Andrew Murray on Prayer

This week I want to give you some quotes from Andrew Murray's writings on prayer that have stood out to me recently from his book, Teach Me to Pray.

Andrew Murray was a Christian pastor in South Africa in the 19th century and is known for His intimate walk with Jesus and passion that others would know Him in the same way. One biography says of him, "Andrew Murray and his wife, Emma, had nine children, and their home was an endless stream of activity. He learned early on that laughter and the fellowship of friends and family were two of life's richest blessings. And yet he often prayed for that ultimate Friendship, 'May not a single moment of my life be spent outside the light, love and joy of God's presence.'"

The remainder of this posting is quotes from Andrew Murray in this book; though this is a short excerpt from his book, they are strong statements for digesting, so I will let them speak for themselves, and encourage you to ponder them and speak to the Lord about what the author is saying. I pray that we, God's people in this generation, will both individually and corporately become people of believing prayer as we approach the end of the age...

"Teach Me to Pray" has been written because of a deep conviction that the place and power of prayer in the Christian life has not been fully understood. As long as we look at prayer chiefly as the means of maintaining our own Christian life, we cannot fully know what it is intended to be. But when we learn to regard it as the most important work entrusted to us and as the root and strength of all other work, then we understand that there is nothing we need more than to study and practice the art of praying in the correct manner.

Of all the Christlike traits, none is greater and more glorious than conformity to Him in the work that engages Him without ceasing in the Father’s presence: His all-prevailing intercession.

Through intercession, the Church finds and exercises its highest power…Only when the church yields itself to this holy work of intercession can it expect the power of Christ to be manifested on its behalf.


"Lord, teach us to pray..."

Teach Us to Pray

A favorite prayer request of mine in the New Testament is the request that the disciples made of Jesus: "Teach us to pray..." (Luke 11:1) It's a request that I'm making more and more to the Lord myself. Prayer is one of those things that the more you peer into it and do it, the more you realize you don't know!

Luke 11:1,2 says, "Now Jesus was praying in a certain place, and when he finished, one of his disciples said to him, 'Lord, teach us to pray, as John taught his disciples.' And he said to them, 'When you pray, say...'"

I want to make a couple of observations about this: first, Jesus was praying in a particular place and for a certain length of time ("when he finished"). This suggests that Jesus practiced "ceasing prayer" - in other words, a conscious and set-apart time and place to meet with His Father without engaging in other things at the same time. Of course, He practiced "unceasing prayer" as well, but the fact that He prayed in set-apart time and in a certain place shows how important it is that our prayer life have these aspects too.

This will play out differently from one person to the next, but conscious and intentional time set apart for talking and relating to God without engaging in other activities is imperative for the health of our life in Him. Not having regular time to talk with God in worship and prayer but instead trying to maintain the relationship on the run is like a married couple living their whole relationship on the run without concentrated time together in which they aren't engaging in other things at the same time.

The second observation about this verse is that there was something about Jesus' prayer life that caused them to want to learn to pray as he did. I believe this shows how powerful one's prayer life can be in the lives of others. There is something about a person of true prayer that awakens hunger in the hearts of others, and evidently this was true of Jesus in His walk here on earth, and it continues to be so, because now He ever lives to intercede at the right hand of the Father (Heb. 7:25). Not only does His prayer life (on earth and in heaven) inspire and awaken desire, but He Himself is the greatest Teacher of prayer.

Finally, Jesus didn't refuse their request but responded quickly to teach them. His own prayer life quickened hunger in them, causing them to request help, and when they did, He gladly taught them. In his book "Teach Me to Pray", Andrew Murray says, "Jesus did not teach His disciples how to preach but how to pray. To know how to speak to God is more vital than knowing how to speak to men. It is power with God not man that is of supreme importance." I love that Jesus responded gladly to the disciples' request, because it encourages me to make the same request and gives me assurance that He will answer through the Spirit's quickening of His written Word and through His direct leading of each of His children.

So Lord, I ask You to teach us to pray...we don't know how to pray rightly but You're eager to teach and help us by Your Spirit. Send Your Spirit to breathe on us, first of all with desire to pray and then with a spirit of prayer and supplication that comes from You. Quicken Your Word and help each of us to grow in knowing the unique way that we each relate through prayer with You Who is Life. May our barrenness in prayer lead us to You, the perfect Teacher and Enabler. Thank You for hearing us, in Jesus' name.

Prayer and the Trinity

I heard something this week that I want to share with you to encourage you in prayer and, it is the following...

Ultimately the power that there is in our prayers comes from God's generous heart in wanting to answer them and in the work of Jesus on the cross that makes them acceptable to the Father, and in the ministry of the Holy Spirit on earth and in heaven throughout the process of our praying.

I want to comment on each of these wonderful realities.

First, if you pause long enough to ponder the fact that God the Creator would even hear us, it's mind-boggling. But when the revelation hits you that He not only hears but He bends down to listen and accept our prayers (Psalm 40:1; 6:9; 66:19,20), the proper response is worship and wonder! What amazing condescension and humility of heart! What a great and generous heart to want to hear and to answer our weak prayers! He actually looks for intercessors to whom He will listen and whose prayers He will answer (Ez. 22:30). When someone who is a known public figure gives us even a little attention, we love it and it gives us a sense of importance and confidence; how much more should the fact that the living and eternal God is attentive to our every cry fill us with confidence and joy! And so we have power in prayer by virtue of the fact that God is a God who wants to hear our prayers and wants to answer them...His disposition to want to hear us and answer us is what we trust in rather than in our own ability or desire to pray.

Second, the work of Jesus on the cross has removed the hindrance and barrier between God and humans, thereby making our prayers acceptable to the Father. Without this work on our behalf, the generous disposition of God would not be enough for our prayers to be effective because of the insurmountable wall between Him and humans as a result of our sin; but because of this eternal and all-sufficient Sacrifice, we can not only pray to the Father, but we pray with confidence! (Heb. 4:14-16) The price that the Father and Son were willing to make in order to remove the hindrance to prayer leaves no doubt about how much God wants us to draw near to Him in worship and intercession.

Finally, the ministry of the Holy Spirit is necessary for our prayers to be effective. Without the third Person of the Trinity actively engaged in assisting us to pray, the disposition of the Father and the sacrifice of the Son would not be enough. The Scriptures tell us that we don't know how to pray, but the Spirit helps us in prayer (Romans 8:26,27). He is our "ever-present Help". We cannot pray without His continual assistance; while Jesus is at the right hand of the Father forever interceding, His Spirit is present with us, interceding in and for us according to the will of God.

Dear Father, thank You for such a heart as You have! There is no god like You Who cares deeply for each of Your children and Who wants to hear and answer our prayers; help us grasp the wonder of this truth. Lord Jesus, thank You that You obeyed Your Father and did what had to be done to remove the hindrance that was between the Father and humans so that we can approach Him and find that we are accepted in You and can pray in confidence to Him. Holy Spirit, thank You that You are the Helper, ever present to aid us in our weakness in prayer, always praying in and for us according to the Father's will. Make this real to us, Lord, so that we pray increasingly with confidence and joy and faith. Thank You! In Jesus' name, Amen.

Prayer, the Means to Access Grace

This week I want to share a few thoughts on our constant need for grace in order to persevere till the end in faith and how we access grace through prayer. I've long been aware of my continual need for grace in my life, but it's been recently that I'm getting more language for what I've known intuitively over the years.

Those of us who have been raised and trained in western evangelicalism have tended to limit the need for grace to the forgiveness of our sins. This way of thinking has contributed to the general lack of personal and corporate prayer in the West. If we don't understand that we must have grace (divine governmental favor and power through the Holy Spirit) all the time in order to persevere till the end, and if we don't understand that the way we access God's grace is through prayer, then we can't see any need to structure our personal and corporate life around prayer. Short and quick personal prayers and a weekly corporate gathering is sufficient to confess sins to ensure that we "go to heaven" someday.

When I speak of "prayer", I'm referring to real prayer, not a lifeless practice that makes me feel good about having fulfilled my religious duty. Real prayer is talking and being with God in honesty. Genuine prayer is both extremely easy and extremely difficult. The more childlike we are, the easier it is. To really talk to God with openness of heart and mind is very difficult for us fallen and sinful adults who would almost rather do anything else but talk to Him in truth and let Him talk to us. Like Adam and Eve, we want to hide from God rather than run to Him with gut honesty. It takes courage and time and discipline and desire to talk openly with Him about what's going on with us; just about anything else is easier to do than this.

Donald Bloesch says in The Struggle of Prayer,

"Emil Brunner has observed that prayer is much more difficult than ordinary work and much more exhausting. 'For a hundred men who are not afraid of the exertion of labor, there are only a few who take upon themselves the strain of prayer.' This is not surprising since 'it requires an effort of the will, - and more than that. (It requires that) I will arise and go to my Father.' That resolution requires the courage to let God tell you the truth, the humiliating knowledge that you can no longer help yourself."

We western Christians have long found refuge in the half-truth, "To work is to pray." Bloesch goes on to say,

"Work is not necessarily prayer, but prayer is always work. Indeed it is the greatest work, the highest work possible for a Christian. Prayer should command the full attention of the Christian and engage his or her whole being..."

In order for our work to become a form of prayer, we must be a people of prayer first. In other words, it is the practice and discipline and hard work of praying with full attention to God that will lead to being a person who prays without ceasing, one whose entire life is a prayer. We don't get to this through praying "on the run".

As time passes and the signs of the end of the age increase, God's people will become increasingly aware of our need for grace (divine governmental favor and power through the Holy Spirit) in order to persevere in faith, and we will understand that grace is accessed through prayer; as a result, the Church's identity will be that of a house of prayer for all nations, as Jesus prophesied. The beginnings of an awakening to prayer are here; this will continue to grow and God's people will structure our lives around true prayer (both personally and corporately), and in that posture of utter dependence on Him, we will find grace to endure to the end as a people of faith!