Truth Magazine

By Mike Willis

Prayer is “an earnest entreaty addressed to God”(Webster). In order to pray, man must have certain concepts about His God. The recent surveys which I have read bout the prayer life of Christians and the personal contact which I have had with Christians lead me to believe that Christians are not spending very much time in prayer.

I am convinced that some of this is caused by an erosion of our faith in God. Have we over-reacted to Pentecostalism’s teaching that God is presently working miracles to such an extent that we are convinced that asking God to heal a sick man is useless at best, and at worst an ignorant disregard of His expressed statements that miracles have ceased? We pray for the doctors and nurses who are attending the sick, but rarely do we ask the Lord to heal someone among us who is sick.

We may be approaching the deistic concept of God. Deists incorrectly say that God’s relationship to the universe can be compared to a man who wound up a clock and set it on a shelf to run down. Have we a deistic concept of God? Do we imagine Him so far removed from the day-today operation of the universe that He will not intervene in the affairs of man? Do we conceive of Him as being willing to change His planned course of action as a result of our prayers?

In order for man to pray effectively, his concept of God must be such that he believes that praying makes a difference. If man reaches the conclusion that prayer will do no good, that he prays out of duty but with a sense of futility, he will not pray in faith. Because of these misconceptions about God’s reaction to man’s prayers, let us explore these attributes of God which make prayer reasonable.

The Prayer-Hearing God

David addressed God as follows: “O thou that hearest prayer” (Psa. 65:2). Even as Jehovah is described as the Almighty (Gen. 17:1-2), the God who provides (Gen. 22:14), the God who sees, and other names, He is also known as the God who hears prayer. The Lord is immutable; the psalmist wrote, “. . thou art the same” (Psa. 102:27). Even as God has not changed in other aspects of His character, He is also unchanged in respect to hearing prayer.

The belief that God does hear prayer demands the following concepts to be accepted:

1. That God exists. There is no use to pray if there is no God. Prayer is not soliloquy-man talking to himself. Prayer is man addressing God. If there is no God, there is no reason for man to pray. Some men do not pray because they have become atheists and agnostics. Before a man prays, he must believe that God is and that He is the rewarder of them who diligently seek Him (Heb. 11:6).

2. That God hears. Not only does man believe that God exists, he also must believe that God can and will hear prayer. The concept that God will hear my prayer demonstrates man’s faith in God’s omniscience. Millions of people from various places on this globe are lifting their voices to God in prayer. He hears every individual’s prayer. My concept of deity must be one that believes in a personal God who hears man’s prayers. An impersonal “force” or power does not respond to prayer.

3. That God cares. To believe that God will answer my prayer, I must believe that God cares for me. Jesus taught, “Are not five sparrows sold for two farthings, and not one of them is forgotten before God? But even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not therefore: ye are of more value than many sparrows” (Lk. 12:6-7). “. . . for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things” (Matt. 7:32). The Lord in heaven is aware of you and your needs; “for he careth for you” (1 Pet. 5:7). Why would I cast my petitions on God unless I was convinced that He cares for me?

Frank E. Graeff (1860-1919), Methodist preacher, wrote “Does Jesus Care?” while experiencing severe despondency, doubt and physical agony. The words of this song reassure us that Jesus does care for us, a thought so essential for one to be habitual in prayer.

Does Jesus care when my heart is pained
Too deeply for mirth or song,
As the burdens press,
And the cares distress,
And the way grows weary and long?

Does Jesus care when my way is dark
With a nameless dread and fear?
As the daylight fades
Into deep night shades,
Does He care enough to be near?

Does Jesus care when I’ve tried and failed
To resist some temptation strong,
When for my deep grief
There is no relief
Tho’ my tears flow all the night long?

Does Jesus care when I’ve said “goodby”
To the dearest on earth to me,
And my sad heart aches
Till it nearly breaks,
Is it aught to Him? Does He see?

O yes, He cares, I know He cares,
His heart is touched with my grief;
When the days are weary,
The long night dreary,
I know my Savior cares.

4. That God is able. For me to pray to God, I must believe that He is able to do s6mething to relieve my need. This implies that God is omnipotent, the Almighty. Paul assures us that God is “able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think” (Eph. 4:20). To take my petitions to one who has no ability to answer my needs is useless. In that case, about all one can do is to have sympathy and pity. My friends can extend sympathy and pity. However, God is able to act to change my conditions and situation.

5. That God will act. For me to pray, I must believe that my prayer will have an impact on God, motivating Him to act in my behalf. Jesus said,

Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you: for every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened. Or what man is there of you, whom if his son ask bread, will he give him a stone? Or if he ask a fish, will he give him a serpent? If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your father which is in heaven give good things to them that ask him (Matt. 7:7-11).

In response to Israel’s cry because of the oppression in Egypt, God raised up Moses to deliver His people (Ex. 3:9). In response to Elijah’s prayer, the Lord withheld rain from Israel for three and one-half years; in response to another one of his prayers, he sent rain to Israel (Jas. 5:18). In response to Hezekiah’s prayer, God added fifteen years to his life (2 Kgs. 20). In response to the church’s prayer, Peter was released from Herod’s prison (Acts 12). God heard these prayers, cared about the plight of the people, and acted to relieve their suffering. I must believe the same God cares in the same way about me and will act in response to my prayers. If this is not true, why pray?

6. That God has infinite wisdom. I come to God in prayer, like Jesus who said, “Not my will but thine be done.” I recognize that I do not always ask what I need. The God to whom I pray will exercise the wisdom to decide how to answer my prayers, not always giving me what I ask, but always giving me what I need.

This was scribbled almost a century ago by an anonymous soldier of the Confederacy:

I asked for help, that I might do greater things. I was given infirmity that I might do better things.

I asked God for strength that I might achieve. I was made weak that I might learn humbly to obey.

I asked for all things that I might enjoy life. I was given life, that I might enjoy all things.

I got nothing that I asked for — but everything I hoped for.

Despite myself, my prayers were answered. I am among all men, most richly blessed.

Conclusion

When Jesus gave the parable of the unjust judge (Lk. 18:1-4), He was teaching us that “men ought always to pray, and not to faint” (Lk. 18:1). When He concluded the parable, He said, “Nevertheless when the Son of man cometh, shall he find faith on the earth?” (Lk. 18:8) Men will not pray unless they have faith.

My brethren, if we are not praying, we lack faith. We need to go back to our fundamental concepts of God and reaffirm our commitment to them. Let us not be so subtly influenced by the infidelity around us that we reach the conclusion that prayer does no good and quit praying.

Having faith in God, let us join together in offering our petitions to him in prayer. “Again I say unto you, That if two of you shall agree on earth as touching any thing that they shall ask, it shall be done for them of my Father which is in heaven” (Matt. 18:19). “The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much” (Jas. 5:16). Do you believe these statements? If so, should we be spending more time in prayer and less time worrying?

Guardian of Truth XXIX: 15, pp. 450, 470
August 1, 1985

By Theron N. Bohannan

Roy E. Cogdill gave up this life of dwelling in his tabernacle of clay soon after the close of the Lord’s day, May 12, 1985, following his 78th birthday, April 24, 1985. Brother Roy had suffered much for years with cancer. He submitted to the scalpels of outstanding surgeons in Texas and at the world-renowned Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, many times. Each time, he would tell me and my wife that he had no intention of ever letting the surgeon’s knife touch his body again. Each time he had surgery, I was at his side by telephone prior to, during, and immediately afterwards (as soon as he was able to communicate by phone). We visited, prayed and cried together. When he was better, we would have good laughs together. I was always able to contain my emotions until I could get off to myself. Oh! How I (we) loved that man, as such, and even so much more for his work’s sake.

Roy E. Cogdill was not only a great general in our Lord’s army, but a great human being. As a young man, he had to work hard to contribute to the support of his widowed mother and her five fatherless children. Roy’s father died of gas inhalation in an unfortunate accident while cleaning a large tank. As a result, Roy’s mother, a Christian and a gracious lady, was left with five children to rear, educate secularly, and teach how to live a life which would make Christians of them. Roy had four sisters, but no brothers.

The Cogdills lived on a farm just out of Hobart in midwestern Oklahoma at the time of the father’s death. Hobart, Oklahoma is practically unknown to most faithful Christians, but many of you have passed about forty miles north of it as you passed through Weatherford and Clinton on old highway U.S. 66 (now 1-40) on your way to or from California about 100 miles west of Oklahoma City. Hobart is also 21 miles south of Cordell. A two-year college operated by brethren was located here. This is where Roy received his first college work. I have visited it many times. It was called for a number of years, “Cordell Christian College” (a name I do not endorse). These facts will help the reader locate Roy’s early life geographically.

Roy Cogdill was not one who went to some (sic) seminary to learn how, what, and what not to preach. He did not, like so many today, and their numbers are increasing, think he had found an easy way to make a living. At a later point in his life, Roy studied law and became a reputable attorney. However, the great text book in Roy’s life was always the precious word of the Lord. His Bible always got the most study and meditative time during these years. Morning, noon, and night, the Bible came first. In his practice of law, Roy became the anchor attorney for one of America’s great corporations, the Folger Coffee Company. As an attorney, Roy was successful, but even during the years of law practice, he continued to preach as much as possible.

At one point in his career as a lawyer, Roy was called to Washington, D.C. to serve as a consultant to the government. Roy was never to learn exactly why he was called or who was the occasion for his having been called. His association with the Folger Coffee Co. as a successful legal representative no doubt is the answer. Roy had much experience in dealing with our foreign neighbors to the south, South America and other coffee bean bearing countries. Roy has told me that he met with the highest ranking officers at the Pentagon on several occasions and even consulted on one occasion with the Supreme Court. What an honor! It is impossible for me to place all these matters chronologically, because I have surrendered all of my materials to those who have been working on Roy’s biography over the past several years: first Cecil Willis, then Yater Tant, and now Steve Wolfgang. Roy and I have traveled much together: debates, lectureships, and helping settle troubles in congregations. Without the notes mentioned, I cannot always be certain as to exactly when these things occurred. On all of these occasions, most of our time was spent discussing the deeper Bible teachings. I was always a good listener having long before realized I was being privileged to sit at the feet of one of the greatest teachers of our time.

Among those things which I have turned over to Roy’s biographers has been a rather extensive correspondence with Roy covering years of time and some pictures made with men such as Foy E. Wallace, Jr., C.R. Nichol, and Guy N. Woods. Most of these men had been forced to sleep with me (before I was married) in my father’s home-Thomas F. Bohannan-while holding meetings in our area. I think G.H.P Showalter was among this number on two occasions. Also, Roy and I crossed paths with the great old general, W.W. Otey of Winfield, Kansas.

I think I first met Roy E. Cogdill in 1938 at the old Tenth and Francis congregation in Oklahoma City where he was holding a meeting. I also met his first wife, Lorraine Cogdill, at this time. We later met her on several occasions and learned to love and admire her for she was an exceptionally intelligent, sweet, and wonderfully gracious Christian. We wish we could have known her longer and better before the Lord called her away.

I had been a reader of the original Gospel Guardian published by Foy E. Wallace, Jr., in the mid-thirties. When digression began to raise its ugly head among the congregations in the late forties, brother Roy became involved in leading the fight against it. He joined with Foy E. Wallace, Jr., in using the Bible Banner (the old Gospel Guardian had ceased publication and after a time brother Wallace had begun publishing the Bible Banner monthly) as a medium in the fight. In 1949, brother Roy and brother Yater Tant as publisher and editor respectively reactivated the Gospel Guardian as a national weekly through which to wage the growing battle. They obtained other top and sound brethren, all being of the finest vintage of gospel preachers and gifted and talented writers such as: James W. Adams; the late Luther Blackmon; Cecil B. Douthitt; C.R. Nichol; Hoyt H. Houchen; and many more.

After the death of his first wife, brother Cogdill married Venita (Nita) Williams Faulkner, a recently widowed Christian with two young children. She was a faithful member of the Tenth and Francis congregation in Oklahoma City. Roy had moved to Oklahoma City and was conducting meetings from there. On the return of Nita and Roy from their honeymoon in Hawaii, Roy dropped off to conduct a meeting for us at Canoga Park in southern California where I served as one of the elders. Nita continued on to Oklahoma City. Roy stayed with Lennis and me in our home during the meeting of ten days. I think he also conducted another meeting while he was there and continued to make his home with us. Roy made his home our home numbers of times when he was holding meetings in southern California. Whether we were home or not, Roy had a key to our house.

In about 1961, Roy, Nita and their children moved to Canoga Park to work locally with us at Winnetka Avenue. After Roy had been with us a year or two, a congregation a couple of hundred miles north called brother Roy and insisted on his coming up and helping them with a rather nasty internal problem. They told him to bring Theron Bohannan with him to help. Roy and I stayed at the same motel. Roy met and worked with about half the congregation before noon and I the other half. We then swapped groups in the afternoon. Then, come evening at 7:30, everybody met in the meeting house and brother Roy Cogdill preached to all, and did he preach God’s truth with courage and his great power without favor to any! With God’s blessings, the congregation was saved and started growing and has grown through the years. They were a really taught congregation!

One afternoon, about two hours before s0vices, I had dozed off to sleep. Roy was studying. We had not brought a concordance with us. Roy could not remember a verse of Scripture he really wanted to use, so he awoke me and said, “Get up from there and either tell me where that Scripture is or help me find it.” We never did find it, and the matter became humorous to me the last thirty minutes before time for services. Roy, still mumbling and grumbling (I was under no pressure), turned to me and in his bass voice asked, “What are you laughing about?”

I told him, “I am really going to enjoy seeing you work yourself out of this one.” With brother Roy at the helm, I was not worried although it was an important verse with reference to the point of that night’s lesson. I could relate many such incidents. How I, as well as thousands of others, loved that man for his work’s sake!

About a year ago, Lennis and I spent a day and a night with brother and sister Cogdill in their home at Katy, Texas (greater Houston). We had not seen them since they moved from Conroe. I had kept in touch with Roy by telephone. I could listen and talk to Roy by the hour without tiring, and I believe the feeling was mutual. I remember so well that 1984 visit. My wife, Lennis, also loved Roy like no other man outside her own family for many reasons. Not desiring to tire Roy too much and having a board meeting of the Guardian of Truth Foundation (I am the senior member of the board) to attend, we pulled out but not until a number of pictures had been made of the four of us, Roy, Nita, Lennis, and me. Before Roy became ill, I had worked with him on the board of the Cogdill Foundation of which he was the president. He never treated the board like unlearned and insignificant subordinates. They were no big “I’s” and little “You’s.” Brother Cogdill possessed that peculiar power of leadership that many years of hard study, prayerful meditation and experience produces. The last is the best teacher of all, the wit has wisely said. Roy Cogdill’s great heart and love of all men wanted to hear and understand every word and those big, blue eyes peered, as he listened, right through words as they were spoken to the heart of a person realizing the full impact of the Lord’s meaning when he said, “. . . from the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh” (Mt. 13:34).

When so many who loved Roy showed up to “give honor to whom honor is due,” at his last “birthday celebration,” April 23, 1985 (his birthday was April 24), Theron and Lennis Bohannan were among the number. Actually, it was a worship service with a number of different speakers with scriptural subjects befitting the name of the Lord and commending an old general of the Lord’s army for being so truly dedicated to the cause of truth for so many years. It honored this writer mightily to accept an insistent invitation to the Cogdill home to talk with brother Roy. I sat at his bedside for about five hours talking. Most of the time we were alone. From time to time sister Nita would come in to see about her patient. Roy and I did our best to cover about fifty years of reminiscence. We laughed, cried, and prayed together. After the first forty-five minutes, Roy rolled over on his side; his color turned from a chalky gray to a nice, normal pink, and sister Cogdill told me, “You should have come three or four weeks ago; look at the color in his face, and he hasn’t rolled over like that for weeks without help.”

When Roy passed away, in keeping with Roy’s wishes, I was among the first to be called. When Nita told me that Roy had died just as the Lord’s day was ending, I knew that his death had come just as he would have wanted it. He had gone to worship both Lord’s day morning and evening (which he had not done for some time). He was tired, so retired early and awoke about midnight suffering massive heart failure. He was laid to rest at Hobart, Oklahoma at noon, May 15th in a family plot only a short distance from his sainted mother’s grave.

The last Sunday we were together this side of eternity, I asked Roy, “If you were beginning your life all over today, would you live and follow the same lines you have thus far in your life?”

He answered something to this effect: “Yes, I wouldn’t know any other way and would not learn it if there were another.” Then he quotes 2 Timothy 4:6-8: “For I am now ready to be offered, and the time of my departure is at hand. I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith: Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing.”

Then he said, “Brother Theron, I have made many mistakes, and I am far from thinking I have been sinless, as the apostle Paul said in Romans, ‘All have sinned.’ You and I have talked of these things in the past at great length in one way or another. I don’t know about being ready to be offered, but I have fought a good fight and kept the faith, and I think I have about finished my course, and there is no doubt in my mind about a crown of righteousness which the Lord has for me in that last and great day, as well as for all them that will love to see His coming again to claim His own.”

Those who love the Lord and His precious cause ought to hold souls, like this soldier and fighter for the truth of the cause of the cross of our King, in high esteem. We should strive even more to go to heaven just to be with our brother who will be there. There we can all talk to our Heavenly Father, our Savior Jesus as an elder brother, and to all the good, obedient souls who have ever lived in this old world of woe and tears and sadness. Roy Cogdill kept this writer (and many others) from slipping into the looseness of man’s ideology, so-called “liberalism,” while it was still in its infancy many years ago with his powerful and loving teaching, so it has been a joy for me to write (along with others) about the Lord God and standing foursquare for the cause of Christ and the willingness to give up friends and kinsmen for His cause in a memorial issue of Guardian of Truth dedicated to Roy’s life and service.

May the Lord bless sister Nita Cogdill and all other members of the family in their hours, weeks, and months of sadness and loneliness.

Guardian of Truth XXIX: 14, pp. 432-434
July 18, 1985

By Frank Jamerson

And it came to pan, as he was praying In a certain place, that when he ceased, one of his disciples said unto him, Lord, teach us to pray, even as John also taught his disciples. And he said unto them, When ye pray, say, Father, Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Give no day by day our daffy bread. And forgive us our sins; for we ourselves also forgive every one that Is Indebted to us. And bring as not Into temptation (Lk. 11:14).

Perhaps the model given in Matthew 6:9-15 is the best known prayer in the Bible. Its brevity and yet comprehensiveness is impressive. Basically, Jesus told them that prayer is to be reverently addressed to God, and petitions are made concerning physical and spiritual blessings and needs. Though time could be well spent in studying each of the petitions in the model prayer, we will discuss some basic principles of how to pray acceptably.

Pray In Faith

The first condition of acceptable prayer is that we must “ask in faith” (Jas. 1:6-9). We must believe that God is and that He is in control. He is the:

God that made the world and all things therein, he, being Lord of heaven and earth, dwelleth not in temples made with hands; neither is he served by men’s hands, as though he needed anything, seeing he himself giveth to all life, and breath, and all things (Acts 17:24, 25).

He is “able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think” (Eph. 3:20).

Not only does He possess the power to answer prayer, He is also concerned about our needs and has promised to hear us. Jesus said, “Be not anxious for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on” (Matt. 6:25). Paul said, “In nothing be anxious; but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God” (Phil. 4:6).

But let him ask in faith, nothing doubting: for he that doubteth is like the surge of the sea driven by the wind and tossed. For let not that man think that he shall receive anything of the Lord; a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways (Jas. 1:6,7).

According To His Will

Not only must we believe in God, and His ability to answer prayer, but we must acknowledge His wisdom in doing so. “And this is the boldness which we have toward him, that, if we ask anything according to his will, he heareth us” (1 Jn. 5:14). Asking “in faith” and “according to God’s will” presents a problem to some. How can we believe that He will give it to us and at the same time say “if it be thy will”? This difficulty is easily removed if we consider the relationship of parents and children. Did you ever ask “in faith” for something from your parents, or have your children asked “in faith” from you, and the request not be granted? (I remember asking my father to let me go to town and live with my grandmother. He said, “No, I need you to help on the farm.” Why do you think I wanted to-live with Grandmother?!)

Our Father knows what we need, even before we ask Him (Matt. 6:8). “If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your Father who is in heaven give good things to them that ask him?” (Matt. 7:11). If we received everything we asked for, we would probably be ruined! We should be thankful that God knows more about what we need than we do, and yet He has taught us to ask “in faith” for the things we desire.

The apostle Paul, at least once, asked “in faith” for something that God did not grant. He prayed three times for the “thorn in the flesh” to be removed (2 Cor. 12:7). God refused to remove it and said “my grace is sufficient for you.” With good “hind-sight” Paul realized that the “thorn” was being used of God to keep him humble and dependent upon Him. God had rather have Paul with the thorn than to remove it and possibly lose him. Looking back, Paul had rather have the thorn and rely on God than to have it removed and possibly become “exalted overmuch” and lose his soul. Have you ever looked back and thanked God that He did not grant your request? We can trust God’s wisdom to give us what we need rather than what we want!

The Right Motive

“Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God” (1 Cor. 10:31). We must remember that in our prayers, our purpose is to glorify God. James said that those who ask selfishly will not be heard. “Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may spend it in your pleasures” (Jas. 4:3).

There is nothing wrong with petitioning God for material necessities and physical health (3 Jn. 2; Matt. 6:11), but even those things should be used to glorify God. It is possible for us to forget our true mission in life, even while asking for the things we want.

Prayer should not be used as a badge of piety. Jesus said:

And when ye pray, ye shall not be as the hypocrites: for they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and in the comers of the streets, that they may be seen of men. Verily I say unto you, They have received their reward . . . And in praying use not vain repetitions, as the Gentiles do: for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking (Matt. 6:5,7).

There is nothing wrong with being seen or heard (1 Cor. 14:16), but there is something wrong with praying “to be seen, or heard.” There is nothing wrong with repetition in prayer (Matt. 26:44; Lk. 18:1-8), but there is something wrong with “vain” (empty, meaningless) repetition.

Many of the expressions heard in prayer would probably cease if we looked upon prayer as talking with God. When a child asks for something he wants or thanks his parents for something he has received, he does not use some artificial, memorized, trite speech that has no meaning. He speaks from the heart. That’s what prayer is! We are not preaching to God or to men, when we pray. We are not trying to impress God or man. We are talking to our spiritual Father from a heart filled with gratitude for His blessings or need for His provisions.

In Jesus’ Name

Jesus said, “And whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If ye shall ask anything in my name, that will I do” (Jn. 14:14,15). Praying “in the name of Jesus” involves more than just saying those words. It means that we understand that He died for us and sits at the right hand of the Father as our Mediator. “For there is one God, one mediator also between God and man, himself man, Christ Jesus, who gave himself a ransom for all. . . ” (1 Tim. 2:5,6). Thayer defines “name” as: “relying or resting on the name of Christ, rooted (so to speak) in his name, i.e., mindful of Christ and in reliance on the word which invites us to him. W.E. Vine says, “For all that a name implies, of authority, character, rank, majesty, power, excellence, etc., of everything that the name covers . . . in recognition of authority.”

When we pray “in the name of Christ,” we are recognizing His authority, position, and His claims. The “model prayer” was not offered in the name of Christ because He had not yet been perfected as our High Priest and exalted to the right hand of the Father. Those today who approach God without recognizing the name of Jesus are denying His authority, position and claims.

Public And Private

The Lord often engaged in private prayer (see Matt. 14:23; 26:38-44; Mk. 1:35; 6:46; Lk. 5:16; 6:12; 22:41-46), as well as public prayer (see Matt. 27:46; Jn. 11:41; 12:27-29).

There is a need for us to engage in private as well as public prayers. Jesus said, “But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thine inner chamber, and having shut thy door, pray to thy Father who is in secret, and thy Father who seeth in secret shall recompense thee” (Matt. 6:6). There are things we can talk about “in secret” that we would not want to express publicly. We can pour out our hearts and desires and thanksgivings to our Father without concern for how it may sound or how long it will take.

One problem we may have in private prayer is wandering attention. My suggestion for overcoming this is to pray, over and over, for God’s help to concentrate and to feel His nearness.

Public prayers are led so that all can participate. Paul taught the Corinthians to “pray with the understanding,” so those who heard could say “Amen” (1 Cor. 14:14-16). The context here is dealing with spiritual gifts, but the principle of being understood could be applied to other things. How can men say “Amen” to mumbling or to a prayer that cannot be heard? If a person cannot be heard or understood, he is praying privately in public!

Conclusion

The mechanics of acceptable prayer are not difficult to learn. An effective prayer life however, takes time, commitment and concentration. James gave the example of Elijah who “prayed fervently that it not rain” and said that “the supplication of a righteous man availeth much in its working” (Jas. 5:16,17).

It has been said that the intensity of the desire determines the fervency of the prayer. It is true that we pray more fervently at times, but most of us could probably be more fervent all the time. It is our privilege to pray anywhere, in any position, about anything. We need to “Take time to be holy, Speak oft with thy Lord. . . . ” It is our responsibility to be “righteous,” and to pray fervently, in faith, and it is up to God to answer “according to His will.”

Guardian of Truth XXIX: 15, pp. 459-461
August 1, 1985

By Irven Lee

Man has been given the wonderful privilege to approach boldly the throne of God in prayer. God, with all His mighty power, is holy, and man is weak and sinful. The opportunity to pray is not at all based on man’s merit. It is an offer made by God, and this blessed offer is based upon the amazing grace of God. We can see the depth of God’s love as we look by faith at the gift of His Son on the cross that our sins might be forgiven.

Do we believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God who gave Himself upon the cross? We do if we believe the Bible to be heaven’s message to man given through the holy apostles and prophets as they were guided by the Holy Spirit. In this pleasure-mad world many do not believe in God or in His Son Jesus Christ. Prayer is not for them. They think they are animals which evolved by chance from lower forms of life. Such people, having no hope, are without God in the world (Eph. 2:12). If the evolutionists are correct, man with his senses, glands, digestive system, nervous system, respiratory system, and with power to remember, reason, and love, is a very, very remarkable example of what can happen by chance.

The Bible is a book that has influenced hundreds of millions to live useful lives of service. It has given these believers purpose for living, an explanation of their origin and destiny, and it has filled them with hope which is an anchor of the soul. Stable homes where love and loyalty abide have been by-products of faith. Honest, law-abiding citizens which exalt a nation come of faith in God. Prayer is for these people. The Bible teaches us to pray. It is people who recognize the Bible to be the word of God who pray.

“But the fearful, and unbelieving, and abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death” (Rev. 21:8). Generally speaking it is the unbelieving who are the murderers, whoremongers and liars. Such people are counted very unworthy. These unbelievers do not pray. Their unbelief opens the door to unrighteousness and closes the door to prayer, righteousness, and hope. It opens the door to the second death, and closes the door to life everlasting. “He that believeth not shall be damned.”

Of course, there are some decent citizens and good neighbors who do not have a living faith. They may have been taught decency by believing parents and their behavior is in spite of their lack of faith. It is very evident in America today that humanists (atheists) are not examples of moral purity, honesty, and decency.

Our Savior often said: “O ye of little faith” (Matt. 6:30; 8:26). He would have occasion, evidently, to say that to many if He were on earth today. The sin of unbelief is the sin that doth so easily beset us (Heb. 12:1). Think of Hebrews eleven on faith and chapter twelve as the context of Hebrews 12:1. Is not unbelief the besetting sin? “Take heed, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief, in departing from the living God” (Heb. 3:12). Great and eternal danger lies in this sin which can cause us to depart from God.

“Pray without ceasing” (1 Thess. 5:17). “And he spake a parable unto them to the end, that men ought always to pray, and not to faint” (Lk. 18). “Watch ye therefore, and pray always, that ye may be accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of man” (Lk. 21:36). “Continuing instant in prayer” (Rom. 12:12). “Praying always with all prayer and supplication for all saints” (Eph. 6:18). “Continue in prayer and watch in the same with thanksgiving” (Col. 4:2). Are these not commandments? How do faithful servants of Christ respond to His clearly stated commands? We understand that when an ambassador of Christ says, “Repent and be baptized,” men should repent and be baptized. If He says, “Pray without ceasing,” men should pray without ceasing.

Prayer is not a burden that is placed on man. “The effectual fervent pray of a righteous man availeth much” (Jas. 3:16). This is speaking of a wonderful blessing that is offered to man. The cleansing of erring Christians — all of us — is related to prayer. Peter told Simon to “repent therefore of this thy wickedness, and pray God, if perhaps the thought of thine heart may be forgiven thee” (Acts 8:22). We make confession and talk with God in prayer. “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 Jn. 1:9). This confession is necessary to our proper relationship to God.

The Savior took for granted that His followers would pray, and He gave instruction to help them (Matt. 6:5-15). He gave encouragement to reassure them (Matt. 7:8-11; Lk. 18:1-14; Matt. 6:24-34; Phil. 4:6,7). We have wonderful examples of prayer, and the Lord thus shows us what He wants us to do. Paul mentions his regular prayers and thanksgiving at the beginning of each epistle. “Prayer was made without ceasing of the church unto God” for Peter when he was in prison at Jerusalem (Acts 12:5). Paul and Silas prayed in the jail at Philippi. Teachable people like Lydia and Cornelius were given to prayer. Do these examples mean nothing to us? They certainly should have significant meaning for us.

People sometimes get offended and refuse to speak to those who were their friends. This is a way to insult or to indicate one’s lack of respect for another. Is one refusing to speak to his heavenly Father when one fails to pray? Abraham was called a friend of God (Jas. 2:23). This friend often prayed. Surely every one who can be called a friend of God does pray. Prayer is an outgrowth of the warm gratitude to God and of full confidence in His power and love. The Father who wills that we come boldly to His throne deserves our happy response.

“For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse” (Rom. 1:20). “The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament sheweth his handiwork” (Psa. 19:1). The Father and all His angels can minister to our little needs (Heb. 1: 14). Let none lack faith in God’s power to answer the prayers of His saints. Joseph, Daniel, Paul, and others could testify to the fact of God’s providence. Let men everywhere lift up holy hands and pray without wrath and doubting (1 Tim. 2:8).

Guardian of Truth XXIX: 15, pp. 451-452
August 1, 1985