The Necessity of Prayer by H. C. CHILSON

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Takoma Park Station, Washington, D. C. · Nov 1, 1906

The Necessity of Prayer

By H. C. CHILSON

H. C. CHILSON

WHAT a blessed and beautiful example the dear Lord left us in the matter of prayer! How often he used to go into the woods, to a mountain, or to some lone and quiet retreat to commune with the Father! What a beautiful prayer is recorded in the seventeenth chapter of John!

The Lord was beset by the snares of Satan. He was tempted in all points as we are, but he gained strength for the conflict and overcame through prayer.

If Jesus our Saviour needed to pray, how much more do we, his children, need to pray! We should talk with the Lord daily, to ask his guidance.

Daniel was a man of prayer. We read that “when Daniel knew that the writing [forbidding any one to pray to the true God] was signed, he went into his house; and his windows being open in his chamber toward Jerusalem, he kneeled upon his knees three times a day, and prayed, and gave thanks before his God, as he did aforetime.”

Previously to this, Darius the king of Babylon had set one hundred and twenty princes over the different provinces which composed his kingdom, and over these princes were placed three presidents, “of whom Daniel was first. . . . Then this Daniel was preferred above the presidents and princes, because an excellent spirit was in him; and the king thought to set him over the whole realm.”

One thing, no doubt, which made Daniel the superior of his associates was his living connection with the Lord, as evidenced by the fact that he prayed and gave thanks before God three times a day.

Through jealousy the princes wrote a decree, and obtained the king’s signature by strategy. This decree prohibited any person’s asking a petition of any god or man, save the king, for thirty days. The decree further stated that any one who disobeyed it would be cast into the den of lions. Notwithstanding all this, Daniel was faithful to his God, and prayed “as aforetime.”

How often families separate in the morning, to go to their places of labor, with no thought of prayer to God for his protection, blessing, and guidance. The Lord is not asked to go with them as a guide and companion during the day. God is not in their thoughts. His goodness, his work, and his power are not familiar themes nor subjects of conversation.

David, the sweet singer of Israel, praised the Lord not only by singing, but also by prayer, for he says, “Evening, and morning, and at noon, will I pray, and cry aloud: and he shall hear my voice.” Ps. 55: 17.

David and Daniel prayed three times a day, but we are not restricted to this number. In Luke 18: 1 we read that Christ “spake a parable unto them to this end, that men ought always to pray, and not to faint.”

In this age of the world, when conditions around us often look so dark, we especially need to pray. Without the help of the Holy Spirit, which can be obtained only by prayer and by diligent study of the Word of God, we shall certainly fall into the snares which Satan is laying for our feet.

Satan and his angels are busy trying to deceive us into thinking that prayer is not so important. Because of this we need all the more to pray. We stand in need of the help of the Lord continually, lest we fall into temptation and go astray.

“Pray without ceasing. In everything give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.” Such are the admonitions given us by the apostle Paul.

Older persons should be as earnest and sincere in their petitions to the Lord as children are when they make requests of their parents; for the Lord has said, “Whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive.”

When we ask a favor of the Lord, do we look forward to its being granted as a child does when expecting some gift of its parents? The following scriptures are worthy of study in this connection: 1 Tim. 2: 8; 1 Peter 4: 7; James 4: 2.

Takoma Park, D. C.