The Overcomer Trust

PRAYER.

By J.C.Metcalfe.

All true prayer is based on the relationship we have to God in Christ.

The recorded prayers of the Lord Jesus are so straightforward. “I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and learned and revealed them to little children. Yes, Father, for this was your good pleasure” (Matt. 11 v25-26). When He was confronted with the hungry multitudes on the mountain side we read, “Jesus then took the loaves, gave thanks, and distributed to those who were seated” (John 6 v11). At the tomb of Lazarus there were no long prayers, “Then Jesus looked up and said, ‘Father, I thank you that you have heard me. I know that you always hear me’ ” (John 11 v41). In the garden of Gethsemane Jesus prayed, “My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not my will, but as you will” (Matt. 26 v39). When He was nailed to the Cross the simple trust in His Father was still evident, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing” (Luke 23 v34).

There is one conversation He held with His Father which is recorded in John 17. The absolute understanding between the Father and His well-beloved Son is so plain and we are allowed just a glimpse of the depth of love and the complete understanding that exists between them. The amazing thing is that that love is also lavished on us and sealed for ever to us by the infinite sacrifice of Calvary. True prayer is a deep love shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Spirit (Rom. 5 v5), leading to a simplicity of approach to the Throne that results in the will of God being done in us, and through us in others.

One of the old hymns tells us, ‘Prayer is the Christian’s vital breath, the Christian’s native air . . .’ and breathing is probably the most natural thing in life. Dr Andrew Murray deals with this fact in his book ‘With Christ in the School of Prayer’. ‘Prayer’, he says, ‘has often been compared to breathing, we have only to carry out the comparison to see how wonderful the place is which the Holy Spirit occupies, He is the breath of God. The Father breathes Him into us to unite Himself with our life. True prayer is the living experience of the truth of the Trinity, the Spirit’s breathing, the Son’s intercession, the Father’s will, these three become one in us’. When the heart is right with God the breath of prayer becomes the natural healthy way of life and not something that has to be forced.

There were times that the Lord Jesus Himself spent whole nights in prayer. Think of the life He lived pressed on by crowds of needy people, facing the constant criticism and opposition of the scribes and Pharisees, and the constant misunderstanding of His own disciples. There were occasions when the need to be alone with His Father was overwhelming. In Luke 6 v12 we are told, “Jesus went out to a mountainside to pray, and spent the night praying to God”. A vital decision was to be taken and His inner circle of twelve disciples chosen, and He needed to get alone with His Father and share it all with Him. The very next verse continues, “When morning came, he called his disciples to him and chose twelve of them, whom he also designated apostles”.

Turn to John 6 v15. Here He had been drained by teaching and the loss of power in the working of a great miracle. Now He is faced by temptation, “Jesus, knowing that they intended to come and make Him king by force, withdrew again to a mountain by himself”. Alone as far as human companionship was concerned, but into the never-failing fellowship with His Father which was the strength of His inner life. Look at Mark 1 v35, where we are told that after he had spent the day pouring out healing to the multitudes, “Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed”.

By infinite grace we are now children of God, “The Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children” (Rom. 8 v16). For this reason prayer is not an external, legal obligation laid on us, by means of which we can somehow or other persuade God to work. It is a deep inward relationship which is maintained by fellowship with God. The apostle John wrote, “our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ” (1 John 1 v3). What an amazing and joyful thing it is that we have been made accepted “in the One He loves” (Eph. 1 v6). Now we are never left to our own devices, nor do we have to take the strain of working for God. We are called to work with Him for the fulfilment of His purposes, and whether it is by means of brief, natural utterances of our love or utter need, or during periods spent alone with Him, we have the infinite privilege, in Christ, of dwelling in the “holiest of all”.

It is always a frightening thought that in seeking to lead a congregation in prayer, or to take part in a Prayer Meeting, we may fall into the snare of using a formula, or mere words lacking the power of a loving confidence in God. Saul of Tarsus had for years been used to taking a prominent part in Jewish worship. He wrote, “I was advancing in Judaism beyond many Jews of my own age and was extremely zealous for the traditions of my fathers” (Gal. 1 v14). But the change spoken of by the Lord, when He sent Ananias to him, was “he is praying” (Acts 9 v11). Prayer is a matter of heart dealing with God alone.

A real problem is that of giving our efforts an exaggerated importance. An emphasis can be placed on the amount of prayer rather than on God’s character. The Lord Jesus, in Matthew 6 v5-7, lays down three basic principles that must never be forgotten.

1. Do not pray with an eye on others or to appear spiritual.
2. Have eyes only on your Father and deal alone with Him.
3. Do not value the use of words too highly, it is the heart being right with God that matters.

Matthew 6 verse 6 leads us into the presence of our Father,

“But when you pray, go into your own room, shut your door and pray to your Father privately. Your Father who sees all things will reward you”. It may be that instead of answering what we have asked at once, He will teach us some great lesson of fellowship with Him, that will enrich us in a way that will amaze us. The final verse reads, “And when you pray don’t rattle off long prayers like the pagans who think they will be heard because they use so many words. Don’t be like them. For your Father knows what you need before you ask Him”.

At once the dramatic contrast on Mount Carmel comes to mind. The false prophets had their own thoughts of what their god was like. They spent a whole day in crying out and inflicting physical pain on themselves, all to no avail. Look now at Elijah. His first concern was to rebuild the altar of Jehovah, the Covenant-Keeping-God, which had been broken down. He would not approach Him without sacrifice, any more than we can meet with Him except in His Son given for us on Calvary and alive for evermore upon the Throne. “We have One who speaks to the Father in our defence - Jesus Christ the Righteous One” (1 John 2 v1), and in His Name alone can we approach the Father. His Name is the Name that prevails in heaven.

Now consider the simplicity of Elijah’s prayer, “O Lord, God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, let it be known today that you are God in Israel and that I am your servant and have done all these things at your command. Answer me, O Lord, answer me, so these people will know that you, O Lord, are God, and that you are turning their hearts back again”. The response was immediate, “Then the fire of the Lord fell and burned up the sacrifice, the wood, the stones and the soil, and also licked up the water in the trench”.

The disciples’ appeal to the Lord Jesus was not, ‘Lord, teach us how to pray’, but “Lord teach us to pray” (Luke 11 v1). In reply He leads them into the great principles that lie behind all true prayer. Worship, the desire for God’s will to be done, the expression of our dependence for our daily needs, for constant forgiveness and the power to forgive others, and for our reliance on His power alone to deal with temptation. This brings us back once more to utter simplicity which can only come from a growing knowledge of the great heart of God and the full glory of His unspeakable gift in His Son. Prayer is the result of our union with God in Christ. In 1 Corinthians 6 v17 we are told that “he who unites himself with the Lord is one with Him in spirit”, prayer is the abiding result of this oneness.

During His pilgrimage on earth Jesus’ whole life was communion with God, and now in His glory He is constantly making intercession for us. He not only prayed but is now praying. He not only teaches and influences us to pray but He is prayer, the foundation and basis of all answers to our petitions. He is the Word, and from all eternity His Father heard Him interceding for the world which He created through Him and is represented by Him, and in which through Him divine glory was to be revealed. In the same sense in which He is light and gives light, in which He is life and resurrection and therefore quickens, Jesus is prayer. This sums up the whole position. Jesus is prayer and union with Him means an increasing ability to bear before the Throne of God the needs of others, and of joyous partnership in the working of God in the world.

From: ‘The Net is Spread’.

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