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Prayer Availeth Much (T.M. Anderson) 1

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Chapter 1.
The Fellowship of Prayer
 
"Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication
with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto
God."—Philippians 4:6.

This timely exhortation stresses the fact that God's people should
consult with Him in every matter pertaining to life. Unless they see
the imperative necessity of prayer, and give it an important place in
daily life, they cannot expect to be maintained by the ample resources
of a generous Savior. It is apparent that we cannot obtain the things
essential to life unless we make everything pertaining to life a
matter of earnest prayer. It is impossible to live a consistent
Christian life in the sight of God by praying occasionally. Praying
intermittently is certainly not praying incessantly and importunately.
Such careless praying is not consistent with the exhortation to pray
without ceasing.

Persons praying spasmodically are like men that gorge themselves with
food and drink on special occasions and starve themselves between the
feasts. We do not live from feast to famine when we enter into a
partnership with Christ in prayer. We are not disturbed by doubts and
defeats when we make everything a matter of earnest prayer. We enjoy
an unbroken fellowship with Christ when we make our requests known
unto Him in daily prayer. He imparts to us the necessary strength to
cope with the temptations and trials incident to life in this
benighted world when everything relating to life is made known unto
Him in prayer. When the inspired Apostle said, "... Let your requests
be made known unto God," he was obviously emphasizing the importance
of revealing to the Lord everything required to sustain us in life. We
find it necessary to reveal both our spiritual and our temporal needs
unto Him in prayer.

Nothing pertaining to our life in this world is unimportant in the
sight of God. He is interested in everything that concerns us in life.
The Lord would have us understand that we obtain rest of soul when we
enter into the fellowship of prayer with Him. When Paul said, "Be
careful for nothing...," he revealed the true rest of soul to be found
in the covenant of prayer. He is urging us to lay aside our
troublesome cares and anxieties lest they hinder us in making our
requests known unto the Lord. Paul was saying in substance, "Be not
anxiously solicitous; do not give place to trouble, no matter what
occurs; for anxiety cannot change the condition of things from bad to
good, but will certainly injure your soul if you give place to it." It
is certainly true that we must cast our burdens and earthly concerns
upon the Lord before we can make our requests known unto Him by prayer
and supplication with thanksgiving.

Perhaps my personal testimony will enable others to perceive the value
of entering into the fellowship of prayer with Christ, for I found
true rest of soul and quietness of heart when I entered into the
partnership of prayer with Him. "Ask, and ye shall receive, that your
joy may be full."

I was teaching in the department of religious education in Asbury
College when I entered into the covenant of prayer with Christ. It had
been my purpose for several months to prepare some written messages on
the Epistle to the Hebrews. In order to have time to devote to this
work it was necessary for me to arise early in the morning and do the
writing before the hour I was scheduled to meet my classes. I began
this work during the first week of 1950.

I was suddenly awakened about midnight on January sixth. Knowing that
I had a full day of work before me, I felt it necessary to sleep a few
hours lest I be too weary in mind and body to do the writing and
teaching. At that moment the Savior spoke to me. He asked me if I were
willing to sacrifice some sleep in order to give Him an opportunity to
speak with me in the quiet hours of the morning. He told me that it
was necessary to deny myself of sleep in order to prevail in prayer. I
realized for the first time that denying myself of sleep was a form of
fasting. For five hours I waited before the Lord in sacred worship and
holy communion. My soul was greatly revived, and I felt refreshed in
mind and rested in body.

After this remarkable manifestation of the Savior I was constrained to
examine my prayer life. I was impressed to consider the time spent in
prayer during the average day. I was humbled before the Lord when I
discovered how little time had been given to Him in prayer and
meditation. It had been my daily practice from the day I was saved to
spend some time in prayer morning and evening. I had established the
family altar in my home. I had spent time in secret prayer during the
years of my ministry. I had never knowingly overlooked the importance
of prayer. I am now aware that I had never discovered the
possibilities in prayer like they were revealed to me when I waited
five delightful hours before the Savior that memorable morning.
 
When I entered into the fellowship of prayer with Christ, I solemnly
promised Him that I would not allow my plans and pursuits of daily
life to infringe on my time to pray. I vowed to take sufficient time
to commune with Him in prayer no matter what duties of the day
demanded my attention. When I made this covenant with Christ I emptied
myself of earthly possessions and concerns. I placed my ministry, my
teaching, my writings, my vocation, my travels, and my home in a heap
before the Lord. I separated myself from these interests as completely
as I ever expect to be separated from them in death. I deliberately
put these earthly concerns in a place of secondary importance in my
life. I counted all things loss for the excellency of the knowledge of
the fellowship with Christ in prayer. I fully realized that Christ was
speaking to me when He said, "If any man will come after me, let him
deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me. For whosoever will
save his life shall lose it: and whosoever will lose his life for my
sake shall find it." I was reminded of how much I had lost through the
years because I had not known the value of fellowship with Christ in
prayer.

When I entered the fellowship of prayer with the Lord my soul was
immediately relieved of the burdens and cares of life. I found the
place of His rest in the covenant of prayer. My duties are many, and
my body is often weary from my labors in the ministry, but my spirit
knows no weariness for my soul dwells at ease in the haven of perfect
peace. There were times in the past when the responsibilities of the
ministry were almost more than my mind and body could endure. The many
concerns of preaching made me restless in the night and disturbed
during the day. It is clear to me now that I had not discovered the
secret of resting in the Lord. I was pushing and pulling in my own
strength. I was not trusting the Spirit to bring things to pass.
I have the same burdens and cares of the ministry today, but I have
discovered how to cast my cares upon the Lord in the fellowship of
prayer. The yoke of the Meek and Lowly Christ is easy, and His burden
is light. He has given me rest of soul and quietness of spirit in the
covenant of daily prayer. It is now my daily practice to keep the
morning watch with the Savior. "My voice shalt thou hear in the
morning, O Lord; in the morning will I direct my prayer unto thee, and
look up."—Psalm 5:3. The hours between midnight and six o'clock in the
morning are the most peaceful. The duties and distractions of the
preceding day have ended, and the activities of the new day have not
begun.

It is apparent that Jesus made it a practice of His life to pray in
the quiet hours of the morning. It is written, "In the morning, rising
up a great while before day, he went out, and departed into a solitary
place, and there prayed."—Mark 1:35.

The duties of the coming day demanded much from the Savior. The virtue
that went out of Him to heal the hearts and hurts of the people was
replenished in the place of prayer. His physical strength was
constantly renewed through His ceaseless prayers. Before the dawn of
the busy day our Lord went out, and departed into a solitary place,
and there prayed. We are not told where He found this peaceful place
to pray. He may have found a place of sacred seclusion to pray beneath
the overshadowing boughs of a towering tree where nature remained
speechless with reverence and the morning star looked down in solemn
contemplation. The Lord may have longed to pour out His sinless soul
with strong crying and tears in some voiceless valley filled with holy
hush. It could be that He sought a solitary place among the friendly
hills where the silent shadows of the departing night lingered until
hastened into hiding by the light of the approaching dawn. Perhaps He
found rest for His burdened heart in a sequestered place in a lonely
desert carpeted with shifting sands where the sighing winds ceased to
whisper while He prayed.

The example of our Lord enables us to perceive the value of
unburdening our hearts in the quiet hours of the morning. It is
difficult to pray when the mind is filled with the confusion and rush
of the day. We can pray in the quietness of the home while the day is
young if we are willing to sacrifice some sleep. The Savior admonished
us to enter into the closet and shut the door. We must shut the door
of our mind and exclude the cares and burdens of the day in order to
prevail with God in the secret place of prayer.
One will be astonished at the results obtained in the quiet place of
prayer. I have seen the Lord work wonders in answer to prayer offered
before Him in the early hours of the morning. I have known Him to heal
people in homes and hospitals hundreds of miles from the place where I
was praying.

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Prayer Availeth Much (T.M. Anderson) 1 Stuart Wright <preacherstu@gmail.com> - 2018-07-26 06:55 -0700

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