341
T H E K I N G ' S B U S I N E S S
October, 1933
i s s u e s .
0 L l Q
0 i l l G o u ? By the late
O
ANDREW MURRAY
[The accompanying material, while not by any means new, is remarkably up to date. Neither is the sun new, but it is as welcome today as in the first millennium. The saintly Andrew Murray “dipped his pen in prayer” whenever he wrote, and never more truly so than when he prepared “ With Christ in the School o f Prayer" (Revell Pub. Co.), from which this chapter is taken. These are days o f heavy pressure, o f easy prayerless- ness. They call for just such stimulus as this message provides. That is why it is included in this issue. That is why it is again sent forth with prayer .—E ditor .] We all know with what surprise the whole civilized world heard of the way in which trained troops were repulsed by the Transvaal Boers at Majuba. And to what did they owe their success ? In the armies of Europe, the soldier fires upon the enemy standing in large masses, and never thinks o f seeking an aim for every bullet. In hunting game, the Boer had learned a different lesson: His prac ticed eye knew how to send every bullet on its special message, to seek and find its man. Such aiming must gain the day in the spiritual world, too. As long as in prayer we just pour out our hearts in a multitude o f peti tions, without taking time to see whether every petition is sent with the purpose and expectation o f getting an answer, not many will reach the mark. But if, as in silence o f soul we bow before the Lord, we were to ask such questions as these: what is now really my desire? do I desire it in faith, expecting to receive? am I now ready to place and leave it in the Father’s bosom? is it a settled thing between God and me that I am to have the answer?—we should learn so to pray that God would see and we would know what we really expect. It is for this, among other reasons, that the Lord warns us against the vain repetitions o f the Gentiles, who think to be heard for their much praying. W e often hear prayers o f great earnestness and fervor, in which a multitude of petitions are poured forth, but to which the Saviour would undoubtedly answer, “ What wilt thou that I should do unto thee?” If I am in a strange land, in the interests o f the busi ness which my father owns, I would certainly write two different sorts of letters. There will be family letters giving expression to all the intercourse to which affection prompts;. and there will be business letters, containing orders for what I need. And there may be letters in which both are found. The answers will correspond to the let ters. To each sentence of the letters containing the family news, I do not expect a special answer. But for each order I send, I am confident of an answer whether the desired article has been forwarded. In our dealings with God, the business element must not be wanting. With our expression of need and sin, o f love and faith and consecra tion, there must be the pointed statement o f what we ask and expect to receive; it is in the answer that the Father loves to give us the token o f His approval and acceptance. received answers, that our more general prayers will be believing and effectual.
G ethsemane “ And Jesus answered him, and said, What wilt thou that I should do unto thee?” (Mk. 10:51; Lk. 18:41). ^il he blind man had been crying out aloud, and that a great deal, “ Thou Son of David, have mercy on me.” The cry had reached the ear o f the L o rd ; He knew what he wanted, and was ready to grant it him. But ere He does it, He asks him: ‘‘What wilt thou that I should do unto thee ?” He wants to hear from his own lips, not only the general petition for mercy, but the distinct expression o f what his desire was. Until he speaks it out, he is not healed. There is now still many a suppliant to whom the Lord puts the same question, and who cannot, until it has been answered, get the aid he asks. Our prayers must not be a vague appeal to His mercy, an indefinite cry for blessing, but the distinct expression of definite need. Not that His loving heart does not understand our cry, or is not ready to hear, but He desires it for our own sakes. Such defi nite prayer teaches us to know our own needs better. It demands time, and thought, and self-scrutiny to find out what really is our greatest need. It searches us and puts us to the test as to whether our desires are honest and real, such as we are ready to persevere in. It leads us to judge whether our desires are according to God’s Word, and whether we really believe that we shall receive the things we ask. P ointless P rayer And yet how much of our prayer is, vague and point less ! Some cry for mercy, but take not the trouble to know what mercy must do for them. Others ask, perhaps, to be delivered from sin, but do not begin by bringing any sin by name, from which the deliverance may be claimed. Still others pray for God’s blessing on those around them, for the outpouring o f God’s Spirit on their land or the world, and yet have no special field where they wait and expect to see the answer. To all the Lord says: “ And what is it now you really want and expect me to do?” Every Christian has but limited powers, and as he must have his own special field of labor in which he works, so with his prayers, too. Each believer has his own circle, his family, his friends, his neighbors. I f he were to take one or more o f these by name, he would find that this really brings him into the training school o f faith, and leads to personal and pointed dealing with his God. It is when in such distinct matters we have in faith claimed and
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