by Arthur W. Pink
by Arthur W. Pink
Philologos Religious Online Books
Philologos.org
by Arthur W. Pink
November, 1932
PRAYER
The Spirit of God exhorts the saints at least three times definitely in the New Testament to pray. “Men ought always to pray, and not to faint” (Luke 18:1); “Pray without ceasing” (1 Thess. 5:17); “I will therefore that men pray everywhere, lifting up holy hands, without wrath and doubting” (1 Tim. 2:8). This means no more and no less than that the life of God's people should be a life of continual prayer. Prayer is the most mighty power in the Christian life under every circumstance, and the records of Scripture and history tell us that the meekest and strongest Christian, is the praying Christian. Prayer is not a matter of one or three times a day, but of every moment of the day, and every moment of a sleepless night. If we realized that the child of God in prayer is in close communion with God, with the Almighty Himself, then it will be clear to every one of us what a mighty power and weapon prayer is. If we are in close communion with God, we are in our appointed place; God has the place in our hearts which He rightly owns, and we please Him. Prayer means: to be in the dust before a thrice holy God on His throne, and in fear and holy reverence speaking with Him, pleading with Him, begging from Him, through the Holy Spirit (Rom. 8:26), on the righteous claim which we have through the precious blood of Him, the only-begotten Son, who gave us access into the Holiest (Heb. 10:19, 20). It is prayer when we approach God to unburden our hearts, plead His promises, and ask for the things we need.
Now it is a sad fact that many of the prayers (so called) from God's children do not go higher than the ceiling of the room where they are uttered, for the simple reason that many prayers are no prayers at all—especially when uttered in company, at prayer-meetings. How many of these prayers are only workings of the flesh, to make a fair show before the fellow saints!—to express Scriptural knowledge, to rebuke (or worse, sneer at) a fellow-saint; or dictate to God what He should do or not do. No lowliness of heart, no meekness of the spirit, but a proud and haughty attitude, often prevails in such meetings. The Holy Spirit is grieved and insulted, and quenched in the babes of Christ. An aged saint told me some years ago: Brother, if you want to find out Christians, go to the prayer-meetings!
As for private prayer, prayer in the closet, let every one of us examine himself how we in the past did approach God, and how many things we pleaded and asked whereby we, instead of honouring the Holy One, insulted Him. Well may we cry: “Lord teach us to pray” (Luke 11:1). Holy Writ teaches us that we must pray in the Holy Spirit (Jude 20): “praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit” (Eph. 6:18). Although every child of God is indwelt by the Holy Spirit, he is not always in the Spirit; for many times the Holy Spirit is grieved through sin. How we need, beloved brethren and sisters, the exhortation in Ephesians 4:30-32: “And grieve not the Holy Spirit, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption. Let all bitterness and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and evil speaking, be put away from you, with all malice, and be ye kind one to another, tender-hearted, forgiving one another, even as God, for Christ's sake, hath forgiven you.” I have been in homes and in prayer-meetings where people were reading the newspaper and talking the gossip of the day, till the so-called leader suggested, Brethren, let us begin to pray. Awful!
When we have grieved the Spirit, it is first of all needful to confess and forsake our sins before God (Prov. 28:13). Then we need to ask the Holy Spirit for guidance (Rom. 8:26, 27), that we should not use vain and idle words, which only condemn us and insult God. It is many times regarded as very spiritual to hear a long prayer from a man. But the humble and true saint knows that, when we are really in the Spirit before a holy God on our knees, that as a rule we have not many words to use, although the heart is full; and also that, when we pray in the flesh, we have so many words that we hardly know how to stop. It will be good for every one of us to be reminded of the words from our Lord Jesus Christ: “When ye pray, use not vain repetitions as the heathen do . . . be not ye therefore like unto them” (Matt. 6:7, 8). Prayer as well as worship must be in Spirit and in Truth. There must be a spiritual realization that we are before a thrice holy God; there must be a holy fear whereby we know that we cannot deceive God. We must be true, honest, and searching ourselves in the Truth; because we are liable to deceive ourselves and stand before God as liars. Prayer is a very solemn thing, beloved fellow-heirs.
It is good for us to observe that which is found in what is called the “Lord's Prayer” in Matthew 6. This prayer gives us an example for shortness, and begins and ends with worship. In verse 9 God is addressed as “Father,” and given honour and reverence. In verse 13 the prayer closes with honouring Him in His “kingdom, power and glory.” If we approach God in prayer while in agony of bodily pain, or in agony of soul; in sorrow of bereavement, in pleading for our brethren with tears, or in need of temporal things or having a heart full of joy for the great things the Lord has done for us:—we must approach Him in the Spirit, in lowliness and in humiliation; and there must be faith. For “without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he that cometh to God must believe that He is, and that He is a Rewarder of them that diligently seek Him” (Heb. 11:6). Volumes could be written on the subject of prayer, but I believe for the child of God there are three points which he should specially take to heart for effective and prevailing prayer, in which God is honoured. First, what it means to pray in the name of Christ. Second, the importance of pleading the promises. Third, what are the things we need most to pray for?
Before our Lord was crucified and ascended to the Father, the people of God, even His disciples, did not pray in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. But in the last conversation with the disciples, the Lord knowing that His hour was come, that He should depart out of the world unto the Father, told them He would send the Spirit of truth (the Comforter, the Holy Spirit) and that whatsoever they should ask in His name, that would He do, that the Father might be glorified in the Son (John 14:13). And a little later He said, “Hitherto have ye asked nothing in My name: ask and ye shall receive, that your joy may be full” (John 16:24). All this was to be after His departure, when the Holy Spirit should dwell in them, and teach them through the fully revealed Word (1 John 2:27; John 17:17). It will be a matter of simple truth and need for the child of God when he bows down in prayer, that he begins by honouring God the Father. But we cannot honour God, when we pass by the Son! For it is written, “That all men should honour the Son, even as they honor the Father. He that honoureth not the Son, honoureth not the Father which hath sent Him” (John 5:23). In other words, we have in prayer to acknowledge and honour the Son, otherwise we do not honour God, and He will not hear our prayer. Further: how do we know God as our Father? Through the Son: “Neither knoweth any man the Father save the Son, and he to whomsoever the Son will reveal Him” (Matt. 11:27).
Multitudes know God, but not God the Father, because they do not know the Son. God's elect were “predestinated unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will . . . In whom (that is Jesus Christ) we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace” (Eph. 1:5, 7). We are redeemed by the blood of Christ, by which we receive the adoption of sons; and by the Spirit of adoption we cry, “Abba, Father” (Rom. 8:15). Because we have received the spirit of a child, we know the Father. Moreover, Christ Jesus is appointed by God our High Priest: “who hath entered into Heaven itself, to appear in the presence of God for us” (Heb. 9:24); seeing then that we have a great High Priest that is passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, who is touched with the feeling of our infirmities, because He was in all parts tempted like we are (yet in Him was no sin, He was spotless, undefiled);—”let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need” (Heb. 4:14-16). He is our Advocate with the Father, as Jesus Christ the righteous (1 John 2:1). If we want to approach God in prayer, we have to do this through the Son, in the name of the Son: “no man cometh unto the Father, but by Me” (John 14:6). He is “the door” for the sheep.
It is very important in prayer to plead the promises of God. This will be plain when we read that “all the promises of God in Him (in Christ) are yea, and in Him Amen, unto the glory of God by us (2 Cor. 1:20). Exceeding great and precious are these promises which are given unto us by God's Divine power, being added to the all things which pertain unto life and godliness through the knowledge of Him that hath called us to glory and virtue: so that by these promises “ye might be partakers of the Divine nature having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust” (2 Peter 1:3, 4). It is by experimentally enjoying these promises that we indeed, in a practical way, become partakers of the Divine nature; and this cannot be before we have also in a practical way escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust. This will make it plain that conditions of responsibility are bound up with the promises of God, and that these conditions must be fulfilled by us in purpose of heart before we can plead, receive, and enjoy the promises. It is no use to plead a promise from God while we willfully and purposely walk against the will of God. For instance, in 2 Corinthians 7:1 we read, “Having therefore these promises, dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from a filthiness of the flesh and of the spirit perfecting holiness in the fear of God.” It must be clear to every unbiased mind that here are conditions laid down if we want to enjoy experimentally these promises. And what are “these promises” here spoken of? See 2 Corinthians 6:18, “And I will be Father unto you, and ye shall be My sons and My daughters, saith the Lord Almighty.” The condition for being able to enjoy experimentally these promises is: Cleanse ourselves, thus perfecting holiness in the fear of God; and this means practical separation from all that is not of God (see 2 Cor. 6:14 to 17).
The promise of the Lord's return and redemption of the body is for them who fulfill the condition laid down in Hebrews 9:28: “unto them that look for Him shall He appear the second time without sin unto salvation.” We are His friends if we do whatsoever He commands us (John 15:14). His promise is: He will give, and open to us; but we must ask and knock; (Matt. 7:7, 8). It is rather marvelous to hear true children of God pleading promises from God without taking heed to the conditions of responsibility which are bound up with every promise. The promise for the unregenerated man not to perish and have everlasting life is: that he must “believe” (John 3:15, 16). Who hath everlasting life? He that believeth on the Son (John 3:36). It is only when the sinner believes, that he experimentally enjoys the promise of everlasting life. And as for believers, they who are God's children, He forgiveth our sins and cleanseth us from all unrighteousness if we confess our sins (1 John 1:9). Who shall have mercy? He who confesseth and forsaketh his sins (Prov. 28:13). The promise of being blessed is given repeatedly in Holy Writ. But who will be “blessed”? He that considereth the poor (Psa. 41:1); he that is poor in spirit; the meek, the merciful, the pure in heart, etc. (see Matt. 5:3 to 11). He will keep him in perfect peace. Whom? “Whose mind is stayed on Thee, because he trusteth in Thee” (Isa. 26:3). The Lord said to Abram, “I will make thee a great nation, and I will bless thee”; but the condition was, “Get thee out” (Gen. 12:1, 2). The Lord's promise is, that He will honour thee, if thou honourest Him (1 Sam. 2:30).
It is very needful for God's people to study the promises of God that we may know what to ask in prayer. Many things are asked in prayer which God never promised, and many promises are asked while we are totally ignorant of the claims of God bound up with them. One of the conditions in prayer is, that we should ask according to God's will; and when we do so, we have His promise that “He heareth us” (1 John 5:14). We must not ask the fulfilling of any promise to consume it on our own lusts, but always ask it to the glory of God. And it is needful that we should have fulfilled in purpose and determination of heart, the conditions, the responsibility, which is bound up with the promise we ask for.
And “According to your faith be unto you” (Matt. 9:29). “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 impossible unto you” (Matt. 17:20). The promises of God are great, “Exceeding great,” and never too great that we could not ask for, or God would not give. But at the same time we have to remember that conditions of our responsibility are inseparably bound up with them. God does not give like a foolish father to a spoiled child. O, no, Brethren, God is holy, and never will He sanction sin. He may show mercy to us, and He does—otherwise all of us would be consumed; but His command is, “Be ye clean that bear the vessels of the Lord” (Isa. 52:11).
What are the things we most need to pray for in these days of corruption, selfishness, and exaltation of man? What should we specially pray for in these last days, when individual faithfulness to God alone has value? First of all let me take it for granted that God is the Creator and Ruler of the Universe; that He is the Giver of all good and perfect things; that we are only poor worms, at His entire mercy, and consequently we have to ask for everything—bread and water, as well as desired fellowship with our brethren and sisters; for “in Him we live and move and have our being” (Acts 17:28). But the child of God, as belonging to the kingdom of His dear Son (Col. 1:13), and being still in the world, although he belongs not to it (John 17:16), is commanded to be holy as God is holy (1 Peter 1:16). And as such, there are special things he needs to pray for. 1. A holy life, which in a practical way means obeying the commands of our Lord Jesus Christ—”Follow Me.” And if we truly are desirous of following Him, we need first of all, meekness and lowliness in heart and spirit. Thus should we pray that God will cause us daily, hourly, momently, to come to Christ and take His yoke upon us and learn of Him (Matt. 11:29).
2. As our heart is still prone to be deceitful and desperately wicked, so that we do not know what is in it, we need to pray, “Search me O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts: and see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting” (Psa. 139:23). 3. As each of us is very ignorant of the statutes of the Lord, and especially of the way to walk in them, we need to pray “Teach me O Lord, the way of Thy statutes” (Psa. 119:33). 4. As we all know, or ought to know, the commandments given to us in Holy Writ, but fail to keep them as the Lord bids, we have to pray, “Make me to go in the path of Thy commandments” (Psa. 119:35). 5. God's children read His Word, but show repeatedly by their actions that they do not really believe it. The reason of which is that God's Word is not established, or rooted in their hearts. Therefore we have to pray, “establish Thy Word unto Thy servant” (Psa. 119:38). 6. We claim to have faith in God, but when our faith is put to the test we mostly fail miserably. Therefore we should pray, Lord, increase my faith, purify, refine it, that it may prove able to remove mountains, and to rejoice in the Lord although I should be desolate like Job (see Habakkuk 3:17, 18). 7. As God's children we are predestinated and called to be conformed to the image of God's Son (Rom. 8:29), but in our daily lives we are all far from it, otherwise we should be more hated and despised like Christ. We have not yet resisted unto blood, striving against sin (Heb. 12:4). Therefore we should pray, Father, make us more and more conformed to the image of Thy dear Son, our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.
The praying for these things in the Spirit, through our Lord Jesus Christ, will experimentally prove the truth of “Seek ye first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things (for our daily common needs) shall be added unto you” (Matt. 6:33 and context). God giveth always more than we ask for, and I firmly believe that in the life of the Christian everything hangs on the needful qualities as mentioned in these seven points.
Now for a short summary of seven other points which are requisite for effectual and prevailing prayer. 1. Separation from all known sins, by confessing and forsaking these in purpose of heart. If we regard iniquity in our heart, the Lord will not hear us (Psa. 66:18); if He did, He would be sanctioning sin. 2. Entire dependence upon the finished work of Christ and pleading His precious blood (Heb. 10:10, 1 John 1:7). 3. We must ask the Spirit of God to lead us in prayer, pray for us; for we know not what we should pray for as we ought (Rom. 8:26). 4. Faith in God's Word and His promises. Not to believe Him is to make Him a liar or perjurer (Heb. 11:6, John 3:33). 5. Asking according to His will (1 John 5:14). We must not seek a gift from God to consume it upon our own lust (James 4:3). 6. We must offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, this is the fruit of our lips, giving thanks in His name (Heb. 13:15). Prayer as well as worship must be in Spirit and Truth; if not, it is of the flesh, and is a lie. 7. There must be waiting on God, waiting for God, as the husbandman has long patience to wait for the harvest (James 5:7; Luke 18:1 to 8). By A. Klooster. (Engaged in evangelistic work in Holland: looking to the Lord alone for the supply of every need. A.W.P.)
Philologos | Bible Prophecy Research | The BPR Reference Guide | About Us