Book-05-Christ’s Prayers

Christ’s Prayers

Text.—“And it came to pass, as He was praying in a certain place, that when he ceased, one of his dis­ciples said unto him, Lord, teach us to pray, even as John also taught his disciples.—Luk 11:1.

PRAYER is the spirit of Christianity. There can be no spiritual life without it. It is the Christian’s breath. Man can no more live a Christian life without praying than he can live a physical life without breathing. To be physically strong we must breathe deeply. There are many sickly church-members today because they are too lazy to breathe into their souls the oxygen of heaven. It is two spirits holding communion. Like the commerce carried on between the oceans and the clouds, bringing down the moist­ure in the dew and rain to quench the thirst of vegetation, and then ascending again in the mists back to the clouds to return again to fill the babbling brooks, the rivulets and the rivers which roll into the fountains of the great deep, our spir­its go out to God for help and guidance, and the blessings come from his unwasting hand to satisfy our wants.

Prayer belongs to all ages and to all peoples. In every Christian’s heart must be his altar of incense. When the fires go out upon this altar, his spiritual life becomes extinct. The Scientific View.—We are told by the scientist that God does not answer our prayers; that God works according to a fixed law, and that to answer the prayers of his children he would have to violate his laws. We are told that we do not bring heaven down to earth when we pray, but that we lift ourselves up to heaven. Imagine a man standing at a closed door, one he knew would not open, and knocking, or a thirsty soul pumping at a dry well! We believe that our Father hears and answers the prayers of the saints. He has commanded us to knock, with the promise that it shall be opened unto us; to seek, with the promise that we shall find.

We cannot explain how prayer influ­ences God; there are many things we cannot explain, but we know from experience that it does. Every Christian has the con­sciousness of a living and a prayer-an­swering God. He knows that with this God he has had personal and vital relations, and that he has had with him the closest affinity and fellowship. The con­sciousness of this fellowship is a unique and distinct thing, found only in the re­ligion of Jesus Christ.

We must learn to pray. Man learns to articulate the language of heaven just as the babe learns to speak its mother tongue. Every member of the family of our Father in heaven is invited to take lessons under the divine Teacher. There is no excuse, and we cannot plead ig­norance. When should we begin to pray? The moment we are born into the divine family we will naturally begin to make an effort to make known our desires unto our Father.

Jesus Was Given to Prayer. — He would spend the night in holy communion with his Father. If this sinless, spotless, divine Son of God had to pray in order to do the work of his God, do you think it possible for his disciples to live his life and do his work without it? A man without sin, and filled with the Holy Spir­it, recognized the importance of prayer. He practiced what he preached and preached what he practiced. Have you ever studied the prayers of this master Teacher? “And in the morn­ing, rising up a great while before day, he went out, and departed into a solitary place, and there prayed.” “And when he had sent them away, he departed into a mountain to pray.” When the work was pressing and he needed strength, he went to his Father in prayer. “But so much the more went there a fame abroad of him: and great multitudes came to­gether to hear him, and to be healed by him of their infirmities. And he with­drew himself into the wilderness, and prayed.” He would not select his apos­tles without first engaging in prayer. “And it came to pass in those days, that he went out into a mountain to pray, and he continued all night in prayer to God.”

Unrecorded Prayers. — The Gospel writers tell us of the times when our Lord prayed, but they do not always record the prayers. I have often wondered what he said. We know they were prayers of earnestness and of faith. “Now when all the people were baptized, it came to pass that Jesus, also being baptized, and praying, the heaven was opened." When Saul was told what to do to be saved, he was commanded to continue to call on the name of the Lord. When Jesus had looked into the heart of Simon Peter, he discovered that he was self-con­scious and weak and that there was dan­ger of falling. He knew that he was a man of good intentions, but that he was easily influenced. He was taking an in­ventory of the spiritual strength and power of the apostleship, and he found that Judas was lost to his cause, and that the devil meant to sift all of them. Judas had already gone through the sieve, and there was danger of Peter, too, going through. He says: “Simon, Satan hath desired to have you [all of the apostles], to sift you as wheat: but I have prayed for thee [Peter] that your faith fail you not.” It is glorious to know that our great High Priest is acquainted with us, and that he takes us to his Father in prayer, and that his prayers are always answered. When lie was on the Mount of Trans­figuration he prayed, and it was at the moment of prayer that the fashion of his countenance was altered, and his raiment was white and glistering, and the Father again confessed him.

Certain Things for Which He Prayed. —When standing under the shadow of the cross, he thought of his church and king­dom, and he prayed that his disciples, and those who might believe on him through their word, should be one. The world was on his heart, and he knew that it could never be brought into the divine fellowship so long as they were divided. He prayed that they might be one as he and his Father were one, and that the world might believe that God had sent him into the world to be its Savior. When he was on earth he was limited in his power and in his authority. He was then a human as well as a divine Christ. He looked forward to the time when he would be a spiritual Christ, and when all power and all authority would be given unto him. To have this power he must go away from them. He told them that after he went away he would pray the Father to send to them another Comforter, another Advocate, the Holy Spirit, and that when he came he would abide with them forever. The world could lay hold on him, the Christ of flesh, and take him from them, but they would not be able to receive—to take hold of—this spiritual Guest he was to send into their hearts from his Father in answer to his prayer. The world might take them and lock them up in the prison cell, and it might kill them, but it can never get hold of the Holy Spirit that shall live in them. They would need equipment for the great work of the kingdom, and the coming of the Spirit would qualify them for the work. He would bring to their minds everything he wanted them to preach; he would tell them in the hour of need the message to deliver. At the conclusion of that last public discourse, when Christ placed emphasis on sacrifice and service and uttered that won­derful statement, “Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except a grain of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth by itself alone; but if it die, it beareth much fruit,” he prayed these words: “Father, save me from this hour. But for this cause came I unto this hour. Father, glorify thy name.” This prayer was an­swered. There came a voice out of heaven, saying: “I have both glorified it, and will glorify it again.” When in the dark garden of Gethsemane, crushed under the sins of the whole world, he prayed that the cup might be removed from him. He was about to die from physical exhaustion. He wanted to finish the work he had come into the world to do. He needed strength at this critical moment. Read Hebrews, chapter 5, and you can see what he meant by “this cup.” He received an answer to this prayer. Did he pray to escape the cross? If he did, he did not receive an answer. He came into the world for this purpose.

He wanted to escape physical death, and he sweat drops of blood. An angel came to him and strengthened him, and he went joyfully to the cross to become a sacrifice for sins. When dying on the cross, he prayed for those who had caused his death. As he looked on them, in the anguish of his soul he prayed: “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.” He had taught his disciples to pray for their enemies, and he is now practicing his teaching. Was this prayer answered? Yes; on the day of Pentecost, when Peter preached the gospel, they were present and heard the message. He told them of their awful deed. They asked to know what to do, and were told to repent and be baptized, and these murderers became the charter members of the church of Jesus Christ. A Capable Teacher.—All will agree that Jesus is a capable teacher. If anyone ever knew the meaning and the power of prayer, he did. As he started from the Jordan to do his Father’s will, he started with a prayer on his lips, and when he finished his work on the cross he closed it with a prayer. The church of Christ cannot carry out the Christ program un­less it learns to pray. All great souls have been much in prayer. All great spir­itual movements have had their birth in prayer. The church that desires to send out ministers and missionaries must first send out earnest, fervent prayers. If these are sent out, the others will follow. The success of the church does not rest so much on the gifts of a wealthy mem­ber as it does upon the prayers of a con­secrated and faithful member. Before Pentecost and the great revival there was a prayer-meeting in the upper room. We care nothing about theology—the world is tired of it, too—but we are interested in knee-ology. If we want to drive out the demons, let us advance on our knees. An Irishman was pounding the rocks on the street in a city. The Catholic priest was looking on. He said: “Pat, I wish I could break the hearts of my people like you break these stones.” “Faith, and you could,” said Pat, “if you would stay on your knees like I do.” The church of Jesus Christ can never conquer this sin-cursed world unless it learns to pray. On one occasion, an evangelist was be­ing assisted by his young Timothy. He would send the young man to the next field to begin the work, and he would fol­low later. The young man was sent into a difficult field. It was a town that had not had a revival in a long time. The people did not seem to be interested in such things. The young man began the meeting and soon received a letter stating that the evangelist could not come for some time, on account of an accident that had happened to one of his children. He advised him to continue the meeting. Af­ter a number of days he arrived at the town and found that the whole community was being stirred. Sinners were being converted and the cold and indifferent members had begun to come too. He in­quired of the young minister how it hap­pened, and this is what he said: “It has been one of the hardest experiences of my life. You said to ‘go on’ and the peo­ple said: "We did not ask you to hold the meeting, and we want it stopped." The evangelist then asked how it happened he was having such a wonderful meeting, and he said: “Come and go with me to the power-house." He expected it was a place where he would see machinery, but it was a plain log cabin and in it were two old women. He said: “Each evening I’d come to this place and we three would get down on our knees and pray, and then I’d go to the meeting­house and preach, and the interest grew.” Every church and every minis­ter needs a power-house.

"Believe and trust; through stars and suns, Through life and death, through soul and sense, His wise paternal purpose runs; The darkness of His providence Is starlit with divine intents."