The Perils of Prayer

Seventh-day Adventist Missionary Society · Oakland, California · Jan 17, 1884

The Perils of Prayer.

A GREAT deal is said of the privilege and the advantages of prayer, while very little is said of the responsibility and the perils of prayer. Yet every privilege is sure to impose a corresponding responsibility; and every responsibility has its accompanying perils. He who would exercise the privilege of prayer, should know that that privilege, like every other, brings perils with its responsibility.

Christian believers are accustomed to quote with hearty satisfaction the Bible injunctions and encouragements to prayer, and to comfort themselves with the Bible record of delightful answers to prayer. "Call unto me and I will answer thee;" "All things whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer believing, ye shall receive;" "Continue in prayer;" "Pray without ceasing;" "Come boldly unto the throne of grace;" "The prayer of faith shall save the sick;" such texts as these are often in the mouths of those who love the word of God; and the wonderful answers to prayer vouchsafed to Abraham, and to Moses, and to Elijah, and to Elisha, and to Daniel, and to Cornelius, and to Paul, are taken to heart by them as they turn to God in prayer. But believers are not so ready to note and heed the various warnings on the subject of prayer. "Be not rash with thy mouth, and let not thine heart be hasty to utter anything before God; for God is in heaven and thou upon earth, therefore let thy words be few;" "We know not what to pray for as we ought;" "Ye ask and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts;"—to these texts, they ascribe less importance in considering the duties which grow out of the privilege of prayer. Nor are they quick to appreciate the lesson of the inspired declaration concerning the praying Israelites who asked amiss, that they might consume it upon their lusts: "God . . . gave them their request; but sent leanness into their soul." Yet it is quite as important to recognize the perils of lustful and unholy prayers, as it is to realize the true privilege of right-minded and reverently trustful prayers.

In all the causes of gratitude which flood our souls when we look back over the way in which God has led us, up to the present day, hardly anything stands out more prominently than God's love in refusing to grant to us many of the prayers which we offered to him. And just so long as God's wisdom is superior to our wisdom, there is need of our relying on his love to deny us our petitions, when to grant them would prove our ruin, or would sorely harm us, and there is reason for our trembling in view of the perils which accompany the privilege and responsibilities of prayer.

Yet, in spite of the warnings of Scripture, and of the lessons of experience, there are Christian men and women on every side wondering why God does not always answer prayer, as they understand him to have promised to do; and, every now and then, some professed believer is heard to say, that his or her faith in God is shaken by the failure of earnest and combined prayer, in some specified instance, to avail for the object of its offering. From the way in which such persons speak of prayer to God, as based on the promises of God, it would almost seem that they look upon God as the servant of man, pledged to a prompt and uniform obedience at man's summons and request; and that their doubt is as to God's trustworthiness and fidelity as their servant in the promises. Certainly these questioners misconceive the relation of the disciple to the Master, the servant to the Lord, the child to the father, the ignorant one to the All-wise; and through this misconception they misread and misapply God's promises concerning prayer.

God's promises of answer to prayer are not unconditioned and absolute. The most sweeping of them are limited to the trustful servant of God, or faith-filled disciple of the Lord Jesus; or to those who would become such. No servant of God can really believe that God is pledged to grant a prayer for that which is in itself sinful, or for that which is inevitably improper or harmful. In those things concerning which God's will is already made known, prayer may be offered without qualification; but in those things where God's will is not yet clear, or where the petitioner cannot yet know what is best, all things considered, the prayer of true faith must be conditioned on God's will, on God's knowledge, on God's love; and every prayer thus conditioned is sure to be answered. For example, a faith-filled prayer for strength to resist temptation, or for wisdom as to one's personal duty, needs no qualification. God's will on these points is already declared, and his promise of help is absolute to every child of his. But, where one wants money, or health, or human affection, or an easy time in life,—has wants in this line for himself or for others,—he cannot know that it is best that it should be granted, and he has no right to ask for it unqualifiedly. He ought, indeed, in such a case, to rejoice that he can leave with God the decision as to granting the desire of his heart; and to refrain from any cry for it except as God may see it to be best for him and for those dear to him.

When we kneel in prayer, we have reason to consider well lest we pray amiss; lest our choice be of those things which are for our personal gratification, to consume upon our lusts, or according to our own poor judgment for those who are dear to us; and with all the confession of our present longings and desires, there should be ever a sub-tone of entreaty to God, not to give us our request if it would send leanness into our souls. Only in such a sense of the privileges and the perils of prayer is there true wisdom, and is there true faith, in meeting the responsibilities of prayer.—S. S. Times.