This is the blessed promise, given to every child of God through Christ. And we know our Lord made no promises that were out of the will of his heavenly Father. All his sayings were in perfect accord with the will of the Father, who has promised to answer our prayers.
Perhaps the greatest danger confronting every believer today is the lack of sufficient time spent in prayer. We are rushing to and fro, trying to organize something or attempting to meet deadlines, and there seems to be no time left to step aside and commune with God. Most of us seek God in much service; but, at the same time, I am afraid that too many of us are neglecting our greatest source of strength: communion with God. It is truly tragic that so few avail themselves of this most powerful weapon against the forces of evil. It was our Lord, you remember, who taught, "Men ought always to pray, and not to faint." Indeed, as one realizes the true value of prayer, he will let many so-called important things go undone, just to have more time to talk with God.
When we pray, we recognize a divine law, and through prayer God releases His power to us, which can meet the limits of human needs and experience. Hezekiah, you recall, was deathly ill, and, as with us all, he wanted to live. Weeping, he prayed that more years would be added to his life, and God answered his prayer, giving him fifteen more years to live. May God help us to pray, not necessarily for more years to be added to our life, but that abundant life would be added to our years. Jesus promised this life to his followers. "I am come", he said, "that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly." This eternal life is attained chiefly through prayer. With all of prayer's potential benefits, and with the world plunging into ever-increasing darkness, the wise soul will now pray more, and more earnestly, than ever. Practically every nation is distressed and sharpening its swords, and only prayer can save us. Oh, how people everywhere need to pray!
Prayer itself, however, is insufficient if it comes from an insincere heart. It is the fervent prayer of a righteous man that "availeth much" (Jas.5:16). When the little nation of Judah was threatened with destruction, fearful King Zedekiah called for prayer. But he was more concerned with escaping trouble than with ridding himself of sin, the cause of his trouble. Prayers of this sort have no claim to the ears of God. The nation collapsed. The Psalmist wrote, "If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me." If prayer is to accomplish anything, it must be prayer according to the will of God. Consider these requirements, laid down by the Lord Himself: If My people, which are called by My name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land."
Before the Son of God came, Israelites often approached the Father in the name of Old Testament worthies, such as Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Now, praise God, we have the most precious name, the one that stands above all others with the Father - the name of Jesus, our Savior. Hallelujah! "The name of Jesus is so sweet", exhorts one of our well-known hymns, and is it not fitting that we should come before the Father's throne with our Lord's name upon our lips - not as a ceremonial code, but as a reminder to ourselves of our debt to him whom the Father chose "to be the propitiation for our sins"? And following Jesus' example, who "offered up prayers and supplications with strong crying and tears unto Him that was able to save him from death", we will come to know that one does not become puissant at the throne of grace by praying but a few minutes a day. It takes hours, even days, of submission in prayer before one reaches the utmost height of the prayer life. Just think of Jesus, who often found it necessary to continue "all night in prayer".
Those who accomplish righteousness in the kingdom of God are those who take time to pray. They have not time, but they take it anyway. Yes, they take time from something else important, but less important than prayer. Jesus was always being sought out by the yearning masses; yet, he always made time to withdraw from the needy multitudes to commune with his Father. Sometimes he prayed before healing the people. Other times he prayed afterward. He was consistent, however, with what he taught: Men ought always to pray, and not to faint. Prayer should be the most delightful experience in the believer's life. Something is surely out of order when it isn't.
Of course, there is the prayer which comes of necessity. Such prayers are encouraged by the Lord, when he said, "Call upon Me in the day of trouble. I will deliver thee, and thou shalt glorify Me" (Ps.50:15). Our Lord cried out to his Father in his agony on the cross, even though for our sakes he refused deliverance from the torment. Indeed, he showed us how we ought to persist in prayer for others by praying for the very ones who were torturing him. He was the perfect example of his preaching, for he had taught his followers, "Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them that despitefully use you, and persecute you." It is true that love is more powerful than the sword; still, love without prayer is not sufficient to carry us through. It takes both to gain the victory.
Two artists were asked that each paint his own idea of peace. One painted a scene of calmness, showing a green pasture in which a small herd of sheep was grazing contentedly and everything spoke of tranquility and peace. The other artist portrayed a raging waterfall as it violently rushed to the depths below. On a projecting ridge of rock under the waterfall and by the side of its leaping and foaming stream, he painted a little bird sitting undisturbed and unafraid on its nest. What a splendid concept of peace in the midst of strife, conflict, and the harassing confusion of this age! What a perfect picture of every believer who has taken his or her burdens to God in prayer and is resting in the confidence of faith!
Much about such peace can be learned from the lives of God's faithful servants. Take Jacob, for instance. When his brother Esau (who apparently had never forgiven him for stealing his birthright) was on his way with four hundred men to meet Jacob, what was poor Jacob to do? He resorted to the weapon of prayer. "Deliver me, I pray thee, from the hand of my brother, from the hand of Esau, for I fear him, lest he will come and smite me, and the mother with the children. And Thou saidst, `I will surely do thee good, and make thy seed as the sand of the sea'" (Gen.32:11-12). Notice, please, how Jacob in this prayer reminds God of His promise to him twenty years earlier, when Jacob was fleeing for his life from Esau in the "desert land and in the waste howling wilderness." Was God pleased with this? "And Thou saidst" had a powerful effect in the ears of God, for "Esau ran to meet him [Jacob], and embraced him, and fell on his neck, and kissed him. And they wept."
The angel said to Jacob, "As a prince hast thou power with God and with men, and hast prevailed." Yes, prayer won Esau, for he was conquered while Jacob was alone with God, upon his knees. Prayer closed the lions' mouths for Daniel, and when wicked Haman sought to destroy the Jews, Queen Esther fasted and prayed three days. God heard her and delivered His people. Moses also prayed in earnest when his brother Aaron built a golden calf at Mount Sinai. How God's anger was kindled against the children of Israel for worshipping it! "Now therefore let Me alone," God said to Moses, "that My wrath may wax hot against them, and that I may consume them. And I will make of thee a great nation" (Ex.32:10). Moses did not want Israel destroyed, even though by this would his own name be honored. Moses, like Jacob, reminded God of His promise to the patriarchs. "Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, Thy servants," pleaded Moses, "to whom Thou swarest by Thine own self, and saidst unto them, `I will multiply your seed as the stars of heaven, and all this land that I have spoken of will I give unto your seed, and they shall inherit it for ever'" (Ex.32:13). What were the results of this prayer? "And the Lord repented of the evil which He thought to do unto His people." Evidently, God delights to hear His people plead His promises. Yes, to remind the Lord of His promises, as Jacob, Moses, and other great souls so often did in the Bible, is acceptable with Him, provided we are contrite as they were.
To those whose hearts are not right with God, prayer is only a form, behind which the wicked heart may hide its real desires and intents. Many forget God in the day of prosperity; however, when troubles arise, they want His help. Neither do the wicked understand that asking God for something is only a part of the meaning of prayer. Real prayer is supplication, communication, and association with God. A sincere child of God who loves his Father will not stop communing with Him just because he feels no urgent need. God is our Father, and He is always pleased to see His children at His footstool in prayer. Still more puzzling to those who are evil-hearted are God's answers to His children's prayers which are not easy on the flesh. God always answers sincere prayers to know and serve Him more acceptably, though the form those answers take may confuse those who are bound by the desires and lusts of the flesh. For example, listen to this girl's prayer:
She asked for a faith strong and simple:
He called for the dark clouds to come.
She staggered by faith through the darkness,
For obscured by the storm was the sun.
She prayed to be filled with a passion
Of love for lost souls and for God;
Again in response to her longings
She sank 'neath the chastening rod.
She wanted a place in His vineyard,
He took her away from her home,
And placed her among hardened sinners
,
Where - humanly - she stood alone.
She saw she must give up ambitions
Her treasured "air castles" for years.
She knelt in complete consecration,
And whispered "Amen" through her tears.
She wanted a meek, lowly spirit -
The work he gave answered that cry,
Till some who had once been companions
With pitying smiles passed her by.
She asked to lean hard on her Savior.
He took human props quite away.
No friend here on earth could give comfort,
And she could do nothing but pray.
I saw her go out in the vineyard
To harvest the ripening grain;
Her eyes were still moistened with weeping;
Her heart was still throbbing with pain.
But many a heart that was broken,
And many a wrecked, blighted life
Was made to thank God for her coming,
And bringing God's peace to the strife.
She prayed to be made like her Savior,
And the burdens he gave her to bear,
Had been but the great Shepherd's answer -
The answer he promised to prayer.
The last thing the devil wants children of God to do is to fervently and humbly pray. He can tolerate sermonizing, singing, and other forms of Church work, if only they will stop short of calling upon God in effectual, fervent prayer. "Elias", we are told, "was a man subject to like passions as we are, and he prayed earnestly that it might not rain, and it rained not on the earth by the space of three years and six months. And he prayed again, and the heaven gave rain, and the earth brought forth her fruit" (Jas.5:17-18).
Once more, let us look at Elias (Elijah) in action with God as he prays for the widow's dead son at Zaraphath: "And he said unto her, `Give me thy son.' And he took him out of her bosom and carried him up into a loft [a good place to pray], where he abode, and laid him upon his own bed. And he cried unto the Lord, and said, O Lord my God, hast Thou also brought evil upon the widow with whom I sojourn by slaying her son? And he stretched himself upon the child three times, and cried unto the Lord, and said, O Lord my God, I pray Thee, let this child's soul come into him again. And the Lord heard the voice of Elijah, and the soul of the child came into him again, and he revived. And Elijah took the child, and brought him down into the house, and delivered him unto his mother; and Elijah said, `See, thy son liveth.' And the woman said to Elijah, `Now by this I know that thou art a man of God, and that the word of the Lord in thy mouth is truth'" (1Kgs.17:19-24).
Apparently, there is no prayer that touches God more than the one we offer in the time of our deepest sorrow and grief. Our heaviest heartaches seem to reach the Father more quickly. You recall the extreme sadness of the disciples when James had been beheaded and Peter was being held in prison, awaiting on the morrow the same fate. Humanly speaking, there was no way out; however, "earnest prayer for him was made" and God answered. Now, just as the prayer of the early church opened the iron gate for Peter, even so will fervent prayer today remove the iron curtain of sin and lead God's people to the bright liberty of Christ. Let us then be wise to avail ourselves of this unfailing weapon, and to trust in the One who has placed it in our hand.
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