Prayer

Sidlow Baxter, (one of the former pastors at Charlotte Chapel), tells the story of the time he was about to go to prayer, and came face to face with the issue of discipline!

"One morning, I looked at my watch and noticed that it was time to withdraw for an hour of prayer. I looked at my watch and it said, "Time for prayer, Sid." But I looked at my desk and there was a miniature mountain of correspondence. At which point my conscience said, "You ought to answer those letters." So, as we say in Scotland, I swithered! I vacillated. Shall it be prayer? Shall it be letters? Prayer? Letters? Yes, no, Yes, no? And while I was swithering a velvety little voice began to speak to my inner consciousness, "Look here, Sid, what's all this bother? You know very well what you should do. The practical thing is to get those letters answered. You can't afford the time for prayer this morning. Get those letters answered."

Now, I'm not the introspective type, but that morning I took a good look into Sidlow Baxter. And I found that there was an area of me that did not want to pray. I had to admit it. It didn't want to pray. But I looked more closely and I found that there was a part of me that did. The part that didn't was the emotions and the part that did was the intellect and the will.

Suddenly, I found myself asking Sidlow Baxter, "Are you going to let your will be dragged about by your changeful emotions?" And so I said to my will, "Will, are you ready for prayer?" And Will said, "Here I am, I'm ready." So I said, "Come on, Will, we will go." So Will and I set off to pray, but the minute we turned our footsteps to go and pray all my emotions began to talk, "We're not coming, we're not coming!" And I said to Will, "Will, can you stick it?" And Will said, "Yes, if you can!" So Will and I, we dragged off those wretched emotions and we went to pray, and stayed an hour in prayer.

If you had asked me afterwards, "Did you have a good time!", do you think I could have said yes? A good time? No, it was a fight all the way! What I would have done without the companionship of will, I don't know! In the middle of the most earnest intercessions I suddenly found one of my principal emotions way out on the golf course, playing golf! And I had to run to the golf course and say "Come back!" And a few minutes later, I found another of the emotions! It had travelled one and a half days in advance and it was in the pulpit preaching a sermon I hadn't even prepared yet! And I had to say, "Come back!" I certainly couldn't have said we had a good time. It was exhausting, but we did it!

The next morning came. I looked at my watch and it was time. I said to Will, "Come on, Will, it's time for prayer.! And all the emotions began to pull the other way and I said, "Will, can you stick it?! And Will said, "Yes, in fact I think I'm stronger after the struggle yesterday morning!" So, Will and I went in again. The same thing happened. Rebellious, tumultuous, uncooperative emotions. If you had asked me, "Have you had a good time?", I would have had to tell you with tears, "No, the heavens were like brass. It was a job to concentrate. I had an awful time with the emotions."

This went on for about two and a half weeks. But Will and I stuck it out. Then one morning during that third week, I looked at my watch and I said, "Will, it's time for prayer. Are you ready?! And Will said, "Yes, I'm ready." And just as we were going in I heard one of my chief emotions say to the others, "Come on, fellows, there's no use wearing ourselves out, they'll go on whatever we do!"

That morning we didn't have any hilarious experience or wonderful visions with heavenly voices or raptures, but Will and I were able, with less distraction, to get on with praying. And that went on for another two or three weeks. In fact, Will and I had begun to forget the emotions. I would say, "Will, are you ready for prayer?" And Will replied, "Yes, I'm always ready."

Suddenly, one day while Will and I were pressing our case at the throne of heavenly glory, one of the chief emotions shouted, "Hallelujah!", and all the other emotions suddenly shouted, "Amen!" For the first time the whole territory of James Sidlow Baxter was happily coordinated in the exercise of prayer and God suddenly became real and heaven was wide open and Christ was there and the Holy Spirit was moving and I knew that all the time God had been listening.

The point is this, the vitality and the effectuality of prayer are not determined or even affected by the subjective psychological condition of the one who prays. The thing that makes prayer valid and vital and moving and operative is "my faith that takes hold of God's truth!"

Brothers and sisters, soon now we shall be meeting Him. And when you meet Him, (and I speak reverently), when you feel His arms around you, and when you embrace as well as adore Him, don't you want to be able to look into that wonderful face and say, "Lord, at last I'm seeing face-to-face the One I have for years known heart-to-heart.

Why don't you resolve that from this time on, you will be a praying Christian? You will never, never, never regret it! NEVER!

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