Secrets We Learn from Paul about Prayer

Secrets We Learn from Paul about
PRAYER & SUPPLICATION
...as we hold ourselves and others before the Throne of God's Grace.

PAUL WAS NOT AFRAID TO LAY BARE HIS OWN SOUL in writing his Epistles. He made known in them the intimate workings of the Holy Spirit going on inside him. This was especially so when it came to his concern for the people under his care. He ministered to them as a father would to his children, or sometimes as a pregnant mother would to her unborn babe. This care in him for others brought him into a valuable understanding about praying that will help us. This kind of praying for others we call intercession.

We receive a good amount of understanding about intercession from one of Paul's Statements in Galatians. He spoke of my little children, of whom I travail in birth again till Christ be formed in you - 4:19. The words travail in birth could speak of a pregnant mother laboring to give birth. Paul was, as it were, pregnant with those he called his little children. They were the people to whom he had ministered and for whom he continued caring, even though he was in a Roman prison and separated from them.

When a mother bears a child in her womb to full term, she never stops being pregnant till the child is born. Every hour of the day and night her life revolves around the bearing of another life within her. So, Paul bore others in a spiritual womb, not for the formation of their own life, but for the formation of Christ's life in them. It was a "womb of intercession."

For several years my wife Glenda and I have followed the discipline we are learning from Paul. During this time we have had our share of difficulties, but have worked at overcoming them and have seen much victory. Some things have almost knocked us out, and we had to lay down and bleed a little. But, every time we've been able to get back up. More than once we have asked the Lord to renew in us the spirit of supplication (Zech 12:10). Each time He has faithfully moved by drawing us on in the discipline of intercession. We are learning that nothing is so important as this ministry. It can bear results in the intimate circle of one soul, or it can reach around the world to touch many.

Paul gave advice in Phil 4:6 regarding this. Be careful for nothing ("don't be of an anxious mind about anything or anyone"); but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. There are three marvelous words here: prayer, supplication and thanksgiving. Prayer is from the Greek proseuché, the most common word for prayer in the Greek New Testament. It means simply the bringing of a request before the Lord, usually with humility and worship.

Supplication is from a stronger word, deésis. It is almost like begging and it is used frequently for intercession. In the two words we can see two dimensions of prayer like Jesus brought out in Lk 11:1-13. In response to the disciples request, Lord, teach us to pray, He laid out the same principle of praying He taught in Mt 6:9-13. Then, without break, He told of the man who begged bread at midnight from one friend for another friend. There was no worship or humility. There was simply a need and one who could meet that need. The supplicant refused to go away till that need was met. It was not through lack of faith that the man continued knocking on the door of his friend. It was with utmost faith that, while there was a need, he had a friend who could meet that need. He broke all rules of propriety and good manners and persisted in asking till the need was met. Thus, Jesus taught about prayer and supplication.

Coupled with them both, Paul added thanksgiving. In a later article we will go back to what Jesus taught in Lk 11.

ALL OF US CAN LEARN FROM PAUL. Parents can learn about praying for their children. Husbands and wives can find new life together as they learn to pray effectively one for the other. Pastors can learn from him about ministering to their congregations in intercessory prayer. Friends can learn to hold friends before God's Throne.

Intercession can touch every relationship we have and make it rich in Christ. It can reach every soul for whom we care and release in them a new realm of living in Christ. In his much praying, Paul learned some secrets that he passed on to us. He wrote about them in his Epistles, especially those he wrote while a prisoner. One secret is that he learned to pray without ceasing. Another is that he learned to pray with the Spirit.

Paul spoke often of continual praying. What a secret he had learned! To the believers in Rome he said, .. Without ceasing I make mention of you always in my prayers (Rom 1:9). To the Ephesians he said, I cease not to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers (Eph 1:16). To the Philippians he said, I thank my God upon every remembrance of you, always in every prayer of mine for you all making request with joy (Phil 1:3,4). To the Colossians he said, We do not cease to pray for you (Col 1:9). To the Thessalonians he said, We give thanks to God always for you all, making mention of you in our prayers (I Thes 1:2). To Timothy he said, Without ceasing I have remembrance of thee in my prayers night and day (II Tim 1:3).

In I Thes 5:17, he spoke to us -- straightforward and simple -- Pray without ceasing. He meant, "Make it your unvarying practice to be always praying. Do not allow your soul to stray from communion with the Lord." He had found this was a possibility for his own life and he wanted it in the lives of those to whom he ministered.

Surely there were times he did other things besides pray, but there was no activity that ruled out praying. There were no times he could not and did not pray. He must have never stopped praying, any more than a pregnant mother stops for a while being pregnant until she gives birth. He found the secret of praying without ceasing.

We can learn the same thing Paul learned, even if we begin slowly. We can start by discovering the times we are doing something else, but still can pray -- when walking, riding a bicycle, riding a public vehicle, driving a car, working in a field, preparing food, washing clothes, chopping wood. Any task not requiring the total concentration of our minds and spirits allows time for praying. As we grow in relationship with the Lord, we find there is hardly a time we are not free to pray, sometimes out loud, sometimes silently from deep within our spirits.

A YOUNG MAN SPOKE TO ME of having difficulty with his prayer time. It was his practice to slip out of bed down on to the floor, pull a blanket around him and there spend a while in prayer. He said he found it hard to concentrate and kept falling off to sleep.

I found his occupation involved driving a truck about the city, and suggested the concentration and effort required in driving did not rule out praying also. The time he spent early in the morning waiting before the Lord could become a time of studying the Scriptures and renewing intimate communion with the Lord. When driving the truck, his spirit and mind could remain free enough to continue this communion and also think of his wife, children and friends, and hold them each before the Lord.

Now, mind you, if we drive a truck, we cannot close our eyes or forget what we are doing just because we are praying. In souls disciplined to pray without ceasing, work becomes more excellent with skills and safety more pronounced. By continuing always in prayer, we develop a communication with God that sharpens our intellect and causes us to become keen and aware persons. But, it takes discipline.

For me, I have found some excellent times to pray, such as when cutting grass. One day while involved in this time-consuming task, I found myself praying for several people who were heavy on my heart. After then, I came to identify cutting the grass with interceding for others.
Another time is when driving. Frequently when Glenda and I are traveling, as I drive and she sits next to me, we spend the time praying together. As a matter of fact, this has become nearly always the case.

I have also found another excellent time to pray is in the middle of the night when I am awakened and cannot immediately return to sleep. The hours between 2:00 and 4:30 a.m. are excellent for intercession, especially in behalf of those who are asleep. At that time, their spirits are more at ease than in the day and more ready to respond to the prompting of the Holy Spirit. It is especially a good time to pray for one's family.

Many persons cannot pray without ceasing because their minds and spirits are taken up with activities that crowd out praying. These are spiritual robbers. But, they can be replaced with praying. For instance, the Lord spoke to me that the same part of the mind that worries is the part that prays. He instructed me to allow thoughts of worry to become signals to pray. Formerly, I would awaken in the middle of the night to spend hours worrying. Now, I awaken to spend them praying for the ones about whom I once worried.

For many of us, this can release much time for praying. I frequently ask those to whom I am ministering, "How many of you know what it means to worry without ceasing?" Nearly everyone raises their hands. I tell them, "Then, you can as well learn to pray without ceasing."

But, there is something needed here. We must ask the Lord to change the worrying into a signal. It can become like an alarm going off to tell our souls, "You are worrying, which is a fruitless occupation. You can now be praying."

Besides worrying, there are other spiritual robbers: fear of impending danger, anxiety, resentment, bitterness, extreme self-consciousness, cravings for food or drink, fixations on other persons, guilt, and so on. All of these, and more, can occupy the same area in the soul that prays. For the spiritually disciplined person, the recognition of any one of them can become a signal to pray.

SOME QUESTIONS TO SET YOU THINKING

1. Do you think it important that ministers of the Gospel learn to pray without ceasing? Give the reason for your answer.

2. How can a pastor keep watch continually over his flock?

3. That Paul could pray without ceasing meant he lived in unbroken communion with the Lord. Do you think this is possible for you?

4. Name ten activities in which you can engage and still be praying.

5. Can you name ten persons you might hold before the Lord in intercessory prayer? Do you care enough for these to pray for them daily?

6. Can you name any activities you sometimes engage in but which are not profitable and could be converted to times of praying?

7. How can a parent keep watch over his or her household?

8. Do you think a child can be taught to pray without ceasing? If so, would it be important?

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IN I COR 14:15 PAUL MADE a revealing statement about his praying. He said, I will pray with the spirit, and I will pray with the understanding also. Praying with the spirit is so significant a matter that we will wait till the next article with space to discuss it more fully. For now, we begin discovering some of the things in Paul's understanding about which he prayed. Each month -- for twelve months -- we want to discover where his understanding in Christ took him. If we can take into our lives what he understood about praying, I believe we can watch a year of healing as it will take place in our own lives and in those we hold before the Lord.

Paul laid out his greatest revelation about praying in Ephesians, Philippians and Colossians, three of his Prison Epistles. In them we find the substance for twelve months of praying. We find his prayers in Eph 1:15-19; Eph 3:14-19; Phil 1:9-11 and Col 1:9-11. We can summarize the qualities toward which they reach as: ^1-wisdom, ²-hope, ^3-value, ^4-power, ^5-inner government, ^6-discernment, ^7-sincerity, ^8-knowledge of God's will, ^9-understanding, ^10-fruitfulness, ^11-patience and ^12-joy. If you will consider the matter carefully, these are qualities that will enable us to withstand affliction in the last days. They are the components of our faith. They work in us to make us overcomers. What a powerful way to spend a year and watch healing take place in us -- and in those we hold before the Throne. You may observe that all the twelve points of intercession touch upon matters essential in the lives of those who will inherit the Kingdom with Christ. None of the matters can be fully learned. They must all be brought to birth in us by the Holy Spirit.

To get us started we will take the prayer of Eph 1:15-19. It directs us to four principles of Kingdom Life. They pertain to wisdom and revelation, a hope that is sure, the value of God's inheritance in us, and the power that prevails for the overcomer. For a month we will, as it were, soak ourselves -- soul and spirit -- in the first one. It reaches for the wisdom that is from above about which James speaks (Jas 3:17) and works toward the revelation of Jesus Christ about which Paul tells us (Gal 1:12).

In the months that follow we will hold ourselves, and those we love, before the Lord Who hath begotten us again unto a lively (living) hope (I Pet 1:3). In this we will see what certainties He will release in our lives. Then we will spend a month learning the value God has placed on each one of us as we give ourselves to the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints. Jesus said, Fear ye not therefore, ye are of more value than many sparrows (Matt 10:13). Then, for a wonderful month, we will soak in the power that comes to us from the Lord because of His resurrection. We will discover how His divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness (II Pet 1:3).

So, let us look at our first passage from Ephesians. What insight and revelation comes out of it! We soon perceive the wonderful principles of Kingdom Life toward which it directs us can only be worked into our lives through the Holy Spirit -- and this comes in answer to prayer, both for ourselves and for those we hold in prayer.

Take note of the four bullets (•). They show us four principles of Kingdom Life toward which we will pray.

NOT LONG AFTER GLENDA AND I DISCOVERED this "discipline of intercession," it became time for me to depart overseas with Brother Bill Dunklin. Glenda remained at home. It was January and we had taken the month as our time for holding one another in prayer with regard to wisdom. As I traveled I found myself praying much for Glenda.
I was asking the Lord to release in her His wisdom. He spoke to me that I was not praying as Paul prayed. I was asking for wisdom; Paul asked for the spirit of wisdom. He showed me there was as much difference in what I was praying and what Paul prayed as there is a difference in a cup of water and a river of water. Paul was asking that a virtual river of wisdom find release in those he was holding in prayer.

So, I started petitioning the Lord to release in her the spirit of wisdom. When I returned home, she told me of occasion after occasion when she needed wisdom. Her own was not sufficient. Suddenly wisdom born of God would find release in her and she would know what to do and how to respond to baffling situations.

Let me encourage you to hold some people you know and love before the Lord for some weeks in a petition for the spirit of wisdom. If those for whom you pray know and love the Lord, you can expect some powerful kind of answer. If the person knows the Lord, but there remains some resistance against Him, then you might expect the intercession will require some travail. If the person for whom you pray has not yet received the Lord as Savior, pray on anyway. The gentle and persistent tug of the Holy Spirit at his or her heart may well result in that one opening the door to Him. This is the greatest move of wisdom one can make.

TAKE NOTE THAT PAUL was praying for the spirit of wisdom and revelation. Then, take note of more. He was praying for the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him.

That wisdom and revelation should be linked is not surprising. Revelation is from that wonderful New Testament Greek word apokalupsis. It means a disclosure, a manifestation, an appearance. Precisely, it means "an unveiling" -- an unveiling of something once held in secret or in darkness. It could mean the disclosure of truth as it is contained in the Word of God. It could mean the manifestation of the Lord Himself in our midst. It could mean the unveiling of what we are in ourselves. Or, it could mean the revelation of what lies in the heart of another. Revelation can be a painful or a frightening thing. The bringing to light of pure truth can bring with it a dread. For this reason it is well coupled with wisdom.

But there is one thing for certain. When the Holy Spirit is the One Who is bringing the revelation, there need be no fear. He brings a thing to light that the life and power of God may rest upon it.

That we should pray for the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him is important. We should note that knowledge is from the Greek epignosis. It means more than mere knowledge. At best, it means full knowledge. It could -- and I believe should -- be translated "acknowledgment." It is the acknowledgment of Him toward which we are being drawn.

Its meaning here could go in two directions. It could mean the acknowledgment of Him that comes as the result of the spirit of wisdom and revelation at work. Or it could mean that the acknowledgment of Him will bring the release of the spirit of wisdom and revelation. Both are wonderful.

GLENDA AND I took on the serious use of this discipline in praying when we discovered she had cancer. We attribute to the Lord the healing toward which she has moved. We watched the healing progress in her as we prayed in line with the prayers Paul laid out. We marvel at His grace.

The healing toward which we a moving reaches deeper than the physical part of our beings. It reaches into our soul and makes our mind whole. It touches our will, our emotions and our conscience to release in them a divine impetus that will carry us through whatever lies ahead. And it extends into our spirit, that deep and hidden -- and often troubled -- part of us where no one can reach and heal except the Holy Spirit Himself.

Join us. See what will transpire in your circle. Together, we will watch a year of healing - in ourselves and in those we hold before the Throne of God's grace.