“When they deliver you up, do not
worry about how or what you should speak, for it will be given to you in that
hour what you should speak; for it is not you who speak, but the Spirit of your
Father who speaks in you” (Matthew 10:19-20)
I’m reading an excellent book by Billy Graham, a
700-plus page autobiography taken from his journal, called “Just As I Am,”
and it’s encouraging to read about the wonders that God has done through the
life of this gentle, humble man. He gives the praise and glory to God, as all
of us should. And He is a man of prayer.
As Rev. Graham was entering Madison Square Garden in New
York City, many years ago, with “flashbulbs… popping all
around,” his “heart kept saying, over and over, ‘O
God, let it be to Thy glory. Let there be no self.” As he sat on the
platform night after night, he experienced “how demanding
(such) speaking can be, physically, emotionally, and
spiritually.” He had run out of sermons and was preparing a new one each
day, an exhausting effort in itself. He “sat on the
platform and prayed silently, ‘O God, YOU have to do it; I can’t do it. I just
CAN’T do it.’” And yet, when he stood up, “all of a
sudden the words would begin to come – God giving strength and spiritual power
in a way that could not be explained in human terms.”
Billy Graham gives the Lord everything he has during the
crusades. He said, “Something went out of me physically in
the New York Crusade that I never fully recovered. Never again would we attempt
anything as extensive in length.” Yet he continued to give himself to the
Lord’s call. He prayed, “Help these people to receive You
in answer to the prayers of the people – and do not let me get any credit.”
He also prayed, “I am willing to take any kind of
tiredness, disease, or whatever it is, for this one night, for You to win these
people.”
Soon after that time, he said, “I
noticed something distorted in my vision; when I looked at the ground, it seemed
to be wavy or ridged. Suddenly, I had a sharp pain in my left eye and it lost
its peripheral vision,” diagnosed as “angiospastic
edema of the macula,” which the doctors “traced
directly to strain and overwork.” He “still had
only 30 percent vision in that left eye,” when they started the next
crusade.
Recently, a member of our Prayer Team, a pastor, entered
an email dialogue with me about prayer. He asked, “How do
we do this?” in relation to the prayers. The needs are so great and our
strength is so little. I responded that it is not unlike the work of a
body-builder – you must use those muscles in order to make them strong. We must
pray in order to become people who can effectively pray. Somehow, the more we
pray, the more we believe that God answers. And belief is a key to answered
prayer.
I often say that I am a “learner”
in prayer, which my wife cautions me about because others don’t understand - we
are ALL learners in prayer. We take the prayers to the Lord in our home each
Sunday afternoon at 4:00 PM. After communion, I do the first prayer, asking for
them out loud; the person to my left takes the second one, and so on. I might
not make it through them all, except others pray with me and it helps that the
prayers are written.
Years ago, I was very troubled by my limitations in
prayer. I would start to pray for someone, and then my mind would wander. The
Lord put it on my heart to keep a journal, which turned out to be the journal of
prayer and Bible study that I kept for the next 15 years. Writing my prayers has
given me focus. In our Scripture for today, Jesus told us what to do if someone attacks us for our faith. He
said, “do not
worry about how (to answer them) for it will be
given to you… it is not you who speak, but the
Spirit of your Father who speaks in you” (Matthew 10:19-20).
The same principle works in prayer. – the Lord is
discernibly with us. He enables us. People all over the world are continually in
crisis. They get through one and here comes another. My question is, with
billions on this earth: how does the Lord do it? The answer? - He is God! and He
imparts something of Himself to those who pray.
In his next email, the pastor said, “Some
requests sound like asking God to do magic. I know He does miracles. By ‘magic’
I mean when some one asks for us to pray that God will heal finances when they
have been irresponsible… or asking for healing for high blood pressure when we
have anger and bitterness.” I like his comment about “magic”
and he’s right. Prayer is not “rubbing a magic lamp;” it’s trusting that God
really cares.
Many have noticed with interest the qualification that
John the Apostle placed on “ask anything in My name…”
He stated that “if we ask anything according to
(God’s) WILL” we will have the answer (1 John
5:14-15 & context). Yes, we often do create our own problems through
irresponsibility and unforgiveness. And I believe the difficulties that arise in
life can be God’s answer to a greater need inside of our character.
And sometimes the troubles that come are not about us at
all. The first half of 2 Corinthians One is an excellent study of the “Whys?” in
life – Why did this happen to me? Paul said, “Blessed be
the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of
all comfort, who comforts us in all our tribulation, THAT WE MAY BE ABLE TO
COMFORT…” OTHERS – and the section gives reasons why we suffer. We might
get a certain form of cancer and think, “Why me?”
Then we are assigned to a chemotherapy room and next to us is a person with
precisely “our” kind of rare cancer. They might listen to us about how the Lord
has comforted us, whereas they might reject a thousand eloquent sermons by those
who do not have that cancer. It’s not just about “me.”
By the way, our weakness in prayer can be a good thing.
Paul noted God’s response to his “thorn in the flesh”
– “My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made
perfect in weakness” (2 Corinthians 12:9). The fact that we are
overwhelmed by the needs of others in prayer is good because it draws us to seek
the Lord’s help in praying for them. I cannot pray alone – more than eloquence,
more than people, I need the Lord. And so do you.
Lord, I trust in You now. Forgive me for the times I
have not prayed. Let Your thoughts, Your Words, Your heart, Your love, be mine.
In Jesus Name. Amen.
