"You do not have, because you do not ask God" (James 4:2). "Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened" (Matthew 7:7-8). "The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective" (James 5:16).
"Prayer does not make any difference," was the atheistic professor's thesis
at the University of California at Berkeley. He would prove it scientifically.
The study would focus on people who had suffered a heart attack. After a person
received emergency care at San Francisco area hospitals, doctors would ask: "Is
anyone praying for you?"
After more than 2,000 interviews, more than 80 percent of the people who said
that someone was praying for them recovered more quickly than those who said no
one was praying for them. The professor was upset and reworded the question.
Again, more than 80 percent of the people who said people were praying for them
recovered more quickly than those who said no one was praying for them.
On a TV talk show, the professor said he did not believe in prayer until this
study, and he defined prayer as sending out good, kind, loving "vibes" into the
air. If the whole world would contemplate and think "peace," he said, we would
have peace.
"But how do you explain that more than 80 percent of the people who say that
someone was praying for them got better quicker than those who said no one was
praying for them?" the show's host asked.
"I don't know," replied the professor. "All I know is, if I ever have a heart
attack, I would want all the people out there to pray for me!"
When you see the value of prayer, you will pray as you ought.
Based on God's grace and mercy, prayer is God's invitation to ask for help.
"Call to me," the Lord says, "and I will answer you and tell you great and
unsearchable things you do not know" (Jeremiah 33:3). Note the command to call,
to ask. Go to the sovereign of the universe, the source of everything, and talk
to Him. He promises to answer.
You know that God answers prayer, but many Christians don't live like it. Their
lives are full of worry, fret, and hostility. They seem content to live by their
puny power.
God alone understands your helplessness and stupidity. But His destiny for you
is beyond anything you understand. "For I know the plans I have for you, plans
to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Then
you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you"
(Jeremiah 29:11-12).
The apostle James talks about prayer in his epistle. He says that prayer
honors God because trust, faith, and action are born out of the relationship of
dependence. Early church tradition claims that James was called "camel knees"
because of the calluses on his knees from praying so much. James gives us three
reasons we should pray:
First, prayer arises from trouble and problems and builds a relationship with
God. "Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds,
because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance.
Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not
lacking anything" (James 1:2-4). "Is any one of you in trouble? He should pray"
(James 5:13).
Instead of seeking to avoid difficult situations, James says we should
welcome testing for the positive results it can bring. The Phillips translation
says that when problems and trials come "don't resent them as intruders, but
welcome them as friends." Why? They can make you stronger and purer, producing
perseverance and character.
Have you watched an athlete in training? A sprinter adds weights to his legs; a
weight lifter keeps adding more weights. The added weights increase strength and
endurance. Similarly, the difficulties, hardships, and struggles of sorrows,
trouble, disappointments, misfortune, and suffering can enable us to become
stronger Christians.
Through more training, your character will be more mature and complete. It will
be perfected by your experiences, made more into the image of Christ. You will
not be lacking anything, having "everything [you] need for life and godliness"
(2 Peter 1:3). God is in control and you get to see Him work in your behalf.
This "pure joy" is not for the trials but for the confident realization that
God's plans for you are good. God will put you into circumstances beyond your
control so He can "answer you, and show you great and mighty things, which you
do not know" (Jeremiah 33:3 NKJV).
God is in control of this world and He wants you to trust Him when things get
rough. In prayer you come to God not only with your big problems, but about
everything. Many people will not come to God until they are at their wit's end.
Paul says, "In everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present
your requests to God" (Philippians 4:6). Will you trust God with your problems?
With all the situations of your life? With your finances? With your tithe? With
troubled people? With the car that won't start in the morning? With the flat
tire on the way home?
At the last supper, Jesus said to His disciples, "In this world you will have
trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world" (John 16:33). Oswald
Chambers in Biblical Ethics says: "The essential meaning of prayer is that it
nourishes the life of the Son of God in me and enables Him to manifest Himself
in my mortal flesh." You are closest to God in times of trouble, for this is
when deep relationships are built. Your love and faith are perfected. You have
learned to "Cast your cares on the LORD and he will sustain you" (Psalm 55:22).
The heart of prayer is to know God. Prayer is the only way to communion with
God. His passion and values can come no other way.
I once struggled with guilt over my prayerlessness. I knew that I needed to
pray, but it was hard to find time. I'd rush in to church Sunday morning, pray a
quick prayer and ask forgiveness, and promise to pray more. Next Sunday the same
thing. But there came a time when I had a fresh encounter with Jesus. At about
the same time I attended the "Change the World School of Prayer." A new power
and freedom came into my ministry, and a new desire to pray.
After six months, I began to settle back into the old rut. The desire and
enthusiasm were gone. I read books, preached on prayer, and attended the prayer
seminar again. Nothing happened. Then I sought Jesus and everything changed. I
had sought prayer and duty and missed Jesus. It was then that I realized that
God does not give us impersonal things like prayer, power, victory, or service.
He gives us a relationship with Jesus. Instead of seeking a prayer life, seek
Jesus. The prayer life comes out of the relationship.
Second, prayer refines my motives and builds my character. "You do not have,
because you do not ask God. When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask
with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures" (James
4:2-3).
The first law of prayer is, "Ask God." God will answer prayer. He answered
prayer for Daniel when he prayed for the nation to be freed from Babylonian
captivity. He answered Samuel when he prayed for Saul and victory over the
enemy. Paul would reach the nations, but he had to ask. Even Jesus had to ask in
prayer. Psalm 2:8 refers to Christ: "Ask of me, and I will make the nations your
inheritance, the ends of the earth your possession." If God did not relax the
law of prayer for the prophets, apostles, and Jesus, you too must ask in prayer.
When Jesus taught His disciples to pray, He said, "Your Father knows what you
need before you ask him. This, then, is how you should pray..." (Matthew 6:8-9).
But if God knows our needs already, why pray? For love's sake you need to
express your need and dependence upon God. This is the heart of prayer, intimacy
with God. Like a trusting child who asks for bread and knows he will not get a
stone, the Christian comes to God knowing his needs will be provided for.
James says that for your prayers to get through, your desires must be submitted
to God. William Barclay comments: "James is stating before his people a basic
question-Whether it is your aim in life to submit to the will of God, or to
gratify your own desires for the pleasures of this world? And his warning is
that, if pleasure is the policy of life, then nothing but strife and hatred and
division can possibly follow.... The ultimate choice in life lies between
pleasing oneself and pleasing God."
Frustrated desires, the pull of the world, and the deceit of Satan will damage
your character. Things can not satisfy. We learn that as children when the thing
we desire-a new bicycle or a doll-can't make us happy. What we wanted is not
what we really needed. True contentment comes out of a deep relationship with
God. War and fighting come from the desire for money, glory, or pleasure. These
cravings cause people to "kill and covet," says James. In the church this comes
out as verbal abuse, jealousy, and self-seeking.
But prayer will refine your motives, imparting to you the love and compassion
God has for broken and hurting people. Come to God just as you are-messed up,
with mixed motives, with love on one side and resentments on the other; giving
versus selfishness and faith versus unbelief. You came to God because of His
love, mercy, and grace for you. Time and struggles will refine you, teaching you
that you will never truly get your act together. Paul said in Philippians 3:12,
"Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect,
but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me." You
may never have pure enough motives, or be good enough, or know enough to pray
rightly. Yet, God receives and accepts you just as you are.
A few years ago my three-year-old granddaughter made me a birthday card. It
wasn't a Hallmark. The picture was fuzzy; the writing was scribbled. But it came
from Emily's heart and it touched me. I loved it and cherished it.
In the same way a child of God cannot offer a bad prayer when it comes from your
heart. Start with your needs and wants. Share your concerns and make your
petitions: The problems at work or with that neighbor. Ask for food, clothing,
protection, healing, justice, a change in weather. Then ask for a loved one or
friend to become a Christian, that God would bring people and circumstances into
their lives.
Prayer reveals the true condition of your heart. This is as it should be. And
this is when God begins to work with you, cleansing your motives and building
your character. But "self-centered prayer" is the essential starting place. C.
S. Lewis counsels, "Lay before God what is in you, not what ought to be in you."
Be real with God. Share your needs, wants, concerns, your-self! Over time, the
relationship will bring you into true prayer. When God becomes "real" to you,
people and things become shadows. In a true relationship, a lover's focus is not
centered on himself but on his beloved.
The world looks at prayer as a means of getting things for ourselves and
advancing ourselves. But the scriptural objective of prayer is to develop the
life of God in you, His will, His love, His holiness, and His redemption. The
foundation of prayer is not human earnestness, need, or will power, but a cross.
It cost God the agony of redemption to enable us to pray. We have bold-ness to
enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus. This is why Jesus said to pray in
His "name"-in His nature.
When prayer is neglected, spiritual decline follows. Prayer is the means by
which God's grace, mercy, and power are brought to bear on your tribulations,
difficulties, and evils of life. Jesus put the greatest importance on prayer.
"Most assuredly, I say to you," He said to His disciples, "he who believes in
Me, the works that I do he will do also; and greater works than these he will
do, because I go to My Father. And whatever you ask in My name, that I will do,
that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask anything in My name, I
will do it" (John 14:12-14 NKJV).
Prayer is a discipline that is voluntarily entered into, not for your sake
alone, but for God's as well. This disciplined commitment comes from a passion
for His presence, a persistent desire to do His will, and total obedience to God
and His word. If prayer is not easy, we become sidetracked. If it is an effort,
we are tempted to abandon it altogether. Discipline will accomplish in you what
laziness would destroy. No amount of praying for hours or days at a time will
make up for your lack of praying daily.
To strengthen your prayer life, you must have a time and place set aside for
communion with God and study of His word. This is a time to humble yourself
before Him in thanksgiving and praise. Delight yourself in worship until there
is joy in His presence.
There are a few practical things I have learned over the years that have
helped me in my prayer life. If your mind wanders, it helps your concentration
to pray aloud. If you are sleepy, walk and pray. If things to do come to mind,
write them down so you can do them later. Keep a prayer journal, recording your
prayer requests and God's answers to prayer. Over the years, this will be a
tremendous faith-building exercise. Ask the Lord what He has to say to you. Wait
and let Him talk. Let the Lord bring people and needs to your mind and let Him
guide your prayers. Pray for the worldwide church, particularly in places where
it is persecuted. But the thing to do is to start and be faithful. You learn to
pray by praying.
Third, prayer makes you righteous and has powerful results in your world.
"The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective. Elijah was a man just
like us. He prayed earnestly that it would not rain, and it did not rain on the
land for three and a half years. Again he prayed, and the heavens gave rain, and
the earth produced its crops" (James 5:16-18).
A righteous person is in right relationship with God and wants what God
wants. This righteousness is by faith. In prayer you assimilate the nature and
righteousness of God by absorbing more and more of His mind. Thus, the real
battle of prayer is in lack of intimacy with God's character as revealed in the
Bible. Disciplined seeking is the cure. Jesus said, "Ask and it will be given to
you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For
everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door
will be opened" (Matthew 7:7-8).
Real prayer then is a relationship. Jesus' prayer life was one of communion
with God, not a duty or ritual. Prayer, like love, grows in a relationship with
God. God's overwhelming love invites our response. Real prayer and communion
with God come from the relationship of knowing Him and falling in love with Him.
Outside of the relationship, you will tend to make prayer a duty, a service to
be rendered.
The results of prayer are much greater than you ever dreamed were possible!
"Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or
think, according to the power that works in us, to Him be glory in the church by
Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen" (Ephesians 3:20-21 NKJV).
I once made a sign for my prayer closet: "Whose life shall I change, and what
circumstances shall I influence today with my prayers!" James says you have not
because you don't pray. God answers prayer.
Though a weak human being, Elijah honored and sought God. During his life,
Israel had evil, idolatrous rulers, Ahab and Jezebel. God sent a drought to
punish the nation. For three and a half years, it did not rain. Then, when
Elijah prayed, it rained! Baal's altars were destroyed, Ahab and Jezebel were
defeated and overthrown, and the nation turned back to God.
Prayer is the key to the kingdom of God and the spiritual dimension. Remember
that we are in spiritual warfare, as Paul re-minds us in Ephesians 6. Prayer is
the source of power and authority in the life of the believer.
According to Paul Billheimer in Destined for the Throne, our prayer life
determines our place of rulership in God's kingdom. Jesus' victory on the cross
won the legal right and authority over all that was lost in the fall. Satan is
defeated. But God has given the enforcing of this victory over Satan to His
church, to you and me. Satan will not give up any of his rights or authority
until the church enforces Jesus' victory.
To illustrate: Suppose a policeman, with authority to enforce the law, sees a
car speeding recklessly down your street, en-dangering the lives of others. But
the cop is in a good mood that afternoon and does not try to stop the driver.
What's wrong? The policeman has the authority and can even call for help, but he
has chosen not to use his authority. That is what most Christians are doing. We
are sitting by the side of the road, enjoying the afternoon, and not using our
authority. We should be going against the "gates of hell" and setting the
captives free.
The prayer of the weakest Christian who walks in the Spirit is a terror to
the devil and his demons. The powers of darkness are terrified by your prayers.
No wonder the devil does all he can to keep you from prayer. "The one concern of
the devil," says Samuel Chadwick, "is to keep Christians from praying. He fears
nothing from prayerless studies, prayerless work and prayer-less religion. He
laughs at our toil, mocks at our wisdom, but trembles when we pray."
Just as a fountain cannot rise higher than its source, you cannot rise above
your prayer life. Prayer is the source that gives you your ability, strength,
and power. This is also true of the church. No church will be greater than its
corporate prayer life. And no prayer life will rise above your praise and
worship life. Praise enthrones the Lord over all your problems and paves the way
for His deliverance. Thus, prayer is the main business of the kingdom and is the
way God runs His kingdom. "His kingdom rules over all." Consequently, prayer is
spiritual warfare because this is where the battle is won.
Nowhere in the Bible is prayer a gift requiring no effort. It is a calling-to
be priests unto God; an invitation to rulership in the kingdom of God. This goes
with James 4:7, "Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will
flee from you." The devil is lawless, wicked, and does not play fair. Jesus said
the devil is a liar and out to kill and destroy you (John 10:10). He will try to
get the cares of the world, the deceitfulness of riches, and the lust of things
to enter in, robbing you of your fellow-ship and faith. He knows that your
prayers make a difference.
Prayer releases God's Spirit into action. That's why James 4:2 says, "You do
not have, because you do not ask God." E. M. Bounds said, "God shapes the world
by prayer. The prayers of God's saints are the capital stock of heaven by which
God carries on His great work upon earth."
God has redeemed you, made you His child and a co-heir with Christ. You are
to be seated with Christ on the throne of the universe as His bride and
companion. "To him who overcomes, I will give the right to sit with me on my
throne" (Revelation 3:21). "God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him
in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, in order that in the coming ages he
might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us
in Christ Jesus" (Ephesians 2:6-7).
Prayer is the call of God into fellowship and relationship. Because God loves
you, He enjoys you and wants to be with you. As His child, you are made in His
image and He loves you. He wants you to be aware of His presence. He has given
you His word, "I will never leave you or forsake you."
A pastor took his wife and two-year-old son to the market. The child was
fussing, and the father tried everything he could think of to quiet his son.
Finally, holding his son close to his chest, he began to sing an impromptu love
song to the boy. "I'm so glad you're my boy, you make me happy.... I like the
way you laugh." The song did not rhyme and was off key, but the little boy
calmed down. Back in the car on the way home, he said, "Sing again to me, Daddy!
Sing again to me!"
Prayer is like that! God is taking us into His arms, holding us close and singing His love song over us. Prayer transforms us, because it is a conversion of the heart.