THE K I NG ’ S BUSINESS
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When Prayer D oes ¡Not “Change Zkm gs” REV. GEORGE H. CLEMENT
P ERHAPS you have a motto in your home which reads: “Prayer Changes Things,” and no doubt sions prayer most c e r t a i n l y did “change things” for you. But I am inclined to believe that very frequent ly “things” do not change one iota. Rather, prayer changes “us” to such an extent that we gloriously triumph over “ things,” whether they be a dis agreeable environment, an unpleasant task, or even an inexplicable, fiery trial. God’s all-sufficient grace is able to make us completely oblivious to “things,” and our conquering them is a more glorious victory, and brings more glory to God, than their re moval could ever accomplish. John, the b e l o v e d disciple, had reached old age. Behind him was a ministry richly blessed of God. He had attained the stage of life where he had earned the compensation of restful surroundings, and the kindly, attention of Christian friends. But, instead of enjoying these blessings, he was rudely thrust by malicious hands onto the prison island of Pat mos, where the angry sea formed the walls, and criminals were his only companions. Certainly, his en vironment and circumstances could hardly be more uncongenial. If any man was justified in being depressed, full of complaints, and feeling for saken of God, it was John. Not only was the island bleak, and every pros pect discouraging, but to aggravate his loneliness was the fact that his beloved church at Ephesus with its sweet fellowship and sacred memo ries, lay across the sea in full view of Patmos and its prisoner. It was within sight, but so far as John knew, out of reach forever. It was like placing just out of reach of a chained and starving man a bounteous and appetizing meal. Everything was a g a i n s t John’s peace of heart and enjoyment of life. “Things” could not have been worse. If any one could have justly prayed for conditions to be altered, it was he. One Lord’s Day, the beloved dis ciple was reviewing his experiences: “I John . . . your brother, and com panion in tribulation. . . was in the isle that is called Patmos, for the word of God, and for the testimony of Jesus Christ.” These poignant words describe John’s cross. Like any letter received from a prisoner of wai> it
ings, yea, moreover of bonds and im prisonment . . . were stoned . . . sawn asunder . . . destitute, afflicted, tor mented.” Yet, in s p i t e of these “things,” all of them received “a good report through faith.” The history of God’s grace in the lives of His saints would reveal the mighty triumphs of His faithful fol lowers in the dark pre-Reformation period, the victories of the reformers, and the conquests of the revivalists who followed. It would disclose how Fanny Crosby in her blindness, and the Havergal sisters with their physi cal infirmities, got victory o v e r “things” which would ordinarily prove to be insurmountable. The Christian Church' has been immeasurably en riched by the songs and stories of spiritual conquests these saints have left us. The keynote of the lives of these victors is expressed by Paul: “Blessed be God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of. mercies, and the God of all comfort; Who comforteth us [not by removing the trial, or changing ‘things,’ but] in all our tribulation [why?] that we may be able to comfort them which are in any trouble [and there are very few that are not], by the comfort wherewith we ourselves are comforted of God” (2 Cor. 1:3, 4). We conclude with two stanzas which Madame Guyon wrote from one of the ten different French prisons in which from 1695 to 1705 she was confined for Christ’s sake: “My cage confines me round; Abroad I cannot fly; But, though my wing is closely bound, My heart’s at liberty. My prison walls cannot control The flight, the freedom of the soul. “Oh! it is good to soar These bolts and bars above, To Him whose purpose I adore, Whose Providence I love; And in Thy mighty will to find The joy, the freedom of the mind.” “Prayer changes things.” When it is God’s will, He does alter circum stances. But often one gains a deeper spiritual experience, and God receives more glory, if “things” are permitted to remain the same, and we, the chil dren of God, are given grace suffi cient to trample them under the feet of triumphant faith.
must be read “between the lines” for the real facts. John was also medi tating upon all of God’s goodness and mercy, and perhaps poring over his precious manuscripts of Scriptural treasures, for he further states that on that Lord’s Day, “I was in the Spirit” (Rev. 1:9, 10). What was the result of this waiting upon his Lord, this communion with Him? The Book of Revelation was the answer. John was lifted up into Heavenly places with Christ, and saw such revelations of God’s present glory, and heard such exceedingly marvelous prophetic utterances that he was at a loss for words to describe them. He gathered up all the superlatives that language could supply. Mentally he explored the mineral kingdom to find the most precious gems, that he might endeav or to give to the churches at least a glimpse of the spiritual world of eternal realities of which he had been given a vision temporarily. All the time that John was enjoy ing the ecstacies of being in the Spirit, “things” were unchanged. The billoivs still dashed t h e m s e l v e s against the dismal shore of his prison island. His only companions continued to be desperadoes and their rough guards. His outward environment re mained as wretched as ever, but, in wardly, he was lifted above them all into that spiritual sphere of per fect bliss. Many centuries after John’s glori ous triumph over “things,” another precious saint of God was cast into prison for the Word of God and the testimony of Jesus Christ. His name was John Bunyan. While he was con fined within the cold, clammy walls and iron bars of a jail, he mounted up with wings of faith and left with us the fruit of his glorious triumph: the enduring and soul-stirring Pil grim’s Progress. The accounts of God’s grace in the lives of His submissive servants, by which they were enabled to escape from disagreeable outward conditions through the inward empowering by the Spirit, would fill volumes. We could go back into Old Testament h i s t o r y and show how Abraham, Moses, David and countless others gloried over reverses. We may pause at the list of the heroes of faith in the eleventh c h a p t e r of Hebrews. Some “were tortured . . . others had trial of cruel roockings *r*d scaurg-
pou can testify that on many occa
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