The Ohio Independent Baptist, February 1966

p fl ~1lt ll('\ t'\ \ t :c O tllt'<.)1,.1gl\.. .. t1 tll ll"nt, in t,, t tl1"' lc.1 itng ,c11,1n- ' r l' tl1is .. t1n1r, re, c.1lclt tl1at 11t, l' ' t'n J 'r ... t nt <. t thc111 h,t<.i a ti, ii, It'\ ,til)t1al lttc 1nct,,-thrc\.: per- \.' 'nt " t tllt' t' , )ttng t11cn crain1ng for t l1c 1ll t 11,t 1, ,, er' lic,t i ncLi t ) hcct)111c I r;t, '-', ll , I , c ,l .. h \.: r, Pr,1, crlc"' J'ft',l\.'llt'r, c, c11 th, tl1ot1gl1t sl1ot1l I .1l.1i111 tt ttrtl\ ,,c 11.1,c n t bc- ..,,,11c ~\.') a ct1 ' t n1ed t pra erlc - r1c , that ,, c fail t httli<lcr at it in- i tt nc ·, \. all t prea h 1 al o a call t i'r -.l)' . n1in1 t r f the go pel ha n1an, dt1t1e . But if he neglect hi ,11101 tr) 1n pra er, h i unfaithfu] to ht calling. purgeon aid, "Of cot1rse. th preacher i above all ther di tingui bed a a man of ..... pra) er. He pra)' an ordinary hri t1an. el he were a hypocrite. H pra)· more than ordinary Chri - t1an . el e he were di qualified for th office he ha undertaken. All our librarie and tudie are mere empti– ne compared to our clo ets." A pra)·erle preacher i the world wor t example of a mi placed em– pha i and mi,c,u ed calling. Pra, er within itself i a mini try. ~ We meet our obligation to God and n1an a \\-ell by our praying as b~ our preaching. We are to be prie ~ a well a prophet . A prie t v. e repre ent the need of men to God· a prophet we pre ent the me age of God to men. Aaron wa in tructed to bear the names of the children of I rael in the breastplate of judg– n1ent upon hi heart ... "for a me– morial before the Lord continually." Samuel wa o keenly aware of hi re pon ibility to pray for hi people that he aid, ' 'As for me God for– bid that I hould in against the Lord in ceasing to pray for you." Prayer Contagious Pra} 1 ing preachers produce praying par.sh1oners. A spirit of prayer i con tagiou..... Others iWill sense that we have ··been with Je u ,'· and will long to hare the bles ednes with us. As \\'ith all other matters. the minister must lead the wa)' if he de ires a praying church. We cannot lead our people \\'here v.'e have not been OL1r- el,1e . he apo ·t)e thought the 111atter of pra)'er o in1portant that they de ired FEBRUARY, 1966 PAGE 4 tl1c I,,, 111c1, t) arc f r the bt1~1nc<;s f ,er, ,ng tnl1lc, ~ th<1t the cot1ld give thcn1\cl c, " ont1nt1,lll'r l prayer, a11d t the 111in1~tr of the word." 1\ t~ 6: 4. ·rhc, rtit J1ra er f.ir t when s<.1 111,10 of tt"i pttl 1t la,l . Prayer I ir"t - <..1thcr thing lo I I low. ' I hi~ \\ra~ their rca on tr tlc~iring a ft1IJ– t 1111c n1in i ·try. ot n1orc tin1c for lci·;; t1rc, bt1t n1ore tin1c for prayer. We cot1l<l ee n1ore in our day f what the aw in their i·f we would f 11 w thi pattern. It is time we put prayer where they pt1t it - F IRST. Preaching without prayer cannot ave. The truth of God in the hand of a prayerle man can be the moot dangerou thing imaginable. "The letter killeth, but the pir1it giveth life.'' While one person may be aved becau e it i the Word of God, a dozen may 1be lo t ,becau"'e it j handled with unho,Iy hand . Need for Wisdom A mini ters of the go pel we are leader of men and prayerle leadem are dangerou . Rehoboam, .througih hi lack of wisdom, divided the pre– viously united I rael into two king– doms. What a failure he was as a leader of God' ,people! The rea on i found in JI Chron. 12: 14, ' 'And he did evil becau e he pre.pared not hi heart to seek the Lord." We must have wi dom to lead men ari,ght and thi~ wi dom i promi ed in an wer to prayer. God aid He give "liberally and upbrai<leth not.' ' Prayerles preacher produce power– ]e pulpit . atural abiJity polished oratory, and perfect pre,paration are a-=- ounding bra s or a tinkling ym– bal without prayer. The anointing of the Lord come in an wer to prayer. Tt was aid of the early Church, ' 'And when they had prayed . . . they pake with boldness." It should be our de- ire never to preaoh again without this anointing. We are belple with– out it. Je u said, ' 'As the branch cannot bear fruit of it elf, except it abide in the vine· no more can ye, except ye abide in me . . . for with– out me ye can do nothing.' ' Prayerle preacher are also neg- J igen t in other matters. R. A. Torrey ,ai<.J, HBy pra~1ing 1nore we will not work any le. :, but will accompli h \ a ·tl 1 n1ore. · Praying n1en are not lal'y . '] ~hey apJJly t hcn1sc lvcs whcr n Pf)) icat10 n brings rcsu It hcca tisc they arc lc<.I of the p1rit lo those nctiv– Jtic which arc the 1nost fruitful. Martin I tither, who sn ic.l tl1at he hacl so 111uch bu\inev, he coul<.I not get on without three hour~ spent in prayer <.laily had as hi5 motto, "He l1hat has prayec.I well has °'tt1dicc.l well.'' John We ley aid that if he 111t1st choo~c between intellectual ancJ spiritual pre– paration he woulc] chooc.;e piritual. The e men a5 well a other5 who have accom,pli hed great things for God are remembered for their prayer) as well a their sermon . Christ the Example The li t of praying preachers is Jed by Chri t Him elf. Before Hc entered upon His public ministry forty day were pent alone with the Father. All through His mini try He would spend all-night in prayer, and on occasion would ari e "a great while before day' ' to engage in thi holy mini try. And what is He doing now? PRAYING! With His earthly ministry complete, He is at the right hand o.f the Father "to make in– terce .:sion. ' Should we not be a– shamed to be His followers and yet give o Jittle time to thi mini try that He con ider so important? The con tant attitude of our heart and the atmo phere urrounding our live hould 1be prayerful. Spasmodic praying will not do. As the apo tle , we must give our elve "continually~ to prayer. Like the manna in the wilderne our supply of grace mu t be fre h with each new day. Ye ter– day',=, victory will not win today battle. Moody aid, "Our trouble i that we are trying to do the work of God with the grace we had ten year ago!" Revival are not born in a hurry! We must "wait" and we must "continue." Our warfare i piritual. To up– pooe that we can do more with our human effort than to pray i the wor t form of pre umption. When we ,pray, God work . And He can do more in a moment than we can do in a ]ifetin1e. Brethren, let tt pray . '"fhc benefit to be rcapcu fron1 it are i111n1 a~ural1lc. - '/ /1c· J>rettc li er's M c1gt1zi11e. THE OHIO INDEPENDENT BA PTIST