| The Ministry of Comfort |
Chapter 11 |
Page 4 |
Then there are many prayers which bring the answer in the very form that is sought. Elijah prayed fervently that it might not rain; and it rained no on the earth for three years and six months. He prayed again; and the heaven gave rain and the earth brought forth her fruit. The Bible is full of such illustrations. Then every devout Christian has many examples in his own personal experience. We may say, therefore, that all true prayer is effectual, avails in its working. There are supposed prayers which get no answer – prayers, those who make them call the, perhaps wondering why nothing comes of them. The Master tells us that there are those who pray in order that men may think them devout. Their petitions ascend not upward. St. James says there are those who ask and receive not because they ask amiss, that they may spend it in their pleasures. But every true prayer is effectual, avails in its working.
What, then, if effectual prayer? It is easy to gather from the teachings of Holy Scripture the answer to this question. Jesus Christ is our great Teacher, and He spoke many words about prayer. He Himself was a man of prayer and knew perfectly how to pray so as to receive an answer. Perhaps most of us altogether underestimate the value of what we call the Lord’s Prayer, as definite instruction concerning the manner in which we should pray. It was given by the Master to His Disciples in answer to their request that He would teach them to pray. We may study it therefore as the divine ideal of acceptable and effectual prayer.
Page 4