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Prayer Related

【Prayer】A comparison of the following book titles on the subject of prayer points up some of the tensions of the subject:

Where is the Lord of Elijah? (Cox.) vs. You Never Walk Alone (Mesner)

How Can God Answer Prayer? (Biederwolf) vs. Getting Things from God (Blanchard)

Let’s Pray Together (Fromer) vs. The Hidden Life of Prayer (McIntyre)

Saying Better Prayers (Karney) vs. Prayer Without Pretending (Townsend)

Teach Yourself to Pray (Winward) vs. The Holy Spirit-Our Teacher in Prayer (Walton)

Five Laws That Govern Prayer (Gordon) vs. Beyond the Natural Order (Best)

…and lastly Taking Hold of God (Zwemer) vs. Prayer: Conversing With God (Rinker)

【Prayer】Eight-ninths of the bulk of an iceberg is below the waterline and out of sight. Only one-ninth is visible above the surface. Our prayer life should be like an iceberg, with about one-ninth showing in public group prayer and eight-ninth out of sight in our personal prayer time.

【Prayer】Thyra Bjorn told the story of accompanying her pastor father one evening to the shack of a poverty-stricken old man. He was crippled with age and pain, yet he offered them what hospitality he could, and when they prayed together, the old man’s face came alive as the agony of his present life gave way to radiant joy. Rather than asking anything of God, the man thanked him in detail for his shack, his warm bed, his visitors, for everything that was a part of his seemingly cramped and limited existence. When he had finished, Bjorn wrote, “he looked as happy and contented as though he had no discomfort at all.”

On the way home through the dark could fall air, Thyra’s father sighted the lamp being lit in their parsonage in the valley below and called his daughter’s attention to it. Then the thought struck the young girl that this too was what the old man in the cabin had seen: “He had seen his Father’s house and knew that he soon would be home. There would be no more sickness or pain or loneliness there, and no more sorrow. And the light of prayer would lead him home.”

【Answers to Prayer】Two Christian men lived near each other. The first was a farmer. Since there had not been any rain for several weeks, the farmer got up one morning and prayed for rain, but there was no rain that day.

His next-door neighbor was also up early, but he was praying that it would not rain, because he was taking an unsaved friend fishing that morning. There was no rain that day.

God hears both requests, but he can’t answer both. He will do that which glorifies him the most.

【Answer to Prayer】I asked for strength that I might achieve;

He made me weak that I might obey.

I asked for health that I might do great things;

He gave me grace that I might do better things.

I asked for riches that I might be happy;

He gave me poverty that I might be wise.

I asked for power that I might have the praise of men;

He gave me weakness that I might feel a need of God.

I asked for all things that I mi9ght enjoy life;

He gave me life that I might enjoy all things.

I received nothing I had asked for;

He gave me all that I had hoped for.

【Answered Prayer】A pastor in England told his young sons about a missionary who had gone from their church to far-off Sri Lanka. He described the hardships she would experience and told how she would often encounter poisonous snakes. Freddie, who was only 5, kept thinking about those dangerous reptiles. That night during his bedtime prayer, his father heard him say in a quivering voice, "O dear God, please take care of Miss Price. Keep her safe from those snakes."

The power of the child's intercessory prayer was soon demonstrated. For as the missionary was returning from a meeting one day, she saw lurking across her path a small but very deadly snake. Within striking range and with its head raised, the serpent was poised for the attack. Then suddenly it fled into the long grass. How she thanked the Lord for her deliverance! Some time later the mail brought this word from her pastor: "Little Fred never forgets to pray for you. Two Sundays ago he asked the Lord most earnestly to keep you from being harmed by the snakes!" She discovered that it was the exact day she had almost been killed.

【Lord’s Prayer】A minister parked his car in a no-parking zone in a large city because he was short of time and couldn’t find a space with a meter. So he put a note under the windshield wiper that read: “I have circled the block ten times. If I don’t park here, I’ll miss my appointment. Forgive us our trespasses.”

When he returned, he found a citation from a police officer along with this note: “I’ve circled this block for ten years. If I don’t give you a ticket, I’ll lose my job. Lead us not unto temptation.”

【Humorous Prayer】A little boy was saying his bedtime prayers with his mothe: “Lord, bless Mommy and Daddy, and God, GIVE ME A NEW BICYCLE!!!”

Mom: “God’s not deaf, son.”

Boy: “I know, Mom, but Grandma’s in the next room, and she’s hard of hearing!”

【Humorous Prayer】A boy, age six, was invited by a friend to have dinner. When his friend’s family were all seated around the table, the food was served. The young guest was puzzled and-with the frankness children are so well known for-asked, “Don’t you say any prayer before you eat?” The host was embarrassed by the question and mumbled, “No, we don’t take time for that.” The boy was silent for a moment and then said, “Oh, I see, you eat like my dog does. He just starts right in, too.”

【Unanswered Prayer】Students at the university level are usually familiar with an experiment performed with chickens. A chicken is placed in a cage. On one side of the cage are two buttons, one red and the other green. Every time the chicken pecks the green button, a small amount of chicken feed comes out of a slot below the buttons. However, when the chicken pecks the red button, nothing comes out. The chicken soon learns the game and will repeatedly peck the green button to receive grain.

The interesting thing is that if the experimenter reverses the effect of each button, the chicken eventually realizes that pecking the green button now does nothing, so it stops.

How like chickens we are when we pray! When we turn to God to ask him for something and are not granted our request immediately, we stop praying about it. Why? Because we think of prayer as a supernatural button to press to get what we want. We forget that unanswered prayer is still heard by God, and so his silence is for a purpose. Perhaps he wishes to do more than supply our requests. Perhaps he wishes to draw us close to him, test the maturity of our faith, or force us to re-evaluate our request.

【Unanswered Prayer】A newborn baby cries frequently when he or she has needs, and the mother comes immediately, day or night, to fill those needs. Thus, children learn to cry when they want Mother’s presence. Later, Mother comes but does not pick up the child; she only softly says, “Hush, child, go back to sleep.” Later she may not even come every time the baby cries. Of course, the baby does not like this one bit, but the feelings of “abandonment” lesson as he or she learns that Mother will always come in the morning. In the process, all babies learn that they cannot manipulate a mother, especially one who distinguishes between her baby’s needs and wants.

So it is with prayer. When we are young believers, God often answers our prayers quickly. Later, as we mature, he uses unanswered prayer as a means of teaching us to rely on him-he who know our real needs and who is always faithful.

【Unanswered Prayer】Let us not be like the man who was lost in the deep woods. Later, in describing the experience, he told how frightened he was and how he had prayed. “Did God answer your prayer?” someone asked. “Oh, no!” was the reply. “Before God had a chance, a guide came along and showed me the path.”

Was the prayer really unanswered?

【Unanswered Prayer】Dr. Howard Hendricks tells of the time when he was a young man, before he was married. He was aware that certain mothers had set their caps for him on behalf of their daughters. One mother even said to him one day, “Howard, I just want you to know that I’m praying that you’ll be my son-in-law.”

Dr. Hendricks always stops at that point in the story and says, very solemnly, “Have you ever thanked God for unanswered prayer?”

【Unanswered Prayer】George Muller wrote concerning his orphan ministry: “The funds are exhausted. We had been reduced so low as to be at the point of selling those things which could be spared…” Then a woman arrived who had been traveling four days, bringing with her sufficient funds for the orphanage. Muller and his co-workers had prayed those four days for something God had already answered.

Under these circumstances, Muller made the following observation: “That the money had been so near the orphan house for several days without being given, is a plain proof that it was from the beginning in the heart of God to help us; but because he delights in the prayers of His children, he had allowed us to pray so long; also to try our faith, and to make the answer so much sweeter.”