42
January 1929
T h e
K i n g ’ s
B u s i n e s s
[Christ] we have access by one Spirit unto the Father.” 1. N ew B irth We would suggest some of the more important of the laws of prayer laid down in Scripture: 1. Only a born-again person is in covenant relation with God. The prayer promises are to those “that believe on the name of the Son of God.” These alone have confidence that they shall “have the petitions desired of Him" (1 Jn. 5:13-15). Prayer in His name is prayer offered in reliance upon His finished work for our salvation. It is asking on His merits and on the ground of His acceptability with the Father as our Substitute. Free use of one’s name implies intimate relationship. Jesus cannot trust the power of His name with one who is out of har mony with His interests. A surrender of our interests to His is implied in the use of His name in prayer. The mere adding of the words: “in His name” or “for Jesus’ sake” does not necessarily mean that He has endorsed the prayer. Let us ask ourselves if we are on praying ground. There are many who say that prayer is useless who never met the first law of the prayer power. 2. Y ieldedness 2. Yieldedness to the Holy Spirit is vitally important in connection with prayer. We are exhorted always to “pray in the Spirit" (Eph. 6:18; Jude 20). The mystery of answered prayer is the mys tery of the Holy Spirit. He tunes the heart for prayer. He creates the very desire to pray. He shows us the very things that God desires us to have (Rom. 8:26). In praying according to His prompting, we must receive an answer, for our prayer is the very echo of the will of God. The saintly George Muller once said: “If you can’t pray, don’t try. Let God speak with you.” No doubt we should do more effective asking if we spent more time giving the Spirit an opportunity to show us what to pray for. 3. F aith 3. There must be childlike trust in prayer. “Whatsoever ye ask in prayer be lieving, ye shall receive" (Mt. 21:22). This is not just dumb resignation to what occurs because there is no help for it, but unwavering expectation of getting the answer. Such faith must have definite ground to rest upon, and this must be supplied by God’s Word and the Holy Spirit. Faith thus grounded will reckon the thing asked, as good as received (Mk. 11:24). 4. O bedience 4. We must come to God with an obedi ent heart. “Whatsoever we ask we re ceive of him, because we keep his com mandments and do those things that are pleasing in his sight” (1 Jn. 3:22). If we are to expect God to do what we ask, we must be willing to do what He asks. The passage calls for more than obedi ence ; it requires the doing of those things that will please Him, and not leaving un done those things which He would have been pleased to have us do. Do what pleases Him, and He will do what pleases you. 5. A biding 5. There must be vital fellowship with Christ to insure effectual prayer. “I f ye abide in me," says our Golden Text, “and
In Acts 12:5, the words, “prayer was made without ceasing," literally mean, “prayer was made stretched-out-ly,” or “intensely.” We should “labor fervently in prayer” (Col. 4:12), remembering that our Lord “offered up prayers and sup plications with strong crying and tears” (Heb. 5:7). Paul exhorted the Romans to “strive together" with him in prayer, and the word rendered “strive" means “agonise." We have heard of the man who pinned his prayers to the bedpost and jumped into bed. There is too much of this kind of praying—which is no praying at all. We may count upon it that “whenever God erects a house of prayer, the devil always builds a chapel there.” We will always meet the devil on the threshold of the place of prayer; therefore, we need not expect to find prayer an easy thing. Prayer will either be a prodigious force or a pitiful farce. We must obey the laws of prayer if we expect to receive answers to prayer. P rayer P oints Prayer is work; dost thou believe it? Prayer is power; wilt thou receive it? Prayer the path the Saviour trod, Prayer the touch that links with God; Make thy life a prayer. He will answer—here or there 1 * * * Satan is ever plotting the believer’s downfall. He will ensnare us unless we walk in God’s power. Therefore we must pray (Eph. 6:12-18). * * * We should pray because it is God’s appointed way of obtaining blessings (Jas. 4:2). Only eternity can reveal our losses because we have failed to pray more. * * * Without prayer, we cannot expect to know the fulness of the Holy Spirit (Lk. 11:13; Acts 4:31; 8:15). Prayer has to do with the cleansing of the heart (Psa. 51:2) ; the opening of the spiritual eyes (Psa. 119:18); the fashioning of the life (2 Cor. 3:18). * * * Those who are powerless in temptation are the prayerless (Lk. 21:34-36). * * * The strongest Bible characters regarded prayer as their most important business (Rom. 1:9; Eph. 1:15-16; Col. 1:9; 1 Thess. 3:10; 2 Tim. 1:3). * * * If we would have fellowship with Jesus in His present ministry, we must pray (Heb. 7:25; Rom. 8:34). * * * We cannot follow in the steps of Jesus without much praying (Mk. 1 :35; Lk. 6 : 12 ). * * * “No time to pray!” ’Mid each day’s dangers, what retreat More needful than the mercy seat? Who need not pray? “No time to pray!” Must care or business’ urgent call So press us as to take it all, Each passing day?
Dr. Dinsdale T. Young Pastor o f England’s Largest M ethodist Church, said this: 'T'HE second advent of our Saviour has been a delightful doctrine to me through the greater part of my ministry. I regard it as an essential part of the Christian Gospel. I hold strongly that our Lord’s return will be personal, physical, visible and premillennial. It will be preceded by the “rapture” of Christian believers . . . . My hope of the world’s salvation lies hot in any gradual evangeliza tion of the world, but in the per sonal return of our dear Lord and Saviour. I believe that this age is waning fast and that any moment He may appear. This makes me an optimist. This thrills me with hope. This makes my ministry (in ideal) vivid, and intense, and glad. If this glo rious hope was a real expecta tion to all His people, it would give modern preaching the ac cent it needs; it would put an end to mere ethical essays in the pulpit. Nothing recovers evan gelical fervor and rekindles mis sionary passion and gives yearn ing for entire sanctification like the realization of the great fact that “He comes”—that He may come at any moment.
my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will and it shall be done unto you.” (Jn. 15:7). This means a living union hourly with Christ, as a healthy branch lives in the vine. It implies close touch at all times so that His life may flow in unhindered. Insofar as we abide in Him, we cannot pray contrary to His will. Then we must not forget to have His words abiding in us. These are the instruments of working the mind of Christ in us. Those who neglect His words seldom know what it is to pray in the Spirit. 6. T hankfulness 6 . A thankful spirit is important to real prayer (Phil. 4:6-7). To be thankful is to be mindful of benefits received. God is grieved by our forgetfulness of repeat ed blessings. He often looks in vain for thankful hearts (Lk. 17:16-17). We would have greater faith if we took more time to reckon up our blessings. David was mighty in prayer, and his psalms abound in thanksgiving (Psa. 94:19). 7. C oncentration 7. To pray well, there must be an un divided mind. “Ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye search for me with all your heart” (Jer. 29:12-13). We cannot talk to God with a brain full of hurrying thoughts and our senses occupied with pleasures. We cannot carry on two con versations at once. Prayer is heart work. God hears the heart without the mouth, but never the mouth without the heart.
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