The Overcomer Trust

THE PRACTICE OF PRAYER.

By G.Campbel Morgan.

Any discussion on prayer which does not issue in the practice of prayer is not helpful, but the practice of prayer will be greatly helped by an understanding of the Christian doctrine of prayer.

Never did the disciples make a more important request than when they said, “Lord, teach us to pray” (Luke 11 v1-13). The church today needs to make the same request, but she needs to do so remembering that she already has the answer. Whatever may have been the case with the first disciples it is certainly true of us that before we call He answers.

There can be no question that the church’s understanding of Jesus Christ is greater than it has ever been. There is a wide-spread consciousness of the human Christ and this has brought assurance of His interest in all aspects of human life, and we have come to a greater understanding of the Word made flesh.

While the sense of the greatness of Christ is bigger, the ability to bring people into loving, saving touch with Him sometimes seems less. Those at His disposal are many, but the Church seems to lack the energy to send them forth. Everywhere there is a sense of power and yet of paralysis. All about us are indifferent masses. We mourn the lack of conversions and are painfully conscious of the languishing missionary spirit.

The supreme need of the Church is the realization in fact and in daily life of her relationship to God by the Holy Spirit. The secret of power will be found in the interaction of life and prayer, and the realization that fellowship with God will never be more than a theory unless prayer becomes a practice. God has His intercessors everywhere. They are to be found often in unexpected places, in men and women who have learned the secret and who by regular communion with God are channels of blessing. While I thank God for the prayers being offered I feel that it is of the utmost importance that the whole Church should know the secret of prevailing prayer, not only as a theory, but in practice. The disciples did not say, ‘Lord, teach us how to pray’, they said, “Lord, teach us to pray”. A great many people know how to pray, but they do not pray. The request, ‘Teach us how to pray’, would refer simply to the theory. The petition “teach us to pray”, includes theory and practice.

It is interesting to notice the circumstances in which the disciples made this request. “One day Jesus was praying . . . When He finished, one of His disciples said to Him, ‘Lord, teach us to pray’ “. It is hardly possible to read these words without seeing the connection between their request and their observation that the Lord Jesus was pre-eminently a Man of prayer, and that they had often seen Him at prayer. It was clear to them how much prayer meant to Him, and it is as though they had said, ‘We would come into this secret’. It was a request arising from their conviction of the value of prayer in His life.

The answer of Jesus was far more comprehensive than at first sight may appear. Immediately He gave them a pattern and a parable. The pattern itself was not exhaustive. He then gave them a parable which taught by contrast the readiness of God to hear and answer. If by constant asking, is the argument, they could be persuaded to give, how much more would God give out of the love of His heart.

This pattern and parable is nothing more than the local, immediate and partial answer of Jesus to their request. Later He gave them much detailed teaching and yet not even this final teaching exhausted His great and gracious answer. He is Himself, in His revelation of the place and power of prayer in human life, the supreme answer to their request. Christ is the answer by the fact of His incarnation and perfect life, of atonement, resurrection and perpetual priesthood.

It is well for us to remember that we are in direct succession to these disciples, that their requests are our requests and His answers to them are His answers to us. It still remains true that His essential teaching was intended for us as well as for those who first heard it. When He stood surrounded by that first group of disciples He prayed, and in the course of His prayer He said, “My prayer is not for them only, I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message”. I always feel warmly near to the heart of Christ when I read these words, for I know that He saw me also, and included me in His priestly intercession. As there He prayed for us with them, so also in all His teaching He spoke to us as to them.

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THE EDITOR’S LETTER.

My Dear Friends,
We wish you a blessed New Year in the service of our Lord.
I have been challenged as I prepared this edition of the magazine, and I pray that as you read these articles you may realize the wonderful privilege we have of being co-workers with the Lord in His work of salvation and the blessing of others.

May the Lord draw us ever closer to Himself. Yours in His service,

Michael Metcalfe.

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