May 1929
219
T h e
K i n g ’ s
B u s i n e s s
the task. He is ready. He is wauting and calling for help. “Here am I ; take me,” is the reply He lingers to hear. People are not too busy to be reached and moved by the power of God; sinners are not too hard to be moved by the power of God’s grace; the world is not too indifferent to divine things to be won by the love of God
as revealed in Jesus Christ. The door for a national and an international revival is now. open wide before the Lord’s people who want to line up with Christ to help Him finish His work upon the earth. His call to this task is personal to me and to you. What will my answer to Him be and what will yours be ? Think ! Pray !
Heavenly Prayer B y th e L ate R ev . A. C. D ixon , D.D.
“One of his disciples said unto Him, Lord, teach us to pray, as John also taught his disciples” (Luke 11:1). RAYER is asking God to give or do something. Prayer is not praise, it is not worship. Praise ought to go with i t ; thanksgiving and worship ought to be mingled with petition; but prayer as defined by the Lord Jesus is asking God to give or do something. “Ask, and ye shall receive.” “I f ye shall ask anything in my name, I will do it.” God’s gifts we need, but more than gifts we need the Giver. God Himself, at work, is the need of the church. Andrew Murray’s great book on Intercessory Prayer has this proposition as its basis, that in dealing with His people God works in answer to prayer; not preaching, not organi zation, but prayer. If we trust our preaching, we shall get what preaching can do. If we trust our money, we shall get what money can do. If we trust our organization, we shall get what organization can do. But if we pray and trust God, we shall get what God can do, greater than all preaching, money, and organization. Let us go a step fu rther: Prayer is asking God to give or do something within the circle of His will. It is unthink able that God should give or do something outside the circle of His will. That would be immoral. “This is the boldness which we have toward Him, that, if we ask anything according to His will, He heareth us.” And His will is a large circle. Salvation for the lost is the will of God. The Holy Spirit for service is the will of God. Workers for the harvest field is the will of God. Pray that they may be sent forth. There are many things about which we ought to. say “Thy will be done.” But when God has revealed to us His will, we may omit that, and confidently expect Him to answer all we ask withip. that circle. We know that it is God’s will to save the lost, and that it is His will to give us the Holy Spirit, for He has told us so. It is His will that harvesters should be in the field; it is His will that His people should be sanctified. The circle of His will about these things is clearly marked, and prayer is asking God to give or do something within the circle of His re vealed will. T h e S ecret of K now ing H is W ill Another step: Prayer is asking God to give or do something within the circle of His will specified by human wish and will. “What things soever ye desire, when ye
pray, believe that ye receive them and ye shall have them.” “Lord, have mercy on us.” “What will ye that I should do unto you?” “Lord, that our eyes may be opened.” Then, “straightway they received their sight.” The Lord waited for the general wish to be specified; and in order for prayer to be answered it must be definite. The man who came at midnight asked for three loaves,.not four loaves, but three; and he pleaded for the three: be cause that was what he needed. General prayers amount to little. They may be helpful as a spiritual exercise; we may get a sort of reflex bless ing from them; but the prayers that secure the gift and act of God are very definite. “WH ATSO EVER things ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them.” Focalize your prayers, and tell God ex actly what you want. “I have set watchmen upon thy walls, 0 Jerusalem, which shall never hold their peace day nor night; ye that are the Lord’s remembrancers, keep not silence, and give Him no rest, till He establish, and till He make Jerusalem a praise in the earth.” Remind God. He asks you to do so. He requests you to disturb Him. “Give Him no rest” until your Jerusalem, whether it be this church or some other work upon your heart, shall be made a praise in the earth. Along the line of this definite, specified request, comes importunity. When there is something definite which you feel that you must have, you are certain to be importunate. And we are told to press the plea, to come again and again, reminding God of the definite request until it shall be granted. Again, prayer is asking God to give or do something within the circle of His will, specified by human wish and will in the name of Christ. Of course, for the sake of Christ, but that is not all of it. In the name of Christ means within the character of Christ. “Name” in the Bible stands for character. Prayer within the circle of God’s will is in the character of Christ. It would be unfitting to ask an honest man to permit you to steal, a truthful man to permit you to lie. And asking the Lord Jesus Christ to do something outside the limitations o f; His character is equally incongruous. Bring your desire, your definite need, to the test of the character of Christ. A sk : Does this har monize with what I know to be the character of the Lord Jesus? Is it within the circle of God’s will? If so, I may press my claim; I may pray and keep on praying until the answer shall be given.
Made with FlippingBook flipbook maker