Luke 22: 39-46
Acts 2: 42-43
James 5: 16-18
Genesis 24: 10-15; 26-27
Ephesians 6: 14-18
I would like, dear brethren, to say a few words as to the matter of prayer. It is a very fundamental and basic Christian experience that is open to every one of us, to know what it is to get into the presence of God. It is absolutely vital that every believer knows what it is to be truly in communion through prayer. I take it, if I may just ask the question at the beginning, dear brother or sister, that you do pray. Do you? Did you pray today? Did you take the time in your busy life just to pray? I search myself as to that. I say again, for your soul prosperity and for your well-being, it is essential that you frequent the presence of divine Persons; and not just when you are in trouble, not when you have a problem or something is going wrong. Of course, it has been well said that there is a time when every man prays. It may be when the boat is going down, or the bullets are going over the head, or you are sitting beside someone who is lying at the end of their life; I believe there is a time when every man prays.
What I would like to do is to encourage you to go into the presence of God, not because you have to, but because you have a sense that divine Persons delight to have your company; and to hear you in simplicity, not only in expressing your sense of need, but also the sense of gratefulness that you have such a One to turn to. Is it not wonderful, that we can speak to God in this way? I use the expression, ‘speak to God’, because I have in mind the revelation of God as known to us, and that each divine Person, the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, can be spoken to. We have just spoken in prayer to the Lord and the Father, but it is wonderful that we can actually be at liberty with each divine Person. Perhaps when you are younger you wonder which divine Person to speak to. I am not going to put this too much as it were into boxes, because I do not think we need to, but speak to the Father about your circumstantial needs. Speak to Him as to your family needs; speak to Him as the Lord Jesus could speak to Him, as “heavenly Father”, the One who can provide everything for you. You can speak to the Lord Jesus, too. You can thank Him for what He has done. Speak to Him about the Scriptures. Speak to Him about spiritual things. Speak to Him about the things we have had today in the reading, for example; perhaps the things you do not quite understand. Speak to the Spirit too. He would love to unfold things to you, and that is where I am tested. How much do we really know what it is to frequent the Spirit’s presence? These things are for each one of us to enter into. The intelligent believer, without being too bound, is at liberty to speak to each divine Person, as recognising that each divine Person is working together, each one God, yet each in their own individual working. That is wonderful. It gives us confidence. It gives us boldness, as we had in the reading, to go into the presence of God, Heb 4: 16.
Now, I want to speak about four things as to prayer. We have read first of all in Acts, and there it is to persevere in prayer - keep at it. We then read in James. He speaks about Elijah, or as it is translated, Elias, and what I want to speak about there is power in prayer, power with God and power with man. We then read the well-known Scripture in Genesis and I want to speak about patience and the product of prayer. Finally in Ephesians you have protection in prayer. Just remember those four things: perseverance, power, patience and the product, and protection - all found in the presence of God.
Now before I speak of these things, I want to speak about our wonderful Model in the Person of the Lord Jesus Himself. His was a life that was given over, I may say carefully, to prayer. How wonderful that such a One could come from glory’s heights, could descend into manhood, and speak to His heavenly Father in dependence. What wonderful intimate terms the Lord had with His heavenly Father. You can have those terms too. He supremely knew what it was, for with Him there was never anything that came between to spoil communion, but the Lord Jesus, as having come into manhood, was always dependent, day by day. It was more than that: hour by hour, moment by moment, He resorted to the presence of the Father. He would speak to the Father early on in His public history, at the time of his baptism, when the dove descended upon Him, Luke 3: 21. He then speaks to the Father before the choosing of the disciples, chap 6: 12. As He stood at the grave of Lazarus, having wept as He felt the inroads of the awfulness of death and sickness, He could know, as having spoken to the Father, that His Father had heard Him, John 11: 42. No doubt He had spoken to Him as to all the works of power that He had done. What a wonderful Model. What a wonderful One who set the whole matter on for us. Our minds would then go to those prayers that were upon the cross. He could speak to the Father at the very end; He could say, “Father”, and commit His spirit into His hands, Luke 23: 46. But let us not forget the one prayer that went unanswered: “My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me”?, Matt 27: 46. No answer was heard to that prayer. If your prayers were to be answered today, this prayer had to be unanswered then. And so, by His finished work, He has made a way into the presence of that Father of whom He spoke. His Father is now our Father.
So we have read this scripture here in Luke 22 when He was anticipating the awfulness of that which I have referred to on the cross. He came here as was His custom to the mount of Olives, to a spiritual realm to which He was able to have recourse as was His custom. Is it your custom to pray? It is a good custom, a good habit, perhaps one that we learnt when we were young, when we remember our mother kneeling down with us just before you went to bed at night. These things are practical things. It was a custom which He was known for, and He went there with the disciples following. I would love to have heard the Lord pray, would you not? I would love to have heard the words that He used, the way in which He prayed, the dignity, the reverence, yet deep affection for His heavenly Father. And here we have an extremity, “being in conflict”; “And being in conflict he prayed more intently.” He could speak to the Father and He prayed that the Father would remove this cup. Oh what pressure! It was seen in His sweat as great drops of blood, falling to the ground. Do you know what it is to get into the presence of God and pray and to be in conflict? What does it say here: “And his sweat became as great drops of blood, falling down upon the earth. And rising up from his prayer, coming to the disciples, he found them sleeping from grief.” What would He say? The disciples were not equal for it. What wonderful grace: “Sleep on now and take your rest”, Matt 26: 45. There is a scripture in Hebrews that I will just refer to in passing. It says that He was heard on account of his piety, Heb. 5: 7. I just have to wonder at that. He was heard. He was not answered upon the cross, but He was heard on account of His piety. That cup was His to take, and He took it and drank the last drop.
Now, I want to go to Acts 2 - perseverance in prayer. I come back to what I said as to the Lord Jesus praying. It is wonderful that we have recorded for us in the gospels the actual words He used. On one occasion, we have even the language He used. But the time came, after He had been crucified, when He was placed in the grave. He arose and was seen and handled by men for forty days, but then He took the disciples out upon that mountain and was lifted up, He ascended into the presence of the Father. That is where He is now. In Luke’s account, it speaks about His hands being lifted up, chap 24: 50. Those hands are still lifted up, are they not? They are still there for you, but then, what of the disciples? I often think about them in that period of time after the Lord had ascended. The Lord was in heaven. The Spirit had not yet come. The apostles had not yet been established publicly in their authority or their power. There was not yet any Christian teaching from the Holy Spirit given. What had they got? What we find if we just turn to Acts 1: 13 is: “And when they were come into the city, they went up to the upper chamber, where were staying both Peter, and John, and James, and Andrew, Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew and Matthew, James son of Alphæus, and Simon the zealot, and Jude the brother of James. These gave themselves all with one accord to continual prayer, with several women, and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with his brethren”. They had the upper room, that spiritual realm. We may say that all that they had depended upon up to that point was no longer with them. But they had this recourse to the upper room. And they gave themselves continually to prayer.
I have read from Acts 2 because I just feel the need of it - persevering. I believe that the testimony, if it is to continue - and it has continued - will be in persons who persevere in prayer. You look back over the history of things, with the scattering, even within Paul’s lifetime, then the Dark Ages and the Middle Ages, and you just wonder where things were, but I believe there has been this thread, as it were, this golden thread, that has been preserved by persons who have persevered in prayer against all odds. You can trace it throughout the Acts of the Apostles, with hardly a chapter in the book in which there is not a reference to prayer, piety, or the hour of prayer, or something relating to prayer. I think you can see the way that if the testimony is to be continued, it is in persons who are in communion with divine Persons. Think of Paul and Silas, singing, and praising God in the jail, chap 16: 25. They were not at a loss because they were incarcerated! The brethren earlier had resorted to prayer, and when they had prayed the whole place in which they were assembled shook, Acts 4: 31. Wonderful answer, is it not? Would you not like to know something of the shaking of the house as you know the presence of God? At the end of the Acts of the Apostles, Paul is standing upon that ship, undoubtedly in communion with divine Persons, and as the ship was about to be broken up he can say, ’Listen to me’. He was a man in communion with God, who knew Him through prayer. There is much against us. I do not know if you find it, as I do sometimes: you think you ought to pray about something and other things come into your mind. The apostles experienced that too, as they were going to prayer in Acts 16. They were followed by a female slave, who would seek to disturb them. There is a certain power that is against you, but persevere at it. Do not give up.
We come to James. I find this scripture in James interesting because there is a lot of detail here which you do not get in the actual account which I am going to refer to in a minute, which is in 1 Kings 17. “The fervent supplication of the righteous man has much power”: much power; remember that. Power with God, I believe, works power with man. What power have you with divine Persons? It speaks about Elias who was a man of like passions to us. You might say Elias was a great prophet, who knew what it was to be on the mount with the Lord Jesus, along with Moses, completely at home in those spiritual realms. He was a spiritual man, and a man who God could use, and he had power because he was righteous; but he was a man of like passions to us, just like you and me. Now could we just turn to 1 Kings 17 because this has the historical detail of it. The day in which Elijah lived was a dark day, very much as ours. Ahab the king had provoked God to more anger than any other king before, and his wife Jezebel killed the prophets of God. She was anti-Christian in principle. Then there was Hiel, the Bethelite, who built Jericho and raised up what God had said was not to be (chap 16: 34); and yet in the midst of all this comes Elijah. Is that not wonderful? In chapter 17 it says, “And Elijah the Tishbite, of the inhabitants of Gilead, said to Ahab” and so on, “And the word of Jehovah came to him saying, Get thee hence, and turn thee eastward, and hide thyself by the torrent”, v 1-3. But before that he had said, “As Jehovah … liveth, before whom I stand, there shall not be dew nor rain these years, except by my word.” “Except by my word”: that is the word of Elijah. He had power with God so that, by the word of Elijah, the rain was stopped, and rain was to come. What power with God! Now, Elijah, a man of like passions to ourselves, knew what it was to pray fervently, and to be maintained by God. He experienced the ravens who brought him bread and flesh and so on, but then the torrent dried up, v 7. God tested him, did He not? Perhaps all that you relied on before has dried up, but God is able for it. He provided a widow woman, v 9. But then comes another test, for the son of that widow woman became ill and he died. Elijah says, “Give me thy son. And he took him out of her bosom, and carried him up into the upper chamber where he abode, and laid him upon his own bed. And he cried to Jehovah and said, Jehovah, my God, hast thou also brought evil upon the widow with whom I sojourn, by slaying her son? And he stretched himself upon the child three times, and cried to Jehovah and said, Jehovah, my God, I pray thee, let this child’s soul come into him again! And Jehovah heard the voice of Elijah.” Sometimes you have a situation where you might think the child is dead. What can you do? Elijah, in a true fatherly, shepherd spirit, a man who had power with God, could stretch himself upon the child and Jehovah heard his voice, and He brought life again into this young child. You see, I am going over these things just to show us how much the prayers of a man with God can effect. Turn over the page and you find all these prophets of Baal, and the question is, ‘Whose God are you going to worship?’. There they were, leaping around, cutting themselves, and crying to their god: just silence. But God hears Elijah. And Elijah said, “Answer me, Jehovah”. And He did, and down came the fire and “licked up the water that was in the trench. And all the people saw it, and they fell on their faces and said, Jehovah, he is God! Jehovah, he is God!”, 1 Kings 18: 38-39. That is a man with God, power.
Now, we will just read verse 41. “And Elijah said to Ahab, Go up, eat and drink; for there is a sound of abundance of rain”: an abundance of rain by his word. Elijah knew that he had power with God, and he had asked Him for rain to come. And he said to his servant, ‘What do you see?’. He said, “it came to pass at the seventh time that he said, Behold there is a cloud, small as a man’s hand, arising out of the sea”, v 44. God begins to answer. The rain is coming. Does it not give you strength in your soul? You can hear the rain coming, and soon it did come. What a time of blessing it was. So is it with Elijah - a man of like passions to ourselves. He knew God and he experienced God. He knew what it was to be up, and he knew what it was to be down. He was just like you or me, I guess. Turn over the page and you will find him sitting in a cave. And God said to him, ‘What are doing there, Elijah, what are you doing sitting in that cave?’. Perhaps God would say that to us sometimes. We are in our caves, we cannot see out. ‘What are you doing there?’ And before that Elijah had dared, as he sat under that broom bush, to request of God that he should die. A man of like passions to ourselves. I say that for the practical comfort of each one of us, how Elijah, a man of like passions, would learn what it is to prove God. These things are very real in our Christian experience, but be encouraged, for God is for us.
Now, a word on Genesis 24. The servant had travelled all the way across that desert, and in his heart was that Isaac should have a suitable wife. She had to be of the same family. He gets there, and makes the camels kneel down. And the young maidens come out. Perhaps he was thinking, ‘I just wonder how this is all going to work out.. Sometimes we have experiences like that, do we not? And then he prays this wonderful prayer. “Jehovah, God of my master Abraham, meet me, I pray thee, with thy blessing this day, and deal kindly ... Behold, I stand here by the well of water, and the daughters of the men of the city come out to draw ...And it came to pass before he ended speaking that behold, Rebecca came out, who was born to Bethuel”. What a wonderful answer. What patience he had, had he not? After all those years, Rebecca is now a product of prayer. The servant was completely in tune, you may say, with the divine mind, for he appreciated that Abraham was concerned that Isaac should have a suitable wife. Now I just want to say one thing, beloved. We have spoken about many circumstances about which we can pray. I do want to say one thing, if I may, to you younger persons. Maybe you are considering marriage. That is right, it is proper, and it is natural that you should do so. Make it a matter of prayer. Because, if you do, as we see here, the Lord will direct your pathway. He will direct your pathway. Pray that you might not only have a natural link. You must have a natural link with a person whom you love and whom you marry. That is perfectly right and normal. But make sure, dear young person, that you have a spiritual link with the person with whom you intend to spend the rest of your life together. It is vital. Those of us who have been on the pathway a little realise that what is natural is very precious, and that it becomes very, very precious, but what is spiritual becomes even more so. It is vital to have a spiritual link. Make sure that he or she has the same outlook as yours, and that their path is the same path as yours. The Lord will come in and will bless you. I know there are all sorts of problems and difficulties in the day in which we live; make them a matter of prayer. Because what do you see here? He says, “And the man stooped, and bowed down before Jehovah, and said, Blessed be Jehovah, God of my master Abraham, who has not withdrawn his loving-kindness and his faithfulness”. You can trust God. You can count upon Him for guidance even for natural provision of a suitable husband or wife. It says, “I being in the way, Jehovah has led me to the house”. Sometimes we go on in unbelief and just wonder how things are going to work out. But when you look back, you see the way in which God has led you. As you go through these things with Him, you can see the way past things all fit together, and you can turn to God in thankfulness for the way in which he has gone before. Even before you had any realisation of what you were doing, things were in place for your blessing.
Ephesians gives us protection. The armour here that Paul is describing to us would be a familiar sight, that of a Roman soldier. But we can rightly give it a spiritual application: “Girt about your loins with truth”. You have some appreciation of the truth. You have got the breastplate of righteousness on. You have shod your feet with the preparation of the glad tidings of peace. You have got the shield of faith with which to quench the inflamed darts of the wicked one. You have on the helmet of salvation. You have got the sword in your hand, which is God’s word. And then what does he say? “Praying at all seasons.” It is part of the armour. You may have everything on, but are you praying? If you are not praying you are out of communion, miserable and vulnerable. You see, there is a fiery dart coming your way. You might have all the armour on, but that fiery dart will find that chink. Pray, pray; persevere in it. “Praying at all seasons, with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching unto this very thing with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints”. How wide your view can be. Sometimes we become very selfish. But we can think about all the saints. We can look around a room like this and we can think of many that we do not know personally in detail, but nevertheless, what a wonderful pleasure it is. Just think of the fact that persons like you or me can have power with God, and we can name persons. Name young persons, perhaps experiencing difficulty as to employment or seeking suitable employment, or other matters of life, and older persons who are going through infirmities and weakness. We can actually name those persons in the presence of divine Persons. That is a wonderful privilege and I believe as we frequent it, the Lord would help us to have the power and influence with God and with men. Wonderful system that is set on by Christ, our perfect Model.
Well, these are my simple thoughts. As we have had in our reading, we are to have a “strong encouragement”. There is that which is from the divine side towards us: so go in, go into the divine presence; have boldness; speak to divine Persons about everything. They will listen in infinite grace and compassion, and in due time, as you pray according to His will, you will find that your prayers will be answered: it is a wonderful experience. May it be the portion of each one of us.
Birmingham
12th January 2013