Post by Admin on Jan 20, 2024 15:18:45 GMT -5
A Call to Prayer
"Men ought always to pray." Luke 18:1 "I will that men pray everywhere." 1 Timothy 2:1
I have a question to offer you. It is contained in three words, do you pray?
The question is one that none but you can answer. Whether you
attend public worship or not, your minister knows. Whether you
have family prayers or not your relations know. But whether you
pray in private or not, is a matter between yourself and God.
I beseech you in all affections to attend to the subject I bring before
you. Do not say that my question is too close. If your heart is right in
the sight of God, there is nothing in it to make you afraid. Do not
turn off my question by replying that you say your prayers. It is one
thing to say your prayers and another to pray. Do not tell me that my
question is necessary. Listen to me for a few minutes, and I will show
you good reason for asking it.
I. I ASK WHETHER YOU PRAY, BECAUSE PRAYER IS ABSOLUTELY NEEDFUL TO A PERSON'S SALVATION.
I say, absolutely needful, and I say so advisedly. I am not speaking
now of infants or idiots. I am not setting the state of the heathen. I
know where little is given, there little will be required. I speak
especially of those who call themselves Christians, in a land like our
own. And of such I say, no man or woman can expect to be saved
who does not pray.
I hold to salvation by grace as strongly as anyone. I would gladly
offer a free and full pardon to the greatest sinner that ever lived. I
would not hesitate to stand by their dying bed, and say, "Believe on
the Lord Jesus Christ even now, and you shall be saved." But that a
person can have salvation without asking for it, I cannot see in the
Bible. That a person will receive pardon of their sins, who will not so
much as lift up their heart inwardly, and say, "Lord Jesus, give it to
me," this I cannot find. I can find that nobody will be saved by their
prayers, but I cannot find that without prayer anybody will be saved.
It is not absolutely needful to salvation that a person should read the
Bible. A person may have no learning, or be blind, and yet have
Christ in their heart. It is not absolutely needful that a person should
hear public preaching of the gospel. They may live where the gospel
is not preached, or they may be bedridden, or deaf. But the same
thing cannot be said about prayer. It is absolutely needful to
salvation that a person should pray.
There is no royal road either to health or learning. Prime ministers
and kings, poor men and peasants, all alike attend to the needs of
their own bodies and their own minds. No person can eat, drink, or
sleep, by proxy. No person can get the alphabet learned for them by
another. All these are things which everybody must do for
themselves, or they will not be done at all.
Just as it is with the mind and body, so it is with the soul. There are
certain things absolutely needful to the soul's health and well-being.
Each must attend to these things for themselves. Each must repent
for them self. Each must apply to Christ for them self. And for them
self each must speak to God and pray. You must do it for yourself, for
by nobody else it can be done. To be prayerless is to be without God,
without Christ, without grace, without hope, and without heaven. It
is to be in the road to hell. Now can you wonder that I ask the
question, DO YOU PRAY?
II. I ASK AGAIN WHETHER YOU PRAY, BECAUSE A HABIT OF PRAYER IS ONE OF THE SUREST MARKS OF A TRUE CHRISTIAN.
All the children of God on earth are alike in this respect. From the
moment there is any life and reality about their religion, they pray.
Just as the first sign of the life of an infant when born into the world
is the act of breathing, so the first act of men and women when they
are born again is praying.
This is one of the common marks of all the elect of God, "They cry
unto him day and night." Luke 18:1. The Holy Spirit who makes them
new creatures, works in them a feeling of adoption, and makes the
cry, "Abba, Father." Romans 8:15. The Lord Jesus, when he quickens
them, gives them a voice and a tongue, and says to them, "Be dumb
no more." God has no dumb children. It is as much a part of their
new nature to pray, as it is of a child to cry. They see their need of
mercy and grace. They feel their emptiness and weakness. They
cannot do other wise than they do. They must pray.
I have looked careful over the lives of God's saints in the Bible. I
cannot find one whose history much is told us, from Genesis to
Revelation, who was not a person of prayer. I find it mentioned as a
characteristic of the godly, that "they call on the Father," that "they
call upon the name of the Lord Jesus Christ." I find it recorded as a
characteristic of the wicked, that "they call not upon the Lord." 1
Peter 1:17; 1 Corinthians 1:2; Psalm 14:4.
I have read the lives of many eminent Christians who have been on
earth since the Bible days. Some of them, I see, were rich, and some
poor. Some were learned, and some were unlearned. Some of them
were Episcopalians, and some were Christians of other names. Some
were Calvinists, and some were Arminians. Some have loved to use
liturgy, and some to use none. But one thing, I see, they all had in
common. They have all been people of prayer.
I have studied reports of missionary societies in our own times. I see
with joy that lost men and women are receiving the gospel in various
parts of the globe. There are conversions in Africa, in New Zealand,
in India, in China. The people converted are naturally unlike one
another in every respect. But one striking thing I observe at all the
missionary stations: the converted people always pray.
I do not deny that a person may pray without heart and without
sincerity. I do not for a moment pretend to say that the mere fact of a
people' praying proves everything about their soul. As in every other
part of religion, so also in this, there may be deception and
hypocrisy.
But this I do say, that not praying is a clear proof that a person is not
yet a true Christian. They cannot really feel their sins. They cannot
love God. They cannot feel themselves a debtor to Christ. They
cannot long after holiness. They cannot desire heaven. They have yet
to be born again. They have yet to be made a new creature. They may
boast confidently of election, grace, faith, hope and knowledge, and
deceive ignorant people. But you may rest assured it is all vain talk if
they do not pray.
And I say furthermore, that of all the evidences of the real work of
the Spirit, a habit of hearty private prayer is one of the most
satisfactory that can be named. A person may preach from false
motives. A person may write books and ,make fine speeches and
seem diligent in good works, and yet be a Judas Iscariot. But a
person seldom goes into their closet and pours out their soul before
God in secret, unless they are in earnest. The Lord himself has set his
stamp on prayer as the best proof of conversion. When he sent
Ananias to Saul in Damascus, he gave him no other evidence of his
change of heart than this, "Behold he prays." Acts 9:11.
I know that much may go on in a person's mind before they are
brought to pray. They may have many convictions, desires, wishes,
feelings, intentions, resolutions, hopes, and fears. But all these things
are very uncertain evidences. They are to be found in ungodly people,
and often come to nothing. In many a case they are not more lasting
than the morning cloud, and dew that passes away. A real hearty
prayer, moving from a broken and contrite spirit, is worth all these
things put together.
I know that the Holy Spirit, who calls sinners from their evil ways,
does in many instances lead them by very slow degrees to
acquaintance with Christ. But the eye of man can only judge by what
it sees. I can not call anyone justified until they believe. I dare not say
that anyone believes until they pray. I cannot understand a dumb
faith. The first act of faith will be to speak to God. Faith is to the soul
what life is to the body. Prayer is to faith what breath is to the body.
How a person can live and not breathe is past my comprehension,
and how a person can believe and not pray is past my comprehension
too.
Never be surprised if you hear ministers of the gospel dwelling much
on the importance of prayer. This is the point they want to bring to
you. They want to know that you pray. Your views of doctrine may be
correct. Your love of Protestantism may be warm and unmistakable.
But still this may be nothing more than head knowledge and party
spirit. They want to know whether you are actually acquainted with
the throne of grace, and whether you can speak to God as well as
speak about God.
III. I ASK WHETHER YOU PRAY, BECAUSE THERE IS NO DUTY IN RELIGION SO NEGLECTED AS PRIVATE PRAYER.
We live in days of abounding religious profession. There are more
places of public worship than there ever was before. There are more
people attending them than there ever was before. And yet in spite of
all this public religion, I believe there is a vast neglect of private
prayer. It is one of those private transcripts between God and our
souls which no eye sees, and therefore one which people are tempted
to pass over and leave undone.
I believe that hundreds of thousands never utter a word of prayer at
all. They eat. They drink. They sleep. They rise. They go forth to their
work. They return to their homes. They breathe God's air. They travel
on God's earth. They enjoy God's mercies. They have dying bodies.
They have judgment and eternity before them. But they never speak
to God. They live like the animals that perish. They behave like
creatures without souls. They have not one word to say to Him in
whose hand are their life and breath, and all things, and from whose
mouth they must one day receive their everlasting sentence. How
dreadful this seems; but if the secrets of people, were daily known,
how common.
I believe there are hundreds of thousands whose prayers are nothing
but mere form, a set of words repeated by rote, without a thought
about there meaning. Some say over a few hasty sentences picked up
in the nursery when they were children. Some content themselves
with repeating the Creed, forgetting that there is not a request in it.
Some add the Lord's Prayer, but without the slightest desire that its
solemn petitions may be granted.
Many, even those who use good forms, mutter their prayers over
after they have got to bed, or while they wash or dress in the
morning. People may think what they please, but they may depend
upon it that in the sight of God this is not praying. Words said
without heart are as utterly useless to our souls as the drum beating
of savages before their idols. Where there is no heart, there may be
lip-work and tongue-work, but there is no prayer. Saul, I have no
doubt, said many a long prayer before the Lord met him on the way
to Damascus. But it was not until his heart was broken that the Lord
said. "He prays."
Does this surprise you? Listen to me, and I will show you that I am
not speaking as I do without reason. Do you think that my assertions
are extravagant and unwarrantable? Give me your attention, and I
will soon show you that I am only telling you the truth.
Have you forgotten that it is not natural to any one to pray? "The
carnal mind is enmity against God." The desire of a person's heart is
to get far away from God, and have nothing to do with him. Their
feelings towards him is not but fear. Why then should a person pray
when they have no real sense of sin , no real feeling of spiritual
needs, no thorough belief in unseen things, no desire after holiness
and heaven? Of all these things the vast majority of people know and
feel nothing. The multitudes walk in the broad way. I cannot forget
this. Therefore I say boldly, I believe that few pray.
Have you forgotten that it is not fashionable to pray? It is one of
those things that many would be rather ashamed to admit. There are
hundreds who would rather storm a breach, or lead a forlorn hope
then confess publicly that they make a habit of prayer. There are
thousands who, if obliged to sleep in the same room with a stranger,
would lie down in bed without a prayer. To dress well, to go to
theaters, to be thought clever and agreeable, all this is fashionable,
but not to pray. I cannot forget this. I cannot think a habit is
common which so many seem ashamed to admit. Thus I believe that
few pray.
Have you forgotten the lives that many live?
Can we really believe that people are praying against sin night and day, when we see them plunging into it?
Can we suppose they pray against the world, when
they are entirely absorbed and taken up with its pursuits? Can we
think they really ask God for grace to serve him, when they do not
show the slightest interest to serve him at all? Oh, no, it is plain as
daylight that the great majority of people either ask nothing of God
or do not mean what they say when they do ask, which is just the
same thing. Praying and sinning will never live together in the same
heart. Prayer will consume sin, or sin will choke prayer. I cannot
forget this. I look at people's lives. I believe that few pray.
Have you forgotten the deaths that many die? How many, when they
draw near death, seem entirely strangers to God. Not only are they
sadly ignorant of his gospel, but sadly lacking in the power of
speaking to him. There is a terrible awkwardness and shyness in
their endeavors to approach him. They seem to be taking up a fresh
thing. They appear as if they want an introduction to God, and as if
they have never talked with him before. I remember having heard of
person who was anxious to have a minister to visit them in their last
illness. They desired that he would pray for them. He asked her what
he should pray for. They did not know, and could not tell. They were
utterly unable to name any one thing which they wished to ask God
for their soul. All they seemed to want was the form of a minister's
prayers. I can quite understand this. Death-beds are great revealers
of secrets. I cannot forget what I have seen of sick and dying people.
This also leads me to believe that few people pray.
I cannot see your heart. I do not know your private history in
spiritual things. But from what I see in the Bible and in the world I
am certain I cannot ask you a more necessary question than that
before you- DO YOU PRAY?
IV. I ASK WHETHER YOU PRAY, BECAUSE PRAYER IS AN ACT OF RELIGION TO WHICH THERE IS GREAT ENCOURAGEMENT.
There is everything on God's part to make prayer east if people will
only attempt it. All things are ready on his side. Every objection is
anticipated. Every difficulty is provided for. the crooked places are
made straight and the rough places made smooth. There is no excuse
left for the prayerless person.
There is a way by which any person, however sinful and unworthy,
may draw near to God the Father. Jesus Christ has opened that way
by the sacrifice he made for us upon the cross. The holiness and
justice of God need not frighten sinners and keep them back. Only let
them cry to God in the name of Jesus, and they shall find God upon
the throne of grace, willing and ready to hear. The name of Jesus is a
never-failing passport for our prayers. In that name a person may
draw near to God with boldness, and ask with confidence. God has
engaged to hear him. Think of this. Is this not an encouragement?
There is an Advocate and Intercessor always waiting to present the
prayers of those who come to God through him. That advocate is
Jesus Christ. He mingles our prayers with the incense of his own
almighty intercession. So mingled, they go up as a sweet savor before
the throne of God. Poor as they are in themselves, they are mighty
and powerful in the hand of our High Priest and Elder Brother. The
bank-note without a signature at the bottom is nothing but a
worthless piece of paper. The stroke of a pen confers on it all its
value. The prayer of a poor child of Adam is a feeble thing in itself,
but once endorsed by the hand of the Lord Jesus it avails much.
There was an officer in the city of Rome who appointed to have his
doors always open, in order to receive any Roman citizen who
applied to him for help. Just so the ear of the Lord Jesus is ever open
to the cry of all who need mercy and grace. It is his office to help
them. Their prayer is his delight. Think of this. Is this not and
encouragement?
There is the Holy Spirit ever ready to help our infirmities in prayer. It
is one part of his special office is assist us in our endeavors to speak
to God. We need not be cast down and distressed by the fear of not
knowing what to say. The Spirit will give us words if we seek his aid.
The prayers of the Lord's people are the inspiration of the Lord's
Spirit, the work of the Holy Spirit who dwells within them as the
Spirit of grace and supplication. Surely the Lord's people may well
hope to be heard. It is not merely those who pray, but the Holy Spirit
pleading in them. Think of this. Is not this an encouragement?
There are exceeding great and precious promises to those who pray.
What did the Lord Jesus mean when he spoke such words as these:
"Ask and it shall be given you; seek, and you shall find; knock, and
the door shall be opened unto you: for every one that asks, receives;
and he that seeks, finds; and to him who knocks, it shall be opened."
Matthew 7:7,8. "All things whatever you shall ask in prayer believing,
you shall receive ." Matthew 12:22. "Whatever you shall ask in my
name, that I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If
you shall ask anything in my name I will do it." John 14:13,14. What
did the Lord mean when he spoke the parables of The friend at
midnight and The importunate widow? Luke 11:5, 18:1. Think over
these passages. If this is not an encouragement to pray, words have
no meaning.
There are wonderful examples in the Scripture of the power of
prayer. Nothing seems to be too great, too hard, or too difficult for
prayer to do. It has obtained things that seemed impossible and out
of reach. It has won victories over fire, air earth, and water. Prayer
opened up the Red Sea . Prayer brought water from the rock and
bread from heaven. Prayer made the sun stand still. Prayer brought
fire from the sky on Elijah's sacrifice. Prayer turned the counsel of
Ahithophel into foolishness. Prayer overthrew the army of
Sennacherib. Well might Mary Queen of Scots say, "I fear John
Knox's prayers more than an army of ten thousand men." Prayer has
healed the sick. Prayer has raised the dead. Prayer has procured the
conversion of souls. "The child of many prayers," said and old
Christian to Augustine's mother, "shall never perish." Prayer, pains,
and faith can do anything. Nothing seems impossible when a person
has the spirit of adoption. "Let me alone," is the remarkable saying of
God to Moses when Moses was about to intercede for the children of
Israel. Exodus 32:10. So long as Abraham asked mercy for Sodom,
the Lord went on giving. He never ceased to give until Abraham
ceased to pray. Think of this. Is this not an encouragement?
What can a person need to lead them to take any step in religion,
than the things I have just told you about prayer? What more could
be done to make the path to the mercy seat easy, and to remove all
occasions of stumbling from the sinners way? Surely if the devils in
hell had such a door set before them, they would leap for gladness
and make the very pit ring with joy.
But where will the person hide their head at the last who neglects
such glorious encouragements? What can possibly be said for the
person who, after all, dies without prayer? Surely I may fell anxious
that you should not be that person. Surely I may well ask-DO YOU
PRAY?
V. I ASK WHETHER YOU PRAY, BECAUSE DILIGENCE IN PRAYER IS THE SECRET OF EMINENT HOLINESS.
Without controversy there is a vast difference among true Christians.
There is an immense interval between the foremost and the
hindermost in the army of God.
They are all fighting the same good fight but how much more
valiantly some fight than others. They are all doing the Lord's work
but how much more some do than others. They are all light in the
Lord; but how much more brightly some shine than others. They are
all running the same race; but how much faster some get on than
others. They all love the same Lord and Savior; but how much more
some love him than others. I ask any true Christian whether this is
not the case. Are these things not so?
There are some of the Lord's people who seem never able to get on
from the time of their conversion. They are born again, but they
remain babies all their lives. You hear from them the same old
experience. You remark in them the same lack of spiritual appetite,
the same lack of interest in anything beyond their own little circle,
which you remarked ten years ago. They are pilgrims indeed, but
pilgrims like the Gibeonites of old; their bread is always dry and
moldy, their shoes always old, and their garments always rent and
torn. I say this with sorrow and grief; but I ask any real Christian, Is it not true?
There are others of the Lord's people who seem to be always
advancing. They grow like grass after rain; they increase like Israel in
Egypt; they press on like Gideon, though sometimes faint, yet always
pursuing. They are ever adding grace to grace, and faith to faith, and
strength to strength. Every time you meet them their hearts seems
larger, and their spiritual stature taller and stronger. Every year they
appear ,ore, and feel more in their religion. They not only have good
works to prove the reality of their faith, but the are zealous of them.
they are not only do well, but they are unwearied in well doing. They
attempt great things, and they do great things. When they fail they
try again, and when they fall they are soon up again. And all this time
they think themselves poor, unprofitable servants, and fancy that
they do nothing at all. These are those who make religion lovely and
beautiful in the eyes of all. They wrest praise even from the
unconverted and win golden opinions even from the selfish people of
the world. It does one good to see. to be with them, and to hear them.
When you meet them, you could believe that like Moses, they had
just come out from the presence of God. When you part with them
you feel warmed by their company, as if your soul had been near a
fire. I know such people are rare. I only ask, Are there not many such?
Now how can you account for the difference which I have just
described? What is the reason that some believers are so much
brighter and holier than others? I believe the difference, in nineteen
cases out of twenty, arises from different habits about private prayer.
I believe that those who are not eminently holy pray little, and those
who are eminently holy pray much.
I dare say this opinion may startle some hearers. I have little doubt
that many look on eminent holiness as a kind of special gift, which
none but a few must pretend to aim at. They admire it at a distance
in books. They think it beautiful when they he an example near
themselves. But as to its being a thing within the reach of any but a
very few, such a notion never seems to enter their minds. In short,
they consider it a kind of monopoly granted to a few favored
believers, but certainly not to all.
Now I believe that this is a most dangerous mistake. I believe that
spiritual as well as natural greatness depends in a high degree on the
faithful use of means within everybody's reach. Of course I do not say
we have a right to expect a miraculous grant of intellectual gifts; but I
do say, that when a person is once converted to God, his progress in
holiness will be much in accordance with their own diligence in the
use of God's appointed means. And I assert confidently that the
principle means by which most believers have become great in the
church of Christ is the habit of diligent private prayer. Look through
the lives of the brightest and best of God's servants, whether in the
Bible or not. See what is written of Moses and David and Daniel and
Paul. Mark what is recorded of Luther and Bradford the Reformers.
Observe what is related of the private devotions of Whitefield and
Cecil and Venn and Bickersteth and McCheyne. Tell me of one of the
goodly fellowship of saints and martyrs, who has not had this mark
most prominently-they were men of prayer. Depend on it, prayer is
power.
Prayer obtains fresh and continued outpourings of the Spirit. He
alone begins the work of grace in a people heart. He alone can carry
it forward and make it prosper. But the good Spirit loves to be
entreated. And those who ask most will have most of his influence.
Prayer is the surest remedy against the devil and besetting sins. That
sin will never stand firm which is heartily prayed against. The devil
will never long keep dominion over us which beseech the Lord to cast
forth. But then we must spread out all our case before our heavenly
Physician, if he is to give us daily relief.
Do you wish to grow in grace and be a devoted Christian? Be very
sure, if you wish it, you could not have a more important question
than this-DO YOU PRAY?
VI. I ASK WHETHER YOU PRAY, BECAUSE NEGLECT OF PRAYER IS ONE OF THE GREATEST CAUSES OF BACKSLIDING.
There is such a thing as going back in religion after making a good
profession. People may run well for a season, like the Galatians, and
then turn aside after false teachers. People may profess loudly while
their feelings are warm, as Peter did, and then in the hour of trial
deny their Lord. People may cool down in their zeal to do good, like
John Mark the companion of Paul. People may follow an apostle for
a season, and like Demas go back to the world. All these things people may do.
It is a miserable thing to be a backslider. Of all unhappy things that
can befall a person, I suppose it is the worst. A stranded ship, a
broken-winged eagle, a garden overrun with weeds, a harp without
strings, a church in ruins, all these are sad sights, but a backslider is
a sadder still. A wounded conscience-a mind sick of itself-a memory
full of self-reproach-a heart pierced through with the Lord's arrows
a-spirit broken with the inward accusation-all this is a taste of hell. It
is hell on earth. Truly that saying of the wise man is solemn and
weighty, "The backslider in heart shall be filled with his own ways." Proverbs 14:14.
Now what is the case of most backslidings? I believe, as a general
rule, one of the chief causes is neglected private prayer. Of course the
secret history of falls will not be know until the last day. I can only
give my opinion as a minister of Christ and a student of the heart.
That opinions, I repeat distinctly, that backsliding generally first
begins with neglect of private prayer.
Bibles read without prayer; sermons heard without prayer;
marriages contracted without prayer; journeys undertaken without
prayer; residences chosen without prayer; friendships formed
without prayer; the daily act of prayer itself hurried over, or gone
through without heart: these are the kind of downward steps by
which many a Christian descends to a condition of spiritual palsy, or
reaches the point where God allows them to have a tremendous fall.
This is the process which forms the lingering Lots, the unstable
Samsons, the innocent Asas, the pliable Jehoshaphats, the over-
careful Marthas, of whom so many are to be found in the church of
Christ. Often the simple history of such cases is this: the became
careless about private prayer.
You may be vary sure people fall in private long before they fall in
public. They are backsliders on their knees long before they backslide
openly in the eyes of the world. Like Peter, they first disregard the
Lord's warning to watch and pray, and then like Peter, their strength
is gone, and in the hour of temptation they deny their Lord.
The world takes notice of their fall, and scoffs loudly. But the world
knows nothing of the real reason. The heathen succeeded in making
a well-know Christians offer incense to an idol, by threatening them
with a punishment worse than death. They triumphed greatly in the
sight of their cowardice and apostasy. But the heathen did not know
the fact of which history informs us, that on that very morning he
had left his bed-chamber hastily, and without finishing his usual prayers.
If you are a Christian indeed, I trust you will never be a backslider.
But if you do not want to be a backsliding Christian, remember the
question I ask you: DO YOU PRAY?
VII. I ASK, LASTLY, WHETHER YOU PRAY BECAUSE PRAYER IS ONE OF THE BEST MEANS OF HAPPINESS AND CONTENTMENT.
We live in a world where sorrow abounds. This has always been the
state since sin came in. There cannot be sin without sorrow. And
until sin is driven out from the world, it is vain for any one to
suppose they can escape sorrow.
Some without doubt have a larger cup of sorrow to drink than others.
But few are to be found who live long without sorrows or cares of one
sort or another. Our bodies, our property, our families, our children,
our relations, our servants, our friends, our neighbors, our worldly
callings, each and all of these are fountains of care. Sickness, deaths,
losses, disappointments, partings, separations, ingratitude, slander,
all these are common things. We cannot get through life without
them. Some day or other they find us out. The greater are our
affections the deeper are our afflictions, and the more we love the
more we have to weep.
And what is the best means of cheerfulness in such a world as this?
How shall we get through this valley of tears with the least pain? I
know no better means than the habit of taking everything to God in
prayer.
This is the plain advice that the Bible gives, both in the Old
Testament and New. What says the Psalmist? "Call upon me in the
day of trouble, and I will deliver you and you shall glorify me." Psalm
50:15. "Cast your burden upon the Lord and he shall sustain you: he
shall never suffer the righteous to be moved." Psalm 55:22. What
says the apostle Paul? "Be careful for nothing; but in everything, by
prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, let you requests be made
know unto God: and the peace of God, which passes all
understanding shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ
Jesus." Philippians 4:6,7. What says the apostle James: "Is any
afflicted among you? let him pray." James 5:13.
This was the practice of all the saints whose history we have recorded
in the Scriptures. This is what Jacob did when he feared his brother
Esau. this is what Moses did when the people were ready to stone
him in the wilderness. This is what Joshua did when Israel was
defeated before the men of Ai. This is what David did when he was in
danger in Keliah. This what Hezekiah did when he received the letter
from Sennacherib. This is what the church did when peter was put in
prison. This is what Paul did when he was cast into the dungeon at Philippi.
The only way to really happy in such a world as this, is to ever casting
all our cares on God. It is trying to carry their own burdens which so
often makes believers sad. If they will tell their troubles to God, he
will enable them to bear them as easily as Samson did the gates of
Gaza. If they are resolved to keep them to themselves, they will one
day find that the very grasshopper is a burden.
There is a friend ever waiting to help us, if we will unbosom to him
our sorrow-a friend who pitied the poor and sick and sorrowful,
when he was upon earth-a friend who knows the heart of man, for he
lived thirty-three years as a man among us-a friend who can weep
with the weepers, for he was a man of sorrows and acquainted with
grief-a friend who is able to help us, for there never was earthly pain
he could not cure. That friend is Jesus Christ. The way to be happy is
to be always opening our hearts to him. Oh that we were all like that
poor Christian slave who only answered when threatened and
punished, "I must tell the Lord."
Jesus can make those happy who trust him and call him, whatever be
their outward condition. He can give them peace of heart in a prison,
contentment in the midst of poverty, comfort in the midst of
bereavements, joy on the brink of the grave. There is a mighty
fullness that is ready to be poured out on every one that will ask in
prayer. Oh that people would understand that happiness does not
depend on outward circumstances, but on the state of the heart.
Prayer can lighten crosses for us, however heavy. It can bring down
to our side One who will help us to bear them. Prayer can open a
door for us when our way seems hedged up. It can bring down One
who will say, "This is the way, walk in it." Prayer can let in a ray of
hope when all our earthly prospects seem darkened. It can bring
down One who will say, "I will never leave you, nor forsake you."
Prayer can obtain relief for us when those we love most are taken
away, and the world feels empty. It can bring down One who can fill
the gap in our hearts with himself, and say to the waves within,
"Peace; be still." Oh that people were not so like Hagar in the
wilderness, blind to the well of living waters close beside them.
I want you to be happy. I know I cannot ask you a more useful
question than this: DO YOU PRAY?
And now it is high time for me to bring this tract to an end. I trust I
have brought before you things that will be seriously considered. I
heartily pray God that this consideration may be blessed to your soul.
Let me speak a parting word to THOSE WHO DO NOT PRAY.
I dare not suppose that all those who read these pages are praying
people. If you are a prayerless person, suffer me to speak to you this
day on God's behalf.
Prayerless reader, I can only warn you but I do warn you most
solemnly. I warn you that you are in a position of fearful danger. If
you die in your present state, you are a lost soul. You will only rise
again to be eternally miserable. I warn you that all professing
Christians you are utterly without excuse. There is not a single good
reason that you can show for living without prayer.
It is useless to say you know not how to pray. Prayer is the simplest
act in all religion. It is simply speaking to God. It needs neither
learning nor wisdom nor book-knowledge to begin it. It needs
nothing but heart and will. The weakest infant can cry when it is
hungry. The poorest beggar can hold out their hand for alms, and
does not wait to find fine words. The most ignorant person will find
something to say to God, if they have only a mind.
It is useless to say you have no convenient place to pray in. Any
person can find a place private enough, if they are disposed. Our
Lord prayed on a mountain; Peter on the house-top; Isaac in the
field; Nathaniel under the fig-tree; Jonah in the whale's belly. Any
place may become a closet, an oratory, and a Bethel, and be to us the
presence of God.
It is useless to say you have no time. There is plenty of time, if people
will employ it. Time may be short, but time is always long enough for
prayer. Daniel had the affairs of a kingdom on his hands, and yet he
prayed three times a day. David was the ruler over a mighty nation,
and yet he says, "Evening and morning and at noon will I pray."
Psalm 55:17. When time is really wanted, time can always be found.
It is useless to say you cannot pray until you have faith and a new
heart, and that you must sit still and wait for them. This is to add sin
to sin. It is bad enough to be unconverted and going to hell. It is even
worse to say, "I know it, but will not cry for mercy." This is a kind of
argument for which there is no warrant in Scripture. "Call you upon
the Lord," says Isaiah, "while he is near." Isaiah 55:6. "Take with you
words, and turn unto the Lord," says Hosea. Hosea 14:1. "Repent and
pray," says Peter to Simon Magus. Acts 8:22. If you want faith and a
new heart, go and cry to the Lord for them. The very attempt to pray
has often been the quickening of a dead soul.
Oh, prayerless reader, who and what are you that you will not ask anything of God?
Have you made a covenant with the dead and hell?
Are you at peace with the worm and fire? Have you no sins to be
pardoned? Have you no fear of eternal torment? Have you no desires
after heaven? Oh that you would awake from your present folly. Oh
that you would consider your latter end. Oh that you would arise and
call upon God. Alas, there is a day coming when many shall pray
loudly, "Lord, Lord, open to us," but all too late; when many shall cry
to the rocks to fall on them and the hills to cover them, who would
never cry to God. In all affection, I warn you, beware lest this be the
end of your soul. Salvation is very near you. Do not lose heaven for
want of asking.
Let me speak TO THOSE WHO HAVE REAL DESIRES FOR SALVATION,
but know not what steps to take, or where to begin.
I cannot but hope that some readers may be in this state of mind,
and if there be but one such I must offer them affectionate counsel.
In a journey there must be a first step. There must be a change from
sitting to moving forward. The journeyings of Israel from Egypt to
Canaan were long and wearisome. Forty years pass away before they
crossed the Jordan. Yet there was some one who moved first when
they marched from Ramah to Succoth. When does a person really
take their first step in coming out of sin and the world? They do it the
day when they first pray with their heart.
In every building the first stone must be laid, and the first blow must
be struck. The ark was one hundred and twenty years in the building.
Yet there was a day when Noah laid his axe to the first tree he cut
down to form it. The temple of Solomon was a glorious building. But
there was a day when the first huge stone was laid deep in mount
Moriah. When does the building of the Spirit really begin to appear
in a person's heart? It begins, so far as we can judge, when they first
pour out their heart to God in prayer.
If you desire salvation, and want to know what to do, I advise you to
go this very day to the Lord Jesus Christ, in the first private place you
can find, and earnestly and heartily entreat him in prayer to save
your soul.
Tell him that you have heard that he receives sinners, and he has
said, "Him that comes unto me I will in nowise cast out." Tell him
that you are a poor vile sinner, and that you come to him on the faith
of his own invitation. Tell him you put yourself wholly and entirely in
his hands: that you feel vile and helpless, and hopeless in yourself:
and that except he saves you, you have no hope of being saved at all.
Beseech him to deliver you from guilt, the power, and the
consequences of sin. Beseech him to pardon you, and wash you in his
own blood. Beseech him to give you a new heart, and plant the Holy
Spirit in your soul. Beseech him to give you grace and faith and will
and power to be his disciple and servant from this day forever. Oh,
reader, go this very day, and tell these things to the Lord Jesus
Christ, if you are really in earnest about your soul.
Tell him in your own way, and your own words. If a doctor came to
see you when you were sick you could tell him where you felt pain. If
your soul feels its disease indeed, you can surely find something to
tell Christ. Doubt not his willingness to save you, because you are a
sinner. It is Christ's office to save sinners. He says himself, "I came
not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance." Luke 5:32.
Wait not because you fell unworthy. Wait for nothing. Wait for
nobody. Waiting comes from the devil. Just as you are, go to Christ.
The worse you are, the more need you have to apply to him. You will
never mend yourself by staying away.
Fear not because your prayer is stammering, your words feeble, and
your language poor. Jesus can understand you. Just as a mother
understands the first lispings of her infant, so does the blessed Savior
understand sinners. He can read a sigh, and see a meaning in a
groan.
Despair not because you do not get an answer immediately. While
you are speaking, Jesus is listening. If he delays an answer, it is only
for wise reasons, and to try if you are in earnest. The answer will
surely come. Though it tarry, wait for it. It will surely come.
Oh, reader, if you have any desire to be saved, remember the advice I
have given to you this day. Act upon it honestly and heartily, and you shall be saved.
Let me speak, lastly, TO THOSE WHO DO PRAY.
I trust that some who read this tract know well what prayer is, and
have the Spirit of adoption. To all such, I offer a few words of
brotherly counsel and exhortation. The incense offered in the
tabernacle was ordered to be made in a particular way. Not every
kind of incense would do. Let us remember this, and be careful about
the matter and manner of our prayers.
Brethren who pray, if I know anything of a Christian's heart, you are
often sick of your own prayers. You never enter into the apostle's
words, "When I would do good, evil is present with me." so
thoroughly as you sometimes do upon your knees. You can
understand David's words, "I hate vain thoughts." You can
sympathize with that poor converted Hottentot who was overheard
praying, "Lord, deliver me from all my enemies, and above all, from
that bad man-myself." There are few children of God who do not
often find the season of prayer a season of conflict. The devil has
special wrath against us when he sees us on our knees. Yet, I believe
that prayers which cost us no trouble, should be regarded with great
suspicion. I believe we are very poor judges of the goodness of our
prayers, and that the prayer which pleases us least, often pleases God
most. Suffer me then, as a companion in the Christian warfare, to
offer a few words of exhortation. One thing, at least, we all feel: we
must pray. We cannot give it up. We must go on.
I commend then to your attention, the importance of reverence and
humility in prayer. Let us never forget what we are, and what a
solemn thing it is to speak with God. Let us beware of rushing into
his presence with carelessness and levity. Let us say to ourselves: "I
am on holy ground. This is no other than the gate of heaven. If I do
not mean what I say, I am trifling with God. If I regard iniquity in my
heart, the Lord will not hear me." Let us keep in mind the words of
Solomon, "Do not be rash with your mouth, and let not your heart be
hasty to utter anything before God; for God is in heaven, and you on
earth." Ecclesiastes 5:2. When Abraham spoke to God, he said, "I am
dust and ashes." When Jacob spoke to God, he said, "I am vile." Let
us do likewise.
I commend to you the importance of praying spiritually. I mean by
that, that we should labor always to have the direct help of the Spirit
in our prayers, and beware above all things of formality. There is
nothing so spiritual that it may become a form, and this is especially
true of private prayer. We may insensibly get into the habit of using
the fittest possible words, and offering the most scriptural petitions,
and yet do it all by rote without feeling it, and walk daily round an
old beaten path. I desire to touch this point with caution and
delicacy. I know that there are certain things we daily want, and that
there is nothing necessarily formal in asking for these things in the
same words. The world, the devil, and our hearts, are daily the same.
Of necessity we must daily go over old ground. But this I say, we
must be very careful on this point. If the skeleton and outline of our
prayers be by habit almost form, let us strive that the clothing and
filling up of our prayers, be as far as possible of the Spirit. As to
praying of a book in our private devotions, it is a habit I cannot
praise. If we can tell our doctors the state of our bodies without a
book, we ought to be able to tell the state of our souls to God. I have
no objection to a person using crutches when they are first
recovering from a broken limb. It is better to use crutches, than not
to walk at all. But if I saw them all their life on crutches, I should not
think it matter for congratulation. I should like to see them strong
enough to throw their crutches away.
I commend to you the importance of making prayer a regular
business of life. I might say something of the value of regular times in
the day for prayer. God is a God of order. The hours for morning and
evening sacrifice in the Jewish temple were not fixed as they were
without a meaning. Disorder is eminently one of the fruits of sin. But
I would not bring any under bondage. This only I say, that it is
essential to your soul's health to make praying a part of the business
of every twenty-four hours of your life. Just as you allot time to
eating, sleeping, and business, so also allot time to prayer. Choose
your own hours and seasons. At the very least, speak with God in the
morning, before you speak with the world: and speak with God at
night, after you have done with the world. But settle it in your minds,
that praying is one of the great things of every day. Do not drive it
into a corner. Do not give it the scraps and parings of your duty.
Whatever else you make a business of, make a business of prayer.
I commend to you the importance of perseverance in prayer. Once
having begun the habit, never give it up. Your heart will sometimes
say, "You will have had family prayers: what mighty harm if you
leave private prayer undone?" Your body will sometimes say, "You
are unwell, or sleepy, or weary; you need not pray." Your mind will
sometimes say, "You have important business to attend to to-day; cut
short your prayers." Look on all such suggestions as coming direct
from Satan. They are all as good as saying, "Neglect your soul." I do
not maintain that prayers should always be of the same length; but I
do say, let no excuse make you give up prayer. Paul said, "Continue
in prayer and, "Pray without ceasing." He did not mean that people
should be always on their knees, but he did mean that our prayers
should be like the continual burned-offering steadily preserved in
every day; that it should be like seed-time and harvest, and summer
and winter, unceasingly coming round at regular seasons; that it
should be like the fire on the altar, not always consuming sacrifices,
but never completely going out. Never forget that you may tie
together morning and evening devotions, by an endless chain of
short ejaculatory prayers throughout the day. Even in company, or
business, or in the very streets, you may be silently sending up little
winged messengers to God, as Nehemiah did in the very presence of
Artaxerxes. And never think that time is wasted which is given to
God. A nation does not become poorer because it looses one year of
working days in seven, by keeping the Sabbath. A Christian never
finds he is a loser, in the long run, by persevering in prayer.
I commend to you the importance of earnestness in prayer. It is not
that a person should shout, or scream, or be very loud, in order to
prove that they are in earnest. But it is desirable that we should be
hearty and fervent and warm, and ask as if we were really interested
in what we were doing. It is the "effectual fervent" prayer that "avails
much." This is the lesson that is taught us by the expressions used in
Scripture about prayer. It is called, "crying, knocking, wrestling,
laboring, striving." This is the lesson taught us by scripture
examples. Jacob is one. He said to the angel at Penuel, "I will not let
you go, except you bless me." Genesis 32:26. Daniel is another. Hear
how he pleaded with God: "O Lord, hear; O Lord, forgive; O Lord,
hearken and do; defer not, for your won sake, O my God." Daniel
9:19. Our Lord Jesus Christ is another. It is written of him, "In the
days of his flesh, he offered up prayers and supplications with strong
crying and tears." Hebrews 5:7. Alas, how unlike is this to many of
our supplications! How tame and lukewarm they seem by
comparison. How truly might God say to many of us, "You do not
really want what you pray for." Lets us try to amend this fault. Let us
knock loudly at the door of grace, like Mercy in Pilgrim's Progress, as
if we must perish unless heard. Let us settle it in our minds, that cold
prayers are a sacrifice without fire. Let us remember the story of
Demosthenes the great orator, when one came to him, and wanted to
plead his cause. He heard him without attention, while he told his
story without earnestness. The man saw this, and cried out with
anxiety that it was all true. "Ah," said Demosthenes, "I believe you
now."
I commend to you the importance of praying in faith. We should
endeavor to believe that our prayers are heard, and that if we ask
things according to God's will, we shall be answered. This is the plain
command of our Lord Jesus Christ: "Whatever things you desire,
when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you shall have
them." Mark 11:24. Faith is to prayer what the feather is to the arrow:
without it prayer will not hit the mark. We should cultivate the habit
of pleading promises in our prayers. We should take with us some
promises, and sat., "Lord, here is your own word pledged. Do for us
as you have said." This was the habit of Jacob and Moses and David.
The 119 th Psalm is full of things asked, "according to your word."
Above all, we should cultivate the habit of expecting answers to our
prayers. We should do like the merchant who sends his ships to sea.
We should not be satisfied, unless we see some return. Alas, there are
few points on which Christians come short so much as this. The
church at Jerusalem made prayer without ceasing for Peter in prison;
but when the prayer was answered, they would hardly believe it. Acts
12:15. It is a solemn saying of Robert Trail, "There is no surer mark of
trifling in prayer, than when men are careless what they get in
prayer."
I commend to you the importance of boldness in prayer. There is an
unseemly familiarity in some people's prayers which I cannot praise.
But there is such a thing as a holy boldness, which is exceedingly to
be desired. I mean such boldness as that of Moses, when he pleads
with God not to destroy Israel "Wherefore," says he, "should the
Egyptians speak and say, For mischief did he bring them out, to slay
them in the mountains? Turn from your fierce anger." Exodus 32:12.
I mean such boldness as that of Joshua, when the children of Israel
were defeated before men of Ai: "What," says he, "will you do unto
your great name?" Joshua 7:9. This is the boldness for which Luther
was remarkable. One who heard him praying said, "What a spirit,
what a confidence was in his very expressions. With such a reverence
he sued, as one begging of God, and yet with such hope and
assurance, as if he spoke with a loving father or friend. This is the
boldness which distinguished Bruce, a great Scottish divine of the
seventeenth century. His prayers were said to be "like bolts shot up
into heaven." Here also I fear we sadly come short. We do not
sufficiently realize the believer's privileges. We do not plead as often
as we might, "Lord, are we not your own people? Is it not for your
glory that we should be sanctified? Is it not for your honor that your
gospel should increase?"
I commend to you the importance of fullness in prayer. I do not
forget that our Lord warns us against the example of the Pharisees,
who, for pretense, made long prayers; and commands us when we
pray not to use vain repetitions. But I cannot forget, on the other
hand, that he has given his own sanction to large and long devotions
by continuing all night in prayer to God. At all events, we are not
likely in this day to err on the side of praying too much. Might it not
be feared that many believers in this generation pray too little? Is not
the actual amount of time that many Christians give to prayer, in the
aggregate, very small? I am afraid these questions cannot be
answered satisfactorily. I am afraid the private devotions of many are
painfully scanty and limited; just enough to prove they are alive and
no more. They are really seem to want little from God. They seem to
have little to confess, little to ask for, and little to thank him for. Alas,
this is altogether wrong. Nothing is more common than to hear
believers complaining that they do not get on. They tell us that they
do not grow in grace as they could desire. Is it not rather to be
suspected that many have quite as much grace as they ask for? Is it
not the true account of many, that they have little, because they ask
little? The cause of their weakness is to be found in their own
stunted, dwarfish, clipped, contracted, hurried, narrow, diminutive
prayers. They have not, because they ask not. Oh, we are not
straitened in Christ, but in ourselves. The Lord says, "Open your
mouth wide, and I will fill it." But we are like the King of Israel who
smote on the ground thrice and stayed, when he ought to have
smitten five or six times.
I commend to you the importance of particularity in prayer. We
ought not to be content with general petitions. We ought to specify
our needs before the throne of grace. It should not be enough to
confess we are sinners; we should name toe sins of which our
conscience tells us we are most guilty. It should not be enough to ask
for holiness; we should name the graces in which we fell most
deficient. It should not be enough to tell the Lord we are in trouble;
we should describe our trouble and all its peculiarities. This is what
Jacob did when he feared his brother Esau. He tells God exactly what
it is that he fears. Genesis 32:11. This is what Eleazar did, when he
sought a wife for his master's son. He spreads before God precisely
what he needs. Genesis 24:12. This is what Paul did when he had a
thorn in the flesh. He besought the Lord. 2 Corinthians 12:8. This is
true faith and confidence. We should believe that nothing is too
small to be named before God. What should we think of the patient
who told his doctor he was ill, but never went into particulars? What
should we think of the wife who told her husband she was unhappy,
but did not specify the cause? What should we think of the child who
told their father that they were in trouble, but nothing more? Christ
is the true bridegroom of the soul, the true physician of the heart, the
real father of all his people. Let us show that we fell this by being
unreserved in our communications with Him. Let us hide no secrets
from Him. Let us tell Him all our hearts.
I commend to you the importance of intercession in our prayers. We
are all selfish by nature, and our selfishness is very apt to stick to us,
even when we are converted. There is a tendency in us to think only
of our own souls, our own spiritual conflicts, our own progress in
religion, and to forget others. Against this tendency we all have need
to watch and strive, and not the least in our prayers. We should study
to be of a public spirit. We should stir ourselves up to name other
names besides our own before the throne of grace. We should try to
bear in our hearts the whole world, the heathen, the Jews, the
Roman Catholics, the body of true believers, the professing
Protestant churches, the country in which we live, the congregation
to which we belong, the household in which we sojourn, the friends
and relations we are connected with. For each and all of these we
should plead. This is the highest charity. They love me best who loves
me in their prayers. This is for our soul's health. It enlarges our
sympathies and expands our hearts. This is for the benefit of the
church. The wheels of all machinery for extending the gospel are
moved by prayer. They do as much for the Lord's cause who
intercede like Moses on the mount, as they who fight like Joshua in
the thick of the battle. This is to be like Christ. He bears the names of
his people, as their High Priest, before the Father. Oh, the privilege
of being like Jesus! This is to be a true helper to ministers. If I must
choose a congregation, give me a people that pray.
I commend to you the importance of thankfulness in prayer. I know
well that asking God is one thing and praising God is another. But I
see so close a connection between prayer and praise in the Bible, that
I dare not call that true prayer in which thankfulness has no part. It
is not for nothing that Paul says, "By prayer and supplication, with
thanksgiving, let your requests be made known unto God."
Philippians 4:6. "Continue in prayer, and watch in the same with
thanksgiving." Colossians 4:2. It is of mercy that we are not in hell. It
is of mercy that we have the hope of heaven. It is of mercy that we
live in a land of spiritual light. It is of mercy that we have been called
by the Spirit, and not left to reap the fruit of our own ways. It is of
mercy that we still live and have opportunities of glorifying God for
that free grace by which we live, and for that loving kindness which
endures forever. Never was their an eminent saint who was not full
of thankfulness. St. Paul hardly ever writes an epistle without
beginning with thankfulness. Men like Whitefield in the last century,
and Bickersteth in our own time, abounded in thankfulness. Oh,
reader, if we would be bright and shining lights in our day, we must
cherish a spirit of praise. Let our prayers be thankful prayers.
I commend to you the importance of watchfulness over your prayers.
Prayer is the point in religion at which you must be most of all on
your guard. Here it is that true religion begins; here it flourishes, and
here it decays. Tell me what a peeaons prayers are, and I will soon
tell you the state of their soul. Prayer is the spiritual pulse. By this
the spiritual health may be tested. Prayer is the spiritual weather glass.
By this we may know whether it is fair or foul with our hearts.
Oh, let us keep an eye continually upon our private devotions. Here
is the path and marrow of our practical Christianity. Sermons and
books and tracts, and committee-meetings and the company of good
people are all good in their way, but they will never make up for the
neglect of private prayer. Mark well the places and society and
companions that unhinge your hearts for communion with God and
make your prayers drive heavily. There be on your guard. Observe
narrowly what friends and what employment leave your soul in the
most spiritual frame, and most ready to speak with God. To these
cleave and stick fast. If you will take care of your prayers, nothing
shall go very wrong with your soul.
I offer these points for your private consideration. I do it in all
humility. I know no one who needs to be reminded of them more
than I do myself. But I believe them to be God's own truth, and I
desire myself and all I love to feel them more.
I want the times we live in to be praying times. I want the Christians
of our day to be praying Christians. I want the church to be a praying
church. My Heart's desire and prayer in sending forth this tract is to
promote a spirit of prayerfulness. I want those who never prayed yet,
to arise and call upon God, and I want those who do pray, to see that
they are not praying amiss.
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"Men ought always to pray." Luke 18:1 "I will that men pray everywhere." 1 Timothy 2:1
I have a question to offer you. It is contained in three words, do you pray?
The question is one that none but you can answer. Whether you
attend public worship or not, your minister knows. Whether you
have family prayers or not your relations know. But whether you
pray in private or not, is a matter between yourself and God.
I beseech you in all affections to attend to the subject I bring before
you. Do not say that my question is too close. If your heart is right in
the sight of God, there is nothing in it to make you afraid. Do not
turn off my question by replying that you say your prayers. It is one
thing to say your prayers and another to pray. Do not tell me that my
question is necessary. Listen to me for a few minutes, and I will show
you good reason for asking it.
I. I ASK WHETHER YOU PRAY, BECAUSE PRAYER IS ABSOLUTELY NEEDFUL TO A PERSON'S SALVATION.
I say, absolutely needful, and I say so advisedly. I am not speaking
now of infants or idiots. I am not setting the state of the heathen. I
know where little is given, there little will be required. I speak
especially of those who call themselves Christians, in a land like our
own. And of such I say, no man or woman can expect to be saved
who does not pray.
I hold to salvation by grace as strongly as anyone. I would gladly
offer a free and full pardon to the greatest sinner that ever lived. I
would not hesitate to stand by their dying bed, and say, "Believe on
the Lord Jesus Christ even now, and you shall be saved." But that a
person can have salvation without asking for it, I cannot see in the
Bible. That a person will receive pardon of their sins, who will not so
much as lift up their heart inwardly, and say, "Lord Jesus, give it to
me," this I cannot find. I can find that nobody will be saved by their
prayers, but I cannot find that without prayer anybody will be saved.
It is not absolutely needful to salvation that a person should read the
Bible. A person may have no learning, or be blind, and yet have
Christ in their heart. It is not absolutely needful that a person should
hear public preaching of the gospel. They may live where the gospel
is not preached, or they may be bedridden, or deaf. But the same
thing cannot be said about prayer. It is absolutely needful to
salvation that a person should pray.
There is no royal road either to health or learning. Prime ministers
and kings, poor men and peasants, all alike attend to the needs of
their own bodies and their own minds. No person can eat, drink, or
sleep, by proxy. No person can get the alphabet learned for them by
another. All these are things which everybody must do for
themselves, or they will not be done at all.
Just as it is with the mind and body, so it is with the soul. There are
certain things absolutely needful to the soul's health and well-being.
Each must attend to these things for themselves. Each must repent
for them self. Each must apply to Christ for them self. And for them
self each must speak to God and pray. You must do it for yourself, for
by nobody else it can be done. To be prayerless is to be without God,
without Christ, without grace, without hope, and without heaven. It
is to be in the road to hell. Now can you wonder that I ask the
question, DO YOU PRAY?
II. I ASK AGAIN WHETHER YOU PRAY, BECAUSE A HABIT OF PRAYER IS ONE OF THE SUREST MARKS OF A TRUE CHRISTIAN.
All the children of God on earth are alike in this respect. From the
moment there is any life and reality about their religion, they pray.
Just as the first sign of the life of an infant when born into the world
is the act of breathing, so the first act of men and women when they
are born again is praying.
This is one of the common marks of all the elect of God, "They cry
unto him day and night." Luke 18:1. The Holy Spirit who makes them
new creatures, works in them a feeling of adoption, and makes the
cry, "Abba, Father." Romans 8:15. The Lord Jesus, when he quickens
them, gives them a voice and a tongue, and says to them, "Be dumb
no more." God has no dumb children. It is as much a part of their
new nature to pray, as it is of a child to cry. They see their need of
mercy and grace. They feel their emptiness and weakness. They
cannot do other wise than they do. They must pray.
I have looked careful over the lives of God's saints in the Bible. I
cannot find one whose history much is told us, from Genesis to
Revelation, who was not a person of prayer. I find it mentioned as a
characteristic of the godly, that "they call on the Father," that "they
call upon the name of the Lord Jesus Christ." I find it recorded as a
characteristic of the wicked, that "they call not upon the Lord." 1
Peter 1:17; 1 Corinthians 1:2; Psalm 14:4.
I have read the lives of many eminent Christians who have been on
earth since the Bible days. Some of them, I see, were rich, and some
poor. Some were learned, and some were unlearned. Some of them
were Episcopalians, and some were Christians of other names. Some
were Calvinists, and some were Arminians. Some have loved to use
liturgy, and some to use none. But one thing, I see, they all had in
common. They have all been people of prayer.
I have studied reports of missionary societies in our own times. I see
with joy that lost men and women are receiving the gospel in various
parts of the globe. There are conversions in Africa, in New Zealand,
in India, in China. The people converted are naturally unlike one
another in every respect. But one striking thing I observe at all the
missionary stations: the converted people always pray.
I do not deny that a person may pray without heart and without
sincerity. I do not for a moment pretend to say that the mere fact of a
people' praying proves everything about their soul. As in every other
part of religion, so also in this, there may be deception and
hypocrisy.
But this I do say, that not praying is a clear proof that a person is not
yet a true Christian. They cannot really feel their sins. They cannot
love God. They cannot feel themselves a debtor to Christ. They
cannot long after holiness. They cannot desire heaven. They have yet
to be born again. They have yet to be made a new creature. They may
boast confidently of election, grace, faith, hope and knowledge, and
deceive ignorant people. But you may rest assured it is all vain talk if
they do not pray.
And I say furthermore, that of all the evidences of the real work of
the Spirit, a habit of hearty private prayer is one of the most
satisfactory that can be named. A person may preach from false
motives. A person may write books and ,make fine speeches and
seem diligent in good works, and yet be a Judas Iscariot. But a
person seldom goes into their closet and pours out their soul before
God in secret, unless they are in earnest. The Lord himself has set his
stamp on prayer as the best proof of conversion. When he sent
Ananias to Saul in Damascus, he gave him no other evidence of his
change of heart than this, "Behold he prays." Acts 9:11.
I know that much may go on in a person's mind before they are
brought to pray. They may have many convictions, desires, wishes,
feelings, intentions, resolutions, hopes, and fears. But all these things
are very uncertain evidences. They are to be found in ungodly people,
and often come to nothing. In many a case they are not more lasting
than the morning cloud, and dew that passes away. A real hearty
prayer, moving from a broken and contrite spirit, is worth all these
things put together.
I know that the Holy Spirit, who calls sinners from their evil ways,
does in many instances lead them by very slow degrees to
acquaintance with Christ. But the eye of man can only judge by what
it sees. I can not call anyone justified until they believe. I dare not say
that anyone believes until they pray. I cannot understand a dumb
faith. The first act of faith will be to speak to God. Faith is to the soul
what life is to the body. Prayer is to faith what breath is to the body.
How a person can live and not breathe is past my comprehension,
and how a person can believe and not pray is past my comprehension
too.
Never be surprised if you hear ministers of the gospel dwelling much
on the importance of prayer. This is the point they want to bring to
you. They want to know that you pray. Your views of doctrine may be
correct. Your love of Protestantism may be warm and unmistakable.
But still this may be nothing more than head knowledge and party
spirit. They want to know whether you are actually acquainted with
the throne of grace, and whether you can speak to God as well as
speak about God.
III. I ASK WHETHER YOU PRAY, BECAUSE THERE IS NO DUTY IN RELIGION SO NEGLECTED AS PRIVATE PRAYER.
We live in days of abounding religious profession. There are more
places of public worship than there ever was before. There are more
people attending them than there ever was before. And yet in spite of
all this public religion, I believe there is a vast neglect of private
prayer. It is one of those private transcripts between God and our
souls which no eye sees, and therefore one which people are tempted
to pass over and leave undone.
I believe that hundreds of thousands never utter a word of prayer at
all. They eat. They drink. They sleep. They rise. They go forth to their
work. They return to their homes. They breathe God's air. They travel
on God's earth. They enjoy God's mercies. They have dying bodies.
They have judgment and eternity before them. But they never speak
to God. They live like the animals that perish. They behave like
creatures without souls. They have not one word to say to Him in
whose hand are their life and breath, and all things, and from whose
mouth they must one day receive their everlasting sentence. How
dreadful this seems; but if the secrets of people, were daily known,
how common.
I believe there are hundreds of thousands whose prayers are nothing
but mere form, a set of words repeated by rote, without a thought
about there meaning. Some say over a few hasty sentences picked up
in the nursery when they were children. Some content themselves
with repeating the Creed, forgetting that there is not a request in it.
Some add the Lord's Prayer, but without the slightest desire that its
solemn petitions may be granted.
Many, even those who use good forms, mutter their prayers over
after they have got to bed, or while they wash or dress in the
morning. People may think what they please, but they may depend
upon it that in the sight of God this is not praying. Words said
without heart are as utterly useless to our souls as the drum beating
of savages before their idols. Where there is no heart, there may be
lip-work and tongue-work, but there is no prayer. Saul, I have no
doubt, said many a long prayer before the Lord met him on the way
to Damascus. But it was not until his heart was broken that the Lord
said. "He prays."
Does this surprise you? Listen to me, and I will show you that I am
not speaking as I do without reason. Do you think that my assertions
are extravagant and unwarrantable? Give me your attention, and I
will soon show you that I am only telling you the truth.
Have you forgotten that it is not natural to any one to pray? "The
carnal mind is enmity against God." The desire of a person's heart is
to get far away from God, and have nothing to do with him. Their
feelings towards him is not but fear. Why then should a person pray
when they have no real sense of sin , no real feeling of spiritual
needs, no thorough belief in unseen things, no desire after holiness
and heaven? Of all these things the vast majority of people know and
feel nothing. The multitudes walk in the broad way. I cannot forget
this. Therefore I say boldly, I believe that few pray.
Have you forgotten that it is not fashionable to pray? It is one of
those things that many would be rather ashamed to admit. There are
hundreds who would rather storm a breach, or lead a forlorn hope
then confess publicly that they make a habit of prayer. There are
thousands who, if obliged to sleep in the same room with a stranger,
would lie down in bed without a prayer. To dress well, to go to
theaters, to be thought clever and agreeable, all this is fashionable,
but not to pray. I cannot forget this. I cannot think a habit is
common which so many seem ashamed to admit. Thus I believe that
few pray.
Have you forgotten the lives that many live?
Can we really believe that people are praying against sin night and day, when we see them plunging into it?
Can we suppose they pray against the world, when
they are entirely absorbed and taken up with its pursuits? Can we
think they really ask God for grace to serve him, when they do not
show the slightest interest to serve him at all? Oh, no, it is plain as
daylight that the great majority of people either ask nothing of God
or do not mean what they say when they do ask, which is just the
same thing. Praying and sinning will never live together in the same
heart. Prayer will consume sin, or sin will choke prayer. I cannot
forget this. I look at people's lives. I believe that few pray.
Have you forgotten the deaths that many die? How many, when they
draw near death, seem entirely strangers to God. Not only are they
sadly ignorant of his gospel, but sadly lacking in the power of
speaking to him. There is a terrible awkwardness and shyness in
their endeavors to approach him. They seem to be taking up a fresh
thing. They appear as if they want an introduction to God, and as if
they have never talked with him before. I remember having heard of
person who was anxious to have a minister to visit them in their last
illness. They desired that he would pray for them. He asked her what
he should pray for. They did not know, and could not tell. They were
utterly unable to name any one thing which they wished to ask God
for their soul. All they seemed to want was the form of a minister's
prayers. I can quite understand this. Death-beds are great revealers
of secrets. I cannot forget what I have seen of sick and dying people.
This also leads me to believe that few people pray.
I cannot see your heart. I do not know your private history in
spiritual things. But from what I see in the Bible and in the world I
am certain I cannot ask you a more necessary question than that
before you- DO YOU PRAY?
IV. I ASK WHETHER YOU PRAY, BECAUSE PRAYER IS AN ACT OF RELIGION TO WHICH THERE IS GREAT ENCOURAGEMENT.
There is everything on God's part to make prayer east if people will
only attempt it. All things are ready on his side. Every objection is
anticipated. Every difficulty is provided for. the crooked places are
made straight and the rough places made smooth. There is no excuse
left for the prayerless person.
There is a way by which any person, however sinful and unworthy,
may draw near to God the Father. Jesus Christ has opened that way
by the sacrifice he made for us upon the cross. The holiness and
justice of God need not frighten sinners and keep them back. Only let
them cry to God in the name of Jesus, and they shall find God upon
the throne of grace, willing and ready to hear. The name of Jesus is a
never-failing passport for our prayers. In that name a person may
draw near to God with boldness, and ask with confidence. God has
engaged to hear him. Think of this. Is this not an encouragement?
There is an Advocate and Intercessor always waiting to present the
prayers of those who come to God through him. That advocate is
Jesus Christ. He mingles our prayers with the incense of his own
almighty intercession. So mingled, they go up as a sweet savor before
the throne of God. Poor as they are in themselves, they are mighty
and powerful in the hand of our High Priest and Elder Brother. The
bank-note without a signature at the bottom is nothing but a
worthless piece of paper. The stroke of a pen confers on it all its
value. The prayer of a poor child of Adam is a feeble thing in itself,
but once endorsed by the hand of the Lord Jesus it avails much.
There was an officer in the city of Rome who appointed to have his
doors always open, in order to receive any Roman citizen who
applied to him for help. Just so the ear of the Lord Jesus is ever open
to the cry of all who need mercy and grace. It is his office to help
them. Their prayer is his delight. Think of this. Is this not and
encouragement?
There is the Holy Spirit ever ready to help our infirmities in prayer. It
is one part of his special office is assist us in our endeavors to speak
to God. We need not be cast down and distressed by the fear of not
knowing what to say. The Spirit will give us words if we seek his aid.
The prayers of the Lord's people are the inspiration of the Lord's
Spirit, the work of the Holy Spirit who dwells within them as the
Spirit of grace and supplication. Surely the Lord's people may well
hope to be heard. It is not merely those who pray, but the Holy Spirit
pleading in them. Think of this. Is not this an encouragement?
There are exceeding great and precious promises to those who pray.
What did the Lord Jesus mean when he spoke such words as these:
"Ask and it shall be given you; seek, and you shall find; knock, and
the door shall be opened unto you: for every one that asks, receives;
and he that seeks, finds; and to him who knocks, it shall be opened."
Matthew 7:7,8. "All things whatever you shall ask in prayer believing,
you shall receive ." Matthew 12:22. "Whatever you shall ask in my
name, that I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If
you shall ask anything in my name I will do it." John 14:13,14. What
did the Lord mean when he spoke the parables of The friend at
midnight and The importunate widow? Luke 11:5, 18:1. Think over
these passages. If this is not an encouragement to pray, words have
no meaning.
There are wonderful examples in the Scripture of the power of
prayer. Nothing seems to be too great, too hard, or too difficult for
prayer to do. It has obtained things that seemed impossible and out
of reach. It has won victories over fire, air earth, and water. Prayer
opened up the Red Sea . Prayer brought water from the rock and
bread from heaven. Prayer made the sun stand still. Prayer brought
fire from the sky on Elijah's sacrifice. Prayer turned the counsel of
Ahithophel into foolishness. Prayer overthrew the army of
Sennacherib. Well might Mary Queen of Scots say, "I fear John
Knox's prayers more than an army of ten thousand men." Prayer has
healed the sick. Prayer has raised the dead. Prayer has procured the
conversion of souls. "The child of many prayers," said and old
Christian to Augustine's mother, "shall never perish." Prayer, pains,
and faith can do anything. Nothing seems impossible when a person
has the spirit of adoption. "Let me alone," is the remarkable saying of
God to Moses when Moses was about to intercede for the children of
Israel. Exodus 32:10. So long as Abraham asked mercy for Sodom,
the Lord went on giving. He never ceased to give until Abraham
ceased to pray. Think of this. Is this not an encouragement?
What can a person need to lead them to take any step in religion,
than the things I have just told you about prayer? What more could
be done to make the path to the mercy seat easy, and to remove all
occasions of stumbling from the sinners way? Surely if the devils in
hell had such a door set before them, they would leap for gladness
and make the very pit ring with joy.
But where will the person hide their head at the last who neglects
such glorious encouragements? What can possibly be said for the
person who, after all, dies without prayer? Surely I may fell anxious
that you should not be that person. Surely I may well ask-DO YOU
PRAY?
V. I ASK WHETHER YOU PRAY, BECAUSE DILIGENCE IN PRAYER IS THE SECRET OF EMINENT HOLINESS.
Without controversy there is a vast difference among true Christians.
There is an immense interval between the foremost and the
hindermost in the army of God.
They are all fighting the same good fight but how much more
valiantly some fight than others. They are all doing the Lord's work
but how much more some do than others. They are all light in the
Lord; but how much more brightly some shine than others. They are
all running the same race; but how much faster some get on than
others. They all love the same Lord and Savior; but how much more
some love him than others. I ask any true Christian whether this is
not the case. Are these things not so?
There are some of the Lord's people who seem never able to get on
from the time of their conversion. They are born again, but they
remain babies all their lives. You hear from them the same old
experience. You remark in them the same lack of spiritual appetite,
the same lack of interest in anything beyond their own little circle,
which you remarked ten years ago. They are pilgrims indeed, but
pilgrims like the Gibeonites of old; their bread is always dry and
moldy, their shoes always old, and their garments always rent and
torn. I say this with sorrow and grief; but I ask any real Christian, Is it not true?
There are others of the Lord's people who seem to be always
advancing. They grow like grass after rain; they increase like Israel in
Egypt; they press on like Gideon, though sometimes faint, yet always
pursuing. They are ever adding grace to grace, and faith to faith, and
strength to strength. Every time you meet them their hearts seems
larger, and their spiritual stature taller and stronger. Every year they
appear ,ore, and feel more in their religion. They not only have good
works to prove the reality of their faith, but the are zealous of them.
they are not only do well, but they are unwearied in well doing. They
attempt great things, and they do great things. When they fail they
try again, and when they fall they are soon up again. And all this time
they think themselves poor, unprofitable servants, and fancy that
they do nothing at all. These are those who make religion lovely and
beautiful in the eyes of all. They wrest praise even from the
unconverted and win golden opinions even from the selfish people of
the world. It does one good to see. to be with them, and to hear them.
When you meet them, you could believe that like Moses, they had
just come out from the presence of God. When you part with them
you feel warmed by their company, as if your soul had been near a
fire. I know such people are rare. I only ask, Are there not many such?
Now how can you account for the difference which I have just
described? What is the reason that some believers are so much
brighter and holier than others? I believe the difference, in nineteen
cases out of twenty, arises from different habits about private prayer.
I believe that those who are not eminently holy pray little, and those
who are eminently holy pray much.
I dare say this opinion may startle some hearers. I have little doubt
that many look on eminent holiness as a kind of special gift, which
none but a few must pretend to aim at. They admire it at a distance
in books. They think it beautiful when they he an example near
themselves. But as to its being a thing within the reach of any but a
very few, such a notion never seems to enter their minds. In short,
they consider it a kind of monopoly granted to a few favored
believers, but certainly not to all.
Now I believe that this is a most dangerous mistake. I believe that
spiritual as well as natural greatness depends in a high degree on the
faithful use of means within everybody's reach. Of course I do not say
we have a right to expect a miraculous grant of intellectual gifts; but I
do say, that when a person is once converted to God, his progress in
holiness will be much in accordance with their own diligence in the
use of God's appointed means. And I assert confidently that the
principle means by which most believers have become great in the
church of Christ is the habit of diligent private prayer. Look through
the lives of the brightest and best of God's servants, whether in the
Bible or not. See what is written of Moses and David and Daniel and
Paul. Mark what is recorded of Luther and Bradford the Reformers.
Observe what is related of the private devotions of Whitefield and
Cecil and Venn and Bickersteth and McCheyne. Tell me of one of the
goodly fellowship of saints and martyrs, who has not had this mark
most prominently-they were men of prayer. Depend on it, prayer is
power.
Prayer obtains fresh and continued outpourings of the Spirit. He
alone begins the work of grace in a people heart. He alone can carry
it forward and make it prosper. But the good Spirit loves to be
entreated. And those who ask most will have most of his influence.
Prayer is the surest remedy against the devil and besetting sins. That
sin will never stand firm which is heartily prayed against. The devil
will never long keep dominion over us which beseech the Lord to cast
forth. But then we must spread out all our case before our heavenly
Physician, if he is to give us daily relief.
Do you wish to grow in grace and be a devoted Christian? Be very
sure, if you wish it, you could not have a more important question
than this-DO YOU PRAY?
VI. I ASK WHETHER YOU PRAY, BECAUSE NEGLECT OF PRAYER IS ONE OF THE GREATEST CAUSES OF BACKSLIDING.
There is such a thing as going back in religion after making a good
profession. People may run well for a season, like the Galatians, and
then turn aside after false teachers. People may profess loudly while
their feelings are warm, as Peter did, and then in the hour of trial
deny their Lord. People may cool down in their zeal to do good, like
John Mark the companion of Paul. People may follow an apostle for
a season, and like Demas go back to the world. All these things people may do.
It is a miserable thing to be a backslider. Of all unhappy things that
can befall a person, I suppose it is the worst. A stranded ship, a
broken-winged eagle, a garden overrun with weeds, a harp without
strings, a church in ruins, all these are sad sights, but a backslider is
a sadder still. A wounded conscience-a mind sick of itself-a memory
full of self-reproach-a heart pierced through with the Lord's arrows
a-spirit broken with the inward accusation-all this is a taste of hell. It
is hell on earth. Truly that saying of the wise man is solemn and
weighty, "The backslider in heart shall be filled with his own ways." Proverbs 14:14.
Now what is the case of most backslidings? I believe, as a general
rule, one of the chief causes is neglected private prayer. Of course the
secret history of falls will not be know until the last day. I can only
give my opinion as a minister of Christ and a student of the heart.
That opinions, I repeat distinctly, that backsliding generally first
begins with neglect of private prayer.
Bibles read without prayer; sermons heard without prayer;
marriages contracted without prayer; journeys undertaken without
prayer; residences chosen without prayer; friendships formed
without prayer; the daily act of prayer itself hurried over, or gone
through without heart: these are the kind of downward steps by
which many a Christian descends to a condition of spiritual palsy, or
reaches the point where God allows them to have a tremendous fall.
This is the process which forms the lingering Lots, the unstable
Samsons, the innocent Asas, the pliable Jehoshaphats, the over-
careful Marthas, of whom so many are to be found in the church of
Christ. Often the simple history of such cases is this: the became
careless about private prayer.
You may be vary sure people fall in private long before they fall in
public. They are backsliders on their knees long before they backslide
openly in the eyes of the world. Like Peter, they first disregard the
Lord's warning to watch and pray, and then like Peter, their strength
is gone, and in the hour of temptation they deny their Lord.
The world takes notice of their fall, and scoffs loudly. But the world
knows nothing of the real reason. The heathen succeeded in making
a well-know Christians offer incense to an idol, by threatening them
with a punishment worse than death. They triumphed greatly in the
sight of their cowardice and apostasy. But the heathen did not know
the fact of which history informs us, that on that very morning he
had left his bed-chamber hastily, and without finishing his usual prayers.
If you are a Christian indeed, I trust you will never be a backslider.
But if you do not want to be a backsliding Christian, remember the
question I ask you: DO YOU PRAY?
VII. I ASK, LASTLY, WHETHER YOU PRAY BECAUSE PRAYER IS ONE OF THE BEST MEANS OF HAPPINESS AND CONTENTMENT.
We live in a world where sorrow abounds. This has always been the
state since sin came in. There cannot be sin without sorrow. And
until sin is driven out from the world, it is vain for any one to
suppose they can escape sorrow.
Some without doubt have a larger cup of sorrow to drink than others.
But few are to be found who live long without sorrows or cares of one
sort or another. Our bodies, our property, our families, our children,
our relations, our servants, our friends, our neighbors, our worldly
callings, each and all of these are fountains of care. Sickness, deaths,
losses, disappointments, partings, separations, ingratitude, slander,
all these are common things. We cannot get through life without
them. Some day or other they find us out. The greater are our
affections the deeper are our afflictions, and the more we love the
more we have to weep.
And what is the best means of cheerfulness in such a world as this?
How shall we get through this valley of tears with the least pain? I
know no better means than the habit of taking everything to God in
prayer.
This is the plain advice that the Bible gives, both in the Old
Testament and New. What says the Psalmist? "Call upon me in the
day of trouble, and I will deliver you and you shall glorify me." Psalm
50:15. "Cast your burden upon the Lord and he shall sustain you: he
shall never suffer the righteous to be moved." Psalm 55:22. What
says the apostle Paul? "Be careful for nothing; but in everything, by
prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, let you requests be made
know unto God: and the peace of God, which passes all
understanding shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ
Jesus." Philippians 4:6,7. What says the apostle James: "Is any
afflicted among you? let him pray." James 5:13.
This was the practice of all the saints whose history we have recorded
in the Scriptures. This is what Jacob did when he feared his brother
Esau. this is what Moses did when the people were ready to stone
him in the wilderness. This is what Joshua did when Israel was
defeated before the men of Ai. This is what David did when he was in
danger in Keliah. This what Hezekiah did when he received the letter
from Sennacherib. This is what the church did when peter was put in
prison. This is what Paul did when he was cast into the dungeon at Philippi.
The only way to really happy in such a world as this, is to ever casting
all our cares on God. It is trying to carry their own burdens which so
often makes believers sad. If they will tell their troubles to God, he
will enable them to bear them as easily as Samson did the gates of
Gaza. If they are resolved to keep them to themselves, they will one
day find that the very grasshopper is a burden.
There is a friend ever waiting to help us, if we will unbosom to him
our sorrow-a friend who pitied the poor and sick and sorrowful,
when he was upon earth-a friend who knows the heart of man, for he
lived thirty-three years as a man among us-a friend who can weep
with the weepers, for he was a man of sorrows and acquainted with
grief-a friend who is able to help us, for there never was earthly pain
he could not cure. That friend is Jesus Christ. The way to be happy is
to be always opening our hearts to him. Oh that we were all like that
poor Christian slave who only answered when threatened and
punished, "I must tell the Lord."
Jesus can make those happy who trust him and call him, whatever be
their outward condition. He can give them peace of heart in a prison,
contentment in the midst of poverty, comfort in the midst of
bereavements, joy on the brink of the grave. There is a mighty
fullness that is ready to be poured out on every one that will ask in
prayer. Oh that people would understand that happiness does not
depend on outward circumstances, but on the state of the heart.
Prayer can lighten crosses for us, however heavy. It can bring down
to our side One who will help us to bear them. Prayer can open a
door for us when our way seems hedged up. It can bring down One
who will say, "This is the way, walk in it." Prayer can let in a ray of
hope when all our earthly prospects seem darkened. It can bring
down One who will say, "I will never leave you, nor forsake you."
Prayer can obtain relief for us when those we love most are taken
away, and the world feels empty. It can bring down One who can fill
the gap in our hearts with himself, and say to the waves within,
"Peace; be still." Oh that people were not so like Hagar in the
wilderness, blind to the well of living waters close beside them.
I want you to be happy. I know I cannot ask you a more useful
question than this: DO YOU PRAY?
And now it is high time for me to bring this tract to an end. I trust I
have brought before you things that will be seriously considered. I
heartily pray God that this consideration may be blessed to your soul.
Let me speak a parting word to THOSE WHO DO NOT PRAY.
I dare not suppose that all those who read these pages are praying
people. If you are a prayerless person, suffer me to speak to you this
day on God's behalf.
Prayerless reader, I can only warn you but I do warn you most
solemnly. I warn you that you are in a position of fearful danger. If
you die in your present state, you are a lost soul. You will only rise
again to be eternally miserable. I warn you that all professing
Christians you are utterly without excuse. There is not a single good
reason that you can show for living without prayer.
It is useless to say you know not how to pray. Prayer is the simplest
act in all religion. It is simply speaking to God. It needs neither
learning nor wisdom nor book-knowledge to begin it. It needs
nothing but heart and will. The weakest infant can cry when it is
hungry. The poorest beggar can hold out their hand for alms, and
does not wait to find fine words. The most ignorant person will find
something to say to God, if they have only a mind.
It is useless to say you have no convenient place to pray in. Any
person can find a place private enough, if they are disposed. Our
Lord prayed on a mountain; Peter on the house-top; Isaac in the
field; Nathaniel under the fig-tree; Jonah in the whale's belly. Any
place may become a closet, an oratory, and a Bethel, and be to us the
presence of God.
It is useless to say you have no time. There is plenty of time, if people
will employ it. Time may be short, but time is always long enough for
prayer. Daniel had the affairs of a kingdom on his hands, and yet he
prayed three times a day. David was the ruler over a mighty nation,
and yet he says, "Evening and morning and at noon will I pray."
Psalm 55:17. When time is really wanted, time can always be found.
It is useless to say you cannot pray until you have faith and a new
heart, and that you must sit still and wait for them. This is to add sin
to sin. It is bad enough to be unconverted and going to hell. It is even
worse to say, "I know it, but will not cry for mercy." This is a kind of
argument for which there is no warrant in Scripture. "Call you upon
the Lord," says Isaiah, "while he is near." Isaiah 55:6. "Take with you
words, and turn unto the Lord," says Hosea. Hosea 14:1. "Repent and
pray," says Peter to Simon Magus. Acts 8:22. If you want faith and a
new heart, go and cry to the Lord for them. The very attempt to pray
has often been the quickening of a dead soul.
Oh, prayerless reader, who and what are you that you will not ask anything of God?
Have you made a covenant with the dead and hell?
Are you at peace with the worm and fire? Have you no sins to be
pardoned? Have you no fear of eternal torment? Have you no desires
after heaven? Oh that you would awake from your present folly. Oh
that you would consider your latter end. Oh that you would arise and
call upon God. Alas, there is a day coming when many shall pray
loudly, "Lord, Lord, open to us," but all too late; when many shall cry
to the rocks to fall on them and the hills to cover them, who would
never cry to God. In all affection, I warn you, beware lest this be the
end of your soul. Salvation is very near you. Do not lose heaven for
want of asking.
Let me speak TO THOSE WHO HAVE REAL DESIRES FOR SALVATION,
but know not what steps to take, or where to begin.
I cannot but hope that some readers may be in this state of mind,
and if there be but one such I must offer them affectionate counsel.
In a journey there must be a first step. There must be a change from
sitting to moving forward. The journeyings of Israel from Egypt to
Canaan were long and wearisome. Forty years pass away before they
crossed the Jordan. Yet there was some one who moved first when
they marched from Ramah to Succoth. When does a person really
take their first step in coming out of sin and the world? They do it the
day when they first pray with their heart.
In every building the first stone must be laid, and the first blow must
be struck. The ark was one hundred and twenty years in the building.
Yet there was a day when Noah laid his axe to the first tree he cut
down to form it. The temple of Solomon was a glorious building. But
there was a day when the first huge stone was laid deep in mount
Moriah. When does the building of the Spirit really begin to appear
in a person's heart? It begins, so far as we can judge, when they first
pour out their heart to God in prayer.
If you desire salvation, and want to know what to do, I advise you to
go this very day to the Lord Jesus Christ, in the first private place you
can find, and earnestly and heartily entreat him in prayer to save
your soul.
Tell him that you have heard that he receives sinners, and he has
said, "Him that comes unto me I will in nowise cast out." Tell him
that you are a poor vile sinner, and that you come to him on the faith
of his own invitation. Tell him you put yourself wholly and entirely in
his hands: that you feel vile and helpless, and hopeless in yourself:
and that except he saves you, you have no hope of being saved at all.
Beseech him to deliver you from guilt, the power, and the
consequences of sin. Beseech him to pardon you, and wash you in his
own blood. Beseech him to give you a new heart, and plant the Holy
Spirit in your soul. Beseech him to give you grace and faith and will
and power to be his disciple and servant from this day forever. Oh,
reader, go this very day, and tell these things to the Lord Jesus
Christ, if you are really in earnest about your soul.
Tell him in your own way, and your own words. If a doctor came to
see you when you were sick you could tell him where you felt pain. If
your soul feels its disease indeed, you can surely find something to
tell Christ. Doubt not his willingness to save you, because you are a
sinner. It is Christ's office to save sinners. He says himself, "I came
not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance." Luke 5:32.
Wait not because you fell unworthy. Wait for nothing. Wait for
nobody. Waiting comes from the devil. Just as you are, go to Christ.
The worse you are, the more need you have to apply to him. You will
never mend yourself by staying away.
Fear not because your prayer is stammering, your words feeble, and
your language poor. Jesus can understand you. Just as a mother
understands the first lispings of her infant, so does the blessed Savior
understand sinners. He can read a sigh, and see a meaning in a
groan.
Despair not because you do not get an answer immediately. While
you are speaking, Jesus is listening. If he delays an answer, it is only
for wise reasons, and to try if you are in earnest. The answer will
surely come. Though it tarry, wait for it. It will surely come.
Oh, reader, if you have any desire to be saved, remember the advice I
have given to you this day. Act upon it honestly and heartily, and you shall be saved.
Let me speak, lastly, TO THOSE WHO DO PRAY.
I trust that some who read this tract know well what prayer is, and
have the Spirit of adoption. To all such, I offer a few words of
brotherly counsel and exhortation. The incense offered in the
tabernacle was ordered to be made in a particular way. Not every
kind of incense would do. Let us remember this, and be careful about
the matter and manner of our prayers.
Brethren who pray, if I know anything of a Christian's heart, you are
often sick of your own prayers. You never enter into the apostle's
words, "When I would do good, evil is present with me." so
thoroughly as you sometimes do upon your knees. You can
understand David's words, "I hate vain thoughts." You can
sympathize with that poor converted Hottentot who was overheard
praying, "Lord, deliver me from all my enemies, and above all, from
that bad man-myself." There are few children of God who do not
often find the season of prayer a season of conflict. The devil has
special wrath against us when he sees us on our knees. Yet, I believe
that prayers which cost us no trouble, should be regarded with great
suspicion. I believe we are very poor judges of the goodness of our
prayers, and that the prayer which pleases us least, often pleases God
most. Suffer me then, as a companion in the Christian warfare, to
offer a few words of exhortation. One thing, at least, we all feel: we
must pray. We cannot give it up. We must go on.
I commend then to your attention, the importance of reverence and
humility in prayer. Let us never forget what we are, and what a
solemn thing it is to speak with God. Let us beware of rushing into
his presence with carelessness and levity. Let us say to ourselves: "I
am on holy ground. This is no other than the gate of heaven. If I do
not mean what I say, I am trifling with God. If I regard iniquity in my
heart, the Lord will not hear me." Let us keep in mind the words of
Solomon, "Do not be rash with your mouth, and let not your heart be
hasty to utter anything before God; for God is in heaven, and you on
earth." Ecclesiastes 5:2. When Abraham spoke to God, he said, "I am
dust and ashes." When Jacob spoke to God, he said, "I am vile." Let
us do likewise.
I commend to you the importance of praying spiritually. I mean by
that, that we should labor always to have the direct help of the Spirit
in our prayers, and beware above all things of formality. There is
nothing so spiritual that it may become a form, and this is especially
true of private prayer. We may insensibly get into the habit of using
the fittest possible words, and offering the most scriptural petitions,
and yet do it all by rote without feeling it, and walk daily round an
old beaten path. I desire to touch this point with caution and
delicacy. I know that there are certain things we daily want, and that
there is nothing necessarily formal in asking for these things in the
same words. The world, the devil, and our hearts, are daily the same.
Of necessity we must daily go over old ground. But this I say, we
must be very careful on this point. If the skeleton and outline of our
prayers be by habit almost form, let us strive that the clothing and
filling up of our prayers, be as far as possible of the Spirit. As to
praying of a book in our private devotions, it is a habit I cannot
praise. If we can tell our doctors the state of our bodies without a
book, we ought to be able to tell the state of our souls to God. I have
no objection to a person using crutches when they are first
recovering from a broken limb. It is better to use crutches, than not
to walk at all. But if I saw them all their life on crutches, I should not
think it matter for congratulation. I should like to see them strong
enough to throw their crutches away.
I commend to you the importance of making prayer a regular
business of life. I might say something of the value of regular times in
the day for prayer. God is a God of order. The hours for morning and
evening sacrifice in the Jewish temple were not fixed as they were
without a meaning. Disorder is eminently one of the fruits of sin. But
I would not bring any under bondage. This only I say, that it is
essential to your soul's health to make praying a part of the business
of every twenty-four hours of your life. Just as you allot time to
eating, sleeping, and business, so also allot time to prayer. Choose
your own hours and seasons. At the very least, speak with God in the
morning, before you speak with the world: and speak with God at
night, after you have done with the world. But settle it in your minds,
that praying is one of the great things of every day. Do not drive it
into a corner. Do not give it the scraps and parings of your duty.
Whatever else you make a business of, make a business of prayer.
I commend to you the importance of perseverance in prayer. Once
having begun the habit, never give it up. Your heart will sometimes
say, "You will have had family prayers: what mighty harm if you
leave private prayer undone?" Your body will sometimes say, "You
are unwell, or sleepy, or weary; you need not pray." Your mind will
sometimes say, "You have important business to attend to to-day; cut
short your prayers." Look on all such suggestions as coming direct
from Satan. They are all as good as saying, "Neglect your soul." I do
not maintain that prayers should always be of the same length; but I
do say, let no excuse make you give up prayer. Paul said, "Continue
in prayer and, "Pray without ceasing." He did not mean that people
should be always on their knees, but he did mean that our prayers
should be like the continual burned-offering steadily preserved in
every day; that it should be like seed-time and harvest, and summer
and winter, unceasingly coming round at regular seasons; that it
should be like the fire on the altar, not always consuming sacrifices,
but never completely going out. Never forget that you may tie
together morning and evening devotions, by an endless chain of
short ejaculatory prayers throughout the day. Even in company, or
business, or in the very streets, you may be silently sending up little
winged messengers to God, as Nehemiah did in the very presence of
Artaxerxes. And never think that time is wasted which is given to
God. A nation does not become poorer because it looses one year of
working days in seven, by keeping the Sabbath. A Christian never
finds he is a loser, in the long run, by persevering in prayer.
I commend to you the importance of earnestness in prayer. It is not
that a person should shout, or scream, or be very loud, in order to
prove that they are in earnest. But it is desirable that we should be
hearty and fervent and warm, and ask as if we were really interested
in what we were doing. It is the "effectual fervent" prayer that "avails
much." This is the lesson that is taught us by the expressions used in
Scripture about prayer. It is called, "crying, knocking, wrestling,
laboring, striving." This is the lesson taught us by scripture
examples. Jacob is one. He said to the angel at Penuel, "I will not let
you go, except you bless me." Genesis 32:26. Daniel is another. Hear
how he pleaded with God: "O Lord, hear; O Lord, forgive; O Lord,
hearken and do; defer not, for your won sake, O my God." Daniel
9:19. Our Lord Jesus Christ is another. It is written of him, "In the
days of his flesh, he offered up prayers and supplications with strong
crying and tears." Hebrews 5:7. Alas, how unlike is this to many of
our supplications! How tame and lukewarm they seem by
comparison. How truly might God say to many of us, "You do not
really want what you pray for." Lets us try to amend this fault. Let us
knock loudly at the door of grace, like Mercy in Pilgrim's Progress, as
if we must perish unless heard. Let us settle it in our minds, that cold
prayers are a sacrifice without fire. Let us remember the story of
Demosthenes the great orator, when one came to him, and wanted to
plead his cause. He heard him without attention, while he told his
story without earnestness. The man saw this, and cried out with
anxiety that it was all true. "Ah," said Demosthenes, "I believe you
now."
I commend to you the importance of praying in faith. We should
endeavor to believe that our prayers are heard, and that if we ask
things according to God's will, we shall be answered. This is the plain
command of our Lord Jesus Christ: "Whatever things you desire,
when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you shall have
them." Mark 11:24. Faith is to prayer what the feather is to the arrow:
without it prayer will not hit the mark. We should cultivate the habit
of pleading promises in our prayers. We should take with us some
promises, and sat., "Lord, here is your own word pledged. Do for us
as you have said." This was the habit of Jacob and Moses and David.
The 119 th Psalm is full of things asked, "according to your word."
Above all, we should cultivate the habit of expecting answers to our
prayers. We should do like the merchant who sends his ships to sea.
We should not be satisfied, unless we see some return. Alas, there are
few points on which Christians come short so much as this. The
church at Jerusalem made prayer without ceasing for Peter in prison;
but when the prayer was answered, they would hardly believe it. Acts
12:15. It is a solemn saying of Robert Trail, "There is no surer mark of
trifling in prayer, than when men are careless what they get in
prayer."
I commend to you the importance of boldness in prayer. There is an
unseemly familiarity in some people's prayers which I cannot praise.
But there is such a thing as a holy boldness, which is exceedingly to
be desired. I mean such boldness as that of Moses, when he pleads
with God not to destroy Israel "Wherefore," says he, "should the
Egyptians speak and say, For mischief did he bring them out, to slay
them in the mountains? Turn from your fierce anger." Exodus 32:12.
I mean such boldness as that of Joshua, when the children of Israel
were defeated before men of Ai: "What," says he, "will you do unto
your great name?" Joshua 7:9. This is the boldness for which Luther
was remarkable. One who heard him praying said, "What a spirit,
what a confidence was in his very expressions. With such a reverence
he sued, as one begging of God, and yet with such hope and
assurance, as if he spoke with a loving father or friend. This is the
boldness which distinguished Bruce, a great Scottish divine of the
seventeenth century. His prayers were said to be "like bolts shot up
into heaven." Here also I fear we sadly come short. We do not
sufficiently realize the believer's privileges. We do not plead as often
as we might, "Lord, are we not your own people? Is it not for your
glory that we should be sanctified? Is it not for your honor that your
gospel should increase?"
I commend to you the importance of fullness in prayer. I do not
forget that our Lord warns us against the example of the Pharisees,
who, for pretense, made long prayers; and commands us when we
pray not to use vain repetitions. But I cannot forget, on the other
hand, that he has given his own sanction to large and long devotions
by continuing all night in prayer to God. At all events, we are not
likely in this day to err on the side of praying too much. Might it not
be feared that many believers in this generation pray too little? Is not
the actual amount of time that many Christians give to prayer, in the
aggregate, very small? I am afraid these questions cannot be
answered satisfactorily. I am afraid the private devotions of many are
painfully scanty and limited; just enough to prove they are alive and
no more. They are really seem to want little from God. They seem to
have little to confess, little to ask for, and little to thank him for. Alas,
this is altogether wrong. Nothing is more common than to hear
believers complaining that they do not get on. They tell us that they
do not grow in grace as they could desire. Is it not rather to be
suspected that many have quite as much grace as they ask for? Is it
not the true account of many, that they have little, because they ask
little? The cause of their weakness is to be found in their own
stunted, dwarfish, clipped, contracted, hurried, narrow, diminutive
prayers. They have not, because they ask not. Oh, we are not
straitened in Christ, but in ourselves. The Lord says, "Open your
mouth wide, and I will fill it." But we are like the King of Israel who
smote on the ground thrice and stayed, when he ought to have
smitten five or six times.
I commend to you the importance of particularity in prayer. We
ought not to be content with general petitions. We ought to specify
our needs before the throne of grace. It should not be enough to
confess we are sinners; we should name toe sins of which our
conscience tells us we are most guilty. It should not be enough to ask
for holiness; we should name the graces in which we fell most
deficient. It should not be enough to tell the Lord we are in trouble;
we should describe our trouble and all its peculiarities. This is what
Jacob did when he feared his brother Esau. He tells God exactly what
it is that he fears. Genesis 32:11. This is what Eleazar did, when he
sought a wife for his master's son. He spreads before God precisely
what he needs. Genesis 24:12. This is what Paul did when he had a
thorn in the flesh. He besought the Lord. 2 Corinthians 12:8. This is
true faith and confidence. We should believe that nothing is too
small to be named before God. What should we think of the patient
who told his doctor he was ill, but never went into particulars? What
should we think of the wife who told her husband she was unhappy,
but did not specify the cause? What should we think of the child who
told their father that they were in trouble, but nothing more? Christ
is the true bridegroom of the soul, the true physician of the heart, the
real father of all his people. Let us show that we fell this by being
unreserved in our communications with Him. Let us hide no secrets
from Him. Let us tell Him all our hearts.
I commend to you the importance of intercession in our prayers. We
are all selfish by nature, and our selfishness is very apt to stick to us,
even when we are converted. There is a tendency in us to think only
of our own souls, our own spiritual conflicts, our own progress in
religion, and to forget others. Against this tendency we all have need
to watch and strive, and not the least in our prayers. We should study
to be of a public spirit. We should stir ourselves up to name other
names besides our own before the throne of grace. We should try to
bear in our hearts the whole world, the heathen, the Jews, the
Roman Catholics, the body of true believers, the professing
Protestant churches, the country in which we live, the congregation
to which we belong, the household in which we sojourn, the friends
and relations we are connected with. For each and all of these we
should plead. This is the highest charity. They love me best who loves
me in their prayers. This is for our soul's health. It enlarges our
sympathies and expands our hearts. This is for the benefit of the
church. The wheels of all machinery for extending the gospel are
moved by prayer. They do as much for the Lord's cause who
intercede like Moses on the mount, as they who fight like Joshua in
the thick of the battle. This is to be like Christ. He bears the names of
his people, as their High Priest, before the Father. Oh, the privilege
of being like Jesus! This is to be a true helper to ministers. If I must
choose a congregation, give me a people that pray.
I commend to you the importance of thankfulness in prayer. I know
well that asking God is one thing and praising God is another. But I
see so close a connection between prayer and praise in the Bible, that
I dare not call that true prayer in which thankfulness has no part. It
is not for nothing that Paul says, "By prayer and supplication, with
thanksgiving, let your requests be made known unto God."
Philippians 4:6. "Continue in prayer, and watch in the same with
thanksgiving." Colossians 4:2. It is of mercy that we are not in hell. It
is of mercy that we have the hope of heaven. It is of mercy that we
live in a land of spiritual light. It is of mercy that we have been called
by the Spirit, and not left to reap the fruit of our own ways. It is of
mercy that we still live and have opportunities of glorifying God for
that free grace by which we live, and for that loving kindness which
endures forever. Never was their an eminent saint who was not full
of thankfulness. St. Paul hardly ever writes an epistle without
beginning with thankfulness. Men like Whitefield in the last century,
and Bickersteth in our own time, abounded in thankfulness. Oh,
reader, if we would be bright and shining lights in our day, we must
cherish a spirit of praise. Let our prayers be thankful prayers.
I commend to you the importance of watchfulness over your prayers.
Prayer is the point in religion at which you must be most of all on
your guard. Here it is that true religion begins; here it flourishes, and
here it decays. Tell me what a peeaons prayers are, and I will soon
tell you the state of their soul. Prayer is the spiritual pulse. By this
the spiritual health may be tested. Prayer is the spiritual weather glass.
By this we may know whether it is fair or foul with our hearts.
Oh, let us keep an eye continually upon our private devotions. Here
is the path and marrow of our practical Christianity. Sermons and
books and tracts, and committee-meetings and the company of good
people are all good in their way, but they will never make up for the
neglect of private prayer. Mark well the places and society and
companions that unhinge your hearts for communion with God and
make your prayers drive heavily. There be on your guard. Observe
narrowly what friends and what employment leave your soul in the
most spiritual frame, and most ready to speak with God. To these
cleave and stick fast. If you will take care of your prayers, nothing
shall go very wrong with your soul.
I offer these points for your private consideration. I do it in all
humility. I know no one who needs to be reminded of them more
than I do myself. But I believe them to be God's own truth, and I
desire myself and all I love to feel them more.
I want the times we live in to be praying times. I want the Christians
of our day to be praying Christians. I want the church to be a praying
church. My Heart's desire and prayer in sending forth this tract is to
promote a spirit of prayerfulness. I want those who never prayed yet,
to arise and call upon God, and I want those who do pray, to see that
they are not praying amiss.
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