God, Prayer, Man, Missions
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God, Prayer, Man, Missions
By T. E. BOWEN
God says, “My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways.” “For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.” Isa. 55:8, 9. Here comparison is made between God’s ways and thoughts and our ways and thoughts, if in very fact such comparison is possible. In attempting it, God leads us at once to the impossible, for who can tell how far heaven is above the earth, or in what direction to point for it? This being true, then how can we tell how much higher God’s thoughts are than ours, or in what directions his ways differ from ours? Wisdom would point out that whatever the endeavor to advance God’s own work in the earth, only that can succeed which is his way, that only can prosper which is inspired by his thought. How plain it is, then, that the man or woman who is the most successful in eliminating his way, his thought, her way, her thought, will be the individual through whom God can display the more perfectly his way and his thought; this means success, because only God’s ways and thoughts can endure in the final test, for we are told228that every plant which our Heavenly Father hath not planted shall be rooted up. We get God’s thoughts and touch upon his ways as we search his Word and pray. It is through prayer that we lose our ways, and our thoughts become divested of self. God and prayer, then, have a wonderful part in our missionward efforts. Without these elements man and missions could accomplish little. Money and effort man-raised, man-directed, can accomplish little, however much to us it may seem to be, unless God and prayer—God’s thoughts, God’s ways—have been the molding factors in it all, the groundwork, the structure, the arch-stone, that binds together the whole. The year 1912 was one of remarkable growth. More money was raised for missions by Seventh-day Adventists than in any preceding year, a total of $653,458.28. Here in the home field our efforts came within $12,300 of reaching our goal of an average of fifteen cents a member each week to missions. This is good, and represents much earnest labor. It is possible God will enable his people to do even more this year. But let us not rest in congratulating ourselves on the raising of this splendid sum. This of itself means little only as the Lord’s blessing is upon it all, as he takes these few loaves and fishes at our hands and blesses and breaks and multiplies as he feeds the multitudes. His ways, his thoughts, yea, his altar, must sanctify the gifts. Shall we not endeavor to mingle still more of the prayer element into our efforts this coming year? Speaking on the subject given at the beginning of this article, Henry W. Frost, home director of the China Inland Mission, presents in the Missionary Review of the World for February some thoughts worthy of study. He says:— “1. God makes little of what we make much. When you and I learn this lesson, we shall have made a long stride in the spiritual life and a far advance in this matter of missions. If you let your thoughts go back upon these passages, you will be surprised by the silence of God and his followers concerning the great things of which we hear very much indeed. In that ninth chapter [of Matthew], we may say Jesus Christ is announcing that he is about to start a great campaign in behalf of the evangelization of the world. He sees the great multitude, and there comes to him a picture of the vaster multitude beyond, throughout all the world; and then his heart goes out in compassion toward them, and this compassion leads him to say that great effort was needed, and the thing was not to be accomplished by himself nor by that little handful of men about his person. The task was to be fulfilled by a great number of men and women to the very end of time. “Notice the silence of Christ. If we had spoken before the Master had spoken, I think we should have said, ‘Lord, if thou art going to undertake the evangelization of the world, we shall need a very strong central committee. We may call it anything, but let us have it strong.’ . . . And we should have wanted sub-committees all over the world. Then we should have wanted a million-dollar campaign. “But the Lord said absolutely nothing of the kind. Don’t let me be misunderstood. I believe in organization. I believe money is a great power, provided it is in God’s hands and provided it is God-given. When Jesus Christ comes to the thought of that great campaign which was to be world-wide, he said just one thing, ‘Prayer.’ Until we begin to learn a lesson of getting a changed viewpoint, of coming to that for which he stands,—spiritual life and spiritual power,—our services will be vanity itself. “2. God makes much of what we make little. The very things that we are talking about lead us to pass over the things that he is talking about. Our temptation is to deal with things that are seen and can be handled. There are things that appeal to us, but God leaves them all out of account. He comes to the invisible, spiritual power that deals with spiritual forces. We want to know how big a thing is, how effective it is going to be from a standpoint of numbers, what it has done. Our thoughts are always upon these outer things. God’s thought is not there. “God is making much of what we are tempted sorely to make little. God would have us make much of compassion. It was as Jesus saw these multitudes that his heart was moved with compassion and he said to pray. What the church of Jesus Christ at large needs is compassion, not simply for minds and bodies, but for spirits. I notice they have fasting in that passage. Fasting is an old thing nowadays, but I assure you more things come out of fasting than this world knows of. . . . Prayer is the thing that Jesus is bringing to our minds as the requisite thing, such prayer that it displaces other things in their right place and time. “3. God does little for those who make much of what he considers little. You make much of a thing of which God makes little, and God’s wise thought is in another direction, and he will do little for you. If there were time to-day, we should go back into church and missionary history and prove it over and over again. How many Christians in the world? You say about twenty millions. Do you mean to say that if these twenty millions were doing what God wants them to do, this world would be what it is? What is the meaning of it all? It is simply this, that we have made much of what God has made little, and God doesn’t help those that make much of what he makes little. “4. God does much for those who make much of what he makes much. O, the harmonies at last when we get our thoughts Godward and Christward, and understand the great and eternal lesson that he has taught his people concerning service! Who will be little enough that God may be all in all? Who will be done with secular methods, and take the method of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ? You may be obscure, but the day you fit your unworthy life into the great plan of God, you will see things accomplished. The promise of God is yea and amen in Christ Jesus. Christ Jesus sits on his throne to bring to pass the things that he has promised in his Word.” Of all people in the world who ought to enter the most fully into God’s divine purpose, should not those people who stand out apart and alone from all the people in the world as the “little flock,” that remnant of commandment-keepers? This is certainly true. Then how it behooves us to pray for the heavenly anointing, so that truly we shall as never before enter into God’s ways, God’s thoughts and purposes, in all our activities in both home and foreign fields to extend the third angel’s message. Christ’s word to all is, “Pray ye.” And when this is done, the gratifying results we all love so much to see, the advance into new fields, and our mission funds increase, shall not be lacking. Acts 2: 42, 46, 47.