TWELVE
LETTERS
Letter Six
Prayer
My Dear ______,
There remains only one other subject
to bring before you in this present series of letters. In the last I directed
you to the importance of the Word of God, and now I desire to speak of prayer
and its connection with the spiritual life. These two - the Word of God and
prayer - are ever conjoined. It was so in the blessed activities of the life of
our Lord. After a long day of ministry we find such a record as this, "And He
withdrew Himself into the wilderness, and prayed"; and again, "It came to pass
in those days, that He went out into a mountain to pray, and continued all
night in prayer to God" (Luke 5:16; 6: 12). So, too, when the difficulty arose
in the Pentecostal church concerning the distribution of the offerings of the
saints, the apostle said, "It is not reason that we should leave the Word of
God, and serve tables. . . . We will give ourselves continually to prayer, and
to the ministry of the Word" (Acts 6: 2-4). St. Paul likewise unites the two
things in his description of the whole armour of God; for no sooner has he
said, "And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is
the Word of God," than he adds, "Praying always with all prayer and
supplication in the Spirit" (Eph. 6: 17, 18).
We have, moreover,
direct exhortations to prayer; as for example, "Continuing instant in prayer";
"Pray without ceasing" (Rom. 12:12; 1 Thess. 5:17. See also Luke 18, etc.). And
if you read the introductory parts of St. Paul's epistles you will see how he
embodied his own exhortations. As you trace his path, as recorded for us in the
Acts, you would think that he never did anything else than preach; but if you
read these parts of the epistles you would almost think that he never did
anything else than pray. Approximating to the example of our blessed Lord in
his unwearied labours, he found, yea, he learnt, the need of constant waiting
upon God. In like manner, prayer is a necessity for every child of God. For we
are in ourselves weak and helpless, entirely dependent; and prayer is but the
expression of our dependence on Him to whom we pray. Dependent upon God for
everything, our very needs urge us into His presence; and having liberty of
access through Christ, because of the place we occupy, and because of the
relationship we enjoy, we "come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may
obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need" (Heb. 4: 16).
1.
Our Lord teaches what should be, so to speak, the manner of our prayers.
Speaking to His disciples of the time when He should be absent from them, He
says, "Whatsoever ye shall ask in My name, that will I do," etc.; and again,
"If ye shall ask any thing in My name, I will do it" (John 14: 13, 14). Two
things are here involved. The name of Christ is our warrant to come before God,
before the Father, reminding us that our title of approach is in Christ alone.
And surely this gives us confidence. If we were to think only of ourselves, our
failures and unworthiness, we should never venture into God's presence; but
when our eyes are directed to Christ, what He is in Himself, what He is to God,
and what He is to us, and remembering that we appear before God in all His
infinite acceptability, we are made to understand that God delights in us - in
our approach, in our cries and prayers. We thus are encouraged to draw near to
God, and to pour out our hearts before Him in every time of trial or need.
But asking in the name of Christ is more than having a title through
His name; it is, indeed, to appear before God with all the value and authority
of that name. If, for example, I go to a bank and present a check, I ask for
the value of the check in the name of him by whom it is drawn. So when I appear
before God in the name of Christ, I present my supplications in all the value
of that name to God. Hence it is that our Lord says, "If ye shall ask any thing
in My name, I will do it," because, indeed, it is the joy of the heart of God
to grant every request that is so preferred. The promise is absolute, without
any limitation; for the simple reason that nothing could be asked in the name
of Christ which was not in accordance with the will of God. For we could not
use His name for any request which was not begotten in our hearts by His own
Spirit.
2. In the next chapter our Lord gives us further teaching on
the same subject. "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). We may connect with
this another scripture: "And this is the confidence that we have in Him, that,
if we ask anything according to His will, He heareth us" (1 John 5: 14). Here
it is according to the will of God, therby excluding everything which is not of
this character. But our Lord says, "What ye will"; and this brings before us a
very important aspect of prayer. In this case it is conditional: "If ye abide
in Me, and My words abide in you"; that is, abiding in Christ, ever remembering
our dependence upon Him for everything, that without Him we can do nothing; and
His words abiding in us, moulding us after His own mind, forming Himself in us,
we of necessity express His own thoughts and His own desires, and consequently
"what we will" must, in such a case, be "according to His will." It will be
seen, at the same time, that the power of our prayers depends upon our
spiritual condition. This is an unfailing principle. It is stated by St. John:
"If our heart condemn us not, [then] have we confidence toward God. And
whatsoever we ask, we receive of Him, because we keep His commandments, and do
those things that are pleasing in His sight" (1 John 3: 21, 22). St. James also
tells us, "The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much"
(James 5: 16). This is of all importance; for neglecting our spiritual state,
and thereby losing present communion with God, our prayers become cold and
lifeless, degenerate into a repetition of known truths or old phrases, and
thus, losing all significance, pass over into dead forms. The words are uttered
to satisfy conscience; but expressing no heart-felt needs, and no outgoings of
soul after God, they find no response, and bring down no blessing. Beware of
such a state, which is often the commencement of the backslider's path, and
which, unless checked by the grace of God, will land the soul in open shame and
dishonour to the name of Christ.
3. The uses of prayer are manifold.
In the first place, the Lord has associated us with Himself in all His own
desires. Yea, our fellowship is with the Father, and with His Son Jesus Christ
(1 John 1: 3). God therefore counts upon our love to have fellowship with all
that is dear to His own heart. He has made His interests ours; and consequently
He would have us enter into and make these the object of our prayers. What a
privilege! To be permitted to range through all His purposes as revealed to us
in the Word; to watch with delight their unfoldings; to behold them all
centering in, and radiating from, the person of His Christ, as well as bringing
back a revenue of glory to His name! Truly if we are enabled to enter at all
into this wondrous position, by the power of the Spirit, we shall lack neither
subject for, nor motive to, prayer.
Then, too, we may express in
prayer all the manifold needs of our own souls. "Be careful for nothing; but in
every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be
made known unto God. And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding,
shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus" (Phil. 4: 6, 7). This
word is the more remarkable from the fact that it is found in the very chapter
in which the apostle assures us, "My God shall supply all your need according
to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus" (v. 19). Still, notwithstanding this
blessed confidence, God would have us, with all the freedom of children, to
make known to Him our requests; and though He does not promise to grant them in
every case, He yet assures us that His peace shall guard our hearts. It is in
this way, indeed, that confidence is established in our intercourse with God,
that the priceless habit is formed of having no reserves with Him, and that
intimacy of communion is cultivated. It is in accordance with this that the
psalmist cries, "Trust in Him at all times; ye people, pour out your heart
before Him" (Psalm 62: 8); and that St. Peter says, "Casting all your care upon
Him; for He careth for you" (1 Peter 5: 7).
4. It should be added that
the word of God lays great stress upon the connection of faith with prayer. Our
Lord says, "What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive
them, and ye shall have them" (Mark 11: 24). St. James also, after his
exhortation to ask wisdom of God, says, "Let him ask in faith, nothing
wavering" (1: 6); and again, he tells us that "the prayer of faith shall save
the sick" (5: 15). So too in the Hebrews we read, that "without faith it is
impossible to please Him: for he that cometh" (i.e., draws near) "to God must
believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him"
(11: 6). This is easy to understand; for surely God has a right to count upon
our confidence in His love, our trust in His character, and our belief in His
word, since He has so fully revealed Himself to us in the person of His Son. To
doubt, therefore, as we approach Him, would be to dishonour His name. And just
as He counts upon our confidence and faith, He would have us count upon His
faithfulness and love. As our blessed Lord reminds His disciples, "Your Father
knoweth what things ye have need of, before ye ask Him" (Matt. 6: 8). And as
St. Paul teaches us, "He that spared not His own Son, but delivered Him up for
us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things?" (Rom. 8:
32). Thus the gift of His own Son, inasmuch as it was His greatest gift, and
the most perfect pledge of His love, is the foundation on which we may rest in
the full assurance that He not only will not withhold any good thing from us,
but that He will delight to bless us according to His own heart, and according
to His own knowledge of our need.
5. Once more, all true prayer must
be in and by the Holy Spirit. ((See Rom. 8: 26, 27; Phil. 3: 3; Jude 20).
Indeed, He is the power for prayer, as He is for every activity of the
spiritual life. We are thus utterly dependent upon the Lord Jesus for access to
God, upon the Holy Spirit for power to pray, and upon God for the blessings we
seek. To His name be all the praise!
But I will not pursue the subject
further. You will, however, permit me to urge upon you perseverance in prayer.
Rules on such a subject - as to times and frequency - we have no right to make
or impose. Still of one thing be very sure - you cannot be too much in prayer.
And if you dwell in the presence of God, you will find both the heart and
occasion for prayer. Our responsibility is to pray without ceasing, always
maintaining uninterruptedly the consciousness of dependence, and our need of
divine grace. Thus we shall be always cast upon God, always enjoy liberty of
heart in His presence, and consequently be always finding, in the constant
reception of mercies, grace and blessing, in answer to our cries, new themes
for thanksgiving and praise.
Believe me, dear ______,
Yours
affectionately in Christ,
E.D.
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