Daniel Shanks

It is certainly not without personal conviction this article is penned; for if ever there was one pointed out and disqualified from writing a piece on “prayer” — my name would surely surface. There are plenty of regrets in my life concerning a neglect of this holy ordinance. How many of our heads must hang with shame as we reflect upon past years of sinfully shirking our responsibilities in this most blessed means of grace?

Definite prayer, though, is a must. It is a must if we would have our labours attended upon by the Spirit of God. It is a must if we would walk and commune with the living God. It is a must in daily deliverance from indwelling sin, from the enticements of the world, and the assaults of our adversary — “Watch and pray, lest ye enter into temptation” (Mark 14:38).

Prayerlessness in the life will surely give rise to spiritual defeat and decline in the soul. Any attempt to justify its neglect is vain and foolish: “I don't know how to pray; I don't have time; my work is so demanding; my body is constantly in pain; God is a sovereign God, etc.” Many excuses fill our mouths for avoiding the throne of grace; yet even the best is nonetheless worthless. They're all lies. Honesty demands a true confession; and when you `shell down the corn,' what do we find? — pride lurking, deep-seated unbelief, and a cold heart of indifference. (Again, personal experience is the qualification claimed for setting such forth.) These are the real culprits; aren't they?

Yes, PRIDE will surely keep one from his knees in a spirit of humble dependency. We go about tackling jobs all alone gloating with self-sufficiency! Arrogance and proud self is written all over our endeavours; carnal confidence in the flesh reigns, while we foolishly imagine there are other and better resources than God. Pride keeps us from prayer.

And then, as Bunyan put it, that “white devil” of UNBELIEF is the deep-rooted cause of our not calling upon God. “What is the Almighty, that we should serve Him? and what profit should we have, if we pray unto him?” (Job 21:15). What's it going to profit anyway? We just don't really believe it's going to do any good! Unbelief is Satan's first-born child: “Yea, hath God said?” This evil hits us coming and going in so many varying shades and forms, a permanent watch at the door of our hearts must be constantly posted to guard against it.

Then again, prayer wanes pitifully in our lives because of plain ol' COLD-HEARTED INDIFFERENCE. We become too much entangled in the things of this life. Worldly cares will surely destitute our hearts of all true spiritual concern. Disinterest and no sense of urgency will begin to prevail. Unknowingly the cares of this world slip right in, to slowly but surely choke out the very life of the soul.

Something else, too, that proves to bring coldness to the closet, is a DISTORTED VIEW OF THE DOCTRINES OF GRACE. A lazy and unconcerned attitude is generally found knit together with the clichè: “If God's going to save them, it'll all be in his own good time.” The `sovereign grace' of God in many lives has practically eclipsed duty and responsibility. Right doctrine wrongly received can stunt the most vibrant prayer life. How quickly we jump in the ring against Arminianism with both barrels blazing; yet what slackness we show in standing in the gap of intercession for the lost. How soon we roll up our sleeves; yet how slow we fall on our knees!

Our theology has run a-ground if our view of God's sovereignty has brought lax, sloth and neglect to our closet life. Lifeless and dead praying is fostered by the attitude: “Well, God's going to do what He wants to do anyway.” A mass of words come forth, but there's no real praying. And we become guilty of intruding into that which does not belong to our realm whatsoever —“The secret things belong unto the LORD our God” (Deut 29:29). God's business must be left to Himself! Ours is to follow our Lord, who was a fervent man of prayer (Luke 6:12; John 17). The apostle Paul preached sovereignty like no other; yet he also prayed like no other: “I have great heaviness and continual sorrow in my heart. For I could wish that myself were accursed from Christ for my brethren, my kinsmen...My heart's desire and prayer to God for Israel is, that they might be saved” (Rom 9:2,3;10:1). God would have us recognize his sovereignty in salvation, and seek him earnestly to manifest his converting power!

It is this earnest seeking of God that we set forth now under three very important heads: fervency, persistency, and expectency.

FERFVENCY
“The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much” (James 5:16). The word “fervent” is zeelos; and it carries the definition of excitement of mind, zeal, pursuing and embracing . No better adjective for prayer could be found anywhere! A sluggish, drowsy spirit has no place before the throne of grace. Our very hearts and minds are to be fully exercised and engaged in this holy activity. That prayer that avails much in heaven is no lukewarm, lifeless, formal thing; it has power, energy and life! It's the understanding and spirit of a man in enthusiastic search of its desire, and will not rest without attaining its end. “I will not let thee go, except thou bless me!”

Consider this same word and its usage of Christ driving out the money changers: “The zeal of thine house hath eaten me up” (John 2:17). Such was the Saviour's concern and regard toward the honour of his Father's house! By James borrowing this word, zeelos, he fully declares that availing prayer has much in common with the stirred affections of his Master on this occasion! Such an occasion where the very spirit of our Saviour was so overwhelmed, as it were, by a consuming fire that it must give vent and express itself as it did, and that, in driving out the traders. What an example for us to emulate! Those trespassers were there disturbing the sanctity of the holy place, but were expelled by holy force and fervent zeal. Even so we often find present as we come before the Lord, molesting enemies of our soul's peace, unwelcome intruders of the mind agitating; and nothing but determinate and passionate zeal in prayer will vanquish the foes, route the enemy, and put them to flight, that we may find rest and peace in the “secret place of the Most High.”

The prophet caught this idea of zeelos in these words to Jehovah: “There is none that calleth upon thy name, that stirreth up himself to take hold of thee” (Isa 64:7). The very essence and soul of prayer is this stirring up of ourselves to take hold of God in Christ! Shame on our listless and nonchalant attitudes. Shame on our often being overcome but by normal weariness and fatigue. Remember Jacob's all-nighter at Peniel; he “wrestled” for the blessing for all he was worth! Our whole being is to be aroused in nothing less than the pursuit of our God! David cried: “My soul follows hard after thee” (Psalm 63:8). This is that following after Paul spoke of in Philippians 3, reaching forth and pressing toward the mark. Fervent prayer, then, is pursuing prayer; and fervent prayer is embracing prayer — “to take hold of thee.” This “taking hold” implies something real that we grasp. It's gripping and grasping God with a tenacious faith, a faith stimulated by the consciousness that God is, and that he is the rewarder of them that diligently seek him.

God is a Spirit, and to grasp a spirit is not everyday work. Only a spiritual man can do anything of the kind or know what it means. A man must be stirred up and have all his faculties awake, and his entire mental and spiritual nature thrown into energetic action before he will be able to cope with this mystery, and take hold of him that made the heavens and the earth, who is not seen of the eye nor heard of the ear, and is only to be apprehended by the inner spirit of man (Charles Spurgeon, 1834-1892).

PERSISTENCY
“Yet because of his importunity he will rise and give him as many as he needeth” (Luke 11:8). Importunity is calling upon God with perseverance and persistency. Our Saviour emphasized the importance of this in two distinct parables. There are many times when it seems that God is nowhere around, and his ear is heavy. Christ teaches us that during these times nothing has gone wrong; we are not to give up; we are not to faint — “And he spake a parable unto them to this end, that men ought always to pray, and not to faint” (Luke 18:1).

Why is persistence necessary? What's the problem? Is it a lack of God's love for us? Assuredly not! That's been eternally proven and settled in the death of his Son. Could it be a shortage of God's goodness? How about insufficient wisdom? Maybe a want of power? Or is it that he's just holding out on us? None of the above. These are all lies from the enemy. No, it's not a matter of pulling and tugging at the divine coat-tail in order to finally overcome his reluctance to give. He's more ready to give than we are to receive. Our Saviour assures us that God longs to avenge his elect speedily (Luke 18:7,8). The problem does not rest in the heavens; it rests with us — everytime. The spiritual capacity to receive is simply not there; we're just not ready for the blessing.

Our spiritual constitution is often so `out-o-wack' that it not only takes us a while to figure out what we need, but why we are even asking. Labouring in prayer will bring these things to light. We are but being conditioned to receive the blessing of God, as he reveals those hidden obstacles to answered prayer in our life. Isaiah said, “Therefore will the Lord wait, that he may be gracious unto you” (30:18). He not only waits to be sought unto, and waits for faith to lay hold of his readiness to bless; but he wisely waits because of a lack of spiritual preparedness in us to receive. As he probes our hearts, those messed-up motives begin to surface, and pride, self-righteousness and unbelief become apparent and visible. And sure enough, the time spent while thinking we were the ones working on God, come to find out just the opposite is true — He was working on us! What a blessed incentive to labour on in prayer!

Patience and faith must be operative, as we hold dear the Saviour's promise — “Yet because of his importunity he will rise and give him as many as he needeth.” Persistence is necessary; but the answer is absolutely certain — “For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened” (Luke 11:8-10). If he does not answer our prayers presently, yet he will in due time, if we continue to pray.

Elijah's head stayed between his knees in passionate prayer through six `dry' reports from his servant — “I see nothing!” But then it came, “Behold, there ariseth a little cloud out of the sea, like a man's hand” (I Kings 18:42-44). Elisha's persistence is equally noteworthy. Though three times the prophet sought to shake him loose, Elisha's firm resolve was — “I will not leave thee!” Elijah finally asked, “What shall I do for thee?” We know the story all too well (II Kings 2); but do we realize that Elisha would not have received a double portion of the spirit of Elijah if he had not persisted — through Bethel, through Jericho, and through Jordan fast on the heels of the prophet! In other words, if we give up, we're going to miss out! We're going to miss out on what God has. Bunyan said: “Faith will help the soul to wait, though God defers to give; but unbelief will take offence and throw up all, if God makes any tarrying.”

Consider, too, lest we become too hasty: the majesty of our God. It is said of olden times that petitioners did not only put up their requests, but they used to wait at great men's doors, and inquire, and listen what answer was given unto them. It was part of an honour to great men that this was done. So also, we are to wait upon God. Why? to show his greatness, to acknowledge our distance from him, and our absolute dependence upon him. David said: “As the eyes of the servants look to the hand of their masters...even so our eyes wait upon the Lord our God, until that he have mercy upon us” (Psalm 123:2).

He waits, therefore, that HE may receive all the glory, by bringing us to the end of ourselves in utter dependence and helplessness, convincing us that if any deliverance comes — it must be God! He just stepped in and had mercy. Persistent prayer proves, then, to bring us to the place of total surrender, bowing wholly to the will of the Lord — where we belong, where he's glorified, and where he “commands the blessing.” And we have perfect wisdom, righteousness, and love to thank for not giving that which would do us harm, if we received the blessing too soon or too easily.

Through all the ages God's children have understood, what Christ's two parables teach, that God holds himself back, and seeks to get away from us, until what is of flesh and self and sloth in us is overcome, and we so prevail with him that he can and must bless us. Oh! why is it that so many of God's children have no desire for this honour — being princes with God, strivers with God, and prevailing? (Andrew Murray, 1828-1917).

EXPECTANCY
Psalm 85 is a beautiful place to view expectant prayer. In verses 1-3, the psalmist addresses the Lord with an acknowledgement of complete atonement. He then, in verses 4-7, beseeches God for present blessings of revival. But beginning with verse 8, and through the remainder of the Psalm, it is as though he turns himself to the people and declares emphatically that he has a prayer-hearing and a prayer-answering God: “I will hear what God the LORD will speak: for he will speak peace unto his people... Surely his salvation is nigh...The LORD shall give that which is good...and shall set us in the way of his steps” (vv 8,9,12,13). Nothing but faith and confidence is expressed that his God would do what he asked! “I will hear what God the LORD will speak,” that is, how he will accomplish it. Assurance is vibrant: “He will speak peace.”

This is that steadfast expectancy that honours and pleases God, and always draws down answers of peace. If this be not joined to our petitions, faith is not fully in exercise. The prophet Micah resolved— “I will look unto the LORD; I will wait for the God of my salvation: my God will hear me” (7:7). Faith never hopes in the Lord in vain. Our business is to be always armed with patience fully persuaded that God will be our Deliverer, when the suitable time shall come. The soul of prayer is gone when you have no expectation.

How beautifully do we see this in the prophet Habakkuk. He makes his prayer against the tyranny of Nebuchadnezzar in chapter 1, then immediately following declares: “I will stand upon my watch, and set me upon the tower, and will watch to see what God will say unto me” (2:1). Habakkuk never made a holier or more fruitful resolve. Here's a man on the lookout with holy eyes of expectant faith peeled for God's answer! No less is expected of us. A faithful prayer-life may yet lose many answers to prayer, not owing to its neglect, but because of a failure to go up to the tower to watch for and welcome God's promised returns. That divine eye of desire and blessing is ever toward his expectant children. The Lord would encourage us here by affirming: “The just shall live by his faith” (2:4), and also by showing that he never leaves long any such tower without its proper and appointed vision: “Though it tarry, wait for it; because it will surely come, it will not tarry” (2:2,3). Rest and trust in God; for the answer is not only coming, but when it comes, it'll be right on time! It might “tarry” past our time, but never past God's time — always the fittest and the best.

When we think of it, prayer is a magnificient and venturesome thing, when performed aright, for any man to do. For prayer builds, and fits out, and mans, and launches a frail vessel of faith on the deep and wide sea of God's sovereignty: and sets her sails for a harbour nothing short of heaven. And, then, the wise merchantman gives God, and his ship, time to be on her way back again: and then like Habakkuk, he sets himself on his high tower. All his interests are now up there (Alexander Whyte, 1836-1921).

We're to leave the prayer room and climb into the watchtower. The assurance of Micah: “My God will hear me,” and the confidence of the Psalmist: “I will hear what God the LORD will speak” is to be ever present in our supplications. If it is not, we become guilty of taking this holy ordinance of God in vain in our hearts. To neglect looking for God's answers is a sure sign that we do not believe that prayer is an effectual means to attain the end which it was ordained for. So we bow our heads and pray, but without that expectant hand lifted Godward, we're just going through the motions. God's promised blessings and deliverances are no longer in view; prayer has become, of all things, an end in itself! Never are we to imagine prayer as a place of “arrival,” but simply that needed vehicle which brings us into the covenant blessings of a faithful God, who promises for Christ's sake to do his believing children nothing but good. If we use any means, and expect not the end, it is a sign that we think the means vain to accomplish that end.

Another charge that can be leveled against us, too, if we scale not the watchtower scouting for the return of prayer, is that of praying to the gods of the heathen. “The Lord's hand is not shortened that it cannot save; neither is his ear heavy, that it cannot hear” (Isa 59:1). But if during and after prayer, our attitude of heart is not: “I will hear what God the LORD will speak,” then we've robbed and spoiled our Maker of one of his most royal titles — “O thou that hearest prayer!” (Psalm 65:2). The heathen pray unto a god that neither sees, hears, nor answers (Psalm 115:1-8); in short, “a god that cannot save” (Isa 45:20). But would not Elijah mock us for being equally guilty of the vanities of the heathen — if from God we anticipate no answer, expect no real return from him, nor pray in faith and confidence that his ear is open unto us?

Always follow prayer with holy expectancy. Prayers which expect no answer are guilty of taking the name of God in vain; they are a misuse of the holy ordinance of supplication; and they are a question put upon the divine existence, inasmuch as they reduce the Godhead to an idol, like to those images of the heathen which have ears, but they hear not, neither speak they through their throats. Prayers without faith are an insult to the attributes of God, and do dishonour to his sacred name. If thou prayest aright, in the name of Jesus, expect the Lord to hear thee, even as thou wouldest hear thy child, if he ask bread of thee (Spurgeon).