STUDY VII

THE CHRISTIAN PRAYER

Scripture references: Matthew 6:5-15; Luke 11:1-13; John 17; Matthew

26:41; Mark 11:24,25; Luke 6:12,28; 9:29; 1 Thessalonians 5:17,25; 1

Corinthians 14:13,15; Psalm 19:14; 50:15, Matthew 7:7; 1 Timothy 2:1;

Ephesians 3:20,21; John 16:23; 14:14; James 5:16.

THE PROVINCE OF PRAYER

Definition.—Prayer is the communion of man with God. It is not first of all the means of getting something from God, but the realization of Him in the soul." Seek ye first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness" (Matthew 6:33). The glory of a man is in his uprightness of character, the purity of his spirit and his nearness and likeness to God. Man becomes like that which he thinks about the most often and with which he most frequently communes in the secret recesses of his heart. Prayer is not merely, then, a matter of stated times and seasons, although these should be observed, but a constant walking with God and a realization of His presence at all times and in all places (Luke 18:1; Romans 12:12; 1 Thessalonians 5:17). The man who thus communes with God will lay before Him his plans and purposes and will ask for direction and guidance in them; he will expect help from God as a partner in all his enterprises; he will grasp the power unseen to work great things in the seen. There will be special needs and occasions when a man, in harmony with God (James 5:16), will require special help and for this aid from God he will make strong and earnest petitions to Him.

"Call upon Me in the day of trouble: I will deliver thee and thou shalt glorify Me" (Psalm 50:15; James 1:17; Psalm 19:14; Ephesians 3:20,21).

The Different Kinds of Prayer.—They are adoration, thanksgiving, intercession, petition and praise (1 Timothy 2:1).

The Different Places of Prayer.—1. In the public assemblage (Psalm 122:1,2; Acts 3:1; Hebrews 10:25). 2. In the social and family gathering (Matthew 18:19,20; Acts 1:14; 2:46; 12:12). 3. In private (Matthew 6:6; Mark 1:35; Psalm 55:17; Daniel 6:10).

The Approach of Man to God.—"All men pray at some time or other, whether fitfully or constantly, in weakness or in strength, in sorrow or in joy. Some men pray because it is their chiefest delight to do so, and some pray because necessity drives them to it; but they all pray. Prayer is a constant element, and the impulse to pray is ever present to human nature." Man has been called "a religious and praying animal," because of this universal desire of men to come into some touch with the power over them. This tendency is shown in lands where the true spiritual knowledge of God is lacking and where men deify and adore objects of nature. The sun, the earth, the stars, trees, mountains, waters, winds and carved images have all been made divine objects of adoration and prayer, because of the desire of man to find or place the supernatural in them. Paul said to the men of Athens when he saw the altar to the "Unknown God": "Whom therefore ye ignorantly worship Him declare I unto you" (Acts 17:23). All the research of natural science is to find out what is the Ultimate Power behind all the phenomena of nature. Man by his very nature seeks to approach God.

He is driven by an inward impulse to come to Him. Hence, where men do not have the true light by which to approach God or reject it there are found all sorts and kinds of caricatures of religion.

What are the proper means of approach to God through prayer?

1. Right knowledge and faith. "He that cometh to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him" (Hebrews 11:6). "This is life eternal that they might know Thee the only true God and Jesus Christ whom Thou hast sent" (John 17:3). God is above all and in all. There are no other gods before Him. He is supreme, manifested as Father, Son and Holy Spirit. We come at once here to the Great Personal Power, beyond whom there is no greater. We do not look upon Him as a cold abstraction or blind force, but as a loving, kind Father. He desires to do more for us than we can ask or think. No man prays to God in the right way who does not first of all have a proper conception of God.

2. Right attitude of the heart. "If I regard iniquity in my heart the Lord will not hear me" (Psalm 66:18). Again the prayerless prayer of the Pharisee began with "I" and the burning of incense before himself. No man, cherishing something in his heart which he knows to be contrary to the will of God or who only seeks to foster and advance his own selfish interests, will come, or desire to come, or can come into a very close communion with God. A wrong attitude of the heart keeps many men from the enjoyment of God's presence, and makes them choose to remain away from His sanctuary. No matter what the sin, however, if a man truly desires to get it out of his heart that man can come at once into close touch with God (Isaiah 1:15-19; Psalm 51; Revelation 7:14).

3. Right subjects of prayer. The advancement of the Kingdom of God and the spiritual interests of man come first. Too many prayers move in the narrow circles of self and purely physical wants; they take no wide sweep out over larger interests. God knows that we have physical needs that must be supplied (Matthew 6:26). Jesus said, "Is not the life more than meat and the body than raiment" (Matthew 6:25)? And by His urgency He would have our prayers rise higher than our physical wants into an infinitely larger sphere. Then God will more than bless us and take care of those things about which we are now so anxious (Matthew 6:26-34).

4. Persistency (Matthew 11:12). It is difficult to deny a persistent man who, when thwarted in one way, begins to plan and act for the object which he seeks in another way and who will not be put off. Christ commended the way of the persistent man to those who sought God in prayer. He gave examples of the widow who continually importuned an unjust judge until he listened to her plea and gave her justice (Luke 18:1-8), and of the man who would not take "no" for an answer when he wanted to borrow bread from a neighbour at midnight (Luke 11:5-8). He said, "Ask, and it shall be given unto you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you" (Luke 11:9). Men who do not persist in their praying will fail to receive the higher blessings and the larger benefits which otherwise God would gladly bestow upon them. If men know how to give good gifts to their children when they ask for them, then much more God knows how to grant the best things to men when they ask Him. "The kingdom of heaven suffereth violence, and the violent take it by force" (Matthew 11:12).

The Approach of God to Man.—How does God come near to man? Does He hear when men pray to Him? Can He and will He answer prayer?

These questions are all simply and plainly answered in the Scriptures. There is no doubt expressed here that God comes near to men and will hear and answer when they pray to Him. "The Lord is nigh unto all them that call upon Him, to all that call upon Him in truth" (Psalm 145:18; 139:7-12; Ephesians 3:20).

Christian experience answers these questions in the same affirmative way. Multitudes of Christians testify that God comes near to them and that He hears and answers their prayers; there are many recorded and remarkable answers to prayers.

It is only when the testimony of the Bible and the experience of Christians are set aside that difficulties appear which seem very formidable.

One of the chief objections urged against God hearing and answering prayer is the discovery of the widening sphere of what is called natural law in the ordering of the universe. Where God was formally looked upon as directly controlling in certain things, it is pointed out that we now can plainly state the causes and the working of the laws which produce certain results. According to one theory God is shut out of His universe; and according to another, He is shut up in His universe; on either hypothesis the direct control is out of His hands. Hence, "why pray?" when our prayers even if they reach God cannot be answered.

This objection from the domination of law annuls the freedom of God. It is like looking at a great piece of complicated machinery, and having it explained how part depends upon part and, because the dependence is plainly shown, being asked to believe that the maker and controller is under its power. We are asked to-day to concentrate our attention upon the levers, the springs and the pulleys and all the machinery of the universe rather than upon the first great Cause and Ruler of all.

It is assumed in this objection that much more is known of the laws and forces which govern the universe than really is. Prof. John Fiske says in his lecture on "Life Everlasting," I once heard Herbert Spencer say, "you cannot take up any problem in physics without being quickly led to some metaphysical problem which you can neither solve nor evade." Again he says, "The more things we try to explain, the better we realize that we live in a world of unexplained residua."

Widening knowledge is throwing back into the lumber room many much vaunted theories of origins. Many wrong conceptions of the order of nature have in recent years been radically changed. It is freely acknowledged to-day by the foremost men of science that no man fully understands the order of nature. Under the present limitations of human knowledge God cannot be shut up in or out of His universe. Further research may show that such shutting up to be impossible; for in the end we are to depend not upon our ignorance but upon our knowledge of the universe for God's free control of all things.

Already the light begins to dawn when it is seen that all the natural forces and matter itself are beginning to reveal their origin and control in one Great Master Force. But in this we but return to the biblical statement "In the beginning God" (Genesis 1:1).

We are perfectly justified in believing, in the intelligence of God when we see so many evidences of intelligence in the world, and the freedom and personality of God, when we note the freedom and personality of man; for however we may argue that man is not free or personal we believe that he is and act upon this belief in all the practical affairs of life. The created thing is not greater than its creator or the law greater than the lawgiver. God is greater than the universe or man. God as all powerful, and as intelligent and personal can be approached by man and comes near to him through his communion in prayer with Him.

It is perfectly possible for God, in His providential wisdom and power, to answer the prayers of His people. It is an every-day occurrence for man to deflect the beams of the sun and make nature's laws do what they would not have done if left to themselves. We know men to be personal and to be changed by petitions to their mercy and entreaties to use their power in certain directions. We believe that God, infinitely greater than man, can be entreated and will use His power for the benefit of the petitioner. It is not unreasonable for men to pray for material and spiritual blessings. While the sphere of prayer may be narrowed in certain directions by what we know of nature's processes, it has been greatly widened in other directions.