By Henrylito D. Tacio
“Persistent calling upon the name of the Lord breaks through every stronghold of the devil, for nothing is impossible with God. For Christians in these troubled times there is simply no other way.” – Jim Cymbala
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A famous old Eastern philosopher named Hillel had a young clever and pleasant disciple called Maimon. The master was gratified with his student’s progress. But later on, he was sadly surprised to see that the young man started to trust too much in his own philosophy and increasingly less in prayer.
“Why should I pray,” he asked. “God is all-knowing; He does not require our words to know our needs. And God is kind: of His own accord He will give us what is good for us. Moreover, God is eternal; can we change the Eternal by prayer?”
Thus, he reasoned, and ceased to pray.
His wise master sat with a serious face in the shade of a palm tree. “Master, why are you sad?” asked the young disciple.
“Why?” the master replied. “Because I have a friend who till now has carefully cultivated his fields and lived well from them, but now he has cast aside plow and scythe, and intends to leave the fields to themselves, saying that he can live from them without work.”
“Has he lost his senses?” the young man wondered.
“By no means,” the master said. “On the contrary, he is otherwise quite a clever man. But now he says: ‘God is almighty, there, He can easily give me bread without my having a plow with my eyes fixed on the earth. And God is good. He will furnish a table for me.’”
“But, master, this is tempting God,” the young man exclaimed.
“It is, indeed, my son. But I am speaking of you. Are you not tempting God in a like manner? Is prayer less than work? This man in his sloth does not fix his eyes on the earth in order to receive material good, and you, in your conceit, do not want to turn your eyes to heaven in order to receive spiritual good.”
Depend on prayer
“Prayer is more than verbally filling in some requisition blank,” Billy Graham states. “It’s fellowship with God! It’s communion with the Lord through praising Him, rehearsing His promises, and then sharing our needs.”
When we depend on man, we get what man can do. But when we depend on prayer, we get what God can do.
Somewhere in Africa, a missionary and his helpers were forced to camp on a hill. They carried money and were fearful of an attack. After prayer, they went to sleep.
Months later, a brigand chief was brought to the mission hospital. He asked the missionary if he had soldiers to guard him that special night. “We intended to rob you,” he said, “but we were afraid of the 26 soldiers.”
When the missionary returned to his country, he shared the story during a church service. As he recalled the incident, one man jumped to his feet and interrupted the missionary and asked if he could tell him the exact date it happened. The missionary did.
Upon hearing this, the man told the missionary: “On that very night in Africa, it was morning here and I was preparing to go play golf. But I felt something unusual – the urge to pray for you. In fact, the urging of the Lord was so strong, I called men in this church to meet with me here in the sanctuary to pray for you.” Then, facing the congregation, the man asked: “Would all of those men who met with me on that day stand up?”
The men who had met together to pray that day stood up, The missionary wasn’t concerned with who they were, he was too busy counting how many men who stood up. Yes, you’re right – there were 26!
Prayers are always answered
In praying, we must not forget that our prayers are to be answered. Some are answered just as we wish; some are answered in a way different from what we wish – in a better way! Some are answered by a change in us; some by a change in others. Some are answered by the giving of a greater strength to bear trials, and some by the lifting of the trials. Some at once; some in years to come; and some await eternity.
Yes, God always answers prayers – in his own mysterious ways. Dr. Robert Schuller reminds us in his thought-provoking piece:
“When the idea is not right, God says, ‘No.’ No – when the idea is not the best. No – when the idea is absolutely wrong. No – when though it may help you, it could create problems for someone else.
“When the time is not right, God says, ‘Slow.’ What a catastrophe it would if God answered every prayer at the snap of your fingers. Do you know what would happen? God would become your servant, not your master. Suddenly, God would be working for you instead of you working for God. Remember: God’s delays are not God’s denials. God’s timing is perfect. Patience is what we need in prayer.
“When you are right, God says, ‘Grow.’ The selfish person has to grow in unselfishness. The cautious person must grow courage. The timid person must grow in confidence. The dominant person must grow in sensitivity. The critical person must grow in tolerance. The negative person must grow in positive attitudes. The pleasure-seeking person must grow in compassion for suffering people.
“When everything is alright, God says, ‘Go.’ Then miracles happen: A hopeless alcoholic is set free. A drug addict finds release. A doubter becomes like a child in his belief. Diseased tissue responds to treatment, and healing begins. The door to your dream suddenly swings open and there stand God saying, ‘Go!’”
“The prayer power,” says J. Hudson Taylor, “has never been tried to its full capacity… If we want to see mighty wonders of divine power and grace wrought in the place of weakness, failure, and disappointment, let us answer God’s standing challenge, ‘Call unto me, and I will answer thee, and show thee great and mighty things which thou knowest not!’”
Remember, “more things are wrought by prayer than this world dreams of,” wrote Alfred Lord Tennyson. – ###
