When the disciples asked the Lord Jesus to teach them to pray, He was not finished teaching when He gave them the famous model prayer recorded in Matthew 6.
He would teach them by example, praying all night under the stars He made, on transfiguration mountain in the antechamber of heaven, even on the Cross in an agony so horrific that it put the sun in sackcloth and caused earth’s bosom to heave in a paroxysm of sympathizing grief.
But He would teach them also through other mortals who had learned lessons in the penultimate communication skill–one-on-one with God. The Apostle Paul left on record a series of breathtaking prayers from his own life and ministry, God-sized prayers that would split the roof over our assemblies and pour down heaven’s bounty on us–if we would embrace these truths and pray them up to God (see pp. 16-17).
The University of True Life instructs in 3D, audio visual, virtuous reality. If we keep our eyes and ears open, we can discover keys to unlocking the unrestricted potential of prayer by spending time with those valiant souls known as prayer warriors. Allow me a few examples.
A well-known preacher friend of mine and I stepped into the room of a retirement home. Seated by the window sat an aged saint, Aunt Essie, knitting an afghan. Her face glowed with an other-worldly light. She made regular forays there–business trips for the King.
The preacher and the prayer warrior were old friends. I stood in the background as they began a round-the-world journey. Stopping at one country after another, they shared updates on the Lord’s work there–missionaries, their heartaches and dreams; missionary children, and where they were attending school. On and on they went, breathlessly spanning the globe.
After prayer, the preacher and I bid our goodbyes. And as we left the room, I turned and exclaimed, “That was amazing! What a memory! How does she do that?”
“She prays for them every day,” he replied.
So there was a key principle in prayer: If you have no interest in the Lord’s work, it’s probably because you’ve made no investment in it. No investment–no interest. Bank on it.
I told the above story one evening at a prayer meeting. A brother came to me, tears in his eyes and a catch in his throat.
“We were in the same assembly,” he said. “One day, when I was a boy, she came to me as I stood with some other young people. Putting her arm around me, she said, ‘I’m praying for you, Tommy, that you will be saved.’
“‘You don’t need to pray for me,’ I said. ‘I just got saved.’
“‘Then I’ll pray for you all the more,’ was her reply.” This presses home the second key: Of course one should pray for the lost. Paul wrote that his prayer to God for Israel was that they be saved. But our Lord reminds us that, though He died for all, His intercessory ministry is directed toward the needs of His people: “I pray not for the world; but for those Thou hast given Me out of the world.” The world, the flesh and the devil have declared war on every Christian, unlike the unbeliever. The sinners need our prayers, but the saints need our prayers all the more!
Brother Clem, a shepherd of the flock, was dying inch by inch of Lou Gehreig’s, ALS. At last, all he had was movement in his thumbs. A computer had been rigged so he could slowly, painfully communicate, one letter at a time. When his wife came into his hospital room one morning shortly before he died a few weeks ago, this message was on the screen: “O blessed God, how kind are all Thy ways to me…”
Key number three: Pray much; praise more. Prayers can tend to be negative. We bring to God our needs, problems, cares, sicknesses–and so we should. But, Paul reminds us, our requests should be “with thanksgiving.” How it sweetens our prayer life, and our attitudes, too. If this story of brother Clem touched my cold heart, what must it have done to the heart of the Father?
Key number four? Do it!