Power to Work Through Prayer
By William Covert
THE success of the Christian in all things depends largely on constancy and faith in prayer. Nothing was made plainer, nor was anything else dearer, in the teachings of Jesus than His lessons on prayer. And the high importance that He attached to the place of prayer in His own life and labors emphasized greatly its worth in the Christian life. Spending the whole night in prayer previous to choosing His twelve disciples shows something of the help that Jesus obtained in praying. See Luke 6:12, 13. Study the context, and it will be seen that this night of wrestling with the Lord was the preface to His wonderful Sermon on the Mount. It was when He had concluded an earnest season of prayer that His disciples asked that they be taught how to pray. Luke 11:1. Obtaining answer to their request in this thing gave to the disciples, to the church, and to Christian families of earth, the model idea of true prayer. Not only did Christ readily grant the request made relative to prayer, but He willed that the Spirit move upon them to make the request. The desire of God to have men worship in spirit and in truth was told to the woman of Samaria at Jacob's well. "For," said Jesus, "the Father seeketh such to worship Him." John 4:23. So God seeks worshipers, and He desires them to be intelligent in their worship, so that their requests be made in harmony with His will, and their thoughts be under the control of the Holy Spirit. Such a preparation would give all "access by one Spirit unto the Father." Eph. 2:18. Our prayers are not necessarily made through any set form nor offered at any specific place. They may be made neither from Mt. Gerizim nor from Jerusalem, but it is important that they be offered up from an understanding mind and with a heart taught to hope by the Holy Ghost within it. Rom. 5:5. But as the worship must be in the Spirit, it is prompted by the Lord Himself, and therefore it is the Lord who is yet teaching His disciples to pray. This thought is also asserted by Paul where he says, "We know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit Itself maketh intercession for us." Rom. 8:26. And again, we are told to pray "always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit." Eph. 6:18. From the foregoing scriptures, and many more that might be cited, it is evident that the power of God works through the prayers of His children for the accomplishment of His purposes for them and with them. It is necessary that the child of God be taken into the inner life of the Saviour and be shut in with Him to get in vital touch with that power which crucifies sin and effects a new creation. It is this hidden relation which connects the redeemed with the Redeemer, and makes of men able helpers in winning souls for the kingdom of God. The converted person is thereby placed in the gateway to the kingdom and filled with truth and winning power to gather sinners in from the way of death. This praying spirit God puts within His children to make them feel at home in His presence. Therefore it is said, "Because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your hearts, crying Abba [Father], Father." Gal. 4:6. God desires His children to know Him as "Father," and to acquaint themselves with His will and His love. And those who do know Him and who learn how to live as sons and daughters in the Father's presence can labor successfully for others. Such a spirit as this makes Christianity a life of peace and joy, which conditions are just what are needed to drive away the vagueness and dread that darken the sinner's mind. With the laborer there is joy of heart when a sinner turns from his transgression, for that servant of the Lord has been bearing the burden of that lost one up to the courts of heaven, and his spirit has blended with the spirit of Christ in searching out and bringing in that soul to unite with the Lord's family. He rejoices because a new brother or new sister has been born into the family, and he also rejoices because one more sinner has been won from Satan, another shining star been added to his crown. It should be learned early in Christian life that God desires His children to pray in such a manner and with such faith that their prayers can be answered. Prayer is to ask for what is needed, and the petitioner is to receive what he seeks to obtain. Jesus commands us to "ask," and then He declares we shall receive. We are to ask and we shall find. "For every one who asketh receiveth." "What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them." "If ye abide in Me, and My words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you." "But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed. For let not that man think that he shall receive anything of the Lord." Matt. 7:8; Mark 11:24; John 15:7; James 1:6, 7. Christ Himself is with the Father to receive help for us, and Christ's Spirit within us will lead us to pray and cause us to believe that our prayers are heard and answered. The whole period of the Christian life should be devoted to prayer. Those who read the Bible are told to pray without ceasing. They read the words of Jesus which say, "Men ought always to pray." The word also says that God's "ears are open unto our prayers," and that He knows what we need before we ask Him to give it us. And so He does know because He Himself has by the Spirit pointed out our needs and moved upon us to pray for them. Therefore He would have us to pray in faith, and doubting nothing, receive what our Father offers to freely give us when we pray.