THE NECESSITY OF PRAYER
EDWARD M. BOUNDS
I. PRAYER AND FAITH
“A dear friend of mine who was quite a lover of the chase, told me the
following story: ‘Rising early one morning,’ he said, ‘I heard the
baying of a score of deerhounds in pursuit of their quarry. Looking
away to a broad, open field in front of me, I saw a young fawn making
its way across, and giving signs, moreover, that its race was well-nigh
run. Reaching the rails of the enclosure, it leaped over and crouched
within ten feet from where I stood. A moment later two of the hounds
came over, when the fawn ran in my direction and pushed its head
between my legs. I lifted the little thing to my breast, and, swinging
round and round, fought off the dogs. I felt, just then, that all the
dogs in the West could not, and should not capture that fawn after its
weakness had appealed to my strength.’ So is it, when human
helplessness appeals to Almighty God. Well do I remember when the
hounds of sin were after my soul, until, at last, I ran into the arms
of Almighty God.” A. C. Dixon
In any study of the principles, and procedure of prayer, of its
activities and enterprises, first place, must, of necessity, be given
to faith. It is the initial quality in the heart of any man who essays
to talk to the Unseen. He must, out of sheer helplessness, stretch
forth hands of faith. He must believe, where he cannot prove. In the
ultimate issue, prayer is simply faith, claiming its natural yet
marvelous prerogatives—faith taking possession of its illimitable
inheritance. True godliness is just as true, steady, and persevering in
the realm of faith as it is in the province of prayer. Moreover: when
faith ceases to pray, it ceases to live.
Faith does the impossible because it brings God to undertake for us,
and nothing is impossible with God. How great—without qualification or
limitation—is the power of faith! If doubt be banished from the heart,
and unbelief made stranger there, what we ask of God shall surely come
to pass, and a believer hath vouchsafed to him “whatsoever he saith.”
Prayer projects faith on God, and God on the world. Only God can move
mountains, but faith and prayer move God. In His cursing of the
fig-tree our Lord demonstrated His power. Following that, He proceeded
to declare, that large powers were committed to faith and prayer, not
in order to kill but to make alive, not to blast but to bless.
At this point in our study, we turn to a saying of our Lord, which
there is need to emphasize, since it is the very keystone of the arch
of faith and prayer.
“Therefore I say unto you, What things soever ye desire when ye pray,
believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them.” (Mark 11:24)
We should ponder well that statement—“Believe that ye receive them, and
ye shall have them.” Here is described a faith which realizes, which
appropriates, which takes. Such faith is a consciousness of the Divine,
an experienced communion, a realized certainty.
Is faith growing or declining as the years go by? Does faith stand
strong and four square, these days, as iniquity abounds and the love of
many grows cold? Does faith maintain its hold, as religion tends to
become a mere formality and worldliness increasingly prevails? The
inquiry of our Lord, may, with great appropriateness, be ours. “When
the Son of Man cometh,” He asks, “shall He find faith on the earth?” We
believe that He will, and it is ours, in this our day, to see to it
that the lamp of faith is trimmed and burning, lest He come who shall
come, and that right early.
Faith is the foundation of Christian character and the security of the
soul. When Jesus was looking forward to Peter’s denial, and cautioning
him against it, He said unto His disciple:
“Simon, Simon, behold, Satan hath desired to have you, to sift you as
wheat; but I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fall not.” (Luke
22:31-32}
Our Lord was declaring a central truth; it was Peter’s faith He was
seeking to guard; for well He knew that when faith is broken down, the
foundations of spiritual life give way, and the entire structure of
religious experience falls. It was Peter’s faith which needed guarding.
Hence Christ’s solicitude for the welfare of His disciple’s soul and
His determination to fortify Peter’s faith by His own all-prevailing
prayer.
In his Second Epistle, Peter has this idea in mind when speaking of
growth in grace as a measure of safety in the Christian life, and as
implying fruitfulness.
“And besides this,” he declares, “giving diligence, add to your faith
virtue; and to virtue knowledge; and to knowledge temperance; and to
temperance patience; and to patience godliness.” (2 Pet 1:5)
Of this additive process, faith was the starting-point—the basis of the
other graces of the Spirit. Faith was the foundation on which other
things were to be built. Peter does not enjoin his readers to add to
works or gifts or virtues but to faith. Much depends on starting right
in this business of growing in grace. There is a Divine order, of which
Peter was aware; and so he goes on to declare that we are to give
diligence to making our calling and election sure, which election is
rendered certain adding to faith which, in turn, is done by constant,
earnest praying. Thus faith is kept alive by prayer, and every step
taken, in this adding of grace to grace, is accompanied by prayer.
The faith which creates powerful praying is the faith which centers
itself on a powerful Person. Faith in Christ’s ability to do and to do
greatly, is the faith which prays greatly. Thus the leper lay hold upon
the power of Christ. “Lord, if Thou wilt,” he cried, “Thou canst make
me clean.” In this instance, we are shown how faith centered in
Christ’s ability to do, and how it secured the healing power.
It was concerning this very point, that Jesus questioned the blind men who came to Him for healing:
“Believe ye that I am able to do this?” He asks. “They said unto Him,
Yea, Lord. Then touched He their eyes, saying, According to your faith
be it unto you.” (Matt 9:28-29)
It was to inspire faith in His ability to do that Jesus left behind
Him, that last, great statement, which, in the final analysis, is a
ringing challenge to faith. “All power,” He declared, “is given unto Me
in heaven and in earth.”
Again: faith is obedient; it goes when commanded, as did the nobleman,
who came to Jesus, in the day of His flesh, and whose son was
grievously sick.
Moreover: such faith acts. Like the man who was born blind, it goes to
wash in the pool of Siloam when told to wash. Like Peter on Gennesaret
it casts the net where Jesus commands, instantly, without question or
doubt. Such faith takes away the stone from the grave of Lazarus
promptly. A praying faith keeps the commandments of God and does those
things which are well pleasing in His sight. It asks, “Lord, what wilt
Thou have me to do?” and answers quickly, “Speak, Lord, Thy servant
heareth.” Obedience helps faith, and faith, in turn, helps obedience.
To do God’s will is essential to true faith, and faith is necessary to
implicit obedience.
Yet faith is called upon, and that right often to wait in patience
before God, and is prepared for God’s seeming delays in answering
prayer. Faith does not grow disheartened because prayer is not
immediately honored; it takes God at His Word, and lets Him take what
time He chooses in fulfilling His purposes, and in carrying on His
work. There is bound to be much delay and long days of waiting for true
faith, but faith accepts the conditions—knows there will be delays in
answering prayer, and regards such delays as times of testing, in the
which, it is privileged to show its mettle, and the stern stuff of
which it is made.
The case of Lazarus was an instance of where there was delay, where the
faith of two good women was sorely tried: Lazarus was critically ill,
and his sisters sent for Jesus. But, without any known reason, our Lord
delayed His going to the relief of His sick friend. The plea was urgent
and touching—“Lord, behold, he whom Thou lovest is sick,”—but the
Master is not moved by it, and the women’s earnest request seemed to
fall on deaf ears. What a trial to faith! Furthermore: our Lord’s
tardiness appeared to bring about hopeless disaster. While Jesus
tarried, Lazarus died.
But the delay of Jesus was exercised in the interests of a greater good. Finally, He makes His way to the home in Bethany.
“Then said Jesus unto them plainly, Lazarus is dead. And I am glad for
your sakes, that I was not there, to the intent ye may believe;
nevertheless let us go unto him.” (John 11:14-15)
Fear not, O tempted and tried believer, Jesus will come, if patience be
exercised, and faith hold fast. His delay will serve to make His coming
the more richly blessed. Pray on. Wait on. Thou canst not fail. If
Christ delay, wait for Him. In His own good time, He will come, and
will not tarry.
Delay is often the test and the strength of faith. How much patience is
required when these times of testing come! Yet faith gathers strength
by waiting and praying. Patience has its perfect work in the school of
delay. In some instances, delay is of the very essence of the prayer.
God has to do many things, antecedent to giving the final answer—things
which are essential to the lasting good of him who is requesting favor
at His hands.
Jacob prayed, with point and ardor, to be delivered from Esau. But
before that prayer could be answered, there was much to be done with,
and for Jacob. He must be changed, as well as Esau. Jacob had to be
made into a new man, before Esau could be. Jacob had to be converted to
God, before Esau could be converted to Jacob.
Among the large and luminous utterances of Jesus concerning prayer, none is more arresting than this:
“Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on Me, the works
that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do;
because I go unto My Father. And whatsoever ye shall ask in My Name,
that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If ye
shall ask anything in My Name, I will do it.” (John 14:12-14)
How wonderful are these statements of what God will do in answer to
prayer! Of how great importance these ringing words, prefaced, as they
are, with the most solemn verity! Faith in Christ is the basis of all
working, and of all praying. All wonderful works depend on wonderful
praying, and all praying is done in the Name of Jesus Christ. Amazing
lesson, of wondrous simplicity, is this praying in the name of the Lord
Jesus! All other conditions are depreciated, everything else is
renounced, save Jesus only. The name of Christ—the Person of our Lord
and Savior Jesus Christ—must be supremely sovereign, in the hour and
article of prayer.
If Jesus dwell at the fountain of my life; if the currents of His life
have displaced and superseded all self-currents; if implicit obedience
to Him be the inspiration and force of every movement of my life, then
He can safely commit the praying to my will, and pledge Himself, by an
obligation as profound as His own nature, that whatsoever is asked
shall be granted. Nothing can be clearer, more distinct, more unlimited
both in application and extent, than the exhortation and urgency of
Christ, “Have faith in God.”
Faith covers temporal as well as spiritual needs. Faith dispels all
undue anxiety and needless care about what shall be eaten, what shall
he drunk, what shall be worn. Faith lives in the present, and regards
the day as being sufficient unto the evil thereof. It lives day by day,
and dispels all fears for the morrow. Faith brings great ease of mind
and perfect peace of heart.
“Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on Thee: because he trusted in Thee.” (Isa 26:3)
When we pray, “Give us this day our daily bread,” we are, in a measure,
shutting tomorrow out of our prayer. We do not live in tomorrow but in
today. We do not seek tomorrow’s grace or tomorrow’s bread. They thrive
best, and get most out of life, who live in the living present. They
pray best who pray for today’s needs, not for tomorrow’s, which may
render our prayers unnecessary and redundant by not existing at all!
True prayers are born of present trials and present needs. Bread, for
today, is bread enough. Bread given for today is the strongest sort of
pledge that there will be bread tomorrow. Victory today, is the
assurance of victory tomorrow. Our prayers need to be focused upon the
present, We must trust God today, and leave the morrow entirely with
Him. The present is ours; the future belongs to God. Prayer is the task
and duty of each recurring day—daily prayer for daily needs.
As every day demands its bread, so every day demands its prayer. No
amount of praying, done today, will suffice for tomorrow’s praying. On
the other hand, no praying for tomorrow is of any great value to us
today. To-day’s manna is what we need; tomorrow God will see that our
needs are supplied. This is the faith which God seeks to inspire. So
leave tomorrow, with its cares, its needs, its troubles, in God’s
hands. There is no storing tomorrow’s grace or tomorrow’s praying;
neither is there any laying-up of today’s grace, to meet tomorrow’s
necessities. We cannot have tomorrow’s grace, we cannot eat tomorrow’s
bread, we cannot do tomorrow’s praying. “Sufficient unto the day is the
evil thereof;” and, most assuredly, if we possess faith, sufficient
also, will be the good.
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