In the “Acts of the Apostles,” chapter 1, we become acquainted with the lives and acts of the apostles dating from the physical departure of Jesus Christ. The events that subsequently transpired have been recorded faithfully for the benefit of all who have since followed them. There can be no doubt that the hearts of the apostles must have been heavy with a feeling of loss and loneliness as they watched their beloved Teacher and Savior as He departed from them, to be received into a cloud out of their sight. They had endured the terrible agony of witnessing the final ordeals of Jesus, culminating in the torment and horrors of crucifixion. This was the Man to whose teaching they had devoted their very lives, and confusion and fear took its heavy toll. Even stalwart Peter thrice denied his Lord.
Following Christ’s burial, they assembled behind locked doors for fear of the Jews. In the midst of this despair suddenly Jesus once again stood among them, uttering the simple, comforting words: “Peace be unto you” (John 20:19). After the first moments of stunned shock, as the awareness of what had happened became real to them, can we not imagine the unrestrained joy that must have filled their hearts ? Here was living proof of all they had believed and held dear. The Messiah, having endured all for the love of mankind, had risen triumphant and was once again with them to provide solace and comfort. Swept away were all doubts and confusion, as even Thomas, who wanted undeniable proof, eight days later acknowledged this glorious event with the words, “My Lord and my God” (John 20:28). How their exultation must have increased during the forty days following His resurrection, as infallible proofs were brought forth, attesting to all the undeniable truth of Christ’s teachings!
At the end of the forty days, however, disappointment must have dulled the keen edge of this great joy. They could not have fully understood Christ’s reference to the setting up of His kingdom at a future date when He should come a second time, for, at the end of the forty days, when they had again gathered together, they asked Him if He would at this time restore the kingdom to Israel (Acts 1:6). Instead of the hoped for confirmation of their hopes for the immediate restoration of Israel, they were told that they were not even to know when this event was going to take place. And so, with a final promise of power through the Holy Spirit, He departed from them once more.
Why Stand Ye Gazing?
It is at this point that we find them in this chapter, standing silent for long moments, straining for a last glimpse of their Master, then brought back to sudden awareness of their surroundings by the presence of two men in white apparel who gave them a firm assurance that their Master would some day return. Consider their departure from this place. It must have been slow and solemn. Great must have been their reluctance to leave, for this was their last visual contact with their beloved Messiah. They were not yet filled with the Holy Spirit, they knew only that they were to carry on with His teachings until His triumphant return. They must indeed have felt their inadequacy and weakness.
Christ’s resurrection from the grave had removed any possibility of doubt from their minds. They were definitely firm in their beliefs, strong in their faith, and confident of the truth of what they were to expound in days to come. This promise of Christ’s return was very dear to them, and they knew that it would some day be fulfilled. But there must have been sorrow and loneliness at their immediate loss.
In this state of mind, they followed Christ’s instructions and returned from the Mount of Olives to Jerusalem. There they went into an upper room and waited. The record of what they did then is of tremendous significance to us. They all continued with one accord in prayer and supplication (Acts 1:14). Prayer, their one remaining link with their Heavenly Father, was the keynote of their lives from that time on. They had depended on Christ to guide them, and instruct them in every endeavor. Through Him had come instruction whereby they might follow the will of God. Now, with His teachings and their faith as a base, they were to proceed on their course alone. Their prayers could not have been mere lip service. There could be no absentminded wandering of their thoughts as they sought communion with their Father. They must have felt the comfort of the presence of Christ as they prayed through Him to God. Their actions were to be governed by prayer, as is evidenced by their first recorded decision following their entry into that room, as they selected Matthias to take the place of Judas among the twelve apostles.
We are Waiting
We today stand in their position at that time. We have Christ’s teachings unfolded for us. The detail of His miracles, the final proof of His calling in His resurrection, the events in His life and ministry on earth, are all clearly and carefully recorded for us. We, too, are awaiting His triumphant return to establish the kingdom and the household of our Father. The depth of our prayers can be a sure standard to each of us of the efficacy and strength of our professed faith and beliefs. For if there is no true communion with our Father, we are falling short, in spite of our studies, regardless of any works we might perform, notwithstanding our professed beliefs and teachings before men. These are not our prime objectives, they are but the means whereby we might draw closer to Him. Prayer in its many forms of necessity becomes the chief function of our daily lives. Barring all other considerations, how do we achieve forgiveness of sin, if we cannot truly approach our Father? Any of us, in business, or even in social affairs, can attest to the problems that arise, if we allow our minds to wander during an important discussion. How much more important it is if we are attempting to approach our Creator and our Father. If our prayers are
inadequate, we must question the motive of all our efforts, the very foundations of our personal testimony for Christ, for if these are true, they cannot help leading us to closer relationship with God. If they are not true, our prayers will become secondary and thoughtless, and we must look elsewhere for our motives. Are we satisfying our own ego, following only our own natural intellectual drive, feeding our human desire for knowledge?
Why do we do what we do?
When we meet people who are sufficiently versed to debate this subject, is our eagerness for discussion influenced by the opportunity to confuse and confound them with a superior knowledge? When we do influence another to delve deeper into the teachings of Christ, perhaps even aid in guiding him to baptism, is our satisfaction derived from what we have done, or from the simple fact that another of God’s children is treading the path toward His kingdom? Or, further, have we simply found a comfortable niche in which to place ourselves, requiring no further thought, carrying on through habit, following the stream, doing and saying that which is necessary to achieve the social acceptance of our brethren and sisters, and giving no real heed to the higher meaning of our call? False pride, conceit, self-satisfaction — the list is endless. There are, of course, varying degrees to any of these motives and examples, and as such, they are difficult characteristics for any of us as humans to discern and accept within ourselves. To successfully evaluate our motives, we must have a standard. And to us this standard can be and indeed is our prayers, our attitude to and our conversation with God.
Christ is the standard of our lives. Wonderful and detailed accounts of His prayers are decorded for our benefit. How often is it recorded that He withdrew from the multitude to commune with His Father in quiet peace! Consider the depth and feeling of His prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane. Take careful note of the final portion of His petition: “Nevertheless, not my will, but Thine, be done” (Luke 22:42). Will anyone doubt the sincerity of Christ in making this statement? Can we be as sure of our own sincerity if and when we use these or similar words? Let us take note of His last words on the cross: “Father, into Thy hands I commend my Spirit” (Luke 23:46). Simple words, a short statement! But how eloquent in its simplicity! Admittedly Christ was dying, but, undoubtedly, nothing, no matter how eloquent or lengthy, could have been more fitting to finally sum up the spirit of Christ’s entire life. Continually, throughout the entire Bible, we are exhorted to prayer. Paul, in his first epistle to Timothy, states: “I exhort therefore, that, first of all, supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks, be made for all men” (1st Timothy 2:1). Christ in the parable of the unjust judge begins by saying that men ought always to pray and not to faint (Luke 18:1).
Examples such as this, enjoining us to prayer, can be found too often in the Scriptures for us not to realize the importance of prayer. If, then, prayer has so obviously influenced the lives of the apostles and other great men in the Bible record, should it not be of similar importance to us as a measure of our own relationship with God? This is a matter that we can so easily overlook. The words “pray” and “prayer” arise continually in our readings, our service, our hymns and our daily lives. We are, or should be, taught as very young children to pray to God. Because of repetition, therefore, there is always the danger that we will continue to pray as children. Certainly, some of the qualities of children must remain, the complete, absolute faith of a child is a prime necessity, but the meaning and maturity of our prayers must develop.
What is Prayer?
To carefully judge this matter, we must go to the basic root, what is prayer? It certainly is not the daily repetition of words, spoken without thought at our services, or at the beginning and end of each day, and before meals. It is not the nightly last minute mumbling of repetitious phrases by a mind tired and consumed with the affairs of the day. Considering the word “prayer” alone, it can be described as the offering of adoration, confession, supplication and thanksgiving to God. But we are not concerned with the meaning of the word, we are striving for the full meaning of the life of prayer, dedicated, devoted to God. Prayer will then become as much the instinct of our nature as a Christian, as it is a duty enjoined by the command of God. As a man, it is our language of worship; as a creature, of our dependence; as a subject, of our submission; as a sinner, of confession; as the recipient of mercies, of thankfulness; as a needy being, of supplication. Communion with God, then, is the prime function of our chosen way of life. Prayer becomes the sincere, sensitive, affectionate pouring out of the heart to God, through Christ. Only through this medium can we successfully serve and obey Him; it is only with the pure motivation of drawing closer to Him in this manner that we can sincerely fulfill all requirements of our Christian lives.
How, then, do we pray? Prayer is too profound and personal for any individual to tell another in what manner he should approach the Father of us all. There are no cold, statistical rules of protocol or etiquette that can be laid down. This should be a vibrant, living, growing, characteristic development within each of us, feeding upon the sincerity of our hearts, which we are striving to purify through our actions and motives on God’s behalf. There are, however, certain basic considerations, which, if we examine in relation to our attitudes might help us to better evaluate the standard of our prayers. Initially, we might dismiss the position of our bodies as unimportant. In thinking of this, I recall a statement I read to the effect that in moments of true communion with God, whatever be the attitude of the body, the heart is on its knees.
Teach us to Pray
We have the record of the occasion when one of Christ’s disciples said to Him, “Lord, teach us to pray (Luke 11: 1). In answer, He gave them what we call the “Lord’s Prayer,” following which, He expounded the need of persistence in prayer, and offered the encouragement of the certainty of response from a Heavenly Father. Like many of the lessons given by Christ, this prayer is short, but filled with wisdom and latent thought. It behooves each of us to study and ponder upon it as an example for our own prayers, for what better authority can be found for our guidance in this matter?
The need of persistence and diligence in prayer, which Christ advised, is repeated continually throughout the Bible, and allows no possibility of doubt that this is required of each of us. The assurance of some reply to a petition offered in the proper spirit and in faith is certainly guaranteed by the innumerable examples provided. We must, of course, bear in mind that the answer we receive will not always be the one we seek. It was once written that “Holy, humble, penitent, believing, earnest, persevering prayer is never lost, it always prevails to the accomplishment of the thing sought, or that with which the supplicant will be better satisfied in the end, according to the superior wisdom of his heavenly Father, in which he trusts.”
The Lord’s Prayer gives us a general guide as to the type of petition we should present to our Father. A study of the prayers offered in the Old and New Testaments will reveal that praise and Thanksgiving to God constitute a prime element, coupled with petitions for blessings on behalf of others. Beyond this, we should remember that prayer covers the whole of a man’s life. There is no thought, feeling, yearning or desire, however humble or trifling we may deem it, which, if it affects our real interest or happiness, we may not lay before God, and be sure of His sympathy. His nature is such that our often coming does not tire Him. The entire burden of the life of every man may be turned over to God, and, although it has wearied the man, it will not weary Him. If we cannot pray and ask God to bless us in something we wish to do, then we should never do it. A secret we would want to keep from God, if possible, is a secret we should keep from our own hearts. The type of our prayers, then, the thanksgiving and praise to be offered, the petitions, blessings and supplications, which can and should be sought — all these are readily discernible by a study of the multitudinous examples with which we have been provided.
Of paramount importance, however, is the manner in which we approach God, the sincerity and affection of our hearts as we endeavor to draw nigh to Him. We must initially consider that we are addressing our Creator. If we were contacting some important personage of the world about us, we would surely not chatter on inanely, simply voicing a series of thoughtless phrases, while we permitted our minds to be preoccupied with our own activities, or those about us. What embarrassment would we feel, if, halfway through a discourse, we found we weren’t absolutely sure of all that we had said, or suddenly realized that, due to inattention, we had been slowly repeating the same phrase over and over again. People wouldn’t listen to us, nor would we expect them to. Can we expect that God will demand anything less ? Are not our utterances to Him of infinitely more importance?
Tongue and Heart Together
When we pray, we must take care that the tongue does not out-speed the heart. We cannot presume to let the tongue carry a message to the throne of grace, while the heart stays behind. It is truly said that in prayer it is better to have a heart without words, than words without a heart. Perhaps, on occasion, when we hear one of our brethren offer a prayer on our behalf at our services, we are impressed by the fluency and freedom with which he expresses his thoughts, impressed to the extent that we feel intimidated, and, perhaps, rather unworthy, in comparing them with our own faltering attempts. These attempts, however, have not failed if they were wholehearted attempts at communion with God, and not dull, thoughtless habit. The standard of our prayers is not measured by our command of language, nor our ability to communicate. Let us repeat, the child of God, who sincerely endeavors to use prayer to guide him throughout each day, who earnestly hopes that each deed or word will help him draw closer to the Father, does not need eloquence or oratory in his approach to God. But this can be accomplished only if we think of Him, not as a shadowy substance, but as a reality, a loving Father, who, if approached with faith, love, affection and undivided attention will consider our most insignificant plea.
Before each prayer, we need only consider the wonderful things that have been done on our behalf, the glorious opportunity that has been opened to each of us, the planning and care that have gone into the world about us, the blessings of family and life that we enjoy, and the sure promise of the hope that we have, as evidenced by the uncompromising testimony of the Bible, testifying also to the sure results of sincere and thoughtful prayer.
We have all these evidences, just as did the apostles. Let us strive to make our prayers and our actions through prayer as sure as theirs. As we grow in our acute awareness of God in this manner, the spontaneous prayers that must then surely arise in our daily lives will become an ever increasing source of strength to guide us in our Christian walk.
The evidence of such sure strength through prayer will provide benefits beyond that of our own lives. Consider even our children. As we endeavor to guide them toward the calling of our Father, nothing will so strongly prove our sincerity, so strongly awaken their reverence, so positively recommend the instruction they receive, as our own confidence in our prayers.
Let us always try to show them that, properly offered, prayer in the morning can be the key that opens to us the treasures of God’s mercies and blessings; in the evening it is the key that shuts us up under His protection and safeguard. Indeed, we can as well expect vegetation to spring from the earth without sunshine and rain as the Christian to unfold his grace, and advance in his course without patient, persevering, ardent prayer. To pray, as God would have us, with all the heart, strength, reason and will, and to believe that God will listen to our voice through Christ and verily do the thing He pleases thereon, this is the last, the greatest achievement of the Christian’s warfare on earth.
The Origin of the Organic World – Part One