|
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,
calamitous, 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.
This is the
record of what God said to him after Solomon had finished his
magnificent, illimitable and all-comprehending prayer:
"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 integrity and
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 honor 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.
There 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 marvelous 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 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 to 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 Samuel 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
Samuel anything he asked of God. Samuel's praying always affected God,
and moved God to do what would not have otherwise been done had Samuel
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 wrongdoing had
blinded his vision.
To reach
God, to know God, and to conquer God, 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 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.
|