The Necessity of Prayer
Edward M. Bounds
II. PRAYER AND FAITH (Continued)
"The guests at a certain hotel were being rendered
uncomfortable by repeated strumming on a piano, done by a little girl who
possessed no knowledge of music. They complained to the proprietor with a view
to having the annoyance stopped. 'I am sorry you are annoyed,' he said. 'But
the girl is the child of one of my very best guests. I can scarcely ask her
not to touch the piano. But her father, who is away for a day or so, will
return tomorrow. You can then approach him, and have the matter set right.'
When the father returned, he found his daughter in the reception-room and, as
usual, thumping on the piano. He walked up behind the child and, putting his
arms over her shoulders, took her hands in his, and produced some most
beautiful music. Thus it may be with us, and thus it will be, some coming day.
Just now, we can produce little but clamour and disharmony; but, one day, the
Lord Jesus will take hold of our hands of faith and prayer, and use them to
bring forth the music of the skies." -- ANON
GENUINE, authentic faith must be definite and free of doubt. Not simply
general in character; not a mere belief in the being, goodness and power of God,
but a faith which believes that the things which "he saith, shall come to pass."
As the faith is specific, so the answer likewise will be definite: "He shall
have whatsoever he saith." Faith and prayer select the things, and God commits
Himself to do the very things which faith and persevering prayer nominate, and
petition Him to accomplish.
The American Revised Version renders the twenty-fourth verse of the eleventh
chapter of Mark, thus: "Therefore I say unto you, All things whatsoever ye pray
and ask for, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them." Perfect
faith has always in its keeping what perfect prayer asks for. How large and
unqualified is the area of operation -- the "All things whatsoever!" How
definite and specific the promise -- "Ye shall have them!"
Our chief concern is with our faith, -- the problems of its growth, and the
activities of its vigorous maturity. A faith which grasps and holds in its
keeping the very things it asks for, without wavering, doubt or fear -- that is
the faith we need -- faith, such as is a pearl of great price, in the process
and practise of prayer.
The statement of our Lord about faith and prayer quoted above is of supreme
importance. Faith must be definite, specific; an unqualified, unmistakable
request for the things asked for. It is not to be a vague, indefinite, shadowy
thing; it must be something more than an abstract belief in God's willingness
and ability to do for us. It is to be a definite, specific, asking for, and
expecting the things for which we ask. Note the reading of Mark 11:23:
"And shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that those
things which he saith shall come to pass; he shall have whatever he
saith."
Just so far as the faith and the asking is definite, so
also will the answer be. The giving is not to be something other than the things
prayed for, but the actual things sought and named. "He shall have whatsoever he
saith." It is all imperative, "He shall have." The granting is to be unlimited,
both in quality and in quantity.
Faith and prayer select the subjects for petition, thereby determining what
God is to do. "He shall have whatsoever he saith." Christ holds Himself ready to
supply exactly, and fully, all the demands of faith and prayer. If the order on
God be made clear, specific and definite, God will fill it, exactly in
accordance with the presented terms.
Faith is not an abstract belief in the Word of God, nor a mere mental
credence, nor a simple assent of the understanding and will; nor is it a passive
acceptance of facts, however sacred or thorough. Faith is an operation of God, a
Divine illumination, a holy energy implanted by the Word of God and the Spirit
in the human soul -- a spiritual, Divine principle which takes of the
Supernatural and makes it a thing apprehendable by the faculties of time and
sense.
Faith deals with God, and is conscious of God. It deals with the Lord Jesus
Christ and sees in Him a Saviour; it deals with God's Word, and lays hold of the
truth; it deals with the Spirit of God, and is energized and inspired by its
holy fire. God is the great objective of faith; for faith rests its whole weight
on His Word. Faith is not an aimless act of the soul, but a looking to God and a
resting upon His promises. Just as love and hope have always an objective so,
also, has faith. Faith is not believing just anything; it is believing
God, resting in Him, trusting His Word.
Faith gives birth to prayer, and grows stronger, strikes deeper, rises
higher, in the struggles and wrestlings of mighty petitioning. Faith is the
substance of things hoped for, the assurance and realization of the inheritance
of the saints. Faith, too, is humble and persevering. It can wait and pray; it
can stay on its knees, or lie in the dust. It is the one great condition of
prayer; the lack of it lies at the root of all poor praying, feeble praying,
little praying, unanswered praying.
The nature and meaning of faith is more demonstrable in what it does, than it
is by reason of any definition given it. Thus, if we turn to the record of faith
given us in that great honour roll, which constitutes the eleventh chapter of
Hebrews, we see something of the wonderful results of faith. What a glorious
list it is -- that of these men and women of faith! What marvellous achievements
are there recorded, and set to the credit of faith! The inspired writer,
exhausting his resources in cataloguing the Old Testament saints, who were such
notable examples of wonderful faith, finally exclaims:
"And what shall I more say? For the time would fail me to tell
of Gideon and Barak, and of Samson, and of Jephthae; of David also, and
Samuel, and of the prophets."
And then the writer of
Hebrews goes on again, in a wonderful strain, telling of the unrecorded
exploits wrought through the faith of the men of old, "of whom the world was not
worthy." "All these," he says, "obtained a good report through faith."
What an era of glorious achievements would dawn for the Church and the world,
if only there could be reproduced a race of saints of like mighty faith, of like
wonderful praying! It is not the intellectually great that the Church needs; nor
is it men of wealth that the times demand. It is not people of great social
influence that this day requires. Above everybody and everything else, it is men
of faith, men of mighty prayer, men and women after the fashion of the saints
and heroes enumerated in Hebrews, who "obtained a good report through
faith," that the Church and the whole wide world of humanity needs.
