J . E dgar H oover forcefully declared, "The spectacle of men and women praying is more awe-inspiring than the atomic bomb. It is the greatest power in the entire universe!” Our nation’s first resource is not anti missile- missiles, a nuclear striking force, or atomic-powered submarines. Our first resource is prayer. The Scripture rightly asserts, “Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord.” Most Christians are willing to talk to others about prayer. We may spend time listening to sermons on prayer, reading books about prayer, but actu ally we spend little time just talking to God in prayer about others. Phil Kerr used to say concerning the song, “Sweet Hour of Prayer,” “Why don’t we say, ‘Sweet Half-Hour of Prayer,’ or, ‘Sweet Five Minutes of Prayer,’ or, ‘Sweet BO Seconds of Prayer!’ For most Christians that’s about all the time ever spent in prayer.” Concerning the subject of prayer there are several essentials which must be carefully followed if we are to receive the answers from the Lord. Prayer is as rigorously guarded as a bank guards the privilege of cashing checks. To say merely that you be
lieve in prayer is about like stating, “I believe in cashing checks.” There must be money in the bank before one can have the privilege of cashing checks. Before you can employ the full privilege of prayer, there must be something within the bank of heaven deposited to your account. The first essential is that we must believe in God. In Hebrews 11:6 we read, “He that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.” Recently on one of our panel discussions the question was sent in by a listener asking, “What are the minimum essentials for salvation?” We answered, “The minimum essen tials for salvation are the very same as the maximum essentials: personal belief in the Lord Jesus Christ.” A few days later someone wrote in quite disturbed. They asked, “Since the devil and the demons believe, how can be lief be enough? They surely aren’t saved.” This, of course, is true. But to believe about someone is far dif ferent than believing in this person. The word “'believe” embodies the whole aspect of Obedience. Sometimes (Continued on next page) 13
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