Covenanter Witness Vol. 54 - Rparchives.org

man."
you"
not"
you"
man who stands for Jesus on the earth. And he will
yield. Reluctantly, angrily, as slowly as may be, stub
bornly contesting every inch of ground, his clutches
will loosen and he will go back before this Jesus
Does Prayer Influence God
So much for the effect of prayer on Satan and
his deadly work in the world. Now, looking at the
other side, 'Does prayer influence God "
God's own words indicate that it does. "Call unto
Me and I will answer thee and will show thee great
and difficult things that thou knowest (Jer. 33:
3). "Call upon Me in the day of trouble. I will deliver
thee and thou shalt glorify Me" (Ps. 50:15). "Ask
and it shall be given you, seek and you will find,
knock and it shall be opened unto (Matt. 7:7).
Does this mean that we mere humans can change
the unchangeable decrees of God
Answer is "Yes" and "No"
The answer is both "No" and "Yes." God's pur
poses are immutable but His actions can be changed
by our petitions. "Our God has a great heart yearn
ing after His poor prodigal world, and after
each one on it. He longs to have the effects
of sin removed, and the original image restored.
(That is His purpose). Yet everything that is done
for man must of necessity be done through man's
will ; by his free will and So if consent."
a man will
call upon God, will turn his face toward God, he will
have automatically turned away from the evil one,
the pretender. And now, turned to and tuned in on
God's infinite power station, the life-saving and lifegiving
energy can flow from God through him and
become a vital force in winning the long drawn-out
battle here below. And God, infinitely wise and the
very embodiment of love, wants His children to have
blessings far "above all that we can ask or think."
Thy Will Be Done
But, before man can make an effective specific
prayer, there is one prayer which must precede and
underlie all others. That prayer is "Thy will be done."
Let us analyse that short prayer a bit.
Thy God, the "infinite, eternal and unchange
able,"
the ultimate of strength, the personification
of love, our God and Saviour. Will His all embracing
love which planned the salvation of lost mankind eons
before man was ever created. With infinite skill He is
untangling the mess man has made of the earth. He
can be trusted implicitly and completely. Be this
little verb requires us to yield our free wills to Him
completely, to lose self in Christ. "For me to live is
Christ."
(Phil. 1:21) Done Completed. "Thy will be
freely accomplished in its whole sweep and in all its
items."
A Daring Prayer
_
This is a daring prayer, razor sharp, an x-ray
baring our inmost being. This prayer may completely
change our lives. But unless this prayer is the basis
of all of our petitions, they are worse than useless,
mere empty, yes hypocritical, mouthings.
With this as a necessary prerequisite, how do we
go on to claim in prayer the wonderful promises Je
sus gave to us. The scope of them staggers the imag-
March 23, 1955
ination. Note what He says. "And whatsoever ye
shall ask in my name, that will I do, that the Father
may be glorified in the Son. If ye shall ask anything
in My name I will do it" (John 15:7) "Hitherto have
ye asked nothing in my name ; ask and ye shall re
ceive that your
joy may be fulfilled" (w. 23-24)
.
Absolute Faith
But, as a further prerequisite to fulfillment, Je
sus had previously declared, that there must be abso
lute faith. "Verily I say unto you, whosoever shall
say unto this mountain, be thou taken up and cast
into the sea, and shall not doubt in his heart, but
shall believe that what he saith cometh to pass; he
shall have it." (Mk. 11:22-24)
It all seems beyond us. Such faith is impossible,
such results inconceivable. It takes still another word
from Christ to tie the whole together and bring it all
into focus. "If you abide in Me, and My words abide
in you, ask whatever you will and it shall be done for
(John 15:7).
Key to Success
Abide is a strong word, a continuing word; it
means moving in to stay. That is the key to a suc
cessful life and to success in prayer, abiding with,
dwelling in Christ ; letting His words sink deep into
our hearts and bear fruit in our lives.
Abide also means going along with. Jesus had
said, "If any man would come after Me, let him deny
himself and take up his cross and follow Me" (Matt.
16:24).
Are We Willing
Are we willing to submerge our lives in Christ,
to be completely obedient to His revealed will for us
Can we say from the heart, "Thy will be done " Do
we daily take up our cross, whatever it may be, and
joyfully carry it in witness to Jesus Christ Is our
basic fundamental desire in all the varied relation
ships of life, to do that which will please our Sav
iour
If that is our goal, if we are truly and consist
ently seeking first the kingdom of God, then our
lives will become more and more in perfect harmony
with Christ, and we may ask what we will and it will
be done, because we will ask only what Christ wants.
Then we can in faith claim the promises, and our
prayers, which must always be in the name of Christ,
will be answered and will become a vital force in
bringing to fruition God's plan of salvation for lost
mankind. For the purpose of prayer, always, is to get
God's will done. (With grateful acknowledgement to
Quiet Talks on Prayer by S. D. Gordon)
GLIMPSES . . . from
page 178
five judges of the nine courts are Protestant, the rest are
Roman Catholic or Jewish, and the great majority are Catho
lic.
American Tract Society
The American Tract Society has distributed 13,000,000
tracts during 1954, more than in any other year of its his
tory. The Society has ministered to the needs of individuals,
churches, missionaries, missions and service organizations
for over 130 years. According to its charter the purpose of
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