Prayer is the most joyous privilege in the world! Discover the full, beautiful experience of prayer, and be refreshed by the simplicity of having a close relationship with God.
In this book, Pastor Chuck discusses the principles of prayer, the keys to having a dynamic prayer life, and the victorious results of such a life. His practical, simplistic style will give you a better understanding of prayer and make you better equipped to fight the good fight of faith.
This book will stir in your heart a desire to “pray without ceasing”—the most important act the Christian can engage in.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Introduction.
Chapter 1 – What Is Prayer?
Chapter 2 – The Purpose of Prayer
Chapter 3 – The Privilege of Prayer
Chapter 4 – Effective Prayer
Chapter 5 – Strength in Prayer
Chapter 6 – Pray, and I Will Answer
Chapter 7 – Sin of Prayerlessness
INTRODUCTION
Today, we are living in desperate times. Yet, the Church is not desperate before God in prayer. Jesus said to Peter, James, and John, “What? Could you not watch with me one hour?” (Matthew 26:40 NKJV). We say, “Shame on you, Peter! Shame on you, John! How terrible! Not watching with the Lord in prayer for even one hour!” But look out. Whenever you point a finger at someone else, there are three pointing back at you. Prayer is the most important activity a born-again Christian can perform. It should head your list of priorities, for certainly the world around us desperately needs prayer. Prayer will open the door for God to do a glorious work in these last days. Prayer will stem the tide of evil.
This collection of studies on prayer presents you with certain Scriptures, thoughts, and rules. When you put them into practice in your life, they will bring you into a new relationship with God and help you to experience a more effective and dynamic prayer life in which to do battle against the evil forces in these last days. We wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against spiritual powers and principalities; thus, the weapons of our warfare cannot be carnal. Prayer is the most potent weapon that we possess in our spiritual arsenal, and by it we can pull down the strongholds of the enemy. Does Satan have a stronghold on your city government? Does he have a stronghold on your husband or wife or children? Through this book you will learn how to break down these strongholds.
CHAPTER 1 – WHAT IS PRAYER?
Prayer can be expressed in three basic forms: worship, petition, and intercession, with variations within each form.
Worship
The first basic form of prayer is worship. It is a spontaneous result from the conscious awareness of God. As I realize the greatness of God and His nearness to me and His love for me, I naturally respond with deep, inner worship of Him. One day I watched a little gnat flying around. I was amazed at how small it was and yet so wonderfully designed. He was able to defy the laws of gravity, suspending himself in the air and then darting around rapidly. I thought, “God, you are so wise in the design of even small forms of life.”
Worshipping God for His creative genius is a form of prayer – that consciousness of who He is and what He has done inspires worship. When I recognize the wisdom and power of God, I stand in awe of Him. Thanksgiving and praise arise spontaneously as I become conscious of the goodness of God to me that I know I do not deserve.
Christians should engage in this form of communion and prayer constantly. We should become more conscious of Him as He speaks to us through nature. We see His power in the storm and lightning. We smell His loveliness in a rose. We see His design in a daisy. “In the rustling grass, I hear Him pass; He speaks to me everywhere.” Sometimes we verbalize our worship; often we don’t. It’s simply an overwhelming feeling within our hearts as God manifests Himself to us in a thousand different ways. We just say, “Ohhh, God is so good!” We worship Him and commune with Him in the recognition of His love and grace.
Petition
The second form of prayer is petition, as I bring my personal needs before God and ask Him for the help that I need so desperately. Day by day I cry out to the Lord for His wisdom, guidance, strength, and provision. There are some people who dismiss personal petition prayer as selfish. They say that it’s wrong to pray for anything for yourself because you ought to be thinking more of others.
As part of my initiation into the Hi Y Club in Jr. High school I had to memorize this poem.
Lord, let me live from day to day,
In such a self-forgetting way,
That even when I kneel to pray,
My prayer will be for others. Help me in
all the things I do,
To ever be sincerely true,
To know that all I do for You,
Must needs be done for others.
Others, Lord, yes others,
Let this my motto be.
Help me to live for others,
That I might live for Thee.
It is beautiful poetry that expresses truth. I should pray for others and be concerned with their needs. Nevertheless, I must also be concerned in prayer with my own needs. Call it what you want, but I have certain definite needs that must be met before I can be of benefit to others.
The Bible says, “The husbandman that laboreth must be first partaker of the fruits” (2 Timothy 2:6). In other words, you can’t give what you don’t have. Like measles, you can’t give‘em unless you got‘em. Therefore, I must first be a partaker of God’s grace, love, strength, and power. Then, as I partake, I have something to share with others.
One of Jesus’ disciples said, “Lord, teach us to pray, as John also taught his disciples.” Jesus then taught that model prayer: “Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done, as in heaven, so in earth” (Luke 11:1–2). The first part of the prayer is addressed to God – worshipping God for what He is: “Hal-lowed be thy name.” Then comes the prayer for the kingdom of God: “Thy kingdom come.” We are to seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness.
The very next petition is “Give us day by day our daily bread…and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil” (Luke 11:3–4). These are personal petitions for my own needs. I do have needs, and God wants me to bring those needs before Him. There’s nothing wrong with praying and asking God to supply my rent money or whatever else I might need.
Intercession
The third form of prayer, intercession, is the type of prayer that can be considered work. Worshipping God is not work – that’s glorious! It’s spontaneous, beautiful communion and fellowship with God. Petition isn’t too much work because I’m so interested in what I need that I can become involved in it very easily. But when I begin to intercede, then I must labor.
Paul, in his closing remarks to the church at Colosse, makes mention of one of his fellow laborers, Epaphras. “Epaphras, who is one of you, a servant of Christ, saluteth you, always laboring fervently for you in prayers” (Colossians 4:12). Here prayer is described as work.
Through intercessory prayer I reach out beyond myself and pray, not for my own needs, but for the needs of those around me. I pray for my family, friends, and neighbors who don’t yet know Jesus Christ. I pray for the needs of those in the Body of Christ. I bring before God all the various needs of others that have come to my attention.
It is during intercessory prayer that I become aware of what prayer actually is: a spiritual battle.
The Battle
There’s a conflict taking place around us continually, a spiritual conflict. Invisible to our physical eyes is the spirit world, which is divided into two categories: the forces of good and the forces of evil. These are in constant combat with one another and diametrically opposed to each other. When I enter into intercessory prayer, I step right into the battle and begin to fight in this spiritual warfare.
Paul the apostle said that “we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places” (Ephesians 6:12). Therefore, we’re to put on the whole armor of God. Paul then goes on to list the armor of God that should clothe a Christian for battle.
For the apostle said, “The weapons of our warfare are not carnal, because we’re not in a physical battle.” If we were, then we’d have worldly weapons. But because we’re in a spiritual battle, the weapons and armor of our warfare must be spiritual. Through them we pull down the strongholds of the enemy (2 Corinthians 10:4).
Once you’re fully equipped with all this spiritual armor of Ephesians 6, what are you to do? Just stand there? No! Get into the fight! How do you get into the fight? “Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit” (Ephesians 6:18). You’ve been girded for the battle – now go to it!
Battle Scenario
The scene of the spiritual conflict is right here on the earth. The purpose of the conflict is the control of the earth and the individual lives upon it.
The earth rightfully belongs to Jesus Christ. He created it and gave it to man. But man forfeited it to Satan. Jesus came and purchased it back for Himself. He redeemed us and the world through His blood at Calvary. For a while as Jesus hung on the cross, Satan thought he was the victor. But on the third day Jesus rose again, triumphing over death, hell, the grave, and Satan.
John tells us in 1 John 3:8 that Jesus was manifested to destroy the works of the devil. This He did through His death on the cross (Hebrews 2:14). He conquered Satan’s forces, spoiled the principalities and powers that were against us, nailed them to His cross, triumphed over them, and made an open display of His victory (Colossians 2:14, 15). Though the world rightfully belongs to Jesus Christ now, Satan seeks to maintain control and power over it by force. Much as when God had rejected King Saul from reigning over Israel and had the prophet Samuel anoint David in his stead, Saul, by force, tried to hold on to that which was no longer rightfully his and sought to drive David from the kingdom. So Satan seeks to hold on to that which is no longer rightfully his.
Jesus Christ also has a method of winning the world, but not by force. Jesus seeks to draw men unto Himself and into His kingdom through love. Thus, the warfare continues in this world for the control of individual lives. Satan applies tremendous force and pressure to keep people in his camp. Jesus, wooing and drawing through gentle love, seeks to persuade men to submit their lives to Him.
As you enter into intercessory prayer, you rush into the thick of the battle. It becomes work because you’re engaged against the forces of darkness and hell. You’re going against the enemy’s strongholds with prayer. You witness the grip of power that Satan has on the lives of those around you. Through prayer you can advance with the battering ram and demolish the strong-holds the enemy has on those individual lives – freeing them from the power by which he holds them captive.
This kind of prayer, the warfare praying in the Spirit, becomes real work. You begin to understand what Paul meant when he said that Epaphras was “laboring fervently” in prayer. It’s wonderful to realize that prayer is the deciding factor in this spiritual warfare.
Satan is a very stubborn enemy and an obstinate fighter. He yields only what and when he must. Therefore, your prayers must be very specific. Vague, general prayers like “God, save the world” won’t even dent the enemy. But when you bring an individual before the Lord, laying claim to that person for Jesus Christ, you begin to be specific in prayer, and Satan must yield.
“Lord, my friend, John, is bound by the power of Satan. His life is being ruined and twisted. I come against that work of Satan in the name of Jesus Christ and in the victory of the cross of Jesus Christ. I ask you, Father, to free him from this power of Satan that’s holding him today. Loose him now, that he may know the love of Jesus Christ. Lord, let your Spirit speak to his heart and bring an end to the work of Satan that’s binding him, and blinding him.” We thus recover them from the snare of the devil that is holding them as captives.
Realize that Satan is persistent. Even after you begin to see a bit of victory, you must continue in prayer to hold the ground that you’ve gained. The minute you win ground, Satan will turn right around and counterattack to regain it. Your prayers must be persistent. The ground we have taken from the enemy through prayer, must be held by prayer. Many times we make a serious mistake when we begin seeing signs of victory in the life of one for whom we have been interceding. Maybe they have gone forward to receive Christ and have started to read their Bibles, so we quit praying for them. Often the seed has not had a chance to take root yet and the enemy comes to take away the seed. We need to continue to pray long after we begin to see initial signs of victory.
The beautiful truth is that Satan has already been defeated. As we go into battle the outcome has already been determined. Jesus triumphed over Satan and, thus, Satan must yield when we come against him in the power and in the authority of Jesus Christ. Lay claim to the victory in Jesus Christ – and life after life will be set free as you come against the strongholds of Satan and tear them down with this powerful weapon of prayer!
God has made prayer available to the weak-est of His children. It’s something that everyChristian can exercise, regardless of his spiritualstate. You don’t have to be a spiritual giant to getinto spiritual warfare. And you don’t have to beafraid of the enemy as you enter in, because he’salready been defeated.
Satan knows that prayer spells his defeat.He’ll fight you more to keep you from prayerthan any other thing you do. Sometimes, he evenencourages you to other specific activities be-cause he knows how fruitless they are.
You’ll be amazed at the disturbances thatcome your way when you kneel down and startpraying. The telephone will ring. Or someonewill be at the front door. Or you’ll suddenly re-member something you’ve been wanting to do.When I pray I usually take a notepad with meso I can jot down those thoughts of the forgottenthings that need attention. Otherwise I’m tempt-ed to get up and do them immediately. Satan willdo anything to get you away from prayer.
Intercessory prayer is a real labor. It’s a realconflict in the battle against Satan. It’s the decid-ing factor, and that’s why Satan fights it so hard.
Suppose that someone attacked you on adark street and started wrestling with you. If hewere to pull a knife, the whole battle would sud-denly be centered on one thing—control of theknife. All of a sudden, you’d forget about punch-ing him in the nose. You’d be grabbing for hiswrist and trying to knock that knife out of hishand for you realize that it is the deciding factorin this battle.
Satan knows that prayer brings you victoryand spells his defeat. He knows it’s the decidingfactor in this spiritual warfare. That’s why heconcentrates all his efforts against prayer. He’lldo all he can to upset your prayer time, and keepyou from praying.
Persistence
If the answers to your prayers don’t comeimmediately, don’t give up! Paul speaks of Epa-phras “laboring fervently” in prayer for the Co-lossians (Colossians 4:12). I don’t believe that Ep-aphras said, “O Lord, bless the Church in Colosse,in Jesus’ name. Amen.” Rather, he waited uponGod, diligently sought after God for the welfareand the benefit of that church, and continuedthe practice of prayer day after day. James 5:16speaks of effective fervent prayer availing much.
Many times we give up a little bit too soon.Whenever Satan begins losing his grip he makesa last, desperate lunge. This is when we all toooften become tired and give up, quitting justshort of victory.
In his book, How to Win Friends and InfluencePeople, Mr. Carnigie tells of a Mr. Darby, a wealthyinsurance broker from the East, who was caughtup with gold fever and headed out to Colorado.He did some prospecting and discovered a veryrich vein of gold in the Rockies. He returned tothe East and convinced all his friends to investtheir money in a mining venture. They formed a corporation, bought a great deal of equipment,and mined this very wealthy vein of gold ore inColorado.
About the time that the corporation paid offall its debts, the vein of gold ran out. The inves-tors kept digging until they ran themselves intodebt again. Finally one day, a discouraged Mr.Darby ordered an end to the digging. He closedthe mine, went into Denver, and sold the mineand equipment to a junk dealer for a few hun-dred dollars. Mr. Darby headed back home.
The junk dealer hired a geologist to study themine and the area. The geologist came back witha report: “If you’ll dig three feet past the pointwhere Mr. Darby quit, you’ll find that same veinof gold.” The junk dealer became the wealthiestmine owner in the state of Colorado. Just threemore feet! I wonder how many times we, too,stop three feet short of victory.
Claim the Promises
There are many fantastic promises given tous about prayer through Jesus Christ.
Verily I say unto you, Whatsoever ye shall bind on
earth shall be bound in heaven; and whatsoever ye
shall loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven….if
two of you shall agree on earth as touching any
thing that they shall ask, it shall be done for them
of my Father which is in heaven.
—Matthew 18:18–19
The number in prayer: any two of you. Theplace of prayer: on earth. The scope of prayer:any thing. “It shall be done for them of my Fatherwhich is in heaven.” That is a broad and gloriouspromise!
Jesus also promised:
Have faith in God. For verily I say unto you, That
whosoever shall say unto this mountain, Be thou
removed, and be thou cast into the sea; and shall
not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that those
things which he saith shall come to pass; he shall
have whatsoever he saith. Therefore I say unto
you, What things soever ye desire, when ye pray,
believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have
them.
—Mark 11:22–24
What a fantastic promise! Also, Jesus said,
And whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will
I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If
ye shall ask any thing in my name, I will do it.
—John 14:13–14
Any thing!
Another promise: “If ye abide in me, and mywords abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and itshall be done unto you” (John 15:7). Also, “What-soever ye shall ask the Father in my name, he willgive it [to] you. Hitherto have ye asked nothing in myname: ask [the Greek is intensive— ‘please ask’],and ye shall receive, that your joy may be full” (John16:23–24). Here the Lord is begging you to askHim anything and He said He will do it.
These are extremely broad promises to prayer.But to whom were the promises made? Jesuswasn’t talking here to the multitudes. In everycase Jesus was talking to His disciples.
Who qualifies as a disciple? Jesus said, “If anyman will come after me, let him deny himself, andtake up his cross, and follow me” (Matthew 16:24).A person who has denied himself, taken up thecross, and is following Jesus Christ can take thesepromises and lay claim to them. Anything heasks, desires, or wishes will be done.
But, by the very virtue of the fact that a dis-ciple has denied himself, he is not seeking thethings that would glorify his flesh. The very factthat he’s taken up his cross, he’s not seeking hisown glory, but reckoning himself to be dead withChrist. He is now identified only in the thingsthat God wants: committing himself, his ambi-tions, and his life totally to Jesus Christ. The truethrust of prayer is always, “Nevertheless, not whatI will, but Thy will be done.”
Only by denying yourself, taking up yourcross, and following Jesus Christ do you receiveaccess to the powerful promises of God regard-ing your prayers.
When the Answer Is No
The Lord may not give us what we ask whenHe has a higher purpose in mind for our lives.
Moses prayed that God would allow him togo into the Promised Land. God said, “No, Moses.For the sake of the people you can’t go into theland. You misrepresented Me before those peo-ple. Now they must learn the lesson of obedi-ence.” Moses, that mighty spiritual giant whocommuned face to face with God, wasn’t al-lowed to go into the Promised Land (Numbers20:7–12).
Throughout the centuries since then, parentshave told their children the story of Moses, theman of God, who was used by God to deliver thechildren of Israel from Egypt and bring them totheir own land. They tell of Moses who went up into the mountain and received the law of God inthe midst of the fire and rolling thunder; whoseface shone so that he had to cover himself with aveil; who stretched forth the rod and the Red Seaparted. Then with whispered tones they wouldsay to their children, “But Moses could not gointo the land because he disobeyed God.” Inorder to teach the future generations of the nationof Israel the lesson of the importance of completeobedience, God did not answer Moses’ prayer.
Consider the prayer of Jesus that wasn’t an-swered. Though He prayed three times— “Father,if it be possible, let this cup pass from me” (Matthew26:39)—He drank the cup. Why? Because Godwanted to bring salvation to each one of us. Itshould be noted that Jesus, though offering Hisprayer to the Father, added what is so importantto every prayer: “Nevertheless not my will, butthine, be done” (Luke 22:42). That is the key toobedience and prayer. “Lord, here’s what I want.Here’s my desire. Nevertheless, not my will, butThy will be done.” You can’t improve on that! Forthe real purpose of prayer is never to get my willdone, but His.
Ineffective Prayers
Many prayers are ineffective, they seemingly,produce nothing. They go up and yet they bringnothing down. God does answer prayer. That’sthe inspiration behind all prayer; for if God neveranswered prayer, no one would be praying any-more. But why have so many prayers been of-fered without achieving any results?
Certain things can actually hinder yourprayers from being effective. First of all, if youharbor sin within your life your prayers are hin-dered. Isaiah declared,
The LORD’s hand is not shortened, that it cannotsave; neither his ear heavy, that it cannot hear: but your iniquities have separated between you and your God. —Isaiah 59:1–2
So many times when my prayers aren’t an-swered I want to blame God. In reality, the faultis mine. There’s sin at my door. David said that ifI regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord does nothear me when I pray (Psalm 66:18).
Sin, as Isaiah said, breaks your connectionwith God. It’s like cutting the telephone cord.You may dial the number all you want. You mayspeak in eloquent and very persuasive terms. Yet,you’ve cut the cord. The message is simply goinginto the ground and not getting anywhere.
At that point prayer becomes deceptive.Many people say, “I know I’m not living as Ishould be, but I still pray.” But their prayers areof no value. Their relationship with God has beensevered because of the sin within their lives. Theirsins have separated them from their God.
Another cause for ineffective prayers is anunforgiving spirit. Jesus taught so much aboutforgiveness. When He gave us the model prayerHe emphasized one point at the end. If you won’tforgive men their trespasses, neither will your Fa-ther in heaven forgive you your trespasses (Mat-thew 6:15). It’s important to forgive, for you can-not come to God harboring a grudge against abrother without hindering your own prayers toGod.
Ineffective prayers can also be a result of self-ish motivation. James said, “Ye have not, because yeask not” (James 4:2). It’s true that in many casesyou just haven’t prayed. Many times a personwill pour out their horrible tale of woe to me. I’llask, “Have you prayed?” “Well, no.” But that’swhere you start! You have not because you asknot.
Then James went on to say, “Ye ask, and re-ceive not…”—here comes the rub—“because yeask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts”(James 4:3). Behind so many prayers are selfishdesires.
When I was in high school I prayed that Godwould give me a beautiful little ‘36 customizedFord. Oh, how I lusted after that car! I told Godall the good things I’d do for Him— all the kidsI would pick up for Sunday school—if He’d justgive me that car. How could He miss?
I didn’t get it, and I know why. God could seethat in the back of my mind I was cruising aroundthe high school rapping those Smitty mufflers and getting the attention of all those good-look-ing girls on campus. God knew that a customized‘36 Ford would have puffed me up with pride. SoHe gave me a Model A.
So many of our prayers are self-centered. AsI mentioned earlier, there are needs that I haveand God wants to supply them. I should pray forthem, but I must be careful lest all my prayershave only self as the underlying motive.
Helpful Hints
Here are a few rules for prayer that I havefound to be effective. First of all, make the will ofGod your prayer. How? Discover the will of Godthrough the Word of God. God has declared toyou His will, purpose, and plan in the Bible. Giveplace to the Scriptures in your prayers. Too manytimes prayer is only a monologue—and you’redoing all the talking. But that isn’t communion.Communion is a dialogue, talking and listeningwhile God speaks to you in His Word.
Tell God your needs and the needs of othersaround you. Express to Him what you see, whatyou feel, and what you desire. Then turn to theWord, and God will speak to you. He’ll ministerto you and show you His will and plan for yourlife.
Then come again to Him: “Well, Lord, here itis in Your Word. I can see this is what You desireso I claim it in the name of Jesus Christ.” Listenand learn to hear the voice of God as He speaksto you by His Spirit. In Genesis 32 when Jacobheard that his brother Esau, who had vowed tokill him, was coming to meet him with four hun-dred men, he feared for his life. He was driven topray and as he prayed he reminded God of Hispromise. He said, “O God of my father Abraham…the Lord which saidst unto me, Return unto thy coun-try and to thy kindred, and I will deal well with thee”(Genesis 32:9). Jacob was praying on the basis ofGod’s word to him.
Prayer is to be addressed to the Father, in theauthority of the name of Jesus. Actually, you haveno right to an audience with God on your own.There’s no way you can earn such a privilege.The only way you can have an audience with theFather is through Jesus Christ. Jesus said, “I amthe way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh untothe Father, but by me” (John 14:6).
Ask the Father for your needs, but ask Him inthe name of Jesus Christ. It’s through Jesus Christthat you have the right to come, that you have ahearing, and are received. When you knock, use the name of Jesus. If I knock on His door and say,“Father, it’s Chuck here, wanting to talk to you.”
He is apt to respond, “Who’s Chuck, whatright do you have to knock on My door?”
But if when I knock I say, “Father, this isChuck and I come in the name of Jesus.” The re-sponse will be, “Come on in Chuck, good to hearfrom you.”
Use Your Weapons
More victories are wrought through prayerthan any other means. It’s shocking that, thoughGod has given us such a powerful weapon, weare defeated again and again— The problem is,though we possess the weapon we seldom use it.
As Christians, we’re so often trying to defendour weapons. For instance, when people argueagainst the Bible, we begin to defend it. The Bibleis a great weapon, a sharp two-edged sword.Don’t defend it, use it! If you’re in a duel, youdon’t say: “You had better watch out, this swordhas the sharpest steel in town. It’s been honed toa super-fine edge.” You don’t defend your sword.You use your sword!
Likewise, we’re always talking about ourweapon of prayer. Don’t talk about prayer. Pray.Use the weapons that God has given you and tri-umph over the enemy!
CHAPTER 2 – THE PURPOSE OF PRAYER
How we need to pray! Not talk about it. Nothave conferences about it. But to actually practicethe privilege of prayer.
Paul said, “Continue in prayer” (Colossians4:2). The Greek word for “continue” speaks ofpersistence and constancy. Continue steadfastlyin prayer.
Why is persistence necessary in prayer? Somepeople say that praying for the same need morethan once shows a lack of faith on our part. Yet, inthe Garden of Gethsemane Jesus prayed the sameprayer three times (Matthew 26:39–44).
Also, in speaking of his own thorn in theflesh, Paul the apostle said, “For this thing I be-sought the Lord thrice, that it might depart from me”(2 Corinthians 12:8).
Jesus taught persistence in prayer in two par-ables. In the first one He said, “Men ought alwaysto pray, and not to faint” (Luke 18:1). He then illus-trated this by the story of a callous judge and adetermined widow. The widow visited the judgeevery day saying, “Avenge me of mine adversary.”
The judge, even though he did not fear Godor man, said, “This woman will drive me crazyby coming here every day!” So, he wrote out hisjudgment in her favor. Then Jesus added, “Shallnot God avenge his own elect…? I tell you that he willavenge them speedily” (Luke 18:2–8).
At first I found difficulty with the fact thatJesus used an unjust judge as a comparison withour just God. But the parable actually shows avast contrast. If an unjust judge could be per-suaded to act by the persistence of a woman, howmuch more will our fair and loving Father bringabout a just and speedy judgment for those whoare calling upon Him.
The other parable about persistence in prayerconcerns a fellow who heard a knock on his doorat midnight. He opened the door to find some ofhis friends had come to spend the night. Want-ing to feed them before he bedded them down,he went to the cupboard but found he didn’thave enough bread. So, he went to his neighbor’shouse, knocked on the door, and said, “Open upand give me some bread! I’ve got company.”
The neighbor replied, “I’m already in bedwith my wife and children. Come back tomor-row.” But the fellow kept knocking and wouldn’tstop until he had what he needed. Because of thisman’s importunity, the neighbor finally got upand gave him the bread (Luke 11:5–10).
We see that the Bible teaches persistence inprayer. Does that mean our prayers persuadeGod to do things our way? Does God have anarbitrary reluctance to answer us, and we makeHim give in to our demands by being persistentand obnoxious? I hardly think so.
I am convinced that prayers do not and can-not change the purposes of God—though you pray fervently, though you petition with tears,though you pray for days. God is far too loving togive in just because you are weeping and perse-vering for something He knows would be detri-mental to you and would destroy you in the end.
Prayer doesn’t change the purpose of God,but prayer can change the action of God.
Jesus said, “Your Father knows the things youhave need of, before you ask him” (Matthew 6:8 NKJV).Your prayers aren’t for the purpose of informingGod of your situation. He knows all your needsbefore you ever ask Him. But your prayers openthe door and allow God the opportunity to dothose things that He’s been desiring to do, butwouldn’t do in violation of your own free will.
In John 15:16, Jesus said to His disciples,
You did not choose Me, but I chose you and ap-
pointed you that you should go and bear fruit,
and that your fruit should remain, that whatever
you ask the Father in My name, He may give you
(NKJV).
Note, He may give it to you. God knows yourneeds and desires to meet them. Prayer opens thedoor to allow Him to do those things He desiresto do. It is giving God my consent to do what Hedesires in my life. God has given me a free willand will not violate my free will. Thus, I must askin order to receive.
God knows that in one year I will need aparticular thing, because He knows all my exactneeds in advance. I don’t know my needs evena month from now. If God gave me today whatI’ll need in a year, then I might not use it as Heintends it to be used.
So, as I become aware of my needs, I cry outto God, “Help me and meet this need now.” Ihave finally become aware of the problem. ButGod has been aware of it all the time. Now whenI ask Him for help, He is free to give it to me be-cause I’ll use it as He wants it to be used.
God’s Timing
Sometimes our prayers are answered almostas quickly as they’re spoken. Eliezer the servantwas sent by Abraham on a special mission: tofind a wife for Isaac. As he came to a certain well,Eliezer said, “Lord, let a young virgin come hereto draw water and when I say to her, ‘Give me adrink.’ Let her answer, ‘Not only will I give youa drink, but I’ll also draw water for your camels.’And Lord, let her be the one you have chosen asa bride for Isaac.”
While the servant was yet praying in hisheart, a young girl came to the well to drawwater. He said to her, “Give me a drink.” Shequickly let the water jug down from her head,gave him a drink, and then said, “Not only theebut I will also draw for thy camels.” And shedrew water for the camels (Genesis 24:1–20).
This is one of those beautiful, instantaneousanswers to prayer that always thrills us. No soon-er do the prayers escape the heart than God is an-swering them.
It is also true that we have prayed manyyears for certain needs and have not seen the an-swer.
Why is it that some prayers are answered im-mediately and others seem to be delayed? Wepray for some people and they’re healed. We prayfor others and they die.
First of all, this demonstrates that we’re notin control of the situation. God is in control andHe does according to His own purpose and will.Prayers should never be thought of as changingthe purposes of God.
We have a very wrong concept of prayerwhen we think of it as changing God’s mind, al-tering God’s purposes, or getting my will done.The true purpose of prayer is to get God’s willdone—to open the door for God to accomplishthat which He has purposed to do.
Thus, we are led to the conclusion that trueprayer begins in the heart of God. God makesknown to me what is His purpose, His desire, Hiswishes. I offer it back to God in prayer, and thecycle is completed. When I pray in this manner, Iam in harmony with God’s will. In 1 John 5:14,15we read,
And this is the confidence that we have in Him,
that, if we ask any thing according to His will He
heareth us: and if we know that He hear us what-
soever we ask, we know that we have the petitions
that we desired of Him.
Actually, I am the one often changed byprayer. Many times as I am praying God willspeak to me. He will show me His way and Hisplan, which is always so much better than whatI had in mind. While in prayer, God deals withme and shows me the folly of certain things thatI have been insisting, and practically demand-ing, from Him. I respond, “Thank you, Lord, fornot answering me during the last five years.” Heknew what was best for me all the time! At thispoint in my life, as I look back, I am as thankful for the prayers He did not answer as those Hedid.
God has a plan for this earth, and He has cho-sen human instruments to do His work. Somepeople say that God can only work through man.That’s not true. God has chosen to use man. Godcould work in any way He wants. He is not lim-ited by human instruments. If we fail, God isn’tgoing to fail. At times in history God has used an-gels to do His work on earth, such as the destruc-tion of Sodom and Gomorrah.
We must not lay the heavy responsibilityof thwarting God’s purpose on any person. Wesometimes hear said, “If you fail to help in thepurposes of God, the program of God is goingto fail, and you’ll be responsible! You’ll have tostand before God and answer for that failure!”That isn’t true. God will accomplish His purposeone way or another.
By choosing to use you to do His will, Godis giving you the blessed opportunity of know-ing the joy of working together with Him. Then,as results begin to take place, He rewards youas though you did the work! When you get toheaven you’ll be rewarded for those accomplish-ments, even though it was God who did thewhole thing!
When the survival of the Jewish race wasbeing threatened by a cruel edict, Mordecai toldEsther, “If you at this point hold your peace, de-liverance will come from another quarter. Butyou’ll be destroyed” (Esther 4:14). He was warn-ing her that when they try to wipe out the Jews,she would not escape the edict, even though shewas in the palace.
Likewise, when you fail to do God’s will, de-liverance will come from another quarter. You’lllose the blessing and the reward of being a co-la-borer with God, but God’s program and purposewill not fail.
God Wants to Bless You
Second Chronicles tells us of King Asa’s call-ing upon the Lord. When he first came to thethrone, the King was faced with a very difficultsituation—the Ethiopians had invaded the landwith a million-man army and 300 chariots. KingAsa cried out to God,
LORD, it is nothing with thee to help, whether with
many, or with them that have no power: help us,
O LORD our God; for we rest on thee, and in thy
name we go against this multitude. O LORD, thou
art our God; let not man prevail against thee.
—2 Chronicles 14:11
He knew the odds against him survivingmeant nothing to God. If God be for us, who canbe against us? God and you make a majority. TheLord was with Asa, and the king went out anddestroyed the Ethiopian armies.
When King Asa returned from victory theprophet Azariah met him and said,
The LORD is with you, while ye be with him; and
if ye seek him, he will be found of you; but if ye
forsake him, he will forsake you.
—2 Chronicles 15:2
Asa began to prosper. He became very strongand powerful. In the later years of his reign hewas threatened again. But this time, the threatcame from Baasha, the king of the northern tribesof Israel, who was building fortified cities northof Jerusalem in preparation for an invasion. KingAsa took money out of the treasury and sent it tohire Ben-Hadad, the king of Syria, to invade Is-rael from the north. This caused Baasha to with-draw his troops from invading Judah and to de-ploy them to defend the northern border. It was aclever and successful strategy that worked. How-ever, rather than seeking the Lord in prayer, hesought human help. The prophet Hanani came tohim and rebuked him for seeking the aid of manrather than the help of God. The prophet remind-ed him of how the Lord had helped him againstthe Ethiopians at the beginning of his reign, andhe declared,
For the eyes of the LORD run to and fro throughout
the whole earth, to show himself strong in the be-
half of them whose heart is perfect toward him
—2 Chronicles 16:9
Here the Bible is declaring one of the basictruths of God. He is looking for people to bless.God wants to work in your life and bless you. Hewants to use you as one of His channels, as oneof His instruments. But He’s waiting for youto come into alignment with His plan. The mo-ment your life comes into harmony with the pur-poses of God, you become a channel throughwhich God’s power and love can flow to a needyworld.
God is looking for people whose hearts are intune with His desires. Thus, the greatest prayeris “Lord, bring me into harmony with Thy will.”You can’t improve on that. But it has to be more than just lip service. It must come from the heart.And that’s not easy.
There are so many things I want done, and somany of my prayers reflect selfishness. So manyof my petitions are for things that would bringme comfort, ease, and happiness. But the real pur-pose of prayer is to see the work of God accomplishedin my life and then, through my life, in the lives of oth-ers.
I believe that God intends to give you everyright thing that you pray for, but His timing isoften different than yours. Many times God de-lays the answers to your prayers for a very goodreason.
One reason God may delay an answer toyour prayer is that He desires to give you morethan what you were asking for at the moment.
Hannah is a good example of this. She hadbeen barren for years. Her husband had anotherwife with many children. Day after day Hannah’sbarrenness plagued her.
One day Hannah and her husband were trav-eling to the tabernacle while the other wife stayedat home with the kids. On their journey to Shi-loh her husband asked, “Hannah, why are you sosad?”
Hannah replied, “Give me children.”
He responded, “Am I God that I could giveyou children? Aren’t I better to you than manysons? Aren’t you satisfied with me?”
When Hannah arrived at the tabernacle theagony of her heart was so great that she couldn’teven utter her request. She felt the grief so deeplythat she just lay before God in the court of the tab-ernacle. Her lips were moving, but she made nosound with her voice.
Eli the priest passed by and saw Hannahprostrate before the Lord. He thought she wasdrunk and ordered her to stay away from wine.Hannah said, “No, I am not drunk. But the hand-maiden of the Lord is grieved because she is bar-ren. I’ve been pleading with God to give me ason. If He will give me a son, I have promised togive him back to God all the days of his life” (1Samuel 1).
That’s what God wanted to hear from Han-nah, because God needed a man. The state of thenation Israel was so corrupt that there wasn’t aman around for God to use. Before God could get a man, He had to get a woman. Therefore, Hedealt with Hannah’s heart.
Hannah had been praying for a son for manyyears—a son for her own joy and pleasure, ason that would put an end to the taunts fromthe other wife. Hannah had prayed, “Lord, giveme a son. Take away the shame.” But finally sheprayed, “Lord, give me a son. And I’ll give himback to You all the days of his life.” Hannah hadfinally come into harmony with the purposes ofGod.
The priest told her, “Go in peace. The Lordhas heard your prayer. You will have a son.” Han-nah went home and God gave her a son, Samu-el. He became a prophet, a priest, and one of themost outstanding leaders of God’s people in theOld Testament.
Yes, God wanted to give Hannah a son all thewhile. But He delayed the answer to her prayers,so that He might work in her heart until shewould be aligned with His purpose.
Do not get discouraged when God delays the an-swers to your prayers. He may want to give you somuch more than what you’ve been asking for.
God knows the right time to answer ourprayers. Jesus told His disciples to wait in Jerusa-lem until they receive:
The promise of the Father, which, saith he, ye have
heard of me. For John truly baptized with water;
but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost not
many days hence…ye shall receive power, after
that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall
be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in
all Judea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost
part of the earth.
—Acts 1:4–5,8
After Jesus spoke these things, while His fol-lowers were standing with Him on the Mount ofOlives in Bethany, He ascended into heaven, anda cloud received Him out of their sight.
The disciples returned to Jerusalem and con-tinued steadfastly in prayer in one accord. TheBible says that they continued to wait till the dayof Pentecost had fully come. It would have beenpossible for God to have poured out the HolySpirit on them in the first ten minutes, but for Hisown purposes He saw fit to wait approximatelyseven days (Acts 1–2).
How long are you to persist in prayer? Untilyou get an answer—either a yes or no.
Pointers on Prayer
In Colossians Paul exhorts us to “watch,”which literally means to “stay awake.” Sleepi-ness is one of the weaknesses of our flesh whilewe pray. When Jesus was in the Garden of Geth-semane praying, He found His disciples asleep.He said, “What, could ye not watch with me onehour?” (Matthew 26:40). God wants our minds tobe sharp and alert when we talk to Him. I thinkit’s insulting to talk to God when our minds arehalf–awake.
Paul also exhorts us to pray “with thanksgiv-ing” (Colossians 4:2). Our prayers should alwaysbe coupled with thanksgiving. The Psalms serveas an ideal example of this.
David prayed for everything in the Psalms—for himself, for his friends, and for his enemies.He also filled the Psalms with praises and thanks-giving unto God. They are as well-balanced withthanksgiving as with requests. Quite often, butnot often enough, people come to me and say,“I don’t have any problems to lay on you. I justwanted to praise the Lord with you! The Lord hasbeen so good to me. I want to tell you how He’sbeen blessing my life.”
That’s so exciting! I hear so many problemsas a pastor that it’s a great joy when someonesays, “No problem. I just want to tell you theLord is so good!” That’s glorious!
It’s a shame to continually lay some heavyproblem on God. We ought to be thanking Himmore for what He has already done for us.
In the early days of the United States thePuritans observed days of fasting and affliction.There was at least one day of fast each month ofthe year. Then someone said, “Let’s have a day ofthanksgiving! We won’t fast or afflict ourselves,but we’ll have a feast to thank the Lord for all Hehas done.” Thus, Thanksgiving began.
Certainly, personal petitions are necessary inour prayers. But if I only pray when I have somedesperate need in my own life and only bringpersonal petitions to God, I’m denying myself afantastic blessing. Oh, that I would go to Godwith more praises and thanksgiving!
Paul also exhorts us to pray for ministers (Co-lossians 4:3). May God help the ministers. Often,people place ministers on a pedestal and make usinto something we’re not. We’re all too human. Iwish I were more of a saint, but I’m not!
Ministers have problems just like everybodyelse. We go through the same trials, perhaps to aneven greater degree than most other Christians.Many times we’re under heavier attacks by Satanbecause of our position of spiritual authority andleadership.
Ministers need prayer. Someone asked Spur-geon about his success. He answered, “My peo-ple pray for me.” The Apostle Paul said, “Pray forus.”
What did Paul want them to pray for him?He wanted them to pray that God would open adoor of utterance (Colossians 4:3). At this pointPaul was in prison. You’d think that he would de-sire liberty. “Pray that God will open the door ofthe prison and get me out of this place!” InsteadPaul prayed that God would open the door of op-portunity to freely speak the Word.
Pray that God will help me not to be a pow-erless minister, but to be filled with His Spirit.Help me not to speak a lot, but say nothing. Praythat God will help me not to be a fantastic minis-ter, speaking only to please and excite the people.Pray that I’ll not be an idle minister, not beingthoroughly furnished in the Word. Pray that I’llnot be a cold minister and become unresponsiveto the people’s needs.
Pray that I might be a faithful minister speak-ing forth the mysteries of Christ, really demon-strating His love, setting an example before theflock, walking humbly before God as He wouldhave me to do. Pray for your ministers. We covetyour prayers. In turn, we’ll pray for you.
CHAPTER 3 – THE PRIVILEGE OF PRAYER
Everyone engages in prayer at one time oranother. Even that person who says “I don’t be-lieve in God,” cries out when the crisis looms, “OGod, help me!” We are all acquainted with prayerto some extent or another.
Prayer is one of the greatest privileges Godhas given to man. It amazes me that I can comeinto the presence of God, the Creator of this universe, and talk with Him. And what’s more—Healways listens to me!
I’m also amazed that God has given me theprivilege of talking with Him at any time. I don’thave to make an appointment or call in advance.I can come at any hour, for any need, and openmy heart before Him. And God not only listens,He’s also promised to help me! He’s promised toguide me and to provide for my every need.
I imagine one of the great mysteries amongthe angels in heaven is that man has been giventhis glorious privilege of prayer, yet he takes suchlittle advantage of it and treats it in such a pecu-liar way.Many people treat prayer as a religious workthat they must do. After they have prayed for atime, they expect a merit badge for their work.“After all, I prayed a whole hour.” As if oneshould be rewarded for talking to God!
Many people determine to pray an hour aday because it seems like an honorable thing todo. They start the hour of prayer by lifting upevery request imaginable. Then, when ten min-utes has gone by and they’ve run out of thingsto say, they start over again. They go through thelist a few more times. Finally, the hour is overand they feel good. “Praise the Lord! I’ve spenta whole hour praying.” They go their way con-vinced that they’ve done their duty and fulfilledtheir obligation.
Prayer should never be done by the clock. Itshould never be looked upon as an obligation, arequired work, or a duty.
Remember, the length of your prayer isn’timportant at all. Often, there just isn’t enoughtime for lengthy prayers. For instance, supposethat your car is stalled on the railroad tracks andthe train is heading your way. If it takes a longprayer to do the job—you’ve had it!
Jesus warned us, “When ye pray, use not vainrepetitions, as the heathen do: for they think thatthey shall be heard for their much speaking” (Mat-thew 6:7). Many people criticize the Catholics fortheir repetitious use of Hail Mary’s and Our Fa-thers. But continually repeating, “Jesus! Jesus!”or “Glory! Glory!” or any other phrase is alsousing vain repetition. When you pray you’re ac-tually talking to the Father. You should talk toHim intelligently. Don’t repeat the same wordsover and over again like a mantra. It will get younowhere.
Scope of Prayer
The Christian has one source of power in hislife: the Holy Spirit. Jesus said, “Ye shall receivepower, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you”(Acts 1:8). He is the source of power in your life.
However, your greatest outlet of spiritualpower is prayer. I can do more for God throughprayer than I can through any other means, in-cluding service. Prayer binds the strong man ofthe house, whereas service is going in and tak-ing the spoil. I can do more than pray after I haveprayed, but I really can’t do more than pray untilI have prayed. My service to God, though im-portant, is limited to one place. Prayer, however,is limitless in its scope. It can reach around theworld.
Through prayer I can spend one-half hourof my life in South America, doing work for thekingdom of God by strengthening the hands ofthe missionaries. Then I can go to Mexico andspend some time with my friends who are min-istering there. I can help them in their ministryby praying for the effectiveness of the tracts theydistribute and the words they speak. Then I canmove into China and pray for the church there. Ican touch a world for God through prayer rightfrom my own closet.
Rewards
Jesus said, “When you pray, don’t be like thehypocrites” (Matthew 6:5). The word hypocrite inGreek is hupokrites. The actors in classical Greekdrama would wear character masks. These actorswere called hupokrites.
In other words, Jesus said, “When you pray,don’t be as one who merely puts on an act for thebenefit of other people. Don’t be as the hupokriteswho like to pray standing in the synagogues andon street corners to be seen by men.”
From this Scripture many people have as-sumed that public prayer is wrong. That’s cer-tainly not what Jesus said. Jesus himself prayedin public. The early Church also gathered togeth-er for public prayer. The Bible says the believerscontinued daily in the apostles’ doctrine, fellow-ship, in the breaking of bread, and in prayers(Acts 2:42). Prayer is an essential part of our gath-ering together.
But be careful that you’re not praying to im-press men rather than to communicate to God.This is an especially real danger for ministers, because we pray publicly so often. The real temp-tation comes at the close of a sermon, when Isubtly repeat the major points of my message inthe closing prayer to make sure the people un-derstood it. I’m supposedly talking to God, butI’m actually trying to bring my point home to thepeople one more time.
In my early ministry I was almost ruined bypublic prayer. One day a lady said to me, “Youpray the most beautiful prayers.” So I thought,“I’ll sharpen up on that. I’ll make my prayerseven more beautiful!” I became so interested inimpressing people with the beauty of my prayersthat I forgot I was actually talking to the Father.
There’s a real danger in praying to impresspeople with how righteous, godly, and spiritual-ly deep you think you are.
Jesus spoke of two rewards. The first one isgiven by men. It is given to the person who praysin public with the motivation of impressing peo-ple with how spiritual he is. He will be rewardedby someone saying, “Oh, he’s so spiritual!”
The motivation of the Pharisees was justthat—to make a display of their spirituality. Ontheir way to the synagogue they acted as thoughthey were consumed with spiritual zeal. Theyhad to stop on the street corner and say theirprayers right there! They were actually saying,“I’m so holy, I can’t wait till I get to the syna-gogue to pray!” They received their reward – thepraise of man (Matthew 6:5).
On the other hand, Jesus said to go into yourcloset, shut the door and pray to your Father whosees in secret. Then your Father will reward youopenly (Matthew 6:6).
Prayer is rewarding. Even false prayers spo-ken for man’s acclamation are rewarding. Butfrom which source do you want your reward—man or God?
Habits
Oftentimes we fall into peculiar prayer hab-its. If we’re impressed by a certain way a personprays, we’ll incorporate their idiosyncrasies intoour own prayers.
For instance, I may acquire a particular“prayer voice” by expressing my words with a lit-tle vibrato and sustain. “Oohh, God.” Of course,I wouldn’t dare talk to another person that waybecause he’d think I was weird. I wonder whatI’d do if my kids would come to me and say,“Oohhh, dear Father!” Also, praying in Old English vocabulary sounds so much more spiritual.So, I revert to King James English instead of theRevised Standard for my prayers.
Jesus said that your Father knows what youneed before you even ask Him (Matthew 6:8). So,just ask! God doesn’t need to be sold a bill ofgoods. He’s going to answer either yes or no, re-gardless of how you say it.
Jesus said, “Ask [please ask], and ye shall re-ceive” (John 16:24). By asking, you open the doorfor God to do what He’s wanted to do and tobless you like He’s wanted to bless you all along.
Form for Prayer
Jesus gave us a basic form for prayer. “Afterthis manner therefore pray ye: Our Father…” (Mat-thew 6:9). This prayer form immediately revealsthat which is vital for effective prayer, a closepersonal relationship between the petitioner andGod.
Your relationship to God is often manifestedin how you address Him.
Some people begin their prayers with “Al-mighty God.” If that’s your relationship, thenthat’s the way you should talk to Him. If youdon’t really know Him as your Father, then youshould address Him as “Almighty God” or “Eter-nal God.”
But, thank God, through Jesus Christ I canhave a beautiful Father/son relationship. “Behold,what manner of love the Father hath bestowed uponus, that we should be called the sons of God” (1 John3:1). Think of it! We’ve been called sons of God. Ican now come to Him and say, “Father!”
But only through Jesus Christ can we be sons.Those outside of Jesus Christ have a distant re-lationship to the almighty, eternal God. But you,through Jesus Christ, have come into an intimaterelationship. You may say, “Our Father, which artin heaven.”
John said, “As many as received him, to themgave he power to become the sons of God, even to themthat believe on his name” (John 1:12). God has giveneach of us “the Spirit of adoption whereby we cry,Abba, Father. The Spirit itself beareth witness withour spirit that we are the children of God” (Romans8:15,16). Because I’m His child, I naturally callHim “Father.” Relationship is of vital importancein prayer.
Jesus continues His model prayer with praiseand worship. “Hallowed be thy name” (Matthew6:9). Worship is an important part of prayer. “Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into hiscourts with praise” (Psalm 100:4). Too often we justrush right in and blurt out our requests. To enrichyour prayer life, just praise Him for awhile. Thenpresent your petitions.
The first two petitions in Jesus’ model prayerare in the form of intercession. “Thy kingdom come.Thy will be done” (Matthew 6:10). Jesus said, “Seekye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness;and all these [other] things [that you’re so oftenpraying about] shall be added unto you” (Matthew6:33). “Delight thyself also in the LORD; and he shallgive thee the desires of thine heart” (Psalm 37:4).
So many times men seek happiness by directpursuit. But happiness can never be discoveredby direct pursuit. Happiness is the by-productof a personal relationship with God. If you havea right relationship with God, you will be filledwith happiness.
In prayer, seek first the kingdom of God andHis righteousness, and all these other things willbe added to you. They’ll be the by-product of aproper perspective of life. “Thy kingdom come. Thywill be done.” Put those at the top of your list, andyou’ll find that God will take care of all the otherthings you’ve struggled with and have failed toaccomplish.Y
ou can come to God and make your needsand your requests known to Him. You can openyour heart to Him and lay bear the innermost se-crets of your soul. You can have such a blessedtime by talking with the Father and finding Hishelp, strength, and guidance.
What a privilege it is to pray! May God helpyou to discover the full, beautiful experience ofprayer—not as a work, not as a task, not as aduty, not as a burden, not as an obligation—butthe most joyous privilege in the world!
CHAPTER 4 – EFFECTIVE PRAYER
The Bible teaches that faith produces an-swered prayer. Jesus said, “What things soever yedesire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, andye shall have them” (Mark 11:24).
I find it easier to have faith for answeredprayers when I realize the magnificent power ofthe One to whom I’m talking. In the Book of Actsthe disciples prayed, “Lord, thou art God, which hast made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and all thatin them is” (Acts 4:24).
When you pray you’re actually talking to thedivine Creator of this entire universe. Rememberthat! Too often we carry our own limitations overto God. Sometimes we know too much about thecircumstances of a situation, and we have diffi-culty praying with faith.
For example, I have a mechanical mind.Therefore, it’s very difficult for me to pray fora miracle when the engine in my car won’t run.I just lack the faith that God can start the carwhen I know quite well that the coil is weak,the points are bad, and the battery has been rundown. There’s no way I can pray, “O God, helpthis car to start!”
However, my wife doesn’t know a thingabout mechanics. She’s rarely looked under thehood of a car. She doesn’t know a distributorfrom a carburetor or an oil dipstick from a radia-tor cap. So she can have great faith whenever wehave trouble getting the car started.
I’ll say, “What are we going to do?”
She’ll say, “Let’s pray.”
I’ll answer, “Aw, come on! We can’t pray forsomething like this. It’s mechanical.”
But she’ll bow her head and say, “Lord, helpthis car to start now. You know we’ve got to getgoing. I thank you, Father, and I ask it in Jesus’name.” Then she’ll say, “Okay. Try it again.”
I’ll say, “But it’s no use!”“
Just go ahead and try it.” And the enginewill fire off!
Whom are you addressing when you pray?What limit can you place on God’s ability? Lookaround the universe at what God has alreadydone. Then figure out what His limitations mightbe. He’s quite a big God.
We sometimes pray as if we were talking tosomeone extremely limited in power. “O, Lord! Idon’t know if You can do this or not. I even hateto ask You. And if You can’t, well, that’s all right.I understand.”
Difficulty must always be measured by thecapacity of the agent called upon to do the work.Who is the agent you’re calling upon? He is God,the Creator of the universe. He is your heavenlyFather who loves you and has a deep concern foryou. Nothing is too hard for Him.
Jeremiah prayed, “Lord God! behold, thou hastmade the heaven and the earth by thy great power andstretched out arm, and there is nothing too hard forthee” (Jeremiah 32:17). That’s a good way to startprayer!
Many times we’re too overburdened with thesituation when we start to pray. It’s been sittingon our shoulders and it feels like a thousand tons.We plead, “O Lord, what can move this moun-tain? You know what the doctor said about this,Lord. Fatal in 99% of the cases. O Lord, this ishorrible!”
We’re so taken back with the problem thatwe’ve forgotten that we’re talking with the Onewho created the heavens, the earth, the sea, andeverything that is in them. It’s no more difficultfor God to cure a person in the last stages ofleukemia than it is for Him to take away a sorethroat. It’s no more difficult for God to put a newarm on a man than it is to remove his headache.
You may say, “Come on, now. There are lim-its.”
What if a starfish lost one of his arms? Wouldyou have a hard time praying, “God, put a newarm on that starfish?” No. We know that naturecauses a new arm to grow on a starfish. Cut alittle earthworm in half, and nature will make itgrow another half. But who is nature? Who creat-ed the laws of nature? Could not God, who creat-ed us and all the functions within us, cause a newarm to grow? If He can put within the earthwormthe capacity to grow another half, why would itbe so difficult for Him to put a new arm or a newleg on a person?
When we think of such miracles, we’re sty-mied from the human standpoint and carry thatlimit over to God. We say, “Don’t bother abouta new arm, God. Just help him adjust to livingwithout it.”
Sometimes God will perform miracles just toshow us that He can do it in spite of our unbe-lief.
A lady called me one time in Tucson whereI was pastoring. She said, “Oh, Chuck, pray formy little son, David. The car door slammed onhis finger. We’re at the doctor’s office and he sayshe’ll have to amputate! Please pray, Chuck, thatGod will heal it, and they won’t have to amputateDavid’s finger.”
I prayed with the mother over the phone. TheSpirit moved upon my heart and I really felt goodabout the situation. I said, “I believe God’s going to heal David’s finger! Praise the Lord and re-joice! God’s going to do a miraculous work!”
The doctor told David’s mother, “You canbring him back tomorrow. But we’ll have to makethe decision whether or not to amputate tomor-row.”
The next day she took little David back to thespecialist. He looked at the finger and said, “I’msorry, but blood poisoning has already set in. I’mgoing to have to amputate. The bone is crushedand there’s nothing else I can do.”
She called me on the phone. She was cryingso hard she couldn’t talk. “What’s the matter?”I asked. She was hysterical. Her sister took thephone and said, “Chuck, the doctor just ampu-tated the tip of David’s finger and it has her com-pletely shaken.”
I said, “Tell her I’ll meet her at the house.”
As I drove to her house I was so angry withGod! I said, “Lord, why didn’t You heal that fin-ger? You could have healed it so easily! That’snothing for You. Besides, I told her to trust andhave faith in You, and now look what You’vedone. You’ve let both of us down! I’ve got to goand talk to her now. She’s hysterical and I don’tknow what to say!”
When I got to her house I said, “June, weknow that all things work together for good tothem that love God. God has a purpose…. Itcould have been his whole finger, or an arm. Bethankful it was just the tip of the finger. Thatisn’t too bad. David will learn to adjust. Somedaywe’ll discover God’s purposes.”
It’s not easy to counsel in these situations,but I did the best I could. On my way home I wasstill angry with God. “Lord, I just don’t under-stand what You’re doing! If I were You, I certainlywould have healed that finger.”
I was upset. My faith was shattered. I couldn’thave prayed for someone’s cold that night. Thefaith of David’s mother was shattered. Though Itried to comfort her, she couldn’t be comforted.
The next morning she called me. She wasvery excited, screaming on the phone, “Chuck!Chuck! Something happened!”
I said, “What happened now?”
“It’s fabulous!” she said. “David was wres-tling with his brother and he knocked the ban-dage off his finger. I went to put the bandage back on. There’s another whole pink fingertip grow-ing out! It looks like brand new flesh!” She tookDavid to the specialist. He looked at the fingerand scratched his head. He said, “Nurse, bringme my chart.” He looked at his chart and said,“Nurse, we did amputate, didn’t we?”
She said, “Yes, doctor.”
The doctor shook his head. “That’s impossi-ble!” he said. “Could you bring David back to-morrow, please?”
His mother brought David the next day andthe doctor went through the same routine. Hesaid, “Would you mind bringing him back to-morrow?” Every day for a week David’s motherhad to bring her little boy into the specialist whowould look at the new fingertip and scratch hishead. He X-rayed it and saw that the bone wasintact. He said, “This is something fantastic! Asfar as I know, medical science has never seen any-thing like this. I have no explanation for it at all.But, of course, you know that it’s impossible for anail ever to form on that tip.”
A couple of weeks later a fingernail startedgrowing. Within two months David could holdout both hands, and you couldn’t tell which fin-ger tip had been amputated!
David went back to the doctor once a weekfor a year. The doctor took pictures, documentedthe whole event and submitted it to the Journalof the American Medical Association. The doctorwas a Jew, and David’s mother testified to himabout the power of Jesus Christ. He finally said,“I have to confess that this is a miracle of God.”
Afterwards I admitted, “Wow! You sure aresmart, God! That’s really far out!” Had Godhealed the finger before the amputation, the spe-cialist would never have believed any part of themother’s witness. He would have rationalizedthat the body healed itself. But after the amputa-tion… “You did it to blow the doctor’s mind!”
Why do we limit God? Because we are lim-ited. We need to realize to whom we’re talkingwhen we pray. Get our eyes off our problems.Get our minds on the fact that we’re talking tothe Creator of all things: God, who is so great, sovast, and so powerful!
God’s Wisdom
As you pray, it is also important to realize theextent of God’s wisdom. God knows everythingabout your life. He knows the troubles you’regoing through, the situations you’re facing, andthe problems you have.
In fact, thousands of years ago God knew theproblems you’d be facing today. He also knewthe answer He’d work out for you. God isn’ttaken by surprise. He isn’t at a loss for an answerto your problems. God has your whole situationtotally under His control.
Satan’s actions do not diminish God’s con-trol, for Satan can do no more than what God al-lows him to do. God sets the boundaries for theenemy and says, “You can move in this box, butyou can’t go outside of it.” All things are movingwithin the prescribed limits set by God.
Look at Russia, once one of the most power-ful military forces in the world. Look at the ar-maments and megaton bombs she possessed, herdelivery system of ICBM’s and their tremendouspower. The Russians were threatening not manyyears ago to bury us. But they can’t even lift abomb off the ground unless God allows them todo it. All things happen according to God’s pre-determined counsel. When you pray, rememberthat nothing is out of God’s hand. God has ev-erything under His control, and I might add, Histiming is perfect though it is often not in syncwith ours.
Once everything is in perspective and you re-alize to whom you’re praying—how great God is,how wise He is, and how completely He controlsall things—your requests won’t seem so impos-sible.“
O Lord God, You created the heavens, theearth, the sea, and everything in them. You’ve goteverything under control. You’ve written abouttoday’s world condition thousands of years ago.It’s all happening right on target just as You pre-dicted and according to Your counsel. O Lord,You know my tooth aches. Please take the painaway!” If God created the universe, it is certainlynot hard for Him to take care of this little annoy-ance.
The greater our concept of God, the smallerour problem seems. However, most of the timewe get right into the problem when we pray. “O,God! This is so big! This is so horrible!” We panicbecause the mountain seems so high. But Godcreated Mt. Everest, and He could move it to an-other part of the universe if He so desired! Jesussaid,
If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall
say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder
place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be im-
possible unto you.
—Matthew 17:20
How big is that mountain you’re facing? “Idon’t know how I’m going to pay my bills nextweek! Where will I ever get the money?” Wheredid all the gold come from anyway? God createdit. It’s nothing for God to meet your needs. If youcan realize His power, His wisdom, His sover-eignty, then you can bring your request to Godwith confidence and ease.
In the Old Testament, King Asa said, “LORD,it is nothing with thee to help, whether with many, orwith them that have no power” (2 Chronicles 14:11).In other words, it really makes no difference toGod whether you have a big army or a small pla-toon.
Early one morning Jonathan arose and sawIsrael’s enemies, the Philistines, camped in thedistance. Most of Saul’s army had deserted andfled across the Jordan river. He looked aroundand saw that the men in his own company werefast asleep. He nudged his armor-bearer and said,“Wake up! Look at all those Philistines over there.I wonder if God wants to deliver the Philistinesto Israel today? If He does He doesn’t need thewhole army. He can deliver the Philistines to thetwo of us just as easily as to the whole army. Let’sventure over to the Philistine camp and see ifGod wants to work for Israel today.”
They came into the camp of the Philistinesand began attacking them. These two fellowsbegan the rout of the whole Philistine army! (1Samuel 14:1–18) It makes no difference to Godwhether you’re weak or strong, whether youhave a whole army or you’re alone. If God isdoing the work, that’s all that counts.
How do we engage in prayers that produceresults? How can we pray effectively? Get theright concept of God—and the rest is easy!
CHAPTER 5 – STRENGTH IN PRAYER
The strength of a believer is always relatedto his faith in God. Jesus said, “Without me ye cando nothing” (John 15:5). Unfortunately, I don’t al-ways believe that.
In fact, it seems that I often believe just theopposite. I stubbornly insist that there must besomething good I can do apart from Jesus. I’m al-ways looking for some redeeming quality within myself, some characteristic for which God mightlove me—because it seems that I’m incurablyself-righteous. “That’s all right, Lord, I’ll do thisone. You don’t have to help me this time.” Thenwhen I totally fail, Jesus reminds me, “Without meye can do nothing.”
I have proven the truth of that statement overand over in my life. Apart from Christ I can donothing. I am really weak and helpless.
On the other hand, I’ve discovered anotherbeautiful truth, one that Paul also discovered. “Ican do all things through Christ which strengthenethme” (Philippians 4:13). Apart from Him I’m total-ly helpless and have no strength. Through ChristI have strength to meet any situation and to over-come any difficulty. In myself I am weak, but inHim I am strong.
Some people are strong within themselves.They trust in their own abilities and then gloatin their independence and strength. However, nomatter how strong a person thinks he may be,there will come a day when he exhausts his ownresources and finally confesses, “I can’t do it! Ican’t go on!”
When the man who has learned to trust onlyin himself comes to that day of reckoning, it is atragic and disastrous day. But for the man whohas learned to trust in the Lord, that day is no dif-ferent than any other, because he has learned toturn every day over to God. The man who is self-reliant, self-willed, and self-made will ultimatelyfall. But the man who has learned to trust in theLord for his strength will never fall. As long asI am looking to myself and my own resources,I will always be restricted by my human limi-tations. But if I trust in God and in His resourc-es, then I have His infinite capacities available tome.
I can never face a situation which is too bigfor God and me to handle. There is no obstacleso great that God and I can’t overcome. There isno enemy too strong for God and I to defeat. Godand I make a majority in any crowd! If God befor me, who can be against me? (Romans 8:31).Learn to turn to God for your resources and yourstrength. In 2 Corinthians 12:9, Paul is speakingof his infirmities or weaknesses. He speaks of glo-rying in his weaknesses that the power of Christmight rest upon him. He said that he actuallytook pleasure in his weaknesses, for when he wasweak then he was strong. My greatest area ofweakness is where I feel strongest in my fleshand in no need of the Lord’s help. Conversely, my greatest area of strength is where I know that Iam weak and cannot make it without the Lord’shelp.
God is our source of strength. Prayer is thechannel through which God gives His strength.
Prayer in Action
Nehemiah was a man of the Word andprayer. When Hanani and the other travelersreturned from Jerusalem, Nehemiah questionedthem about his beloved city. Hanani told him ofthe bad state of affairs in Jerusalem. “The wallsare broken down. The people are demoralized.They’re barely existing. They’re an easy prey toall of their enemies. They have no defenses. Thecity is in shambles!”
When Nehemiah heard the condition of Jeru-salem, God’s holy city, he wept before the Lord.Then Nehemiah fasted, prayed, and confessed toGod his sins and the sins of the people. He alsoacknowledged the righteousness of God’s judg-ment against Jerusalem. Notice how he used theWord of God in his prayer. He said, “Lord, Yousaid by the mouth of Moses that if we turn fromYou, You would turn Your back upon us andmake us afraid of our enemies, and we would bescattered into the world. But, Lord, You also saidthat if we would turn back to You and seek Yourface and call upon You, You would hear us andrestore and rebuild the land” (Nehemiah 1:1–11).
The burden on Nehemiah’s heart was to re-store and rebuild the city of Jerusalem. The Bibleshows us how God opened the doors for Nehe-miah’s prayer to be answered.
Nehemiah was the cupbearer to the kingof Persia in Shushan. This prestigious positionbrought him into daily contact with the king. Oneday as he bore the cup to the king, the king asked,“Nehemiah, why are you looking so sad today?I’ve never seen you so glum.”
Nehemiah replied, “I’ve just received the re-port concerning Jerusalem. It is devastated andthe people are demoralized. How can I be happywhen the city I love is so desolate?”
The king said, “What would you like me todo?”
Nehemiah tells us, “I prayed to the God of heav-en. And I said unto the king…” When the kingsaid, “What can I do for you?” Nehemiah prayed,“Quick, God, help! What do I say?” (Nehemiah2:1–4).
Nehemiah prayed first and then acted. Thatis the correct order: pray, then act. If we alwaysprayed before we acted, needless to say, wewould act differently in many cases. We wouldn’tbe so apt to act rashly or inappropriately. TheBible promises, “In all thy ways acknowledge him,and he shall direct thy paths” (Proverbs 3:6). Prayerwas such an important part of Nehemiah’s lifethat it was simultaneous with his actions.
Nehemiah’s response to the king’s questionwas to ask for permission to rebuild the walls ofJerusalem. The king granted Nehemiah’s request,and sent him to Jerusalem with a company ofmen.
As Nehemiah and his men were rebuildingthe wall, their enemies gathered around themand tried to defeat the Israelites by ridiculingthem and mocking the construction of the wall.Many times Satan uses ridicule to discourage youin the work of God. He says, “Who do you thinkyou are? Billy Graham? Are you out to save theworld?” Ridicule is one of the main tools theenemy uses to thwart your efforts for God. Andit’s a powerful tool. None of us like to be ridi-culed. Too often that device actually stops a per-son’s ministry for God.
But Nehemiah did the right thing. Insteadof battling the enemy himself and answering themockery, he prayed, “Lord, You’ve heard them.Take care of them. Wipe them out. Lead theminto captivity” (Nehemiah 4:1–5). Don’t respondto ridicule by striking back. It’s much better tocommit it to the Lord and let Him be your de-fense. You’ll surely be strong in Him.
When the enemy realized that they couldn’tdiscourage the rebuilding of the wall throughridicule, they planned to attack and tear it downat night. Nehemiah heard of the conspiracy andreplied. “We made our prayer unto our God, and set awatch against them day and night” (Nehemiah 4:9).
This brings out an important point. Prayershould never be an excuse for idleness or fool-hardy action. God has given you good commonsense and He expects you to use it. If you’re beingthreatened by an enemy, pray first—but then takewhat defensive measures are necessary. Actionfollowing prayer is not a lack of faith.
Be practical. If you ask God to heal yourpoor eyesight, don’t throw away your eyeglass-es before the optometrist has a chance to retestyou and says that you’ve been healed. Prayershouldn’t lead you into reckless or careless actions. It should actually create a diligence withinyou. In fact, prayer will lead you into activitymore often than it will lead you into inactivity.Pray first, then take action.
Some people are very lazy and think thatGod is going to do all the work for them. Youquestion them about something and they use theexcuse, “I’m just leaving that in the hands of theLord.” No, the Lord expects you to act, too!
For instance, if you need a job, you don’t justsit at home and wait for someone to call. You askGod to give you one. Then go out and submitapplications every place you can. Then trust thatthe Lord will open the door to the job He wantsyou to have. Don’t just sit there and say, “Okay,Lord, bring me the job.” You don’t say that whenyou have to eat. You don’t lie in bed and say, “Ifyou want me to eat today, Lord, just drop the foodin my mouth.” You’re not passive about that, andyou shouldn’t be passive about the other areas ofyour life.“
So we prayed unto God,” Nehemiah said, “andwe set a watch against the enemy.” The Israelitesbuilt the wall with a trowel in one hand anda sword in the other. The enemy saw that theywere armed and prepared, so he didn’t attack; in-stead, he planned new ways for Jerusalem’s de-struction.
Nehemiah, knowing the enemy was trying toweaken him and the hands of his men, prayed,“God, strengthen my hands” (Nehemiah 6:9). Nehe-miah, a man of prayer, was a man of action andof strength as a result.
Man of Prayer
What constitutes a man of prayer? First, heprays about everything—little things as well asbig things. Oftentimes, we’re reluctant to prayabout the little things because we’re afraid tobother God with trivia. He’s so busy running theuniverse that He doesn’t need to help me in thesmall areas of my life. But Jesus said that ourheavenly Father is conscious of the sparrow fall-ing to the ground. How much more is He con-scious of our every need? (Luke 12:6–7).
The Bible also commands, “In every thing byprayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your re-quests be made known unto God” (Philippians 4:6).If you really love someone, it doesn’t matter howoften he calls or what he calls about, you’re justglad to hear from him. God loves you so much,He doesn’t care how trivial your need might be.He just loves to hear from you.
Jesus said, “Men ought always to pray, and notto faint” (Luke 18:1). Why then are so many peo-ple losing heart and never praying? I hear peo-ple say, “I don’t know what I’m going to do!I don’t know where to turn.” They’re fainting.Learn of God’s grace through prayer. Learn toturn every situation over to God so your lifemight be strengthened by His hand upon you.
As a result of Nehemiah’s close fellowshipwith God, the walls of Jerusalem were rebuilt infifty-two days. Others had tried to rebuild thosesame walls for almost a hundred years! Not onlythat, there was a spiritual revival among the peo-ple. While doing the physical work of God, Nehe-miah and his men also did a spiritual work. TheIsraelites became so excited that their walls wererebuilt and they could again dwell securely in Je-rusalem that they gathered together to worshipthe Lord. In the temple, Ezra the scribe broughtout the law of God and read it to the people.It was accompanied by repentance and weepingbefore God. The hearts of the people were turnedback to the Lord (Nehemiah 8–9).
One man living in prayer and fellowshipwith God can accomplish incredible results!
As I look around today, I see that we’re liv-ing in a needy world. We need people who live infellowship with God, who know the strength ofGod, and who are willing to pray for God’s workto be done. Why not be that man of prayer for thesake of this poor, lost world, nation, city, school,or perhaps even your own family.
CHAPTER 6 – PRAY, AND I WILL ANSWER
I am always interested in the prayers wefind in the Bible. And I’m especially interested inthose prayers that produced results. The prayerof Jabez in the Old Testament is one such exam-ple. In studying his words, we can learn somevaluable insights into prayer.
Which God Do You Serve?
First of all, the Bible declares that when Jabezprayed, he “called on the God of Israel” (1 Chroni-cles 4:10). What God do you call upon when youpray?
I’ve met people who live very carelessly andrecklessly. From outward observances they leadvery sinful lives. When we start talking and theyrealize that I’m a minister, they usually interject,“I know that I’m not living like I should, but Ipray every night. I never go to sleep without say-ing my prayers.”
When these people pray, “Now I lay medown to sleep, I pray thee Lord…” —whom arethey addressing? Who is the true “Lord” of theirlives?“
Lord” is not so much a name as it is a title.People serve many different gods, many differ-ent lords. Who is the lord of your life? It’s impor-tant to know the one you’re addressing in yourprayers. Jesus said that not all who say, “Lord,Lord” are even going to enter the kingdom ofheaven.
God told Jeremiah that when the people of Is-rael call to Him, He would no longer hear them.The next time they’re in trouble, they were not toask God for help. Let them call on the gods thatthey’ve been serving (Jeremiah 11:12,14). Thuswhen Israel cried, “O god, help us,” they mighthave been calling on Baal, or Molech, or Ashtor-eth.
It’s a tragic day when God finally says to aman, “I’ve had it! You’ve lived a careless life andyou’ve worshipped and served everything butMe, but when you’re in trouble you call on Me.Next time you’re in trouble, just call on the godsyou’ve been serving.”
Your god is really the supreme passion ofyour life. For instance, many people today wor-ship and serve their intellects. “To know and tounderstand,” they say, “is the greatest good. Icannot accept the idea of a supreme being be-cause I do not believe in anything I cannot bringinto the confines of my mind.” Therefore, whenthey pray, “O god,” they’re actually praying totheir own intellects.
In ancient times people named and wor-shipped a multitude of gods. But we’re too so-phisticated today to give ancient names to ourgods. A person today might serve his passionsbut, if asked who his god is, he wouldn’t say, “Venus, the goddess of love.” He’d just say, “I’ma lover. I believe a person should seek the bestthings of life. Love is the ultimate. Therefore, tomake love is the chief goal of man.” When hecries, “O god,” he might as well be crying “OVenus!”
There are others who deify the pleasure prin-ciple. They live and work the entire week withone thing on their mind: the weekend. “Fridaynight we’ll get in the camper—with the threewheeler on the back, the boat on top, and thedune buggy behind—and we’ll head out for theriver! Wow, what a weekend we’ll have!” Allweek long they’re thinking of the thrills, excite-ment, and pleasures they’ll have on the weekend.Every night they tinker around at home in prepa-ration to go Friday night.
There was an ancient faith whose believersalso worshipped pleasure. They called their godMolech. Many people today, when they cry “Ogod,” are actually crying to Molech because, inreality, he is their god.
There are others who deify the power prin-ciple. “Might is right.” They seek to possess andto have. They’re constantly scheming to get moremoney in order to get more possessions. Theirminds are always analyzing how to cut this, in-crease that, invest here or there. They take secondjobs. Their interests are centered around money,money, and more money. This is the worship ofthe old god Mammon. When these people are introuble, they cry, “O god!” But their god Mam-mon can’t hear.
It’s important to realize that the prospect ofyour prayers being answered is totally depen-dent upon the one whom you petition. You mighttell me, “Chuck, I need one hundred thousanddollars. You don’t know how desperately I needit. If I don’t get it, I don’t know what I’m going todo!”
You could plead with me for a whole week,two weeks, or two years, but you don’t have achance of getting that amount from me. I justdon’t have it. You’re petitioning someone whohas no power or capacity to answer.
When the prophets of Baal were beseechingtheir god to send fire to their altar, they cried allmorning. “O Baal, send fire!” But there was nofire. About noon Elijah said, “Fellows, I bet theproblem is that your god has gone someplace.Or else he’s sleeping. Why don’t you cry a littlelouder? Maybe then he’ll hear you.” They started crying louder, and soon they were cutting them-selves and leaping on their altar to get Baal’s at-tention! (1 Kings 18:26–29). They could have goneon forever, and still no fire would have comedown to consume their sacrifice. Why? Becausetheir god had no capacity to answer.
Deification of love, money, pleasure, or in-tellect is to deify impersonal, impotent forces. Inthe hour of real need these gods can producenothing. But when I cry to Jehovah, the God ofIsrael, I know that he is able to do far more abun-dantly than all that I ask or think (Ephesians3:20). There’s no end to God’s power. When I cryto Him, He is able to meet my needs. “One hun-dred thousand dollars?” He asks. “Is that all?”It’s nothing for God to meet my need, no matterwhat it might be.
When Jehovah God is the agent I call upon,nothing is too difficult for Him. But if Venus,Molech, Mammon, or Baal are the agents I callupon to do a work, then I’m really in a bind. Inthe hour of real need, when I cry in desperation,they just aren’t there to help.
Life is so empty for the people who live forpleasure. I’ve stood beside many people in theirtime of need. When their child is lying on a hos-pital bed and the doctor walks out of the operat-ing room shaking his head, they look at me as ifto say, “Do something, preacher!” Their god ofpleasure is so empty at that time. He has so littlecomfort, help, or hope to offer.
But when you worship Jehovah and call uponHim as your Lord, it’s glorious to know that He isable to help. And not only able to help, but will-ing and wanting to help.
Paul said to the Athenians on Mars Hill, thatthe God he wanted to talk to them about, theOne they called the unknown God, is the Onewho created the heavens and the earth and ev-erything in them. “In Him we live, and move, andhave our being” (Acts 17:22–28). That’s the One Icry to when I call upon God—the One who rulesme and is Lord of my life.
Petitions of Jabez
Now let’s look at Jabez’s petitions. First of all,Jabez called upon the God of Israel, saying, “O,that thou wouldest bless me” (1 Chronicles 4:10).Jabez wasn’t ashamed to say, “Bless me.” AndI’m not ashamed to ask God to bless me. I wantGod to bless me. I want every blessing that Godhas for me. If I’m to be a blessing to others I mustfirst receive the blessings of God.
Now notice the blessings that Jabez request-ed. First of all he said, “Enlarge my coast” (1Chronicles 4:10). The Jews had come into thePromised Land, but much of the land was in thehands of the enemy. God had promised them theentire land, but they had not yet obtained the fullpromise of God. Thus Jabez prayed, “Lord, en-large my coast,” or actually, “Help me to possessall that You’ve given me.”
I pray this in my own life. “Lord, help meto possess all that You have given and promisedto me.” God has given to us rich and preciouspromises. We can be living in a glorious spiritualatmosphere, as we live in the heavenlies in ChristJesus. But instead we choose to drag along onthe bottom of the pile, groveling in the dirt. Youmay enjoy it down here, but I enjoy it up there.Thus I pray, “Lord, bless me and help me to pos-sess all that You have given to me. I thank Youfor what You’ve already done for me, Lord, butYou’ve promised so much more…”
After all, why should you close the door onwhat God wants to do for you? Some people say,“I really don’t feel I need the gifts of the Spirit.”Personally, I need everything that God has to giveme. Not only do I need everything that God hasoffered to give me, I desire everything that Hehas to give.
When I come to God, I don’t close any doors.I say, “Okay, Lord, here I am. Do things Your way.Don’t let me put any restrictions in Your path. En-large my coast, and allow me to possess all thatYou have promised.” Whenever I try to dictate toGod what blessings I will accept, and which I re-ject, I’m actually exalting my own wisdom aboveHis. I’m saying that I know my needs better thanHe knows. “You can do this and this for me, God,but I don’t want You to do that.”
Not me! I pray, “Enlarge my coast, Lord.Bless me. Do all that You want to do in my life.”
Then Jabez prayed, “That thine hand might bewith me” (1 Chronicles 4:10). It is so importantthat I have the hand of God upon my life in allthe things I do. It’s dangerous to undertake anyproject without God’s hand upon me.
Moses said to the Lord, “If thy presence go notwith me, carry us not up hence” (Exodus 33:15).Lord, don’t lead me anywhere You’re not goingto be with me. I can go forth with assurance, com-fort, and power when I know that God’s hand isupon my life. I need no longer tremble.
Jabez’s next petition was, “Keep me from evil”(1 Chronicles 4:10). This is such an importantprayer that Jesus included it as the last petitionin the Lord’s Prayer. “Deliver us from evil” (Mat-thew 6:13). The evil one is always trying to drawus into his snare.
I so easily fall into the snare of the enemy andallow hatred to begin to master my life, bitternessto control me, or some evil way to get its gripupon me. It’s difficult to live a righteous life. Infact, it’s not possible by our own human energy.It takes the power of the Spirit of God in me tolive righteously.
Then Jabez continued, “Keep me from evil, thatit may not grieve me” (1 Chronicles 4:10). The pri-mary result of evil is very rarely grief. The pri-mary result of evil is quite often thrills and excite-ment. Evil often has the appearance of being veryprosperous. “It looks like such an easy way tomake a quick buck. Of course, it isn’t quite hon-est. But look at the profits you can make. Andlook at what you can do with the money that youget from the profits!”
The primary result of evil may be joy, excite-ment, pleasure, or possessions—but the end re-sult of evil is always grief. You may not thinkso right now. Sin may seem very exciting to youtoday. But a wise man will always consider thefinal destination of the path he is taking. Whereis your path leading you? If it is a path of evil,my friend, it is leading you to grief. In Psalm 73,Asaph said that he was envious of the foolishwhen he saw the prosperity of the wicked. Thisalmost stumbled him in his walk and commit-ment to the Lord until he considered the end re-sults of their wickedness.
In the Proverbs, Solomon warned his sonabout the prostitute.
The lips of a strange woman drop as an honey-
comb, and her mouth is smoother than oil: But her
end is bitter…her feet go down to death; her steps
take hold on hell.
—Proverbs 5:3–5
At first glance sin may look exciting, but theend result is death and hell. Solomon declared,“There is a way which seemeth right unto a man,but the end thereof are the ways of death” (Proverbs14:12).
Answers
What was the result of Jabez’s prayer? TheBible said, “God granted him that which he request ed.” Praise the Lord! Jabez asked God to bless himand God did bless him. He asked the Lord to en-large his coast and the Lord enlarged his coast.Jabez said, “Lord, keep your hand upon me,” andGod kept His hand on him. He said, “Lord keepme from evil,” and the Lord kept him from evil.
It’s glorious to know that I can pray and if Ipray according to the will of God, the Bible prom-ises,
If we ask any thing according to his will, he
heareth us: and if we know that he hear us, what-
soever we ask, we know that we have the petitions
that we desired of him.
—1 John 5:14–15
I can pray with confidence for God to blessme, enlarge my coast, keep His hand upon me,and keep me from evil—for this is the will of Godfor my life.
Ask Him and you, too, shall receive. Jesussaid, “Ask [please ask], and ye shall receive, thatyour joy may be full” (John 16:24).
CHAPTER 7 – SIN OF PRAYERLESSNESS
In your walk with the Lord, God will lift youup to the highest level you allow Him, and He’lldo His best for you on that level. But, unfortu-nately, so many times we limit what God wantsto do in our lives by insisting on our own wayinstead of yielding to His way. God would do somuch more for us, but so many times we’re toobusy insisting, “This is the way I want it, God!”In demanding my own way, I go from God’s best to second or third best. His work in my life isoften limited because I reject His divine way.
Such was the case with Israel. Israel was oncea theocracy, a nation governed by God. But thetime came in Israel’s history when the people nolonger wanted God to rule over them. They de-manded a king like all the other nations. This wasa time of national disaster as Israel deterioratedfrom a theocracy to a monarchy.
God accommodated the demands of the peo-ple and commanded Samuel to anoint Saul asking. God did not wipe out the Israelites and say,“I’m through with you!” They were still God’speople. He did the best He could under their im-posed conditions…and He appointed a king forIsrael.
However, God wanted them to know thatHe was displeased with their decision. ThroughSamuel He told them that He was going to sendrain on their wheat fields. The rain came and thepeople grew fearful. They cried to Samuel, theirprophet, “We’ve sinned! Pray to God for us thatwe will not die, for we have added to all of ourother sins by asking for a king.”
Samuel answered, “Don’t be afraid. Eventhough you have sinned, you’re still God’s peo-ple. He has chosen you for His name’s sake.”Then he said these amazing words:
Moreover as for me, God forbid that I should sin
against the LORD in ceasing to pray for you.
—1 Samuel 12:16–23
According to this passage, it is actually a sinnot to pray. How many times are we guilty of thesin of prayerlessness! Think of what a reproach itis to God when you do not pray.
God is the Creator of the universe. “All thingswere made by him; and without him was not any thingmade that was made” (John 1:3). The One who hascreated this vast universe has given you an in-vitation to come, talk, and fellowship with Him.He has invited you to enter into His presenceto share any problems or needs you might have.Yet, so many times we ignore this invitation.
Imagine that in your mail was a letter whichhad the engraved, full-color, embossed seal of thePresident of the United States. You tear open theletter and find a formal invitation to the WhiteHouse with all expenses paid. What would youdo? Toss it away? No. The President, whetheryou agree with him or not, is an important per-son. Would you fail to respond? Of course not.
If you respond to a human being’s invitationwith graciousness, think of the reproach whenGod, who has invited you to come and have fel-lowship with Him, is refused.
You may say, “I just don’t have time to pray.”Do you have time to watch television? We havetime to do the things we really want to do. There-fore, God must assume that we really don’t wantto fellowship with Him. And that’s a correct as-sumption.
Our flesh rebels against prayer because it’san exercise of the spirit. That is why I get so tiredas soon as I start to pray. I say, “I’m too sleepy,Lord.” My flesh is rebelling against the spiritualexercise of prayer.
The spirit and flesh are always warringagainst each other. Whenever I enter into spiritu-al exercise, my flesh rebels against it. I find anyexcuse possible. “I’m too upset to pray” or “I’mtoo weak to pray.”
Prayerlessness actually hinders the work ofGod. You may ask, “Isn’t God sovereign? Can’tHe do whatever He wants to do? Doesn’t Herule over the entire universe? Aren’t His purpos-es going to be accomplished no matter what?Then how can prayerlessness hinder the work ofGod?”
It is true that God is sovereign. But it’s alsotrue that God has created us as free moral agents.We have the capacity to choose and act freely, andGod respects your free moral agency. He will notforce His will nor His desires upon your life. Hehas given you the ability to choose, and He hon-ors your choice.
God has ordained that His work on earth bewrought through prayer and by our agreeing to-gether in prayer.
In Psalms it declares that the Hebrew nation“limited the Holy One of Israel” (Psalm 78:41). Anunlimited God was limited by man’s unbelief.What is it that keeps you from prayer? Unbelief.You can actually limit the work God wants to doby your unbelief.
Jesus said,
Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you,
and ordained you, that ye should go and bring
forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain: that
whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in my name,
he may give it you.
—John 15:16
God wants to give you many things, but Hewill not give them until you pray. By prayeryou’re actually opening the door to let God dothe things He wants to do. I believe we have seenonly a small fraction of what God has wanted todo—because of our lack of prayer.
God commands us to pray. Therefore, notto pray is an act of disobedience against God.The Bible says, “Pray without ceasing” (1 Thessa-lonians 5:17), and “Men ought always to pray, andnot to faint” (Luke 18:1). Failure to pray is a sinbecause I am disobeying the actual command ofGod.
We need to pray for one another. It is a sin if I,as a pastor, fail to pray for my flock. The Scripturesays, “Pray one for another” (James 5:16). “Bear yeone another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ”(Galatians 6:2).
Sometimes, we may pray about a certainproblem in another person’s life. When the prob-lem doesn’t immediately go away, we become sodiscouraged that we decide to quit praying forhim altogether. We become so upset with otherpeople’s failures, even though we may have thesame faults in our lives. Our sins always lookhorrible when someone else is committing them!
Samuel had prayed that God would changethe people’s minds so they would no longer insiston a king. Samuel wanted God to rule and reignover the nation. But after all his prayers the chil-dren of Israel still insisted on a king. Samuel eas-ily could have become disgusted and said, “I’mnot going to pray for those stubborn, stiff-neckedpeople anymore! They have what they asked for.Let them reap the consequences.” But he didn’t.He said to them, “God forbid that I should sinagainst the Lord in ceasing to pray for you” (1 Samu-el 12:23).
Causes of Prayerlessness
If you examine yourself, you’ll find a varietyof reasons for the lack of prayer in your life. Thefirst cause is the lack of time.
In this society we’ve allowed ourselves to be-come busier than God originally intended. Whenthe Lord first created our bodies He intended forman to live at a much easier, more relaxed pacethan we live today. Today, our lifestyle and oursociety make it difficult to find time to be alonewith the Lord.
Also, it is extremely difficult to find an un-disturbed place to pray. It’s getting harder andharder to find a quiet place to be alone with the Lord. This world is becoming more congestedand overcrowded, and Satan does everything hecan to interrupt any quiet times you may havewith the Lord.
For instance, you may go for a week withoutone telephone call. But, if you get lonesome andwant the telephone to ring, just kneel down andpray. It may be a wrong number, but you can besure the telephone is going to ring, or someonewill be at the front door, or one of the childrenwill come in crying. So many disturbances makeit difficult to pray.
Another hindrance to prayer is the tendencyto let your mind wander. You begin to pray aboutcertain things. Quite soon your mind has takenyou surfing—the waves are great, that next setlooks like a beauty—oops, “Sorry, Lord!” Yourmind has taken a little side journey.
Another problem which causes a lack ofprayer is drowsiness. We live under such pres-sure most of the time that any free moment is amoment to rest. For instance, if you kneel downbeside your bed and put your head in your armsand start to pray—that’s a real good position tosleep! You soon doze off in the middle of a prayer.After a while your legs and knees begin to ache.It wakes you up. You suddenly realize, “I’ve beensleeping on the job!”
It’s even worse if you decide to lie in bedand pray with your head on the pillow. Now, Idon’t discourage that completely. I go to sleepevery night talking to the Lord. I enjoy commun-ing with the Lord till I’m asleep. But it is neces-sary to have a prayer time that’s much more ac-tive and alert.
Solutions
What can we do to overcome our problemof prayerlessness? I have a few practical sugges-tions. As far as time is concerned, we must dis-cipline ourselves and take time for prayer. You’llnever find time to pray. You must make time.
Life is made up of priorities. Since you cannever do all that you want to do, you must al-ways sacrifice the less important things for themore important ones. A wise man makes gooduse of his time and keeps his priorities in properperspective.
Prayer is the most important activity youcould ever engage in. It should be at the top ofyour priority list of things to do. You need to take the time for prayer even if you have to skip yourtime to eat or read the evening newspaper!
Secondly, find a place that is undisturbed. Itmay take some doing, but make the effort. Manytimes I go for a walk or take a drive to get alonewith the Lord. I also wake up much earlier thanthe rest of my family. Prayer is more important tome than my sleep, and the phone rings very sel-dom in the early morning.
To keep my mind from wandering, I usuallyvocalize my prayers. It’s true that God knowswhat’s in my heart, but when I try to pray outof my heart my mind often wanders. For a mo-ment I’m thinking, “Lord, take care of this andthat. Thank you for this…” and pretty soon I’msurfing again! But when I vocalize my prayer, Ihave to think about what I’m saying. That causesme to concentrate on my conversation with theLord.
I’ve found that it’s best for me to pray whilesitting in a chair. I don’t even close my eyes be-cause that can get dangerous!
As a child I was always told that if I didn’tclose my eyes, the Lord wouldn’t hear me. Apastor once mentioned that when he was play-ing basketball in junior high, the team decidedto pray before the game. Some kid said, “Allright, everybody close your eyes or we’ll lose.”He peeked to see if they were all closing theireyes—and they lost. He felt guilty over that gamefor years!
However, in the Scriptures we are told to praywithout ceasing (1 Thessalonians 5:17), whichcertainly indicates that prayer is not a position ofthe body. If I have to kneel down to pray, prayerwithout ceasing would mean that I would neverget off my knees. Likewise, God does not expectus always to pray with our eyes closed, becauseprayer without ceasing would mean that I wouldnever again open my eyes! Whether my eyes areopen or closed, God hears all my prayers just thesame.
I have found a good solution to drowsinessor sleepiness while praying is walking. As I’mwalking I can’t fall asleep. Sometimes I even walkback and forth in a room. Other times I go for awalk in a field or in the yard and talk to God.Some of my most fruitful and blessed prayertimes have been during walks.
When I pray I talk to God just like I talk tomy closest friend. I don’t use any fancy tones orget wild and yell. God knows the real me. I don’t need a “prayer tone.” I talk to Him in a verymatter-of-fact way. I tell Him all my problems,doubts, and questions. I try to be as honest withHim as I can. I might as well because He knows ifI’m not! If I try to gloss over something, the onlyone who’s getting fooled is me. God isn’t fooled.
I may say, “Lord, you know I don’t reallyhave the depth of love for this fellow that I shouldhave.” This is an attempt to hide the truth andmake me look not as bad as I am. I might as welltell Him the truth. “God, I hate him. I can’t standhim. I’d like to punch him in the nose every timeI see him!” Be honest, and then repent!
Also, I talk to God in a conversational way.This means that I must listen, too. After all, Godwants to talk back to me. I find such joy andblessings as I come into this communion and fel-lowship with the One who created me.May God forgive us our sin of prayerlessness.
May God help us to pray fervently. And may wesee the mighty work of God accomplished in thisdesperate world through our prayerfulness.
How to Become a Christian
First of all you must recognize that you are a sin-ner. Realize that you have missed the mark. This istrue of each of us. We have deliberately crossed theline not once, but many times. The Bible says, “Allhave sinned and fallen short of the glory of God”(Romans 3:23). This is a hard admission for many tomake, but if we are not willing to hear the bad news,we cannot appreciate and respond to the good news.
Second, we must realize that Jesus Christ died onthe cross for us. Because of sin, God had to take dras-tic measures to reach us. So He came to this earth andwalked here as a man. But Jesus was more than justa good man. He was the God-man—God incarnate—and that is why His death on the cross is so signicant.
At the cross, God Himself—in the person of JesusChrist—took our place and bore our sins. He paid forthem and purchased our redemption.
Third, we must repent of our sin. God has com-manded men everywhere to repent. Acts 3:19 states,“Repent therefore and be converted, that your sinsmay be blotted out, so that times of refreshing maycome from the presence of the Lord.” What does thisword repent mean? It means to change direction–tohang a U-turn on the road of life. It means to stop liv-ing the kind of life we led previously and start livingthe kind of life outlined in the pages of the Bible. Nowwe must change and be willing to make a break withthe past.
Fourth, we must receive Jesus Christ into ourhearts and lives. Being a Christian is having God Him-self take residence in our lives. John 1:12 tells us, “But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right tobecome children of God.” We must receive Him. Jesussaid, “Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyonehears My voice and opens the door, I will come in…”(Revelation 3:20). Each one of us must individuallydecide to open the door. How do we open it? Throughprayer.
If you have never asked Jesus Christ to come intoyour life, you can do it right now. Here is a suggestedprayer you might even pray.
Lord Jesus, I know that I am a sinner and I amsorry for my sin. I turn and repent of my sins right now.Thank You for dying on the cross for me and payingthe price for my sin. Please come into my heart andlife right now. Fill me with Your Holy Spirit and helpme to be Your disciple. Thank You for forgiving meand coming into my life. Thank You that I am now achild of Yours and that I am going to heaven. In Jesus’name, I pray. Amen.
When you pray that prayer God will respond. Youhave made the right decision–the decision that will im-pact how you spend eternity. Now you will go to heav-en, and in the meantime, nd peace and the answers toyour spiritual questions.
Taken from: Life. Any Questions? by Greg Laurie, Copyright © 1995. Used by permission.
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