(By Dennis Allen-December 1953 WW)

“And he spake a parable unto them to the end that they ought always to pray, and not to faint.” (Luke 18:1.) The Greek word used here translated “ought,” is the strongest word in that language indicating obligation. The Lord Jesus is thus saying that it is man’s highest obligation to pray always. Now this does not appeal to the carnal mind as being reasonable. Even in the actual daily living of most of us who are Christians we continually decide that any number of duties and obligations that press upon us are more important than prayer. It is evident that we think so, because we habitually neglect prayer in an effort to discharge them and use them as an excuse for our prayerlessness.

Why ought men to pray? Because we are men and as such stand in a relation of dependence upon God who created us. As Jeremiah cried out, “O Jehovah, I know that the way of man is not m himself; it is not in man that walketh to direct his steps.” (Jer. 10:23.) The man who endeavors to live without prayer deprives himself of the guidance of the Lord on the pathway of life. Dr. George Washington Carver who made such marvelous discoveries of the usefulness of the lowly peanut was once asked if he had ever found prayer for guidance in connection with his discoveries to avail. “Of course,” he said; “that goes without saying. You see, there is no need for anyone to be without direction, or to wander amid the perplexities and complexities of this life. Are we not plainly told, in all thy ways acknowledge Him, and He will direct thy paths’? Why go blundering along on our poor, blind, way when God has told us He will help us? God can always be depended upon.” We should never start into anything without prayer, yet how often do we make important decisions without making any effort to seek the Lord’s direction in prayer.

Men ought always to pray because prayer is God’s appointed way for us to obtain the things that we need. The average person thinks there is a better way and takes it. “Ye lust, and have not: ye kill and covet and cannot obtain: ye fight and war; ye have not, because ye ask not.” (Jas. 4:2.) Here we see the most strenuous activity to obtain what is wanted, but it ends only in failure. Why? “Ye have not, because ye ask not.” God’s gilts are brought down only through prayer.

Mary Slessor, the pioneer missionary to Calabar, had to lay the cement floor herself in a new building which was being completed. Once, when relating the experience m Scotland, a lady asked her if she had had any lessons in making cement. “No,” she replied; “I just stir it like porridge; turn it out, smooth it with a stick, and all the time keep praying, ‘Lord, here’s the cement; it is to Thy glory; set it,’ and it has never once gone wrong.” “O what peace we often forfeit; O what needless pain we bear, All because we do not carry Everything to God in prayer.” Has He not told us, “Ask, and it shall be given you: seek, and ye shall find: knock, and it shall be opened unto you: for everyone that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened.” (Matt. 7:7, 8.)

Men ought to pray because Christ prayed. The Lord Jesus received everything He got through prayer. He told His disciples, “I can of myself do nothing.” His power and His wisdom came from God. He was made flesh and the true position of man in the flesh is dependence upon God. He thus became an example to us that we might know the utter necessity of our utter dependence upon God. It is well then for us to look more closely at the prayer Life of our Lord.

One day while the Lord Jesus was praying alone to the Father His disciples came upon Him and listened until He ceased, and what they heard fired them with a desire to pray like He did. Hearing Him pray caused them to feel that they didn’t know anything about it, although they were accustomed to prayer. There must have been something very real and blessed in His communion with the Father which idled them with awe and longing, and so they asked Him to teach them to pray.

 Luke who emphasizes the humanity of Jesus says more about his prayer life than any of the Gospel writers, for His prayers reveal to us His true manhood. We are brought very near to the Lord Jesus when we read that being weary, He sat by the well, that after a hard day’s work he fell asleep in the fishing boat, that He thirsted, and that He wept. But the most precious indication of His participation in our physical needs and human emotions is His life of prayer. He lived a life of communion, dependence and submission. He had no source of help that we do not have also. He, too, lived by faith, hence He is not ashamed to call us brethren.

 If we follow the example of the Lord Jesus, we will pray to receive refreshment and rest after toil and service. More than once the Gospel writers tell us of Jesus seeking a solitary place for prayer after a long day of toil. We need to realize that the more we work the more we need to pray.

“O how praying rests the weary

Prayer will change the night to day,

So, when life seems dark and dreary

Don’t forget to pray.”

Work may keep us from prayer, but earnest prayer will not keep us from work. It will lead us out into far more fruitful service than would be possible otherwise. Work without prayer may puff us up in conceit: or it may depress us with the consciousness of failure; it may cause us to fix our gaze on ourselves and our circumstances instead of God, or in a hundred other ways draw us away from God if we endeavor to carry it on without prayer.

 If we follow the Lord Jesus we will pray before the hour of temptation comes. The Lord Jesus won His battles through prayer before He ever entered into them, and He would have us to do the same. “Watch and pray that ye enter not into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.” We can avoid many temptations through prayer.

Again, men need to pray for the healing of their souls’ diseases. “Confess . . . your sins one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The supplication of a righteous man availeth much in its working.” (Jas. 5:16.) The one who prays the sinner’s prayer will reach the ear of God. The publican’s simple petition, “God, be merciful to me, the sinner,” (Luke 18:13) revealed his keen consciousness of sin, his true sorrow for sin, and his trust in God’s pardoning mercy. He had nothing to offer God, he had no excuses, he made no comparison of himself with others; he comes humbly asking for mercy and he receives it. He went down to his house justified, for he that humbleth himself shall be exalted. If we wish to have healing for our souls we must come to the only place of help. Only then can we cry as did the psalmist.

“Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits: Who forgiveth all thine iniquities; Who healeth all thy diseases; Who redeemeth thy life from destruction; Who crowneth thee with loving-kindness and tender mercies; Who satisfieth thy desire with good things, so that thy youth is renewed like the eagle.”—Psa. 103:2-5.)

Men need to pray because God’s work can be done only through God’s power. When Peter used his own sword in the garden of Gethsemane he succeeded only in cutting off one man’s ear, and even that was contrary to the Lord’s will for Christ restored it again. But when he used the sword of the Spirit on the following Pentecost after continuing steadfastly in prayer with the other apostles three thousand people were pricked in their hearts and found salvation. The Lord Jesus said, “Apart from me ye can do nothing.”

Again, we need to pray in order that we may be like Christ. The surest way to change what is wrong in us is to live in habitual beholding of Him who is righteous without any flaw, and light with no darkness at all. People who live together in close fellowship and love begin to act alike and very often bear resemblance in their very countenances. Luke tells us concerning the transfiguration of Christ that “as he prayed, the fashion of his countenance was altered.” (Luke 9:29.) The radiance of God shone from His face which at other times was hid by the veil of flesh.

Would not the Lord have us to learn from this that communion with God transfigures? The more time we spend in communion with Him the more like Him we will be even now. As Paul tells us, “But we all, with unveiled face beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are transformed into the same image from glory to glory, even as from the Lord the Spirit.” (2 Cor. 3:18.) We need to realize that prayer is much more than a request for things we may want—though it does include that. Petition is only one aspect of prayer. T h ere is a communion that goes beyond this and takes us into the presence of God. As the apostle John says, “Truly our fellowship is with the Father and with His Son, Jesus Christ.” This communion is open to the humblest servant of God, and will result in the transformation of our lives. Truly men ought always to pray and not to faint.