II. Almost Incredible Promises - Part 1.

From the book:
The Kneeling Christian
by Albert Richardson

If you have faith and doubt not …
all things, whatsoever you shall ask in prayer,
believing, you shall receive.
Mt 21:22

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"When we stand with Christ in glory, looking o'er life's finished story," the most amazing feature of that life as it is looked back upon will be its prayerlessness.
We shall be beside ourselves with astonishment that we spent so little time in real intercession. It will be our turn to wonder.
In our Lords last discourse to His loved ones, just before the most wonderful of all prayers, the Master again and again held out His kingly golden scepter and said, as it were, "What is your request? It shall be granted unto you, even unto the whole of My kingdom."
Do we believe this? We must, if we believe our Bibles. Shall we just read over very quietly and thoughtfully one of our Lord's promises, reiterated so many times? If we had never read them before, we should open our eyes in bewilderment, for these promises are almost incredible. From the lips of any mere man, they would be quite unbelievable. But it is the Lord of heaven and earth Who speaks, and He is speaking at the most solemn moment of His life. It is the eve of His death and passion. It is a farewell message. Now listen.

Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believes in me, the works that I do he shall do also; and greater works than these shall he do because I go unto my Father. And whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in my name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If ye ask anything in my name, I will do it.
(John 14:12-14).

Now, could any words be plainer or clearer than these? Could any promise be greater or grander? Has anyone else, anywhere, at any time, ever offered so much? How staggered those disciples must have been. Surely they could scarcely believe their own ears. But that promise is made also to you and to me. And, lest there should be any mistake on their part, or on ours, our Lord repeats Himself few moments afterwards. Yes, and the Holy Spirit bids John record those words again. If ye abide in me and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you. In this is my Father [glorified], in that ye bear much fruit; and in this manner ye shall be my disciples. (John 15:7-8).

These words are of such grave importance, and so momentous, that the Savior of the world is not content even with a threefold utterance of them. He urges His disciples to obey His command to ask. In fact, He tells them that one sign of their being His friends will be the obedience to His commands in all things (John 15:14). Then He once more repeats His wishes: Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you and ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain; that whatever ye shall ask of the Father in my name, he may give it unto you (John 15:16).
One would think that our Lord had now made it plain enough that He wanted them to pray, that He demanded their prayers, and that without prayer they could accomplish nothing. But to our intense surprise, He returns again to the same subject, saying very much the same words.
And in that day ye shall ask me nothing [ask Me no question (Revised Standard Version margin note)]. Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whatever ye shall ask the Father in my name, he will give you. Until now ye have asked nothing in my name; ask, and ye shall receive, that your joy may be fulfilled (John 16:23-24).
Never before had our Lord laid such stress on any promise or command never. This truly marvelous promise is given six times over. Six times, almost in the same breath, our Savior commands us to ask whatsoever we will. This is the greatest, the most wonderful promise ever made to man. Yet most people, Christian people, practically ignore it. Is it not so?
The exceeding greatness of the promise seems to overwhelm us. Yet we know that He is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think (Eph. 3:20). So our blessed Master gives the final exhortation, before He is seized and bound and scourged, before His gracious lips are silenced on the cross:
ye shall ask in my name, ... for the Father himself loves you (John 16:26-27). We have often spent much time in reflecting upon our Lord's seven words from the cross. And it is well we should do so. Have we ever spent one hour in meditating upon this, our Saviour's sevenfold invitation to pray?
Today He sits on the throne of His majesty on high, and He holds out to us the scepter of His power. Shall we touch it and tell Him our desires? He bids us take of His treasures. He yearns to grant us according to the riches of His glory, that we may be strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner man. He tells us that our strength and our fruitfulness depend upon our prayers. He reminds us that our very joy depends upon answered prayer (Eph. 3:16).
And yet we allow the Devil to persuade us to neglect prayer. He makes us believe that we can do more by our own efforts than by our prayers, by our conversations with men than by our intercession with God. It escapes one's comprehension that so little heed should be given to our Lord's sevenfold invitation - command - promise. How dare we work for Christ without being much on our knees? Quite recently an earnest Christian worker, a Sunday school teacher and church member wrote me, saying, "I have never had an answer to prayer in all my life." But why? Is God a liar? Is God not trustworthy? Do His promises count for nothing? Doesn't He mean what He says? Doubtless, there are many reading these words who in their hearts are saying the same thing as that Christian worker. Edward Payson is right when he says, "If we would do much for God, we must ask much of God... Pray, then, my dear brother, pray, pray, pray." If our prayers are not answered, or always answered but not necessarily granted, the fault must be entirely in ourselves and not in God. God delights to answer prayer, and He has given us His word that He will answer.
Fellow laborers in His vineyard, it is quite evident that our Master desires us to ask and to ask much. He tells us we glorify Him by doing so. Nothing is beyond the scope of prayer, which is not beyond the will of God, and we do not desire to go beyond His will.
We dare not say that our Lord's words are not true. Yet somehow or other, few Christians really seem to believe them. What holds us back? What seals our lips? What keeps us from making much of prayer? Do we doubt His love? Never. He gave His life for us and to us. Do we doubt the Father's love? No. The Father Himself loves you, said Christ when urging His disciples to pray.

Next Page

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I - II

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?}

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· Confidence in Prayers
· We Think That We Alone Can Do It
· Praying for Revival
· The Melchizedek Order & Priesthood