(From a letter to a friend.)
Two things are essential to the nurture and maintenance of a fresh and healthy state of soul; the reading of the Word and Prayer: nor can we afford to neglect either the one or the other, if we desire that our hearts and lives may answer to the grace bestowed upon us. If the reading of the Word be neglected, there will be the danger of our prayers becoming the expression of mere natural desires instead of.` intercession according to the will of God." We need to have our desires even for spiritual blessings formed its the atmosphere of the Word, in fellowship with the Lord himself, and by the power of His Spirit; while whore this is lacking, the more earnest the soul is, Oho more danger will there be of a real that is not according to knowledge. An opposite danger, on the other hand, is that the reading of the Word without prayer, tends to a spirit of INTELLECTUALISM, ending in a cold, barren state of soul in which there is neither power nor joy, but abundance of spiritual pride. There is nothing more deadening to spiritual vitality than to have the mind occupied with Divine truth, while the heart and the conscience remain strangers to its power; and this is sure to be the case just in proportion as prayer is neglected. There can be no surer and more certain sign of a low, unhealthy spiritual state thou the absence of prayer, and there can be no better proof that a man is " filled with the Spirit," than to know that he "gives himself unto prayer."
Beloved brother, is there not a great lack of prayer amongst us? Alas! must we not confess that our closets, our households, our assembly meetings for prayer, bear witness to this and prove that we are oftentimes culpably indifferent to this high and holy privilege of expressing OUR interest in all that interests the heart of God, and affects the glory of His beloved Son.
Let us consider Him-our blessed Example and Pattern. He commenced, carried on, and ended His ministry with prayer. We read of Him praying at the time of His baptism, Luke 3:21; " He withdrew Himself into the wilderness and prayed," Luke 5:16; "He went out into a mountain to pray, and continued all night in prayer to God," Luke 6:12; "He was alone praying," Luke 9:18; "He took Peter, and James, and John, and went up into a mountain to pray," Luke 9:28; "He was praying in a certain place," Luke 11:1; " He kneeled down and prayed," Luke 22:41; " He prayed more earnestly," Luke 22:44; and finally, at the very close of His marvelous life, amidst the agonies of the cross, He prays for His enemies, Luke 23:34.
Consider Paul, who has exhorted us to be "followers of him even as he also was of Christ." When we think of his arduous and unremitting labors in connection with the ministry of the Word, while pursuing at the same time, when necessary, his calling as a tentmaker, we almost wonder how he found any time for prayer, and yet as we read his epistles it seems as though he did indeed "pray without ceasing." See Rom. 1:9; 10:1; 2 Cor. 13:7; Eph. 1:16; 3:14; Phil. 1:4,9; Col. 1:3,9; 1 Thess. 1:2; 3:10; 2 Thess. 1:11; 2 Tim. 1:3; Philem. 1:4.
Remember the repeated exhortations of the Word -" PRAYING ALWAYS with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known unto God." "1 exhort therefore, that, first of all, supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks, be made for all men." " Continuing instant in prayer." " Continue in prayer and watch in the same with thanksgiving." " Brethren, pray for us." " Praying in the Holy Ghost." " Pray without ceasing."
Think of the blessed results that have ever followed the expression of dependence upon God in united or individual prayer. The Pentecostal baptism with the Holy Ghost took place at the close of ten days spent in continued prayer and supplication. The disciples were filled with the Holy Ghost, and made bold to speak the Word of God " after they had prayed," Acts 4 The angel of the Lord delivered Peter from prison in answer to the prayer which " was made without ceasing of the Church unto God for him," Acts 12. Scripture is full of instances of the prevalence of prayer. 2 Chron. 32:20; and James 5:17,18: are conspicuous examples. And without doubt when the history of the Church is surveyed from the glory, it will be seen that every wave of blessing to saints, and salvation to sinners, has been proceeded by the effectual fervent prayers of many whose labors are better known in heaven than on earth. Men and women like Epaphras, Col. 4:12, who have prevailed with God in their closets, and like Jabez, 1 Chron. 4:10, have had granted to them that which they required.
Again-and brother beloved, I would press this upon you with all the earnestness of which I am capable, meditate upon the unspeakable need of the present moment. Look at the appalling condition of the Church of God. That which was the wondrous subject of His counsels long before the world's foundations were laid-destined to be the magnificent display of His glory to admiring myriads of His unfallen creatures in ages yet to come-even now, in spite of its ruin, the object of His unceasing solicitude, and His measureless love. Oh! brother, think of the Church! Torn asunder by a hundred factions; paralyzed by a practical infidelity; stupefied by the deadening influence of an indifference to Christ, which is as general as it is deplorable; bound hand and foot with tradition, organization, and human arrangement; desolated by worldliness'; and shorn of that HEAVENLY aspect and beauty which is her own peculiar portion, she nevertheless vaunts herself in the midst of her ruin, and is ready to say with the apostate whore, "I sit a Queen, and am no Widow." Awful picture! Then consider the state of individual souls. How few of those quickened by divine grace have settled peace with God! How few are personally in the enjoyment of the liberty wherewith Christ makes free! How many doubts and fears are entertained by God's people to their own loss and His dishonor! Dear brother, can we cease to pray? And are there not other things before our eyes at this time that surely might bring us to our knees in an agony of desire? Look at the twos and threes who have been gathered by the Holy Spirit in these last days to the confession of Christ's name out of the ruin of Christendom. Is not that blessed hope, which came home to souls fifty years ago with such separating and purifying power, losing its hold upon us? Are not the earthly-mindedness and the worldliness that so often and in so many ways are manifested, the " settling down " on the part of many, and the turning aside of many more to things which " minister questions rather than godly edifying," are not these things the Sad and solemn proof that the doctrine and the hope have been dissevered, so that many are to be found boasting of the doctrine, whose lives are the standing witness that they are strangers to the HOPE, for wherever this exists it does and must necessarily produce its proper effects. 1 John 3:3.
Lastly, remember that God is gathering out His elect by the preaching of the Word, and ours is the blessed privilege of interceding for the salvation of the lost. The consideration of the realities of heaven and hell, a perishing world, a loving God, a waiting Savior, and a world-wide gospel, surely should constrain us to more prayer.
The word is " Praying always," by which I understand that a believer, though not always in the act, should always be in the spirit of prayer. His constant state is one of dependence, therefore his constant spirit should be that of prayer. But there are special seasons when, either alone or with others the soul turns aside from all else to have to do with God himself, and pour out its desires and requests to Him, Suffer me, in conclusion, to beseech you to embrace every opportunity of thus continuing instant in prayer. Redeem every moment, and you will be surprised to discover how many opportunities for a few minutes of prayer you have hitherto suffered to pass idly away. Then, when a brother calls, or a few saints come together for a little fellowship, what a sweet opportunity for prayer. We can then plead the promise to " two of you," and blessed it is to do so. Such a privilege should never be neglected, and would there not be 'much more prayer than there is, if every coming together of saints was characterized by it?
Then the assembly meeting. Well, introduce me to saints who are much in private prayer, and given to social prayer, and I will shew you a gathering where the prayer-meetings are bright, fresh, and happy; full of vigor, faith, power, and liberty. Where the prayer-meetings are cold, formal, and lacking in fervor and liberty, depend upon it the closet could tell a tale of indifference and negligence in respect to prayer, of which the more public barrenness is only the painful indication and the sad result.