THE GREAT INCENTIVE TO PRAYER
[p. 107] THE GREAT INCENTIVE TO PRAYER
Luke 3:21,22; Luke 5:16,17; Luke 6:12,13; Luke 9:18-20; Luke 9:28,29; Luke 11:1-13; Luke 22:41-44; Luke 23:34; Luke 23:40-43
It is before me after much consideration to speak this evening on the subject of prayer. In Ephesians 6: 18, the saints are enjoined to pray “at all seasons, with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit” — a fitting end to an epistle that unfolds the whole purpose of God; for the more light vouchsafed, the more sense there is, in those who value it, of the need for prayer, especially in the light of the statement that God “is able to do far exceedingly above all which we ask or think”. This is a great incentive to prayer.
Now in introducing so important and practical a subject, one would refer to the fact that the beginning of the great work of God in Europe was marked by prayer, as if the instinct were present that tremendous opposition stood in the way of its progress in that part of the world, hence the need is expressed in prayer. First, the man of Macedonia beseeches that extraordinary vessel of the light of God from heaven to come over. It was an urgent prayer to come over and help; then, arriving at Philippi, Paul and those with him found a place of prayer, perhaps the first formal prayer meeting mentioned, not that collective prayer is not found earlier, but here we get a place for it. The apostle and his company are led to that spot, and in connection with it they find engaged in commerce a woman of Thyatira, whose heart the Lord opened so that she attended to the things spoken by Paul Light came into her soul, and having been baptised, she besought Paul to come into her house. Then we are told that, as they went to prayer, a female slave met them, as if the enemy was now aroused, knowing what was involved in this form of service, and started to oppose.
[p. 108] This woman had a spirit of Python, by which, in prophesying, she brought much gain to her masters, showing that Satan was entrenched in the spirit of commerce in that part of the world, and would not have his domain touched, for a prayerful people would spoil that order of things. The building up of a commercial system is not compatible with prayer. Prayer gives God His place, who created all things and gives them to us richly to enjoy. They are sanctified by the word of God and prayer, but the great commercial systems of the world, in any country, are not sanctified by the word of God and prayer, and we have to be on our guard against them.
One of the great snares of the present time is the world of commerce: it offers much attraction to young people, whereas they fail to see that Satan is entrenched in it; indeed, it is a remarkable fact that in the Old Testament the king of Tyre (Tyre being the great commercial centre) is a type of the devil himself (see Ezekiel 28). This female slave, in Acts 16, who brought much gain to her masters, becomes the agent of the devil to oppose a people who were going to prayer. This really brought about the arrest of Paul and Silas, who were thrust into the prison, but we find the indomitable spirit of prayer there.
I refer to this because prayer lay at the root of the great work of God that spread into Europe, and eventually into this country, and it is doubtless the thought of God that the end should be as the beginning. The testimony obviously remained in Europe, and at the outgoings of Europe. There, in the ways of God, it has stood and will stand; and it is with that thought before me I speak, that at the end there should be a people characterised by prayer.
I wish to illustrate the great results of prayer from the blessed Lord Himself, guarding my remarks with the thought that the Lord is unique, and that there are features in each instance that belong to Him [p. 109] exclusively. But there are also features which correspond with these results of prayer in each Christian. I have read these scriptures in Luke with this before me.
There are eight instances in Luke’s gospel in which the Lord Jesus is seen engaged in prayer. In speaking of these my thought is to interest the young people specially. In chapter 3 it is the Lord identifying Himself with the remnant of God’s people; and it is your privilege to follow His example. It is not enough to have light in your soul in regard to your sins, or your eternal destiny. God looks for definite identification, with His people, on the part, of every one having light.
Moses, when he became great, chose to suffer affliction along with the people of God; that is the example the Lord sets here. All the people having been baptised, Jesus was baptised and He prayed. I wish to impress upon the young ones the thought that your entrance amongst the people of God must be marked, if you are to progress, by this. The Lord had come and definitely identified Himself with the repentant people of God. He was the Son of God and outside of this personally, having no sins to confess, but He identified Himself with them. All the people being baptised, He was baptised. He did not go in first. You see it is identification. He is not giving a lead here, but is taking His place humbly with a repentant people. He comes in last, but coming in last, He is morally first, for of Him alone it is said that He prayed. He did not take up His baptism lightly, but seriously. Unless we take up our position in connection with the people of God seriously and in prayer, we shall not progress. It is for the youngest to begin thus, not indeed necessarily in the assembly, audibly, you must begin in your closet.
What was said of Paul in the Lord’s great introduction of him to Ananias was, “Behold, he prayeth”
([p. 110] Acts 9). If any one seeks to identify himself with the saints, I would like to know what his conduct is alone in secret. How does he get on there? “Pray to thy Father which is in secret, and thy Father which seeth in secret, shall reward thee openly”, Matthew 6: 6. He will give you power in the assembly.
Now what you see here is the Lord Jesus praying as He is baptised, and the heaven is opened. I should not like to be with the people of God except with the approval of heaven. You must, of course, seek the approval of the saints; one great principle in Christianity is reception, but the saints are particular as to their reception. It is said of Jesus, He was “received up in glory”, 1 Timothy 3: 16. Do you not think that heaven exercised the keenest discrimination in that reception? Indeed it did. Though the Creator of the heavens, He was Man, and had walked this earth under the eye of heaven. He was “justified in the Spirit”; we are told that He “has appeared to angels, ... has been received up in glory”. Received up! So, if I am to be amongst the people of God, it is with the approval of heaven. How do I know that I have that approval? The Lord had it by the extraordinary opening of the heaven upon Him. Wonderful! The angels could look down, and the Father saw Him and announced His pleasure. “Thou art my beloved Son, in thee I have found my delight”, Luke 3: 22.
You say, I cannot expect that. No, but for us heaven’s approval is found in the assembly. I do not wish to be with the people of God without their approval. The saints normally reflect the mind of heaven, and you may be assured of this, that if it can be said of you, as it was said of Saul of Tarsus: “Behold he prayeth”, you will find the approval of the saints.
Before I pass on to the next scripture, I would say [p. 111] a word about the Spirit. I think the Spirit of God comes in in connection with heaven’s approval. I would not care to be amongst the people of God without the approval of heaven by the Spirit, for it would mean I am unequal to the surroundings, for I am not a prince. God’s thought is that you come in as set amongst princes, but not as a beggar. It would be a poor thing to be set amongst princes as a beggar. You are taken outside of that state, and set amongst princes as a prince in the reception of the Spirit.
In connection with the second prayer, the Lord is in the wilderness. Young believers do not care much about that place. They like to be in the crowd; one often dreads large meetings for the reason that young people are apt to be governed by natural feelings among other young people, whereas the truly exercised soul wants to get alone, he wants to withdraw from the crowd. The Lord was in the wilderness in a desert place, but was praying there. The desert does not hinder prayer, it aids you in that exercise, for there is nothing in the wilderness to attract the flesh in us. The Lord was there as withdrawn from the crowds. I would urge that feature in regard to prayer — the acceptance of the actual situation that the world is a wilderness. You may come to the meeting and be amongst the people of God on worldly lines. The Lord “withdrew himself into the wilderness and prayed”.
Following upon this, He was teaching on one of the days and great men were present. Pharisees and doctors of the law, persons that would tend to overawe one, but “The power of the Lord was present to heal them”. One at times awakes to a sense of the need that there is in this world, not only in the poor leper — full of leprosy, who was avoided by everybody — but in these Pharisees and doctors of the law, these distinguished persons. The need is also there.
[p. 112] Am I indifferent to it? Is it of God that one should have the light of God in one’s soul — the knowledge of the cleansing value of the blood of Jesus, and the power of the Holy Spirit, and be indifferent to the fearful need in this world? No! The Lord would have us to be sensitive to all these things, and amongst them all to be in the desert place, praying. You may be sure of it that if you take things up thus seriously, the power of the Lord will be with you — that power which was present to heal.
Let us pass on to chapter 6. This scripture suggests that you cannot do things of yourself, even your ordinary prayers do not suffice; and so the Lord is seen apart on the mountain — a whole night in prayer — with a view to selection. One marvels at it. I have often said it (and practised it, too), that the best way to spend wakeful hours is in prayer. I have not a doubt that God gives wakeful hours, orders them for us, so that we may pray.
The responsibility of things is so overwhelming; but as you are with God, you find an outlet in regard to the need of men and the people of God. The Lord spent a whole night in prayer. In the morning He chose out twelve from His disciples whom He named apostles. You see the work is so great you cannot do it of yourself, even if you had the power of a Paul. This is one of the greatest lessons a servant has to learn. And so the Lord (not that I am limiting His power, but am speaking of Him as an example) would have twelve working with Him, for the need was so great. Then He descends from the mountain with them and stands on a level place. He is down where the need is, and with Him are the twelve vessels of His power.
The point is to see the need; then there is the accompaniment of prayer, through which great results are brought about. As it says: “Supplicate therefore the Lord of the harvest that he may send out workmen into his harvest” (chapter 10: 2). I do urge the great importance of this. It is within the range of every one of us to pray that the Lord may send out labourers into His harvest, and He will answer our prayers.
Now the fourth prayer is in chapter 9. You will see there is progress. What comes out in this scripture is that, as the Lord is praying alone, He makes inquiry of His disciples as to who men said He was. Abroad in Christendom there are a thousand and one thoughts about Christ which are entirely wrong, some of them are blasphemous thoughts. Can I be indifferent to them? I cannot. No one who is with God can be indifferent to anything that affects Christ. As He is praying here this question is raised; for it is important that the disciples at least should know who He was; and it is important that we, as surrounded by these thousand and one views (blasphemous many of them), should know who He is.
Can you give a ready answer as to the Person of the Lord? Does it affect you as you hear Him blasphemed? If you love Him, it does. If you love the Lord, His very name taken in vain in your hearing is distressing to you. You resent it. It is remarkable that those who make so much of His mother dishonour Him in the use they make of His precious name. Is it nothing to you? If you are characterised by praying, it makes a great difference to you. If you have seen Him in His beauty in the sanctuary where God dwells, you would be distressed as you hear His name blasphemed by His creatures. “Whom do ye say that I am?” Peter is ready with the answer: “The Christ of God”. God has got Christ, the anointed One. He has One by Him who does all His will, the Vessel of His grace. Peter readily acknowledges that and confesses Him. We have nothing here about the revelation made to Peter. That is not the point. Here it is the knowledge [p. 114] of the Person of Jesus as the outcome of prayer. In the next passage of this chapter you have a change presented. If you know the Lord, you know He is different from all other men. The great error of the day is to bring the Lord Jesus down to the level of other men so as to compare Him with them, but He is different. What you find is that it was as He prayed His countenance became different. You want to apprehend what this difference is.
For example, if you go into the world and become defiled by it, you are like it, and hence the necessity for the red heifer (see Numbers 19). The red heifer suggests what is different; it is the principle of a different kind of man; it typifies Jesus who died, and by that death you are cleansed from assimilation with the world. It says in Romans 12: “Be not conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind”. How readily young people slip into the ways of the world, its customs and its sayings! The more spiritual you are, the more you abhor slang, and also the fashions of this world. They issue from the defiled sources of this world. The divine idea is to be different, it comes out in prayer. I am seeking what corresponds in us as we pray. He ascended the mount to pray. “And as he prayed the fashion of his countenance became different, and his raiment white and effulgent”.
Applying that to the believer, I understand it to mean that in occupation with the Lord you become like Him. As it is said: “We all, looking on the glory of the Lord with unveiled face, are transformed according to the same image, from glory to glory, even as by the Lord the Spirit”, 2 Corinthians 3: 18. In result, you are amongst the saints, not as you were — you are different.
One loves to see brethren changed in that way, and rejoices in having seen it. One would seek that it should take place in oneself: that there should be [p. 115] with us that constant change from glory to glory. We are thus different; we have taken on new features, and the saints discern it .
In chapter 11 the reference is to what is local, and again we have prayer. What I have said so far is general, but when you come to chapter 11, which is preceded (as already before us today) by the Lord’s appointing seventy others also, and sending them “two and two before his face into every city and place where he himself was about to come”, we are in the presence of truth that refers to a local company. If you are not exercised about your local company, you have no part in “the angel” of that locality. You will find that as you progress in the truth you take up your local responsibility.
One longs that everyone should have a sense of responsibility, for unless you take up the sense of obligation you are of little moral worth. The absence of moral obligation paves the way for the building up of clericalism and has led to the handing over of religious affairs to a committee of men. Here the Lord is praying, and one of His disciples said to Him: “Lord, teach us to pray”. It is as if our local brethren need to be taught how to pray. As they pray, they will find abundance of local furnishings, which are really heavenly furnishings.
The prayer has in view the bringing out of heaven into your locality what you know to be there. So the Lord ends the passage with the thought that the Father who is of heaven (not in heaven as Matthew) gives the Holy Spirit to them that ask Him. I refer to it now in a general way as applying to a locality, for you cannot have things right in a locality without the Spirit. It is the Spirit, not for yourself exactly, but for the locality. You want the Spirit with all the brethren, and you must never rest till all of them are characterised by the Spirit of God. You will never have peace nor conditions for Christ locally unless all [p. 116] the brethren are imbued with the Spirit of God. The way to reach this is by prayer: “How much rather shall the Father who is of heaven give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him?”
In this way your local needs are met. You have secured a place for the Lord, like David: “I will not give sleep to mine eyes, slumber to mine eyelids, until I find out a place for Jehovah”, Psalm 132. In order to have a place for the Lord, the saints in the locality must have the Spirit. You may say, Every believer has the Spirit, but you want to see the results of that in your locality. The Lord knows those who have the Spirit, but the evidence of this is in the fruit of the Spirit. If you do not see this, ask the Father in heaven and He will give the Spirit. Get the right idea in your mind, and do not rest till it is realised in the fruit being there. It is realised through prayer. “Ask, and ye shall receive”, Matthew 7: 7.
Now in chapter 22 we have the blessed Lord in suffering. One would not hide from anyone that suffering belongs to our position as apart from the world. As set in this world, in the presence of the principalities and powers of evil, the universal lords of this darkness and spiritual power of wickedness in the heavenlies, you cannot escape suffering. If Satan cannot seduce you, he will persecute you: he has the means to do it. He has brought all his forces to bear on the Lord. I want to dwell for a moment on the manner in which He acted then. “He was withdrawn from them about a stone’s cast and kneeled down”. It was a serious situation. One refers to it with the deepest reverence. It is without a parallel.
Though God in Person, it is as Man that Jesus was facing all the power of evil and praying. I put it to you, How can you expect to face the power of evil except by prayer? There is no other way. When Samuel prayed, he took a sucking lamb and offered [p. 117] it as one humble and dependent on God. At that moment the Philistines were arrayed against Israel, but the Lord thundered on them (see 1 Samuel 7).
I am not enlarging on the Lord’s sufferings, for that would be too great a subject just now. I am speaking of your position and mine as meeting the forces of evil. We cannot escape them. But how are we to meet them? Only by prayer. He “kneeled down”. Elsewhere we are told He prayed three times, and thus set us the example as to the limit of times. Here He prayed kneeling down, and so intense was the conflict, that “his sweat was as it were great drops of blood falling down to the ground”. How much have we approached to agony like this? The apostle Paul says: “I would have you know what combat I have for you”, Colossians 2: 1. What kind of combat? It was one of prayer for the saints. It is on our knees that we defeat the forces of the devil.
Now, passing on to the last scripture, let us dwell on the marvellous grace that shone in Christ in the midst of the most terrible suffering! It should have its counterpart in us. You see it is a prayer, but, unlike the former ones, it is a prayer for others. It is rarely we find recorded what He actually prayed as here and in chapter 22 also, He said: “Father, if thou wilt, remove this cup from me”, etc. Perfect, holy submission marked Him. What an example for us in suffering! The will of God is before Him. Submission to that will should also mark us in suffering — absolute submission. Every kind of insult and imprecation was heaped upon Him, but there was no resentment toward His persecutors. “Railed at, we bless”, 1 Corinthians 4: 12. That is the counterpart of it. As you bless, as the spirit of grace shines in the midst of the sufferings, God will not fail to give you recompense. You will see something in the way of fruit as recompense.
I refer now to the thief. I have no doubt that as you find the prayer: “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do”, in Luke only, so you find the repentant thief in Luke only. The Father doubtless gave him to Christ as part of the spoil from His murderers. It was a wonderful transaction that interested heaven supremely. Aside from the precious sufferings and death of the Lord, what could be more interesting to heaven than the repentance of that precious soul, hanging by His side, a trophy of grace? May we not, as we maintain the spirit of Christ in suffering, look for such answers from God, encouraging us in our service?
In closing the word which I believe was received from the Lord, I would leave with you the impression that prayer is essential to the moment. There is no lack of light, but the realising of what is presented by the light comes about through prayer. As James says: “The fervent supplication of the righteous man has much power. Elias was a man of like passions to us, and he prayed With prayer that it should not rain; ... and again he prayed and the heaven gave rain, and the earth caused its fruit to spring forth” (chapter 5: 17, 18).
Do not forget that! The first book of Kings does not tell us anything about the fruit, but James does. There was fruit from the earth in answer to that second prayer. That is what we want. God gave rain from heaven, and the earth brought forth its fruit. We should not have it otherwise. We do not want heaven shut up, but if it is shut up, or appears to be, prayer will open it for spiritual ends. God will give the rain from heaven, and the earth will bring forth its fruit. May God bless the word!