Prayer

The denomination that I am part of is not known for its prayer life.  It is known mostly for its emphases on the Bible and on evangelism and missions.  It's not bad to major on the Word and the work, but both of those activities tend to be ineffectual apart from prayer.  That last statement would receive hearty amens from all my fellow Baptists because they know what the Scriptures teach about the necessity of prayer.  However, knowing the theory well has not translated into following the practice well.  More than one pastor has found attendance at the church's mid-week meeting dwindling when he tried to eliminate the Bible study in favor of a true prayer meeting.

Why do so many of us find prayer so difficult?  And finding it difficult, do so little of it?

One reason of course is that the devil does all he can to keep us from praying.  He has nothing to fear from what we do in our own strength and cleverness.  He knows far too well the real damage to his realm that the King of kings can inflict.  He will use his bag of tricks to distract us, discourage us, and divide us so that either we won't pray or that our prayers will be disqualified (Matthew 5:23-24).

Another reason is that our "flesh" resists praying.  Our natural self is "anti-matter" to matters of the Spirit (Romans 8:7).  Prayer is decidedly un-natural.  One way of understanding Adam and Eve's eating of the fruit is that they were looking for a way that they could gain knowledge without having to depend on God.  We have inherited this drive for independence.  I wonder if God sees us as we often see babies crying, "I can do it myself!" and then making a mess of things.  Humbling ourselves to depending on God goes against our grain.  No wonder we find prayer difficult.

Finally, there is a practical reason for a tendency to prayerlessness.  Not seeing answers to prayer leads one to question its value.  We might think, "What good does it do to pray?  I tried praying and nothing happened."  Such a thought reveals faulty understanding of prayer.  If we see God as being like the genie in Aladdin's lamp, we are sure to be disappointed.  But now we have a real problem because the best way, perhaps the only way, to learn to pray is by praying.  What a "catch 22"!

We must become a praying people.  We are either praying or sinning (1 Samuel 12:23).  Pray today that Jesus would teach us to to pray (Luke 11:1).  Pray that the Spirit would help us to pray (Romans 8:26-27).  The Nike corporation might say, "Just do it" but the Father tells us, "Just pray!"  We cannot extend His glory to the nations without prayer.

Missions Roles: Praying

Years ago I read a story about a 19th century missionary to Africa named Hotchkiss.  He was to preach at a certain village but was delayed in his departure by ministry matters.  Walking to the appointment, he realized that he would not arrive at the agreed upon time if he took the usual route.  At one point in his journey, he saw that he could save a lot of time if he cut across the open grassland instead of following the tree line.  Abandoning the trees would expose him to attack by the grazing animals, but he decided to risk it.  Sure enough, in the middle of the meadow, a rhinoceros took exception to his presence and charged.  Hotchkiss had no way of escape.  He was totally exposed and could not outrun the rhino.  He collapsed to his knees, too scared to even pray.  He shut his eyes to brace himself for the impact which never came.  When he looked up, the animal was gone; only the hoofprints remained.  Rejoicing, he went on his way and kept his preaching appointment.  The episode made a great entry in his journal.

When Hotchkiss returned to the states for furlough, he often told the story during his rounds of deputation.  At one of the churches, a man approached him after the message and questioned him about when the near-attack had occurred.  He wanted the specific day and time.  The man distinctly remembered being awakened one night with an overwhelming sense that the missionary was in danger.  He had gotten out of bed and interceded for him fervently until a feeling of peace let him know that the danger had passed.  The man had noted the date and time in his prayer journal.  After consulting both journals and allowing for the difference in time zones, they realized that the man had been praying at the exact moment that Hotchkiss had been in danger.  Amazing.

Since I first read this story, I have heard and read others that conveyed the same idea although the situations differed.  I have come to realize that, in a way, intercessors have a spiritual presence on the mission field.  I myself have had experiences where I have preached in different places.  In one place the message would have greater impact than in the other.  Same messenger, same basic message, but often I would get a letter by which I could see that someone in the states was praying for me at the time I was preaching the more effective message.

I have been guilty of challenging people to do more than "just pray."  There is no such thing as "just" praying.  Without prayer we cannot do anything because without Him we can do nothing (John 15:5).  Ministry that does not grow out of prayer in the Lord's presence remains barren.  Labor in our own strength is drudgery, but how great is our rejoicing when we see Him work.  If a man works without praying, he gets what a man can do, but if his work grows out of prayer, he gets what God can do.  It is true that we must do more than pray, but we can do nothing until we have prayed.

Let's pray today that the Lord will teach us to pray and help us to pray as we should.