What else is meant by such promises and assurances as these: “Therefore I say unto you, What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them” (Mark xi. 24); “The supplication of a righteous man availeth much in its working. Elijah was a man of like passions with us, and he prayed fervently that it might not rain; and it rained not on the earth for three years and six months. And he prayed again, and the heavens gave rain and the earth brought forth her fruit” (James v. 16-18. American Revision).
The Holy Spirit dwelling within the heart helps us to understand the things we may pray for, and the heart that is full of love and loyalty to God only wants what is lawful. This is mystery to people who are under the dominion of selfishness and the darkness of unbelief, but it is a soul-thrilling fact to those who are filled with the Holy Ghost.
“What wilt thou that I shall do unto thee?” asked Jesus of the blind man (Luke xviii. 41).
He had respect to the will of the blind man, and granted his request, seeing he had faith. And He still has respect to the vigorous, sanctified will of His people—the will that has been subdued by consecration and faith into loving union with His will.
The Lord answered Abraham on behalf of Sodom till he ceased to ask.
“The Lord has had His way so long with Hudson Taylor,” said a friend, “that now, Hudson Taylor can have his way with the Lord.”
Adoniram Judson lay sick with a fatal illness in far-away Burmah. His wife read to him an account of the conversion of a number of Jews in Constantinople through some of his writings. For a while the sick man was silent, and then he spoke with awe, telling his wife that for years he had prayed that he might be used in some way to bless the Jews, yet never having seen any evidence that his prayers were answered; but now, after many years and from far away, the evidence of answer had come. And then, after further silence, he spoke with deep emotion, saying that he had never prayed a prayer for the glory of God and the good of men but that, sooner or later, even though for the time being he had forgotten, he found that God had not forgotten, but had remembered and patiently worked to answer his prayer.
Oh, the faithfulness of God! He means it when He makes promises and exhorts and urges and commands us to pray. It is not His purpose to mock us, but to answer and “to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think.” Bless His holy Name!
3. Knowledge and wisdom must take the place of foolish ignorance. Paul says, “We know not what we should pray for as we ought,” and then adds, “But the Spirit Himself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered” (Romans viii. 26). If my little child asks for a glittering razor, I refuse its request; but when my full-grown son asks for one I grant it. So God cannot wisely answer some prayers, for they are foolish or untimely. Hence, we need not love and faith only, but wisdom and knowledge, that we may ask according to the will of God.
It is this that Paul has in mind when he says that he will not only pray with the Spirit, but “I will pray with the understanding also” (I Cor. xiv. 15). Men should think before they pray, and study that they may pray wisely.