Prayer Will Not Bring Health and Strength to Sustain Us in Continued Transgression
By W. S. Sadler
INEFFECTUAL PRAYER, OR PRAYER OF PRESUMPTION. NO. 3.
Prayer Will Not Bring Health and Strength to Sustain Us in Continued Transgression.
“Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts.” James 4:3. We will but deceive ourselves if we expect God to supply either physical or spiritual strength to be used in continued transgression. Prayer will not bring to us, by means of a miracle, that which God knows will be squandered in persistent wrong-doing. If we presume to squander the energies of mind, soul, and body, and afterwards recognize the error of our way and sincerely repent, our prayers will surely secure the forgiveness of God; but it does not follow that they will secure for us an instantaneous and complete supply of the good blessings of health and strength which have been wantonly wasted. Is it reasonable for us to expect God to work miracles simply to maintain a reckless expenditure of physical or spiritual energy? We ask and receive not, because we ask amiss, to consume it upon our lusts. Or, as the Lord says by Hosea, “My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge; because thou hast rejected knowledge, I will also reject thee, that thou shalt be no priest to me; seeing thou hast forgotten the law of thy God, I will also forget thy children.” Hosea 4:6. The professed people of God are destroyed for lack of knowledge, and they lack knowledge because they have “forgotten the law of God.” There shines forth from the laws of Jehovah sufficient light and truth to point out the way of life, and there is the divine promise of peace and health for all who walk therein. The knowledge of truth is life to him who receives it. There is life-giving power in light and truth. Christ is the light of life, and if we would receive His life, we must walk in His light. The laws of soul and body contain truth which, if obeyed and heeded, will bring us into harmony with God, who is the Source of all life, who has “life in Himself.” But if we turn our backs upon this light and truth, and refuse to yield obedience to the divine requirements, in so doing we turn our backs upon life and health. The knowledge of God is life everlasting. To reject Him is death and destruction. “He that turneth away his ear from hearing the law, even his prayer shall be abomination.” Prov. 28:9. It is unreasonable to expect God to miraculously supply us with health and strength to be used for no better purpose than to antagonize His plans and disobey His laws; for in this He would be working contrary to Himself, and virtually becoming a minister of sin; and a partner to our transgressions. Such a course on the part of God would be equal to confessing that the divine penalties for transgression were arbitrary, unjust, and unnecessary. But as all His judgments are just and righteous altogether, He can not consistently remove the penalty of transgression until the transgression which necessitated its presence is recognized and removed. Prayer Will Not Avert the Harvest of Persistent Disobedience.
“Thus saith the Lord, Behold, I will bring evil upon them, which they shall not be able to escape; and tho they shall cry unto Me, I will not hearken unto them. Then shall the cities of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem go, and cry unto the gods unto whom they offer incense; but they shall not save them at all in the time of their trouble. For according to the number of thy cities were thy gods, O Judah; and according to the number of the streets of Jerusalem have ye set up altars to that shameful thing, even altars to burn incense unto Baal. Therefore pray not thou for this people, neither lift up a cry or prayer for them; for I will not hear them in the time that they cry unto Me for their trouble.” Jer. 11:11-14. Prayer will not avert the just harvest of persistent disobedience. The idea that man can continue to disobey, and then in some auspicious hour be saved from reaping the harvest he has industriously sown for; that man can in some way sow for thorns and thistles, and after discovering their painful prick betake himself to prayer meeting, and there have God miraculously uproot every prickly briar, is a delusion. If we persist in sowing for disease, the harvest will surely come; and in the day of our calamity, the Lord has admonished His ministers, “therefore pray not for these people, for I will not hear them in the time they cry unto Me for their trouble.” “But,” asks one, “Would you limit God’s healing power?” We are not considering what God can do, but what He does do. Our Father in heaven could heal all the sick people in the world instantly, if He so chose; but probably this would be the very worst thing for His name’s honor and glory, as well as a curse to many who were thus raised up. We can not limit what God can do, but our best judgment of what He will do must be confined to what we actually and really see Him doing, or what He promises to do. In the case of every person who meets with an accident resulting in the loss of a limb, God could easily work a miracle, and cause a new limb to take its place, but whoever saw such a miracle? Would you for a moment question the ability of God to perform such a wonder?—No. But the evidence is sufficient to warrant you in believing that God does not see fit to work in that way. His power is all-sufficient, but His plans and workings are all-directed, not only by the greatness of His power, but also by the perfection of His wisdom. W. S. SADLER.