Dennis Gillett - Class 2: Preparation and Practice

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   Good morning everyone. Yes, this address is about preparation and practice and first of all I'd like to talk to you about what is intended by preparation. Think of this situation. I am to preside on Sunday at the breaking of bread service.

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   And on Saturday afternoon a brother rings me up and says, Brother Gillett, I see you are presiding tomorrow and if you were thinking of calling upon me to pray, could you tell me now so that I can make preparation? And he means, let me have time to compose my sentences and let me think about my phrases.

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   Now don't misunderstand me. I am not complaining one whit about such a preparation. It is far better to prepare in that way if it is necessary than not to prepare and to neglect it and then pray a prayer which is faulty and feeble and inappropriate. It is true of course that sometimes that kind of preparation might produce a prayer which is rather formal and decorous but never mind. Not always so. Quite often. It is an excellent thing to do if it is necessary. It is perfectly proper and it is perfectly right.

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   The only reason I am not prepared. The only reason I mention it is this. To say it is not what we mean by preparation as far as this subject is concerned. It is not that kind of preparation I am concerned with. I am not concerned with. When I say preparation this morning I am not concerned with preparing to pray on a special occasion like the breaking of bread service.

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   I am concerned with. I am concerned with the kind that touches our life and makes us ready to pray at all times under all circumstances. Let me put it to you in another way. There are certain great facts in life which make it possible for us to come to God in prayer and it is our response in daily life to those facts which it is our response to those great facts of our spiritual life which have the effect of preparing us to pray.

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   Now before I proceed to pray. May I ask you to pray. May I ask you to pray. May I ask you to recall another great Bible principle and it is this. In the final analysis the truth about God and his purpose is not truth in the abstract. That is to say it is not revealed to us in order just to inform us. It is not revealed to us just for us to learn and to speculate upon and to discuss.

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   It may be very interesting but that is not revealed to us. It may be very interesting but that is not its prime purpose. Truth by its very nature always makes a claim upon us. By its very nature it makes a demand upon us. Indeed sometimes we speak of obeying the truth and it is right.

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   It is not just something to be stored and labelled. The real purpose of spiritual truth is to change us so that we become like God. The objective of truth is godliness. God-likeness. So that the truth we learn should bit by bit, perhaps imperceptibly sometimes, be made incarnate in our own lives. I mean a man who speculates upon the truth but never does it is half-forced already.

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   The proportion to which a life is changed and sanctified by the truth is really the proportion to which the individual is being prepared for praying. Now could we look at this a bit more closely? Think of some of the great facts of the truth. The fatherhood of God, the mediation of the Son as our Saviour and our High Priest, the activity of the Holy Spirit in the Word of God which is the light of our life.

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    How we respond to these things will regulate our preparation for prayer. The measure of our response will be the measure of our preparedness. Just let's think again. God as our Father. Now how do we respond to that? The essential feature of a father-child relationship is that the child is the extension of the father.

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    Because that's what fatherhood is. Fatherhood is life given. Sonship is life received. In the Psalm 103 which I think I've already quoted in this series or on another occasion. Like as a father pitieth his children, so hath the Lord compassion upon them that fear him. That tells us that God is like a father.

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    But God is not only like a father, he is our father. You know, some people can be like a father, they can behave like a father to another man's child. It's a splendid thing. But when all is said and done, it isn't the essence of fatherhood. Benevolence, fatherly benevolence is not the essence of fatherhood, though it's a wonderful element.

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    In the noblest and the essential sense, fatherhood is begetting a child. Now that's what's happened to you and to me. God has begotten us through the Spirit by the Word of God. And therefore, the fatherhood of God is an essential, marvellous, almost inexplicable thing. So that the child, by the very nature of fatherhood, is the extension of its father.

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    As I say, fatherhood is life given. Sonship is life received. Now in the ideal relationship, sons ought to be like their father. So we call ourselves, indeed the Bible calls us, the children of God, and yet let's face it. Brethren and sisters, I must be careful. I don't want to offend anyone. I'm not trying to be hard on you.

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    But I measure in you by myself. Perhaps that's not a good idea. But you see, I cling graciously, Brother President, to the idea that I am normal. I believe this passionately.

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    That is to say, good morning. That is to say that my experience could very well be your experience. So, you know, when we say that we are the children of God, and it's right. Yet sometimes, we are very far from being like God. I mean, I know in my own life, you'd be hard put to it sometimes to see the identity.

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    Then again, Jesus once said, fear not, little flock. It is the father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom. Now, in that short sentence, God is revealed as a father, as a shepherd, and as a king. And when men saw it revealed superlatively in the man of Nazareth, the old things burst forth in Israel with a new beauty which they had never really dreamt of before.

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    Now, I say, when we seek to answer the claim of that revelation, if we can answer it sincerely and truly and honestly, then we are being prepared to pray. Let me illustrate more particularly. How can we pray, thy kingdom come, if in some way we are rebelling against the king? How can we pray for the coming of the kingdom, and at the same time, hindering the development of the kingdom values in our life, that is, love, joy, and peace?

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    How can we pray for the king's victory, if we are nursing in our lives one of the things against which the king is fighting? Think of the shepherd. Now, it's the sheep's part in this relationship, to be content with the pasture, with the shepherd appoints. And if I am not content, and if I insist on regarding everything as drudgery, then I'm ill prepared to pray.

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    But if I am content to go where the shepherd leads, whether it be through the desert or by the side of the still waters, if I am content, then I am being prepared to pray. Or think of the mediation of the Son. In 1 Corinthians 2 verse 30, the apostle has written, Now, how do I answer the claim of that great truth?

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    I mean, righteousness is rightness of conduct, which arises out of sanctification, which is rightness of character. And Paul is saying that the king is the source of that righteousness, and he's the source of that sanctification. Of him are ye in Christ Jesus. Even righteousness, sanctification, and redemption. Christ is the source of that development.

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    Now, Paul is saying that the king is the source of that righteousness, and that sanctification as well. He once said, Christ liveth in me. He meant the life of Christ was to be developed, and was to be repeated in some way in his own life. Now, when the indwelling Christ calls on us to some new duty, when he, through the involutions and convolutions of ecclesial life, invites us to some new responsibility, some new enterprise, how do we respond?

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    Now, if we respond with a ready consent, then we are being prepared to pray. But if we are not, if we refuse, if we try to avoid the responsibility for our own particular selfish reasons, then prayer becomes most difficult. I mean, what makes us refuse under those circumstances? What makes us say, here am I, send him?

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    What makes us do that? Well, I know the answer to this. It could be something which we ought to repudiate, and be done with, and we do not. Some relationship which pleases us, but which is full of spiritual danger. Some indulgence which we cannot master, and might very well master us. Some procrastination, which is robbing us of our resolution.

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    Some difficulty which we could really be done with if we like, but we like it, in a way, too much. When this situation arises in our life, you will know, as I know, how difficult it is to pray sincerely and regularly.

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    And then, the other element, think of the Holy Spirit's revelation of God's purpose in this word which we love so much. Part of true preparation for prayer is a sincere response to the fact that that the Son of God will soon burst forth upon the world with flaming Advent glory. That's one of the great truths which this Holy Word of God teaches us continuously.

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    And we're always saying we are longing for His coming. But I wonder if we dare examine that affirmation closely, with our deepest and most incisive enquiry. I mean, let me put a question to some of you.

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    I mean, would you be very upset if our Lord postponed His coming to say twenty years? Would you? You see, there are many things in life which are wonderful and full of interest, I know that. I mean, we might just have fallen in love.

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    Or, we might just about to be married. Or, we might just be waiting for our first child. Or, we're just about to graduate. Or, we're just entering to the zenith of our career. We've waited a long time and now we're promoted. Or, they've just told us the date of their retirement.

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    Well, you can see that I've been through this, I've travelled this pathway myself. I know the problems and I know the feelings. Of course, you are perfectly right to fall in love. In fact, you can't. You've no way of stopping you. That's my experience. When it comes, it comes.

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    And of course, your right to get married and your right to graduate and your right to follow your career properly and to look forward to your retirement is splendid. All these things are perfectly right. But, the thing is, and may God bless you all, may I say, in the experience of it, but, the thing is, we ought always to recognise that all these activities may be interrupted at any moment by the appearance of the King in glory.

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    The present joy will be superseded by the greater joy. The present ambition will be made subservient to the great ambition. The man or woman who truly looks for the coming of the King and longs for His coming is best prepared for praying because, in order to pray, prevailingly, I must live in the hope of that day when all the present pain and all the present sorrow will be ended.

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    If you have true compassion for humanity, if you can bring your sensitivity into touch with the world's agony, if there is in your heart a hot turbulent protest against the evil things which are being done by evil men, then you will be driven to prayer for other people. You will be driven to prayer for the people in your street, for the people out in the world who are suffering.

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    You will pray that the glory and the judgment of God may come and His government may be triumphant in all the earth. And when the Spirit revealed word creates in your heart such an agony and such a desire, you must never try to check it. For that is to grieve the Spirit indeed, as the glory of the kingdom flames and flashes before you in the word of God, and as the demon of fear will ere long come gibbering at the windows of the world and as faith grows dim and as love may wax it cold, then those who love His appearing and His kingdom must be driven to pray and therefore by that, by their relationship and their response to these great and holy things they are being prepared to pray.

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    But you see, brethren and sisters, we cannot truly pray for His coming into the world unless we are willing to have His kingdom established in our own hearts first. We cannot long for the millennium unless the millennium is in our lives now. Whereas one is a preparation for the other. So then, I emphasize that as it appears to me the preparation for prayer is in a real sense not something which is slight or spasmodic or dilettante or a superficial thing.

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    It is a supreme part of our spiritual life. Now, don't misunderstand me. It is certainly not that we have to be perfect before we can pray. Not that. Else, God help us, we should all be silent. But, we have to face it that there are certain hindrances to prayer which need to be removed for prevailing prayer to be achieved.

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    Or to put it to you bluntly, if we are willfully unsubmitted to God's purpose and his way of life enjoined upon us then we are painfully unprepared to pray. I mean, if we are willing to flirt with wrong things then we are not being prepared to pray. Or put it another way, it makes praying very difficult.

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    or if we are nursing, for instance, an unconfessed sin, if we will not bring ourselves to confess it and seek pardon, then you must know that it creates an hoist barrier on the pathway of prayer. If you have ever been in that position, then your experience will have taught you how impossible it is to draw near to God in prayer when you know in your heart there is a sin upon your soul and you haven't confessed it and it's not been forgiven.

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    We know we ought to but somehow we never do or we are reluctant to do it. We intend to clear the obstacle and we intend to fall down in pleading but we keep procrastinating. That's the peril, the peril of procrastination. And what do we try to forget it but somehow God, God sustains the controversy in our hearts, he will not let us forget it.

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    You know King David understood it and told it in Psalm 32. He said, When I kept silence, notice the word, every word is important, when I kept silence my bones waxed old through my roaring all the day long for day and night my hand was heavy upon me, my moisture turned into the drought of summer.

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    Notice what he's saying, it's a picture of restlessness, there was no rest, the controversy wouldn't go away. God saw to that it was sustained and it couldn't be hidden. But as you know in the end, thankfully David acknowledged his failure, the breach was healed and the pathway was cleared. And the window was opened once again and commerce with heaven was restored.

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    So at last in verse 6 of Psalm 32, David says, For this shall everyone that is godly pray unto thee in a time when thou mayest be found. He came to the realisation that how essential it was for this breach to be healed and this obstacle to be cleared. No, I'm not saying of course that you can only pray when you are free from guilt.

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    I'm not saying that either. Because we all have a sense of guilt for our failures. But I am saying that when we practice guile, because that's what David was doing,

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    when we practice guile, that's a tremendous handicap in the pathway of prayer. David says, Blessed is the man whose sin is forgiven and in whose heart there is no guile. He knew it just me. So, as far as possible, clean hands and a pure heart are the best conditions for those who seek to be alone with the great God of heaven.

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    Hearts then can be uplifted to the majesty on high, without being afraid, certainly reverently, but without a feeling of dread. So, that's all I want to say about preparation. Let's now come to practice.

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    And I want this, as far as possible, to be genuinely practical. So, I bring you to Matthew chapter 6, please. Let's have a look. Matthew chapter 6, verses 5 to 8. Matthew 6, verse 5, And when thou prayest, thou shalt not be as the hypocrites are, for they love to pray, standing in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets, that there may be seen of men.

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    Verily, I say unto you, they have their reward. But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy father, which is in secret, and thy father, which seeth in secret, shall reward thee openly. But when ye pray, use not vain repetitions as the heathen do, for they think that they shall be heard, for they are much speaking.

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    Be not ye therefore like unto them, for your father knoweth what things ye have need of, before ye ask him. that we must not think, that our Lord was teaching, that there is something essentially wrong, in praying in a synagogue, or on the corner of a street. It isn't that. What he is warning us against, is that kind of praying, which obtrudes itself, into other people's consciousness.

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    Praying, in order to be observed, that's what he's warning us against. Notice the gentle satire in his words, they have their reward. He meant, they prayed in order to be seen of men, and they've been seen of men, they have their reward. What they wanted, they've achieved. Now the important teaching, in the instruction, to which this warning is a background, is this.

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    This is the important teaching. When thou prayest, enter into thy inner chamber, and having shut the door, pray to thy father, which is in secret. So evidently our Lord is teaching that for his disciples, there should be, if possible, a place of prayer, and a method of prayer, so that every third party is excluded, and the disciple may pray to their father alone, and through the high priest.

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    Of course it's perfectly possible to pray anywhere, at any time, under any circumstances, of course it is. For instance, I know a man in Christ Jesus, he has a very busy job indeed, and he once told me that between one action of his job and the next, there's a thirty-second interval, and sometimes during that thirty-second interval, he prays a short prayer, thirty seconds of sanctuary, and he finds God.

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    But in this passage we're looking at, our Lord is teaching us about the need for an inner chamber, if possible, an inner chamber, and a closed door. See, prayers in secret tend to be more real than prayers in public, and sometimes they are free from drowsiness. So the instruction seems to be stressing the need for a process which ensures segregation, and seclusion, and secrecy.

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    in other words, the formation of a habit of prayer. Now it's sometimes said that habits are in themselves less valuable because they are habits. I've never really seen the sense of that. I mean, the truth is, whether a habit's good or not, depends upon what the habit is about, doesn't it? if you tell your wife you love her every day, that may be a habit, but it's a good habit, isn't it?

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    You ask her. I mean, the truth is, it depends upon what the habit is about, whether it's good or bad. After all, a habit is only something that you do habitually, and to pray habitually is just what Jesus asked us to do. They are always to pray, and not to faint. And the apostle Paul says, pray without ceasing.

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    Doesn't that mean pray habitually? So, this prayer is not occasional, spasmodic, irregular. I propose to you, it is habitual, and it's good. Now, of course, it's not possible to make inflexible rules about the place, and the time, and the method. Individual circumstances will have to decide these issues. But they ought to be decided with honesty and integrity.

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    I mean, if somebody can honestly spend only three minutes at the beginning of the day with God, then if that three minutes is sincere and true, God can do a great deal in three minutes. But, the person who gives three minutes only at the beginning of the day, when really he's got time to give fifteen, well, perhaps not so very likely to move mountains.

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    again, the place does not matter so long as it provides some kind of solitude, at least, that's what our Lord is teaching us, it provides some kind of solitude where the faculties of mind and heart are unfettered. And it follows, therefore, that if possible, the place should be familiar, and the same every day, so that it will not offer us any distractions.

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    distractions. The place we know well will not cause our mind to wander to outside things. Now, the method, of course, has to suit our own needs. We should cultivate the method which helps us to pray best and to pray rightly. Some people prefer to speak aloud.

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    I know people in my ecclesia who pray when they're driving. their car. And they speak aloud in the car. Purely a personal preference. Others would commune through the mind. They wouldn't speak any words at all. It would be through the mind. The attitude or posture is again a matter for individual judgment. Remembering that we should choose the position which enables us to concentrate most easily.

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    I mean, if you suffer from rheumatism, then kneeling is bad. Because what will happen is your mind will be concentrated on the pain in your knees instead of upon the prayer you are praying to God your Father. You know, it's not a sin to be comfortable whilst a prayer. I would say it's sensible.

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    In my own case, I find the most suitable position for me is to sit. I sit to say my prayers. When I say my final prayer at night, I sit at home in the easy chair. Ruth has gone to bed because she goes to bed earlier than I do. And so there alone in the room, I sit.

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    That's my sister. But I know that sometimes that isn't possible. If there's no room where you can go for solitude and silence, and that can be a real difficulty in some people's lives. Let's forget that. It can be a real difficulty. If there's no place where you can go and be alone with God, then the only thing is to try to cultivate the capacity to provide a kind of open space in your spirit, in your mind, to withdraw yourself in the presence of others, to withdraw yourself, perhaps, and find solitude and find the pathway to prayer in that way.

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    But it's not easy. It's not easy. And it's less easy, especially for those who are not experienced in the habit of prayer. The inner chamber is a real boon if you can find it. But I realise it's not always easy. Praying, you see, is an exercise which demands that, as far as possible, every faculty shall be at its best.

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    prayer. And therefore, if you can do it, it's good to pray when you are most alert and most alive. Right at the end of the day, when the eyes are drooping, and the mind is full of slumber, is not the best time for concentrated prayer. Now, I'm not being too quick. I mean, I know that two minutes of lay-me-down-to-sleep prayer is all right, better than nothing.

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    But it should not be the main prayer of the day, I think. Though, of course, I realise in some lives which are so busy, it may have to be. The trouble is that drowsy prayer is not usually the prayer which is disciplined and concentrated and earnest. I must just remind you of some words written by the king himself about the king himself by the gospel chronicler.

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    And in the morning, a great while before day, he rose up and went out and departed into a desert place and there prayed. And in the morning, a great while before day, he rose up. Is that telling us something? It shows us that prayer is a serious thing anyway. It's a very serious thing involving deliberate and conscious dedication.

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    It's not a by-product of our life, it's the centre of our life. Well, let's come to another question. What shall we pray about? This is a question that sometimes troubles people, I know. Well, it seems to me that we may pray about anything which is upon our heart and hopefully within the orbit of God's will.

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    God's will. I mean, if we know for sure that there is something which is against God's will, then of course we ought not to pray for it or about it. In the world, men tend to divide their lives into two sections, the spiritual and the sexual. But I doubt if the life of the true disciple can be divided in that way at all.

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    no part of our lives are shut out when we are shut in with God. Because he is our father, we pray as children and there is no reason why we shouldn't pray with the spirit of a child. I mean, it's the artlessness sometimes of child prayers which are so helpful to emulate. I think it is true that as our life becomes more responsive to the great facts of the truth, then it may well be that our petitions will tend to get fewer.

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    As we learn more and more about praying and as our response to the great facts of the truth become more intense, then I think it is likely that our petitions will get fewer. We may cease to pray about something which at one time in our lives seemed to be so important and as they become less important because the truth becomes more important so those peripheral things perhaps will fall out of their list of petitions.

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    It may well be that with experience the approach about praying for our needs will change as a result of our development in the truth. Experience may change our attitudes. Now you know, I wanted to give you an example of this so I shall have to pause to almost get permission. the brethren and sisters in this house who come from Durban, would you be too weary if I told you again that little story about the Sunday school superintendent?

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    Would you mind? You've heard it you see, that's the trouble. It's very boring to keep hearing the same story isn't it? But for the sake of those who haven't, do you mind if I just repeat it? Yes, you see, I'm talking about people's attitudes changed as they become more experienced in the pathway of prayer.

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    Now, this is a little story about a certain ecclesia where there was an old sister who always used to pray for a fine day for the Sunday school outing. Every year she prayed for a fine day. And of course, sometimes it was a lovely fine day and sometimes it rained like mad. And one day when the arrangements were being made, for the date and the imprimatur, the Sunday school outing, the superintendent said to this elderly sister, and dear sister, have you prayed for a fine day for us?

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    And she replied, no, no, I've stopped asking God to make our day fine because I realise he may want to make it wet for somebody else's reason. And so what I have done is, I've changed my attitude. I am praying for you, superintendent, that you will have enough sense to choose one of the days that God has decided to make fine.

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    Well, you see, the good sister had changed her attitude to experience. She approached the problem in a different way. Now, although it makes us laugh, it's a good sound principle revealed that this may be our experience. It may be on a low level, but it illustrates the point. Prayer has its place in the infinitesimals of our life.

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    We can pray for all kinds of things. Nehemiah prayed about building a wall. He prayed about his work. There are those, of course, who reserve prayer for desperate occasions, but that's not the best kind of prayer. In prayer, a person may go over his or her life and lay it all before God, small and great.

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    great things and commonplace things. Because prayer has the effect of sanctifying commonplace things and ennobling them and giving them a lust of which that they would never have. It makes menial things to be important things when you pray about them. Pray about anything, and I think your developing experience will tell you sooner or later what you have to leave out of your prayers.

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    I mean, mere whims and foolish desires will begin to appear in their true light as your experience deepens, and they will drop out of your list of petitions.

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    For instance, it's no good praying to go in one direction and then setting your feet to go in the opposite direction. Nehemiah prayed about his work and then used all his wits and all his skill to make it happen. It's no good praying about your work and the men neglecting your work. Prayer has the effect of increasing your vision.

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    It has the effect of developing your judgment. And you'll come to know what you ought to pray about, and you'll understand the avenues which you ought to follow more precisely. But in the word of God, there are quite clear guidelines, it seems to me, about what we ought to include in their prayers.

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    Let me just remind you of some. We ought to pray for our brethren and sisters. Jesus did, and so did the apostle Paul. We ought to pray for the word of God, that it may run and be glorified. We ought to pray for the ecclesia of Christ and for those who have responsibility in it.

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    You know, very often, praying is better than criticizing. We ought to pray for the coming of the kingdom of God. people. We ought to pray for those who have been set in authority over us in the civil government. We ought to pray for the sick and for the isolated. And there are those who, so to speak, are deserving, are there special consideration in their prayers.

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    They have a kind of natural right to be remembered in their prayers. Those in their own family whom we love and for whom we are responsible. See, Job prayed for his children lest perchance in their living they should do something which was reprehensible. Praying for all kinds of things calls for sympathy and understanding and watchfulness.

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    Keen-eyed, you see. Good prayers, good prayers are keen-eyed in watching for the needs and the trials of others and remembering them before God in the secret place. I know some brethren and sisters who keep a list of things they want to pray about. They do not feel it's right just to throw one great careless bundle before God like saying, Oh Lord, help all those who are sick and leave it.

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    Start to mention each particular person. Bring them before God with their particular needs and their particular difficulties. I have a list of people I pray for every day. It's a list. It isn't written down, it's in my mind. I add to it as it's required. Better than leaving it to chance. In Philippians chapter 4 verse 19, Paul says, God shall supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory by Jesus Christ.

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    Think of the words, every need. That seems to suggest all kinds of things, doesn't it? Every need. May I say that of course praying involves other things besides petitions. We must be careful to, I must detain you for a moment on that. But of course praying essentially is an act of worship. It includes thanksgiving and communion with God.

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    But in this particular section we are thinking mostly about petitions. Because that was the question, what ought we to be praying about? What are the things we ought to be asking for? The blessings and the helps of various kinds. So there we are. Hope that's been of help, what we ought to pray for.

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    Now let's think of the preconditions for prayer. There are two particular important preconditions and we must now consider them. I come to Matthew chapter 5.

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    23 and 24 of Matthew chapter 5. Alright. Matthew 5 verse 23 Therefore if thou bring thy gift to the altar and there rememberest that thy brother hath aught against thee, leave there thy gift before the altar and go thy way, first be reconciled to thy brother and then come and offer thy gift.

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    Seems clear that no gift and no prayer can be received by God if the offerer has a heart which is hardened against another of God's children. The unforgiving spirit makes prayer void. reconciliation clears the pathway. The refusal to be reconciled shuts the door. The same principle is revealed in Psalm 66 verse 18.

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    Listen to the words carefully. If I regard iniquity in my heart the Lord will not hear me. Now could there be anything clear? If I regard iniquity in my heart the Lord will not hear me. Meaning if I cling to sin it is no good coming in the guise of righteousness. In a way the judgment seat of God is like sometimes in the secret place.

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    Have you seen this? We come to pray in the secret place and we remember there is some impediment that guilt is upon us. Some estrangement estrangement that remains we've carelessly left. It's like the judgment of God upon us. Brings it to our minds suddenly. It's in our consciousness. A kind of miniature judgment seat of God in the secret place.

93. 42:19

    It's a strange thing. Sometimes when we begin to pray this is my experience forgotten and unforgiven sins starting to life again when we pray. See praying needs a conscience which is set really on dwelling in the light as much as possible. Or put another way whoever comes to God for mercy must himself be merciful.

94. 42:48

    The petitioner asking for grace must himself be gracious. So that's the first condition. That there should be no impediment in the pathway. If you remember you have a brother or sister have ought against you you must put it right first. The other condition is the need to pray in faith. Now I know this is well known to you of course you understand.

95. 43:17

    It's not a revelation. You know it well. I mean atheists cannot pray. Agnostics have difficulty. The king once said all things are possible to him that believe it. So faith is trust. It's not a speculation, an option, a pious guess. Jesus said therefore I say unto you that what things so ever you desire when you pray believe that she received them and you shall have them.

96. 43:49

    And in the letter of James he says that doubt is double minded and doubt is unstable. it's like a troubled sea. It's storm tossed and it's driven by the wind. Now such a person gets nothing from prayers because they are double minded and doubting.

97. 44:10

    So that's an important factor to ask in faith. And then we must learn this. It is possible of course to ask amiss. James 4.3 says ye ask and receive not because ye ask amiss that ye may spend it on your pleasures. It's quite evident then that God takes notice not only of what we ask for but why we are asking for it.

98. 44:36

    God looks at the heart and we have to face it there are some hearts which don't have difficulty in finding an audience within. The unbelieving heart has no access the Bible says. The unforgiving heart is shut out. the self seeking heart is halted. And so the message is ask believingly in accordance with the law of faith.

99. 44:59

    Do not be afraid to ask. The king says ask and ye shall receive knock seek and ye shall find knock and it shall be opened. Paul says in nothing be anxious but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. In everything he says. As I've said already prayer is not all asking it's thanksgiving and worship and contrition and submission but it does definitely include asking.

100. 45:33

     Why pray for these things if he understands our needs? Well because asking is different from giving information. It is one thing to inform it is another thing to beseech in faith. It is revealed to us that although the God of heaven knows our needs before we ask him notwithstanding he waits to be asked before he distributes the gifts that supply our every need.

101. 46:01

     That is a fact. God waits to be asked. Your heavenly father knoweth that ye have need of these things before ye ask. After this manner therefore pray ye give us this day our daily bread. God knows you need your daily bread but after this manner say give us this day our daily bread.

102. 46:27

     Jesus is saying that because God knows their needs before we ask him and is willing to answer them so the more we ought to ask him. So when you pray have faith in God because faith asking sincerely in faith is something God does not dishonor. You will remember my comrades you will remember that awful occasion in the tenth chapter of Leviticus two men two men offered strange fire before the Lord and they were destroyed.

103. 47:10

     God says I will be sanctified in them that draw nigh unto me. We must always regard prayer seriously. We must always regard it reverently. Try to avoid being mechanical and perfunctory. The Bible says that God responds to prayers which are fervent. The fervent effectual prayer of a righteous man availeth much. Notice the conditions there.

104. 47:40

     The fervent effectual prayer of a righteous man availeth much. Intensity if you can is part of the law of prayer. And why is that that? Remember God hates something which is lukewarm. Jesus said because they are lukewarm I will spew them out of my mouth. God likes people who are warm strongly warm not lukewarm.

105. 48:11

     It's easy to shine sometimes it's more difficult to burn. God is found most by those who are burning to find him or are seeking him with all their heart. He is not I don't think he's likely to be found by people who are flippant or merely curious or self-reliant or intellectually proud. He is not.

106. 48:29

     Speak to God in simplicity. Leave the eloquence if you must to the place of public prayer. God does not want a lecture. He's had too many lectures I feel. He wants a prayer sincerely prayed with faith. We do not always we do not have to persuade God but he likes us to ask faithfully and fervently.

107. 48:53

     So that's it. The preparation and practice. Now when we come to the next address God willing we shall be talking about the pattern prayer. Our Father which is in the heavens hallowed be thy name. Father ! Father ! ! !