V. Prayer -- Its Possibilities (Continued)
He who has the spirit of prayer has the highest interest in the
court of heaven. And the only way to retain it is to keep it in constant
employment. Apostasy begins in the closet. No man ever backslid from the life
and power of Christianity who continued constant and fervent in private prayer.
He who prays without ceasing is likely to rejoice evermore. -- ADAM
CLARKE
AFTER a comprehensive and cursory view of the possibilities of prayer, as
mapped out in what has been said, it is important to descend to particulars, to
Bible facts and principles in regard to this great subject. What are the
possibilities of prayer as disclosed by Divine revelation? The necessity of
prayer and its being are coexistent with man. Nature, even before a clear and
full revelation, cries out in prayer. Man is, therefore prayer is. God is,
therefore prayer is. Prayer is born of the instincts, the needs and the
cravings and the very being of man.
The prayer of Solomon at the dedication of
the temple is the product of inspired wisdom and piety, and gives a lucid and
powerful view of prayer in the wideness of its range, the minuteness of its
details, and its abounding possibilities and its urgent necessity. How minute
and exactly comprehending is this prayer! National and individual blessings are
in it, and temporal and spiritual good is embraced by it. Individual sins,
national calamities, sins, sickness, exile, famine, war, pestilence, mildew,
drought, insects, damage to crops, whatever affects husbandry,
enemies-whatsoever sickness, one's own sore, one's own guilt, one's own sin --
one and all are in this prayer, and all are for prayer.
For all these evils prayer is the one universal
remedy. Pure praying remedies all ills, cures all diseases, relieves all
situations, however dire, most calamitous, most fearful and despairing. Prayer
to God, pure praying, relieves dire situations because God can relieve when no
one else can. Nothing is too hard for God. No cause is hopeless which God
undertakes. No case is mortal when Almighty God is the physician. No conditions
are despairing which can deter or defy God.
Almighty God heard this prayer of Solomon, and
committed Himself to undertake, to relieve and to remedy if real praying be
done, despite all adverse and inexorable conditions. He will always relieve,
answer and bless if men will pray from the heart, and if they will give
themselves to real, true praying.
After Solomon had finished his magnificent,
illimitable and all-comprehending prayer, this is the record of what God said
to him:
"And the Lord appeared to Solomon by night, and
said to him, I have heard thy prayer, and have chosen this place to myself for
a house of sacrifice.
"If I shut up heaven that there be no rain, or if
I command the locusts that they devour the land, or if I send pestilence among
the people;
"If my people which are called by my name, shall
humble themselves and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways,
then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their
land;
"Now my eyes shall be open, and my ears attentive
to the prayer that is made in this place.
"For now I have chosen and sanctified this house,
that my name may be there forever."
God put no limitation to His ability to save
through true praying. No hopeless conditions, no accumulation of difficulties,
and no desperation in distance or circumstance can hinder the success of real
prayer. The possibilities of prayer are linked to the infinite rectitude and to
the omnipotent power of God. There is nothing too hard for God to do. God is
pledged that if we ask, we shall receive. God can withhold nothing from faith
and prayer.
"The thing
surpasses all my thought,
But
faithful is my Lord;
Through unbelief I
stagger not,
For
God hath spoke the word.
"Faith, mighty
faith, the promise sees,
And
looks to that alone;
Laughs at
impossibilities,
And
cries, 'It shall be done!'"
The many statements of God's Word fully set forth
the possibilities and far-reaching nature of prayer. How full of pathos! "Call
upon me in the day of trouble; I will deliver thee, and thou shalt glorify me."
Again, read the cheering words: "He shall call upon me, and I will answer him;
I will be with him in trouble; I will deliver him and honour him."
How diversified the range of trouble! How almost
infinite its extent! How universal and dire its conditions! How despairing its
waves! Yet the range of prayer is as great as trouble, is as universal as
sorrow, as infinite as grief. And prayer can relieve all these evils which come
to the children of men. There is no tear which prayer cannot wipe away or dry
up. There is no depression of spirits which it cannot relieve and elevate.
Where is no despair which it cannot dispel.
"Call unto me, and I will answer thee, and show
thee great things and difficult, which thou knowest not." How broad these words
of the Lord, how great the promise, how cheering to faith! They really
challenge the faith of the saint. Prayer always brings God to our relief to
bless and to aid, and brings marvellous revelations of His power. What
impossibilities are there with God? Name them. "Nothing," He says, "is
impossible to the Lord." And all the possibilities in God are in prayer.
Samuel, under the Judges of Israel, will fully
illustrate the possibility and the necessity of prayer. He himself was the
beneficiary of the greatness of faith and prayer in a mother who knew what
praying meant. Hannah, his mother, was a woman of mark, in character and in
piety, who was childless. That privation was a source of worry and weakness and
grief. She sought unto God for relief, and prayed and poured out her soul
before the Lord. She continued her praying, in fact she multiplied her praying,
to such an extent that to Old Eli she seemed to be intoxicated, almost beside
herself in the intensity of her supplications. She was specific in her prayers.
She wanted a child. For a man child she prayed.
And God was specific in His answer. A man child
God gave her, a man indeed he became. He was the creation of prayer, and grew
himself to a man of prayer. He was a mighty intercessor, especially in
emergencies in the history of God's people. The epitome of his life and
character is found in the statement, "Samuel cried unto the Lord for Israel,
and the Lord heard him." The victory was complete, and the Ebenezer was the
memorial of the possibilities and necessity of prayer.
Again, at another time, Samuel called unto the
Lord, and thunder and rain came out of season in wheat harvest. Here are some
statements concerning this mighty intercessor, who knew how to pray, and whom
God always regarded when he prayed: "Samuel cried unto the Lord all night."
Says he at another time in speaking to the Lord's
people, "Moreover, as for me, God forbid that I should sin against the Lord in
ceasing to pray for you."
These great occasions show how this notable ruler
of Israel made prayer a habit, and that this was a notable and conspicuous
characteristic of his dispensation. Prayer was no strange exercise to Samuel.
He was accustomed to it. He was in the habit of praying, knew the way to God,
and received answers from God. Through him and his praying God's cause was
brought out of its low, depressed condition, and a great national revival
began, of which David was one of its fruits.
Samuel was one of the notable men of the Old
Dispensation who stood out prominently as one who had great influence with God
in prayer. God could not deny him anything he asked of Him. Samuel's praying
always affected God, and moved God to do what would not have otherwise been
done had he not prayed. Samuel stands out as a striking illustration of the
possibilities of prayer. He shows conclusively the achievements of prayer.
Jacob is an illustration for all time of the
commanding and conquering forces of prayer. God came to him as an antagonist.
He grappled Jacob, and shook him as if he were in the embrace of a deadly foe.
Jacob, the deceitful supplanter, the wily, unscrupulous trader, had no eyes to
see God. His perverted principles, and his deliberate overreaching and
wrong-doing had blinded his vision.
To reach God, to know God, and to conquer God,
that was the demand of this critical hour. Jacob was alone, and all night
witnessed to the intensity of the struggle, its changing issues, and its
veering fortunes, as well as the receding and advancing lines in the conflict.
Here was the strength of weakness, the power of self-despair, the energy of
perseverance, the elevation of humility, and the victory of surrender. Jacob's
salvation issued from the forces which he massed in that all-night conflict.
He prayed and wept and importuned until the fiery
hate of Esau's heart died and it was softened into love. A greater miracle was
wrought on Jacob than on Esau. His name, his character and his destiny were all
changed by that all-night praying. Here is the record of the results of that
night's praying struggle: "As a prince hast thou power with God and with men,
and hast prevailed." "By his strength he had power with God, yea, he had power
over the angel and prevailed."
What forces lie in importunate prayer! What
mighty results are gained by it in one night's struggle in praying! God is
affected and changed in attitude, and two men are transformed in character and
destiny.