Individual prayer holds a remarkable place in the divine actings in the world. Abraham prayed for the cities of the plain-a beautiful model of reverential yet earnest pleading with God. But Abraham stood yet before the Lord. And Abraham drew near, and said, Wilt Thou also destroy the righteous with the wicked? Peradventure there be fifty righteous within the city: will Thou also destroy and not spare the place for the fifty righteous that are therein? That be far from Thee to do after this manner, to slay the righteous with the wicked; and that the righteous should be as the wicked, that be far from Thee: Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right?" Gen. 18:22-2522And the men turned their faces from thence, and went toward Sodom: but Abraham stood yet before the Lord. 23And Abraham drew near, and said, Wilt thou also destroy the righteous with the wicked? 24Peradventure there be fifty righteous within the city: wilt thou also destroy and not spare the place for the fifty righteous that are therein? 25That be far from thee to do after this manner, to slay the righteous with the wicked: and that the righteous should be as the wicked, that be far from thee: Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right? (Genesis 18:22‑25). As a consequence of his intercession he obtains the promise that the city should be spared if only ten righteous were found in it, and though that number was not found, Jehovah accedes to His servant's plea for the righteous who might be there, and so the safety of Lot is provided for before judgment is allowed to descend upon the city. Again, to the King of Gerar it is announced, as a divine favor, that Abraham should pray for him (Gen. 20:77Now therefore restore the man his wife; for he is a prophet, and he shall pray for thee, and thou shalt live: and if thou restore her not, know thou that thou shalt surely die, thou, and all that are thine. (Genesis 20:7)). Indeed this intercessory prayer is an important piece in the machinery of God's proceedings.
Daniel was qualified for intercessory prayer by the purity of his own ways. He is one of three men, Noah, Daniel and Job, whom Jehovah Himself selected as eminent in righteousness (Ezek. 14:1414Though these three men, Noah, Daniel, and Job, were in it, they should deliver but their own souls by their righteousness, saith the Lord God. (Ezekiel 14:14)). The testimony of his enemies was, "We shall not find any occasion against this Daniel, except we find it against him concerning the law of his God." Dan. 6:55Then said these men, We shall not find any occasion against this Daniel, except we find it against him concerning the law of his God. (Daniel 6:5). In a foreign land, amidst foes and snares, his practice was to pray. "He kneeled upon his knees three times a day, and prayed, and gave thanks before his God." Dan. 6:1010Now when Daniel knew that the writing was signed, he went into his house; and his windows being open in his chamber toward Jerusalem, he kneeled upon his knees three times a day, and prayed, and gave thanks before his God, as he did aforetime. (Daniel 6:10). How precious are the exercises of such a soul! There was no cloud in his own relationship with God; he was free to intercede for the state of God's people-a type in this of the great Intercessor. Hence we have the prayer and confession of Dan. 9:3, 43And I set my face unto the Lord God, to seek by prayer and supplications, with fasting, and sackcloth, and ashes: 4And I prayed unto the Lord my God, and made my confession, and said, O Lord, the great and dreadful God, keeping the covenant and mercy to them that love him, and to them that keep his commandments; (Daniel 9:3‑4). "I set my face unto the Lord God, to seek by prayer and supplications, with fasting, and sackcloth, and ashes: and I prayed unto the Lord my God, and made my confession.”
It is interesting to see that Daniel was heard as soon as he set himself to pray, although his prayer was not answered for some time afterward. "Fear not, Daniel: for from the first day that thou didst set thine heart to understand, al to chasten thyself before thy God, thy words were heard, and I am come for thy words." Dan. 10:1212Then said he unto me, Fear not, Daniel: for from the first day that thou didst set thine heart to understand, and to chasten thyself before thy God, thy words were heard, and I am come for thy words. (Daniel 10:12).
Fellow-believer, the same is our privilege! Such is "the boldness" we have towards Him, that "if we ask anything according to His will, He heareth us." 1 John 5:1414And this is the confidence that we have in him, that, if we ask any thing according to his will, he heareth us: (1 John 5:14). This involves brokenness of our own wills, spirituality, without which our thoughts and feelings do not move in the line of His will. There has been One who could say, without limitation, "Father... Thou hearest Me always." John 11:41, 4241Then they took away the stone from the place where the dead was laid. And Jesus lifted up his eyes, and said, Father, I thank thee that thou hast heard me. 42And I knew that thou hearest me always: but because of the people which stand by I said it, that they may believe that thou hast sent me. (John 11:41‑42).
But Daniel's prayer, in the ninth chapter of his book, and Abraham's prayer, though individual, were in a certain sense public. That is to say, they were not about the private history, or about the personal wants of either Daniel or Abraham. Their subject matter was public. Daniel's prayer had reference to the fallen state of Israel as God's people, and to God's interests as bound up with them. Likewise Abraham's prayer had no relation to Abraham's own wants. He was secure from the judgments about to fall upon the wicked, but he pleads earnestly for the righteous who were intermingled with them and in danger of sharing their judgment. So, too, as to Paul's prayers in Ephesians (chapters 1 and 3). They were individual prayers, but their scope and object were God's glory and Christ's interests in the Church. This is a high order of prayer: that is, where a servant of the Lord is abstracted from private or personal needs, and is earnestly concerned about Christ's interests in His people. Indeed, Paul's prayers for the saints in Eph. 1 and 3 were a reproduction in his measure, and so far as regarded the Church, of the prayer and desires of the Lord Himself in John 17.
But there is another type of prayer equally divine in authorization, but which though not so lofty in scope, is more tender; it has to do with smaller and more human, or everyday concerns, for the believer is privileged to have communion with God about the whole of his private and personal affairs. Thus: "Are not five sparrows sold for two farthings, and not one of them is forgotten before God? But even the very hairs of your head are all numbered." Luke 12:6, 76Are not five sparrows sold for two farthings, and not one of them is forgotten before God? 7But even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not therefore: ye are of more value than many sparrows. (Luke 12:6‑7). "Be careful [anxious] for nothing; but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus" Phil. 4:6, 76Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. 7And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. (Philippians 4:6‑7). "Casting all your care upon Him; for He careth for you." 1 Peter 5:77Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you. (1 Peter 5:7).
Now, many Christians have a feeling that it is scarcely legitimate to expect that God would condescend to the small and petty affairs of our life. As in the case of some great dignitary amongst men, they feel as though they could not presume to trouble Him with their personal concerns. The thought may not be quite definite, and they would shrink from expressing it. But it lingers in the mind sufficiently to create hesitation and doubtfulness in prayer. It is important, therefore, to see that we have in these scriptures ample warrant for regarding the whole interior of the life of a Christian, as under the authority and care of our God and Father. Is some item too small to be brought to Him in prayer? Is it too purely personal, too exclusively our own, for Him to consider? What stronger expression could the Lord employ to disabuse us of the notion, and to encourage confidence, than that the very hairs of our head are all numbered? Have we the feeling that some things we can take to God, but that some things we cannot? The scripture says, "In everything by prayer and supplication." Have we a request, as to which we have no strong confidence that it is according to His mind? Well, we can at least make it known to God, and the result for our souls when we leave it with Him will be peace; the request being submissively laid before Him, His peace will keep both heart and mind through Christ Jesus, and we can then be content, whether we have our petition or not.
It may be that we are in circumstances which our own wrong-doing has brought us into, and that we justly dread the consequences. Even that we can take to God, if we have sincerely confessed our sin, and all the anxiety of it, all the care, we may cast upon Him, "Casting all your care upon Him, for He careth for you." The case of Jacob and Esau is an illustration of how God can, and will, turn dreaded events into blessing for us, when we in brokenness wait upon Him. Jacob had deeply wronged Esau, and now, after years of separation, he has to face him; the brothers are about to meet (Gen. 32). Jacob's conscience naturally makes him fear the resentment of Esau, who he learns is coming to meet him with four hundred men. But he lays it before God in prayer (Gen. 32:1111Deliver me, I pray thee, from the hand of my brother, from the hand of Esau: for I fear him, lest he will come and smite me, and the mother with the children. (Genesis 32:11)), with the marvelous result that the man whose vengeance he feared, "ran to meet him, and embraced him, and fell on his neck, and kissed him: and they wept"!
Thus God is the refuge of the soul at all times. Blessed is prayer which is the outcome of an upright walk, but even when the fruits of our evil doings are springing up, yet if we are the Lord's, and have truly judged the evil of our ways, we may safely leave, in peace, all consequences to Him.
Individual, secret prayer and communion with God, constitute the foundation of all godliness. Neither the prayer meeting nor the Lord's service is a substitute for them. They are the safeguard of the soul; where they fail, a fall is not far off. E. Thomas