Men Ought to Pray

Luke 18, verse 1. And he spake a parable unto them
to this end, that men ought always to pray and not to faint. Now, when I read and re-read
this particular text, The thing that came first to my mind was
this. If God says men ought always
to pray, then we can pray. If God says we ought to pray,
then we can pray. In other words, for a man who
ought to do something, if he ought to do it, it's clear that
he has the right to do it, he has the privilege He has the
invitation from God to do it. You see what I'm saying? Now,
we take this privilege for granted. It seems to us an ordinary and
common privilege, but it's not for me to be able to go into
the presence of the living God, into the Holy of Holies. That's
an unparalleled privilege that God has given to us. It took
the sacrifice and the death of the Son of God to give me that
privilege. Back in the Old Testament, when
the presence of God with the people was typified by the Holy
of Holies, the most holy place, no one would dare go into that
place, except the high priest once a year, and then not without
blood. But that veil has been rent in
two, from top to bottom. and the presence of God open
to you and to me. Not just to the high priest,
but to you and to me. And we're all priests unto God.
And we're told, turn with me to Hebrews 10, Hebrews the 10th
chapter, we're told that we're to come, every one of us, we're
to come boldly, right into the presence of God. Hebrews chapter
10, verse 19. Having therefore, brethren, boldness,
liberty, to enter into the holiest, right into the presence of God.
Now that's no ordinary blessing. It's not to be taken for granted.
By the blood of Jesus Christ, our Lord, by a new and living
way which he hath consecrated, or now made, for us through the
veil, that is to say, his flesh, and having a high priest, we
have a high priest, we have a mediator, our Lord, over the house of God. Let us draw near with a true
heart in full assurance of faith. Come to God. So if men ought
to pray, then they have the right to pray. What a man ought to
do, he has the right to do. He has the privilege to do. And
it's no ordinary privilege, and it only comes through Christ
and His death. That privilege is given to us
at a great cost. the blood of the Son of God.
He said, no man comes to the Father but by me. Let me show
you another one, Hebrews chapter 4. In Hebrews the fourth chapter,
beginning with verse 14. Listen here. Hebrews 4, 14. Seeing then that we have a great
high priest that is passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son of
God, let us hold fast our profession For we have not an high priest
which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities,
but he was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let
us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace." Come boldly.
Let us therefore. Why? Because we have a high priest,
because of Christ's blood, because of his sacrifice. So as we begin
this message on prayer, let this be settled. Prayer is a privilege. Prayer is no common, ordinary
thing to be taken for granted. It's a privilege. Prayer is a
privilege purchased for us by the blood of God himself. There's not one prayer heard
apart from Christ. There's not one prayer granted
apart from Christ. The only way we can come into
the presence of God Almighty is through Christ. Now let those
three things be settled. First of all, prayer is a privilege. Prayer is purchased by the blood
of the Son of God. The right to pray, the right
to come into the presence of the eternal God is a gift given
to us because Christ Jesus paid the price. But no person can
come into God's presence except through Christ. Now secondly,
let's break this text down into four words and note the power
of each one. This is a good way. I know there
are a lot of teachers in the schools and seminaries that discourage
this type of preaching. I think it's the most effective
type of preaching, personally, to break a text down into words.
Alright, let's look at it. He said that men ought always
to pray and not to faint. That's our topic and text. Let's
break it down into four words. The first word is men. Thank
God the text doesn't say good men ought to pray. It just says
men. Thank God the text doesn't say
holy men ought to pray. Thank God the text doesn't say
those who are good with words ought to pray. It doesn't say
that. Thank God the text doesn't say those who feel religious
ought to pray, or those who paid their dues ought to pray. It
just says, and the word is generic, that is, it means the whole human
race, men, women, and children, old and young, white and black,
rich and poor, it just says men ought to pray. The President
ought to pray, and the prisoner ought to pray, the preacher ought
to pray, the deacon ought to pray, the elder ought to pray,
the drunkard ought to pray, the harlot ought to pray, the gambler
ought to pray, the profane swearer ought to pray, there isn't a
man on this earth who ought not to pray. That's what that word
says. Men, not qualified in any way,
men ought to pray. I don't care who you are tonight,
you may be the Father is from God here tonight,
but you ought to pray. That's what he said. Men ought
to pray. Look at the second word. Men ought to pray. Though it's
been years since you've prayed, you ought to pray anyhow. Though
you've denied there's a God, you still ought to pray. Though
you're on the threshold of eternity, though you haven't prayed as
a child or as a young man or as a middle-aged person, and
now you're old and gray-headed, you ought to pray right now.
Though you have great sin on your conscience, you ought to
pray. Though you're in utter despair and you feel cast out
and you feel forsaken of God and you feel so lonely, you ought
to pray. Though your heart is in no condition to pray. It always
concerns me when people talk about their hearts being in condition
to take the Lord's table, their hearts being in condition to
go to church, their hearts being in condition to pray. Scripture says men ought to pray.
Though you have prayed before and God hasn't granted your request,
you ought to pray. Though you have prayed before
and failed every time, though you never had an answer to prayer
to your knowledge, you ought to pray. Men ought to pray. That's
what it says. Now notice the next word. It
says men ought always to pray. That means right now. That means
right now. Turn to 1 Corinthians 14. The
scriptures teach public prayer. You know, a lot of people are
either-or believers. This thing is so to the exclusion
of everything. The scripture really is bifocal. It has a primary meaning, but
there are as many other meanings as there are needs. And the Scripture
teaches public prayer. If you look at 1 Corinthians
14, 16, it says, Else when thou shalt bless with the Spirit,
how shall he that occupieth the room of the unlearned say Amen
at the giving of thanks, if he doesn't understand what you're
saying? In other words, if you have the gift of tongues or another
language, and you're praying in that other language, how's
this man gonna give thanks? How's he gonna say Amen? if you're
speaking or praying in another language. So here is a man praying
and giving thanks, and those listening to him are saying amen.
He's praying for them. Not everybody has the gift of
public prayer, I realize that, but we must not deny public prayer. It's in the scripture. We're
taught to edify one another in psalms and hymns and prayers
and make spiritual song, and we're to pray publicly. We're
to have public prayer. Public prayer is a part of worship.
But also the Scriptures teach closet prayer. Turn to Matthew
6. In Matthew 6, and you can't deny one and lean only on the
other. You can't say, well, I just don't
believe in public prayer. I believe in entering the closet.
Well, they're both taught in the Word of God. In Matthew 6
verse 6 it says this, When thou prayest, enter into thy closet.
And when thou hast shut the door, pray to thy Father which is in
secret, and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward
thee openly. And when you pray, don't use
vain repetitions like the heathen. That is something you've heard
all your life. We have certain repetitious phrases that have
been interjected into our praying and we just call these things
to mind and we use them mechanically. He says that's not the way to
pray. People think that they shall be heard for their much
speaking. The length of prayer is not important. Actually, the
prayer which our Lord gave to his disciples can be prayed in
just a few seconds. Be not therefore, be not ye therefore
like unto them. Your Father knows what things
you have need of even before you ask him." So the Scripture
teaches public prayer, the Scripture teaches closet prayer, but the
Scripture teaches also a continual attitude of prayer. And you'll
find that in 1 Thessalonians 5, if you look over there. In
1 Thessalonians 5, the scriptures teach a continual attitude and
spirit of prayer. In 1 Thessalonians 5, verse 17,
it says, pray without ceasing. Now you can't go in the closet
without ceasing, can you? And you can't stand on the church
floor and talk without ceasing. And you can't bow your head and
close your eyes without ceasing. So evidently this is talking
about an attitude of prayer. An attitude of prayer, an attitude
of thanksgiving, an attitude of reliance upon God, dependence
upon God, gratitude to God, an attitude of spirit of prayer. We see this demonstrated over
in 1 Samuel chapter 1, prayer without words. That's what I
call this text, 1 Samuel 1. Now, Hannah didn't have any children. She was barren. She'd never given
birth to a child. She wanted desperately for God
to give her a son, a male child. She told the Lord if he would
give her a son, she would give him to the Lord. Whatever God
wanted to do with him, he could have him, but just give her a
son. And it says in verse 12 of 1 Samuel 1, it came to pass
as she continued praying. before the Lord. That Eli, who
was the priest, he looked at her and he saw her mouth. Now
Hannah spake in her heart. Only her lips moved, but her
voice was not heard. She wasn't saying anything. There
were no words coming from her mouth. And he said to her, Eli
thought she'd been drinking. He said to her, how long will
you be drunken? Put away thy wine from thee. And she said,
no, my Lord. I'm a woman of a sorrowful spirit.
I've drunk neither wine nor strong drink, but I've poured out my
heart before the Lord." Paul wrote in Romans chapter 8 about
praying with groans which cannot be uttered. So this attitude
of prayer is a continual spirit of thanksgiving and spirit of
prayer that we can, because we're commanded, to cultivate. Men
ought always to pray Now look at the last word, and not to
faint. Now the word faint there means
giving up, growing weary. Perseverance is what we need
in prayer. Jacob wrestled with the angel
of the Lord, and this is what he said, I will not let thee
go, except thou bless me. If you'll look with me at Matthew
chapter 7, and you'll find this is true, and every biblical commentary
will tell you this is true. In Matthew 7 verse 7, where the
scripture says, ask and it shall be given, the word there is,
keep on asking. Keep on asking. Now that's what
it is. I'm not adding to the Word of
God. I'm saying that the King James Version, to my way of thinking,
is the best. I like it the best. But there
are some improvements that can be made on the translation. And
the word here is keep on asking. Keep on seeking. Keep on knocking. That's what Matthew 7, 7 says.
Ask, and it shall be given you. Seek, and you shall find. Knock,
and it shall be opened. It's keep on asking. Keep on
seeking. Keep on knocking. That's what
this parable is all about in Luke 18, the one we read a moment
ago. Look at it again. In Luke 18,
he spake a parable unto them to this end, that men ought always
to pray and not to faint, saying there was in the city a certain
judge. He didn't fear God or regard
man. And this woman came to him, who was a widower, and she kept
saying, avenge me of my adversary, avenge me of my adversary. And
he wouldn't. He wouldn't. For a while he wouldn't
listen to her. But afterwards he said, though I fear not God
nor regard man, yet because this widower troubleth me, I will
avenge her lest by her continual coming. continue coming. I wonder if our prayers haven't lost much of their significance
and their true sincerity because the Lord knows that it's just
a matter of emotions of the moment. Now, when you bring a prayer
request, for example, to the Church, do you come to the pastor
or to the deacons and say, pray for this? Are you praying for
it? What about the next morning? Do you still remember to pray
for it the next afternoon, the next night? What about the next
week? What about the next year? Is
it continually on your mind, or was it just a prayer request
of the moment that you threw in there and had a few words
to say about it? God's not going to answer that. I'm just confident
of it. I'm sure the Lord knows our thoughts,
and we may be emotionally involved in this thing for the moment,
and we're hot, and we're enthusiastic and zealous, and we go to God,
grant this, Lord! And the next day, where is the
enthusiasm? Where is the zeal? Where is the
desire? It's not there. And we live a
week or two without it, and then we realize, well, we didn't get
that. So we're enthusiastic again, and we once again besiege the
throne of grace. Lord, you said what we desire,
we believe we'll have it, and we desire it, and Lord, we believe
it. And the next day it's gone again. God's not going to honor
that kind of praying. God's not going to honor that
kind of seeking. That's not keeping on asking, keeping on seeking,
keeping on knocking. In 1 Samuel 12, verse 23, listen
to Samuel here. In 1 Samuel 12, 23. Listen to
this. In 1 Samuel 12, 23, this is what
he said. In 1 Samuel 12, 23, he said,
Moreover, as for me, God forbid that I should sin against the
Lord in ceasing to pray for you. In ceasing to pray for you. Somebody said one time, I'll
quit praying for you when you're in hell. That's when I'll quit. I'll quit seeking God's mercies
and blessings to be upon you when you're beyond the reach
of His mercy and His blessing. I'll quit seeking His grace for
you when you're beyond the reach of His grace, but not to live. Me not always to pray, And not
to quit. Not to grow weary. That's what
that word is. That word faint. Look it up in
your concordance. It's to grow weary and to quit. And that's what Samuel is saying.
I don't intend to quit. I don't intend to grow weary.
If I pray today and God does not grant, and I pray tomorrow
and He does not grant it, and I pray next week and He does
not grant it, I'm going to pray the next week. I'm going to continue
to cry unto God until he either grants it or officially denies
it. If God commands men to pray,
then prayer is not only important as a means of grace and blessing,
but it is the means of grace and blessing. When he says we
ought to keep on asking, he means it. When he says we ought to
keep on seeking, he intends for us to keep on seeking. When he
says we're to keep on knocking, he intends for us to keep on
knocking. And he intends someday, I believe,
to grant it. Turn to Matthew 7. In Matthew
7, verse 8, I don't believe that, and this is, I don't have a text
for this, but I don't believe God is going to burden the heart
of one of his children to keep on asking, seeking, and knocking
about a matter that he doesn't intend to deal with. He says this, now listen to Matthew
7, back to the same text, verse 7, he says, keep on asking and
it'll be given, keep on seeking, you'll find, keep on knocking,
for everyone that asketh Receive it, he that seeketh, find it,
to him that knocketh it shall be opened. Now what man is there
of you whom if his son ask bread will give him a stone? Or if
you being evil know how to ask a fish will give him a serpent?
Now if you being evil know how to give good gifts to your children,
how much more shall your Father which is in heaven give good
things to them that ask him? I don't believe God is going
to answer spasmodic prayer. I don't believe God is going
to answer prayer that is encouraged by an emotional experience and
then forgotten. But I believe when God burdens
the heart of one of his children for a special need that's for
his glory and for the good of his kingdom, though that man
has to pray again and again and again and again, I believe God
fully intends to grant it. Now here, briefly, let me give
you about seven or eight things for which men ought to pray.
Will you bear with me a moment? Our Lord said men, men, not good
men, holy men, perfect men, but just men, ought always continually
to pray and not to faint, not to give up. Keep on praying.
Keep on asking. Keep on seeking. Keep on knocking.
Now, here are some things for which I believe we ought to pray.
First of all, we ought to pray for mercy. Now, turn to Hebrews
4, verse 16. Hebrews 4, verse 16. This is
the beginning, I believe, of all prayer. I believe when we
pray, it's not just a ritual through which we go, but honestly,
brethren, don't you feel totally unworthy of God's blessings?
Not only of his gifts, but even the privilege of asking for them.
Can't you say from your heart, Lord, I do feel I'm not worthy
of the least of your mercies. And so when we come to God in
prayer, we're not coming to recite our merits or recite how much
we deserve. We're coming to plead His mercy. Look at Hebrews 4.16. Let us
therefore come unto the throne of grace that we may obtain mercy. That was the prayer our Lord
commended over here in Luke 18. He said the Pharisee went to
the temple and he bragged about what he'd done for God. The publican
wouldn't so much as lift his eyes to heaven but smote on his
breast and cried, God be merciful, merciful. So I say to anybody
here tonight, I don't care whether you're saved or unsaved, it matters
not to me whether you are a believer in Christ or an unbeliever. Every
person here needs mercy. The unbeliever needs mercy, and
the believer needs mercy. The man who knows Christ needs
mercy, and the man who doesn't know Christ needs mercy. And
this is a prayer that every human being on this earth can pray,
and he can pray it from his heart, he can pray it sincerely, he
can pray it to the living God, Lord be merciful to me. Now I know we're not saved by
praying, but I don't believe we're saved without it, I really
don't. No man is saved because he weeps or because he prays.
We're redeemed by the sacrifice of Christ, but I'm just as confident
that a man is not going to be redeemed or saved till he calls
on God. For the Scripture says, Whosoever
shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved. I'm not afraid of rebuke by those
who believe in salvation by grace apart from works. I believe that.
And I'm not afraid to be rebuked by those who believe that God
saves whom he will. I believe that too. And I'm not
afraid of being rebuked by those who believe that sinners, unbelievers,
have no basis on which to pray. But a man who needs mercy has
a basis on which to pray. Be merciful. Call on God. Lord, I'm a sinner. I'm lost. Lord, reveal Christ to me. Show me my guilt, show me my
sins. You know Whitfield, I admire
George Whitfield. He went to a home one time to
preach and they had a servant girl in that home who was unsaved
and didn't know God and she listened to Mr. Whitfield preach one that
particular day and she came to him afterwards and she said,
Mr. Whitfield, She said, I'm interested in this gospel you
preach. I'm interested in salvation. I've never heard much preaching.
What should I do? And this is what he said. He
said, young lady, ask God. While I'm gone, I'll be back
here someday. While I'm gone, you ask God, you pray. You ask God to show you yourself.
to really reveal yourself, your heart, your sins, your guilt
to you. Ask him to reveal your sin. Whitefield
said he was away from there a long time, and the next time he came,
he was to preach in this home and spend the night, and he inquired
about this servant girl. She wasn't in the service. And
the lady of the house said, well, she hasn't been worth too much
since you were here last time. About all she does is read the
Bible and weep. Read the Bible and weep." And
Whitefield said, could I talk to her? And the lady of the house
took her to the servant girl's room, and there she was. Sorrowful,
depressed, despondent, Whitfield sat down and said, why aren't
you down where we're having the preaching service? She said,
I'm not worthy to meet with those people. I'm not worthy to worship
God. I'm not worthy to call upon his
name. He's shown me what a wretched,
guilty creature I am. He said, now, young lady, will
you do something else for me? And she said, yes, sir. He said,
will you pray this prayer? Lord, show me thyself. Reveal
Christ to me. And Whitefield said when he went
back the third time, he said that young lady was rejoicing
in the blood of the Lamb. She was rejoicing in the mercy
of God. She was rejoicing in the substitutionary
work of Christ. Can you pray that, Lord? Show
me myself. Show me thyself. Call on God
for mercy. Secondly, men ought to pray for
mercy, and then secondly, they ought to pray for forgiveness.
Turn to 1 John 1.9. 1 John 1, 9. Now this is something some of
us have talked about a little bit of late, but this is written
to believers here, 1 John 1, no question about it. And John
is saying in 1 John 1, verse 9, if we confess our sins, if
we confess our sins, He's faithful and just to forgive us our sins
and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. Now one or two important things.
Number one, There is not a person on this earth who does not sin. There is not a person on this
earth, in the church or out of the church, who does not sin.
The only people who do not sin are those who are in heaven right
now. They do not sin. The only people who do not sin
are those whose bodies are in the graves and their souls are
in glory. The only person who does not
sin is the man who has had the old nature eradicated by death,
physical death. And that's when we lay aside
this body of sin, this body of death. But sin is not only a
deed, it's a thought. Sin is not only the presence
of something, it's the absence of something. And you could go
on and on talking about that. The second thing. But all of
our sins are under the blood. All of our sins are put away.
They are separated from us as far as the East is from the West.
They are cleansed by Christ. We are in Christ unblameable,
unreprovable, without fault. That's so. The blood of Jesus
Christ, God's Son, does cleanse us from all sin. In God's sight,
I have no sin. And yet we are taught in his
word to pray for the forgiveness of our sin. Let's see if we can
have an illustration of that. Turn to John 13. In the 13th
chapter of John, and I won't have time to go into this at
great length tonight, but I want you to look at it from this standpoint. Now, when our Lord washed the
disciples' feet, he taught many lessons. And like I said a while
ago, don't confine the Scriptures to our limited thinking. It's broad. It reaches many needs. When our Lord does something,
it was to illustrate this and this and this and this. And I
know when He washed the disciples' feet, He was illustrating humility,
but it's more than that too. Now watch this. Verse 5, John
13, He poured water into a basin. He began to wash the disciples'
feet. to wipe them with a towel wherewith he was girded. Then
he came to Simon Peter. Simon was sitting there, and
he came to Simon. Simon said, Lord, dost thou,
the sovereign, almighty, Lord of glory, wash my feet? And Jesus answered and said,
What I do thou knowest not now, but thou shalt know hereafter.
Now if it was only an example of humility, Peter saw that. He could understand that perfectly,
couldn't he? The washing of feet was the job
of a slave. It was the lowest job in the
house. There wasn't another job as low as washing dirty, dusty
feet of people who'd come in off the street. Peter could see
that. There was no hidden meaning there. If I, your Lord and Master,
washed your feet, you ought to do the same to others. That's
indicated plainly, but there's something else. Peter couldn't
then understand. And the Lord told him he didn't
understand it, and told him he wouldn't understand it, and told
him later on he'd understand it. And Peter said, You'll never
wash my feet. Boy, I tell you, he was playing,
wasn't he? You'll never wash my feet. Peter, the Lord said,
If I wash thee not, you don't have any part of me. Oh, we're
getting into some heavy equipment here, aren't we? More in humility. If you don't let me show my humility,
you have no part of me. Uh-uh! Now, it's deeper than
that. If I don't wash your feet now,
you won't have any part, you won't be in glory. You won't
be in the bride, you won't be in the sacrifice, you won't be
in the atonement if I don't wash your feet." Peter said, Lord,
not my feet only. If this is that important, if
my eternal glory depends on it, wash my hands and my head and
my whole body! Now watch it. Jesus said, He
that is washed, He that is washed. Needed, not, save, except, to
wash his feet. But he's already clean, every
whit clean, perfectly clean, wholly clean, and you're clean,
but not all. For he knew who should betray
him, therefore he said, you're not all clean. Now what's he
saying here? He's saying that when he died on that cross, he
put away all my sins. I'm clean. You who believe on
him are clean. Totally clean. But day by day,
in my walking through this world, what touches this world? My feet.
My feet. Not my mind, not my heart, not
my soul. My feet. And in my engagements,
and in my communion, in my contact, in my flesh, and in my humanity,
those feet get dirty. I get up in the morning without
any contact. Even then I meet the air of this
world. I meet the influence of this
world. I meet the things that surround me in this world. And
I'm contaminated by them, and you are too. Don't say you're
not. And that needs to be washed. You see what I'm saying? That
needs to be washed. And that's the reason we need
daily, constantly, a mediator. We need Christ on the right hand
of God. It is, and yet it isn't, an isolated act. Christ died. He paid for our sins. You are
Queen, He said. But not all. Judas wasn't clean. He didn't die for him. He knew
who should betray him. Therefore he said, you're not
all clean. That fellow Judas is not clean. Do him no good
to wash his feet. I'll wash you, but it won't do
any good. But Peter, you're clean. I've cleansed you, but you need
your feet washed. You see what I'm saying? I know
some of you do see what I'm saying. And we need to pray for forgiveness.
That's the reason we say, Lord, forgive our sin. Lord, wash my
feet. Oh, John Wesley. If anybody believed
in sinless perfection, it was John Wesley, but wasn't he the
very one who said, every morning when I get up, I pray, Lord,
keep me from sin, and every night I pray before I go to sleep,
Lord, forgive my sin. Wash my feet. Christ said, if
I don't wash your feet, you have no part with me. I can be your
substitute, but I've got to be your mediator. You've got to
be saved by my death, but also by my life. You've got to be
washed and cleansed in the blood, but daily, daily, daily. That's
what's wrong with this missionary Baptist doctrine of
isolated repentance and isolated faith and what they call eternal
security. That's what's wrong with it.
No panting after holiness, no panting after God, no washing
of the feet. That's what's wrong with it. It's not there, and it's got
to be there. It's just got to be there. There's got to be the
daily praying, the daily crying for daily cleansing of the feet. All right, men ought to pray.
I've got to quit, too. Men ought to pray for the lost.
Paul said, I have continual sorrow for my brethren that they might
be saved. Pray for the lost. Paul said, I could wish myself
a curse from Christ for my brethren according to the flesh. I don't
know anything about that kind of intercession. I wish I did,
but I don't. And I don't believe many people
do. And Moses stood before the Lord
and said, Lord, if you want to deliver Israel, just block me
out of your book. My, my. I wish you could grab
hold of the horns of the altar and pray like that. ought to
pray for the loss. And then men ought to pray for
healing. That's right, for healing. Turn to Deuteronomy 32, 39. Deuteronomy
32, 39. Here's a scripture that I wanted
to read. God says in Deuteronomy 32, 39, See now that I, even
I, am he. And there's no God with me. I
kill and I make alive. I wound and I heal. I wound and I heal. God doesn't
heal all men. Some men die. Brother James Faust
had a heart attack Friday night. He's in intensive care. He had
a coroner. They sent for his family. As
far as I know, he's still alive, but I know this. God wounds and
God heals, and he's in the hands of the Lord. We're to pray for
him. I believe the Scripture teaches,
any sick among you, let him call for the elders of the church
and let them pray for him. The only way I know to pray is
this way, Lord, if it's your will, heal him. If it's not,
take him home. Do you know any other way to pray? I don't. All healing is divine. God heals,
and God is able to heal. Hezekiah turned his face to the
wall. He prayed, Lord, heal me. And God said, all right, you've
got 15 more years, I'll heal you. But some men he doesn't
heal. Men ought to pray for preachers.
Let me read you this. Turn to Ephesians 6. I wouldn't
take the time to put it in here. Ephesians chapter 6, you are
to pray for preachers. In the study tonight, Stan prayed
for the one who would stand up here and preach the Word. And
I'm so impressed with that. It's such a lonely place without
the Holy Spirit. It's such an important place.
In Ephesians 6, verse 18, listen to Paul. Praying always with
all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, watching there and
due with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints,
we're to pray for all God's people. And Paul said, and for me, pray
for me, that utterance may be given unto me, that I may open
my mouth boldly to make known the mystery of the gospel. That's
what you pray for. You pray for utterance, for an
open door, pray for wisdom, for the man who speaks. Pray that
God will enable him to teach himself and you. Spurgeon used to say the success
of his ministry was not in his ability. His success of his ministry was
in the grace of God and the people who prayed for him. He constantly
said it. We ought to pray for those in
authority. You know the Bible commands you to pray for the
president? whether saved or unsaved. The Bible commands you to pray
for senators and congressmen, for the mayors and for the city
commissioners, for all in authority. That's right. You want to see
that? It's in 1 Timothy 2. 1 Timothy 2. Now listen to this. In 1 Timothy 2, verse 1 and 2,
I exhort therefore that first of all supplications, prayers,
intercession, giving of thanks be made for all men, for kings
and for all that are in authority. that we may live a quiet and
peaceable life in honesty and godliness. And I believe, brethren,
in the seventh place, we are to pray for spiritual life. The
disciples prayed, Lord, increase our faith. Our Lord said, Seek
ye first the kingdom of God, seek it, seek it. He said, Blessed
are they that hunger and thirst for righteousness, they shall
be filled. He said, How much more shall the Father give the
Holy Spirit to them that ask him, ask him, ask him. When you're called upon, and I recommend this, when you're
called upon to do anything, if it's read scripture in a study,
if it's teach a Sunday school class, if it's to occupy this
pulpit, whatever it is, I exhort you, and I say with all my heart,
profitable it'll be. and God help you if you don't,
to go alone. I'm not talking about with your
wife and with your children, with your neighbors and with
other deacons or preachers. I mean go alone before God on
your face and cry for the Holy Spirit and cry for wisdom and
cry for God to speak through you. A man who approaches any kind
of ministering in the name of God without a time alone with
God is a man who is attempting an impossible task. No apparent need. No apparent
need. Because prayer is not just asking. We had a book published a few
years ago on the subject of prayer. It's called Asking and Receiving,
but I differ with that strongly. I don't think prayer is asking
and receiving. I think prayer is more praise
and thanksgiving than it is asking. I really do. I think it's more
praise and thanksgiving. Look over here at Ephesians 5.
Here it is in Ephesians 5, beginning with verse 19, speaking to yourselves
in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing, making melody
in your heart to the Lord, giving thanks always for all things
unto God our Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. Now
we can sure do that, can't we? I thank God for you. I thank
God for you. I thank God for this book. I
thank God for breath. I thank God that I can walk.
I thank God I can see you. I thank God I can hear you. I thank God, we can just keep on
thanking God for refreshing water. Thank God for food. Thank God
for health. Thank God for those who've lived
with us and gone on. Thank God. Can you do that? You
can pray. Men ought always to pray, always
to give thanks. And if you're confined to this
little idea that prayer is just asking, asking, asking, asking,
asking, Lord, let me hear a prayer that does not ask for something.
Let me hear a prayer that praises you. from beginning to end, just,
Lord, I've got too much now, won't you take some of it away
and humble me a little bit? Prayer. Men ought always to pray. Well, let's bow together. Our
Father, we do pray sincerely, desperately. Pray for the burden
to pray. Let us depart from this place
having not only learned something in our heads, but in our hearts.
Let us leave here men and women of prayer, young people who pray,
who praise the Lord, who's worthy to be praised. Oh Lord, if I
spent every breath from now till my death praising thy name, it
would be poor praise. Grant, O Lord, that we may be
enabled of thy Holy Spirit to pray. Make us a praying chariot,
a praying pastor, a praying people, a rejoicing people, a humble
people, a people seeking the Lord, who pray for one another,
who love one another, who defend one another, For love covereth
a multitude of infirmities, how difficult it would be for us
to criticize one for whom we prayed. Put us on our faces before
thee, and give us that continual attitude of prayer. For Christ's
sake we pray, amen.

Men Ought to Pray

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Men Ought to Pray

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