is indispensable for this; and here, beloved brethren, I come to my fifth and last word, which I desire to press on my own soul, as well as on yours- the necessity of prayer. A man of prayer is a man of power. Prayer takes hold of God's strength; prayer brings God's power down. It is weakness on our side, but, in prayer, human weakness clings to divine strength. And one who is in the presence of God can say,
“When I am weak, then am I strong." 2 Cor. 12:10.
If we are to have power with men, we must have "power with God." David knew God in secret, and had proved his power in killing the lion and the bear; therefore he could come out in public, and meet the giant, knowing that the same God who had delivered him from the paws of the lion and the bear was able to save him from the hand of Goliath. It is in secret that we learn God's power.
We see an instance of this in the case of Elijah also. He had been three years and six months with God in secret, and when God told him to show himself to Ahab, who was seeking his life, he goes at once. He had no fear of Ahab, because the Lord of hosts was with him, and he stood before the living God.
If we are to have power before men and with men, there must be private prayer. This is the secret of power. But this is where most of us fail.
A brother in Christ once told me that he could do most for others out of sight, in secret. He meant, by prayer for them. Now, we may depend upon it, there is far too little secret prayer.
“The closet and the Word are what are needed for a gospel meeting," said another. And not only for a gospel meeting is the closet needed, but for all meetings. If all God's dear children came from their closet, from the Lord's presence, what power and blessing there would be! Then at the breaking of bread, or at the prayer meeting, there would not be the long prayers and speeches so common among us. What mockery there often is in praying! Think of a man standing up and professing to be praying to God, and all the time to be preaching to those around him! His speaking has the appearance of showing how much he knows, or else of trying to explain something to God. What a sad mistake! What a hindrance to blessing! Ah, the withering effect such prayers have on meetings! They only keep people away, or else put them to sleep. O, let me beseech you, who take part in prayer, to consider others; to be short and definite; not to weary others with your long prayers; for these, instead of bringing down God's blessing on His word, hinder it; and instead of drawing us more closely to the Lord, and to one another, they only separate us.
It is not for our "much speaking" that we shall be heard (Matt. 6:7). We do not draw down God's blessing by using a great number of words where a "few" would be sufficient; talking of ourselves, for instance, in prayer, as empty, frail, worthless, good for nothing, and so on; thus taking up, it may be, fifteen minutes in saying what might be expressed in five minutes.
How irreverent also it is to use the name of God so often, as many do in their prayers, making it a sort of rest for recovering their breath, or collecting their thoughts! The Lord, when asked by the disciples to instruct them how to pray, before the coming of the Holy Spirit to teach them to do so in Christ's name, did not tell them to begin or end every sentence with "Our God," "Our God and Father," "Blessed God our Father," and like phrases. The prayer which the Lord taught them is a perfect model of reverent expression and holy brevity, and was intended for the use of the disciples before the coming of the Holy Spirit to guide them into all truth, and lead them to pray and praise in the name of the Lord Jesus. And now that He is come, He surely would have us as reverent and sparing of words as the disciples were taught to be when the Lord was upon earth. It is to be noticed and remembered that the name of God is only once mentioned in that wonderful prayer. And we do well to bear in mind the command to Israel,
“Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain." Ex. 22:7.
Another great hindrance in the prayer meeting is for one brother to make a kind of exhaustive petition for the supply of every need of the Assembly, thereby taking out of the mouths of others requests which God may have laid upon their hearts to express. If each one presented at the meeting that which he had been earnestly praying about in his closet, we should have short, fervent, and edifying prayers, in happy contrast to the long, preaching, tedious prayers which weary the body and dispirit the mind. Believers cannot say "Amen" to that which does not edify.
“But ye, beloved, building up yourselves on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Ghost, keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life.”
“Now unto Him that is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy, to the only wise God our Savior, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and forever. Amen." Jude 20-25.
“Let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works: not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching." Heb. 10:24, 25.
(Concluded)