This sermon from Billy Graham is on the topic of prayer as taught in the
Holy Scriptures. It is an inspiring message from Billy Graham and well
worth
the time to read.
May God bless,
Carl
my website -- http://www.nettally.com/saints/
my blog -- http://www.anniemayhem.com/cgi-bin/wordpress/
---
Answered Prayer
by Billy Graham
[Preached in Charlotte, N.C. on October 22, 1958]
Now let us turn in the 6th chapter of Matthew's gospel, beginning at the
5th
verse: "And when thou prayest, thou shalt not be as the hypocrites are:
for
they love to pray standing in the synagogues and in the . . . streets,
that
they may [have glory] of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their
reward."
"But when thou doest alms, let not thy left hand know what thy right hand
doeth: that thine alms may be in secret: and thy Father which seeth in
secret himself shall reward thee openly. And when thou prayest, thou shalt
not be as the hypocrites are: for they love to pray standing in the
synagogues and in the corners of the streets, that they may be seen of
men.
Verily I say unto you, They have their reward. But thou, when thou
prayest,
enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy
Father,
which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee
openly. But when ye pray, use not vain repetitions, as the heathen do: for
they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking. Be not ye
therefore like unto them: for your Father knoweth what things ye have need
of, before ye ask him.
"After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven,
Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it
is
in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as
we
forgive our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from
evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever.
Amen.
For if ye forgive men their tresp*****, your heavenly Father will also
forgive you." [Matthew 6:3-14.]
I want you to notice as you study the life of Christ that He spent much
time
in prayer. He was the Son of the living God; He was God incarnate; He was
God in the flesh. Yet Jesus Christ, as man, thought that He needed to
spend
much time in prayer. Now if Christ had to spend a great deal of time in
prayer, how much more then do we need to spend in prayer today? He prayed
many times in private and in public.
He not only taught us how to pray, but He commanded us to pray. We are
told
to pray, and yet I dare say that there is little praying on the part of
the
average Christian today. I believe the first thing that will amaze us when
we get to heaven will be the thought of our prayerlessness and how much
could have been accomplished had we spent time in prayer.
The first thing I want you to see just briefly is the antiquity of prayer.
Prayer is as old as the human race. Our first parents talked to God, and
the
oldest and most universal of religious exercises is prayer. Man prays by
instinct. If he has no god, he makes one. The most godless person will cry
out to God in times of peril. When Mr. Khrushchev, who says he doesn't
believe in God, came to London he exclaimed one day, "My God!" That was a
form of prayer, no matter how crude it was. In a moment he forgot himself
and called on God. Man prays by instinct.
There are many interesting customs in prayer. Did you know that the
Quakers,
when they pray, sit together in silence? When the Chinese pray, they
always
take off their gl*****. It is very irreverent in China to pray with your
gl***** on. In Germany if you pray, you must always fold your hands.
I remember when I was speaking in Berlin that one of the things the
newspapers criticized me for was my irreverence, and I wondered why. I had
always stood with bowed head and closed eyes. They did not mind if your
eyes
were closed, but your hands had to be folded. So there are different
customs
in prayer all over the world.
Now what is the definition of prayer? There are many definitions that one
can give, but I have never seen one that was really accurate. Someone has
said that prayer is asking, but it is more than that. The old rabbis used
to
say that prayer is the activity of the soul for God. Certainly, prayer is
God's ordained method whereby we approach Him. And the Bible teaches us
that
prayer is a dialogue, not a monologue. It is a conversation with God.
Prayer is heaven's telephone. We listen to God, and He listens to us. So
many people do all the talking; they don't have time to listen to God. But
prayer is a two-way conversation, and prayer is the highest expression of
our allegiance to God. Hence, it is a tremendous privilege and a binding
duty. Someone has said that daily prayer is the gymnasium of the soul.
That
is where we exercise the soul, and the soul grows and gets strong in
prayer.
First, the place of prayer. Where do you pray? The Samaritan woman was
concerned about the place of wor****p, for to the Jew the temple meant the
localization of God's presence. Christ, however, gave utterance to a new
revelation concerning prayer when He said, "God is a Spirit: and they
[who]
wor****p him must wor****p him in spirit and . . . truth" [John 4:24].
You can pray in the middle of the traffic in Charlotte. You can pray down
at
your place of business. You can pray walking down a street. You can pray
in
your home. It is the attitude of the heart that counts. It is the attitude
of the spirit that counts in successful praying, not the place. You look
at
the Bible, and you will find that people prayed in all kinds of
conditions.
David was hiding in a cave when he offered one of his prayers. The thief
on
the cross prayed while he was dying on the cross [see Luke 23:42]. But
Christ did suggest that if possible you ought to have a place in your home
that is a closet, a prayer closet--a place where you can slip away and
have
a quiet meditation.
I have been in a lot of homes where one little room was set aside and
called
a prayer room. They had little seats in there. Some of them had a little
altar put up, or they had a little cross put up, a place where members of
the family could slip in and have a quiet time in prayer. I think that
would
be a good thought for some of you. Yet it is the attitude of the heart
that
counts more than the place of prayer.
Then, second, there is the posture in prayer. A lot of people make a great
deal to do about the posture in prayer. All of the great non-Christian
religions put emphasis on the right posture in their public and private
prayers. But the Bible associates many postures or gestures with prayer.
For
example, Exodus 9:23, Psalm 28:2, and 1 Timothy 2:8 says they lifted up
their hands when they prayed. Charles Wesley had this posture in mind when
he wrote, "Father, I stretch my hands to thee. No other hope I know. If
thou
withdraw thyself from me, ah, whither shall I go?" So the old early
Methodists used to pray with their hands in the air stretched towards God.
Standing was the usual Jewish attitude in prayer. Kneeling is the reverent
attitude adopted by Daniel [see Daniel 6:10], Stephen [see Acts 7:60],
Peter
[see Acts 9:40], and Paul [see Acts 20:36]. Prostration is another
biblical
posture. Ezekiel fell on his face when he beheld the glory of the Lord
[see
Ezekiel 1:28]. And this was the posture of Christ in Gethsemane; He fell
on
His face [see Matthew 26:39].
Now here is something that is going to shock a lot of you. Almost all the
way through the Bible you will find that they prayed with their eyes open.
Did you know that? The publican would not so much as lift up his eyes unto
heaven [see Luke 18:13]. But Jesus, in John 17:1, expressly says He prayed
with His eyes open.
The Orientals usually pray with their eyes open. Yet I believe we have
something when we close our eyes, and I always close my eyes in prayer. To
me, it is an attitude of reverence, but more than that, it is an attitude
of
shutting out the world. During Christ's day they did not have big
automobiles fla****ng by, and airplanes flying overhead, and television on,
and the radio blaring. We need to shut our eyes in a quiet place to get
away
with God. When your eyes are open you have the temptation to look around
and
see everything else, to study the person in front of you during church. It
usually is better to close your eyes as an attitude of reverence, but it
is
really not so im****tant.
Third, there is the period of prayer. The time that we are to give to
prayer
is to be governed by desire, need, cir***stance, and physical ability.
Now, I want to say something here to pastors and Sunday school
superintendents. When Jesus prayed in public, He prayed a short prayer. He
rebuked the Pharisees for their vain repetition and their long prayers. I
personally am not in favor of long prayers in public. I do not believe
that
we are heard for our much loud praying. I have heard some people pray so
loud to the Lord that they think the Lord is deaf. He is not deaf.
However, when Jesus prayed alone, He prayed all night [see Luke 6:12]. His
prayers alone were long. His prayers in public were short. That is the
reason, when you want to interest your children in family devotions, make
them interesting and make them brief. My children always say, "We want
Daddy
to pray. He prays short." I have never heard one of my children say they
did
not want to have family devotions. We tell them the great Bible stories,
and
we try to make our devotions brief. Make them brief and make them
interesting.
Charles Wesley, however, would give two hours of every day to prayer. John
Wesley rose at 4 o'clock to pray. Martin Luther had to have three hours a
day in prayer. Daniel, the prime minister of Babylon, prayed upon his
knees
three times a day [see Daniel 6:10]. Jesus was accustomed to pray evening,
morning and at noon. Paul asked the Christians to pray at all times [see
Ephesians 6:18]. The busier you are, the more time you ought to take for
prayer.
A lot of people say, "Well, I don't feel like praying." Don't wait for
feeling. If you wait until you feel like it, you won't pray. If you go by
your moods, you will never pray successfully. Pray when you least feel
like
it, because prayer is a matter of the will. Say, "I will pray. I am going
to
pray. I need to pray. I am keeping my appointment today with God, whether
I
feel like it or not." Because Satan will make you not feel like it, and
you
will miss that meeting with God.
Then there are the laws of prayer. How do we get our prayers answered?
That
is the question. In Redding, California, I read some time ago that the
police arrested a man on charges of drunkenness after they found him
trying
to make a phone call from a fire hydrant, complaining that he couldn't get
the operator. Many of you find your life like this. You cannot seem to get
through to God. Nothing happens. Heaven is like an iron curtain, and you
complain. You are just like that drunk man at the fire hydrant trying to
get
the operator. You have not gone to the right place, under the right
conditions, obeying the proper rules of prayer.
The disciples came to Jesus; and they said, "Jesus, teach us to pray. We
have to learn to pray." [See Luke 11:1.] You have to learn how to pray.
That
takes work. It takes practice, it takes discipline, it takes diligence,
and
it takes study if we are to be successful prayer warriors.
Now of course the Bible teaches that we are to pray all the time. Paul
said,
"Pray without ceasing" [1 Thessalonians 5:17]. I can say this truthfully,
I
can hardly remember a moment in the past few years, a conscious moment,
that
I have not actually been in prayer. Even while I am talking to you,
constantly my subconscious is saying, "Lord, help me to say the right
thing.
Lord, help me not to say the wrong thing. I don't want to mislead anyone."
I
may be laughing as I shake hands with you, but I am praying that God will
bring something out of this contact that will edify you and me. "Thou wilt
keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee" [Isaiah 26:3]. We
are to keep our minds on Christ.
Now you say, "Does God answer prayer?" Yes, God answers every prayer,
every
prayer of an obedient, abiding Christian. God answers prayer. Some prayer
is
answered immediately. Some prayers are answered by God saying no. But when
God says no, that is an answer.
For example, T. W. Wilson prayed a prayer one day; and he said, "Lord,
help
me get on that airplane. I've got to keep an engagement in a certain town
tonight, and if I don't make this plane I won't keep the engagement." The
Lord said no, and T. W. stood at the air****t and watched the plane take
off.
He felt that the Lord had let him down. Within two hours that plane had
crashed and everybody on board was killed. God did not want him on that
plane, and it was for his own good. So if God says no, take it as best for
you and don't complain and gripe and blame the Lord. He is doing it for
your
best, even though you may not see it at the moment.
Then some prayer is delayed. A woman told me some time ago that she had
prayed for thirty years for the conversion of her son. Her son came
forward
and was converted in this crusade. Now God delayed the answer for thirty
years; but because she had held on to the Lord, He has answered her
prayer.
The Lord sometimes delays. But put this down, that our God is a faithful
God
who answers every single prayer of an abiding, faithful, obedient
Christian.
Now, Lord, teach us to pray. First, you must be able to say in your
praying,
"Our Father." Can you say that? You say, "Well, isn't God the Father of us
all?" No. There is the sense in which God is the Father of us all by
creation. We are the sons of God by creation, but we lost that
relation****p
because of sin. Sin has come between us and God. And Jesus said in John
8:44, "Ye are of your father the devil." And until you come to the cross
of
Christ and receive Him as your Savior, you cannot properly say, "Our
Father."
There are thousands of people who pray when they get in trouble, and their
prayers do not get any higher than the ceiling because they have really
never come to a vital relation****p with Jesus Christ. Their prayers are
not
answered. How could God answer your prayers when you are too proud to come
and receive His Son as Savior and Lord? How can God answer your prayers
when
you are living a life apart from God? He cannot do it. Your prayers are in
vain. Your prayers cannot be answered. The only prayer that you can pray
is
"God, have mercy upon me, a sinner." And God has never refused to answer
that prayer from anybody. "Whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord
shall be saved" [Romans 10:13], the Scripture says. You must be able to
say,
"Our Father." Are you able to say that tonight? Do you know that He is
your
Father? Has there been a moment in your life when you repented of sin?
I spoke at Davidson College this morning to all the students and faculty.
I
preached on the subject of conversion, how to be converted to Jesus
Christ.
I said this, "Unless you have come to a point in your life of repentance
of
sin and receiving of Christ by faith, you cannot properly say, 'I have
been
converted.'" Jesus once said, "Except ye become converted, and become as a
little child, ye cannot enter the kingdom of God" [see Matthew 18:3]. So,
tonight, if you want your prayers answered, come and give your life to
Jesus
Christ. Tell God that you are a sinner. Tell Him that you are going to
turn
from your sins. Tell Him you are going to receive His Son.
The second thing, our prayers must be in the name of Christ. John 14:13,
"And whatsoever [you] shall ask in my name, that will I do." Now, you see,
when Christ died on the cross, He bowed His head and said, "It is
finished"
[[John 19:30]. He meant the plan of salvation, the plan of redemption, was
finished. It was complete. That was the victorious shout of Christ when He
said, "It is finished." He came to die for our sins on the cross. And the
moment Christ said, "It is finished," the veil in the temple was rent in
twain [see Matthew 27:51].
Now the old Jewish temple had a veil; and the priest, the high priest, was
the only one who could go beyond that veil. He could only go once a year
into God's presence. But the moment Christ died, the veil was rent in
twain.
And now the simplest child of God, if he is coming in the name of Jesus,
can
come directly into the presence of God. We are told in the Hebrews epistle
that we can "come boldly" into His presence and make our requests known
unto
Him [see 4:16]. I don't have to go through any intermediary. I come
directly
into the presence of God, but I have to come through the name of Christ.
He
is the mediator. The Bible says, "There is . . . one mediator between God
and men, the man Christ Jesus" [1 Timothy 2:5].
Now that is the work of Christ tonight. The work of Christ right now is
called a high priestly work. He is sitting at the right hand of God the
Father. And when you come in the name of Jesus, all of heaven stops. God's
ear is bent towards you. Not because you deserve it, but because you have
come in the name of His Son. You have come in the name of Jesus Christ.
You
can go right into the presence of God the Father.
When you go before God in the court of heaven to see the mighty God of the
universe, when you come in the name of the King, in the name of Christ,
that
is the only thing you need. The name of the Lord Jesus Christ gets you the
ear of God immediately because you are coming in the name of the only
begotten Son. We get to God the Father in the name of the Lord Jesus
Christ.
That is the reason it means so much to say, "In the name of our Lord Jesus
Christ."
Then prayer must be in accord with the will of God. That is what Christ
taught us in the Lord's prayer: "Thy will be done [on] earth, as it is in
heaven" [Matthew 6:10]. That is what He prayed in the garden of
Gethsemane,
"Nevertheless, not my will, but thine, be done" [Luke 22:42].
Many people ask me if I will pray for the healing of sick. I always pray
for
anyone who is sick; and my prayer is, "Thy will be done." What is God's
will
in the matter, not what is my selfish desire.
Then we are to depend on the Holy Spirit in our prayers. He is the guide
of
prayer. Romans 8:26, "Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities:
for
we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit [himself]
maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered." In
other
words, many times I do not know how to pray, but the Holy Spirit will help
me to pray. Sometimes my prayers are only groanings in my soul, but the
Holy
Spirit can take these groanings and these inarticulate thoughts and
desires
of my heart and interpret them to God the Father. And my prayers are
answered even though I haven't really prayed them in so many words.
Then, fifth, there must be faith when we pray. Matthew 21:21, "Jesus
answered and said unto them, Verily I say unto you, If [you] have faith,
and
doubt not, [you] shall not only do this which is done to the fig tree, but
also if [you] shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou
cast into the sea; it shall be done." We are to believe God. The greatest
thing we can do is to believe Him.
Alexander the Great had a famous but poor philosopher in his court. This
philosopher was pressed for money, and he made application to Alexander
for
relief. Alexander said, "I want you to draw whatever cash you need from
the
treasurer." His first request was for fifty thousand dollars. The
treasurer
refused to pay it. Alexander replied, "Pay the money at once. The
philosopher has done me a great honor by the largeness of his request, and
he shows the idea he has conceived both of my wealth and my generosity.
Pay
him."
God wants us to believe Him for great things. Therefore, ask Him for big
things. And if it is according to His will, He takes delight in granting
it.
Even little things. He has the hairs of your head numbered [see Matthew
10:30]; He sees the sparrow fall [see verse 29]. He knows about your love
affair. He knows about your financial needs. He knows about that husband
who
is irritable. He knows about the sorrows and the burdens and the
difficulties. He knows about this temptation you are faced with that you
cannot seem to overcome. The Scripture says, "Rest in the Lord," in the
37th
Psalm [verse 7]. That word for rest is "relax." Once you have prayed, once
you have left it with God, then relax and say it is in God's hands.
Then we must be walking closely in daily fellow****p with Him. Psalm 66:18,
"If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me." In other
words, God will not hear a Christian pray if there is sin in his heart. If
you are filled with pride, there is no use of you praying. If there is
iniquity in your heart, you cannot be heard. Suppose you have been
dishonest
and you have not confessed your sin to God, or suppose you have failed to
forgive someone else. Jesus said, "For if [you] forgive men their
tresp*****, your heavenly Father will . . . forgive you: but if ye forgive
not men their tresp*****, neither will your Father forgive your
tresp*****"
[Matthew 6:14,15]. In other words, you have got to forgive the other man.
And there are some of you who have got some grudges against others, and
your
prayers are not being answered.
The Bible says your prayers can be hindered because of a disobedient life.
You are living out of fellow****p with Christ because of sin in your life.
The psalmist said, "If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not
hear
me" [Psalm 66:18].
The reason a lot of you don't pray is because your sin comes right up
before
you when you go to pray, so you just quit praying. Not only sins that we
actually commit, but sins of neglect. We have neglected the poor. Our
conscience bothers us about things that we have left undone. We recognize
that we haven't done the things that we ought to have done, and we can't
pray because there is sin in our lives.
Some of you don't tithe your money; you are robbing God [see Malachi 3:8].
How do you expect to get your prayers answered if you don't tithe? At
least
ten percent of your income belongs to the Lord. We are to give as He
prospers us, at least ten percent. And if you are not giving it for the
work
of the Lord to the church, you are robbing God. You can't expect your
prayers to be answered.
And on a Sunday morning, if it is a beautiful morning, you are on the golf
course instead of in church. How do you expect to have your prayers
answered? You are forsaking the assembling of yourselves together [see
Hebrews 10:25]. You are disobeying God. And when communion Sunday comes,
you
are not there to take your place in that most holy hour with our Lord. We
glorify most by our wor****p.
Martha was busy with everything. She was in the organizations. She was on
this committee; she was on that committee. She was serving. Mary did not
join any committee. She just sat and adored the Lord, and Jesus commended
her. [See Luke 10:40-42.]
A lot of us like the excitement of this meeting. So do I. It has been
wonderful; it has been thrilling. But when the meeting is over, when the
last song has been sung, the benediction has been pronounced, let us get
back into our churches and realize that there is our place of service and
wor****p of the Lord. Then we have fellow****p with His people, and we are
walking in fellow****p with Him; and our prayers can be answered.
There are many prayer promises that we can claim if we obey the rules of
prayer. Psalm 91:15, "He [will] call upon me, and I will answer him: I
will
be with him in trouble; I will deliver him, and honor him." Isaiah 58:9,
"Then shalt thou call, and the Lord shall answer; [they shall] cry, and he
shall say, Here [am I]." Isaiah 65:24, "And it shall come to pass, that
before they call, I will answer; and while they are yet speaking, I will
hear." Luke 11:9, "And I say unto you, Ask and it shall be given unto you;
seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you." John
15:7,
"If [you] abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye
will,
and it shall be done."
These are the words of Christ. I believe it. I have seen it happen in my
life. I could stay here until midnight telling you of answers to prayer in
my life in this year, just this year. I have tested God. I have put God to
the test. I have seen things come up that looked like it was going to ruin
our ministry. I have committed it to the Lord and seen it turn completely
around and be to the Lord's glory. I have seen Him work miracles,
absolutely
modern-day miracles. Every time somebody comes down here and has his life
changed by Christ, that is a miracle in answer to prayer.
Now I want you to listen for one minute to the most solemn thing I will
ever
say while I am in Charlotte. There are some prayers that will be prayed in
all sincerity and fervor and earnestness that God will not answer. The
prayer that you will pray at the judgment. The great judgment of God will
be
one gigantic prayer meeting. You people who do not go to prayer meeting
now,
who do not do much praying now, I tell you at the judgment of God you will
cry, you will scream out to God.
Proverbs 1:24-30 describes it. "Because I have called," says God, "and
[you]
refused." In other words, God calls you during this crusade, and you
refuse.
"I have stretched out my hand." His hand of mercy and grace, wanting to
forgive you, wanting to save you, but you did not regard it. "[You] have
set
at nought all my counsel." God's counsel was for you to repent and come to
Christ. You set it aside, and you did not want any of God's rebukes when I
talked about sin. God continues to say in this solemn chapter, "I also
will
laugh at your [calamities]; I will mock when your fear cometh." I do not
pretend to know what those holy words mean: the holy laughter of God. I
only
know that it is a part of holy writ.
"When your fear cometh as desolation, and your destruction cometh as a
whirlwind; when distress and anguish cometh upon you, then shall they call
upon me, but I will not answer; they shall seek me early, but they shall
not
find me," says God. "They hated knowledge, and did not choose the fear of
the Lord: they would none of my counsel: they despised all [of] my
reproof."
And God says at the judgment, "I will not hear their prayers."
In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus said, "Some will come in that day and
say,
'But, Lord, we cast out demons in your name.'" He will say, "Depart from
me,
ye cursed; I never knew you." "But, Lord, remember those great works we
did
in your name." "Depart from me, ye cursed; I never knew you. You never
came
to the cross. You never came to my Son. You never came to Jesus." [See
Matthew 7:22,23.] There are going to be prayers prayed at the judgment,
but
the prayers will be too late.
Then Jesus told us in Luke, the 16th chapter, about a man who went to
hell.
This man in hell, what was he doing? He was only doing one thing; he was
praying. Praying in hell, "If it be possible, send Lazarus; let him dip
his
finger in water and touch my parched tongue. O God, help me. Help me."
[See
verses 24-26.] But his prayer was too late. There will be prayers at the
judgment and there will be prayers in hell, but they will not be answered.
It will be too late. What a terrible thought! People who did not pray here
cannot get their prayers answered there.
But I want to tell you tonight that there is one prayer which anyone in
this
building can pray, and I will guarantee you that God will answer it. God
says, "Whosoever [calleth] upon the name of the Lord shall be saved"
[Romans
10:13]. If you will come to God tonight in simple childlike faith and give
yourself to Jesus Christ, I'll guarantee that He will forgive your sins,
change your life, come into your heart, and save your soul. Your prayers
can
be answered, no matter how simple they may be.
There are many of you tonight to whom God has spoken, and you know that
you
ought to come and make your heart right with Christ. You may be a church
member. You may not be a member of any church. But you are not sure that
you
are ready to meet God. You don't have peace. You know that you have been
wrong in your life. Well, I am going to ask you to come tonight. And I
guarantee you that if you come in the right attitude of prayer, calling
upon
God, He will save you and forgive you and cleanse you and make you a new
person. I am going to ask you to come right now.
And, listen, I don't want you to put it off. I am afraid for some of you
people. I know some of you that have been here night after night, and you
need God and you need Christ and you have not come yet. Others of you are
here for the first time tonight and God has spoken to you, and you may not
have an op****tunity to come back. I am going to ask you to come now. Come
and stand here quietly and reverently. And say tonight, "I give my life to
Christ. Tonight I am going to trust in Him and follow Him and serve Him. I
want Christ in my life. I want to know that I am ready to meet Him."
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