By H. A. Wilson
Taken from Grace and Truth Magazine 1923
The prayer life of the Apostle
Paul is of especial interest to believers in this age. He was the apostle to whom God gave a special
message to the Church, the Body of Christ, which is composed of all believers since the day of Pentecost. It is his writings (Romans to Philemon)
which, of all the Bible, are particularly addressed to
believers of the Church age, consequently the teaching on
prayer to be found therein is very important for our
guidance in our own prayer lives. This teaching appears in
two forms. It is in the form of direct instruction and
in the form of the example of Paul himself, which embodies
the instructions given in his writings. The study of the
inspired record of Paul’s prayer life is full of blessing
for us, because it helps us to understand in a concrete way the
prayer teachings which are so vital to us in our
fellowship with God and in our service for Him.
Such study furnishes a
conclusive answer to a very insidious error which has crept
in among some earnest believers in the last few years.
It seems that some hyper-dispensationalists are saying
that the Scripture teaching on prayer is entirely Jewish and
that it is not for believers of the Body. ‘This is a most
unfortunate and deplorable teaching. If carried to its
logical conclusion, it means that the believer should not
pray nor expect to have prayer answered. When such a condition
comes into the life of a child of God his usefulness in
the Lord’s service and his keen enjoyment of His fellowship is gone. Surely if there is anything which is needed above everything else in the lives of Christians it is scriptural, prevailing prayer. Thoughtful consideration of the prayer life of Paul, and of the teaching which it presents,
furnishes a convincing proof that believers
in the Church dispensation should pray, and that they
should expect to have prayer answered, for Paul was
the special messenger of God to this age. In that study,
too, one gains a clear idea of the kind of prayer life which
he should have, for’ he sees it exemplified in a rich
and beautiful fashion.
One of the first things which
impresses us is that the prayer life of Paul was
worshipful. He had a keen perception of the character
of the God with Whom we have to do, and though
he came freely and boldly into His presence, he did
not come lightly. He came in reverence and adoration.
His prayers abound in ascriptions of praise and
glory to God, and many expressions occur which show us
the worship which was in his heart as he approached the
throne of grace.
A remarkable indication of this
is found in the fifteenth chapter of Romans. Three very
brief prayers occur in this chapter, and in each of
them we find some new phase of the character of God set
forth. In the fifth and sixth verses we read:
“Now the God of patience and
consolation grant you to be like minded one toward
another according to Christ Jesus:
“That ye may ‘with one mind and
one mouth glorify God, even the Father of our Lord
Jesus Christ.”
This passage is pregnant with
rich truth concerning God. Here we find that He is a God of
patience; He is a God of consolation; He is a God Who
gives to men; He is a God to Whom glory is due; and He
is the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. How ‘could
more of blessed truth concerning our God be packed
into so few words? It is to be feared that such a
description would exhaust the knowledge which most of us
possess concerning Him, but the writer goes on in the
thirteenth verse in like words:
“Now the God of hope fill you
with all joy and peace in believing, that ye may
abound in hope, through the power of the Holy Ghost.”
Here we learn that God is a God
of hope, that He is concerned in the happiness of
men and is able to give them joy and peace and hope, and that
He works in the lives of men through the Holy Spirit.
It will be seen that the doctrine of the triunity of God
is clearly shown in these two references, for here are God
the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. Then in
the thirty-third verse of this same chapter we
read:
“The God of peace be with you
all.”
Here is set forth the fact that God is a God of peace and that He is with His children. Careful consideration of the « facts which are set forth in these three brief prayers reveals a well rounded conception of the personality and grace of God.
This is the language of a man who knows God and who, as he approaches His throne in prayer is overcome with the grace and majesty which is His. How our hearts burn within us as we read the reverential breathing of the heart of this man of God, and as we accompany him into the presence of his God, and our God, and catch the glimpse which he has caught of His glory. A careful
consideration of his life reveals that
these expressions are not mere catch expressions, but the
heart-felt expression of the intimate fellowship which he had
with God. We need more of the attitude of worship which
characterized the apostle Paul's prayer life. We need to
approach the throne of God with uncovered heads, and
awed hearts. We are dealing with One Who is greater
than all earthly potentates, and yet One Who cares
for us and delights in our coming to Him, Let us come
boldly to the throne of grace, but let us come in
reverence, and let us abide there until our souls, like that
of Paul, are transported with the apprehension which has
come to us of the praiseworthiness and majesty of God.
Another thing which impresses
us forcibly is that the prayer life of Paul
was spiritual. As we read his prayers we find that
they are concerned almost exclusively with
spiritual things and not with
crass material things. Again and again
we read supplications for the Lord to cause His
children to increase in the knowledge of Himself, in faith,
in joy and peace, or that they may be of one mind,
victorious over sin, abounding in the work of the Lord, and, in
short, in all spiritual knowledge and blessings. His
prayers abound in thanksgiving, but the occasion is
almost always some spiritual blessing which has come to God's
children, and of which he has heard. Only occasionally
does he mention material matters, and then usually as
they are related to the ministry of one of the Lord’s
servants, such as the recovering to health of Epaphroditus, or
the supplying of his own needs through the gifts of the
Philippians. And even in the supply of his needs we find
that his chief concern is not the supply itself, but the
growth in grace of the Philippian believers which was
manifest in the gifts.
A fair example of the extent to
which the prayers of the Apostle Paul are concerned
with spiritual things is furnished in Eph. 1:15-20:
“Wherefore I also, after I heard
of your faith in the Lord Jesus, and love unto all
the saints,
“Cease not to give thanks for
you, making mention of you in my prayers;
“That the God of our Lord Jesus
Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto you the
spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of
Him:
“The eyes of your understanding
being enlightened; that ye may know what is the hope of His calling, and what the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints,
“And what is the exceeding greatness of His power to us-ward who believe,
according to the working of His mighty power,
“Which He wrought in Christ, when He raised Him from the dead, and set Him at His own right hand in the heavenly places.”
Do we not feel rebuked when we review our own prayer lives and compare them with this earnest petition for the spiritual welfare of others? It is sad but true that most of us confine our prayers almost entirely to asking for some selfish material blessing. We need new clothes, or we need
money to pay the rent, or we need money to pay the grocery
bill, or we are sick and need to be strengthened in body.
Perhaps a friend is sick or in some material need and we
ask for his need to be met, and so our prayers go from
one material thing to another. Surely God will be better
pleased and our prayers will be more fruitful of
blessing if we will consider
more the spiritual needs, and not
only for ourselves but especially for others also. Let us ask, and
let us ask largely, but let us give the most important place
to the things which lie nearest to the heart of God.
Surely He cares for every detail of our lives and is
interested in the material
needs, but they are so unimportant
beside the great spiritual needs, Without a question God is
more concerned that a soul be saved or brought into
close fellowship with Himself, and into the greatest
usefulness for Him than that a body be made well and strong.
Should we not therefore emulate the Apostle Paul in
laying the greatest stress on spiritual things when we pray?
But that does not mean that we
should not pray for the more material details of our
lives. God does care about them and He ted the
Apostle Paul to pray about them as well as about the
spiritual things. He records a prayer which he prayed
concerning his own health, and though the Lord did not see fit
to grant his request, yet through his prayer he was
brought to realize that the Lord knew best in the matter,
and to rejoice in His will even though the request was not
granted. Still other instances aré recorded in which
the material was the subject of Paul’s prayers. It is
not wrong for us to pray for such things. In fact it would be
wrong if we did not, only we should not let such
things crowd the more important things out of our
prayers. A
Third thing which is
outstanding in the prayer life of Paul is his
persistence. This is indicated in many passages which
we find in his writings, among which the
following are representative:
“God is my
witness, Whom I serve
with my spirit in the gospel of His Son, that
without ceasing I make mention of you
always in my
prayers” (Rom. 1:9).
“We give thanks to God
always
for you all, making mention of you in our
prayers;
“Remembering
without ceasing
your work of faith, and labor of love, and patience
of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ, in the sight of
God and our Father” (1 Thes. 1:2-3)
“What thanks can we render to
God again for you, for all the joy wherewith we joy
for your sakes before our God;
“Night and day praying
exceedingly that we might see your face, and might perfect
that which is lacking in your faith” (I Thes. 3:9-10)?
Paul prayed with a faith that
gripped the throne of grace and held on till the answer
came. We need more of that kind of prayer, too. Someone has
well said that we too often “ring the doorbell of
heaven with our prayers, and then run away before the answer
comes.” It is said that George Muller, the man of God
whose faith in God, and whose wonderful prayer
experiences have been a blessing to countless souls, prayed for
the salvation of two men for thirty-two years and then
died without seeing either of them saved. But both of those
men accepted the Saviour within six months of Mr.
Muller's death. God's Word encourages us to persevere
in prayer, and the example of the Apostle Paul gives
us additional encouragement. We should seek to know the
will of God in our prayer life, and when we are
assured that the thing for which we are praying is
according to His will we should hold on until the answer comes.
In connection with this
characteristic of Paul's prayer life we note that not only was
he persistent in the matter of repeatedly praying about the
same thing, but he also was persistent in the time of
his praying. He embodied the admonition which God gave
through him:
“Pray without ceasing” (I Thes.
5:17).
We need a quiet time alone with
God in the prayer closet every day, but sometimes the
temptation is strong to con fine ourselves to that time of
secret devotion, ‘The normal and "most fruitful prayer
life is that in which a believer lives throughout the day
in the attitude of prayer. Every task becomes the subject
of prayer. Every testing is a call to prayer. Every
blessing is an occasion for thanksgiving, And so on
throughout the day the heart is continually lifted up in
prayer. This was evidently true in Paul's life, for his
writings are full of brief, ejaculatory prayers. Only a sentence
or two sometimes, and sometimes several sentences, The
fifteenth chapter of Romans which we have already
considered is an example of this. In this chapter three
short prayers are included and they are representative of
many such in the writings of the Apostle Paul. Someone has
said that he “likes ejaculatory prayer because it
gets to heaven before the Devil gets a shot at it.” When
God’s children live in the attitude of prayer, persisting
in it throughout every day, their lives are filled with
blessing both for themselves and for others.
The confidence of Paul's prayer
life also impresses us strongly. It takes faith to
ask for great things, and that was the faith of the
Apostle Paul. He knew that God was
“Able to do exceeding abundantly
above all that we ask or think, according to
His power that worketh in us” (Eph. 3:20).
consequently he was not afraid
to ask Him for things which would stagger the faith of
one whose conception of God was less, and whose faith
was weaker than his. This is especially evident in
Colossians 1:9-11:
“For this cause we also, since
the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you,
and to desire that ye might be
filled with the knowledge of
His will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding;
“That ye might walk worthy of
the Lord unto all pleasing, being fruitful in
every good work, and increasing in the knowledge of God;
“Strengthened with
all might,
according to His glorious power, unto
all patience
and longsuffering with joyfulness
Notice the exceedingly strong
expressions which are used. What a staggering request this
was! It is the request of a soul which has confidence
in the power and willing ness of God to answer prayer.
There can be no doubt that here is one of the secrets
of the wonderful way in which God used the Apostle Paul.
God delights to honor such faith
in prayer. He challenges us in words about whose
meaning there can be no misunderstanding:
“Call unto me and I will answer
thee and show thee great and mighty things which
thou knowest not” (Jer. 3343). To this challenge Paul's faith
responded with a mighty bound. It should encourage us to
ask more largely and to expect greater things than we
have ever had faith to expect hitherto. The student of
God's. teaching in the matter of prayer is soon
convinced that men have never, in their asking, reached the
limit of God’s willingness to give; nor have they ever, in
their eager seeking for His fellowship in the hour of
prayer, even approximated His willingness to meet us there.
Let us learn from the example of the apostle, and pray.
Let us pray boldly, asking greater things of God, and
expecting greater things from Him,
But let
us not forget that while Paul
was confident in his prayer life he was also
submissive. He could pray largely and expect largely,
but he sought to know the will of God in all his
prayer life, and when he was convinced that a thing for
which he prayed was not | according to His will, he was
content and did not press it further. ‘This is very
manifest in an incident of which
| he tells us in Il Corinthians
13:7-10. Here we read:
“Lest I should be exalted above
measure through the abundance of the revelations,
there was given to me a thorn in the flesh, the
messenger of Satan to buffet me, lest I should be exalted above
measure.
“For this thing I besought the
Lord thrice, that it might depart from me.
“And He said unto me, My grace
is sufficient for thee, for my strength is made
perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather
glory in my infirmities that the power of Christ may rest
upon, me.
“Therefore I take pleasure in
infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in
persecutions, in digresses for Christ's sake: for when I am
weak, then am I strong.”
Apparently there was some
sickness or weakness in Paul's body. He was eager that if it
were possible this might depart from him, so he prayed
and asked that it might be so. Thrice he prayed, but
finally was convinced that God saw that it was best not to
grant his petition. Having been persuaded of this he did
not press his requests nor did he become sulky about it. He
submitted himself to the will of God cheerfully and
gladly. He was content with the grace of God, and felt
that it was sufficient. He even rose on the wings of faith
above the trial and testing of the thing for which he
had been praying that he might be rid of it, and in the
power of the Spirit actually gloried in his weaknesses
because they were the occasion of a more full manifestation of
God's power.
O fellow believers, how like
little children we are. We pray and ask the Lord for
something, and then when He does not see fit to grant our
petitions we get angry with Him and pout because we did
not get what we wanted. We act as though we
could not trast Him to do the
thing which is for our best
interests. We need to learn with
the Apostle Paul that He knows
best and that He cares for us
far more than we can possibly
care for ourselves. We need to
learn that He knows infinitely
better than we what really is
for our best interests and that
He is eager to do the best
thing. Someone has written a
very beautiful little verse
which expresses in other words
the strong faith which the
Apostle Paul manifested in the
loving providence of God, and
the lesson which we need to
learn, O so badly!
Disappointment,
His-appointment,
Change one letter, then I
see
That God's
thwarting of my purpose
Was His better choice for
me.
Should believers pray in this
dispensation? How can we question it when such
clear teaching and such a blessed example is before
us! Indeed we should pray. We should pray
worshipfully. We should pray with proper regard to the
relative value of spiritual and material things. We should
pray persistently. We should pray confidently. And (O
how we need to learn it!) we should pray
submissively. Let us come before
the throne of grace on bended knee,
with the prayer of the disciples,
“Lord, teach us to pray!” |
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