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weakness and failure, his faith was preserved thereby. No wonder he was so
soon to be smitten with remorse and turn back to Him, from his grievous fall,
with true repentance.
The Lord uses the same expression in John 17:9,20. 'I pray for (peri)
them, I pray not for (peri) the world' (verse 9). 'Neither pray I for (peri)
these alone, but also for (peri) those who shall believe on Me through their
word' (verse 20).
Paul, in his concern for the Thessalonian and Colossian saints uses the
same thought (2 Thess. 1:11; Col. 1:3). Do we uphold in prayer those who are
in special need in this way? It may be that distance separates such from us,
but prayer can annihilate the greatest distance and protect them from harm
and danger.
True prayer makes doctrine real and experimental
In Ephesians 1:3 -14 the apostle Paul covers a tremendous sweep of
doctrine, revealing the magnitude of the Father's will, the Son's redemptive
work and the Holy Spirit's present witness. But this did not exhaust what he
had to teach the Ephesian saints. Before he proceeds further, he begins to
pray that the truth so far given may become real and experimental to each of
his readers (verses 15 -23). Every public Bible reading and every private
reading of the Scriptures should send us to our knees and make us realize the
increasing responsibility that every revelation of Truth brings, and the need
that we should not only receive it as Truth (Eph. 1:17), but practically
acknowledge it in our walk and witness day by day. Reading about our
inheritance in Christ, is like viewing it afar off. Prayer brings it near
and makes it our own possession.
'And this is the confidence that we have in Him, that, if we ask any
thing according to His will, He heareth us' (1 John 5:14).
True prayer will conform to the will of God
On reaching this point, we have come to the centre of the purpose of
all prayer, that is, to bring each one of us into conformity to the Lord's
will, whatever that may involve. Alas, so many of us journey such a long way
along the road of Christian experience before we reach this point. When we
can honestly and truthfully say we long for nothing so much as His will in
our lives, whatever that may cost, and when our wills are completely
submerged in His, we have progressed far towards the goal of spiritual
maturity. We shall not reach this stage until we know something of the
deception, frailty and sinfulness of our own hearts, and, at the same time,
the boundless love and infinite concern for our eternal happiness that exists
in the heart of our Heavenly Father towards each one of us. Then, and not
till then, can we say as the Saviour did, 'Thy will, not mine, be done' (Luke
22:42).
CONDITIONS
THAT
GOVERN
THE
ANSWERING
OF PRAYER
At this point it may be good to realize afresh from God's Word what are
the conditions for obtaining affirmative answers to our prayers.
There must be an abandonment of all known sin in our lives
The Old Testament saints had to learn this lesson: