Torch, Spring-Summer 1999

Here are people clamoring for you and you are here by yourself, " Jesus said, "That is why I came out here. That is my purpose." Sometimes those of us involved in people's lives say that this is the best thing we can do. We can forget that the most important thing is to be with God. Here is God the Son who said, "I am unable to meet the needs of people unless I get alone with God the Father. It is through His strength, it is through His enablement that I can best meet the needs of people and I can best fulfill my responsibilities for that day." The purpose of prayer is to make us capable of doing those very things God has created us to do. One of our graduates, David Jeremiah, has written a book titled Prayer, The Great Adventure. I recommend it to you. In this book, Dr. Jeremiah writes Does God do anything without prayer? I scoured the New Testament some time ago lookingfor things God does in ministry that are not prompted by prayer. Do you know what I found? Nothing. I don't mean I had trouble finding an item or two; I mean I found nothing. Everything God does in the work ofministry, He does through prayer. Consider: Prayer is the way you defeat the devil (Luke 22:32; James 4:7). Prayer is the way you get the lost saved (Luke 18:13). Prayer is the way you acquire wisdom Uames 1:5). Prayer is the way a backslider gets restored Uames 5:16-20). Prayer is how the saints get strengthened Uude 20). Prayer is the way we get laborers out to the mission field (Matthew 9 :38). Prayer is how we cure the sick Uames 5 :13-15). Prayer is how we accomplish the impossible (Mark 11:23-24). God works when His people pray. So, as was the case with those prayer warriors mentioned earlier, we need to be alone and we need to be with God if we are going to have the ministry that He wants us to have. Understand that as we pray, it is all to the glory of God. You see, if we pray for something and it happens, we give testimony to the fact that we didn't do it, but God did it. I do not claim to understand how the sovereign God works when His people pray and how all this works into His plan. But I do know that He has commanded that we pray, He chooses to work through the prayers of His people, and therefore He gets all of the glory. The challenge to us is clear. If we want to experience the power of prayer, we must follow the example that Jesus left for us. He practiced prayer with the highest priority and so should we. Prayer must be a priority for us; we must "rise up early" even though we're busy and overstressed. He practiced prayer in a solitary place, and so should we. Even if this means our solitude is in the midst of great activity, we need to block out the distractions and be alone with God. He exercised prayer for the proper purpose and so should we. Praying makes us available for and capable of the work God has planned for our lives. Jesus practiced the power of prayer and so can we. [i] been president of Cedarville College since 1978. He maintains an active preaching schedule as well as providing leadership to the faculty, staff, and students at Cedarville. Dr. Dixon earned his B .A. at Tennessee Temple University, his M.Div. at Temple Baptist Theological Seminary, and his Ed.D. from the University of Cincinnati. He was granted the D.D. by Tennessee Temple University and the LL.D. by Liberty University. He and his wife, Pat, have a son, Scott, and five grandchildren. Scott and his wife Sara (Beattie) are 1984 Cedarville graduates; Scott is an assistant professor of Bible at the College.