- Overcomer Literature Trust
- Swindon
- Wiltshire
PRAYER AND GOD’S PROMISES.
By E M Bounds
God’s Word is a record of the achievements of praying people, of Divine teachings about prayer and of the encouragement given to those who pray. The statements we read about prayer make us realise that the success of His work in this world is committed to prayer. Those who pray are God's appointed people on earth. Prayerless believers have never been used by Him.
A reverence for God's name is closely related to a great respect for His Word. This reverence of His Name, the ability to do His will on earth as it is done in heaven, and the establishment of His Kingdom, are today as much involved in prayer as when Jesus taught. We, “ought always to pray and not to faint" (Luke 18 v1) is just as important to God today as when Jesus Christ gave us that truth in the parable of the persistent widow.
In many aspects, prayer dependents upon the Word of God. Jesus said, "if you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you” (John 15 v7). The Word supports prayer, and because of this things move. God has committed Himself, His purpose and His promise to prayer. His Word becomes the foundation and inspiration when we are praying. Persistent prayer will often bring confidence in His promises. It is said we must, “imitate those who through faith and patience inherit what has been promised” (Hebrews 6 v12). There seems to be the capacity in prayer for going beyond the Word, beyond His promise, into the very presence of God Himself.
Jacob wrestled not only with a promise but also with the Promiser. We must take hold of the Promiser, or else the promise is useless. Prayer may be defined as the force which energises the Word of God, by taking hold of God. By taking hold of the Promiser, prayer releases the promise. "No one calls on your name or strives to lay hold of you” (Isaiah 64 v7) cried the prophet. "Let them come to Me for refuge; let them make peace with Me, yes, let them make peace with Me”, this is God's recipe for prayer (Isaiah 27 v5).
Prayer can be one of faith or one of submission. The prayer of faith is based on the Word, for "faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the Word" (Romans 10 v17).
The prayer of submission does not use a clear word of promise, but takes hold of God with a humble and contrite spirit, and asks Him for what the soul desires. Abraham had no definite promise that God would spare Sodom. Moses had no definite promise that God would spare Israel, on the contrary, there was the declaration of His wrath, and of His purpose to destroy. But Moses got his answer when he interceded continually for the Israelites. Daniel had no definite promise that God would reveal to him the meaning of the king's dream, but he prayed specifically, and God answered.
The Word of God becomes real by the practice of prayer. The Word of the Lord came to Elijah, "go and present yourself to Ahab, and I will send rain on the land” (1 Kings 18 v1). Elijah did this but the answer to his prayer came only when he had prayed to the Lord seven times.
The Word is a great help in prayer. If it is written in our hearts it will form an outflowing of prayer. Promises, stored in the heart, are the fuel from which prayer receives life. The Word is the food that nourishes prayer.
Unless the energy of prayer is supplied by God's Word, it will be empty and ultimately useless. The absence of this energy is the lack of a constant supply of God's Word. If you want to pray well then study the Word, and store it in your memory and thoughts.
When we consult God's Word, we find that prayer is our duty and we discover that no privilege is more important than this habit. There is no limit to the provisions, included in the promises to prayer, and no one is excluded from its promises. "For everyone who asks receives” (Matthew 7 v8). The word of our Lord said, ”you may ask Me for anything in My name, and I will do it" (John 14 v14).
Here are some of the statements from the Word about prayer and the strong promises made in answer to prayer, "pray without ceasing” (1 Thessalonians 5 v17), "continue in prayer” (Colossians 4 v2), ”in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God” (Philippians 4 v6) and "praying always with all prayer and supplication” (Ephesians 6 v18).
These strong statements provide us with a foundation of faith, and encourage us to pray. These Scriptures help us to seek the Lord with all our burdens. The Bible is also full of facts, examples and observations, which show the importance and power of prayer.
The greatest benefit of the rich promises of the Word of God, should humbly be received by us, and put to the test. The world will never receive the full benefits of the Gospel until this is done. Neither Christian experience nor Christian living will be what they should be until these promises have been tested and when we bring the promises of God's will into reality.
If we ask what should be done to make God's promises real, the answer is, that we must pray, until the words of the promise are fulfilled. God's promises are too large to be obtained by half-hearted praying. When we test ourselves, we discover that our praying does not match the demands of the situation, and is often very limited. Who measures up to this promise of our Lord, "very truly I tell you, whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father” (John 14 v2). There is much here for the glory of God and the manifestation of Christ's power as the reward of faith.
Look at another of God's great promises, and discover how we are strengthened by the Word as we pray, and when we make our requests to our God, "if you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you” (John 15 v7). In these words, God turns Himself over to the will of His people. When Christ becomes our all-in-all, prayer lays God's treasures at our feet.
Early Christianity had an easy and practical solution to the situation, and got everything that God had to give. The solution is recorded by John, we "receive from Him anything we ask, because we keep His commands and do what pleases Him” (1 John 3 v22).
Prayer coupled with loving obedience is the answer to all things. Prayer is not simply to get things from God, but to make those things holy, which have already been received from Him. It is not only to get a blessing, but also to be able to give a blessing. Prayer makes common things holy and secular things sacred. It receives things from God with thanksgiving.
In 1 Timothy 4 verses 4 to 5, Paul gives us these words, "for everything God created is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving, because it is consecrated by the Word of God and prayer”. God's good gifts are holy, not only by God's creative power, but because they are made holy to us by prayer. We receive them and appropriate them by prayer.
Doing God's will, and having His Word abiding in us, is a must in effectual praying. But, how can we know what God's will is? The answer is, by studying His Word, by hiding it in our hearts, and by letting the Word dwell in us richly. "The unfolding of your words gives light” (Psalm 119 v130).
To know God's will in prayer, we must be filled with God's Spirit, who makes intercession for the saints according to the will of God. To be filled with God's Spirit and His Word is to know God's will. It should be put in our mind and heart to allow us to interpret the purposes of God correctly. Such filling of the heart, with the Word and the Spirit, gives us an insight into the will of the Father, and allows us to know His will.
Epaphras prayed that the Colossians might stand "firm in all the will of God, mature and fully assured” (Colossians 4 v12). This is proof that we can know the will of God, and do the will of God, not occasionally, but as a good habit. Finally, it shows us that we can do the will of God cheerfully from the heart without reluctance, or in any way holding back from the intimate presence of the Lord.
From ‘The Necessity of Prayer’.