Ill.—The Prayers Of Saints
I. The Prayer-Meeting.—Christian, you perhaps think little of your prayers. God does not. Cornelius was a man devout and prayerful. He “prayed to God alway"; but, while praying on in patience, probably little thought that one day an angel would be sent to tell him, “Thy prayers and thine alms are come up for a memorial before God” (Acts 10:2-42A devout man, and one that feared God with all his house, which gave much alms to the people, and prayed to God alway. 3He saw in a vision evidently about the ninth hour of the day an angel of God coming in to him, and saying unto him, Cornelius. 4And when he looked on him, he was afraid, and said, What is it, Lord? And he said unto him, Thy prayers and thine alms are come up for a memorial before God. (Acts 10:2‑4)). But if you wish God's estimate of His people's prayers, see Revelation 5:88And when he had taken the book, the four beasts and four and twenty elders fell down before the Lamb, having every one of them harps, and golden vials full of odors, which are the prayers of saints. (Revelation 5:8): “The four living creatures and the four and twenty elders fell down before the Lamb, having each one a harp, and golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints.” That is what they are. Golden bowls contain them; they are as the fragrance of incense before the throne of God. Think of a prayer-meeting! Could the exercises of the saints be made visible you would see the odors ascending to God's presence. The room and the surroundings may be mean, but if the hearts are full of Christ, St. Peter's at Rome, with all its grandeur, can present nothing so fine. Those humblings of soul in prayer; those addresses of faith to God; the workings of hearts inwrought by the Spirit Himself, though invisible, are momentous: they are fraught with consequences which reach forth into eternity. Such is real prayer. Who that could be present would be absent from such a scene, and lose the privilege of a part in its activities?
It is possible that some, and that even amongst instructed Christians, have not quite a correct sense of the rank of the prayer-meeting, regarding it as rather subordinate. Many who would feel condemned in their conscience at absence from the Lord's Supper look upon attendance at the prayer-meeting as optional. But they have not noticed that the promise to be with two or three gathered to His name is, in scripture, specifically attached to prayer. Often as that promise is quoted, its connection with prayer and the prayer-meeting is almost overlooked. But verse 20 of Matthew 18 is really the validating principle of verses 18 and 19. Thus:-
“Verily I say unto you, Whatsoever ye shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven; and whatsoever ye shall loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven” (ver. 15).
“Again I say unto you, That if two or you shall agree on earth as touching anything that they shall ask, it shall be done for them of my Father which is in heaven” (ver. 19).
“For where two or three are gathered together to my name, there am I in the midst of them” (ver. 20).
On this let us note that (1) The promise about agreeing in prayer is linked by the conjunction “For” with the presence of Christ in the midst of two or three. It therefore does not relate, as often supposed, to an agreement of two isolated Christians to pray about a mutual subject when apart from each other. The common application really diverts the scripture from its specific object, which is to show the special honor and efficacy which are attached to united prayer. It applies to two or three gathered together to Christ's name, and if they, though only two, are in real spiritual agreement in which they approach the Father, their prayer is successful (ver. 19).
The Lord, therefore, is in the midst at the prayer-meeting as well as at the breaking of bread. Important fact! Possibly my reader has not looked at the prayer-meeting in this light. Many esteem it as merely a means of spiritual comfort and communion, one of many ways of gaining profit to our souls; and therefore omit attending it or not, according as they are disposed. But the Lord is there! Were the Prince of Wales announced to be at a meeting in London, what activity would be displayed, what effort to be present! The subject-matter would, by the very fact, acquire a new importance. Persons who would not have troubled about attending, are now found quite zealous, and see a significance in the subject which they never saw before. But what is prince or king to the King of kings and Lord of lords, who is present with the gathering to His Name?
The Lord being present, then, the prayer-meeting ranks as an assembly-meeting of the first order, second only to the Lord's Supper. So it is placed, in the divine record of what characterized the first company of the church. “They continued steadfastly in the apostles' doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayers” (Acts 2:4242And they continued stedfastly in the apostles' doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayers. (Acts 2:42)). At a lecture, a gospel-preaching, etc., the Lord may be with His servant who speaks His word, and all present may share the blessing; but He is not with the company, even if consisting of saints, in exactly the sense in which He is with an assembly of only two or three simply gathered together unto His Name.
This presence of the Lord both in the prayer-meeting as well as other meetings, is a matter about which many are obscure. Some confuse it with the presence of the Holy Ghost—but that is a different thing. The Holy Ghost does dwell in the assembly, as well as in the body of each individual believer. He does so permanently. But what is stated in Matthew 18:2020For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them. (Matthew 18:20) is not a permanent indwelling. It is a presence under conditions, namely, two or three being there, and they being gathered to His Name. Further, it is the presence of the Lord Himself that is guaranteed. “But,” it will be said, “Jesus is in heaven.” Yes, corporeally He is there—blessed be His Name!—but divinely He is with us here. He is the One who could say even in His days upon earth, “The Son of man which is in heaven” (John 3:1313And no man hath ascended up to heaven, but he that came down from heaven, even the Son of man which is in heaven. (John 3:13)). And if He was divinely in heaven while corporeally on earth; so now He is divinely with the two or three on earth, though corporeally in heaven.
The presence of the Lord in the midst draws out the specific affections of the saints for Himself. For as there are distinct persons in the Godhead, so the new nature in us has feelings and affections appropriate to each. When we think of the Father, we think of the infinite, uncaused, love in which He gave the Son for us. We think of the One who has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into our hearts, crying, Abba, Father who Himself loveth us because we have loved Jesus, and have believed that He came out from God. And when we think of Christ in our midst, it is of that Person in the Godhead who became incarnate; who so loved us as to give Himself for us, who loved us unto death. The Holy Ghost present with us indeed gives us the spiritual apprehension of all this. He brings before our souls the things of Christ (John 16:13-1513Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will show you things to come. 14He shall glorify me: for he shall receive of mine, and shall show it unto you. 15All things that the Father hath are mine: therefore said I, that he shall take of mine, and shall show it unto you. (John 16:13‑15)), but the Person in our midst is the One who died for us. He, though waiting on the Father's throne, still so yearns over those whom He purchased with His blood, that where, in any quarter or corner of the globe, two or three are gathered to His Name, there is He in the midst. Would the Christian willingly be absent when the Lord is present? In this matter have we not sinned through lack of thought, or non-apprehension of what the prayer-meeting really is?
II. Individual Prayer.—Scarcely less important than united, is individual, prayer. It 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 Jehovah. And Abraham drew near, and said, Wilt thou also destroy the righteous with the wicked? Peradventure there be fifty righteous within the city; wilt 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?” (Genesis 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 ever 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 (Genesis 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 (Ezekiel 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” (Daniel 7:4, 54The first was like a lion, and had eagle's wings: I beheld till the wings thereof were plucked, and it was lifted up from the earth, and made stand upon the feet as a man, and a man's heart was given to it. 5And behold another beast, a second, like to a bear, and it raised up itself on one side, and it had three ribs in the mouth of it between the teeth of it: and they said thus unto it, Arise, devour much flesh. (Daniel 7:4‑5)); and, 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” (ver. 10). How precious are the exercises of such a soul! No cloud in his own relationship with God—he is 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 Daniel 9: “I set my face unto the Lord God, to seek by prayers and supplications, with fasting and sackcloth and ashes; and I prayed unto Jehovah my God, and made my confession and said,” etc. (vers. 3, 4).
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 and to chasten thyself before thy God, thy words were heard, and I am come for thy words” (chap. 10:12).
So another testifies: “I cried unto Jehovah with my voice, and he heard me out of his holy hill” (Psalm 3:44I cried unto the Lord with my voice, and he heard me out of his holy hill. Selah. (Psalm 3:4)). Again, “I sought Jehovah, and He heard me, and delivered me from all my fears (Psalm 34:44I sought the Lord, and he heard me, and delivered me from all my fears. (Psalm 34:4)). 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 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, chaps 1, 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 Ephesians 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 field and class of prayer equally divine in authorization, but which though not so lofty in scope, is more tender; 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 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 by Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:66Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. (Philippians 4:6)). “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 purview 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 for us dreaded events into blessing, 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 (Genesis 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 (ver. 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. J. T.]
(To be continued)