eye in restful meditation, to deep sight or sudden exclamations of wonder, joy, gratitude, or adoration. It may take the form of one word, as when we cry, “God!” “Jesus!” Or it may take the form of smooth, quiet conversation lasting for minutes, perhaps even hours. Or it may be an outcry from a violently agitated soul engaged in a bitter struggle.

We can classify all of these forms of prayer, each of which is well adapted to some phase of prayer life, under the following main headings:

1. Supplicatory prayer

By this we mean request prayer, the turning to God to receive something. Naturally, this aspect of prayer is always in the foreground. The word in Scripture which is most often used to designate prayer really means to express desire. There is something beautiful about this. It is the will of our heavenly Father that we should come to Him freely and confidently and make known our desires to Him, just as we would have our children come freely and of their own accord and speak to us about the things they would like to have. I pray God that nothing I may have said in the foregoing will have obscured this gracious aspect of prayer.

It is written “Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God.” (Philippians 4:6.) Herein are included also those petitions which we may learn afterwards were misused prayers. Do not be so afraid, in other words, of misusing prayer that, on that account, you omit giving expression to the desires of your heart when standing in the presence of God.

2. The prayer of thanksgiving

This follows naturally upon supplicatory prayer. Having received something from God, it is self-evident that we ought to return thanks to Him for it. Scripture contains a number of both direct and indirect admonitions to give thanks to God. The strongest is found in Ephesians 5:20 “Giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.” That is what God means by the prayer of thanksgiving. From this we learn, too, that giving thanks should constitute an essential part of prayer.

It is easy for us to think that God is so great and so highly exalted that it makes no difference to Him whether we give thanks or not. It is, therefore, necessary for us to catch a vision of the heart of God. His is the most tender and sensitive of all hearts. Nothing is so small or insignificant that it does not register an impression with Him, whether it be good or bad. Jesus says that He will not forget even a cup of cold water if it is given in grateful love of Him.

3. Praise

Even in the Old Covenant they had learned to praise the Lord. In fact, the saints of God in the Old Dispensation had progressed far in the art of praising God. This comes to light especially in the Psalms. Not a small portion of the Book of Psalms is made up of songs of praise, praise to God, and in a large number of the remaining psalms we find that a doxology (a hymn containing praise to God) is used either at the beginning or at the close of a psalm.

“Rejoice in the LORD, O ye righteous: for praise is comely for the upright.
Praise the LORD with harp: sing unto him with the psaltery and an instrument of ten strings.” (Psalm 33:1-2)

“Bless the LORD, O my soul: and all that is within me, bless his holy name. Bless the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits:” (Psalm 103:1-2)

“Praise ye the LORD. Praise the LORD, O my soul.
While I live will I praise the LORD: I will sing praises unto my God while I have any being.” (Psalm 146:1-2)

Praise and thanksgiving are very closely related to each other. Outwardly it is not possible to draw a clear line of demarcation between them. Both consist in giving glory to God. From ancient times, however, men have tried to differentiate between them by saying that when we give thanks, we give God the glory for what He has done for us; and when we worship or give praise, we give glory to God for what He is in Himself. In that event, praise lies on a higher plane than thanksgiving. When I give thanks, my thoughts will still circle around myself to some extent. But in praise my soul ascends to self-forgetting adoration, seeing and praising only the majesty and power of God, His grace and redemption.

4. Conversation

If prayer, as mentioned above, is the natural form of communication between the soul and God, it is also evident that it includes conversation. Conversation is the free and natural exchange of ideas between persons. The wider the range of subjects included in their conversation, the richer their fellowship.

To pray is to let Jesus into our lives. He knocks and seeks admittance, not only to the solemn hours of secret prayer when you bend the knee of fold your hands in supplication, or when you hold fellowship with other Christians in a prayer meeting. Nay, He knock and seeks admittance into your life in the midst of your daily work, your daily struggles, your daily “grind”. That is when you need Him most. He is always trying to come into your life, to sup with you. He sees that you need His refreshing presence most of all in the midst of your daily struggles. Listen, therefore, to Jesus as He knocks in the midst of your daily work or rest. Give heed when the Spirit calls you to look in silent supplication to Him, who follows you day and night.

5. Prayer without words

As we have already seen, prayer is really an attitude of our hearts towards God. As such it finds expression, at times in words and at times without words, precisely as when two people love each other. As conscious personalities we must and should give expression to our attitudes in words to one another. It is this faculty which lifts the fellowship of human beings to such a high plane and makes it so rich. But at the same time let us remind ourselves that life, in the last analysis, is inexpressible. There is something in our lives, and also in our fellowship, which can never be formulated in words, but which can be the common experience, nevertheless, of two who share with each other everything that can be expressed in words.

In the soul’s fellowship with God in prayer, too, there are things which can and should be formulated in words. We have spoken of that. But there are also things for which we  can find no words. It may be this to which the apostle makes reference when he speaks om Romans 8:26 of “groanings which cannot be uttered”.

“Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered.”

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09 Problems of prayer

“And Jesus said unto them, Because of your unbelief: for verily I say unto you, If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible unto you.” (Matthew 17:20)

Life is full of problems. It is, therefore, not strange that prayer life too has it’s problems. Let’s briefly mention some of these problems:

1. How can prayer accomplish such tremendously great things when it in itself is so weak?

To  superficial minds this question may seem quite unnecessary. It is written that if we have faith, we can remove mountains. Everything, therefore, depends upon faith. Our prayers are effective when we are strong in faith. And when we are not strong in faith, our prayers lose their effectiveness.

Yes, to some it seems as easy as that; but people who have had a somewhat wider experience in the remarkable realm of prayer will not accept this as the final solution of the problem. Of course, they know that the final and wonderful results often take place after men have prayed with great faith. There are times when the Spirit of prayer whispers into our hearts “Ask for it, and you shall receive it”, and when we are fully assured even before we have finished praying that we shall receive the wonderful answer we are seeking.

But as a rule it does not work as beautifully as that. On the contrary, many have received the most remarkable answers to prayer when they have had no clear or definite assurance that they would be heard either before they prayed, while they prayed, or after they prayed. It has seemed to them as though God has given them the mightiest and most remarkable answers to prayer at times when they have had no faith whatsoever. Such things are not published in the papers, but wonderful things are nevertheless experienced quietly in the family circle of the Lord’s humble friends. Praise the Lord!

2. Why should we pray?

To many, this problem seems easy to solve. We should pray, they say, in order to get God to give us something! But a moment’s reflection will convince us that this view of prayer is pagan and not Christian. We all have so much of the pagan left in us, that it is easy for us to look upon prayer as a means whereby we can make God kind and good, and grant us prayer. But the whole revelation of God teaches us that this is to misunderstand both God and prayer completely. God Himself is good, from eternity and to eternity; He was good before man had any occasion for prayer. The Scriptures also teach us that God is equally kind and good whether He grants our prayer or not. When He grants our prayers, it is because He loves us. When He does not, it is also because He loves us.

Others say, “No, the purpose of prayer is to tell God what we need.” But this solution is not adequate to adequately explain the problem involved in Christian prayer. By the revelation of God we Christians are convinced that as far as God is concerned it is not necessary for us to explain our needs to Him. On the contrary, God alone fully understands what each one of us needs; we make mistakes continually and pray for things which could be harmful to us if we received them. Afterwards we see our mistakes and realize that God is good and wise in not giving us these things, even though we plead ever so earnestly for them.

Prayer is essential! It is not for the purpose of making God good or generous; He is all that from eternity. Nor is it for the purpose of informing God concerning our needs; He knows what they are better than we do. Nor is it for bringing God’s gifts down from heaven to us; it is He who bestows the gifts, and by knocking at the door of our hearts, He reminds us that He desires to impart them to us. No, prayer has one function, and that is to answer “yes” when He knocks, to open the soul and to give Him the opportunity to bring us the answer.

3. Does God need our intercessory prayer?

Here, we touch on the greatest problem in the whole realm of prayer. We have just seen that prayer is essential to personal fellowship with God. But now we come to intercessory prayer, and we ask: Are our intercessions necessary as far as God is concerned and the work He would have accomplished in this world? Nor is this problem of mere theoretical interest; it, too, is one of practical significance because of the manner in which it affects our view of God, of prayer, and of the world.

We can answer by saying, in the first place, that it is impossible for God to bring the world forward to its goal without man. The attitude which man takes is the vital factor in determining whether the world shall attain its goal or not. God has voluntarily bound Himself to man in His government of this world. From the very beginning of the history of revelation we see that God has established His kingdom only where He could find men who would voluntarily permit themselves to be used by Him. It thus becomes evident that God has voluntarily made for Himself dependent upon our prayer. For, after all, prayer is the deciding factor in the life of everyone who surrenders himself to God to be used by Him.

4. Are prayer and answers to prayer consistent with God’s government of the world?

From the Scriptures and from our own experience we are certain that prayer changes things with respect to the way that God governs, not only to individuals, but society, the nations, and the whole world. Therefore many ask, “Can God really rule the world according to a definite plan and towards a definite goal if a simgle individual can persuade Him to change His plans merely by asking Him to do so? Would not this lead to utter chaos? One might pray for rain; another for sunshine; another for wind, and another for calm weather.

To this we must reply that God has never intended that prayer should be used in that way. In the first place, God has not promised to answer the prayers of everybody, only the prayers of His children and the prayers of those who pray that they might become His children. In the second place, He has not even promised to answer all the prayers of His children, only those which are prayed in the name of Jesus, or, as it is written, “And this is the confidence that we have in him, that, if we ask any thing according to his will, he heareth us:” (1 John 5:14). In these words Jesus has designated the extent to which man by his prayers can affect the divine economy and has pointed out that only those prayers can have any influence which are wrought by the Spirit of Christ in the hearts of believers and which, therefore, look towards the realization of His kingdom-plans.

5. Does God answer the prayers of the unconverted?

This question, too, has more than a theoretical interest. It has great practical significance for the unconverted who have experienced  definite and immediate answers to prayer, and who accept this as proof that they are children of God. To others, such answers to prayer are a deep and heavy mystery. They themselves have experienced such answers to prayer while still unconverted. After their conversion, they began to worry about this. They began to question themselves, “Does it make any difference to the Lord whether a man who prays is converted or not?” As they grew more and more sceptical, they asked themselves, “What, after all, is prayer, if unconverted people too, receive what they pray for?”

Why does God at some times grant petitions even of unconverted people? Several reasons might be mentioned, but we shall only answer shortly. God, at times, grants the prayer of the unconverted for the same reason that He showers blessings upon them, namely because He loves them and desires to save them.  Answer to prayer becomes one of the gracious means whereby God seeks to bring such people to repentance. I have met several who have been converted through such answers to prayer. Unfortunately, there are also those who, like Cain, have been strengthened in their rejection of the Lord after such an answer. But this is the law of God’s salvation, either acceptance or rejection.

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10 The school of prayer

“And it came to pass, that, 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.” (Luke 11:1)

Now, do you dare to pray “Lord, teach me to pray“? Be honest.You are afraid of trials and afflictions; and I believe that both you and I are willing to admit that we are also afraid of God. Pure instinct seems to tell us that God is going to deal harshly with us, and the same instinct seems to tell us that we can rely on ourselves, and that we understand what is good and what is not.

But remember one thing; neither you nor nor I will be happy till we yield ourselves to His pierced hands and say to Him:

“Send me e’en where death defies me,

Send me where oppression tries me,

Through dark storms upon life’s sea.

As Thou wilt, beloved Saviour,

If Thou wilt but show Thy favour,

Constantly my staff to be.”

By so doing you will be enrolling voluntarily in that school of prayer which the Spirit has established for such as do not know how to pray.

So few of us become skilled petitioners because we do not continue in the school of prayer. The course is not an easy one, and the difficulties do consist alone in the temporal and spiritual trials mentioned before. There is something about this school which tries our patience sorely. Jesus Himself talks about it indirectly on several occasions, especially in Luke 18:1-8 where He says “that men ought always to pray, and not to faint”. We become faint very easily. How many times have we not earnestly resolved in our minds to pray for certain people and for certain causes, only to find ourselves growing faint? We were not willing to expend the effort, and little by little we ceased to intercede for others.

It is the Spirit of prayer who superintends the instruction in the school of prayer. He does not offer a variety of subjects, but concentrates purposely on a few central things. It is not necessary to master a large variety of subjcts in order to become skilled in prayer. I would mention briefly only the following:

In the first place, the Spirit must be given opportunity to reveal Christ to us every day. This is absolutely essential. Christ is such that we need only to “see” Him, and prayer will rise from our hearts, voluntary prayer, confident prayer. We know that Christ can answer prayer. We know that it gives Him joy to do so. Prayer and intercession have become a delightful and fascinating means of co-operation between Christ and the praying soul.

In the second place, the instruction which the Spirit imparts aims at making us earnestly concerned. Intercessory prayer is like an ellipse which rotates about two definite points; Christ and our need. The work of the Spirit in connection with prayer is to show us both not merely theoretically but practically, making them vital to us from day to day. Comfort yourself with the thought that it is the Spirit who is working these things in your heart every day. It is not necessary for you to strive in your own strength to keep your eyes open to Christ and the needs of the world. No, all you need to do is to listen to the Spirit as He speaks to you every day in the Word and through prayer about Christ and your need, and you will soon notice yourself making progress in prayer and intersession.

In the third place, the Spirit teaches us the necessity of self-denial in connection with prayer. There is something about prayer and intersession which calls for more self-denial than other work to which the Spirit calls us. The greater part of the work of intersession is, of course, done in secret; and work of this kind requires the payment of greater effort than work which can be seen of men. It is astonishing to see how much it means to us to have others see what we do. It is not only that we all have a great weakness for the praise of others, but the fact that our work is appreciated and valued is a remarkable stimulant to us. Furthermore, we all love to see results from our labours. But the work of prayer is of such a nature that it is impossible for us to know definitely whether what happens is a fruit of our own intercessions or that of others.

You may have prayed for some unconverted people in your neighbourhood, perhaps for many years. Then a revival starts in your neighbourhood, and the first ones to be converted are the ones for whom you have been praying so faithfully. No-one besides yourself, however, knows anything about that. You have kept it, as is right and proper, a secret between yourself and God. Consequently, no-one talks about what you have been doing. But the name of the preacher who has spoken at the meeting, on the other hand, is on everybody’s lips. All are loud in their praises of him and say “My, what a great evangelist!” My friend, when you begin to grow tired of the quiet, unnoticed work of praying, then remember that He who sees in secret shall reward you openly. He has heard your prayers, and He knows exactly what you have accomplished by means of them, for the salvation of souls. If not before, then on the Great Day, you will come bringing in the sheaves, the fruit of your labours.

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11 The Spirit of prayer

“And I will pour upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of supplications: and they shall look upon me whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for him, as one mourneth for his only son, and shall be in bitterness for him, as one that is in bitterness for his firstborn.” (Zechariah 12:10)

“Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered.” (Romans 8:26)

All the way throughout this study, I have used the phrase “the Spirit of prayer”. It has been my desire that this thought would be a red thread running through every part of this study, binding it all together into a unified whole the various things that I have said about prayer. In conclusion, may I try to sum up everything I have said under this one heading before bringing these meditations to a close that the Spirit of prayer throws light upon every phase of our prayer life? From this vantage point we can see light falling upon every detail of prayer life. Not only theoretical light, enlightening our minds, but practical light for our use in praying and for our training in prayer.

My praying friend, you who must admit that you are not yet well acquainted in the realm of prayer, do pray a little each day in a childlike way for the Spirit of prayer; and you will have some wonderful experiences in this realm, which has so many surprising things in store for you.

If you feel that you know, as yet, very little concerning the deep things of prayer and what prayer really is, then pray for the Spirit of prayer. There is nothing He would rather do than unveil to you the grace of prayer.

If you find the difficulties in prayer so insurmountably great that you become disheartened, then pray for the Spirit of prayer. He will help you in your weakness and show you in what ways you misunderstand prayer, and will make it simple and easy for you to pray.

If the work of prayer becomes burdensome to you, and you feel your heart becoming weary of praying, then pray with childlike simplicity for the Spirit of prayer. It is written that the Lord will pour out the Spirit of prayer. You need not then work yourself up into the spirit and attitude of prayer.

If wrestling in prayer becomes a hard and bitter struggle, and you feel that your soul is out of touch and not in tune with God, and your prayers are only empty words, then pray trustingly for the Spirit of prayer. He will point out the sin which is acting as a hindrance to your prayers and will help you to acknowledge it, and then He will make Christ so precious to you that you will voluntarily give up that sin which is threatening to sever your connection with God.

If you notice that you have been inclined towards the misuse of prayer, to selfish and self-indulgent prayer,and you scarcely have the courage to pray any more, then pray again for the Spirit of prayer. He will not only show you the true meaning and purpose of prayer; He will also lift you up in all your helplessness to the very heart of God where you will again be warmed by His love, so that you can again begin to pray according to His will, asking for nothing except those things which are in harmony with His plans and purposes.

If you are scarcely able to pray, still less able to give thanks, and least of all to praise and worship Him, then pray for the Spirit of prayer. There is nothing He would more gladly do then to teach you these things.

If the problem of prayer have become so dark and heavy to you that the words of prayer freeze on your lips, then pray in your distress for the Spirit of prayer. He will solve the deepest mysteries of prayer by revealing to you that the more helpless you are, the better you are fitted to pray, and the more answers to prayer you will experience.

If the school of prayer becomes tedious and tiresome to you, then speak to the Spirit of prayer about this too. He is doing the teaching Himself, and He will see to it that it becomes neither more tedious nor more tiresome than you can endure. Now and then He will give you a little recess. He knows what we are made of and remembers that we are dust.

Such childlike petitions for the Spirit of prayer will little by little bring about a change in our prayer life that we hardly thought possible. Without noticing it ourselves, prayer will become the great centralizing and unifying factor in our distracted and busy lives. In everything that we experience during the day our minds and our hearts will quietly and naturally be drawn towards God. A longing to talk to God about everything will arise. Everything we see and hear in connection with our dear ones, our friends, our enemies, the converted or the unconverted, temporal or spiritual affairs, small things and great, the hard and the easy, all the observations and experiences which fill and shape our daily lives, will naturally and readily begin to take the form of prayer. Intimate friends tell each other of their experiences as soon as possible. So it is in prayer too. The Spirit of prayer makes us so intimate with God that we scarcely pass through an experience before we speak before we speak to Him about it, either in supplication, in sighing, in pouring out our woes before Him, in fervent requests, or in thanksgiving and adoration.

You will experience sweet release in thus speaking with God about everything in your daily life and especially while it is fresh in your mind and of actual interest to you. By so doing you will be able to lay aside your cares and responsibilities and leave everything in God’s hands. You will begin to realize more and more that prayer is the most important thing you can do; and that you can use your time to no better advantage than to pray whenever you have an opportunity to do so, either alone or with others, while at work, while at rest, or while walking down the street. Anywhere! We can make use of our time in no better way.

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THE END