"And he spake a parable unto them to this end, that
men ought always to pray, and not to faint." Luke
18:1. "Pray without ceasing." 1 Thess. 5:17. To
pray always does not mean that we should be constantly on
our knees, but that we should not neglect to pray, should
not forsake the habit of prayer, but should at all times
have our hearts in a prayerful attitude. Every Christian
can and must pray in secret, in family devotion, and in
public. Closet communion fits us for public prayer.
Probably you have said, "I can't pray in
public." Such, however, is not the case. It is only
the suggestion of Satan, only a barrier that he has raised
to keep you from the blessings of activity. Many people
give Satan an opportunity to accuse and discourage them,
by their own timidity and by not moving out in prayer
regardless of what men may think. If you would prosper,
you must pray.
BEWILDERED PRAYER
Some prayers are bewildered and
consequently bewildering. The mind is worried and
wondering about something else than what is spoken by the
lips in prayer. An abundance of business is often
bewildering to prayer. A good plan to clear away the
bewilderment is to stop and carefully take your bearings,
consider what you need, what God wishes you to have, and
that for which you can believe; then concentrate the heart
and mind upon that one thing, send up a prayer of faith in
Jesus' name, letting work and business wait till the hour
of prayer is past. Someone has called this kind of prayer
"smoky prayer." Not only does it hinder the
spiritual vision and active faith of the one who is
praying, but if the prayer is public it makes a cloud of
smoke for others to pray through.
DOUBTFUL PRAYER
Some people are continually praying, are
almost slaves to prayer, yet their doubts are as many as
their prayers.
They doubt even before they go to
pray that the thing for which they are about to ask will
be granted. It is true that God has said, "If any of
you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all
men liberally, and upbraideth not, and it shall be given
him. 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." James 1:5-7. Many
prayers are lavishly punctuated with "if"—the
devil's interrogation point. If you wish your prayer to be
beneficial to you and pleasing to God, pray not alone for
those things which you would like to have, but also for
those things which you believe God will give you. Rebuke
the doubts of the devil, break the destructive habit of
doubting, discard the devil's punctuation marks, and
"have faith in God."
PREVAILING PRAYER
In order to derive the benefit from
prayer that you should, you must know how to pray an
effectual prevailing prayer. It matters little just how
you express yourself, whether in a few words or many,
whether in a whisper or a shout, whether in the closet or
in public, so long as you pray according to the will of
God, express the desires of your heart, and prevail in
prayer. How much you pray or how often you pray is not so
important as how prevailingly you pray. A thousand long
prayers unanswered are not as beneficial to the soul as
one short, earnest, prevailing prayer. A prevailing prayer
is a fervent prayer, a prayer that comes from the burning
desire of the confiding and trustful heart. A prevailing
prayer is a prayer of faith. It is not what you pray for
that does you good, but what you believe for. Prayer
without faith is like a man without a soul, or like faith
without works: it is dead. If you cannot believe for the
thing you most desire in prayer, pray for an increase of
faith, use what faith you have, step out on the Word and
accompany your prayer with all the faith God has given and
you can exercise, then you can prevail in prayer. Nobody
can pray too much if all his prayers are prayers of faith,
but often those who pray the most believe the least.
Remember that the important point in prevailing with God
is not prayer alone, but believing prayer.
