Prayer (part 2)

And he Christ speak a parable unto them to this end that man ought always to pray and not to faint. I noticed something this morning in the worship meeting that encouraged me. As a rule in these parts, the exercise is on the part of our preaching brethren.

Three or four what we call local men took part that was delightful. Young men please in fellowship, you do not need a gift to worship. You do not need a gift to pray.

Worship is a meditation. Well you can thank God for his son can't you? Oh you see I can't worship my brother and so and so. Never mind.

I don't have time to tell you how I started to pray and to worship. My first effort was a fiasco. But you see you learn praying by praying, worshiping by praying.

We noticed this morning in relation rather Friday night we noticed in relation to delayed and unanswered prayer. Moses is anxious to get into the land. The Lord says no.

You know the reason why. And yet God is gracious. He saw it from Mount Nebo.

He saw it. One thousand plus years Moses in in the land. Transfiguration.

So the Lord will finally answer prayers. Now what I shall do shortly and I will not be long is what is prayer? What does it do? Prayer my dear brethren is a tremendous spiritual weapon in our warfare. Tremendous weapon.

I go back 500 years. Europe had been awakened by the sovereign providence of God to bring about a reformation. Satan counteracted that 250 years ago.

I don't have time to go into this. Martin Luther as well as some of the Bohemians later on had went over to Great Britain, Switzerland. Martin Luther was summoned to nearly all the crown head of Europe to a certain church in what is now West Germany.

Martin Luther didn't know how to face these powerful men, church delegates, prelates, kings, counts, rulers. The dear man felt the tremendous pressure on his spirit and his soul. All night, all night he spent on his knees and prayer and that's where the victory was won.

He marched through the large aisle, hundreds of people glaring at him like wolves towards a lamb. And the little monk, well he wasn't really little, he was quite big. A little monk in the audience whispered as Martin passed by, Martin, the whole world's against you.

And Martin straightened up. He says, then me and the whole world, me and Christ against the whole world. He got the victory.

Prayer, my dear brethren, is a mighty spiritual force in our spiritual warfare. You and I, we need it. Get in touch with God.

Stay in touch with God. Then ultimately, John chapter 7, the Savior speaks, prayer is a speaking to God. You see, it's not always, although that's a good position, it is not always a physical posture.

If you have time, prayer is rather an attitude. Morning, noon, and night. The Lord help us to cultivate a constant communication with divine persons.

God is honored and he'll help you. Genesis 18, it's an intercession. That's what we do before a gospel meeting.

We intercede on the part of the lost. Abraham, he's a thousand feet above Sodom and Gomorrah and the Dead Sea. He intercedes with his poor souls down in the valley.

It's an intercession. Esther chapter 4, it's a request. Oh, the difficulty that these believers were exposed to.

The gallows were put up. The decree went forth. Anti-Semitism, nothing new had existed.

And rather than because of prayer, the situation changed. For the sake of time, let's come down to Isaiah 37. I like this section.

The northern kingdom had already been taken into captivity. Now, please, a question to you. Why did the ten tribes go into captivity? Come on.

Oh, you say disobedience to God and idolatry. No. You say no? Before any of these things can take place in the heart, something else takes place, and that is coldness sets in.

Indifference to the Lord himself. Coldness of heart. All the other things are by-products.

Now, the Assyrian senses that the south is free for grabs. Zennacherib comes in a pincer movement. One party, the others surround the city of Jerusalem.

They demand surrender. It's no exaggeration that the people begin to tremble. Brethren, Isaiah 37 presents you there is a national crisis.

The enemy's at the gates. And let me assure you, Satan is at the gates of many assembly today. We heard about folks departing.

That's something that's bothered me for many, many years. Young people, older people, middle-aged people. Oh, God preserve us.

And simply because the assembly carried the divine truth, they gathered to divine person. This is why the people hate us and will try anything to get us in roads. Now here at this particular time in Jerusalem's time of crisis, you have good men.

Hezekiah at that time, a good king, a model man. One of the foremost prophets, Isaiah. They don't belong to the priestly tribe, to the priestly, the Levites or so on.

And they go into the temple courts, not at the temple structure itself. They do not take things in their own hands, brethren. But they spread it out before God.

Lord, this is thy city. This is thy temple. This is a place where God has chosen to put His name.

Lord, this is thy property. Is it any wonder that Jerusalem has been attacked in history over 27 times? Is it any wonder why ultimately at least part of all the nations will gather around the city of Jerusalem? And the Lord will interfere and intervene. So here you have two good men.

Lord, this is thy city. I like the answer. It comes from the sapphire throne.

I, the Lord says, I will descend the city for my sake and for the sake of David, my servant. Now let's do some mathematics. Brethren, what does the defense of Jerusalem have to do with King David who had been dead 300 years? Oh, he's likely a type of the king.

But I wonder whether Psalm 116 verse 1 is the answer, where David takes a pen, writes the first verse, and he says, I love the Lord. Ah, that's it. I love the Lord.

Is this the reason why God protected the southern kingdom for many years? Ultimately it fell. But subject to their prayers. Did you know that part of the judgment, the unmitigated judgment of God during the tribulation is the result of prayers? Revelation 6. Oh, God is sovereign.

He will deal with the enemies. I remember those souls under the altar. Lord, how long will thou avenge our blood? That's one reason why judgment after judgment will rule the prayers of God's people.

Now, I am at the moment in a farming community. Let's be practical. Tell me, have you had some troubles with your tractor machinery? Hmm.

None of you moved, so you must be all perfect farmers. Nothing wrong. Have you ever lost a certain item, little screw, little bolt, something in the gears, and you couldn't find it? You say, what's it have to do with prayers? A lot.

You see, you look around and it's too good to Dubuque and Des Moines is too far to get the replacement part. Where did that part go? And you look in the gravel, you look in the grass, you blame the wife, you blame the dog, you blame everyone else. Brother, that's not a little thing.

God knows where it is. I have experienced it. God knows.

Pray for the little things in life. Now come to the big things in life. For you that know history, you remember over 100 years ago, both Russia and China turned communist.

And that was cause for deep concern among the Christian leaders in Europe. You see, Russia with its technology at that time, China with its millions of manpower, both embracing an atheistic and I add a satanic philosophy, for that's what communism is. Brother, they could have bulldozed the West under.

The Western leaders were deeply concerned about it. They began to pray. Now tell me please, can you explain why two atheistic nations embracing the same communist ideology, they never got along? God in fact set them one against the other, subject to prayer.

I'm in America now. When China was open to missionaries, there was a missionary conference somewhere in the central states. I don't just know where it is.

One brother gave his account that at this particular part in China, the rains failed. Droughts hit in. The young believers came to the mission and said, did you not tell us and teach us that God hears prayers? How come we have a drought? Animals are dying.

Famine is coming. He called for prayer meetings every night. And he mentioned that at the end of the prayer meeting week, it sounded like hail on the roof.

And they went out and the three inches of grain all over the compound. So he sat down. Now the brother got up and says, now finally, after all these years, I know what happened to our grain silos, 600 miles beyond.

You know what a tornado is, don't you? Keep them in the States. We don't need them in Canada. Something like a tornado, a twister came along and dismantled the granaries and carried grain for 600 miles.

You believe it? Don't look so dubious. 600 miles. Water from the Gulf of Mexico carries millions of tons all across the United States and into Canada and the Atlantic.

And here we are. Oh no, is it possible? Subject to prayer. And again and again, I could refer to this, but I'll forbear.

Numbers 27. Prayer gives guidance. You see, Moses, a servant of God is gone.

There's a vacuum and a man is chosen, but not until the elders began to pray about the business. Joshua stood in the shadow of that man of God for a long time. He seems to be a prospect and he takes over as a leader.

Prayer. Prayer also in connection with Joshua reveals. You see, sometimes my dear brethren, especially in the Old Testament, you get circumstances.

I do not bring this up because of controversy, because it's not a controversy. In the Old Testament, you have situations where present circumstances do not fit with the divine promises. Joshua's one.

See, there's a problem. Joshua realizes and he likely thinks, Lord, thou hast promised victory. Jericho fell.

Lord, how come we were defeated in the little subway of AI? Jacob faced the same problem. When he heard that Esau, after many years, he comes against him, of course, Jacob didn't know the man's motive. He divided his company into three.

And if Esau destroys one, so he thought the others will escape. But he goes back to Genesis 28 and he says, Lord, hast thou not promised me safekeeping, blessing and protection? How come here's Esau? She didn't know his motive. So there it is.

Circumstances do not always square with divine promises. This has to be worked out. And I suggest this was a struggle that Jacob faced way underneath the river Jabbok.

He had to work it out. And as a result of his struggle with whoever the messenger was, he says, my life's preserved because he had worked it out. So here it brings guidance.

Acts chapter one, it is the prayers of the apostles who were shut in in the room, doors were locked, began to pray. All of a sudden, divine power came amongst them and they went forth preaching Christ. Now then, what does prayer do? That's very practical.

Look at Psalm 73. And the experience of the man, I can't go into more details than this, the man becomes careless. That's the first red light that's flashing.

And then he becomes cold in heart. Then he becomes critical. You meet people that are critical of one another? Critical about this, critical about that, that's the third red light flashing.

And then he becomes callous. There's a progress in retrogression, ultimately becomes cruel. Hmm? Verse 17 gives the answer.

Not until I went into the sanctuary and I prayed it out, not until then did I understand their end. We looked at Joshua chapter 7, it reveals in connection with Jeroboam. And now we have Daniel, that spiritual man, that man to whom is given a revelation of God concerning history until our present times and beyond.

And the unconverted atheist and those who like to criticize the Bible, they try to twist this book and deny it and reject it simply because they do not understand the supernatural element. Here's Daniel, a gifted man, a spiritual man, and Daniel doesn't understand it all. What does he do? He's praying about it.

We notice on Friday night there are eight reasons or eight sources of hindrance to prayer. One is satanic, here it is. He had to wait at least three weeks, three plus weeks for the answer to come.

But oh, I like the words. Daniel, from the very first day you chastened yourself before God, your prayers were heard, your prayers were heard. But the prince of the power of Persia, that means behind every nation there's a spiritual force prevalent.

And thus he'll understand now the development of history, there's opposition. And God can and will counteract. But here's Daniel and ultimately the answer comes.

In James chapter one, he says, if any of you lack wisdom, my dear brethren, in assembly affairs today you need wisdom. You need divine wisdom, how to deal with saints, how to deal with problems. Just recently I've heard of someone being offended.

A man of wisdom doesn't do it. You recognize the tender state of young converts? Take that into consideration. You don't come down upon the saints with a sledgehammer.

Our brother mentioned, you know, I experienced that when I was a young convert. They didn't cut me off, but they cut others off. And they never took part again.

Sisters, you too need wisdom. We can be all together wrong in our judgment, in our spiritual evaluation. We all need wisdom in the things of God.

Now, I'm not going to give you the background here. It could be that there was a particular crisis that likely Paul and Peter referred to, and the saints in that first century, they hadn't caused the problem and yet they're persecuted. It could very well be that in this situation they needed this particular wisdom.

Oh God grant us, my dear brethren. Our brothers talked about folks leaving the assembly. My dear brethren, I'd say it with all tender care.

That folks leave the assembly should never be the reason of those who are still there. You remember Ezekiel 34? I will keep that which was driven away. Whatever the contributing factor, it's possible by mouth, attitude, words.

Folks are driven away. Consider the tender constitution of young converts. They do not know much.

They need to experience the tender care of a shepherd teacher. A kind word from the sisters. Take them under their wings, as we have been hearing.

Oh, how important it is today. Well, here it is. What prayer is, and what prayer does.

And dear brethren, the Lord help us. You do not need a gift to worship. You do not need a gift to pray.

Let's continue to pray.