Prayer: How important is it?

I mailed this letter to many of my friends. The cost was great so, many others of you did not receive the letter. We live in troubled times and prayer should always be imperative in our lives. I have looked at the subject of prayer for some time because many of my friends have asked for prayer during their times of trouble. So, allow me to refresh our thinking about the importance of prayer.

The lesson of the Old Testament tells us that our God is a God Who hears and answers prayer. That makes our personal responsibility in prayer more crucial and consequential if we claim to have fellowship with God. " Prayer-hearing" is one of His attributes as a part of His nature. Therefore, praying should be an attribute of the child of God. God inspired the Psalmist to call Him…
"Thou that hearest prayer" (Psalm 65:2).

He selected that title for Himself and delights to be called the God Who hears and answers prayer. We find in that same Psalm (verses 9-13) that God wants to provide all of man’s needs. The Psalmist goes on to say…

"Thou visitest the earth, and waterest it: thou greatly enrichest it with the river of God, which is full of water: thou preparest them corn, when thou hast so provided for it. Thou waterest the ridges thereof abundantly: thou settlest the furrows thereof: thou makest it soft with showers: thou blessest the springing thereof. Thou crownest the year with thy goodness; and thy paths drop fatness. They drop upon the pastures of the wilderness: and the little hills rejoice on every side. The pastures are clothed with flocks; the valleys also are covered over with corn; they shout for joy, they also sing."

The Psalmist seems to say that the God that loves to answer man’s prayers has anticipated so many of his needs. God has watered the ground that was dry and has given to the hungry flocks the pasture and has covered the valleys with corn for man and beast and these pastures and valleys shout and sing of the benevolence of a loving and merciful God. The theme of Psalm 104 is God’s care for the cattle of the earth and for mankind through nature.

"He causeth the grass to grow for the cattle, and herb for the service of man; that he may bring forth food out of the earth; and wine that maketh glad the heart of man, and oil to make his face to shine, and bread which strengtheneth man’s heart" (Psalm 104:14,15).

And he continues…

"The high hills are a refuge for the wild goats; and the rocks for the conies" (verse 18).

And he continues…

"The young lions roar after their prey, and seek their meat from God" (verse 21).

And then of the beasts of the sea we are told that…

"These wait all upon thee; that thou mayest give them their meat in due season. That thou givest them, they gather: thou openest thine hand, they are filled with good (verses 27,28).

This Psalmist recognizes that the God that made the animals makes food for them also. The God that made the plants causes the rain to fall for them and the sun to shine upon them. The God that made honeybees, made flowers for them. For every living thing there is a place, food, protection and provision from the hand of an infinite God. The question comes again, if we pray, for what should we pray? And do not these things show that where there is want, need and desire, God wants to fill it? Where there is hunger, God wants to satisfy it. Is His nature to do it before we pray?

Biology teaches us that an all-providing care begins as soon as a child is born. Before the baby is born God prepares the mother’s breasts and then a few hours after childbirth the mother’s breasts begin to prepare milk. The instinctive seeking of the little puckering lips for food is satisfied in the mother’s arms and over the mother’s heart.

Medicine teaches us that God has provided in nature every kind of food to balance the diet and supply the needs of man. Insulin is in supply for the diabetic person. There is no need of the human body but that God has provided it. It only awaits the discovery and applying of mankind.

History tell us that as soon as there begins some shortage of wood on earth, man discovers that the bowels of the earth are full of coal that God has laid by for man’s use. By the time man has invented an internal combustion engine (the ordinary gas or gasoline engine) it is discovered that infinite lakes of petroleum have been stored up for man’s need. When man needed iron for tools, he discovered it was already provided and then learned that God had provided alloys to make the hardest steel. And now that man longs for a lighter metal, rust-proof, it is discovered that there are giant stores of bauxite, the ore from which aluminum is made. The earth proves that God answers the needs of man already. The question arises again, should we pray?

Science tells us that the whole earth shows it was deliberately planned by infinite wisdom, just to fit man’s needs. Suppose that the diameter of the earth had been 10,000 miles instead of 8,000 miles. Then the mass would have been almost doubled and gravity would have been about twice as great. A man who now weighs 170 pounds, of exactly the same size and with the same muscles, would weigh 332 pounds. His muscles would not be strong enough to lift himself. His stomach would not be big enough to hold enough food to provide strength. Life would be intolerable or impossible. Or if the diameter of the earth were only 6,000 miles instead of 8,000, only 2,000 miles less, the gravity would be so much less that air would be much lighter and rarer. Instead of weighing 14.7 pounds to the square inch, the air pressure (and density) would be only 6.2 pounds. But men cannot live without an oxygen tank where the air is less than 7.3 pounds to the square inch. Life would be impossible on this earth if it had not been tailored exactly to fit man’s needs. God made it just the right size. Or if three-fourths of the earth’s surface were covered by land instead of by water as now, then the earth would be simply a giant desert, with fringes of vegetation around the seas; and the variation of temperatures would be so great it would be impossible for mankind to live. Or if God had made the surrounding atmosphere with another element instead of oxygen, neither animal nor man could breathe. And if the water were not made of oxygen and hydrogen, there would be no living thing in seas and lakes and rivers. Do not these things suggest that God is a God Who in His very nature longs to provide what mankind needs? Then, do we need to pray to such a loving and caring God?

Nature does not tell of Calvary and redemption but it does point to an infinitely merciful, benevolent, loving God, Whose heart is open to mankind. He Who clothes the lilies of the field and notes the fall of the sparrow is the God Who hears and answers prayers of those who diligently seek Him and who trust Him. James says,

"Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning" (James 1:17).

God never varies, in any age, nor with any people, from His constant watchfulness to give what men need, what their hearts cry out for, what will make them happy and good. And does not that mean that by very nature God is predisposed to hear the cry of men and is lovingly concerned about whatever want or desire or need is felt by any contrite heart who seeks God’s face.

Then if He is a God that hears and answers prayer, let us pray. Prayer, then, becomes the most compelling Christian duty. Being a singer, God never commanded me to sing without ceasing. Being a preacher for over 50 years, God never commanded me to preach without ceasing, nor give without ceasing, nor work without ceasing. However, He did say,

"Pray without ceasing" (1st Thess. 5:17).

The apostles after Pentecost demanded the selection of deacons that the apostles might give themselves to prayer and the ministry of the word (Acts 6:4). Not first the preaching, but first that they should give themselves to prayer.

When Solomon built the temple at Jerusalem and dedicated it to God, God did not say He would be listening for the songs of the antiphonal choirs, nor watching for the smoke of the altars where many sacrifices should be offered; but God said,

"Now mine eyes shall be open, and mine ears attend unto the prayer that is made in this place" (2nd Chron. 7:15).

Then In Isaiah 56:7 God said,

"For mine house shall be called an house of prayer for all people."

And Jesus quoted this scripture as recorded in Matthew, Mark and Luke because the temple was primarily a house of prayer for all people. Back of all the preaching, praying, prophesying, singing, religious observances, God intended there should be a living faith in a God Who hears and answers prayer and thus that men should call upon the name of the Lord. There is no pleasing of God without prayer. God is the God Who hears prayer. Hebrews 11:6 says,

"But without faith it is impossible to please Him: for he that cometh to God must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him."

So, the answer to whether or not we should pray is found in the idea that prayer is simply talking to our Father about things, people, His will and thanking Him for His goodness and love. Prayer is not a time of asking the Father to do what He has already done or what He promises to do for His children. We don’t need to ask Him to bless us when Ephesians says that He has already blessed us with all spiritual blessings (Eph. 1:3). We don’t need to ask Him to help us for we understand that all things work together for good to those who love Him (Rom. 8:28). We don’t need to ask Him to supply our need for He is constantly supplying because of His care for His children.

Money is a world-wide problem and God’s word says that "the love of money is the root of all evil" (1st Timothy 6:10). However, covetousness is a most respectable sin of sins and is found in the best of families. God hates that sin and Paul calls it idolatry (Col. 3:5). In Ephesians 5:5 Paul says that a covetous man is an idolater. Asking God for money to make our lives more exciting and comfortable would be off base in prayer to a caring God.

Peter tells his audience that the fellowship of husband and wife in the home is so important that a broken fellowship could hinder prayer reaching the ear of God (1st Peter 3:1-7). Unresolved debts, unforgiving attitudes and unsettled arguments are the reasons for unanswered prayer. So, with a contrite heart, full of faith, willing to resolve all problems, let us come to God in prayer… for He cares.

The key problem with the way many of us pray today is that we focus our prayers on ourselves instead of on God. The purpose of prayer is not to get healed, get a job, get our house sold, or get whatever else we want and feel is the greater need at the time. It is to get "the life of God in us." Prayer nourishes the life of God. The life of God is the most powerful property of the believer’s possessions. Our Lord nourished the life of God in Him by prayer; He was continually in contact with His Father. We generally look upon prayer as a means of getting things for ourselves, whereas the biblical idea of prayer is that God’s holiness, purpose and wise order may be brought about through us.

May the God of Grace and Benevolence bring us into conversation with Him Who is the God that answers prayer.