Prayer and Praying Men, 02

Men are God’s method. The Church is looking for better methods; God is looking for better men.The glory and efficiency of the gospel is staked on the men who proclaim it. When God declares that “the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to show himself strong in the behalf of them whose heart is perfect toward him,” he declares the necessity of men and his dependence on them as a channel through which to exert his power upon the world. This vital, urgent truth is one that this age of machinery is apt to forget.What the Church needs to-day is not more machinery or better, not new organizations or more and novel methods, but men whom the Holy Ghost can use - men of prayer, men mighty in prayer. The Holy Ghost does not flow through methods, but through men. He does not come on machinery, but on men. He does not anoint plans, but men - men of prayer.E. M. BoundsPower through Prayer

I believe this gracious movement of the Holy Spirit - The Lewis Awakening in 1949 - began in a prayer burden; indeed there is no doubt about that. It began in a small group who were really burdened. They entered into a covenant with God that they would give Him no rest until He had made Jerusalem a praise in the earth”. They waited. The months passed, and nothing happened, until one young man took up his Bible and read from Psalm 24: “Who shall stand in His holy place? He that hath clean hands and a pure heart. . . He shall receive the blessing from the Lord.” The young man closed the Bible and, looking at his companions on their knees before God, he cried: “Brethren, it is just so much humbug to be waiting thus night after night, month after month, if we ourselves are not right with God. I must ask myself - ‘Is my heart pure? Are my hands clean?’”DUNCAN CAMPBELL.

What our dear brother Greg brings forth again and again these days touches one of the very basic issues regarding the concept of revival.To put it short, almost blunt, there is no revival except within the church. Revival is church business. There will be no testimony among the non-believers except through a hungry church, a church who is seeking God for a collective revelation of what sin is about to destroy and what grace will accomplish if invited in. I have been away during the weekend on a visit in a peculiar church in a neighbouring city. This church began as a tiny prayer group in a suburb which holds some 50 nationalities; a Muslim community living next door to a Hindu community at the door step of an Orthodox group and so on. This prayer group took on the burden of this complex, multi-cultural situation in the face of opposition, harsh opposition, and have been able to establish a testimony before municipal authorities, other churches and certainly before these different people groups by perseverance, “stickability”, and practical care. Many are the stories regarding reconciliation between the various groups because of prayer unto coversion. This "ministry" is absolutely unique here in Sweden.What we have before us is a test, a challenge, a very practical test, regarding our willingness to stay together, pray together, work together, carry burdens together, wait together, doing all these things, and more, before the Lord who is able to turn any situation into a relevant testimony.God is not religious, he is relevant. We are invited to move in the same direction. Walking away is very seldom a proper solution. Turning towards, opening up, embracing, fighting for – not against – these things belong to the Christian strategies of establishing the Kingdom in terms of revival.Bless you all, dear friends.Lars

Thanks Lars for your usual clarity and wisdom.“stickability”, I like that.

Prayer brings in God’s rule and loosens man’s grip.Prayer spells submission and a handing over of the power to the One who alone can handle it.Prayer is a giving up for the sake of life, life abundantly.Modern ways of doing intercession tightens man’s grip on the sceptre of rulership and prolongs the pain caused by man’s will to exercise authority.Lars W.

Hudson Taylor’s Spiritual SecretIn great spiritual agony, I wandered out on the sands alone.And there the Lord conquered my unbelief, and I surrendered myself to God for this service. I told Him that all the responsibility as to the issues and consequences must rest with Him; that as His servant it was mine to obey and to follow Him, His to direct, care for and guide me and those might labour with me. Need I say that at once peace flowed into my burdened heart?From chapter 10.

Brother Andrew: Never accept as unchangeable that which is contrary to God’s will.Effective Prayer: Letting All Our Pretenses GoEven so ye also outwardly appear righteous unto men, but within ye are full of hypocrisy and iniquity. Matthew 23:28THE BASIC ARTIFICIALITY OF CIVILIZED HUMAN BEINGS is hard to shake off. It gets into our very blood and conditions our thoughts, attitudes and relationships much more seriously than we imagine.The desire to make a good impression has become one of the most powerful of all the factors determining human conduct. That gracious (and scriptural) social lubricant called courtesy has in our times degenerated into a completely false and phony etiquette that hides the true man under a shimmery surface as thin as the oil slick on a quiet pond. The only times some persons expose their real self is when they get mad.With this perverted courtesy determining almost everything men and women say and do in human society, it is not surprising that it should be hard to be completely honest in our relations with God. It carries over as a kind of mental reflex and is present without our being aware of it.Nevertheless, it is an attitude extremely hateful to God. Christ detested it and condemned it without mercy when He found it among the Pharisees. The artless little child is still the divine model for all of us. Prayer will increase in power and reality as we repudiate all pretense and learn to be utterly honest before God as well as before men!Brother Andrew

Oh how true is this?!I detest it in myself, seeing it played out even here in these forums at times, when I have come back and re-read things I have written..."did I mean that?" Reminds me of a missionary who taught a class at my church emphesising the sloppy way we can say "God bless you" Did you mean it when you said it?! That has stuck with me, though I still slip and fall into that trap. He went on "May God bless you and I mean really bless you, pour out His love and grace in your life..." We have been conditioned well by this world. The masks we wear, The only times some persons expose their real self is when they get mad.I like to think that I would rather just spill my guts and be rebuked at least I can learn something that way, then to put up a front. But do I practice what I preach? Much to ponder here.Since I believe that prayer is something you are as opposed to something you "do" (times alone in His presence more focused) I find a helpful practice is to have focused prayer in the shower, kinda strips away the pretense's...

What He asks of us, in the way of surrender, and obedience, and desire, and trust, is all comprised in this one word: waiting on Him, waiting for His salvation.It combines the deep sense of our entire helplessness of ourselves to work what is divinely good, and our perfect confidence that our God will work it all in His divine power. Our private and public prayer are our chief expression of our relation to God: it is in them chiefly that our waiting upon God must be exercised. If our waiting begin by quieting the activities of nature, and being still before God; if it bows and seeks to see God in His universal and almighty operation, alone able and always ready to work all good; if it yields itself to Him in the assurance that He is working and will work in us; if it maintains the place of humility and stillness, and surrenders until God’s Spirit has quickened the faith that He will perfect His work: it will indeed become the strength and the joy of the soul. Life will become one deep blessed cry: “I have waited for Thy salvation, O Lord.” Andrew MurrayWaiting on GodSee also:Prayer and Praying men, 01

Intercession spells interventionIntercessors are marked by hunger and thirst for righteousness. Intercessors are driven to intervene. Intercessors are guided by the Spirit of truth. The Father’s house, the Church, should as a whole carry this particular mark. Intercession is readiness to serve. Prayer is readiness to give. Prayer is eagerness to get - for the sake of giving away all. Intercessors spend their lives. They live their lives, not close to, but on the altar. The intercessors role is the role of a priest. But it is even more the role of the sacrificial lamb. Intercession spells intervention. Intercession never bullies its way across. It is truly the Lamb’s walk among men. L. W.

Pray hardest when it is hardest to pray.Charles H. Brent