Prayer

Things to Pray for

• We should ask God to make the gospel message clear (Col. 4:4).
• Pray for boldness in the one doing the evangelism (Acts 4:29; Eph. 6:19).
• Pray that the individual believes the Word of God (Rom. 10:17; 1 Thess. 2:13).
• Pray that Satan is bound from blinding them from the truth (2 Thess. 2:13).
• Pray for the safety of the messengers (2 Thess. 3:2).
• Pray for the success of the gospel and that they will believe in Christ as their Savior (John 1:12, 5:24, 6:27-29; 2 Thess. 3:1).
• Pray that the one who receives Christ as Savior may grow spiritually and bear fruit (Matt. 13:23; John 15:16; Col. 1:6, 2:6,7).

The Scocaster, Vol. 40, No. 10, March 7, 1999, p. 3

The Answered Prayers

We know not what we should pray for as we ought - Romans 8:26.

I prayed for strength, and then I lost awhile
All sense of nearness, human and divine;
The love I leaned on failed and pierced my heart;
The hands I clung to loosed themselves from mine;
But while I swayed, weak, trembling, and alone,
The everlasting arms upheld my own.

I prayed for light; the sun went down in clouds,
The moon was darkened by a misty doubt,
The stars of heaven were dimmed by earthly fears,
But all my little candle flames burned out;
But while I sat in shadow, wrapped in night,
The face of Christ made all the darkness bright.

I prayed for peace, and dreamed of restful ease,
A slumber drugged from pain, a hushed repose;
Above my head the skies were black with storm,
And fiercer grew the onslaught of my foes;
But while the battle raged, and wild winds blew,
I heard His voice, and perfect peace I knew.

I thank Thee, Lord, Thou wert too wise to heed
My feeble prayers, and answer as I sought,
Since these rich gifts Thy bounty has bestowed
Have brought me more than I had asked or thought.
Giver of good, so answer each request
With Thine own giving, better than my best.

- Annie Johnson Flint

V. Raymond Edman, But God!, (Zondervan Publishing House, Grand Rapids; 1962), p. 103

Count It Done

A father wrote to his son,
Who was faraway from home;
“I have sent you a beautiful gift,
It may be delayed, but ‘twill come;
It is what you have wanted most,
And have asked for many days;”
And before the child received the gift
He voiced his thanks and praise.

Our Father saith unto us:
“Your need shall be supplied;
Ask and receive that your joy be filled,
And My joy in you abide.”
Shall we wait to thank till we see
The answer to every prayer?

Forbear to praise till we feel
The lifted pressure of care?
Nay, let us trust His word
And know that the thing is done,
For His promise is just as sure
As a father’s to his son.

- Annie Johnson Flint

V. Raymond Edman, But God!, (Zondervan Publishing House, Grand Rapids; 1962), p. 53

Measuring Faith Attitudes

Experiencing a life-changing faith, having a close relationship with God and desiring to please God above all else are strong earmarks of belief for born-again Christians, according to a recent poll comparing America’s religious attitudes.

In a nationwide survey, 1,210 adults were asked…(those responding yes)

	Born-again Christians	Others
Is your faith very important to your life?	99%	78%
Do you desire a close personal relationship with God?	94%	44%
Is it more important to please God than to achieve success or the acceptance of others?	91%	68%
Does prayer really make a difference in your life?	73%	43%
Do you have a responsibility to share your faith with others?	68%	29%

____________________________________________________________________________________

Margin of error is plus or minus 3 percent

Source: Barna Research Group, by Monica Seaberry and Mike Paquette, 1998 Religion News Service, quoted in Moody, July/August, 1998, p. 37

Pastor Joe Wright’s Prayer

When Pastor Joe Wright was asked to open the new session of the Kansas Senate, everyone was expecting the usual politically correct generalities. But, what they heard instead was a stirring prayer, passionately calling our country to repentance and righteousness.

The response was immediate and a number of legislators walked out during the prayer. In six short weeks, the Central Christian Church (USA) had logged more than 5,000 phone calls, with only 47 of those calls responding negatively. Commentator Paul Harvey aired the prayer on the radio and received a larger response to this program than any other program he has ever aired. The Central Christian Church is now receiving international requests for copies of this prayer from India, Africa, and Korea.

Pastor Joe’s prayer is reprinted here as an encouragement and challenge for each of us to stand for the truth of the Gospel whenever the Lord gives us the opportunity.

The Prayer:

“Heavenly Father, we come before you today to ask your forgiveness and seek Your direction and guidance. We know your Word says, ‘Woe on those who call evil good,’ but that’s exactly what we have done. We have lost our spiritual equilibrium and inverted our values.

We confess that:

We ridiculed the absolute truth of your Word and called it pluralism.
We have worshipped other gods and called it multiculturalism.
We have endorsed perversion and called it an alternative lifestyle.
We have exploited the poor and called it the lottery.
We have neglected the needy and called it self-preservation.
We have rewarded laziness and called it welfare.
We have killed our unborn and called it choice.
We have shot abortionists and called it justifiable.
We have neglected to discipline our children and called it building self-esteem.
We have abused power and called it political savvy.
We have coveted our neighbor’s possessions and called it ambition.
We have polluted the air with profanity and pornography and called it freedom of expression.
We have ridiculed the time-honored values of our forefathers and called it enlightenment.

Search us, O God, and know our hearts today; cleanse us from every sin and set us free. Guide and bless these men and women who have been sent here by the people of Kansas, and who have been ordained by you to govern this great state. Grant them the wisdom to rule, and may their decisions direct us to the center of your will. I ask it in the name of your Son, the Living Savior, Jesus Christ, Amen.”

Pastor Joe Wright

No Short Cuts

There are no shortcuts when it comes to revival. The church desperately needs revival, but it is not going to come by quick and easy methods. Evan Roberts prayed for eleven years before the Welsh Revival broke out, and his ministry during that remarkable time broke him physically. More than one hundred thousand people were converted to Christ during that mighty awakening, but it was not the result of manufactured meetings (they were spontaneous) or manmade promotions. True revival goes deeper than that.

Warren Wiersbe, God Isn’t In a Hurry, (Baker Books; Grand Rapids, MI, 1994), p. 14

What if God Had an Answering Machine?

Imagine praying and hearing this:

“Thank you for calling My Father’s House. Please select one of the following four options:

1. Press 1 for requests.

2. Press 2 for thanksgiving.

3. Press 3 for complaints.

4. For all other inquiries, press 4.”

What if God used the familiar excuse: “All of the angels are helping other customers right now. Please stay on the line. Your call will be answered in the order it was received.”

Can you imagine getting these kinds of responses as you call on God in prayer?

1. “If you’d like to speak with Gabriel, press 1.

2. “For Michael, press 2.

3. “For any other angel, press 3.

4. “If you want King David to sing you a psalm, press 6.

5. “To find out if your relative is here, enter his/her date of death and listen for the list that follows.”

6. “For reservations at My Father’s House, simply press the letters J-O-H-N on the keypad, followed by the number 3-1-6.”

7. “For answers to nagging questions about dinosaurs, the age of the earth and where Noah’s ark is, wait until you get here!”

8. “Our computers show that you have called once today already. Please hang up immediately.”

9. “This office is closed for the weekend. Please call again Monday.” End of message.

Thank God, you can’t call Him too often!!! You only need to ring once and God hears you. Because of Jesus, you never get a busy signal. God takes each call and knows each caller personally. When you call and the Lord will answer; you will cry for help and He will say: “Here am I!”

And when you call: Emergency Phone Numbers

1. When in sorrow, call John 14

2. When men fail you, call Psalm 27

3. If you want to be fruitful, call John 15

4. When you have sinned, call Psalm 51

5. When you worry, call Matthew 6:19-34

6. When you are in danger, call Psalm 91

7. When God seems far away, call Psalm 139

8. When your faith needs stirring, call Hebrews 11

9. When you are lonely and fearful, call Psalm 23

10. When you grow bitter and critical, call 1 Cor. 13

11. For Paul’s secret to happiness, call Col. 3:12-17

12. For idea of Christianity, call 1 Cor. 5:15-19

13. When you feel down and out, call Romans 8:31-39

14. When you want peace and rest, call Matt. 11:25-30

15. When the world seems bigger than God, call Psalm 90

16. When you want Christian assurance, call Romans 8:1-30

17. When you leave home for labor or travel, call Psalm 121

18. When your prayers grow narrow or selfish, call Psalm 67

19. For a great invention/opportunity, call Isaiah 55

20. When you want courage for a task, call Joshua 1

21. How to get along with fellowmen, call Romans 12

22. When you think of investments/returns, call Mark 10

23. If you are depressed, call Psalm 27

24. If your pocketbook is empty, call Psalm 37

25. If you’re losing confidence in people, call 1 Cor. 13

26. If people seem unkind, call John 15

27. If discouraged about your work, call Psalm 126

28. If you find the world growing small, and yourself great, call Psalm 19

Emergency numbers may be dialed direct.
No operator assistance is necessary.
All lines are open to Heaven 24 hours a day!

Source unknown

Quotes

• God’s child can conquer anything by prayer. Is it any wonder that Satan does his utmost to snatch that weapon from the Christian or to hinder him in the use of it? - Andrew Murray
• Prayer should be the means by which I receive all that I need, and for this reason, be my daily refuge, my source of rich and inexhaustible joy. - O. Hallesby
• Prayer is the hand that takes to ourselves the blessings that God has already provided in His Son. - R. A. Torrey
• If in the first waking moment of the day you learn to fling the door back and let God in, every public thing will be stamped with the presence of God. - Oswald Chambers
• Prayer honors God, acknowledges His being, exalts His power, adores His providence, secures His aid. - E. M. Bounds
• Prayer goes by faith into the great orchard of God’s exceeding great and precious promises, and with hand and heart picks the ripest and richest fruit. - E. M. Bounds
• We need to learn to know Him so well that we feel safe when we have left our difficulties with Him. - O. Hallesby
• God’s greatest movements in this world have been conditioned on, continued and fashioned by prayer. God has put Himself in these great movements just as men have prayer. Persistent, prevailing, conspicuous and mastering prayer has always brought God to present. How vast are the possibilities of prayer! How wide its reach! It lays its hand on Almighty God and moves Him to do what He would not do if prayer was not offered. Prayer is a wonderful power placed by Almighty God in the hands of His saints, which may be used to accomplish great purposes and to achieve unusual results. The only limits to prayer are the promises of God and His ability to fulfill those promises. - E. M. Bounds
• Knowing that intercessory prayer is our mightiest weapon and the supreme call for all Christians today, I pleadingly urge our people everywhere to pray. Believing that prayer is the greatest contribution that our people can make in this critical hour, I humbly urge that we take time to pray—to really pray. Let there be prayer at sunup, at noonday, at sundown, at midnight—all through the day. Let us all pray for our children, our youth, our aged, our pastors, our homes. Let us pray for our churches. Let us pray for ourselves, that we may not lose the word ‘concern’ out of our Christian vocabulary. Let us pray for our nation. Let us pray for those who have never known Jesus Christ and redeeming love, for moral forces everywhere, for our national leaders. Let prayer be our passion. Let prayer be our practice. - Robert E. Lee
• The greatest thing anyone can do for God and man is pray. It is not the only thing, but it is the chief thing. The great people of earth are the people who pray. I do not mean those who talk about prayer; nor those who say they believe in prayer; nor yet those who can explain about prayer; but I mean those people who take time to pray. - S. D. Gordon
• William Gurnall, the Puritan preacher, used to say, “When people do not mind what God speaks to them in His Word, God doth as little mind what they say to Him in prayer.”
• Do not pray for easy lives, pray to be stronger men and women. Do not pray for tasks equal to your powers. Pray for powers equal to your tasks. - Phillips Brooks
• Without time for prayer, nothing can be accomplished. - Scroggie
• He who runs from God in the morning will scarcely find Him the rest of the day. - John Bunyan
• Pray as though everything depended on God; work as though everything depended on you. - Augustine
• Keep praying, but be thankful that God’s answers are wiser than your prayers! - William Culbertson
• What ever is made a matter of prayer should cease to be. - Anon
• I have been driven many times to my knees by the overwhelming conviction that I had nowhere else to go. My own wisdom, and that of all about me seemed insufficient for the day. - A. Lincoln
• When asked how much time he spent in prayer, George Mueller’s reply was, “Hours every day. But I live in the spirit of prayer. I pray as I walk and when I lie down and when I arise. And the answers are always coming.” - Anon
• There are moments when, whatever be the attitude of the body, the soul is on its knees. - Anon
• Too many people pray like little boys who knock at doors, then run away. - War Cry
• When praying, do you give instructions? or report for duty? - Anon
• It was your Lord who put an end to long-windedness, so that you would not pray as if you wanted to teach God by your many words. Piety, not verbosity, is in order when you pray, since He knows your needs. Now someone perhaps will say: ‘But if He knows our needs, why should we sate our requests even in a few words? Why should we pray at all? Since He knows, let Him give what He deems necessary for us.’ Even so, He wants you to pray so that He may confer His gifts on one who really desires them and will not regard them lightly. - Augustine
• For more than half a century, I have never known one day when I had not more business than I could get through. For 40 years, I have had annually about 30,000 letters, and most of these have passed through my own hands. I have nine assistants always at work corresponding in German, French, English, Danish, Italian, Russian, and other languages. Then, as pastor of a church with 1200 believers, great has been my care. I have had charge of five orphanages; also at my publishing depot, the printing and circulation of millions of tracts, books, and Bibles. But I have always made it a rule never to begin work till I have had a good season with God. - George Mueller
• There is a divine principle in regard to prayer which runs all through the Scriptures. It is that God is pleased to unite His people with Himself in whatever He is about to do. He first of all leads them to pray, and then does what He intends in answer to their prayers. - Russell Elliott
• Prayer is a weapon, a mighty weapon in a terrible conflict. Our prayers are to be a continual, conscious, earnest effort of battle, the battle against whatever is not God’s will. - P. T. Forsyth
• Prayer is “a sincere, affectionate pouring out of the heart or soul to God, through Christ, in the strength and assistance of the Holy Spirit, for such things as God has promised, or according to his Word, for the good of the church, with submission in faith to the will of God.” - John Bunyan
• What a man is on his knees before God, that he is, and nothing more. - Robert Murray McCheyne
• It was your Lord who put an end to long-windedness, so that you would not pray as if you wanted to teach God by your many words. Piety, not verbosity, is in order when you pray, since He knows your needs. Now someone perhaps will say: ‘But if He knows our needs, why should we state our requests even in a few words? Why should we pray at all? Since He knows, let Him give what He deems necessary for us.’ Even so, He wants you to pray so that He may confer His gifts on one who really desires them and will not regard them lightly. - Augustine
• When thou prayest, rather let thy heart be without words, than thy words without heart. - Martin Luther
• Prayer is no more inconsistent with the unchangeable purposes of God, than the use of any other means; for God in forming his purposes had respect to all appropriate means of producing the intended ends, and among these prayer has an important place. - Archibald Alexander
• Words are but the body, the garment, the outside of prayer; sighs are nearer the heart work. A dumb beggar getteth an alms at Christ’s gates, even by making signs, when his tongue cannot plead for him…Tears have a tongue, and grammar, and language that our Father knoweth. Babes have no prayer for the breast, but weeping: the mother can read hunger in weeping. - Samuel Rutherford
• Pray as if everything depends on God, then work as if everything depends on you. - Martin Luther
• When I cannot pray I always sing. - Martin Luther
• The fewer the words, the better the prayer. To have prayed well is to have studied well. - Martin Luther
• “The moment you wake up each morning, all your wishes and hopes for the day rush at you like wild animals. And the first job each morning consists in shoving it all back; in listening to that other voice, taking that other point of view, letting that other, larger, stronger, quieter life come flowing in.” - C. S. Lewis
• “God can pick sense out of a confused prayer.” - Richard Sibbes
• “There is nothing that makes us love a man so much as prayer for him.” - William Law
• “If I should neglect prayer but a single day, I should lose a great deal of the fire of faith.” - Martin Luther
• Men may spurn our appeals, reject our message, oppose our arguments, despise our persons—but they are helpless against our prayers. - Sidlow Baxter
• I would rather teach one man to pray than ten men to preach. (Charles Spurgeon)
• Nothing can so quickly cancel the frictions of life as prayer. If you find yourself growing angry at someone, pray for him—anger cannot live in an atmosphere of prayer. (William T. McElroy)
• You need not cry very loud; He is nearer to us than we think. (Brother Lawrence)
• If I could hear Christ praying for me in the next room, I would not fear a million enemies. Yet distance makes no difference. He is praying for me. (Robert Murray McCheyne)
• The prayer power has never been tried to its full capacity. If we want to see mighty wonders of divine power and grace wrought in the place of weakness, failure and disappointment, let us answer God’s standing challenge, ‘Call unto me, and I will answer thee, and show thee great and mighty things which thou knowest not! (J. Hudson Taylor)
• May not a single moment of my life be spent outside the light, love, and joy of God’s presence and not a moment without the entire surrender of my self as a vessel for Him to fill full of His Spirit and His love.” Andrew Murray
• Men may spurn our appeals, reject our message, oppose our arguments, despise our persons, but they are helpless against our prayers. (J. Sidlow Baxter)
• What the Church needs today is not more or better machinery, not new organizations or more and novel methods, but men whom the Holy Ghost can use—men of prayer, men mighty in prayer. The Holy Ghost does not flow through methods, but through men. He does not come on machinery, but on men. He does not anoint plans, but men—men of prayer. (E. M. Bounds)
• The one concern of the devil is to keep Christians from praying. He fears nothing from prayerless studies, prayerless work and prayerless religion. He laughs at our toil, mocks at our wisdom, but he trembles when we pray. (Samuel Chadwick)
• The man who mobilizes the Christian church to pray will make the greatest contribution to world evangelization in history. (Andrew Murray)
• Sir Isaac Newton said that he could take his telescope and look millions and millions miles into space. Then he added, “But when I lay it aside, go into my room, shut the door, and get down on my knees in earnest prayer, I see more of heaven and feel closer to the Lord than if I were assisted by all the telescopes on earth.”
• When Luther’s puppy happened to be at the table, he looked for a morsel from his master, and watched with open mouth and motionless eyes; he (Martin Luther) said, ‘Oh, if I could only pray the way this dog watches the meat! All his thoughts are concentrated on the piece of meat. Otherwise he has no thought, wish or hope.’” - Luther’s Tabletalk
• “What the Church needs today is not more machinery or better, not new organizations or more novel methods, but men whom the Holy Ghost can use—men of prayer, men mighty in prayer.” - E. M. Bounds
• “I have been benefited by praying for others; for by making an errand to God for them I have gotten something for myself.” - Samuel Rutherford
• “He that cannot pray, let him go to sea, and there he will learn.” - John Trapp
• “God never denied that soul anything that went as far as heaven to ask for it.” - John Trapp
• “Cold prayers always freeze before they reach heaven.” - Thomas Brooks
• “I fear John Knox’s prayers more than an army of ten thousand men.” - Mary, Queen of Scotland
• “But some one will say, Does He not know without a monitor both what our difficulties are, and what is meet for our interest, so that it seems in some measure superfluous to solicit Him by our prayers, as if He were winking, or even sleeping, until aroused by the sound of our voice? Those who argue thus attend not to the end for which the Lord taught us to pray. It is not so much for His sake as for ours. He wills indeed, as is just, that due honor be paid Him by acknowledging that all which men desire or feel to be useful, and pray to obtain, is derived from Him. But even the benefit of the homage which we thus pay Him rebounds to ourselves.” - John Calvin
• “I had rather stand against the cannons of the wicked than against the prayers of the righteous.” - Thomas Lye
• “Prayer is an offering up of our desires unto God, for things agreeable to His will, in the name of Christ, with confession of our sins, and thankful acknowledgment of His mercies.” - Westminster Shorter Catechism
• “The angel fetched Peter out of prison, but it was prayer fetched the angel.” - Thomas Watson
• “Christ went more readily ad crucem (to the cross), than we do to the throne of grace.” - Thomas Watson
• “When thou prayest, rather let thy heart be without words than thy words without heart.” - John Bunyon
• “You can do more than pray, after you have prayed, but you cannot do more than pray until you have prayed.” - John Bunyon
• “Prayer will make a man cease from sin, or sin will entice a man to cease from prayer.” - John Bunyon
• “Prayer is the converse of the soul with God. Therein we manifest or express to Him our reverence, and love for His divine perfection, our gratitude for all His mercies, our penitence for our sins, our hope in His forgiving love, our submission to His authority, our confidence in His care, our desires for His favor, and for the providential and spiritual blessings needed for ourselves and others.” - Charles Hodge
• “Yea, but we have waited a long time. Well, but yet know that you are at the right door.” - Jeremiah Burroughs
• “More things are wrought by prayer than this world dreams of.” - Alfred Lord Tennyson
• “Lord, teach us to pray.” (one of Jesus’ disciples, Luke 11:1)
• The one concern of the devil is to keep Christians from praying. He fears nothing from prayerless studies, prayerless work, and prayerless religion. He laughs at our toil, mocks at our wisdom, but trembles when we pray. - Samuel Chadwick (Prokope, January-March, 1998, p. 2)
• Keep praying, and be thankful that God’s answers are wiser than your prayers! - William Culbertson (Prokope, January-March, 1998, p. 2)
• Prayer is a shield to the soul, a sacrifice to God, and a scourge to Satan. - John Bunyan (Prokope, January-March, 1998, p. 2)
• Andrew Bonar kept a card on his mantel that read, “He who has truly prayed has completed the half of his study.” - Marjorie Bonar (Prokope, January-March, 1998, p. 2)
• Some people think God does not like to be troubled with our constant coming and asking. The only way to trouble God is not to come at all. - Anon (Prokope, January-March, 1998, p. 2)
• Some men’s prayers need to be cut short at both ends and set on fire in the middle. - Dwight L. Moody (Prokope, January-March, 1998, p. 2)
• Can we believe that God ever really modifies His action in response to the suggestions of men? For infinite wisdom does not need telling what is best, and infinite goodness needs no urging to do it. C.S. Lewis
• The object of most prayers is to wangle an advance on good intentions. - Robert Brault

.

D. L. Moody

In his new biography of evangelist D. L. Moody, author Lyle Dorsett relates the following story of God’s amazing faithfulness:

It was the spring of 1862 and the Civil War had taken its toll on troops and citizens alike. Evangelist D. L. Moody was frequently seen on the battlefields, ministering to soldiers on the frontlines. During one instance, late at night after a weary day at war, the party of Christian workers was walking among the body-strewn fields searching for survivors.

The hundreds of men they came upon were wounded and famished, and a search of the area produced little nourishment for the weary men. Desperate, the small band of workers gathered together asking God to provide the needed supplies. “Later,” tells Dorsett, “some workers admitted that they were doubtful God would respond.”

As the first gleam of morning light rose above the battlefield, a wagon appeared on the horizon. As it approached the workers, they realized it was a large farm wagon piled high with loaves of bread. God had provided: manna from heaven!

The driver approached the men and told the following story: “When I went to bed last night, I knew the army was gone and I could not sleep for thinking of the poor fellows who were wounded and would have to stay behind. Something seemed to whisper in my ear, ‘What will those poor fellows do for something to eat?” I could not get rid of this voice.”

That faithful servant of God could not sleep, so he woke his wife and she began baking as much bread as possible. Meanwhile, he hitched up his wagon and called on his neighbors to gather additional food. Said the man: “[I felt} just as if I was being sent by our Lord Himself.”

Joseph M. Stowell, “Great is His Faithfulness!,” Today in the Word, November, 1998, pp. 2-3

When We Should Pray

Once again the example of Jesus is our perfect pattern. Although his whole life was one continual life of prayer, certain occasions are instructive for all true disciples.

1. Every morning. If we take the first chapter of Mark’s gospel as depicting a typical day in the ministry of Jesus, we see the force of verse 35: “And in the morning, a great while before day, he rose and went into a lonely place, and there he prayed.” In a few people, metabolism makes this virtually impossible, but the most important time of prayer for most Christians is in the morning, before breakfast. Tuning in to God from the start enables us both to commit the entire day to God, and to turn to him more readily during the day. In any war, every day begins with a careful check on communications, so that throughout the day orders can be passed on immediately and calls for help can be instantly heard. Without this, any army would be in chaos. The same principle applies in the army of Jesus Christ.

I have personally never found it easy getting up in the morning to pray! Every day is a real battle, but because it is worth winning, I have taken practical steps to “pommel my body and subdue it”! I use two alarm clocks to wake me up, since one on its own may fail to wake me. In the early days after my conversion, I used to have one alarm by my bed, and another cheap but very noisy alarm outside my door, set to go off ten minutes after the first. Because the second alarm would wake the whole household (and make me thoroughly unpopular), I had some motivation to get out of bed as soon as the first alarm had sounded. This scheme never failed!

2. Before making important decisions. The future of the Christian church rested on Jesus’ choice of those first disciples. Although he probably knew in advance that one would betray him, another would deny him, and all would often fail him, making the right choices was crucial. Therefore “he went out to the mountain to pray; and all night he continued in prayer to God. And when it was day, he called his disciples, and chose from them twelve, whom he named apostles.” Humanly speaking, they were an unlikely bunch; uneducated fishermen, patriotic freedom-fighters, a traitor (tax-collector), a traitor-to-be, ambitious, impulsive, pessimistic, fallible men. Yet these were to be the leaders of the Christian church when instructed in the faith and equipped by the power of the Spirit.

“If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God,” wrote James. “But let him ask in faith, with no doubting…” Major decisions will nearly always call for special times of prayer.

3. When under pressure. When “great multitudes gathered to hear [Jesus] and to be healed of their infirmities,” we read that “he withdrew to the wilderness and prayed.” Most Christian work is draining. Beyond the usual physical and mental demands there rages a spiritual battle. When ministering to others, Jesus knew that power had gone out from him. Because he needed a constant renewal of body, mind, and spirit, he would regularly escape from people, both to relax and pray.

God once rebuked his people through the prophet Jeremiah with these words: “My people have committed two evils; they have forsaken me, the fountain of living waters, and hewed out cisterns for themselves, broken cisterns, that can hold no water.” The Christian worker or the Christian church could be described in the same terms; all the right words and actions may be there, but the vital life-giving water of the Holy Spirit has dried up. Only the Spirit gives life and we need his living presence continuously flowing through us if we are to meet the spiritual thirst in others. “Beware of the barrenness of a busy life,” warned Bishop Taylor Smith, about feverish activism of our Western society.

4. When concerned about others. “Simon, Simon,” said Jesus tenderly on one occasion, “I have prayed for you that your faith may not fail; and when you have turned again, strengthen your brethren.” We so often criticize one another, and slander, attack, or judge. But if we turn our concern for other Christians into prayer we will be far more effective as a church against the forces of darkness. A friend of mine said that the army of Christ must be the only army in the world where its soldiers constantly fight with each other. This is really doing the Devil’s work for him. But when we turn criticism into prayer, we lift up the shield of faith on behalf of the one being attacked, and release the Holy Spirit’s power to encourage or convict (as the need may be), and we keep the love of God flowing between us when the Devil is out to divide us.

5. When tempted. “Pray,” said Jesus to his disciples when they faced severe testing, “that you may not enter into temptation.” Even though tired and sleepy, the three disciples in the Garden of Gethsemane could have mutually encouraged one another in prayer. Sadly, they were soon overtaken by fear. When Jesus was arrested, they struck out in panic, then fled for their lives. Out of fear, Peter denied Jesus, and later they all huddled behind locked doors “for fear of the Jews.”

In contrast, Jesus withstood the Tempter’s deceit in the wilderness, and later in the garden through fasting and prayer. We cannot resist temptation in our own strength. Many times I have had to say to God, “Lord, I cannot do this thing by myself. I’ve tried, and failed. Please be my strength and shield in the midst of temptation.” We might prefer some automatic security system to protect us from the Evil One, but God wants us to abide in his love, where we are safe from the ravages of sin.

6. When in pain. “Father, forgive them,” prayed Jesus as the fierce nails were driven through his hands and feet; “they know not what they do.” Consciously turning our thoughts towards God, and praying for other people, can wonderfully relieve our own pain. Even when seriously ill, I have spent much of the night in active prayer. It was the only thing that kept me sane, keeping me profoundly aware of God’s never-failing presence and love in the midst of what seemed like a nightmare. I have also seen incredible spiritual beauty in the lives of those who, racked with constant pain, deliberately gave themselves to sacrificial, unselfish prayer. No one in his right mind will ask for seasons of pain, but God can use them to transform us into the likeness of Jesus, if we accept prayerfully his sovereign will for our lives.

7. At the moment of death. Death has been described as the old family servant who opens the door to welcome the children home. Sometimes death takes people by complete surprise, but if we know that we are being welcomed home, how good it will be to greet the one whom we are meeting face to face.

Ideally, of course, our whole life should become a life of prayer. Whether we wake, eat, walk, play, work, rest, chat or retire for the night, we should enjoy the Father’s presence: rejoicing in him, praising him, thanking him, talking to him, listening to him, saying we’re sorry, keeping silent. As we share our life with him, we allow him to share his life with us.

Intercessory prayer cards or calendars may be helpful for systematic prayer, but as servants, not masters. We must learn to be spontaneous in prayer as well. If I pray for people as I meet them in a street or in a home; or pray before answering the telephone or going to the front door, my attitude will be much more positive and sensitive. If all of us, as Christian disciples, could seriously pray—however briefly—for all whom we meet each day, think of the cumulative impact of the love of God on society!

David Watson, Called & Committed, (Harold Shaw Publishers, Wheaton, IL; 1982), pp. 92-95

When We Pray, Coincidences Happen

“The leaders of the Clapham Sect of British social reformers such as William Wilberforce, daily gave themselves to three hours of prayer and organized Christians throughout the country to unite in special prayer before critical debates in Parliament. William Temple replied to his critics who regarded answered prayer as no more than coincidence, “When I pray, coincidences happen; when I don’t, they don’t.”

David Watson, Called & Committed, (Harold Shaw Publishers, Wheaton, IL; 1982), p. 83

Power of Prayer in Salvation

Some years ago a young girl was very sick and not expected to recover. Because of her love for Jesus, she was troubled that she had not been able to do more for Him in her short life. Her pastor suggested that she make a list of people in their little town who needed Christ and pray that they might put their faith in Him. She took his advice, made a list, and prayed often for each person.

Some time later God began to stir a revival in the village. The girl heard of the people who were coming to Christ and prayed even more. As she heard reports, she checked off the names of those who had been led to the Lord.

After the girl died, a prayer list with the names of 56 people was found under her pillow. All had put their faith in Christ—the last one on the night before her death.

Such is the power of definite, specific, fervent prayer. Do you have a prayer list?

Henry G. Bosch, Our Daily Bread, March-May, 1996, p. for April 3

Albert Einstein

After fleeing Hitler’s Germany in the late 1930s, Albert Einstein found refuge in America. He purchased a quaint, old two-story house on a tree-lined street within walking distance of Princeton University. There the world’s foremost mathematician entertained some of the most distinguished scientific and political personalities of the age. He discussed with his noted guests the issues which intrigued his celebrated mind—from physics to religion to human rights. Many of the great ideas which have shaped our modern world were conceived behind the green shutters of that modest little house.

But Einstein had another frequent visitor in his home. She was not a physicist or a world leader. She was a ten-year-old girl named Emmy.

Emmy heard that a very kind man who knew a lot about mathematics had moved into her neighborhood. Since Emmy was having some difficulty with her fifth-grade arithmetic, she decided to visit the man down the block and see if he would help her with her problems. Einstein was very willing and he explained everything to her so that she could easily understand it. He also told her she was welcome to come and knock on his front door whenever she encountered a problem that was too difficult.

A few weeks later, Emmy’s mother learned from one of her neighbors that Emmy was often seen entering the house of the world-famous physicist. When she asked Emmy about it, the girl admitted it was so. “Why, Emmy!” the mother exclaimed. “Professor Einstein is a very important man! His time is very valuable! He can’t be bothered with the problems of a little schoolgirl.”

Then Emmy’s mother rushed over to Einstein’s house and knocked on the door. When Einstein answered the door, she was so flustered at the sight of the famous lined face, the kindly eyes, and the familiar mane of unruly white hair, that she could only stammer incoherently.

After a few moments, understanding dawned on Einstein’s face. “Ah! I think I understand. You’re Emmy’s mother, aren’t you?”

“Yes,” she said, sighing in embarrassment, “and I’m so sorry she’s been coming over here and bothering you—”

“Bothering me! Ach, no!” he laughed. “Why, when a child finds such joy in learning, then it is my joy to help her learn! Please don’t stop Emmy from coming to me with her school problems. She is welcome in this house anytime.”

Ron Lee Davis, Courage to Begin Again, (Harvest House Publishers, Eugene, OR; 1978), pp. 169-170

The Spirit’s Assistance in Prayer

It is worthy of note that the Spirit’s assistance in prayer is more frequently mentioned than any of His other offices. All true praying springs from His activity in the heart. Both Paul and Jude teach that effective prayer is “praying in the Holy Spirit,” which has been defined as praying “along the same lines, about the same things, in the same Name as the Holy Spirit.” All true prayer rises in the spirit of the believer from the Spirit who indwells him.

Praying in the Spirit may have a dual significance. It may mean praying in the realm of the Holy Spirit, for He is the sphere and atmosphere of the believer’s life. The Spirit is in us and we are in the Spirit. Many prayers are psychical rather than spiritual. They move in the realm of the mind only, and are the product of our own thinking and not of the Spirit’s teaching. But praying in the Spirit is something deeper. The prayer envisaged here “utilizes the body and demands the cooperation of the mind, but moves in the supernatural realm of the Spirit.” Prayer conducts its business in the heavenlies.

Or it may mean praying in the power and energy of the Holy Spirit: “Give yourselves wholly to prayer and entreaty; pray on every occasion in the power of the Spirit” (Eph. 6:18, NEB). Prayer demands more than human power and energy for its supernatural task, and the Holy Spirit supplies it. He is the Spirit of power as well as the Spirit of prayer. Mere human energy of heart and mind and will can achieve only human results. But praying in the power of the Spirit releases supernatural resources.

It is the Spirit’s delight to aid us in our physical and moral weakness in the prayer life, for the praying heart labors under three limiting handicaps; but in each of them we can count on the Spirit’s assistance. Sometimes we are kept from prayer because of the conscious iniquity of our hearts. The Spirit will lead and enable us to appropriate the cleansing of the blood of Christ which will silence the accusations of the adversary and remove the sense of guilt and pollution. Always we are hampered by the limiting ignorance of our minds. The Spirit who knows the mind of God will share that knowledge with us as we wait on Him. Then there will come the quiet, clear conviction that our request is in the will of God, and faith will be kindled. We are often earthbound through the benumbing infirmity of our bodies. The Spirit will quicken our mortal bodies in response to our faith and enable us to rise above physical and climatic conditions.

J. Oswald Sanders, Cultivation of Christian Character, (Moody Press, Chicago; 1965), pp. 105-107

Prayer: Not a Dreamy Reverie

Both our Lord and Paul made it clear that prayer is no mere pleasant, dreamy reverie. “All vital praying makes a drain on a man’s vitality,” wrote J. H. Jowett. “True intercession is a sacrifice, a bleeding sacrifice.” Jesus performed many mighty works without outward sign of strain, but of His praying it is recorded that “he…offered up prayers and supplications with strong crying and tears” (Heb. 5:7).

“Epaphras is always wrestling for you in his prayers,” wrote Paul to the Colossian Christians (4:12). How pale a reflection of Epaphras’ intercessions are our languid prayers. The word “wrestling” is that from which our word “agony” is derived. It is used of a man toiling at his work until utterly weary (Col. 1:29), or competing in the arena for the coveted laurel wreath (I Cor. 9:25). It describes the soldier battling for his life (I Tim. 6:12), or a man struggling to deliver his friend from danger (John 18:36). It pictures the agony of earnestness of a man to save his own soul (Luke 13:24). But its supreme significance appears in the tragedy of Gethsemane. “Being in an agony he prayed more earnestly” (Luke 22:44), an agony induced by His identification with and grief over the sins of a lost world. Prayer is evidently a strenuous spiritual exercise which demands the utmost mental discipline and concentration. Was it because of this fact that our Lord sometimes linked prayer with fasting?

True intercession is costly. Jesus first gave Himself and then made intercession for His murderers. He could do no more for them. Are we asking of God something we ourselves could supply? Can it be true intercession until we are empty-handed? True intercession demands the sacrifice and dedication of all; it cannot be costless and crossless.

J. Oswald Sanders, Cultivation of Christian Character, (Moody Press, Chicago; 1965), pp. 110-111

Four Principles of Prayer:

Romans 8:26-29 gives us some insights into prayer. As you read the passage and meditate on it, you will find some of the principles listed below. God certainly answers prayer, but not always in the way we expect. Hopefully, this information will help you understand how God responds to prayer.

1. The Holy Spirit helps us to know what and how to pray (v. 26).

2. The Holy Spirit intercedes on our behalf (v. 26).

3. God hears our hearts more than the words in prayer (v. 27).

4. Prayer is always answered (vs. 28-29), though not always according to our agenda.

Bill Hybels has coached many people about God’s four basic responses to our prayers.

No—Your request is not in God’s will

OT: 2 Sam. 12:15-16, 22-23

NT: Matt. 26:36-39

Slow—Your request is not God’s will at this time

OT: Gen. 15:2-6; 21:2

NT: John 11:3,6,14-15,17,43-44

Grow—Your motives are wrong

OT: Num. 14:26-45

NT: James 4:3

Go—Your request, timing, and spiritual condition are okay…Yes!

OT: 1 Kings 18:36-39 (cf., James 5:17-18)

NT: Acts 12:5-7,12-17

Bill Donahue, Leading Life-Changing Small Groups, (Zondervan Publishing House, Grand Rapids, MI, 1996), pp. 57-58

Prerequisites for Answered Prayer

Though it is clear from Scripture that God always answers our prayers in some manner (as we mentioned above) there are also some guidelines for effective praying. Certain practices or attitudes can hinder your prayers and, in such cases, God will not respond to them. The passages below help us understand that we must be in a right relationship with God and with others in order for our prayers to be effectively heard by God.

1. Harboring unconfessed sin will put a barrier between you and God (Ps. 66:18).

2. God hears the prayers of those who obey His commands (1 John 3:22-23).

3. God will not hear prayers that have wrong or selfish motives (James 4:3).

4. We are instructed to pray according to His will, not according to ours (1 John 5:14-15).

5. When we pray, we are to ask in faith. Unbelief is a barrier to answered prayer (Mark 11:22-24).

6. An ongoing abiding life in Christ (having regular fellowship with Him) will allow your prayers to be heard. When fellowship is broken, so is communication with God (John 15:7).

7. Sometimes we don’t have answered prayers because we do not ask. We are to pursue appropriate requests regularly and bring them to God (Luke 11:9).

8. Prayer in the Spirit (that is, under the control of the Holy Spirit) is also a prerequisite. This verse instructs us that we must also persevere in our praying. Prayers offered in the flesh will not be heard by God (Eph. 6:18).

9. If you are unable to forgive someone for something that person has done to you, then God says He will not forgive you. Restored and right relationships are essential for open communication with God (Mark 11:25).

10. We are to pray with thankful hearts. Those of us who come before God without a spirit of thankfulness will find our prayers are not heard (Phil. 4:6).

Bill Donahue, Leading Life-Changing Small Groups, (Zondervan Publishing House, Grand Rapids, MI, 1996), p. 58

Redskins Coach, Joe Gibbs

The March issue of Life magazine grabbed the attention of Christians with its cover story: “The Power of Prayer.” Here’s what former Washington Redskins coach Joe Gibbs said when Life asked about his prayer life: “Each morning I ask myself: ‘What can I take credit for in my life?’ I really think about that. The answer is ‘almost nothing.’”

He continues: “Even though I can take credit for almost nothing, I can do all things through Christ. That’s where my power comes from.”

New Man, July/August, 1994, p. 10

A Privilege and an Obligation

A privilege and an obligation of the Christian where we communicate with God. It is how we convey our confession (1 John 1:9), requests (1 Tim. 2:1-3), intercessions (James 5:15), thanksgiving (Phil. 4:6), etc., to our holy God. We are commanded to pray (1 Thess. 5:17).

Some personal requirements of prayer are a pure heart (Ps. 66:18), belief in Christ (John 14:13), and according to God’s will (1 John 5:14). We can pray standing (Neh. 9:5), kneeling (Ezra 9:5), sitting (1 Chr. 17:16-27), bowing (Ex. 34:8), and with lifted hands (1 Tim. 2:8).

Source unknown

Abe Lincoln

Imagine what a heavy schedule of appointments President Abraham Lincoln had to keep day after day. Yet when an elderly woman with no official business in mind asked to see him, he graciously consented.

As she entered Lincoln’s office, he rose to greet her and asked how he might be of service. She replied that she had not come to ask a favor. She replied that she had not come to ask a favor. She had heard that the President liked a certain kind of cookie, so she had baked some for him and brought them to his office.

With tears in his eyes, Lincoln responded, “You are the very first person who has ever come into my office asking not, expecting not, but rather bringing me a gift. I thank you from the bottom of my heart.”

Our Daily Bread, June 4, 1997

Morning Prayer

Dear God,

So far today I’ve done all right. I haven’t gossiped, I haven’t lost my temper, I haven’t been greedy, grumpy, nasty, selfish or over-indulgent. I’m very thankful for that. But in a few minutes, God, I’m going to get out of bed, and from then on, I’m probably going to need a lot of help.

Amen

Source unknown

What’s the Difference?

A Church That Prays	A Church Devoted to Prayer
1. Prays about what it does.	1. Does things by prayer.
2. Prays at its convenience.	2. Prays at God’s command.
3. Prays when there are problems.	3. Prays when there are opportunities.
4. Has guilt—knowing it should pray more.	4. Has joy—desiring to pray more.
5. Announces a prayer meeting—some in the church show up.	5. Announces a prayer meeting—the church shows up.
6. Asks God to bless what it’s doing.	6. Asks God to enable it to do what He is blessing.
7. Thinks it is too busy to pray.	7. Knows it is too busy not to pray.
8. Is frustrated by financial shortfall—cuts back on ministry.	8. Prays through financial shortfall—receives money miraculously.
9. Fits prayer in somewhere.	9. Gives priority to prayer.
10. Uses God.	10. Is used by God.

“Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful.” Colossians 4:2, NIV

Source unknown

Prayer Lives of Famous Men

• David Watson notes that “Prayer has always been a primary mark of the saints of God in every generation of the church. George Whitefield, who retired punctually at ten p.m. every night, rose equally promptly at four a.m. in order to pray.
• “John Wesley spent two hours daily in prayer, and commonly said that ‘God does nothing but in answer to prayer.’ Martin Luther said, ‘If I fail to spend two hours in prayer each morning, the devil gets the victory through the day. I have so much business I cannot get on without spending three hours daily in prayer.’
• “The leaders of the Clapham Sect, such as William Wilberforce, who initiated enormous social reforms in England, habitually gave themselves to three hours of prayer each day. They organized Christians throughout the country to unite in special prayer before critical debates in Parliament. They knew, and persistently proved, the power of prayer. William Temple replied to his critics who regarded answered prayer as no more than coincidences, ‘When I pray, coincidences happen; when I don’t, they don’t.” Our Lord’s disciples’ request is probably our most needed prayer: “Lord, teach us to pray.”

Morning Glory, Sept.-Oct., 1997, p. 29.

Prayer Path

In one region of Africa, the first converts to Christianity were very diligent about praying. In fact, the believers each had their own special place outside the village where they went to pray in solitude. The villagers reached these “prayer rooms” by using their own private footpaths through the brush. When grass began to grow over one of these trails, it was evident that the person to whom it belonged was not praying very much.

Because these new Christians were concerned for each other’s spiritual welfare, a unique custom sprang up. When ever anyone noticed an overgrown “Prayer path,” he or she would go to the person and lovingly warn, “Friend, there’s grass on your path!” - RWD

Our Daily Bread, November 18, 1996

Giving to Get

A businessman who needed millions of dollars to clinch an important deal went to church to pray for the money. By chance he knelt next to a man who was praying for $100 to pay an urgent debt. The businessman took out his wallet and pressed $100 into the other man’s hand. Overjoyed, the man got up and left the church. The businessman then closed his eyes and prayed, “And now, Lord, that I have your undivided attention….”

Contributed by Brendan P. Edet to Reader’s Digest, January 1997, p. 98

One Day at a Time

Once there was a rich man who had a son to whom he promised an annual allowance. Every year on the same day, he would give his son the entire amount. After a while, it happened that the only time the father saw his son was on the day of allowance. So the father changed his plan and only gave the son enough for the day. Then the next day the son would return. From then on, the father saw his son every day. This is the way God dealt with Israel. It is the way God deals with us.

Source unknown

A Prayer Life Costs

British writer Samuel Chadwick had this to say: “To pray as God would have us pray is the greatest achievement on earth. Such a prayer life costs. It takes time….All praying saints have spent hours every day in prayer….In these days, there is no time to pray; but without time, and a lot of it, we shall never learn to pray.” - H.G.B.

Our Daily Bread, November 17

Physicians Believe in the Power of Prayer

In a recent survey of 269 doctors, a remarkable 99% said they were convinced that religious belief can heal. In fact, that’s 20% higher than the figure for the general public.

Why do doctors feel this way? “Because we’ve seen the power of belief, said Dr. Herbert Benson, author of “Timeless Healing,” which offers scientific evidence that faith has helped to cure medical conditions. “We’ve seen that belief is powerful in conditions including angina pectoris, asthma, duodenal ulcers, congestive heart failure, diabetes, all forms of pain. We see it all the time, and we can’t deny it.”

What’s more, 75% of the doctors believe the prayers of others can help a patient’s recovery, and 38% said they think faith-healers can make people well. The survey was conducted by Yankelovich Partners at a meeting of the American Academy of Family Physicians in October.

Physicians recognize the limitations of drugs and surgery, noted Dr. Benson, who added: “The real breakthrough is the acceptance of these approaches by modern medicine.” On Dec. 15 , he will head a Harvard Medical School conference on spirituality and healing, to be held in Boston, with another scheduled for Los Angeles in March.

“We have scientific data showing that people who use self-help—relaxation, nutrition, exercise and belief—reduce their visits to doctors by 30% to 60%, said Benson. “In a prepaid system, that’s money in the bank.”

Parade, Spokesman-Review, December 1, 1996, p. 18.

The House of Prayer Mark 11:17

Thy mansion is the Christian’s heart,
O Lord, Thy dwelling-place secure!
Bid the unruly throng depart,
And leave the consecrated door.

Devoted as it is to Thee,
A thievish swarm frequents the place;
They steal away my joys from me,
And rob my Saviour of His praise.

There, too, a sharp designing trade
Sin, Satan, and the World maintain;
Nor cease to press me, and persuade
To part with ease, and purchase pain.

I know them, and I hate their din;
Am weary of the bustling crowd;
But while their voice is heard within,
I cannot serve Thee as I would.

Oh! for the joy Thy presence gives,
What peace shall reign when Thou art there;
Thy presence makes this den of thieves
A calm delightful house of prayer.

And if Thou make Thy temple shine,
Yet, self-abased, will I adore:
The gold and silver are not mine;
I give Thee what was Thine before.

Olney Hymns, by William Cowper, from Cowper’s Poems, Sheldon & Company, New York

On Opening a Place for Social Prayer

Jesus! where’er Thy people meet,
There they behold Thy mercy seat;
Where’er they seek Thee, Thou are found,
And every place is hallow’d ground.

For Thou, within no walls confined
Inhabitest the humble mind;
Such ever bring Thee where they come,
And going, take Thee to their home.

Dear Shepherd of Thy chosen few!
Thy former mercies here renew;
Here to our waiting hearts proclaim
The sweetness of Thy saving name.

Here may we prove the power of prayer,
To strengthen faith, and sweeten care;
To teach our faint desires to rise,
And bring all Heaven before our eyes.

Behold, at Thy commanding word
We stretch the curtain and the cord,
Come Thou, and fill this wider space,
And bless us with a large increase.

Lord, we are few, but Thou are near:
Nor short Thine arm, nor deaf Thine ear;
Oh rend the heavens, come quickly down,
And make a thousand hearts Thine own.

Olney Hymns, William Cowper, from Cowper’s Poems, Sheldon & Company, New York

Exhortation To Prayer

What various hindrances we meet
In coming to a mercy seat!
Yet who that knows the worth of prayer,
But wishes to be often there?

Prayer makes the darken’d cloud withdraw,
Prayer climbs the ladder Jacob saw,
Gives exercise to faith and love,
Brings every blessing from above.

Restraining prayer, we cease to fight;
Prayer makes the Christian’s armor bright;
And Satan trembles when he sees
The weakest saint upon his knees.

While Moses stood with arms spread wide,
Success was found on Israel’s side;
But when through weariness they fail’d
That moment Amalek prevail’d.

Have you no words? Ah! think again,
Words flow apace when you complain,
And fill your fellow-creature’s ear
With the sad tale of all your care.

Were half the breath thus vainly spent
To heaven in supplication sent,
Your cheerful song would oftener be
“Hear what the Lord has done for me.”

Olney Hymns, William Cowper, from Cowper’s Poems, Sheldon & Company, New York

Looking Upwards In A Storm

God of my life, to Thee I call,
Afflicted at Thy feet I fall;
When the great water-floods prevail,
Leave not my trembling heart to fail!

Friend of the friendless and the faint,
Where should I lodge my deep complaint,
Where but with Thee, whose open door
Invites the helpless and the poor!

Did ever mourner plead with Thee,
And Thou refuse that mourner’s plea?
Does not the word still fix’d remain,
That none shall seek Thy face in vain?

That were a grief I could not bear,
Didst Thou not hear and answer prayer;
But a prayer-hearing, answering God
Supports me under every load.

Fair is the lot that’s cast for me;
I have an Advocate with Thee;
They whom the world caresses most
Have no such privilege to boast.

Poor though I am, despised, forgot,
Yet God, my God, forgets me not:
And he is safe, and must succeed,
For whom the Lord vouchsafes to plead.

Olney Hymns, William Cowper, from Cowper’s Poems, Sheldon & Company, New York

Are You at Wits End Corner?

Are you standing at “Wits End Corner”
Christian, with troubled brow?
Are you thinking of what is before you,
And all you are bearing now?

Does all the world seem against you,
And you in the battle alone?
Remember at Wits End Corner
Is where God’s power is shown.

Are you standing at “Wits End Corner”
Blinded with wearying pain
Feeling you cannot endure it,
You cannot bear the strain.

Bruised through the constant suffering
Dizzy and dazed, and numb
Remember at Wits End Corner,
Is where Jesus loves to come.

Are you standing at “Wits End Corner”
Your work before you spread.
Or lying begun, unfinished
And pressing on heart and head.

Longing for strength to do it.
Stretching out trembling hands
Remember at “Wits End Corner”
The burden bearer stand.

Are you standing at “Wits End Corner”
Yearning for those you love,
Longing and praying and watching,
Pleading their cause above,

Trying to lead them to Jesus
Wondering if you’ve been true?
He whispers at “Wits End Corner”
“I’ll win them as I won you.”

Are you standing at “Wits End Corner”
Then you’re just in the very spot.
To learn the wondrous resources
Of Him who faileth not!

No doubt to a brighter pathway
Your footsteps will soon be moved
But only at Wits End Corner
Is the God who is able, “proved.”

Source unknown

My Burdens

Lord, I’m so discouraged
I don’t know what to do
I have so many burdens
And I gave them all to you.

But you didn’t take them Jesus
Will you tell me why that’s so?
The answer’s simply little one
Because you won’t let go.

Source unknown

Christ Prays for Us!

Robert Murray McCheyne (1813-1843), pioneer missionary to America, testified, “If I could hear Christ praying for me in the next room, I would not fear a million enemies. Yet distance makes no difference. He is praying for me!”

Our Daily Bread, May 28, 1995

Secular View of Prayer

The 1993 Christmas issue of Newsweek magazine carried an article on angels, a rather surprising topic to find in a secular publication. As might be expected, though, many points were in conflict with Scripture.

For instance, Professor Robert Ellswood, a specialist in unorthodox religions, made this assertion: “With angels around, people feel they don’t have to bother an Almighty God in order to get help.”

And Andre D’Angelo, a minister in Carmel, California, suggested that God is like the CEO of a large corporation, and “an angel is like a good executive secretary.”

Our Daily Bread, December 21, 1994

Cadillac Dealer

An auto dealer, facing bankruptcy, was walking along a beach when he kicked a bottle and out popped a genie.

“Thanks for setting me free,” said the genie. “To show my appreciation, I’ll grant you one wish.”

“Okay,” said the auto dealer, “I want to be the only foreign car dealer in a major metropolitan market.”

“Done!” cried the genie.

Immediately, the dealer found himself in a glass-walled office looking out over a major city. “Quick,” he said to his secretary, “tell me who I am.”

“You’re the only Cadillac dealer in downtown Tokyo,” said the secretary.

The Jokesmith, Bits & Pieces, November 10, 1994, p. 4

You Must Wait

Desperately, helplessly, longingly I cried,
Quietly, patiently, lovingly He replied.
I pled and I wept for a clue to my fate.
And the Master so gently said, “Child, you must wait.”

“Wait! You say wait!” my indignant reply,
Lord, I need answers - I need to know why.
Is Your hand shortened, or have You not heard?
By faith I have asked, and I’m claiming Your word.”

My future and all to which I can relate,
Hangs in the balance and You tell me ‘wait’?
I’m needing a ‘yes’—a go ahead sign,
Or at least a ‘no’ to which I can resign.

And Lord, I’ve been asking and this is my cry,
I’m weary of asking, I need a reply,
Then quietly, softly I learned of my fate,
As my Master replied, once again, “You must wait.”

So I slumped in my chair, defeated and taut.
And I grumbled to God—”So I’m waiting, for what?”
He seemed then to kneel and His eyes met with mine,
And He tenderly said, “I could give you a sign.”

“I could shake the heavens, darken the sun,
Raise up the dead, cause the mountain to run.
All you seek, I could give and pleased you would be.
You would have what you want, but you wouldn’t know Me.”

“You’d not know the depth of My love for each saint.
You’d not know the power that I give to the faint.
You’d not learn to see through clouds of despair.
You’d not learn to trust just by knowing I’m there.”

“You’d not know the joy of resting in Me.
When darkness and silence was all you could see.
You’d never experience that fullness of love,
As the peace of my Spirit descends like a dove.”

“You would know that I give and save for a start,
But you’d not know the depth of the beat of My heart,
The glow of My comfort, late in the night,
The faith that I give when you walk without sight,

“The depth that’s beyond getting just what you ask,
Of an infinite God that makes what you have last!
And you never would know should your pain quickly flee,
What it means that, “My grace is sufficient for thee.”

Yes, your dreams for that loved one, One night would come true.
But oh the loss if you lost what I’m doing to you.
So be silent, my child, and in time you will see,
That the greatest of gifts is to get to know Me.

And though oft may My answers seem terribly late
That My most precious answer of all is still ‘wait’.”

- by Russell Kelfer

Source unknown

A Definition of Prayer

• To ask that the laws of the universe be annulled in behalf of a single petitioner confessedly unworthy.
  - Ambrose Bierce

Source unknown

Prayer a Privilege

A comment by Robert A. Cook, president of The King’s College in New York, renewed my appreciation for the privilege of prayer. Speaking at the Moody Bible Institute, Cook said that the day before, he had been at a gathering in Washington and had talked with Vice President George Bush. Two hours later he spoke briefly with President Ronald Reagan. Then smiling broadly, Cook told us, “But that’s nothing! Today I talked with God!”

Our Daily Bread

Prayer is Requesting

Some things are proved by the unbroken uniformity of our experiences. The law of gravitation is established by the fact that, in our experience, all bodies without exception obey it. Now even if all the things that people prayed for happened, which they do not, this would not prove what Christians mean by the efficacy of prayer. For prayer is request. The essence of request, as distinct from compulsion, is that it may or may not be granted.

C. S. Lewis in The World’s Last Night, quoted in Christianity Today, January 11, 1993, p. 34

Howard Hendricks

The phone rang and I greeted a young pastor friend from Arlington, Virginia.

“What are you doing?” he asked.

“Studying,” I replied. “Nothing special.”

“Are you sitting down?”

“Yes, why?”

“Your father just trusted Christ this evening.”

“He what? You’ve got to be kidding!” I blurted out.

Such an inappropriate response grew out of long detours in our father-son journey. Ever since I received Christ as a boy my concern has been for the salvation of my family and loved ones. On repeated occasions I had broached the subject of the gospel with dad, but his response was less than excited.

My father has always been a very important person to me. Not that I approved of everything he said or did or that I imitated him consciously in any way. We weren’t really close friends, either. But he was important in my life because of the indirect impact he made upon me.

Dad was a military man. He had seen action around the world. During the periods when he was embroiled in battle, I would become very sensitive to his spiritual need. I and my family prayed for him, but at times I’m afraid my faith sputtered. His response was always the same: Son, don’t worry about me. I’ll work it out with God (as if God could be manipulated like a Pentagon official).

God brought a man into my life, a man with a passion for men. His name was Butch Hardman. One day before we knew each other Butch was boarding a plane in Detroit when a friend handed him a cassette tape.

“Ever hear Hendricks? Here’s a tape you should listen to.” On that tape I related my father’s spiritual need.

Butch listened and something about the anecdote reminded him of his own father with whom he had shared Christ shortly before he died. He began to pray for this unknown man, George Hendricks. Some months later Butch attended a pastors’ conference in Philadelphia where I was the speaker. He shook my hand afterward. That was the only time our paths crossed before a remarkable incident in Arlington.

Butch was driving the church bus down the street, having discharged all his passengers. He saw a man standing on the corner who reminded him uncannily of Howard Hendricks. Could it possibly be…? He backed up the bus, stopped, got off, and went over to the man.

“Are you by any chance Howard Hendricks’ father?”

It is easy to imagine the startled response. “Er-ah (I can envision my father’s critical once-over with his steely blue eyes) yeah—you a student of my son?”

“No, I’m not, but he sure has helped me. Got time for a cup of coffee?”

That encounter began a friendship, skillfully engineered by the Spirit of God. Butch undoubtedly sensed dad’s hesitancy when he discovered he had met a preacher. For a long time Butch did not invite him to attend his church. He simply suggested that dad drop by the office for coffee. Patiently he endured dad’s cigars and his endless repertoire of war stories. Before long he also learned that dad had been diagnosed as having a terminal throat cancer.

Months later Butch was at his bedside. “Mr. Hendricks, I’ll be leaving shortly for a Holy Land trip. Instead of my listening to you tonight, would you let me tell you a story?”

Butch had earned his hearing and he began simply to relate the interview of Jesus Christ with Nicodemus as recorded by the Apostle John. At the conclusion dad accepted Butch’s invitation to receive Jesus Christ as his own personal Savior. Then dad got up out of bed, stood, and saluted with a smile. “Now I’m under a new Commander-in-Chief!” That night Butch called Dallas.

The last time I saw dad alive I could not believe he was the same man I had known. His frame was wasted, but his spirit was more virile than I had ever known.

In accordance with dad’s specific provision in his will, Butch Hardman conducted the crisp military funeral in Arlington cemetery where the gospel of Jesus Christ was presented to the small group of family and military attendants. As the guns saluted their final farewell, I knew God had vindicated forty-two years of prayer.

Footprints, Howard & Jeanne Hendricks, Multnomah Press, 1981, pp. 16-19

Traveling on My Knees

Last night I took a journey
To a land across the seas;
I did not go by boat or plane,
I traveled on my knees.

I saw so many people there
In deepest depths of sin,
But Jesus told me I should go,
That there were souls to win.

But I said, “Jesus I cannot go
And work with such as these.”
He answered quickly, “Yes you can
By traveling on your knees.”

He said, “You pray; I’ll meet the need,
You call and I will hear;
Be concerned about lost souls,
Of those both far and near.”

And so I tried it, knelt in prayer,
Gave up some hours of ease;
I felt the Lord right by my side
While traveling on my knees.

As I prayer on and saw souls saved
And twisted bodies healed,
And saw God’s workers’ strength renewed
While laboring on the field.

I said, “Yes, Lord I have a job,
My desire Thy will to please;
I can go and heed Thy call
By traveling on my knees.”

Sandra Goodwin, Source unknown

Prayers from Prison Camp

In Alexander Solzhenitsyn’s A Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich, Ivan endures all the horrors of a Soviet prison camp. One day he is praying with his eyes closed when a fellow prisoner notices him and says with ridicule, “Prayers won’t help you get out of here any faster.” Opening his eyes, Ivan answers, “I do not pray to get out of prison but to do the will of God.”

Our Daily Bread, December 29, 1993

It Happened Anyway

Shortly after I got my driver’s license I was driving too close to the middle of a narrow road and I sideswiped another car. The crash tore the front fender, two doors, and the rear fender from my dad’s car. After I found out everyone was okay, I stood in the ditch and prayed, “Dear God, I pray this didn’t happen.” I opened my eyes and saw that the car was still wrecked, so I closed my eyes, squinted real hard, and prayed again, “Dear God, it didn’t happen.” Then I opened my eyes, but it happened anyway.

Jay Kesler, Raising Responsible Kids, Wolgemuth & Hyatt, 1991, p. 75

Andrew Murray

The effective prayer of faith comes from a life given up to the will and the love of God. Not as a result of what I try to be when praying, but because of what I am when I’m not praying, is my prayer answered by God.

Andrew Murray in With Christ in the School of Prayer.

Efficacy of Prayer

The efficacy of prayer depends on uprightness of life and motive, wholehearted and sustained earnestness in the person praying, and how far it conforms to God’s revealed purposes and ways.

Your Father Loves You by James Packer, Harold Shaw Publishers, 1986, page for July 19

Deeper in Prayer

These verses come from two passages which seek to lead us deeper into prayer than most of us have ever gone (John 16:23-27; 1 John 5:13-17).

Source unknown

Aim of Prayer

The aim of prayer is not to force God’s hand or make him do our will against his own, but to deepen our knowledge of him and our fellowship with him through contemplating his glory, confessing our dependence and need, and consciously embracing his goals. Our asking therefore must be according to God’s will and in Jesus’ name.

The context of such asking is assured faith. In that day when Jesus teaches them, by the Spirit, plainly of the Father, there will be no question of enlisting Jesus’ support in prayer, as if he were more merciful than the Father or could influence him in a way that they could not; in that day they will know inwardly that as believers they are the Father’s beloved.

To asked in Jesus’ name is not to use a verbal spell but to base our asking on Christ’s saving relationship to us through the cross; this will involve making petitions which Christ can endorse and put his name to. When God answers in Jesus’ name, he gives through Jesus as our mediator and to Jesus as the one who will be glorified through what is given.

Your Father Loves You by James Packer, Harold Shaw Publishers, 1986, page for July 18

Uniqueness of Prayer Life

Each Christian’s prayer life, like every good marriage, has in it common factors about which one can generalize and also uniquenesses which no other Christian’s prayer life will quite match. You are you, and I am I, and we must each find our own way to God; and there is no recipe for prayer that can work for us like a handyman’s do-it-yourself manual or a cookery book, where the claim is that if you follow the instructions you can’t go wrong.

Praying is not like carpentry or cookery; it is the active exercise of a personal relationship: a kind of friendship with the living God and his Son Jesus Christ, and the way it goes is more under divine control than under ours. Books on praying, like marriage manuals, are not to be treated with slavish superstition, as if the perfection of technique is the answer to all difficulties; their purpose, rather, is to suggest things to try. But as in other close relationships, in prayer you have to find out by trial and error what is right for you, and you learn to pray by praying.

Some of us talk more, others less; some are constantly vocal, others cultivate silence before God as their way of adoration; some slip into glossolalia, others make a point of not slipping into it; yet we may all be praying as God means us to do. The only rule is: Stay within the biblical guidelines, and within those guidelines, as John Chapman put it, “Pray as you can, and don’t try to pray as you can’t.”

Your Father Loves You by James Packer, Harold Shaw Publishers, 1986, page for June 3

Praying Hyde 1

The prayer of Jabez moved the heart of missionary John Hyde to pray with great faith, expecting answers to his prayers. As a result, he became known as Praying Hyde and the world still feels the impact of his powerful life.

Dr. J. Wilbur Chapman once wrote to a friend, telling of Praying Hyde’s influence on him. He had been holding meetings in England, but the attendance had been disappointingly small. Then he received word that Praying Hyde was going to pray down God’s blessing upon him and his work.

As a result of Hyde’s powerful praying, the tide soon turned and the meeting hall became packed with people. At Chapman’s first public invitation, fifty men received Christ as their Savior. Relating the story, Chapman said:

As we were leaving I said, “Mr. Hyde, I want you to pray for me.” He came to my room, turned the key in the door, and dropped to his knees, and waited five minutes without a single syllable coming from him lips. I could hear my own heart thumping, and his beating. I felt hot tears running down my face. I knew I was with God. Then with upturned face, down which the tears were streaming, he said, “O God.” Then for five minutes at least he was still again; and then, when he knew that he was talking with God, there came from the depths of his heart such petitions for me as I had never heard before. I rose from my knees to know what real prayer was.”

You Can Win!, Roger F. Campbell, 1985, SP Publications, pp. 17-18.

Praying Hyde 2

“Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God” (Matt. 5:8).

No missionary whom it has been my joy to meet ever impressed me quite as much as Dr. Wilbur Chapman. He wrote to a friend:

“I have learned some great lessons concerning prayer. At one of our missions in England the audiences were exceedingly small. But I received a note saying that an American missionary…was going to pray God’s blessing down upon our work. He was known as ‘Praying Hyde’.” Almost instantly the tide turned. The hall became packed, and at my first invitation fifty men accepted Christ as their Savior.

As we were leaving I said, ‘Mr. Hyde, I want you to pray for me.’ He came to my room, turned the key in the door, and dropped on his knees, and waited five minutes without a single syllable coming from his lips. I could hear my own heart thumping and beating. I felt the hot tears running down my face. I knew I was with God. Then, with upturned face, down which the tears were streaming, he said ‘O God!’ Then for five minutes at least he was still again; and then, when he knew that he was talking with God…there came up from the depth of his heart such petitions for men as I had never heard before. I rose from my knees to know what real prayer was.

We believe that prayer is mighty, and we believe it as we never did before.”

Dr. Chapman used to say, “It was a season of prayer with John Hyde that made me realize what real prayer was. I owe to him more than I owe to any man for showing me what a prayer life is and what a real consecrated life is. Jesus Christ became a new ideal to me, and I had a glimpse of His prayer life, and I had a longing which has remained to this day to be a real praying man.” And God the Holy Spirit can so teach us.

The Kneeling Christian, Clarion Classics, 1986, Zondervan Publishing House, pp. 60-61

Charles Spurgeon

Spurgeon once said:

“There is no need for us to go beating about the bush, and not telling the Lord distinctly what it is that we crave at His hands. Nor will it be seemly for us to make any attempt to use fine language; but let us ask God in the simplest and most direct manner for just the things we want…I believe in business prayers. I mean prayers in which you take to God one of the many promises which He has given us in His Work, and expect it to be fulfilled as certainly as we look for the money to be given us when we go to the bank to cash a check. We should not think of going there, lolling over the counter chattering with the clerks on every conceivable subject except the one thing for which we had gone to the bank, and then coming away without the coin we needed; but we should lay before the clerk the promise to pay the bearer a certain sum, tell him in what form we wish to take the amount, count the cash after him, and then go on our way to attend to other business. That is just an illustration of the method in which we should draw supplies from the Bank of Heaven.”

The Kneeling Christian, Clarion Classics, 1986, Zondervan Publishing House, pp. 79-80

Silent Prayer

A friend of mine took his small son with him to town one day to run some errands. When lunchtime arrived, the two of them went to a familiar diner for a sandwich. The father sat down on one of the stools at the counter and lifted the boy up to the seat beside him. They ordered lunch, and when the waiter brought the food, the father said, “Son, we’ll just have a silent prayer.” Dad got through praying first and waited for the boy to finish his prayer, but he just sat with his head bowed for an unusually long time. When he finally looked up, his father asked him, “What in the world were you praying about all that time?” With the innocence and honesty of a child, he replied, “How do I know? It was a silent prayer.”

Our Daily Bread, December 12

Robert Louis Stevenson

When Robert Louis Stevenson was a boy he once remarked to his mother, “Momma, you can’t be good without praying.” “How do you know, Robert?” she asked. “Because I’ve tried!” he answered.

This brings to mind a story about another little fellow—one who had been sent to his room because he had been bad. A short time later he came out and said to his mother, “I’ve been thinking about what I did and I said a prayer.” “That’s fine,” she said, “if you ask God to make you good, He will help you.” “Oh, I didn’t ask Him to help me be good,” replied the boy. “I asked Him to help you put up with me.”

Our Daily Bread, June 15

When You Pray, Remember…

1. The love of God that wants the best for us.

2. The wisdom of God that knows what is best for us.

3. The power of God that can accomplish it.

William Barclay, quoted in Prodigals and Those Who Love Them, Ruth Bell Graham, 1991, Focus on the Family Publishing, p. 100

I Know He Has Answered Prayer

‘Twas He who taught me thus to pray
And I know He has answered prayer,
But it has been in such a way
As almost drove me to despair.

Anonymous, quoted in Prodigals and Those Who Love Them, Ruth Bell Graham, 1991, Focus on the Family Publishing, p. 45.

Gallop Poll

A recent Gallup poll asked two questions about prayer. “It has been said that those who pray will receive help. Do you think this is a true statement or not?” and “When you have prayed for help, what happened, did it work or not?”

To the first question, 71% of all adults said yes. To the second question, 63% said yes. More women than men replied affirmatively to both questions.

Apparently, prayer works!

We presume that this means those who prayed got what they asked for. But this whole idea of prayer as something that “works” bothers us. There is a different test of what “works” when we pray.

• Prayer works when it gives us a greater sense of the majesty and glory of God.
• Prayer works when it leads us to true repentance after confessing sin.
• Prayer works when it arouses in us an awesome sense of the forgiving grace of God.
• Prayer works when it engenders profound thanks for every day that we live and makes us realize that life is a gift to be received with gratitude and a task to be pursued with courage.
• Prayer works when it leads us to pray for others.
• Prayer works when it impels us to action on behalf of our brothers and sisters in this world.
• Prayer works when it leads to new commitments in our Christian pilgrimage.
• Prayer works when along with our asking, it leads to our giving.

Lafayette Avenue Presbyterian Church, Buffalo, NY, Content - The Newsletter, August, 1990, p. 1

George Mueller 1

Things looked bleak for the children of George Mueller’s orphanage at Ashley Downs in England. It was time for breakfast, and there was no food. A small girl whose father was a close friend of Mueller was visiting in the home. Mueller took her hand and said, “Come and see what our Father will do.” In the dining room, long tables were set with empty plates and empty mugs. Not only was there no food in the kitchen, but there was no money in the home’s account. Mueller prayed, “Dear Father, we thank Thee for what Thou art going to give us to eat.” Immediately, they heard a knock at the door. When they opened it, there stood the local baker. “Mr. Mueller,” he said, “I couldn’t sleep last night. Somehow I felt you had no bread for breakfast, so I got up at 2 o’clock and baked fresh bread. Here it is.” Mueller thanked him and gave praise to God. Soon, a second knock was heard. It was the milkman. His cart had broken down in front of the orphanage. He said he would like to give the children the milk so he could empty the cart and repair it.

Source unknown

George Mueller 2

One day George Mueller began praying for five of his friends. After many months, one of them came to the Lord. Ten years later, two others were converted. It took 25 years before the fourth man was saved. Mueller persevered in prayer until his death for the fifth friend, and throughout those 52 years he never gave up hoping that he would accept Christ! His faith was rewarded, for soon after Mueller’s funeral the last one was saved.

Our Daily Bread, January 13

George Mueller 3

The promise of today’s text (1 John 3:13-24) carries two important conditions—”if our heart condemn us not” (v. 21), and if “we keep His commandments” (v. 22). In other words, when we are in the center of God’s will and have a clear conscience, the resources of heaven are at our disposal. The following incident vividly illustrates this truth:

The captain of an ocean steamer tells that on one occasion his ship was engulfed in a dense fog off the coast of Newfoundland. It was Wednesday evening and the captain had been on the bridge for 24 hours when he was startled by someone tapping on his shoulder. He turned and saw one of his passengers—George Mueller.

“Captain,” said Mueller, “I must be in Quebec on Saturday afternoon.”

“That’s impossible!” replied the captain. “I’m helpless!”

Mueller suggested, “Let’s go down to the chart room and pray.”

The captain thought he had a lunatic on board. “Do you know how dense the fog is?” he asked.

“No,” came the reply, “my eye is not on the density of the fog, but on the living God who controls every circumstance of my life.” Once in the chart room, Mueller got down on his knees and prayed, “O Lord, if it is consistent with Thy will, please remove this fog in 5 minutes. Thou knowest the engagement Thou didst make for me in Quebec for Saturday. I believe it is Thy will.” Within a matter of minutes the fog lifted.

Our Daily Bread, February 23

William Carey

It’s been stated these days, “They just don’t make missionaries like William Carey.” Carey changed the history of missions and the face of India 200 years ago. Few know of Carey’s sister, paralyzed and bedridden for 50 years. Although unable to speak for much of that period, with great effort she allowed herself to be propped up in bed. She wrote long encouraging letters to her brother. And she prayed for him several hours per day for 50 years!

Source unknown

Jesus and Prayer

“In the life of Jesus, prayer was the work and ministry was the prize. For me, prayer serves as preparation for the battle, but for Jesus, it was the battle itself. Having prayed, He went about His ministry as an honor student might go to receive a reward, or as a marathon runner, having run the race, might accept the gold medal.”

Haddon Robinson, Focal Point

Martin Luther

Study universal holiness of life. Your whole usefulness depends on this, for your sermons last but an hour or two, your life preaches all the week. If Satan can only make a covetous minister a lover of praise, of pleasure, of good eating, he has ruined your ministry. Give yourselves to prayer, and get your texts, your thoughts, your words from God. Luther spent his best three hours in prayer.

Robert Murray McCheyne, source unknown

Cause of Leanness and Unfruitfulness

The principle cause of my leanness and unfruitfulness is owing to an unaccountable backwardness to pray. I can write or read or converse or hear with a ready heart; but prayer is more spiritual and inward than any of these, and the more spiritual any duty is the more my carnal heart is apt to start from it. Prayer and patience and faith are never disappointed. I have long since learned that if ever I was to be a minister, faith and prayer must make me one. When I can find my heart in frame and liberty for prayer, everything else is comparatively easy.

Richard Newton, source unknown

Missionary’s Prayer

Dr. Helen Roseveare, missionary to Zaire, told the following story.

“A mother at our mission station died after giving birth to a premature baby. We tried to improvise an incubator to keep the infant alive, but the only hot water bottle we had was beyond repair. So we asked the children to pray for the baby and for her sister. One of the girls responded. ‘Dear God, please send a hot water bottle today. Tomorrow will be too late because by then the baby will be dead. And dear Lord, send a doll for the sister so she won’t feel so lonely.’ That afternoon a large package arrived from England. The children watched eagerly as we opened it. Much to their surprise, under some clothing was a hot water bottle! Immediately the girl who had prayed so earnestly started to dig deeper, exclaiming, ‘If God sent that, I’m sure He also sent a doll!’ And she was right!

The heavenly Father knew in advance of that child’s sincere requests, and 5 months earlier He had led a ladies’ group to include both of those specific articles.”

Source unknown

A True Story

A Christian leader—we’ll call him Steve —was traveling recently by plane. He noticed that the man sitting two seats over was thumbing through some little cards and moving his lips. The man looked professorial with his goatee and graying brown hair, and Steve placed him at fifty-something. guessing the man was a fellow-believer, Steve leaned over to engage him in conversation. “Looks to me like you’re memorizing something,” he said. “No, actually I was praying,” the man said. Steve introduced himself. “I believe in prayer too,” he said. “Well, I have a specific assignment,” said the man with the goatee. “What’s that?” Steve asked. “I’m praying for the downfall of Christian pastors.” “I would certainly fit into that category,” Steve said. “Is my name on the list?” “Not on my list,” the man replied.

Common Ground, Vol. 10, No. 7

A Healthy Exercise

There is a new kind of philosophy nowadays which teaches that it is a very healthy exercise to pray, because it teaches us submission. God doesn’t change in His plans for us; we won’t get anything more by asking, but then just ask, it is healthy exercise! A mother in New York has lost track of her boy. She is wandering around the streets seeking for him. You know that the boy is dead, but still you tell her to keep on seeking—it is healthy exercise. What downright mockery it is for any one to talk such stuff as that!

Suppose that in the dead of winter, when the thermometer is down at zero, a man who has been stuck for twenty-four hours in a drift manages to get to my house at midnight, and rings the bell. I go to the window, and say: “Who is there?” “Mr. … I have been in a snowbank twenty-four hours, and I am dying. Won’t you help him?” “Well,” I say, “I have a fixed rule never to open my door until morning, but you just keep on knocking; it will do you good; it is a healthy exercise.”

That is a fair illustration of the way some people would have us look at prayer. Christ said, “Ask, and ye shall receive.”

During the war a man came to me at Nashville, a great, big six-footer, and he was shaking all over and crying like a baby. I thought he must have delirium tremens. He pulled out an old, soiled letter and said: “Chaplain, read that, will you?”

It was a letter from his sister, saying that every night as the sun went down she fell on her knees and prayed God to save her brother. The soldier said: “Chaplain, I have been in a number of battles, and have been before the cannon’s mouth without trembling a bit; but the moment I read that letter I began to shake. I suppose that I am the meanest wretch in the whole Cumberland Army.” I took a copy of the letter and went to another division of the army, thirty miles away. The next day I got up before the men and read it, and told how that man had been saved in answer to the prayers of his sister six hundred miles away. When I closed, a fine-looking man got up and said:

“That letter reminds me of the last letter I got from my mother. She said, ‘My boy, when you get this letter, won’t you go off behind a tree and pray to your mother’s God that you may be converted? Now, my son, won’t you become a Christian?’” He said he put the letter in his pocket, and expected to pay no more attention to it, as he thought he would get a good many more letters from her; but a few days later a dispatch came saying that his mother was dead. Then he took her advice, and went off behind a tree and cried to his mother’s God; the prayer was answered, and he said: “This is the first time I have ever confessed Jesus Christ.”

There were two men, one who had a sister pleading six hundred miles away, and the other whose mother had brought him on his knees and into the Kingdom of God. My dear friends, never stop praying; do not be discouraged. God wants us to “pray without ceasing.”

Moody’s Anecdotes, pp. 54-56

Restitution

A lady in the north of England said that every time she got down before God to pray, five bottles of wine came up before her mind. She had taken them wrongfully one time when she was a housekeeper, and had not been able to pray since. She was advised to make restitution.

“But the person is dead,” she said.

“Are not some of the heirs living?”

“Yes, a son.”

“Then go to that son and pay him back.”

“Well,” she said, “I want to see the face of God, but I could not think of doing a thing like that. My reputation is at stake.”

She went away, and came back the next day to ask if it would not do just as well to put that money in the treasury of the Lord.

“No,” she was told, “God doesn’t want any stolen money. The only thing is to make restitution.”

She carried that burden for several days, but finally went into the country, saw that son, made a full confession and offered him a five-pound note. He said he didn’t want the money, but she finally persuaded him to take it, and came back with a joy and peace that made her face radiant. She became a magnificent worker for souls, and led many into the light.

My dear friends, get these stumbling stones out of the way. God does not want a man to shout “Hallelujah” who doesn’t pay his debts. Many of our prayer meetings are killed by men trying to pray who cannot pray because their lives are not right. Sin builds up a great wall between us and God. A man may stand high in the community and may be a member of some church “in good standing,” but the question is, how does he stand in the sight of God? If there is anything wrong in your life, make it right.

Moody’s Anecdotes, pp. 49-50

Ask for Great Things

It is said that on one occasion when Caesar gave a very valuable present, the receiver replied that it was too costly a gift. The Emperor answered that it was not too great for Caesar to give. Our God is a great King, and He delights to give gifts to us: so let us delight to ask Him for great things.

Moody’s Anecdotes, p. 10

The Tavern

A tale is told about a small town that had historically been “dry,” but then a local businessman decided to build a tavern. A group of Christians from a local church were concerned and planned an all-night prayer meeting to ask God to intervene. It just so happened that shortly thereafter lightning struck the bar and it burned to the ground. The owner of the bar sued the church, claiming that the prayers of the congregation were responsible, but the church hired a lawyer to argue in court that they were not responsible. The presiding judge, after his initial review of the case, stated that “no matter how this case comes out, one thing is clear. The tavern owner believes in prayer and the Christians do not.”

Why Christians Sin, J. K. Johnston, Discovery House, 1992, p. 129

Asleep on His Knees

Mr. and Mrs. Moody often had guests in their Chicago home. One evening, after a very demanding day, Moody asked a visiting Christian to lead in family devotions. The man waxed eloquent as he expounded the symbolism in a difficult chapter of the Bible. Then he prayed at great length. When the worship was over, Mrs. Moody and the guest got up from their knees, but Moody remained bowed in prayer. The guest thought that he was praying, but Mrs. Moody soon detected that her husband was—asleep!

The Wycliffe Handbook of Preaching & Preachers, W. Wiersbe, p. 206

Divine Appointment

Roger Simms, hitchhiking his way home, would never forget the date—May 7. His heavy suitcase made Roger tired. He was anxious to take off his army uniform once and for all. Flashing the hitchhiking sigh to the oncoming car, he lost hope when he saw it was a black, sleek, new Cadillac. To his surprise the car stopped. The passenger door opened. He ran toward the car, tossed his suitcase in the back, and thanked the handsome, well-dressed man as he slid into the front seat. “Going home for keeps?” “Sure am,” Roger responded. “Well, you’re in luck if you’re going to Chicago.” “Not quite that far. Do you live in Chicago?” “I have a business there. My name is Hanover.”

After talking about many things, Roger, a Christian, felt a compulsion to witness to this fiftyish, apparently successful businessman about Christ. But he kept putting it off, till he realized he was just thirty minutes from his home. It was now or never. So, Roger cleared his throat, “Mr. Hanover, I would like to talk to you about something very important.” He then proceeded to explain the way of salvation, ultimately asking Mr. Hanover if he would like to receive Christ as his Savior. To Roger’s astonishment the Cadillac pulled over to the side of the road. Roger thought he was going to be ejected from the car. But the businessman bowed his head and received Christ, then thanked Roger. “This is the greatest thing that has ever happened to me.”

Five years went by, Roger married, had a two-year-old boy, and a business of his own. Packing his suitcase for a business trip to Chicago, he found the small, white business card Hanover had given him five years before. In Chicago he looked up Hanover Enterprises. A receptionist told him it was impossible to see Mr. Hanover, but he could see Mrs. Hanover.

A little confused as to what was going on, he was ushered into a lovely office and found himself facing a keen-eyed woman in her fifties. She extended her hand. “You knew my husband?” Roger told how her husband had given him a ride when hitchhiking home after the war. “Can you tell me when that was?” “It was May 7, five years ago, the day I was discharged from the army.” “Anything special about that day?”

Roger hesitated. Should he mention giving his witness? Since he had come so far, he might as well take the plunge. “Mrs. Hanover, I explained the gospel. He pulled over to the side of the road and wept against the steering wheel. He gave his life to Christ that day.”

Explosive sobs shook her body. Getting a grip on herself, she sobbed, “I had prayed for my husband’s salvation for years. I believed God would save him.”

“And,” said Roger, “Where is your husband, Mrs. Hanover?”

“He’s dead,” she wept, struggling with words. “He was in a car crash after he let you out of the car. He never got home. You see—I thought God had not kept His promise.” Sobbing uncontrollably, she added, “I stopped living for God five years ago because I thought He had not kept His word!”

Why Christians Sin, J. Kirk Johnston, Discovery House, 1992, pp. 39-41

Extraordinary Prayer

In general we must hold that whenever any religious controversy arises, which either a council or ecclesiastical tribunal behooves to decide; whenever a minister is to be chosen; whenever, in short any matter of difficulty and great importance is under consideration: on the other hand, when manifestations of the divine anger appear, as pestilence, war, and famine, the sacred and salutary custom of all ages has been for pastors to exhort the people to public fasting and extraordinary prayer.

Calvin, Institutes, IV, 12, 14

Prayer for Missionary

In about 1949 a group of retired missionaries from China, with a few faithful praying friends, met for their regular missionary prayer meeting in Adelaide, South Australia. A great prayer burden and sense of urgency came on them as they gathered together. All felt especially burdened for Hayden Melsap, then assigned to the China Inland Mission. They unanimously decided to drop all preliminaries and go “straight to prayer.” They prayed until they all felt a sense of peace and relief.

A few years later, when Hayden Melsap was on deputation in Australia, the missionaries asked him if he recalled any unusual occasion at that time. To their amazement, they found that on that day and hour Hayden and at least two other missionaries were backed against a wall in a courtyard in China, with communist guns leveled at them. Just as the officer was about to issue the command to fire, the door of the courtyard opened and a higher official entered. Shocked to see what was about to happen, he shouted, “Stop!” He then stepped up, put his arm around Melsap, and led him and the others to safety.

I heard this testimony from Hayden Melsap himself and also have it in writing from an Australian friend.

Touch the World Through Prayer, W. Duewel, OMS, p. 85

Mau Mau Uprising

During the Mau Mau uprising in Kenya in 1960, missionaries Matt and Lora Higgens were returning one night to Nairobi through the heart of Mau Mau territory, where Kenyans and missionaries alike had been killed and dismembered. Seventeen miles outside of Nairobi their Land Rover stopped. Higgens tried to repair the car in the dark, but could not restart it. They spent the night in the car, but claimed Psalm 4:8: “I will lie down and sleep in peace, for you alone, O Lord, make me dwell in safety.” In the morning they were able to repair the car.

A few weeks later the Higgenses returned to America on furlough. They reported that the night before they left Nairobi, a local pastor had visited them. He told how a member of the Mau Mau had confessed that he and three others had crept up to the car to kill the Higgenses, but when they saw sixteen men surrounding the car, the Mau Mau had left in fear. “Sixteen men?” Higgens responded. “I don’t know what you mean!” While they were on furlough a friend, Clay Brent, asked the Higgenses if they had been in any danger recently. Higgens asked, “Why?” Then Clay said that on March 23, God had placed a heavy prayer burden on his heart. He called the men of the church, and sixteen of them met together and prayed until the burden lifted. Did God send sixteen angels to represent those men and enforce their prayers?

Touch the World Through Prayer, W. Duewel, OMS, pp. 85-6

Types of Prayer

1. 42% ask for material things when they pray; of this group, 59% are evangelicals; 66% are black.

2. Meditative prayer increases with age: 45% of 18- to 24-year-olds pray meditatively; 70% of 65-year-olds do so.

3. Of those who say God exists, 70% pray daily, as do 10% of those who don’t believe in God.

Source: Poloma and Gallup, “Varieties of Prayer,” Newsweek, January 6, 1992.

Poll on Prayer

• 91% of women pray, as do 85% of men.
• 94% of blacks, and 87% of whites
• 32% regularly feel a deep sense of peace. 12% never experience this.
• 26% regularly sense the strong presence of God. 21% never do.
• 15% regularly receive a definite answer to a specific prayer. 27% never have; 25% have once or twice.

Sources: Poloma and Gallup, “Varieties of prayer”: Greeley, Norc, Newsweek: January 6, 1992

Prayer is Nourishment

When a person is born from above, the life of the Son of God is born in him, and he can either starve that life or nourish it. Prayer is the way to nourish one’s life with God. Our ordinary views of prayer are not found in the New Testament. We look upon prayer as a means of getting things for ourselves; the Bible’s idea of prayer is that we may get to know God Himself. It is not so true that ‘prayer changes things’ as that prayer changes me and I change things. God has so constituted things that prayer on the basis of redemption alters the way in which one looks at things. Prayer is not a question of altering things externally, but of working wonders in one’s disposition.

Oswald Chambers, Christian Personal Ethics, C. F. H. Henry, Eerdmans, 1957, pp. 573ff

What do We Rely On?

• When we rely upon organization, we get what organization can do;
• When we rely upon education, we get what education can do;
• When we rely upon eloquence, we get what eloquence can do, and so on.

Nor am I disposed to undervalue any of these things in their proper place, but …

• When we rely upon prayer, we get what God can do.

A. C. Dixon, in Evangelism, A Biblical Approach, M. Cocoris, Moody, 1984, p. 108

Alexander the Great

Among those in the court of Alexander the Great was a philosopher of outstanding ability but little money. He asked Alexander for financial help and was told to draw whatever he needed from the imperial treasury. But when the man requested an amount equal to $50,000, he was refused—the treasurer needing to verify that such a large sum was authorized. When he asked Alexander, the ruler replied, “Pay the money at once. The philosopher has done me a singular honor. By the largeness of his request he shows that he has understood both my wealth and generosity.”

Today in the Word, MBI, August, 1991, p. 19

Growing in Prayer

• If the request is wrong, God says, “No.”
• If the timing is wrong, God says, “Slow.”
• If you are wrong, God says, “Grow.”
• But if the request is right, the timing is right and you are right, God says, “Go!”

Too Busy Not To Pray, Bill Hybels, IVP, p. 74

Tennyson

Speak to Him then, for He hears,
And spirit with spirit can meet;
Closer is He than breathing,
And nearer than hands or feet.

- Tennyson

Source unknown

Fervency of Spirit

• It is not the arithmetic of our prayers, how many they are;
• nor the rhetoric of our prayers, how eloquent they are;
• nor the geometry of our prayers, how long they be;
• nor the music of our prayers, how sweet our voice may be;
• nor the logic of our prayers, now argumentative they may be;
• nor the method of our prayers, how orderly they may be—which God cares for.
• Fervency of spirit is that which availeth much.

William Law, in J. S. Baxter, Explore the Book, p. 236

Cattle on a Thousand Hills

In its early days, Dallas Theological Seminary was in critical need of $10,000 to keep the work going. During a prayer meeting, renowned Bible teacher Harry Ironside, a lecturer at the school, prayed, “Lord, you own the cattle on a thousand hills. Please sell some of those cattle to help us meet this need.” Shortly after the prayer meeting, a check for $10,000 arrived at the school, sent days earlier by a friend who had no idea of the urgent need or of Ironside’s prayer. The man simply said the money came from the sale of some of his cattle!

Today in the Word, MBI, January, 1990, p. 36

Deepening Intimacy

The central significance of prayer is not in the things that happen as results, but in the deepening intimacy and unhurried communion with God at His central throne of control in order to discover a “sense of God’s need in order to call on God’s help to meet that need” (E. M. Bounds, The Weapon Of Prayer). Prayer is first a Theocentric tryst, not just an egocentric quest; yet this is often what we make of it. To quote Florence Allshorn, “We still struggle to put Him first in a vague and limited way. I must pray till Jesus Christ hears me and gives me what I need. I am important, the great “I.” We must not miss the great truth that I am for Him primarily. It is a soul-shaking fact that I am not looking into some far-off sky where Someone is hidden to whom I cry;…but that He Himself has said “There is a place by my side.” I must see from there or I will not see; I must look at things from His standpoint…”

Born For Battle, R. Arthur Matthews

Why Pray?

Why pray, if God loves us and knows all we need before we pray? “What if he knows prayer to be the thing we need first and most? What if the main object in God’s idea of prayer be the supplying of our great, our endless need—the need of himself? What if the good of all our smaller and lower needs lies in this, that they help drive us to God? Communion with God is the one need of the soul beyond all other needs; prayer is the beginning of that communion.

George MacDonald, Liberating Ministry From The Success Syndrome, K Hughes, Tyndale, 1988, p. 72

Prayer of Surrender

Prayer is surrender—surrender to the will of God and cooperation with that will. If I throw out a boat hook from the boat and catch hold of the shore and pull, do I pull the shore to me, or do I pull myself to the shore? Prayer is not pulling God to my will, but the aligning of my will to the will of God.

E. Stanley Jones, in Liberating Ministry From The Success Syndrome, K Hughes, Tyndale, 1988, p. 73

Martin Luther

Here you ask: Do you mean to say that this promise (I John 5:14) is always true even though God often does not give what we have asked for? As His Word shows, it is certainly His will to deliver you from all evil, not to leave you in temptation, and to give you your daily bread. Otherwise He would not have commanded you to pray for these things. If you pray in this way—that all may go according to His will—then your prayer is certainly heard. Therefore when in trouble and danger, you should certainly pray for deliverance and help, but in the way the Lord’s Prayer teaches you—if it tends to hallow His name and please His will; if not, that He will act as He sees best. If it is not heard according to our will, then it is heard according to the will of God, which is better than ours.

Martin Luther, source unknown

Safe Only on Your Knees

Sir George Adam Smith tells how he and his guide were climbing the Weisshorn in the Swiss Alps. It was stormy and they were making their climb on the sheltered side of the peak. When they reached the summit, they were filled with the exhilaration. Sir George forgot about the fierce winds, leaped up and was nearly blown over the edge to the glacier below! The guide grabbed hold of him and exclaimed: “On your knees, sir. You are safe here only on your knees!”

Source unknown

Teaching Children to Pray

“When our children were small and we were trying to teach them to pray, we had three kinds of prayer: “Please prayers,” “Thank you prayers,” and “Sorry prayers.”

S. Briscoe, Getting into God, p. 55

Prayer Involves…

• Admission—”I can’t do it myself.”
• Submission—we bow our desires before the presence of our sovereign Savior.
• Transmission—God’s Spirit intercepts our petition and intercedes on our behalf.
• Intermission—waiting on God between the time we ask and the time He answers.
• Permission—God says “Yes.”
• Revision—”God says “another way!” At times God delivers as we pray.

For example, Peter miraculously escaped from his Roman guards while the Jerusalem church prayed (Acts 12:5-17). At times God detours, such as He did with Christ. Instead of allowing Christ to ascend before Calvary, that ascension did not occur until afterward (Mark 14:36). He reached his destination but by an alternative route. God also delays.

Zacharias and Elizabeth had prayed for a son over the decades of their married life. It was not until they were beyond childbearing age that God answered (Luke 1:13). God also can say no. (Psalm 66:18, Isaiah 1:15).

Divine Healing Today, Richard Mayhue, Moody Press, pp. 102 ff.

SFO General Hospital

Research at San Francisco General Hospital has revealed that victims of heart attack, heart failure and other cardiac problems who were remembered in prayers fared better than those who were not. Cardiologist Randy Byrd assigned 192 patients to the “prayed-for” group and 201 patients to the “not-prayed-for” group. All patients were in the coronary intensive care unit. Patients, doctors and nurses did not know which group patients were in. Prayer group members were scattered around the nation and given only the first names, diagnoses and prognoses of patients. The researcher said that the results were dramatic. The prayed-for group had significantly fewer complications than the unremembered group. And fewer members of the former died. The latter group was five times more likely to develop infections requiring antibiotics, and three times more likely to develop a lung condition, leading to heart failure. These findings were published in the American Heart Association.

Adopted From Chicago Sun-Times

How Important is Faithfulness in Prayer?

Dr. Wilbur Chapman often told of his experience when, as a young man, he went to become pastor of a church in Philadelphia. After his first sermon, an old gentleman said to him, “You’re pretty young to be pastor of this church. But you preach the Gospel, and I’m going to help you all I can.”

Dr. Chapman thought, “Here’s a crank.”

But the man continued: “I’m going to pray for you that you may have the Holy Spirit’s power upon you. Two others have covenanted to join with me in prayer for you.”

Dr. Chapman said, “I didn’t feel so bad when I learned he was going to pray for me.

The 3 became 10, the 10 became 20, and 20 became 50, the 50 became 200 who met before every service to pray that the Holy Spirit might come upon me. I always went into my pulpit feeling that I would have the anointing in answer to the prayers of those who had faithfully prayed for me. It was a joy to preach! The result was that we received 1,100 into our church by conversion in three years, 600 of whom were men. It was the fruit of the Holy spirit in answer to prayer!”

Source unknown

The Lord’s Prayer

Two men were talking together. The first challenged the other, “If you are so religious, let’s hear you quote the Lord’s Prayer. I bet you $10 you can’t.”

The second responded, “Now I lay my down to sleep, I pray the Lord my soul to keep. And If I die before I wake, I pray the Lord my soul to take.”

The first pulled out his wallet and fished out a ten dollar bill, muttering, “I didn’t think you could do it!”

Source unknown

Jonathan Edwards

I have often said it would be a thing very desirable and very likely to be followed with a great blessing, if there could be some contrivance, that there should be an agreement of all God’s people in America, that are well affected to this work, to keep a Day of Fasting and Prayer to God; wherein we should all unite on the same day…Some perhaps may think its being all on the same day, is a circumstance of no great consequence; but I can’t be of that mind…It seems to me, it would mightily encourage and animate God’s saints, in humbly and earnestly seeking God, for such blessings which concerns them all; and that it would be much for the rejoicing of all, to think, that at the same time, such multitudes of God’s dear children, far and near, were sending up their cries to the same common Father, for the same motives.

Jonathan Edwards, 1742

Hudson Taylor

Eighteen-year-old Hudson Taylor wandered into his father’s library and read a gospel tract. He couldn’t shake off its message. Finally, falling to his knees, he accepted Christ as his Savior. Later, his mother, who had been away, returned home. When Hudson told her the good news, she said, “I already know. Ten days ago, the very date on which you tell me you read that tract, I spent the entire afternoon in prayer for you until the Lord assured me that my wayward son had been brought into the fold.”

Our Daily Bread, July 19, 1989

Resources

• Explanation of the ACTS acrostic, Too Busy Not To Pray, Bill Hybels, IVP, pp. 51ff
• Keys to fruitful prayer—Divine Healing Today, Richard Mayhue, Moody Press, p. 104.
• The Priority of Knowing God, Pete Deison, Discovery House, pp. 148-66, The tabernacle and furnishings as a guide to prayer.
• Warren Wiersbe, “The Power Source,” God Isn’t In a Hurry, (Baker Books; Grand Rapids, MI, 1994), pp. 50ff
• Christ & Prayer, Fairest of All, Herbert Lockyer, Eerdmans, 1936, pp. 43ff.

.

Epitaph

This is a very beautiful epitaph on a good man’s life. Amid all the crowding interests of Epaphras’s visit to Rome, his heart was with his friends. He strove for them in prayer. It was no passing thought that he voiced; no light breathing of desire; no formal mention of their names. It seemed as though he were a wrestler, whose muscles strained as he agonized for the prize. He labored. We shall never know, till we stand in the clear light of haven, how much has been wrought in the world by prayer. Here, at least, there is mention of a man’s labors. Probably the work on the results of which we are inclined to pride ourselves is due less to us than we suppose, and more to unrecognized fellow laborers. Let us be careful to mingle much intercession with all our prayers, especially on behalf of Christian workers, that they may realize we are actually working and laboring beside them. - F. B. Meyer

Source unknown

Fiddler on the Roof

During his many appearances in summer stock in the role of Tevye in “Fiddler on the Roof,” Robert Merrill had learned to expect the unexpected, he narrates in “Between Acts,” with Robert Saffron. “One night, as I implored God to give me a replacement for my horse, which had lost its shoe, a small, spotted dog walked onto the stage. I looked up again and added fervently: “Oh God, please try again.””

Source unknown

The Best

Man finds it hard to get what he wants, because he does not want the best; God finds it hard to give because He would give the best, and man will not take it.

George MacDonald in George MacDonald, An Anthology, p. 130

Revival

Never give up praying for spiritual awakening. Jesus taught that we should always pray and not lose heart (Luke 18:1). Let’s follow the example of others who prayed until revival came.

In the spring of 1904 a young Welshman named Evan Roberts was repeatedly awakened to pray from 1:00 to 5:00 a.m. By November a powerful spiritual awakening was spreading through Wales. God worked through the testimony of a young new believer named Florrie Evans. When Pastor Joseph Evans asked for testimonies Florrie arose and with a trembling voice said, “I love Jesus with all my heart.” God used this to melt the hearts of many others.

The London Times reported remarkable changes that took place in the public spirit. For example, in Swansea people who had left their parents in the “workhouse” for the poor came to take them out. Entire congregations were on their knees in prayer and “for the first time there was not a single case of drunkenness at the Swansea County Petty Sessions.”

The Bible Society saw orders for Scriptures multiply to three times the level for the previous year. At Bangor University revival fires were spreading in January of 1905. There were “only a third or a fourth of the students attending some of the classes…Beginning with a spontaneous outburst of praise and prayer among the men students, the movement spread…at a united prayer meeting…some…broke down sobbing.”

David Lloyd George, who later became Prime Minister of England, saw one of his political rallies taken over by the Welsh revival. On January 11th, 1905 he said the Welsh revival gave hope “that at the next election Wales would declare with no uncertain sound against the corruption in high places which handed over the destiny of the people to the terrible brewing interest…”

The Times reported on January 16th, 1905 that “At Glyn-Neath a feud had existed for the past ten or twelve years between the two Independent Chapels, but during the past week united services have been held in both chapels, and the ministers have shaken hands before the congregations.”

The fires of spiritual awakening crossed the ocean. In 1904 the Atlanta newspapers reported an amazing revival of prayer sweeping the city. On November 2nd the Supreme Court of Georgia closed so people could attend prayer meetings. Stores, factories, offices and even saloons followed suit.

“For two hours at midday all Denver was held in a spell… The marts of trade were deserted between noon and two o’clock this afternoon,” the Denver Post reported on January 20th, 1905. One Kentucky pastor died of overwork after receiving 1,000 new members in two months. Out of a population of 50,000 only fifty unconverted adults remained in Atlantic City, New Jersey!

Revival came to North China in 1932 in answer to several years of prayer. At one point, Norwegian missionary Maria Monsen wondered what good her praying could do. She longed to see God’s river of life flood spiritually dry China. Then she realized that the mighty Yangtze River began when the tiny drops of rain came together in the top of the mountains. Maria sought a prayer partner who would join her in claiming the promise “that if two of you agree on earth concerning anything that they ask, it will be done for them by My Father in heaven” (Mt. 18:19). When she finally found someone she exclaimed, “The awakening has begun! Two of us have agreed!” The rain drops of revival prayer were coming together. In November of 1930 Maria announced, “A great revival is coming soon and it will begin in the North China Mission.” She was convinced that the missionaries had fulfilled the conditions for revival found in 2 Chron. 7:14.

In 1932 about forty Christians were meeting in a town in North China for prayer four times a day beginning at 5:00 a.m. Believers were convicted of sin. Two men repented of hating each other. Love was strong and deep. Joy abounded. When revival came more people were born again than in any previous year in North China. One missionary estimated that 3,000 people came to Christ in his town. Pastors, missionaries, and Bible women experienced a deeper Christian life than they had ever known before. A spirit of prayer was poured out on the church. People loved to pray. Many times prayer meetings lasted two or three hours. The prayers were short, fervent, and sometimes tearful. Children’s prayers led to the salvation of their parents and teachers.

In 1936 revival fires broke out on the campus of Wheaton College west of Chicago. A senior named Don Hillis arose in chapel to voice a plea for revival. Students responded with an all-day prayer meeting on Saturday. Both faculty and students confessed sin and made things right with one another. The Wheaton campus was touched again in 1943 following a message on confession of sin during special services. The captain of the cross-country team arose to confess that he had violated college policy by leading his team in a Sunday race. Pride, criticism, and cheating were confessed by other students. Lunch and dinner slipped by unnoticed while the meeting continued into the evening service. “Stop the bus!” a member of the Wheaton College Glee Club shouted. The Glee Club was touring in Florida in 1950. A revival that had broken out on the campus in Illinois had touched this student hundreds of miles away. He confessed he had broken the rules and other students began to turn to God. God’s promise is still true. If we seek Him with all our heart, we shall surely find Him ready to pour the riches of His grace and love into the lives of His people (Jer. 29:13).

Oliver Price, Revival Insights, Vol. III, No. 4

Misdirected Prayers

A friend of Pastor Jack Lewis’s was enrolled as a student at Central Washington University. He was a devout Muslim and prayed 5 times daily toward Mecca. He and some other Muslim friends were together one day. His other friends weren’t as devout, and were kidding him about his devotion to religious duty. One asked which direction he prayer in, and he pointed north. Then a horrified expression crept over his face as it dawned on him that now Mecca wasn’t north, as it was in his home town in Arabia, but east. For months all his prayers had been misdirected.

Jack Lewis, Spokane, WA

I Asked God…

I asked God for strength that I might achieve.
I was made weak that I might learn humbly to obey.

I asked God for health that I might do greater things.
I was given infirmity that I might do better things.

I asked for riches that I might be happy.
I was given poverty that I might be wise.

I asked for power that I might have the praise of men.
I was given weakness that I might feel the need of God.

I asked for all things that I might enjoy life.
I was given life that I might enjoy all things.

I got nothing that I asked for—
but everything I had hoped for…

Almost despite myself, my unspoken prayers were answered.
I am among all men most richly blessed.

An unknown Confederate soldier

Prayers of the Unsaved

Does God answer the prayer of the unsaved?

Acts 10:4

No Time to Pray

I got up early one morning
and rushed right into the day;
I had so much to accomplish
that I didn’t have time to pray.

Problems just tumbled about me,
and heavier came each task.
“Why doesn’t God help me?” I wondered.
He answered, “You didn’t ask.”

I wanted to see joy and beauty,
but the day toiled on, gray and bleak;
I wondered why God didn’t show me.
He said, “But you didn’t seek.”

I tried to come into God’s presence;
I used all my keys at the lock.
God gently and lovingly chided,
“My child, you didn’t knock.”

I woke up early this morning,
and paused before entering the day;
I had so much to accomplish
that I had to take time to pray.

Source unknown

Men of Prayer

God’s plan is to make much of the man, far more of him than of anything else. Men are God’s method. The Church is looking for better methods; God is looking for better men…What the Church needs today is not more machinery or better, not new organizations or more and novel methods, but men whom the Holy Ghost can use—men of prayer, men mighty in prayer. The Holy Ghost does not flow through methods, but through men. He does not come on machinery, but on men. He does not anoint plans, but men—men of prayer.

Preacher and Prayer, E. M. Bounds, 1907, pp. 5,7

The Preacher and Prayer

The pulpit of this day is weak in praying. The pride of learning is against the dependent humility of prayer. Prayer is with the pulpit too often only official—a performance for the routine of service. Prayer is not to the modern pulpit the mighty force it was in Paul’s life or Paul’s ministry. Every preacher who does not make prayer a mighty factor in his own life and ministry is weak as a factor in God’s work and is powerless to project God’s cause in this world.

Preacher and Prayer, E. M. Bounds, 1907, p. 13

Say a Prayer

I said a prayer for you today
And know God must have heard
I felt the answer in my heart
Although He spoke not a word.

I didn’t ask for wealth or fame
(I knew you wouldn’t mind)
I asked for priceless treasures rare
Of a more lasting kind.

I prayed that He’d be near to you
At the start of each new day,
To grant you health and blessing fair
And friends to share your way.

I asked for happiness for you
In all things great and small.
But that you’d know His loving care
I prayed the most of all.

Source unknown

A Necessity

Prayer is the first thing, the second thing, the third thing necessary to a minister. Pray, then, my dear brother; pray, pray, pray.

Edward Payson, quoted in Preacher and Prayer, E. M. Bounds, 1907, p. 32

The Bible’s Example

Far away from the Bible’s example are most people when they pray! Prayer with earnestness and urgency is genuine prayer in God’s account. Alas, the greatest number of people are not conscious at all of the duty of prayer. And as for those who are, it is to be feared that many of them are very great strangers to sincere, sensible, and affectionate— emotional—pouring out of their hearts or souls to God. Too many content themselves with a little lip-service and bodily exercise, mumbling over a few imaginary prayers. When the emotions are involved in such urgency that the soul will waste itself rather than go without the good desired, there is communion and solace with Christ. And hence it is that the saints have spent their strength, and lost their lives, rather than go without the blessings God intended for them.

John Bunyan, in Pilgrim’s Prayer Book

Charles Spurgeon

Five young college students were spending a Sunday in London, so they went to hear the famed C. H. Spurgeon preach. While waiting for the doors to open, the students were greeted by a man who asked, “Gentlemen, let me show you around. Would you like to see the heating plant of this church?” They were not particularly interested, for it was a hot day in July. But they didn’t want to offend the stranger, so they consented. The young men were taken down a stairway, a door was quietly opened, and their guide whispered, “This is our heating plant.”

Surprised, the students saw 700 people bowed in prayer, seeking a blessing on the service that was soon to begin in the auditorium above. Softly closing the door, the gentleman then introduced himself. It was none other than Charles Spurgeon.

Our Daily Bread, April 24

An Exercise of Worship

Prayer is more than asking things from God. It is an exercise in the worship of God, to extol His name and to offer thanks for all His benefits. The child of God is assured that in prayer he is approaching a throne of grace, not a throne of judgment (Heb. 4:16). The Christian enters the divine presence in the name of Christ (John 14:14, 16:23). If he prays under the control of the Holy Spirit, he will offer petitions within the will of his Heavenly Father (Romans 8:26, 27). Prayer should be made in faith and with thanksgiving (Phil. 4:6; Col. 4:2). The prayer that Christ taught His disciples, known as the Lord’s Prayer, is a model to guide His followers concerning proper principles and goals of prayer (Matt. 6:9-13; Luke 11:2-4).

E. Schuyler English, in Our Daily Bread

Postures of Prayer

Someone has vividly expressed this in a humorous little poem that reads as follows:

“‘The proper way for man to pray,’ said Deacon Lemuel Keyes;
‘The only proper attitude is down upon his knees’
‘Nay, I should say the way to pray,’ said Reverend Doctor Wise,
‘Is standing straight with outstretched arms with rapt and upturned eyes.’

‘Oh, no, no, no,’ said Elder Snow, ‘such posture is too proud.
A man should pray with eyes fast-closed and head contritely bowed.’
‘It seems to me his hands should be austerely clasped in front
With both thumbs pointing to the ground,’ said Reverend Doctor Blunt.

‘Last year I fell in Hodgkin’s well headfirst,’ said Cyril Brown.
‘With both my heels a-stickin’ up, my head a-pointing’ down;
And I done prayed right then and there; best prayer I ever said,
The prayin’est prayer I ever prayed, a-standin’ on my head.’”

Our Daily Bread , March 10

A Long Apprenticeship

A soldier was brought before his commanding officer and accused of communicating with the enemy. He had been seen emerging from an area where their troops were known to patrol. The poor man summed up his defense in a few words, stating that he had slipped away to spend an hour alone in prayer. “Have you been in the habit of spending an hour in private prayer?” demanded the officer. “Yes, Sir,” he replied. “Then” said his commander, “never in your life have you been in more need of prayer than now. Kneel down and pray aloud so we all may hear you.”

Expecting instant death, the soldier dropped to his knees and poured out his heart to God. His prayer immediately revealed an intimacy with the Heavenly Father. His earnest fluency, his humble appeal for divine intervention, and his obvious trust in one who was strong to deliver told unmistakably that he came regularly to the throne of grace.

“You may go,” said the officer. “No one could have prayed that way without a long apprenticeship; the fellows who have never attended drill are always ill at ease for the review.

Daily Walk, February 11.

Resource

• Example of answered prayer, Liberating Ministry From The Success Syndrome, K Hughes, Tyndale, 1988, p. 73.
• Leadership IV, 4,83; 3, 40
• Strengthening Your Grip, C. Swindoll, p. 146
• Growing Strong, C. Swindoll, p. 273, waiting until crisis to pray
• Gordon McDonald, Ordering Your Private World, p. 153, dryness in prayer

.

The Link

Prayer is the link that connects us with God. It is the bridge that spans every gulf and bears us over every abyss of danger or of need. How significant is this picture of the New Testament church: Peter in prison, the Jews triumphant, Herod supreme, the arena of martyrdom awaiting the dawning of the morning. “But prayer was made without ceasing of the church unto God for him.” And what is the sequel? The prison open, the apostle free, the Jews baffled, the wicked king divinely smitten, and the Word of God rolling on in greater victory. Do we know the power of our supernatural weapon? Do we dare to use it with the authority of a faith that commands as well as asks? God grant us holy audacity and divine confidence. He is not wanting great men, but He is wanting men that will dare to prove the greatness of their God. - A. B. Simpson

Source unknown

Satan’s Temptation

It is a common temptation of Satan to make us give up the reading of the Word and prayer when our enjoyment is gone; as if it were of no use to read the Scriptures when we do not enjoy them, and as if it were no use to pray when we have no spirit of prayer. The truth is that in order to enjoy the Word, we ought to continue to read it, and the way to obtain a spirit of prayer is to continue praying. The less we read the Word of God, the less we desire to read it, and the less we pray, the less we desire to pray.

George Mueller in A Narrative of Some of the Lord’s Dealings with George Mueller

Liturgy

Throughout (tractate) Berachoth: there seems to be an emphasis on liturgy and outward form rather than inner, or private prayer.

For example, in 1:4 the number of benedictions for a day is specified, a total of seven and their length—”One is long and one is short. Where they said it must be long, it is not allowed to be made short.” In Berachoth 3:1 Gamaliel taught that “one must say every day the Eighteen Benedictions.” In Berachoth 6:5 blessings over meals must be precisely done. According to the School of Shammai a blessing over the appetizer did not serve for what had been prepared in the pot. The concern is not so much the intent of the prayer but the act of it and the precision of the act. In Berachoth 2:3 the stress is put on reciting the Shema not understanding it—”He who reads the Shema and does not hear his own words has complied with the requirements of the Law.” Though some disagreed (R. Jose believed Shema implies one must hear) this was the accepted view. And an emphasis on form seems also implied by the ruling that if a mistake in reciting was made the reader had to go back to the mistake and repeat the word or verse correctly. In 5:5 a mistake in reading was considered a “bad omen,” but some (R. Chanina ben Dosa) considered fluent prayer a guarantee of answered prayer. While some of these rulings are later than the Gospel era they may reflect the attitude and trend of the earlier rabbis. Liturgy itself is not wrong and concern for correctness in reading and doing is justified, but throughout the tractate the emphasis indicates that a value on the form was greater than that on the intent or spirit. These practices may be in the background of our Lord’s harsh criticism of hypocritical prayers (Matt. 6).

From Exegesis and Exposition, Vol. 3, No. 1 (Fall, 1988) p. 55.

Definition of Prayer

The Norwegian theologian Ole Hallesby gives one of the best definitions of prayer I have ever read. He says, “To pray is nothing more involved that to let Jesus into our needs. To pray is to give Jesus permission to employ His powers in the alleviation of our distress.”

Our Daily Bread, September 16

John Knox

While very ill, John Knox, the founder of the Presbyterian Church in Scotland, called to his wife and said,

“Read me that Scripture where I first cast my anchor.” After he listened to the beautiful prayer of Jesus recorded in John 17, he seemed to forget his weakness. He began to pray, interceding earnestly for his fellowmen. He prayed for the ungodly who had thus far rejected the gospel. He pleaded in behalf of people who had been recently converted. And he requested protection for the Lord’s servants, many of whom were facing persecution. As Knox prayed, his spirit went home to be with the Lord. The man of whom Queen Mary had said, “I fear his prayers more than I do the armies of my enemies,” ministered through prayer until the moment of his death.

Our Daily Bread. April 11

Bill Moyers

The story goes that one time when Bill Moyers was a special assistant to President Lyndon B. Johnson, he was asked to say grace before a meal in the family quarters of the White House. As Moyers began praying softly, the President interrupted him with “Speak up, Bill! Speak up!” The former Baptist minister from east Texas stopped in mid-sentence and without looking up replied steadily, “I wasn’t addressing you, Mr. President.”

Don Oberdorfer in Washington Post, quoted in Reader’s Digest, April, 1980

Naughty Child

Attending church in Kentucky, we watched an especially verbal and boisterous child being hurried out, slung under his irate father’s arm. No one in the congregation so much as raised an eyebrow—until the child captured everyone’s attention by crying out in a charming Southern accent, “Ya’ll pray for me now!”

Jean McMahon (Dyer, Ind.) in Reader’s Digest, April 1980

What we Don’t Ask For

It is strange that, while praying, we seldom ask for change of character, but always a change in circumstance.

Baptist Challenge, 12/81

Children’s Prayers

• Dear God, I know you love me but I wish you would give me an “A” on my report card so I could be sure. Love, Theresa. (Age 8, Milwaukee)
• Dear Pastor, Could you say a special blessing for my Aunt Beatrice? She has been looking for a husband for 12 years and still hasn’t found one. Yours sincerely, Debbie. (Age 9, Duluth)
• Dear Pastor, Do I have to say grace before every meal? Even when I am only having a peanut butter and jelly sandwich? Wesley. (Age 9, Baltimore)
• Dear Pastor, Thank you for your sermon on Sunday. I will write more when my mother explains to me what you said. Yours truly, Justin. (Age 9, Westport)
• Dear Pastor, Please pray for all the airline pilots. I am flying to California tomorrow. Laurie. (Age 10, New York City)
• Dear Pastor, We say grace every night before we eat dinner even when we have leftovers from the night before. Yours truly, Jacki. (Age 9, Chicago)
• Dear Pastor, I say my prayer before I eat my supper but my mother still makes me finish my spinach and drink my milk. Julie. (Age 9, Buffalo)

Reprinted by permission of Thomas Nelson Publishers. From the book Dear Pastor, 1980 by Bill Adler Books, Inc.

Andrew Murray

A woman went to Andrew Murray with the problem of feeling she couldn’t pray. He said, “Why then, do you not try this? As you go to your inner chamber, however cold and dark your heart may be, do not try in your own might to force yourself into the right attitude. Bow before Him, and tell Him that He sees in what a sad state you are, and that your only hope is in Him. Trust Him, with a childlike trust, to have mercy upon you, and wait upon Him. In such a trust you are in a right relationship to Him. You have nothing—He has everything.”

The woman later told Murray that his advice had helped her. She discovered that her trust in Christ’s love for her could help her pray, even when prayer did not come easily.

Our Daily Bread, November 13

Pray On

This poem by Adam Baum expressed the need for perseverance in prayer:

“Pray on, when rough and dark your pathway,
And you cannot see the light;
When every spark of hope has vanished,
And bright day has turned to night.

Pray on, for God doth surely hear you,
Noting well each sad request;
Pray then in faith, truly believing
That He always gives what’s best.”

Our Daily Bread, October 23

Prayer Answered

I asked for strength that I might achieve;
He made me weak that I might obey.
I asked for health that I might do greater things;
I was given grace that I might do better things.

I asked for riches that I might be happy;
I was given poverty that I might be wise.
I asked for power that I might have the praise of men;
I was given weakness that I might feel the need of God.

I asked for all things that I might enjoy life;
I was given life that I might enjoy all things.
I received nothing that I asked for, all that I hoped for,
My prayer was answered.

Faith Prayer & Tract League, Grand Rapids, MI

The Compass

An Iranian invented a compass-like device engraved with the names of 150 cities, in Arabic. The devout Muslim turns the instrument until the needle indicates north, twists a dial to the name of the city he is in—and the arrow points the way to Mecca, which Muslims face to pray five times a day.

Martin J. Shannon in The Wall Street Journal

Prayer Habits of Famous Men

• James Duncan, preaching with great unction and power, was asked what was the secret of such powerful preaching. “The secret,” he said, was “thirteen hours of consecutive prayer.”
• When asked the secret of his spiritual power, Charles Spurgeon said: “Knee work! Knee work!”
• Livingston of Shotts, on two different occasions, preached with such power that in each service 500 were converted. Both sermons were preceded by a night of prayer.
• Charles Finney, after spending a day in the woods in prayer and fasting, preached that night in a phenomenally irreligious congregation. The sermon was accompanied by such divine power that the whole congregation, except one man, fell prostrate upon the floor, and voiced their agony under conviction of sin, in such loud outcries that the preacher was forced to stop.
• Of “Uncle” John Vassar, The Tract Society colporteur, his pastor says: “He absolutely prayed day and night—prayed about everything, prayed for almost everything, prayed with almost everybody he met.

“He prayed when he went out and when he came in. He prayed before every religious service, and then prayed all the way through it. I have occupied the same room with him night after night, and rarely went to sleep without hearing him in prayer, or awoke without finding him in prayer.”

Christ Life Newsletter

Someone Prayed

The day was long, the burden I had borne
Seemed heavier than I could longer bear,
And then it lifted—but I did not know
Someone had knelt in prayer;
Had taken me to God that very hour,
And asked the easing of the load, and He
In infinite compassion had stepped down
And taken it from me.

Source unknown

Elements in Prayer

1. Adoration Ps 95:6, Dan 6:10

2. Confession Ps 32:5 Dan 9:4

3. Restitution Luke 19:8, Lev 9:2, 5

4. Unity John 17:11, 21

5. Faith Heb 11:6, Mark 11:24, Matt 21:22

6. Perseverance Gen 32:26 James 5:17

7. Petition Isa 37:14, 1 John 5:14,15, Num 27:5

8. Submission Luke 22:42

9. Willingness to give Mal 3:10, 1 Cor 16:1

10. Thanksgiving Phil 4:6

From the Book of 750 Bible and Gospel Studies, 1909, George W Noble, Chicago

Asking

1. Who to ask, our heavenly Father John 15:16

2. How to ask, in the name of Jesus Christ John 14:13

3. How to ask, in the power of the Holy Spirit Rom 8:26; Eph 2:18

4. How to ask, in faith Matt 21:22, James 1:6

5. What to ask for, help of the Lord 2 Chron 20:4

6. What to ask for, fullness of the Spirit Luke 11:13

7. What to ask for, fullness of joy John 16:24; Rev 5:9-14

8. What to ask for, wisdom James 1:5

9. What to ask for, anything John 14:14

10. The condition, abiding in Christ John 15:7; 1 John 3:22-4, 2:6

11. Encouragements to ask, promises of Christ John 16:23

12. Encouragements to ask, He hears us, according to His will 1 John 5:14-15

13. Encouragements to ask, Christ praying for us John 16:26

From the Book of 750 Bible and Gospel Studies, 1909, George W Noble, Chicago

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