PERSEVERANCE IN PRAYER
"And straightway Jesus constrained his disciples to get into a ship, and go before him unto the other side, while he sent the multitudes away.
"And when he had sent the multitudes away, he went into a mountain apart to pray: and when the evening was come, he was there alone." (Matt. 14:22, 23.)
The incidents and historic facts clustering about this Scripture are marvelous. First, the great multitude crowding into the desert place with their sick, to hear the Christ tell the wonderful story of redemption. The multitude was unprepared, from the viewpoint of eatables. The people grew hungry, and must have something to eat. The disciples informed the Master that there was not a thing on the ground to eat, save five loaves and two fishes. Jesus looked upon the multitude with tender compassion, took the five loaves and two fishes, and blessed the same. The great multitude was fed, appetite appeased, and twelve baskets full of fragments left.
Jesus felt the necessity of prayer. He knew it was time for Him to get alone, to get away from His disciples, away from the multitude. He must make way for secret prayer. Hence, He constrained His disciples to get into the ship and go before Him unto the other side, while He sent the multitudes away. If He had not sent the disciples away, the multitudes would have stayed, for where the carcass is, there will the eagles gather. When the disciples were gone, and the multitudes were gone, He went up on the mountain alone in prayer.
We watch this lone figure as He climbs that mountain, drops of sweat running down His face; His cheeks were red, His bosom heaving, His breath short, but by the projecting rocks and shrubbery He pulls Himself on up that mountainside. He left the great multitudes, He tore Himself away from His disciples, He climbed the rugged mountain-side, and yonder, on top of that mountain, He was alone with His Father. He made way for prayer.
If we ever do anything worth while for Jesus, we must make way for much secret prayer, we must tear ourselves away from the duties of home and loved ones, and get alone with Jesus daily. Well do we remember when we entered college, a poor boy, with no money and no backing. The devil said to us, "You must pray little and work long and hard, for you are going on borrowed capital, interest will eat you up, and you can pray when you get through school." How cunning the devil was. We woke up to the fact in a few weeks that we were going to lose out unless we prayed more. To make way and time for prayer, we fasted every Wednesday morning and every Friday morning, The first Wednesday morning we had not been on our knees three minutes until the devil said, "You must be fair with your roommate; you clean out the bowl, fill the pitcher, empty the ashes, make up the beds and clean up the room, while he's at breakfast." Soon we were cleaning the bowl and carrying out the ashes, when we woke up to the fact that we might just as well have gone to breakfast, for we were not getting to pray any more by fasting, so we said, "Splitfoot, get behind us; we mean to stay on our knees one hour, no matter how the room looks, we are going to pray one hour, We are fasting this morning. We've made this time. We've set aside this hour for nothing else but prayer."
"And straightway Jesus constrained his disciples to get into a ship, and go before him unto the other side, while he sent the multitudes away.
"And when he had sent the multitudes away, he went into a mountain apart to pray: and when the evening was come, he was there alone." (Matt. 14:22, 23.)
The incidents and historic facts clustering about this Scripture are marvelous. First, the great multitude crowding into the desert place with their sick, to hear the Christ tell the wonderful story of redemption. The multitude was unprepared, from the viewpoint of eatables. The people grew hungry, and must have something to eat. The disciples informed the Master that there was not a thing on the ground to eat, save five loaves and two fishes. Jesus looked upon the multitude with tender compassion, took the five loaves and two fishes, and blessed the same. The great multitude was fed, appetite appeased, and twelve baskets full of fragments left.
Jesus felt the necessity of prayer. He knew it was time for Him to get alone, to get away from His disciples, away from the multitude. He must make way for secret prayer. Hence, He constrained His disciples to get into the ship and go before Him unto the other side, while He sent the multitudes away. If He had not sent the disciples away, the multitudes would have stayed, for where the carcass is, there will the eagles gather. When the disciples were gone, and the multitudes were gone, He went up on the mountain alone in prayer.
We watch this lone figure as He climbs that mountain, drops of sweat running down His face; His cheeks were red, His bosom heaving, His breath short, but by the projecting rocks and shrubbery He pulls Himself on up that mountainside. He left the great multitudes, He tore Himself away from His disciples, He climbed the rugged mountain-side, and yonder, on top of that mountain, He was alone with His Father. He made way for prayer.
If we ever do anything worth while for Jesus, we must make way for much secret prayer, we must tear ourselves away from the duties of home and loved ones, and get alone with Jesus daily. Well do we remember when we entered college, a poor boy, with no money and no backing. The devil said to us, "You must pray little and work long and hard, for you are going on borrowed capital, interest will eat you up, and you can pray when you get through school." How cunning the devil was. We woke up to the fact in a few weeks that we were going to lose out unless we prayed more. To make way and time for prayer, we fasted every Wednesday morning and every Friday morning, The first Wednesday morning we had not been on our knees three minutes until the devil said, "You must be fair with your roommate; you clean out the bowl, fill the pitcher, empty the ashes, make up the beds and clean up the room, while he's at breakfast." Soon we were cleaning the bowl and carrying out the ashes, when we woke up to the fact that we might just as well have gone to breakfast, for we were not getting to pray any more by fasting, so we said, "Splitfoot, get behind us; we mean to stay on our knees one hour, no matter how the room looks, we are going to pray one hour, We are fasting this morning. We've made this time. We've set aside this hour for nothing else but prayer."
The devil will send in visitors or neighbors, ring the doorbell, ring the telephone -- send around something to beat you out of your secret prayer.
The Master stayed upon the mountain until three o'clock in the morning, then went from the mountain-top to the storm-tossed vessel and frightened disciples, and saved them from a watery grave, and delivered Peter from the mad waves of that frightful typhoon.
The Pentecostal crowd went from that ten-days prayer-meeting out upon the streets of Jerusalem, preached a few moments, shouted and sang and testified, and three thousand ran to the mourner's-bench and were brightly saved that glad day. Mark you, they went from the ten-days prayer-meeting! Mordecai and Esther went from their knees, after three days and nights of fasting and prayer, and the Jewish race was saved. Nineveh was spared after the king and all the inhabitants of that great metropolis had gotten in ash-pans, covered themselves with sackcloth, and prayed clear through. The fire that God had stacked up to pour out upon that wicked city was locked up by way of answer to the earnest cries of that people. The clouds came out, and the great rain fell, earth was blessed, man and beast watered, after Elijah had placed his face between his knees, and prayed clear through.
If Jesus Christ, our Savior, the Son of God, saw and felt the need of whole nights of prayer, and took Himself away from a tremendous congregation and His loving disciples to make way for prayer, how much more do we finite creatures need to tarry, wait before God, in much earnest, protracted soul travail!
We too often fail to make way and take time to pray; we are in too big a hurry; we are always on the run; our hands are full, our heads crowded, our feet sore, by running hither and thither. We work, work, work. We organize this society and that society, plan this and start that. We go to Sunday services tired, come back Sunday night fagged. We are not growing much in grace. We are living at a poor dying rate. We get up in class-meeting too often, and say, "Brethren, I'm having a hard time. The roads are slippery, quite rough; the mountains are high, the clouds are dark. I'm not having a good time serving the Lord. Pray for me that I may hold out faithful." No wonder children do not want religion after hearing parents talk like this in the house of God. If we were to have time (and we must take time) to pray, if we had our secret devotions, prayed clear through on our knees, we would go forth delivering, scattering sunshine, and our lives would be very fruitful. The work in His cause would be delightful, enjoyable. The friction would be a thing of the past. The laboriousness would take wings, and we would work and be rested. How eagerly we would go to His house! How refreshed we would come home!
Prayer is the oil that lubricates the machinery, that causes all to run smoothly; no hot boxes, no breaking of belts, no slipping of cogs, no leaking of steam, no water to put out the fire. Prayer, prayer by the hour, daily prayer, a continuous spirit of prayer, much secret prayer, makes the Christian life a golden sunbeam, turns the birds loose in the soul, causes the flowers to bloom, the joy-bells to ring. It makes the worship of God easy.
One lady said to another, "Why is it you go to church joyful, and work anywhere there's an open door, come back home happy, and rejoice all week? Why is it you sit and read the Bible so much? Why is it your face has the shine?" The good woman said, "I have been praying daily for
seven years, not less than one hour a day. That is the answer to your question." A little boy once said, "My mamma's the best woman in the world." Someone said, "Why?" "Because she goes in her prayer-room with her Bible, and cries and talks to the man Jesus a long time every day." A young man came in one night from a dance. Hearing the sobs of his mother after midnight, the Holy Spirit said, "You are breaking that mother's heart." That mother slipped to his room, slipped her arms around the boy, hot tears falling into his face. She said, "My precious son, mother's been praying hours tonight for you. I'm afraid the devil is leading you Hellward in a hurry." The young man placed his arms about his mother and said, "Mother, your prayers are answered; I'll never go to another dance." God heard the mid--night cries of this broken-hearted mother. It pays to pray. It pays to live upon one's face. Prayers change the tide, and cause things to go Cod's way.
From the human viewpoint, it looked like Daniel would be eaten up by the lions, but he had spent much time in prayer; hence, God delivered. It looked like Elijah would starve to death out there under the juniper-tree, but he had spent much time on Mount Carmel in prayer, and the fire had fallen, backslidden Israel had been reclaimed, and Baal's false prophets killed; hence, God's angel woke Elijah up under the juniper-tree, and said, "Here is food; eat." Elijah ate heartily, pillowed his head upon his arm, slept and rested, woke up and ate another good meal, and went forty days in the strength thereof. Cornelius prayed much. He was hungry for holiness of heart. He had cried through to God. He had begged God to send one Holiness preacher his way. Here came the sanctified evangelist, Peter; a great revival broke out, and Cornelius and his household swept into the fountain.
Prayer, midnight prayer, a constant spirit of prayer, will unlock Heaven's gates and flood the soul with satisfaction. John prayed on the Isle of Patmos, and behold, the telescope of prophecy was swung in place, and John had a peep into Heaven that he could never have had but for the Patmos experience.
The most enjoyable experience a Christian ever can have is to be alone with God in prayer. There is where His will is revealed concerning you and your work. There is where plans are launched for your good and His glory. God knows best for us and what we are qualified best for, what line of work we will be most successful in, but we cannot get into it save through the prayer life. Prayer makes work easy. Prayer gives us freedom, freedom with God and freedom before man. It unlocks our mouths, frees our opinions, and gives us an atmosphere of wholesomeness. Jesus spent many nights in prayer, and just after these nights in prayer He did some tremendous work. When He came from the Mount of Transfiguration, He delivered the man s son from the devil, when the disciples had failed. When Jesus came from the mountain to the storm-tossed waters He delivered Peter from the mad waters which would have swallowed him up. The great work God is accomplishing through His agents for the salvation of a lost world is wrought through men and women of much protracted prayer.
A man on a steamer once asked a great preacher why he had such tremendous success. The young preacher, with a heart filled with perfect love, said, "Sir, God keeps me on my face." The sexton heard a great preacher in his study one Sabbath morning, begging very earnestly for someone to go with him into the church. The sexton went back the second time, and the pastor was still pleading. Soon the preacher walked out into the pulpit; his face was all aglow, the power of the Most High was resting upon him. He preached, and twenty souls rushed to the altar and were
From the human viewpoint, it looked like Daniel would be eaten up by the lions, but he had spent much time in prayer; hence, God delivered. It looked like Elijah would starve to death out there under the juniper-tree, but he had spent much time on Mount Carmel in prayer, and the fire had fallen, backslidden Israel had been reclaimed, and Baal's false prophets killed; hence, God's angel woke Elijah up under the juniper-tree, and said, "Here is food; eat." Elijah ate heartily, pillowed his head upon his arm, slept and rested, woke up and ate another good meal, and went forty days in the strength thereof. Cornelius prayed much. He was hungry for holiness of heart. He had cried through to God. He had begged God to send one Holiness preacher his way. Here came the sanctified evangelist, Peter; a great revival broke out, and Cornelius and his household swept into the fountain.
Prayer, midnight prayer, a constant spirit of prayer, will unlock Heaven's gates and flood the soul with satisfaction. John prayed on the Isle of Patmos, and behold, the telescope of prophecy was swung in place, and John had a peep into Heaven that he could never have had but for the Patmos experience.
The most enjoyable experience a Christian ever can have is to be alone with God in prayer. There is where His will is revealed concerning you and your work. There is where plans are launched for your good and His glory. God knows best for us and what we are qualified best for, what line of work we will be most successful in, but we cannot get into it save through the prayer life. Prayer makes work easy. Prayer gives us freedom, freedom with God and freedom before man. It unlocks our mouths, frees our opinions, and gives us an atmosphere of wholesomeness. Jesus spent many nights in prayer, and just after these nights in prayer He did some tremendous work. When He came from the Mount of Transfiguration, He delivered the man s son from the devil, when the disciples had failed. When Jesus came from the mountain to the storm-tossed waters He delivered Peter from the mad waters which would have swallowed him up. The great work God is accomplishing through His agents for the salvation of a lost world is wrought through men and women of much protracted prayer.
A man on a steamer once asked a great preacher why he had such tremendous success. The young preacher, with a heart filled with perfect love, said, "Sir, God keeps me on my face." The sexton heard a great preacher in his study one Sabbath morning, begging very earnestly for someone to go with him into the church. The sexton went back the second time, and the pastor was still pleading. Soon the preacher walked out into the pulpit; his face was all aglow, the power of the Most High was resting upon him. He preached, and twenty souls rushed to the altar and were
converted that morning. That preacher came from his knees to the pulpit. Someone asked a preacher after he had preached a great sermon, and over a hundred were at the altar, why the success? A friend said, "That preacher prayed all night. He never retired."
Now, if we know, and see, and feel the great importance of prayer, has not God turned in light, and can we retain our relationship to God as a son or daughter, and fail to walk in this light, fail to pray, fail to have regular times to go to Him in secret prayer? Have you ever blocked the way of a sweeping revival in your community or church by a prayerless life? Have you ever defeated God in saving some of your loved ones by neglecting prayer? Have you wondered why the fire hasn't fallen, awful conviction seized the sinners, and men crowded the altar? Have you ever taken the almanac and counted how long it had been since you had a good, sweet, real enjoyable season of prayer? Why don't you enjoy religion today as you once did? Why aren't you as happy today as you were the day you were converted? Doesn't one grow in grace? What is the matter? Oh, yes, you've let up in your prayer life. You are too busy to pray. You can't take the time away from other pressing duties and give it to this all-important duty, prayer. No wonder our hearts are empty and our spirits weak, and we grow faint and get scared at the first crack of the gun. No wonder we are midgets, no wonder we pant for breath. Why, the soul is fed through prayer, and it gets more strength through prayer than from any other exercise in a religious life. When we fail to pray, we starve the soul. When we fail to pray, we lessen our possibilities, give the devil the vantage ground, and place God at a disadvantage. When we fail to pray, we water our fire, break our belts, and give Satan the leverage. Let us wake up now, and betake ourselves to more earnest prayer. One has said, "I cannot remember that I ever prayed a soul through to God. I do not remember that I ever prayed a revival into my community. I do not remember that I ever had the conscious fact that I had prayed clear through. In fact, I am a little confused about my experience. I'm not quite certain; I hope I am right, but there's a doubt."
Doubts come in when we let up in prayer. Fears stalk about in the soul when the briars grow up in our prayer-meeting path. If we would have grit, grace, and backbone, we must pray. If we would be fat and healthy, we must pray. If we would have the rich experience and' do things worth while for God and lost humanity, like other saints, we must pray. Let us never let up nor let go until we know really that we have placed the key of prayer in the lock of Heaven, and turned it, and the great door has opened, and the rivers of pleasures are flowing into our heart.
Now, if we know, and see, and feel the great importance of prayer, has not God turned in light, and can we retain our relationship to God as a son or daughter, and fail to walk in this light, fail to pray, fail to have regular times to go to Him in secret prayer? Have you ever blocked the way of a sweeping revival in your community or church by a prayerless life? Have you ever defeated God in saving some of your loved ones by neglecting prayer? Have you wondered why the fire hasn't fallen, awful conviction seized the sinners, and men crowded the altar? Have you ever taken the almanac and counted how long it had been since you had a good, sweet, real enjoyable season of prayer? Why don't you enjoy religion today as you once did? Why aren't you as happy today as you were the day you were converted? Doesn't one grow in grace? What is the matter? Oh, yes, you've let up in your prayer life. You are too busy to pray. You can't take the time away from other pressing duties and give it to this all-important duty, prayer. No wonder our hearts are empty and our spirits weak, and we grow faint and get scared at the first crack of the gun. No wonder we are midgets, no wonder we pant for breath. Why, the soul is fed through prayer, and it gets more strength through prayer than from any other exercise in a religious life. When we fail to pray, we starve the soul. When we fail to pray, we lessen our possibilities, give the devil the vantage ground, and place God at a disadvantage. When we fail to pray, we water our fire, break our belts, and give Satan the leverage. Let us wake up now, and betake ourselves to more earnest prayer. One has said, "I cannot remember that I ever prayed a soul through to God. I do not remember that I ever prayed a revival into my community. I do not remember that I ever had the conscious fact that I had prayed clear through. In fact, I am a little confused about my experience. I'm not quite certain; I hope I am right, but there's a doubt."
Doubts come in when we let up in prayer. Fears stalk about in the soul when the briars grow up in our prayer-meeting path. If we would have grit, grace, and backbone, we must pray. If we would be fat and healthy, we must pray. If we would have the rich experience and' do things worth while for God and lost humanity, like other saints, we must pray. Let us never let up nor let go until we know really that we have placed the key of prayer in the lock of Heaven, and turned it, and the great door has opened, and the rivers of pleasures are flowing into our heart.
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