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10250 North Freeway @ West Road
Houston, Texas 77037
Tel: (281) 447-8484
KEEPING HOUSE FOR
THE LORD
Written by H. Frank Fort
This material is copyrighted and may not be copied or reproduced without the express written permission of the Berean Baptist Church.
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House for the Lord,
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Our lesson today treats of the second act of formal
worship in "the house of God" and is the second lesson on the subject.
In this lesson we shall consider the things essential to acceptable praying.
James wrote, "The effective fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth
much" James 5:16, or, as it
reads in the margin, "the fervent supplication of a righteous man",
etc. The thing, however, which people often overlook is that the "fervent
supplication of a righteous man" must be made in the light of the truth
which God has revealed for the age in which he lives. For instance,
"Elias…prayed earnestly that it might not rain, and it rained not…and
he prayed again and the heaven gave rain" James 5:17,18. But keep in mind that Elijah's prayer was according
to a covenant God had made concerning Israel, that upon her obedience, he would
"open unto thee his good treasure, the heaven to give rain unto thy land in
his season" Deut. 28:12.
If Israel "will not hearken unto the voice of the Lord thy God, to observe
to do all his commandments and his statutes…the Lord shall make the rain of
thy land powder and dust Deut. 28:15, 24.
Thus when Solomon dedicated the Temple, he prayed, "When the heaven is shut
up, and there is no rain, because they have sinned against thee; if they pray
toward this place, and confess thy name, and turn from their sin…then hear
thou" 1 Kings 8:35,36. It was in
consideration of these conditions that Elijah prayed, but remember that he did
not pray for it to rain, until he had brought God's people "on their
faces" crying, "The Lord he is God; the Lord he is God"
1
Kings 18:39.
Then "there was a great rain" 1
Kings 18:45. People often take Elijah as an example for praying, yet ignore
the truth in view of which he prayed.
Today, praying, if we expect it to be heard, must be
done according to the conditions divinely imposed, for this age. It is still
true that the "fervent supplication of a righteous man availeth much" James
5:16, but only when done according to the "will of God in Christ
Jesus" 1 Thess. 5:18 for "a righteous man" during this
dispensation.
·
Prayer is
effective when God hears and answers, but he hears and answers according to his
will, thus John wrote, "Whatsoever we ask, we receive of him because we
keep his commandments, and do those things that are pleasing in his sight" 1
Jn. 3:22. The conditions in order to receiving must not be ignored, for
God's promises cannot be claimed apart from his conditions.
·
Confidence
in praying can be no greater than the assurance that the things sought are
promised. Thus John wrote again, "This is the confidence that we have in
him, that if we ask anything according to his will, he heareth us" 1
Jn. 5:14. So John adds, "If we know that he hear us, whatsoever we ask,
we know that we have the petitions that we desired of him" 1
Jn. 5:15. Now let us look into this matter. Some take these words "That
if two of you shall agree on earth as touching anything that they shall ask, it
shall be done for them of my Father which is in Heaven" Matt. 18:19. And emphasize the words "anything they shall
ask", and suppose that there is no limit to what one may request. This is
false on the face of it, and ignores the conditions that "we ask
anything…according to his will" 1
Jn. 5:14. God has a will and all his promises are according thereto. Notice,
"If ye have faith and doubt not…all things whatsoever ye shall ask in
prayer, believing, ye shall receive" Matt. 21:22. How can one "have faith and doubt not", on
the principle that "faith cometh by hearing the word of God" Rom.
10:17 unless he has a promise of the things requested? To ask God to do what
he has not promised to do, is to ask him to have complicity in that which
"is not of faith" Rom. 14:23. Paul said, "always in every prayer of mine for you all,
making request with joy" Phil. 1:4,
and then to the saints, "Be careful (anxious) for nothing: but in
everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, let your requests be
made known unto God" Phil. 4:6.
·
We are to
let our requests be known unto God
·
Our
requests are to be "according to His Will"
·
"We
know that we have the petitions that we desired of him".
If
we ignore his will, we have no right to expect anything, nor shall we. James
wrote, "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 that he
shall receive anything of the Lord" James 1:6,7. Notice the characteristic of him "that wavereth".
He is "like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed". Here
is that which by nature is subject to a law, against which it has no power. But
it is not so with the Child of God who "asks in faith", for God will
make "all things work together for good to them that love God" Rom.
8:28. The lesson is this: When a child of God, in pursuit of the will of
God, is confronted by obstacles, apparently insurmountable, they will vanish
before the faith which Bible prayer demands.
Christ said, "If ye abide in me (thus saved) and
my words abide in you (thus, faithful), ye shall ask what you will, and it shall
be done unto you" Jn. 15:7.
·
Prayer is
the means of talking to God. Briefly, it consists of two things:
·
to
"offer the sacrifice of praise…giving thanks" Heb. 13:15. This is in recognition of His glory, and gratitude for
his blessings.
·
To
"let your requests be known unto God" Phil. 4:6. This is for "mercy" Heb. 4:16 in view of our "sins" 1 Jn. 2:1,2, and "help" Heb. 4:16 in view of our "infirmities" Rom.
8:26. Keep always this in mind. God will not accept our praise, until he has
forgiven our sins, as erring children. It is here that many "flounder in
the slough of despond". The order is
·
"Blot
out all mine iniquities…renew aright spirit within me"
·
Then
shalt thou be pleased with the sacrifices of righteousness" Ps.
51:9,10,19. Notice:
·
The
sacrifices in view of unrightousness. "The sacrifices of God are a broken
spirit: a
broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not
despise" Ps. 51:17. "A
broken and a contrite heart" is the result of recognizing sin against God.
Such was the reaction of Peter to the consciousness of his denial. Luke
22:61,62. Paul wrote to the Church at Corinth that "godly
sorrow worketh repentance" 2 Cor.
7:10. One must be "made sorry after a godly manner" 2
Cor. 7:9. Wherever this is done, one is conscious that his sin is not simply
against self or others, but against God; thus David said, "Against thee,
thee only, have I sinned, and done this evil in thy sight" Ps.
51:4. And this conviction brought him to repentance and thus restoration of
joy and fruitfulness.
·
The
sacrifices in view of righteousness. Here we speak of what God will receive from
those fellowship with himself. "Spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by
Jesus Christ" 1 Pet. 2:5. When
these are received, the consciousness of God's pleasure in the acceptableness of
the offerings, creates that zeal which prompts us to "shew forth the
praises of him who hath called us out of darkness into his marvelous light"
1 Pet. 2:9. We are commanded to
·
"Be
filled with the Spirit" Eph. 5:18.
·
This will
result when we "walk in the Spirit" Gal. 5:28, and thus
·
Will
"the fruit of the spirit" "be found", "Proving what is
acceptable unto the Lord" Eph.
5:9,10.
This resulted when David again possessed "The
joy of salvation" Ps. 51:12, and
said, "Open thou my lips, and my mouth shall shew forth thy praise" Ps.
51:15. This is the God "who giveth songs in the night" Job 35:10.
·
"Be
filled with the fruits of righteousness which are by Jesus Christ, unto the
glory and praise of God" Phil. 1:11.
Christ had said,
·
"Here
then is my Father glorified that ye bear much fruit; so shall ye be my
disciples" Jn. 15:8. But he had
also said,
·
"without
me ye can do nothing" Jn. 15:5.
In
this glorious scheme of things, God's design is to "make you perfect in
every good work to do His Will, working in you that which is well pleasing in
his sight, through Jesus Christ" Heb.
13:21.
To sum up the place of prayer in the House of God, as
studied in this lesson, we have learned that prayer is effective only as that
which God hears and answers, and that there are clear cut conditions essential
to such prayer. We have found that the confidence in prayer rests on the
assurance that we have asked for that which God has promised, and met the
conditions, which God has imposed on those who pray. We have considered sin as a
deterrent to answered prayer and that, which is essential to putting it away, as
related to the child of God. There are given to God's people "exceeding
great and precious promises" 2 Pet.
1:4 in view of which we have the responsibility of claiming them, for to
refuse to appropriate what God offers is to treat contemptuously that which is
best for us. God offers this only. Paul said, "Having therefore these
promises, dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the
flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of the Lord" 2
Cor. 7:1. Notice now,
·
"Cleanse
ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh". This has to do with evil doing
as overt acts, and corresponds to "our bodies washed with pure water"
of Heb. 10:22.
·
"Cleanse
ourselves from all filthiness of the…spirit", corresponds to "our
hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience" Heb. 10:22, and these “having…boldness to enter into the holiest
by the blood of Jesus” Heb. 10:19.
Thank
God we have “an high priest over the house of God” Heb. 10:21, and “he is able to save them to the uttermost that
come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them” Heb.
7:25. Thus he is “saviour of the body” Eph.
5:23. Therefore may the members of this body seek his face continually in
prayer, according to his conditions to the end we may receive the promises and
prove to the world that “happy is the people whose God is the Lord”.
Prepared
by:
H.
Frank Fort, Minister
Berean Baptist Church
Houston, TX.
Sept. 26, 1956
"It Does Make a Difference What You Believe"