Do we doubt His power? Not for a
moment. Has He not said,
All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. Go ye ... and, behold, I am with you always (Matt. 28:18-20)? Do we doubt His wisdom? Do we mistrust His choice for us? Not for a moment. And yet, very few of His followers consider prayer worthwhile. Of course, they would deny this, but actions speak louder than words. Are we afraid to put God to the test? He has said we may do so.
Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, ... and prove me now in this, said the LORD of the hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven and pour you out a blessing that there shall not be room enough to receive it (Mal. 3:10). Whenever God makes us a promise, let
us boldly say, as did the apostle Paul,
I believe God, that it shall be even as it was told me. (Acts 27:25).
Shall we begin today to be people of
prayer, even if we have never been so
before? Let us not put it off until a more convenient time. God wants me to pray. The dear Savior wants me to pray. So much, in fact everything, depends upon prayer. How dare we hold back? Let every one of us ask on our knees this question: "If no one on earth prayed for the salvation of sinners more fervently or more frequently than I do, how many of them would be converted to God through prayer?"
Do we spend ten minutes a day in
prayer? Do we consider it important
enough for that? Ten minutes a day on
our knees in prayer when the kingdom
of heaven can be had for the asking. Ten minutes? It seems a very inadequate portion of our time to spend in taking
hold of God (Isa. 64:7).
And is it prayer when we "say" our
prayers, or are we just repeating daily a few phrases, which have become
practically meaningless, while our thoughts are wandering hither and thither?
If God were to answer the words we
repeated on our knees this morning,
would we know it? Would we recognize
the answer? Do we even remember what we asked for? He does answer. He has given us His word for it. He always
answers every real prayer of faith, but
we shall see what the Bible has to say on this point in a later chapter. We are now thinking of the amount of time we spend in prayer.
"How often do you pray?" was the
question put to a Christian woman.
"Three times a day, and all the day
beside," was the quick reply. But how many are like that? Is prayer to me just a duty, or is it a privilege – a pleasure, a real joy, a necessity?
Let us take a fresh look at Christ in all
His glory and a fresh glimpse of all the
riches of His glory, which He places at
our disposal, and of all the mighty
power given unto Him. Then let us take
a fresh look at the world and all its
needs. (And the world was never as
needy as it is today.)
The wonder is not that we pray so
little, but that we can ever get up from
our knees if we realize our own need,
the needs of our home and our loved
ones, the needs of our pastor and the
church, the needs of our city in our
country of the heathen and Islamic
world. All these needs can be met by the riches of God in Christ Jesus. The apostle Paul had no doubt about this nor have we. Yes,
my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus (Phil. 4:19). But to share His riches, we must pray,
for the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon him.
(Rom. 10:12).
The importance of prayer is so great
that God has taken care to anticipate all the excuses or objections we may be
likely to make. Men plead their
weakness or infirmity, or they declare
they do not know how to pray.
God foresaw this inability ages ago.
Did He not inspire Paul to say,
And
likewise also the Spirit helps our
weakness, for we know not how to pray
as we ought, but the Spirit itself makes
entreaty for us with groanings which
cannot be uttered. But he that searches the hearts knows what is the desire of the Spirit, that according to the will of God, he makes entreaty for the saints. (Rom. 8:26-27).
Yes. Every provision is made for us.
But only the Holy Spirit can
wake us up to take hold of God. And if we yield ourselves to the Spirit's promptings, we shall most assuredly follow the example of the apostles of old, who gave themselves to prayer and
continued with one accord in prayer and supplication. (Acts 1:14).
