HOW TO PREVAIL WITH GOD
A Lecture
Delivered on Wednesday, May 22, 1850,
BY THE REV. PROFESSOR FINNEY,
OF OBERLIN COLLEGE, UNITED STATES,
AT THE TABERNACLE, MOORFIELDS.
PART 2
“Ask, and it will be given
to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone
who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be
opened.” (Matt. 7: 7- 8) “You ask and do not receive, because you ask
amiss, that you may spend it on your pleasures.” (James 4:3)
The subject I
talked about last evening, The Conditions of Prevailing Prayer, I’ll continue
this evening. Last night I touched on
several of these conditions, and announced that I would continue this subject
tonight. I was speaking of perseverance
as a condition of prevailing with God.
Sometimes, however, the circumstances are so desperate that there is no
time for any time consuming perseverance.
If prayers have to be repeated, the object can’t be attained at
all. But there are often very good reasons
why the petitioner should be allowed to wrestle and persevere. By this means, God is anxious to develop a
certain state of mind, sometimes for the petitioner’s benefit, sometimes for
the benefit of others, sometimes for both of these together. Some cases of this type are recorded in
Scripture, where God declined to immediately answer so he might develop a
certain state of mind in the petitioner for the benefit of others. I will mention some examples. Last night, I presented Jacob as an example
of perseverance in struggling and persisting in supplication until he
prevailed. I also presented the case of
Moses, and was about to mention Elijah.
Elijah had the
clear promise of God that He would send rain on the earth. After Elijah had built an altar and the
prophets of Baal were slain, if you remember, he devoted himself to prayer, and
sent his servant to see if there were any clouds forming. Elijah continued praying. The servant went, but saw nothing. Elijah said, “Go again”. I suppose he meant to say, “Keep on going
until you see rain approaching, for I must not leave this place until the
blessing comes”. He had a strong desire
for rain for the benefit of the people, but there were other reasons. God clearly promised it would come so Elijah
was determined its delay in coming should be no stumbling-block. He continued to persist in prayer, until a
little cloud about the size of a man’s hand was spotted in the distance. Elijah did not go and ask God, and then get
up and leave, as many would do who think that if God has promised something,
just a simple reminder to Him of His promise is good enough. No, Elijah did not do that. The prophet had an urgent spirit, a spirit
that would not let him leave the throne of grace. The servant went and returned seven times, and the last time he
said, “There is a little cloud rising, about the size of a man’s hand”. Notice Elijah’s perseverance. Elijah refused to leave his position until
rain came.
Take the case of
Daniel. We have in Daniel (10th
chapter) a very dramatic example of perseverance. Let me read. “In those
days I, Daniel, was mourning three full weeks.
I ate no pleasant food, no meat or wine came into my mouth, nor did I
anoint myself at all, till three whole weeks were fulfilled”. (Daniel 10:2-3) Then came the answer in verse 12. “Then he said to me, ‘Do not fear, Daniel, for from the first day
that you set your heart to understand, and to humble yourself before your God,
your words were heard; and I have come because of your words’.” Here it appears that a messenger had been
sent to answer Daniel, but an infernal spirit called the Prince of Persia had
detained him. If we read this passage
in context, it becomes clear that it was an infernal agent that detained the
messenger sent to answer Daniel until Michael, one of the chief princes who
some believe was the Messiah Himself, came to help him. Daniel persisted in prayer for twenty-one
days. There was no stopping him until
he had the answer.
The case of the
Syro-Phoenician woman is another striking example. This is recorded in the 15th chapter of Matthew. You may remember the circumstances. The woman was not Jewish, but an infernal
spirit tormented her daughter, and she came to Christ to have it cast out. She fell down and worshipped Him, and said,
“Have mercy on me, O Lord, Son of David!
My daughter is severely demon-possessed”. (Matt 15:22) Now, the
disciples were with the Savior, who was crowded. She followed, pleaded, and wept along the road behind them. They saw that Jesus took no notice and concluded
that He was not going to answer her, and so they said, “Send her away, for she
cries out after us”. (v.23) Jesus replied,
“I was not sent except to the lost sheep of the house of Israel”. (v.24)
Now, as I have said, she was not Jewish, but a Syro-Phoenician woman;
however she was not discouraged, but continued crying. After some time passed, Jesus addressed her,
“It is not good to take the children's bread and throw it to the little
dogs”. (v.26) She responded, “True,
Lord, yet even the little dogs eat the crumbs which fall from their masters’
table”. (v.27) What a spirit this
was! Christ turned and said, “O woman,
great is your faith! Let it be to you
as you desire”. And her daughter was
healed from that very hour! (v.28) He
had developed her faith. The disciples saw her spirit of perseverance and
faith, and what confidence she had.
With less confidence, she might have been become discouraged when Jesus
said that He was sent to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. But that didn’t discourage her. In spite of this apparent discouragement,
she believed that she could get the blessing; therefore, she continued pressing
Jesus with even more determination, and would not be discouraged. Then He said, as if to test the temper of
the woman, since everyone could see what Jesus said was calculated to do. Jesus said, “It is not good to take the
children's bread and throw it to the little dogs”, almost treating her
contemptuously; but she never resented it.
She could have said “If You are going to treat me in this way, I won't
speak to you anymore.” But she
responded; “Yet even the little dogs
eat the crumbs which fall from their masters’ table”. Now, this is a beautiful example, not only of perseverance, but
of the power and prevalence of this perseverance.
In the 18th
chapter of Luke, we have the case of the unjust judge, who neither feared God
nor regarded man. There are two
parables in Luke that are specially designed by the Savior to teach the need
and the power of perseverance, and the prayer is very striking in both these
parables. Take the case of the unjust
judge. “There was in a certain city a
judge who did not fear God nor regard man.
Now there was a widow in that city; and she came to him, saying, ‘Avenge
me of my adversary.’ And he would not
for a while; but afterward he said within himself, ‘Though I do not fear God
nor regard man, yet because this widow troubles me I will avenge her, lest by
her continual coming she weary me’.”
(Luke 18:2-5) Now Christ did not
intend to compare God to the unjust judge here, but He had to make a strong case,
and therefore He had to give a strong illustration of the truth enforced. He says that perseverance in supplication
overcame even the unjust judge. She so
persevered that, to avoid her pressing request and to avoid being continually
troubled by her, he would avenge her of her adversary. Christ tells us here what the unjust judge
says, who neither feared God nor regarded man; and shall not God, who is not
unjust--for this is the point—“shall not God avenge His own elect, who cry day
and night unto Him”? Here was a judge
who took no interest in the case, who did not care for the woman or her
adversary, who “neither feared God nor regarded man”, but who, to avoid her
pressing request, avenged her of her adversary. Now, if persistence could do this for an unjust judge, what shall
it do with God Whose elect are dear to His heart, Who cares for them and their
cause, and when they persistently cry day and night unto Him, shall He not
avenge them? When the unjust judge was
overcome by her persistence, and he had no interest in her or her cause, he was
moved by her cries. Won’t God avenge
his own elect? Yes, ”He shall speedily
avenge them.”
A curious event
happened after I came to England. This
circumstance was related to me while I was at Birmingham. A Christian man visited me. He had heard from time to time, different
things about prevailing prayer. He said
he felt that it was his duty to tell me about the great faithfulness of
God. It was such an extraordinary case
of prevailing prayer that I’ve been thinking about it ever since. “Some time ago”, the gentleman said, “a
neighbor of mine lost his wife. When
she was ill and at the point death, my wife went to take care of her, and she
stayed with her until she breathed her last.
After she returned home, I felt that something was not right. Things kept revealing themselves
continually. Circumstances occurred to show me that all was not right between
that man and my wife. I told her what I
feared. She confessed her guilt, and
not only so, but avowed her determination to leave me, and to live with him,
whatever might come of it.”
“What
did you say?” I exclaimed!
“I
could not say anything more to her; but I went to God, and cried day and night
to Him. O God, will You not avenge me
of this my adversary? For two weeks, I
hardly slept at all, but prayed and wept, sometimes in one position and
sometimes in another. But for two weeks
I gave God no rest, but prayed continually, ‘O God, Will You not avenge me of
my adversary?’ At the same time, I let my wife understand, that my arms and
heart were open to receive her if she would return, and I would forgive her of
all that happened. I kept myself in
that position. I wept before God. I prayed, and I cried to Him to avenge
me. At the end of the two weeks, she
came back heart-broken, confessing her sin, humbling herself, and doing all
that I could wish her to do; and she has since been all that I could wish her
to be.”
What
a striking case this is! Instead of turning her away at once, he went to God,
and said, “O Lord, You see that this man had torn away my wife from my
bosom! O God, avenge me of this my adversary.” If there were any case where someone would
feel inclined to make a matter the subject of prayer, it would be a case like
this. This man did, and prevailed in
the extraordinary manner I have described.
Let me now present
an instance of a pressing request for others, which is recorded in the 11th chapter
of Luke. The Syro-Phoenician prayed for
a blessing for herself. But in Luke
chapter 11, Christ gives a parable that illustrates the power of insisting when
praying for others. It’s a case where
an individual, at night, went to the house of a friend and said, “Friend, lend
me three loaves”. His friend would not
do it. He and his children were in bed,
and he did not want to get up to give him what he wanted. The man, however, continued knocking and
knocking, resolved to keep knocking all night if he had to. So the friend was faced with a dilemma. He could get up and give him the bread, or
stay awake all night long listening to knocking. Although the friend would not get up because they were friends,
he got up because of this constant knocking.
Because of that man’s pressing request, he got up and gave him as many
loaves as he needed. Here, then, is an
illustration of the great value of persistence when seeking blessings for our
friends, those upon whose salvation we set our hearts. Here was an individual who wanted a blessing
for his friend, and who would not allow his other friend, from whom he could
not get this blessing, to rest until he obtained it. The fact is, that cases often occur where it appears that God is
silent, and allows individuals to pray incessantly with the greatest
perseverance and solicitude, until a state of mind is developed, which is so
striking that it is very edifying to all who see it, and particularly to the
petitioner himself.
Another condition
of prevailing prayer often seems to be a great deal of anxiety, amounting almost
to unutterable agony of mind. Great
blessings, which are sought, do not come until our minds are so strongly
excited that we are thrown into great agony and travail in our soul before God. Many professing Christians do not understand
what this “travail of soul” is. It is
repeatedly mentioned in the Bible as a state of mind that receives great
promises and blessings. Paul speaks of
travailing in birth for those he preached to at Galatia. (Gal 4:19).
Those Galatians, whom he called “my little children” had
backslidden. Reclaiming them agonized
Paul. When the prophet Jeremiah speaks
of seeing a man in a vision, he says, “Ask now, and see, whether a man is ever
in labor with child? So why do I see every man with his hands on his loins like
a woman in labor, and all faces turned pale?”
Have
you examined your Bible using your marginal references, or a concordance, to
see what that book really says on this subject? What is promised to that state of mind that is in agony and
travail of soul? This is a delicate
subject, yet it is so often mentioned in the Bible that people should not only
search what the Scriptures says, but also be willing to sympathize with God so
deeply, that their souls travail in birth until other souls are born to God. I am not saying that, in all instances, this
spirit will prevail. But it often
does. When Christianity was first
established, travailing was so common, that Paul speaks of it as something well
known to Christians. He says, “Likewise
the Spirit also helps in our weaknesses.
For we don’t know what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit
Himself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered”. (Romans 8:26).
My listeners, do
you know how important this is? In the
great revivals that prevailed in America many years ago, some striking examples
of prevailing prayer occurred, as also occurred in the days of President
Edwards, as well as in Scotland. In
various parts of Great Britain, too, where revivals prevailed, there was a remarkable
spirit of prayer. I have witnessed much
of this myself. An old minister, well
known by name to many of you, mentioned this fact to me. He had not been involved in those revivals
very much back then, but two of his daughters had grown up in impenitence. He told me the great agony of mind he had
before their conversion, and when I told him that it was a thing perfectly
common to revivals, he was surprised that he had overlooked what the Bible says
on this subject for so many years. The
man was in so much travail that he could not sleep. So great was the weight on him that he struggled until he said he
told the Lord that “he must die or his daughters must be converted”. He felt that his soul was filled with such
unutterable agony, that he really must die unless his petition was
granted. He was literally in travail of
soul for them. Often when I have seen
Christians in this state, when they expressed the state of their minds to me,
they have used the same language that’s in Scripture. They have said repeatedly, “My soul travails day and night, I
cannot live unless I see the salvation of God.” Such people, when in such a state of mind, are generally not disposed
to see company, or to go anywhere, if they can avoid it. They want to be with God as much as possible. They have deep seasons of sighing
unawares. They desire to be alone with
God; and if you could hear and see how they wrestle with God, you might,
perhaps, feel astonished at the holy boldness and confidence their souls
manifest in their fellowship with God.
You would probably never forget the expressions you would hear, and the
mighty wrestling you would see. I have
known such things, that in places where I am a stranger I have been afraid to
tell them, lest the people think that these things are untrue. I have often witnessed things in religious
revivals that were extraordinary. I
have often seen answers to prayer bordering so closely on the miraculous, that
I feel afraid to tell them where I am unknown.
The fact is, that the answers to prayer which I have witnessed, have
been most wonderful, both in America and in this country, to the great
astonishment of those who have not understood them.
But, let me say
again: that all the hindrances of prevailing prayer, may be summed up in one,
which is one of the greatest, if not the greatest of all the difficulties. I refer to a lack of sympathy with God. How can people hope to prevail with God, unless
they sympathize with Him? When men sympathize
with Him so strongly that they don’t object at self-denial, when they are imbued
with the spirit that led Christ to make the atonement, that led Christ to deny
Himself and to do all that He did, to have such a state of mind is a tremendous
problem today. Christ needs His Church
to sympathize with Him, and as long as they don’t sympathize with Him, and are
not in a state of mind to deny themselves of even minor gratifications for the
sake of doing good to the worldly-minded, how can they expect to prevail with
God?
This leads me to
say that a state of mind that will not grieve the Spirit of God, and will
carefully avoid everything that grieves the Spirit of God is indispensable to
the true spirit of prayer. No man can
prevail with God who does not bridle his tongue. In these days, people talk much too much to pray well. They grieve the Holy Ghost by a lot of
talking and bad mouthing. People speak
harshly of their brethren. Now, such a
state of mind is not congenial to prayer, and if you want to prevail with God,
you must take care and keep yourselves in the love of God by praying in the
Holy Ghost.
In
order to prevail with God, Christians must have the spirit of love and walk in
it; they must have a tender spirit for the reputation of Christ, and live in
such a state towards sinners, that they are willing to make any sacrifices for
them. My dear friends, Last night, I
wanted to do what I intend to do now, and that is to ask you as I go along, do
you fulfill these conditions? Are you
living in such sympathy with God and Christ that you are willing to deny
yourselves, and walk before God in such a manner that you give yourselves up to
the great work of saving souls? I’m not
saying that you should quit your jobs, and do nothing else but witness and
pray; but are you in such a state of mind, that you will not resist
self-denial? Are you willing to live
and be used up, body, property, and everything, to promote the glory of God,
and the salvation of the world? Or,
will you stumble over some trifling gratification?
Can
a man offer prevailing prayer, who is unwilling to make sacrifices for the sake
of doing more good? Who has studied
this subject thoroughly and has not often agonized over the need for sympathy
with God? What was the secret of Paul’s
usefulness? He says, “I tell the truth
in Christ, I am not lying, my conscience also bearing me witness in the Holy
Spirit, that I have great sorrow and continual grief in my heart. For I could wish that I myself were accursed
from Christ for my brethren, my kinsmen according to the flesh.” Paul was saying that he could forego
anything personally, he could make any personal sacrifice, if by so doing he
could save his kinsmen according to the flesh.
I know that there has been a lot speculation on this passage. I have wondered at this. Paul’s language is strong, but I have
mentioned the purpose of his intentions.
He would make any sacrifice as far as his own happiness was
concerned. He could give up anything
they could name. No doubt he did not intend
to say that he was willing to go to hell, but that there was no personal
sacrifice he would not make. He was
willing to hang on a cross, or to suffer anything, so that the world might be
saved. Now, I myself know a man who
said this, and finally went so far in his sympathy with Christ, as to say, “O
Lord Jesus, not only am I willing to hang on a cross, but until the end of
time, if necessary.” Now, this is
saying a lot, but it is only expressing the intense, agonizing feeling of a man
ready and willing to suffer any conceivable thing, if, by so doing, Christ
could be honored, and souls could be saved.
Such is the spirit that prevails with God; a spirit that is willing to
enter into His sympathies, a spirit which will not hesitate to make any
necessary and personal sacrifice in order to save the souls of men.
And so we see that
prevailing prayer is really a state of mind rather than a particular
exercise. By this I mean, that for
someone to prevail, he must live in the prescribed state of mind. Prayer is not simply turning aside and praying,
but a perpetual yearning of the mind, a habitual presenting of the mind in a
spirit of asking urgently and repeatedly.
This is the true idea of prevailing prayer. You sometimes see in this world’s affairs, that men have a great
burden on their minds about their business.
Men get into such a state of mind that they become intensely
anxious. Sometimes, they fear
bankruptcy. The changes that they expect
to come over them cause such anxiety, that it becomes the burden of their
life. They become heavily burdened by
this continuing struggle in their minds.
Now,
sometimes men get into this state of mind concerning religion. They see that the Churches are not
prospering, that the hand of the Lord is not revealed, that the Church does not
understand its whereabouts, that professing Christians are worldly minded and
not aware of it, that professing Christians are justifying themselves rather
than confessing their sins. They see
the problem, and run to God, literally besieging his throne as Daniel did; even
in their dreams they pray; all their waking hours they pray, until they become
heavily burdened. This is the state of
mind when Christians begin to mourn over the condition of Zion, take pleasure
in her stones, and show favor to her dust.
(Psalms 102:13-14) You hear them confessing their sins and those of the
people, with much weeping. Then you
might understand that the spirit of grace and supplication is pouring out, that
this spirit of grace and supplication will prevail, and is always indispensable
to prevailing prayer.
Clean hands is
another necessary condition. The
Psalmist says, “I will wash my hands in innocence; So I will
go about Your altar, O Lord!” Now, if
this is not true for you, you can’t prevail with God; and if a man has wronged
his neighbor, whether in character, property, or person, if he has spoken
against him in a manner injurious to his character, if he has wronged him in
any way, he can’t expect anything good to happen until this is set right. “Therefore if you bring your gift to the
altar, and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave
your gift there before the altar, and go your way. First be reconciled to your
brother, and then come and offer your gift.”
(Matthew 5:23-24) Don’t offer
your gift, and then say, “Lord, remember that I spoke against that person. Please give me a heart to repent of
it.” No! Repent first! Before you
can prevail, your hands must be clean.
You must be reconciled to your brother. Have you in any way, or in any unjustifiable manner, unnecessarily
injured the feelings or reputation of any of your brothers or neighbors? Go and be reconciled to that brother. Make peace with him, and then come and offer
your gifts. When this in not the case,
you can never expect to prevail.
But this leads me
to say that the spirit of forgiveness is another condition of prevailing
prayer, the spirit of forgiveness when you have been wronged. Jesus says in Matthew 6, “If you do not
forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your
trespasses”. My dear friends, are you
sure your hands are so clean that when you come to God, you can say, “Lord, You
know that I have taken no one’s money, goods, or property, without an equivalent. Lord, You know that I have wronged no one,
that I have injured no one in character, property, or anything whatever.” On the other hand, if you have done so, can
you say, “You know, O Lord, that I have made restitution. I have not allowed this iniquity to remain
on my hands, and that, O Lord, You know.”
How is this? Many of you, perhaps,
have offered many prayers, but you are not aware of having prevailed. Perhaps you have prayed many times without
ever really thinking about whether your prayers have been answered or not!
Several years ago, I was talking in one of the great cities of America with a brother in the presence of a lady who was richly dressed, with many artificial and other ornaments common to ladies of her class. I sat talking with this brother on the subject of prayer. I talked for quite some time. After a while, the lady began to pay attention to my conversation. I said that I believed the Christians of that day did not really expect to be answered when they prayed. I observed she was pondering it over and over. After a while she became so uneasy that she finally spoke out, “I don’t believe people are so bad.” “I do”, I replied. I tried to reply to her as mildly as I could. I asked her, “Do you obtain the things you ask for?” “Yes, I do. If I didn’t, I wouldn’t pray.” I continued, “Are you a married woman?” “Yes.” “Is your husband a Christian?” “No, sir.” “Are you the mother of children?” “I am.” “Are they converted?” “No, sir.” “Is there a revival in the church where you belong?” “No, sir.” “Have you had any since you joined that church?” “We have not.” “Then what you have been praying for? You say you have received what you’ve prayed for. Now, since you have an unconverted husband, unconverted children, no revival in your church, and have not had any since you joined it, what have you been praying for that you have received? Have you prayed for these golden chains and other ornaments? These are among the things that you really have, and perhaps they are what you have been praying for.” I continued talking and before we left the room, she burst into deep grief, confessing that she honestly didn’t think she ever had prayed! She said she had often gone over certain forms of prayer, but now she felt confident that she had never been heard. In fact, she had prayed without ever asking if she had been heard. She had prayed rather as a task, or a duty. No man ever does his duty by praying in such a manner.
Prayer should be done in faith, with a full expectation of receiving what is prayed for, and not as a mere duty. In this sense, do we have clean hands, so we can surround God’s altar, and He can receive us honorably to Himself? Have we truly forgiven our enemies? Why, I have known individuals to maintain the forms of religion in the same church while they were in such a state of mind that they would not speak to each other. Abomination! Abomination! Why, such people deserve to be excommunicated, I had almost said, for even praying under such circumstances! They pray that God would forgive their trespasses, as they forgive those that trespass against them, and in so doing they tempt God. People praying in a state of mind that can truly rise above the injuries they have received, and pray to God heartily to forgive them, and exercise a forgiving spirit, are in a proper state of mind to pray. If they are not in such a state of mind, how can they expect to prevail? With feelings of ill will, and a spirit that cannot speak peacefully about certain individuals, if you feel that way towards anyone, even wicked men, you are not in a proper state of mind to offer prayer.
The great Archangel Michael would not bring a railing accusation even against the devil, and angels have no right to exercise any other than benevolent feelings, even towards the wickedest of beings. It is impossible to restore individuals to our confidence while they remain wicked. We are not expected to do this, but we are expected to be in such a state of mind, that we to have no disposition to retaliate. We must be in a state of mind that refuses to wish them evil, but wishes them all good, and prays for them honestly and earnestly that God would bless them. We are to do this with all our hearts, as opposed to the spirit that would ask God to curse them. Unless we have this spirit, we have no sympathy with Christ, who, when we were His enemies, so great was His compassion that He did not hesitate to die for us. Some of you are harboring an improper state of mind towards your brethren. Can you go home tonight, and pray God literally to forgive you your trespasses as you have forgiven those that trespassed against you? You have no right to expect God to hear you or to answer you, unless you can honestly say this, “O Lord, forgive me, as I have forgiven them” no matter how much they have injured you. That is not the question.
People have not done much who only treat well those who treat them well. But no man can prevail with God with that kind of spirit. He must be willing to pour his heart out in honest, earnest supplications for his enemies. Without this, he cannot sympathize with Christ. “But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven; for He makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust. For if you love those who love you, what reward have you? Do not even the tax collectors do the same?” (Matt 5:44-46)
To prevail with God, you must “love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you”. Unless you are in this state of mind, don’t expect to prevail with God. Oh! That we could see this spirit prevail; that Christians would really bless those that curse them, and pray for those who persecute them, and humble themselves before God! The prayer of the person who prays for his enemy, has a mighty power with God. Job’s friends greatly abused, misunderstood, and reviled him. They accused him of being a hypocrite. Job prayed for them. God restored him and blessed him with a double portion. While Job prayed that they might be forgiven, God was pleased, and smiled on them and on him too.