And this is another reason why many prayers are not answered. If prayer is to be answered, it must be persevering. This was taught by the Redeemer in the 18th chapter of Luke. "He spake a parable unto them to this end, that men ought always to pray, and not to faint; saying, There was in a city a judge, which feared not God, neither regarded man: and there was a widow in that city; and she came unto him, saying, Avenge me of mine adversary. And he would not for a while but afterwards he said within himself, Though I fear not God, nor regard man; yet because this widow troubleth me, I will avenge her, lest by her continual coming she weary me. And the Lord said, Hear what the unjust judge saith. And shall not God avenge his own elect, which cry day and night unto him, though he bear long with them? I tell you that he will avenge them speedily. Nevertheless when the Son of man cometh, shall he find faith on the earth?" Will he find men persevering in prayer? The same lesson is taught by another parable in Luke xi. v. 5-13. "And he said unto them, Which of you shall have a friend, and shall go unto him at midnight, and say unto him, Friend, lend me three loaves; for a friend of mine in his journey is come to me, and I have nothing to set before him? And he from within shall answer and say, Trouble me not the door is now shut, and my children are with me in bed; I cannot rise and give thee. I say unto you, though he will not rise and give him, because he is his friend, yet because of his importunity he will rise and give him as many as he needeth. And I say unto you, 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. If a son should ask bread of any of you that is a father, will he give him a stone? or if he ask a fish, will he for a fish give him a serpent? or if he shall ask an egg, will he offer him a scorpion? If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children: how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him?” Both these parables show that if prayers are to be successful, they must be persevering. There must be a feeling of soul that cannot rest, that will not cease, until it has obtained the desired blessing. It was in this way that Jacob prayed, when he prevailed with the Angel; he wrestled all night; he pleaded till the break of day. It was in this way that Moses and Elijah prayed. Moses continued with hands lifted up in prayer from morning till evening. Elijah continued pleading for rain, while his servant went to the side of the mountain, to look towards the sea, and returned seven times. If we would have our prayers answered, we must imitate the perseverance of these holy men: we must pray without ceasing; we must pray always, and not faint. 5. Some pray in vain, because they are wanting in humility. They are haughty towards their fellow-men, or they are wanting in lowliness towards God. And God has not promised to bless the proud; his promises are all for the lowly. He resisteth the proud, but he giveth more grace to the humble. The Saviour spake a parable on this subject, Luke xviii. 10, saying, "Two men went up into the temple to pray; the one a Pharisee, and the other a publican. The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, God, I thank thee that I am not as other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this publican. I fast twice a week, I give tithes of all I possess. And the publican standing afar off, would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven, but smote upon his breast, saying, God be merciful to me a sinner. I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other." And he concludes the parable with these words, "For whosoever exalteth himself shall be humbled; but he that humbleth himself shall be exalted." There are thousands of prayers lost for want of humility in those who offer them. 6. Many prayers are unavailing, because they are not offered in faith: the persons who offer them do not firmly believe God's word; they do not place full confidence in his promises; they do not confidently look for the blessings for which God has encouraged them to pray. They pray as if they regarded the promises of God as a bundle of uncertainties, and as if they regarded the success of prayer as utterly doubtful and hazardous. This is dishonouring God: it is in effect calling God a liar. And God does not deserve such treatment; nor is it likely that he will answer the prayers of those who thus question his truth and faithfulness. God wishes to be trusted; and those who refuse to trust him, have reason to expect their prayers to be rejected. We are taught most plainly, that if we would have answers to our prayers, we must pray in faith. We are taught this by the Apostle James. Speaking of wisdom, he says; "If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him. But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea, driven with the wind and tossed. For let not that man think he shall receive any thing of the Lord." We are taught the same lesson by the Saviour, in Mark xi. 24, "Whatsoever things ye desire when ye pray, believe that ye shall receive them, and ye shall have them." It is right that we should have a promise from God, before we expect a blessing; but when God has given a promise, we should believe infinitely we ought not to encourage a distrustful, unbelieving thought of God for a single moment. We must pray in faith, if we would not pray in vain. 7. If men would have answers to their prayers, they must obey God in all things. They must be righteous, holy men. They must indulge in no sin; they must neglect no duty. God has not promised to hear the prayers of the wicked; it is the prayers of the righteous, the prayers of those who fear him, who love him, and do his will, that God has engaged to hear. The Psalmist understood this, hence he said, "If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear my prayer." Psalm lxvi. 18. This principle was understood by Solomon also; hence he says, "The sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination to the Lord, but the prayer of the upright is his delight." Prov. xv. 8. "He that turneth away his ear from hearing the law, even his prayer shall be an abomination." Prov. xxviii. 9. The same doctrine runs through the prophets. In the time of Isaiah, the people of Israel were heavily afflicted with divine judgments, and, to turn away the divine displeasure, they brought offerings and sacrifices to God, and offered up prayers to Him. They appear to have held protracted meetings, and made many prayers; but all to no purpose. "To what purpose is the multitude of your sacrifices unto me, saith the Lord ? Bring no more vain oblations ; incense is an abomination unto me; the new moons and sabbaths, and the calling of assemblies I cannot away with; it is iniquity, even the solemn meeting. And when ye spread forth your hands I will hide mine eyes from you: yea, when ye make many prayers, I will not hear." How is this? Had not God appointed these things? Why then does he despise them ? The reason is stated in the next words: "Your hands are full of blood. Wash you, make you clean; put away the evil of your doings from before mine eyes; cease to do evil, learn to do well; seek judgment, relieve the oppresse 1, judge the fatherless, plead for the widow. If ye be willing and obedient, ye shall eat the good of the land; but if ye refuse and rebel, ye shall be devoured with the sword; for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it." Isa. i. 11, 20. It was much the same with the people of Israel in the days of Zechariah. "Thus speaketh the Lord of Hosts: Execute true judgment, and show mercy and compassion every man to his brother oppress not the widow, nor the fatherless, the stranger, nor the poor; and let none of you imagine evil against his brother in your heart. But they refused to hearken, and shrunk from the yoke, and stopped their ears that they could not hear. Yea, they made their hearts as an adamant stone, lest they should hear the law, and the words which the Lord of Hosts hath sent in his spirit by the former prophets: therefore came a great wrath from the Lord of Hosts. Therefore it came to pass, that as the Lord cried, and they would not hear; so they cried, and I would not hear, saith the Lord." and Zech. vii. 9, 13. At the time the Redeemer was upon earth, this principle appears to have become a common proverb. This appears from the words of the man who was born blind and had received his sight from Jesus. The Pharisees represented Christ as a sinner, and they said, "We know not whence he is. The man answered, Why herein is a marvellous thing, that ye know not from whence he is, and yet he hath opened mine eyes. Now we know that God heareth not sinners; but if any man be a worshipper of God, and doeth his will, him he heareth." John ix. 30, 31. The Redeemer himself makes the success of men's prayers to depend on their attention to his words, and on their obedience to his precepts. If men would be heard when they pray to be forgiven, he requires them to forgive their fellowmen. In his discourse on the vine and the branches, he says, "If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you." Here the success of our prayers is made to depend, first, on our abiding in Christ; on our continuing stedfast in our purpose and endeavour to please God; and, secondly, on our having and retaining such a knowledge of Christ's words, as will enable us to know what things they are which will please God. All is made to depend on our endeavouring to understand and to do the will of God. The same principle is laid down by the Apostle James. The man who is double-minded and unstable in his ways, he would have to look for nothing in answer to his prayers. "Let not that man think that he shall receive anything of the Lord." i. 7. The prayer which he says prevails with God, is the prayer of the obedient. “The effectual, fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much." v. 16. The Apostle John puts this principle in a plainer and fuller light still, if possible. 66 Beloved, if our heart condemn us not, then have we confidence towards God: and whatsoever we ask we receive of him, because we keep his commandments, and do those things which are pleasing in his sight." 1 John iii. 21, 22, If, then, we do not study God's law, and keep his commandments, and endeavour at all times to do those things which are pleasing in his sight, we have no authority to expect answers to our prayers. This doctrine may be called a legal doctrine, but it is a doctrine of the Scriptures; it is the doctrine both of the Old and New Testaments; it is inculcated not only by the ancient prophets, but by Christ and his Apostles too. And whether men call it legal or evangelical, it is still true. If we hide any iniquity in our heart; if we cherish any uncharitableness towards our fellow-men; if we neglect to study God's will, or if when God's will is made known to us, we refuse to act in accordance with it, our prayers can be of no avail. It is the plain and uniform doctrine of the Scriptures, that if we would have the things for which we pray, we must not only be believers in Christ, but sincere, good men. He It deserves to be observed that those individuals mentioned in the Sacred Scriptures, whose prayers were remarkably answered by God, were persons of decided and singular piety. This was the case with Abraham. It seems as if God could scarcely deny him anything. When he pleaded for Sodom and Gomorrah, God acceded to every thing he requested or proposed. But Abraham was a man of singular devotedness to God. believed every thing that God said, however strange; he confidently expected whatever God promised, however difficult the fulfilment of the promise might seem; and he did whatever God commanded, however painful, or perilous, obedience might be. He left his native country, forsook his father's house, and suffered the loss of all things for the sake of God. At God's command he went out as a pilgrim, not knowing whither he went; and such was his readiness to obey God, that when God tried him, by directing him to offer up his only son, the child of promise, the very son through whom God had declared that all the families of the earth should be blessed, he prepared to make the sacrifice without a murmur. I cannot wonder that Abraham had such power with God, when God had such power with Abraham. I cannot wonder that God should be so liberal with Abraham, when Abraham so heartily and so uniformly gave up his all to God. Moses had great power with God; his prayers appear to have been irresistible. How strangely did he hold back the arm of vengeance, uplifted to destroy the rebellious Israelites! How wonderfully did his pleadings prevail over Amalek! But Moses also was a man of peculiar piety. He was a faithful, obedient man. He was the meekest man on the face of the earth, and he appears to have been exemplary in other respects as well. He began by a remarkable exercise of self-denial. When he was come to years, he refused to be called the son of Pharoah's daughter; choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God, than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season; esteeming the reproach of God's people greater riches than the treasures in Egypt. There is but one fault recorded of him from this period, that I recollect, and that was speaking unadvisedly when so grievously tried and harrassed with the rebelliousness and unreasonableness of the Children of Israel. Can we wonder at the prevalence of the prayers of a man like this? Elijah was another whose prayers were exceedingly powerful; God opened and shut the windows of Heaven in answer to his prayers. But Elijah also was a very holy, zealous, and faithful man. Though he lived in times of great degeneracy, in the midst of a general apostacy, he still maintained his integrity. He pleaded for truth and righteousness, when the masses of his countrymen were running headlong into evil; and he carried his rebukes and warnings into the very palace, and assailed idolatry and profligacy in the highest places, and in the highest personages in the land. He risked his all for God. Daniel appears to have had great power with God in prayer, but Daniel, too, was a man of peculiar sanctity. The early Christians had much power with God in prayer. In answer to their prayers the Holy Ghost came down upon them like a mighty rushing wind, filling the place in which they were assembled, and resting visibly and powerfully upon each of them. On other occasions God opened the prison doors in answer to their prayers, and delivered the Apostles from the dungeon, and from death. But these also were persons of no common degree of holy devotedness to God. They had forsaken all for Christ, and were daily risking their lives for their love to the Saviour. Poverty, reproaches, persecutions, death, were as nothing in their estimation, for the love they had to the Saviour and his cause. And they were full of love to each other. They were of one heart and one soul, neither said any of them that aught of the things which he possessed was his own; but they had all things common. Selfishness and earthliness were gone; their souls were filled with love to God and love to man; and their sole business was, in obedience to the will of God, to promote each other's welfare, and to bring a guilty world to God. Is it any wonder that the prayers of such people as these should be answered? We sometimes pray for pentecostal seasons: let us be pentecostal Christians, and we shall not pray for Pentecostal seasons in vain. And here is another great cause why the prayers which are offered up by professors of religion at the present day, are so seldom answered; professors are wanting in piety, in holy devotedness to God. They do not keep God's commandments, and do those things which are pleasing in his sight. They do things which God has expressly forbidden, and they leave undone things which God has expressly commanded. A great many of the commandments of Christ appear to be almost altogether forgotten by the great majority of professors, or if they are not forgotten, they appear to be awfully disregarded. I will give you a number of instances of precepts which are thus overlooked or disregarded. CHRISTIAN PRECEPTS, WHICH ARE GENERALLY NEGLECTED Aiming at God's Glory. 1. One command of God is this: "Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God." 1. Cor. x. 31. But how few appear to regard this rule. Can we look at the way in which multitudes of professors live, the luxuries in which they indulge, with out fearing that the glory of God is forgotten by them, and that it is the glory and pleasure of the flesh which they seek. Love to our Neighbour. 2. Another command of God is this: "Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself." Luke x. 27. But how seldom do we meet with professors who act in agreement with this command! What multitudes of professors do we see possessing abundance of this world's good, and yet suffering their neighbours to pine away in want and wretchedness. What numbers there are who clothe themselves in the costliest garments, build magnificent houses, store them with needless furniture, hang the walls of their rooms with pictures, and indulge themselves in daily luxuries, while their neighbours have not the means of procuring a decent garment to cover them, or of earning bread sufficient for themselves and their children. What multitudes in lower circumstances indulge themselves in things needless or hurtful, while their neighbours are perishing for lack of things needful. Nay, more, they live in extravagance while millions of their neighbours have neither bibles, schools, nor teachers, to assist them in obtaining a knowledge of God and of religion. Is this loving their neighbours as themselves? Restitution, &c. 3. Another command of Christ requires us, before we present our prayers or thanksgivings to God, and before we contribute of our property to pious or charitable institutions, to pay our debts, to restore to our brother whatever is his, to acknowledge whatever wrong we have done him, and make the fullest restitution in our power. The words of the precept are these: "Therefore, if thou bring thy gift to the altar, and there rememberest that thy brother hath ought 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.' Matt. v. 23, 24. But how few regard this precept! Professors live at variance with professors, they slander one another, live in people's debt, fail in business, and pay only ten or two shillings in the pound, and yet, without making any restitution, or labouring after any reconciliation with their brethren, they go on praying, singing, preaching, and contributing to what are called charitable and religious institutions, as if all were right. Law-suits. 4. Another precept of Christ requires us, when people go to law with us, or make complaints against us, to endeavour to settle the matter as soon as possible, and to do any thing, to settle the matter, that we can do consistently with a good conscience. "Agree with thine adversary quickly, whiles thou art in the way with him; lest at any time the adversary deliver thee to the judge, and the judge deliver thee to the officer, and thou be cast into prison. Verily I say unto thee, thou shalt by no means come out thence, till thou hast paid the uttermost farthing." Matt. v. 25, 26. Yet how few act on this plan? How common it is for professors to allow people to go to law with them, and to hold out against their adversaries as long as they can, without ever attempting to subdue their adversaries by reason and kindness, and bring the dispute to a peaceful and comfortable end? Oaths. 5. Another precept of Christ requires us not to swear. "Again, ye have heard that it hath been said by them of old time, Thou shalt not forswear thyself, but shalt perform unto the Lord thine oaths: but I say unto you, Swear not at all: neither by heaven; for it is God's throne: nor by the earth; for it is his footstool: neither by Jerusalem; for it is the city of the great King. Neither shalt thou swear by thy head, because thou canst not make one hair white or black. But let your communication be, Yea, yea; Nay, nay: for whatsoever is more than these cometh of evil." Matt. v. 33, 37. And yet how few there are of those who profess to be followers of Christ, who hesitate to swear. If the Government order them to swear, they will take oaths by thousands, and some will even take oaths when Government forbids them to be taken. The professors who refuse to take oaths |