I. God's Great Desire
If you have faith and doubt not …
all things, whatsoever you shall ask in prayer,
believing, you shall receive.
Mt 21:22
all things, whatsoever you shall ask in prayer,
believing, you shall receive.
Mt 21:22
God wondered that there was no intercessor (Isa. 59:16). But this was in the days of long ago, before the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ, full of grace and truth. This was before the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, full of grace and power, who helps our weakness; … but the Spirit itself makes entreaty for us (Rom. 8:26). Yes, this was before the truly amazing promises of our Savior regarding prayer, before men knew very much about prayer in the days when sacrifices for their sins loomed larger in their eyes than supplication for other sinners.
Oh, how great must God’s wonder be today. For how few there are among us who know what prevailing prayer really is. Every one of us would confess that we believe in prayer, yet how many of us truly believe in the power of prayer? Now, before we go a step further, may I most earnestly implore you not to hurry as you read what is contained in these chapters. Much, very much, depends upon the way in which every reader receives what is recorded here. For everything depends upon prayer.
Why are many Christians so often defeated? Because they pray so little. Why are many church workers so often discouraged and disheartened? Because they pray so little.
Why do most Christian leaders see so few brought out of darkness to light by their ministry? Because they pray so little. Why are our churches simply not on fire for God?
Because there is so little real prayer.
The Lord Jesus is as powerful today as ever before. The Lord Jesus is as anxious for men to be saved as ever before. His arm is not shortened that it cannot save, but He cannot stretch forth His arm unless we pray more – and more genuinely.
We may be assured of this: The secret of all failure is our failure in secret prayer.
If God wondered in the days of Isaiah, we need not be surprised to find that in the days of His flesh, our Lord marveled . He marveled at the unbelief of some, unbelief which actually prevented Him from doing any mighty work in their cities (Mark 6:6).
But we must remember that those who were guilty of this unbelief saw no beauty in Him that they should desire Him or believe on Him. What then must He marvel at today, when He sees among us who truly love and adore Him, so few who really wake themselves up to take hold of Him (Isa. 64:7)? Surely, nothing is so absolutely astonishing as a practically prayerless Christian. These are eventful and ominous days. In fact, there are many evidences that these are the last days in which God promised to pour out His Spirit, the Spirit of supplication, upon all flesh (Joel 2:28). Yet the vast majority of professing Christians scarcely know what supplication means, and many of our churches not only have no prayer meetings, but sometimes unblushingly condemn such meetings and even ridicule them.
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My brothers, have we ceased to believe in prayer? If you still hold your weekly gathering for prayer, is it not a fact that the great majority of your church members never come near it? Yes, and never even think of coming near it. Why is this? Whose fault is it?
“Only a prayer meeting” – how often we have heard the utterance. How many of those reading these words really enjoy a prayer meeting? Is it a joy or just a duty? Please forgive me for asking so many questions and for pointing out what appears to be a perilous weakness and a lamentable shortcoming in our churches. We are not out to criticize, much less to condemn. Anybody can do that. Our yearning desire is to stir up Christians to take hold of God as never before. We wish to encourage, to hearten, to uplift.
We are never so high as when we are on our knees.
Criticize? Who dares criticize another? When we look back upon the past and remember how much prayerlessness there has been in one’s own life, words of criticism of others wither away on the lips.
But we believe the time has come when the individual and the church need a clarion call to prayer.
Now, dare we face this question of prayer? It seems a foolish query, for is not prayer a part and parcel of all religions? Yet we venture to ask our readers to look at this matter fairly and squarely. Do I really believe that prayer is a power? Is prayer the greatest power on earth, or is it not? Does prayer indeed “move the Hand that moves the world”?
Do God’s prayer commands really concern me? Do the promises of God concerning prayer still hold true? We have all been muttering, “Yes, Yes, Yes,” as we read these questions. We dare not say “No” to any one of them. And yet, has it ever occurred to you that our Lord never gave an unnecessary or an optional command? Do we really believe that our Lord never made a promise which He could not, or would not, fulfill?
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Table of Contents
GOD’S GREAT DESIRE
ALMOST INCREDIBLE PROMISES
ASK OF ME AND I WILL GIVE
ASKING FOR SIGNS
WHAT IS PRAYER?
HOW SHALL I PRAY?
MUST I AGONIZE?
DOES GOD ALWAYS ANSWER PRAYER?
ANSWERS TO PRAYER
HOW GOD ANSWERS PRAYER
HINDRANCES TO PRAYER
WHO MAY PRAY?
GOD’S GREAT DESIRE
ALMOST INCREDIBLE PROMISES
ASK OF ME AND I WILL GIVE
ASKING FOR SIGNS
WHAT IS PRAYER?
HOW SHALL I PRAY?
MUST I AGONIZE?
DOES GOD ALWAYS ANSWER PRAYER?
ANSWERS TO PRAYER
HOW GOD ANSWERS PRAYER
HINDRANCES TO PRAYER
WHO MAY PRAY?
