 |
|||
Volume. XXXVII, No. 40 The Scriptures and Prayer (Part 2) Sovereignty of God and Prayer The Scriptures say that the Spirit teaches us the right purposes in praying. God has appointed the ordinance of prayer with threefold design: First, that the great Triune God might be honoured, for prayer is an act of worship, giving glory and honour to the Father, the Giver, in the Son's name, by whom alone we may approach Him, by the moving and directing power of the Holy Spirit. Second, to humble and cleanse our hearts, for prayer is ordained to bring us into the place of dependence, to develop within us a sense of our helplessness and unworthiness, for without the Lord we can do nothing (John 15:1-7). We are beggars upon His mercy for everything that we are and have. We are totally dependent upon God's sovereign grace in answer to prayer (Isaiah 65:24).
One of the reasons why some of our prayers may remain unanswered is because we have a different motive from heaven. Our Saviour said in Matthew 7:7, ‘Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you:’ Paul affirms in Romans 15:30 which says, ‘Now I beseech you, brethren, for the Lord Jesus Christ's sake, and for the love of the Spirit, that ye strive together with me in your prayers to God for me;’ To pray for something is to seek the end which God has designed for our eternal benefit. Do not have confidence in our own worldly wisdom but consider the purpose of God. Ask the Holy Spirit to fill you, as our supplications must be according to divine providence. Paul says in 1 Corinthians 16:7, ‘For I will not see you now by the way; but I trust to tarry a while with you, if the Lord permit.’ Yet none but the Spirit can enable us to subordinate all our desires unto God's glory.
The Scriptures taught us how to plead on God's promises. Prayer must be in faith trusting Him fully (Romans 10:14). Say with the centurion, ‘Lord, I believe; help thou my unbelief.’ (Mark 9:24) Now faith respects God's promises (Hebrews 4:1; Romans 4:21). If, therefore, we do not believe God's Word, we may not pray aright. The promises of God include the matter of prayer and define the measure of it. We are to pray for all that He has promised in His own time. The declaration of His will and the revelation of His grace belong unto us. There is stand in need of God’s supply in such a way and under such limitations as will make it good and useful to us. Hence, the better we are acquainted with the Divine promises and the more we are enabled to understand the goodness, grace and mercy of God, the better equipped are we for God-honouring acceptable prayer before Him (Hebrews 4:11).
Some of God's promises are general and not specific; some are conditional, others unconditional; some are fulfilled in this life, others in the world to come. Let us present our needs, or to appropriate by faith and rightly plead it before God. The Scriptures bring us to complete submission unto God in prayer. One of the Divine’s designs in appointing prayer as an ordinance is that we might be humbled and totally dependent on Him and we bow the knee humbly before the Lord. Prayer is an acknowledgment of our helplessness and a looking to Him from whom all our help comes (Psalm 121). It is knowing of His sufficiency to supply our every need (Philippians 6:13). It is a making known our ‘requests’ (Philippians 4:6) unto God; these requests may be different from our own demands. The throne of grace is not set up that we may come and vent our emotions before God. We are to spread our petition before God, leave it to His divine wisdom to prescribe how it shall be dealt with. He is the Final Arbiter, Judge and Redeemer of our lives and we are to submit to Him. We do not ‘claim’ anything from God, for we are dependent upon His gracious compassion and mercy daily for we are all sinners who have offended God. In all our prayers, we must remember, ‘nevertheless not as I will, but as thou wilt.’ (Matthew 26:39) and wait patiently upon the Lord.
Finally, it must be God's answer and not ours. Paul sought the Lord thrice to remove his thorn in the flesh: instead of doing so, the Lord gave him grace to endure it (2 Corinthians 12). Some of God's promises are indefinite and general rather than absolute and universal. He reserves to Himself the right to determine the time and season for bestowing His mercies. ‘Seek ye the LORD, all ye meek of the earth, which have wrought his judgment; seek righteousness, seek meekness: it may be ye shall be hid in the day of the LORD's anger.’ (Zephaniah 2:3) It ‘may be’ God's will to grant mercy unto us, it is also our duty to cast ourselves upon Him with total submission to His good pleasure for all that He would have us to do.
Patience and Prayer The Scriptures reveals to us a real and deep comfort and peace that comes from a closer communion or intercession with God daily (Psalm 5:3). Merely to ‘say our prayers’ each morning and evening is not enough but to really come into the conscious presence of God, to behold the glorious light of His countenance, to commune with Him patiently at the mercy seat, is a foretaste of the eternal bliss awaiting us in heaven forever one day. The Psalmist in Psalm 73:28 says, ‘But it is good for me to draw near to God: I have put my trust in the Lord GOD, that I may declare all thy works.’ Yes, it is good for the heart, for it is quietened; good for faith, for it is strengthened; good for the soul, for it is blessed. The soul in communion with God is often enriched than just answered prayers. Psalm 27:14, ‘Wait on the LORD: be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart: wait, I say, on the LORD.’
The Holy Spirit produces and promotes this blessed joy in prayer. It is the heart's delight in God as the Object of prayer and particularly the recognition and realisation of God as our Father. Thus, when the disciples asked the Lord Jesus to teach them to pray, He said, ‘After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven’ (Matthew 6:9). Note ‘God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father’ (Galatians 4:6), which includes a filial and holy delight in God, such as children have in their parents. In Ephesians 2:18, we are told, for the strengthening of faith and the comfort of our hearts, ‘For through him [Christ] we both have access by one Spirit unto the Father.’ Peace and comfort fill the soul (Philippians 4:6-8) when we approach the Father daily and patiently in intercession, trusting and relying on Him fully. Let us learn to wait upon the Lord and not do anything in our human strength hastily.
Peace and solace in our hearts are strengthened by the heart's apprehension and the soul's sight of God, the throne of grace, a prospect, not by carnal imagination, but by spiritual illumination, for it is by faith that we ‘see him who is invisible’ (Hebrews 11:27). Therefore, we are exhorted in Hebrews 4:16, ‘Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.’
Conclusion Finally, focusing on the supremacy of Christ in fervent private and corporate prayer is our source of spiritual power and privilege as we wait upon Him. Make it a resolution to come for the Church prayer meeting regularly. Philippians 4:6-8 speaks of seeking God with our petitions for His pardoning grace and thanksgiving and He will grant us the peace unto our hearts. Communication with heaven is given to us through the avenue of prayer and the Word as we have direct access to God through our Lord, Jesus Christ. Let us not forget nor forsake this great honour and meet God daily. Let us wait upon the Lord in intercession and commune with God daily and be revived in our hearts for the gospel, the saving of souls and the unity of the saints, peradventure times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord (Acts 3:19).
By Rev Jack Sin
|
|