HOW
TO PRAY
R.
A. TORREY
CHAPTER
III
OBEYING
AND PRAYING
1.
One of the most significant verses in the Bible on prayer is 1_John 3:22. John
says, "And whatsoever we ask, we receive of Him, because we keep His
commandments, and do those things that are pleasing in His sight."
What
an astounding statement! John says in so many words, that everything he asked
for he got. How many of us can say this: "Whatsoever I ask I
receive"? But John explains why
this was so, "Because we keep His
commandments, and do those things that are pleasing in His sight." In
other words, the one who expects God to do as he asks Him, must on his part DO
WHATEVER
GOD BIDS HIM. If we give a listening ear to all God's commands to us, He will
give a listening ear to all our petitions to Him. If, on the other hand, we
turn a deaf ear to His
precepts, He will be likely to turn a deaf ear to
our prayers. Here we find the secret of much unanswered prayer. We are not
listening to God's Word, and therefore He is not listening to our
petitions.
I
was once speaking to a woman who had been a professed Christian, but had given
it all up. I asked her why she was not a Christian still. She replied, because
she did not believe the
Bible. I asked her why she did not believe the
Bible.
"Because I have tried its promises and found them
untrue."
"Which
promises?"
"The promises about prayer."
"Which
promises about prayer?"
"Does
it not say in the Bible, 'Whatsoever you ask believing you shall
receive'?"
"It
says something nearly like that."
"Well,
I asked fully expecting to get and did not receive, so the promise
failed."
"Was
the promise made to you?"
"Why,
certainly, it is made to all Christians, is it not?"
"No,
God carefully defines who the 'ye's' are, whose
believing prayers He agrees to answer."
I
then turned her to 1_John 3:22, and read the description of those whose prayers
had power with God.
"Now,"
I said, "were you keeping His commandments and doing those things which
are pleasing in His sight?"
She
frankly confessed that she was not, and soon came to see that the real
difficulty was not with God's promises, but with herself. That is the
difficulty with many an unanswered
prayer to-day: the one who offers it is not
obedient.
If we would have power in prayer, we must be
earnest students of His Word to find out what His will regarding us is, and
then having found it, do it. One unconfessed act of
disobedience on our part will shut the ear of God
against many petitions.
2.
But this verse goes beyond the mere keeping of God's commandments. John tells
us that we must DO THOSE THINGS THAT ARE PLEASING IN HIS SIGHT.
There
are many things which it would be pleasing to God for us to do which He has not
specifically commanded us. A true child is not content with merely doing those
things which his
father specifically commands him to do. He studies
to know his father's will, and if he thinks that there is any thing that he can
do that would please his father, he does it gladly, though his father has never
given him any specific order to do it. So it is with the true child of God. He
does not ask merely whether certain things are commanded or certain things
forbidden. He studies to know his Father's will in all things.
There
are many Christians to-day who are doing things that are not pleasing to God,
and leaving undone things which would be pleasing to God. When you speak to
them about these
things they will confront you at once with the
question, "Is there any command in the Bible not to do this thing?"
And if you cannot show them some verse in which the matter in question is
plainly forbidden, they think they are under no
obligation whatever to give it up; but a true child of God does not demand a
specific command. If we make it our study to find out and to do the things
which are pleasing to God, He will make His study to do the things which are
pleasing to us. Here again we find the explanation of much unanswered prayer:
We are not making it the study of our lives to know what would please our Father,
and so our prayers are not answered. Take as an illustration of questions that
are constantly coming up, the matter of theater
going, dancing and the use of tobacco. Many who are indulging in these things
will ask you triumphantly if you speak against them, "Does the Bible say,
'Thou shalt not go to the theater'?"
"Does the Bible say,'Thou
shalt not dance'?"
"Does the Bible say,'Thou shalt
not smoke'?" That is not the question. The question is, Is
our heavenly Father well pleased when He sees one of His children in the
theater, at the dance, or
smoking? That is a question for each to decide for himself,
prayerfully, seeking light from the Holy Spirit. "Where is the harm in
these things?" many ask. It is
aside from our purpose to go into the general
question, but beyond a doubt there is this great harm in many a case; they rob
our prayers of power.
3.
Psalm 145:18 throws a great deal of light on the question of how to pray:
"The Lord is nigh unto all them that call upon Him, to all that call upon
Him in truth."
That
little expression "in truth" is worthy of study. If you will take
your concordance and go through the Bible, you will find that this expression
means "in reality," "in sincerity."
The prayer that God answers is the prayer
that is real, the prayer that asks for something that is sincerely desired.
Much
prayer is insincere. People ask for things which they do not wish. Many a woman
is praying for the conversion of her husband, who does not really wish her
husband to be
converted. She thinks that she does, but if she knew
what would be involved in the conversion of her husband, how it would
necessitate an entire revolution in his manner of doing business,
and how consequently it would reduce their
income and make necessary an entire change in their method of living, the real
prayer of her heart would be, if she were to be sincere with God:
"O
God, do not convert my husband."
She
does not wish his conversion at so great cost.
Many
a church is praying for a revival that does not really desire a revival. They
think they do, for to their minds a revival means an increase of membership, an
increase of income,
an
increase of reputation among the churches, but if they knew what a real revival
meant, what a searching of hearts on the part of professed Christians would be
involved, what a radical
transformation of individual, domestic and social life
would be brought about, and many other things that would come to pass if the
Spirit of God was poured out in reality and power; if all
this were known, the real cry of the church
would be:
"O
God, keep us from having a revival."
Many
a minister is praying for the baptism with the Holy Spirit who does not really
desire it. He thinks he does, for the baptism with the
Spirit means to him new joy, new power in preaching the Word, a wider reputation among men, a larger prominence in the church of Christ. But if he understood what a baptism with the Holy Spirit really involved, how for example it would
necessarily bring him into antagonism with the world, and with unspiritual Christians, how it would cause his name to be
"cast out as evil," how it might necessitate his leaving a good
comfortable living and going down to work in the slums, or even in some foreign
land; if he understood all this, his prayer quite likely would be--if he were
to express the real wish of his heart,--
"O
God, save me from being baptized with the Holy Ghost."
But
when we do come to the place where we really desire the
conversion of friends at any cost, really desire the outpouring of the Holy
Spirit whatever it may involve, really desire the baptism with the Holy Ghost
come what may, where we desire anything "in truth" and then call upon
God for it "in truth," God is going to hear.