Foundations of Faith
PRAYER (III)
Pray always. “Pray without ceasing” (1 Thess. 5:17; Rom. 12:12; Eph. 6:18). The apostle Paul was faithful in that which he requested other believers to do:”I thank my God upon every remembrance of you, always in every prayer of mine for you all making request with joy” (Phil. 1:4; also Rom. 1:9; Col. 1:3; 1 Thess. 1:2; 2 Tim. 1:3; Philem. 4). May the value that we place upon prayer be no less than that shown by the prophet Samuel:”God forbid that I should sin against the LORD in ceasing to pray for you” (1 Sam. 12:23).
1. All people. “I exhort therefore that, first of all, supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks be made for all [people],… for … God … will have all [people] to be saved and to come unto the knowledge of the truth” (1 Tim. 2:1,4). How can we do this when we are personally acquainted with only a tiny fraction of “all people”? Well, can’t we begin by praying for all the people we do know, and adding others to the list as we get to know them? If you do this, you may soon become frustrated at not having enough time to pray for everyone you know at one “kneeling.” You may be able to cover only a portion of your “list” each day; but that is better than not praying for them at all!
2. All saints. The final piece of God’s armor for the Christian is “praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints” (Eph. 6:18). The comments given above for “all people” apply equally to “all saints.”
3. Authorities. “I exhort … prayers … for kings and for all who are in authority, that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty (1 Tim. 2:1,2).
4. God’s servants. The apostle Paul-perhaps the boldest, most faithful Christian of them all-often requested prayer for himself. “[Pray] for me, that utterance may be given unto me, that I may open my mouth to make known the mystery of the gospel” (Eph. 6:18,19;1 Thess. 5:25; 2 Thess. 3:1; Heb. 13:18).
5. Sick people. “Is any sick among you? let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him. … And the prayer of faith shall save the sick” (Jas. 5:14,15).
6. Backsliders. Jesus prayed for Peter even before his three-fold denial of Christ (Luke 22:32); surely we should pray for our backsliding Christian friends. (See Assignment 14)
7. Enemies, persecutors. “Love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who despitefully use you and persecute you, that you may be the children of your Father who is in heaven” (Matt. 5:44,45).
Running the Race
SOME EXAMPLES OF ANSWERED PRAYER (III)
We’ll let Ezra tell you the story himself: “Then I proclaimed a fast there at the river of Ahava … to seek of Him a right way for us and for our little ones and for all our substance. For I was ashamed to require of the king a band of soldiers and horsemen to help us against the enemy in the way: because we had spoken unto the king, saying, The hand of our God is upon all them for good that seek Him…. So we fasted and besought our God for this….
“Then we departed from the river of Ahava on the twelfth day of the first month to go unto Jerusalem; and the hand of our God was upon us, and He delivered us from the hand of the enemy, and of such as lay in wait by the way” (Ezra 8:21-23,31).
My friend Jean H. was once a missionary nurse in Honduras. She had just helped to deliver a baby, but to the dismay of both mother and nurse, the baby was born dead. That evening, the baby’s father came into the clinic drunk, carrying a pistol, and blaming Jean for having killed his baby. He stood there, pointing the pistol at the trembling nurse, but suddenly he turned and walked away. Much later Jean learned that an elderly Christian lady back in the United States had been, that very hour, impressed by the Holy Spirit that Jean was in trouble and prayed for her. The Lord wonderfully answered that prayer.
In his four years of missionary work in South Africa, Andrew Murray’s ministry was characterized by his burning love for souls. Nothing deterred him from his duty. Once he set out to walk 12 or 15 miles across wolf-infested country to keep an appointment. When he arrived at his destination, a surprised farmer asked, “How did you do it? Where were the wolves?”
“They snapped at my ankles all the way,” Andrew calmly answered, “but they never touched me. I knew I was in the path of duty, so I prayed to God to keep me and He did.”
Arriving one day at the ford of a river, Andrew Murray found a team of oxen with a wagon stuck in the mud on the river bank. The driver was furious. He lashed the animals unmercifully. He cursed and swore and fumed.
“Why do you swear so?” Andrew asked the man.
“Oxen cannot be driven without swearing,” the man replied.
“Give me the whip,” said Andrew. He lifted up his heart in prayer, cracked the whip, and encouraged the oxen. Presently he had the oxen and wagon out of the mud. The workman took back the whip and meekly drove away.
A native of a tropical country had a terribly high fever. She said to the Christian doctor, “You say that God wants His children to have what is good for them: would not ice be good for me?” They were miles from any city; it was a full month before the rainy season and hail was unheard of in that region; there was no place where the doctor could get ice. But challenged by the woman’s faith, he called the workers together for prayer. As they prayed, a thunderous crash shook the house, followed by a deluge of large hail stones. The woman proved that our Lord is a God of miracles.
Assignment 14: (a) Write out two or three verses from the scene in Gethsemane in Matthew 26 that suggest why Peter’s faith failed in spite of Jesus’ warning to him. (b) Write out verses in Luke 23 and Acts 7 that illustrate praying for one’s enemies.