Prayer—Equipment For Preachers
“Pray without ceasing.”
—1st Thessalonians 5:17
Edward McKendree Bounds (1835-1913)
"Go back! Back to that upper room; back to your knees; back to searching of heart and habit, thought and life; back to pleading, praying, waiting, till the Spirit of the Lord floods the soul with light, and you are endued with power from on high. Then go forth in the power of Pentecost, and the Christ-life shall be lived, and the works of Christ shall be done. You shall open blind eyes, cleanse foul hearts, break men's fetters, and save men's souls. In the power of the indwelling Spirit, miracles become the commonplace of daily living." —Samuel Chadwick
ALMOST the last words uttered by our Lord
before His ascension to heaven, were those addressed to the eleven disciples,
words which, really, were spoken to, and having directly to do with, preachers,
words which indicate very clearly the needed fitness which these men must have
to preach the Gospel, beginning at Jerusalem: "But tarry ye in the city of
Jerusalem," says Jesus, "till ye be endued with power from on high." Two
things are very clearly set forth in these urgent directions. First, the power
of the Holy Ghost for which they must tarry. This was to be received after their
conversion, an indispensable requisite, equipping them for the great task set
before them. Secondly, the "promise of the Father," this "power from
on high," would come to them after they had waited in earnest, continuous
prayer. A reference to Acts 1:14 will reveal that these same men, with the
women, "continued with one accord in prayer and supplication," and so
continued until the Day of Pentecost, when the power from on high descended upon
them.
This "power from on high," as important to those early preachers as it is
to present-day preachers, was not the force of a mighty intellect, holding in
its grasp great truths, flooding them with light, and forming them into verbal
shapeliness and beauty. Nor was it the acquisition of great learning, or the
result of an address, faultless and complete by rule of rhetoric. None of these
things. Nor was this spiritual power held then, nor is it held now, in the
keeping of any earthly sources of power. The effect and energy of all human
forces are essentially different in source and character, and do not at all
result from this "power from on high." The transmission of such power is
directly from God, a bestowal, in rich measure, of the force and energy which
pertains only to God, and which is transmitted to His messengers only in answer
to a longing, wrestling attitude of his soul before his Master, conscious of his
own impotency and seeking the omnipotency of the Lord he serves, in order more
fully to understand the given Word and to preach the same to his fellow-men.
The "power from on high" may be found in combination with all sources of
human power, but is not to be confounded with them, is not dependent upon them,
and must never be superseded by them. Whatever of human gift, talent or force a
preacher may possess it is not to be made paramount, or even conspicuous. It
must be hidden, lost, overshadowed by this "power from on high." The
forces of intellect and culture may all be present, but without this inward,
heaven-given power, all spiritual effort is vain and unsuccessful. Even when
lacking the other equipment but having this "power from on high," a preacher
cannot but succeed. It is the one essential, all-important vital force which a
messenger of God must possess to give wings to his message, to put life into his
preaching, and to enable him to speak the Word with acceptance and power.
A word is necessary here. Distinctions need to be kept in mind. We must think
clearly upon this question. "Power from on high" means "the unction of
the Holy One" resting on and abiding in the preacher. This is not so much a
power which bears witness to a man being the child of God as it is a preparation
for delivering the Word to others. Unction must be distinguished from pathos.
Pathos may exist in a sermon while unction is entirely absent. So also, may
unction be present and pathos absent. Both may exist together; but they are not
to be confused, nor be made to appear to be the same thing. Pathos promotes
emotion, tender feeling, sometimes tears. Quite often it results from the
relation of an affecting incident, or when the tender side is peculiarly
appealed to. But pathos is neither the direct nor indirect result of the Holy
Spirit resting upon the preacher as he preaches. But unction is. Here we are
given the evidence of the workings of an undefinable agency in the preacher,
which results directly from the presence of this "power from on high,"
deep, conscious, life-giving and carrying, giving power and point to the
preached Word. It is the element in a sermon which arouses, stirs, convicts and
moves the souls of sinners and saints. This is what the preacher requires, the
great equipment for which he should wait and pray. This "unction of the Holy
One" delivers from dryness, saves from superficiality, and gives authority to
preaching. It is the one quality which distinguishes the preacher of the Gospel
from other men who speak in public; it is that which makes a sermon unique,
unlike the deliverance of any other public speaker.
Prayer is the language of a man burdened with a sense of need. It is the voice
of the beggar, conscious of his poverty, asking of another the things he needs.
It is not only the language of lack, but of felt lack, of lack consciously
realized. "Blessed are the poor in spirit," means not only that the fact
of poverty of spirit brings the blessing, but also that poverty of spirit is
realized, known and acknowledged. Prayer is the language of those who need
something—something which they, themselves, cannot supply but which God has
promised them, and for which they ask. In the end, "poor praying and
prayerlessness amount to the same thing, for poor praying proceeds from a lack
of the sense of need, while prayerlessness has its origin in the same soil. Not
to pray is not only to declare there is nothing needed, but to admit to a
non-realization of that need. This is what aggravates the sin of prayerlessness.
It represents an attempt at instituting an independence of God, a
self-sufficient ruling of God out of the life. It is a declaration made to God
that we do not need Him, and hence do not pray to Him.
This is the state in which the Holy Spirit, in His messages to the Seven
Churches in Asia, found the Laodicean Church and "the Laodicean state" has come
to stand for one in which God is ruled out, expelled from the life, put out of
the pulpit. The entire condemnation of this Church is summed up in one
expression: "Because thou sayest, I have need of nothing," the most alarming
state into which a person, or church or preacher can come. Trusting in its
riches, in its social position, in things outward and material, the Church at
Laodicea omitted God, leaving Him out of their church plans and church work, and
declared, by their acts and by their omission of prayer, "I have need of
nothing." No wonder the self-satisfied declaration brought forth its sentence of
punishment—"Because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue
thee out of my mouth." The idea conveyed is that such a backslidden state of
heart is as repulsive to God as an emetic is to the human stomach, and as the
stomach expels that which is objectionable, so Almighty God threatens to "spue
out of His mouth" these people who were in such a religious condition so
repulsive to Him. All of it was traceable to a prayerless state of heart, for no
one can read this word of the Spirit to this Laodicean Church and not see that
the very core of their sin was prayerlessness. How could a Church, given to
prayer, openly and vauntingly declare, "I have need of nothing" in the face of
the Spirit's assertion that it needed everything, "Thou knowest not that thou
art wretched, and poor, and miserable, and blind, and naked"? In addition to
their sin of self-sufficiency and of independence of God, the Laodiceans were
spiritually blind. Oh, what dullness of sight, what blindness of soul! These
people were prayerless, and knew not the import of such prayerlessness. They
lacked everything which goes to make up spiritual life, and force, and
self-denying piety, and vainly supposed themselves to need nothing but material
wealth, thus making temporal possessions a substitute for spiritual wealth,
leaving God entirely out of their activities, relying upon human and material
resources to do the work only possible to the divine and supernatural, and
secured alone by prayer.
Nor let it be forgotten that this letter (in common with the other six letters)
was primarily addressed to the preacher in charge of the church. All this
strengthens the impression that the "angel of the church" himself was in
this lukewarm state. He himself was living a prayerless life, relying upon
things other than God, practically saying, "I have need of nothing." For these
words are the natural expression of the spirit of him who does not pray, who
does not care for God, and who does not feel the need of Him in his life, in his
work and in his preaching. Furthermore, the words of the Spirit seem to indicate
that the "angel of the church" at Laodicea was indirectly responsible for
this sad condition into which the Laodicean Church had fallen. May not this sort
of a church be found in modern times? Is it not likely that we could discover
some preachers of modern times who fall under a similar condemnation to that
passed upon the "angel of the church of" Laodicea?
Preachers of the present age excel those of the past in many, possibly in all,
human elements of success. They are well abreast of the age in learning,
research, and intellectual vigour. But these things neither insure "power from
on high" nor guarantee a live, thriving religious experience, or righteous life.
These purely human gifts do not bring with them an insight into the deep things
of God, or strong faith in the Scriptures, or an intense loyalty to God's divine
revelation. The presence of these earthly talents even in the most commanding
and impressive form, and richest measure do not in the least abate the necessity
for the added endowment of the Holy Spirit. Herein lies the great danger
menacing the pulpit of to-day. All around us we see a tendency to substitute
human gifts and worldly attainments for that supernatural, inward power which
comes from on high in answer to earnest prayer. In many instances modern
preaching seems to fail in the very thing which should create and distinguish
true preaching, which is essential to its being, and which alone can make of it
a divine and powerfully aggressive agency. It lacks in short, "the power from on
high" which alone can make it a living thing. It fails to become the channel
through which God's saving power can be made to appeal to men's consciences and
hearts.
Quite often, modern preaching fails at this vital point, for lack of exercising
a potent influence which disturbs men in their sleep of security, and awakens
them to a sense of need and of peril. There is a growing need of an appeal which
will quicken and arouse the conscience from its ignoble stupor and give it a
sense of wrong-doing and a corresponding sense of repentance. There is need of a
message which searches into the secret places of man's being, dividing, as it
were, the joints and the marrow, and laying bare the mysterious depths before
himself and his God. Much of our present day preaching is lacking in that
quality which infuses new blood into the heart and veins of faith, that arms it
with courage and skill for the battle with the powers of darkness, and secures
it a victory over the forces of the world. Such high and noble ends can never be
accomplished by human qualifications, nor can these great results be secured by
a pulpit clothed only with the human elements of power, however gracious,
comfortable, and helpful they may be. The Holy Spirit is needed. He alone can
equip the ministry for its difficult and responsible work in and out of the
pulpit. Oh, that the present-day ministry may come to see that its one great
need is an enduement of "power from on high," and that this one need can be
secured only by the use of God's appointed means of grace - the ministry of
prayer.
Prayer is needed by the preacher in order that his personal relations with God
may be maintained and that because there is no difference between him and any
other kind of a man in so far as his personal salvation is concerned. This he
must work out "with fear and trembling," just as all other men must do.
Thus prayer is of vast importance to the preacher in order that he may possess a
growing religious experience, and be enabled to live such a life that his
character and conduct will back up his preaching and give force to his message.
A man must have prayer in his pulpit work, for no minister can preach
effectively without prayer. He also has use for prayer in praying for others.
Paul was a notable example of a preacher who constantly prayed for those to whom
he ministered.
But we come, now, to another sphere of prayer, that of the people praying for
the preacher. "Brethren, pray for us." This is the cry which Paul set in
motion, and which has been the cry of spiritually minded preachers—those who
know God aid who know that value of prayer—in all succeeding ages. No condition
of success or the reverse of it must abate the cry. No degree of culture, no
abundance of talents, must cause that cry to cease. The learned preacher, as
well as the unlearned, has equal need to call out to the people they serve,
"Withal, praying also for us." Such a cry voices the felt need of a preacher's
heart who feels the need there is for sympathies of a people to be in harmony
with its minister: It is but the expression of the inner soul of a preacher who
feels his insufficiency for the tremendous responsibilities of the pulpit, who
realizes his weakness and his need of the divine unction, and who throws himself
upon the prayers of his congregation, and calls out to them, "Praying always
with all prayer and supplication, in the Spirit, and for me, that utterance may
be given me." It is the cry of deep felt want in the heart of the preacher who
feels he must have this prayer made specifically for him that he may do his work
in God's own way.
When this request to a people to pray for the preacher is cold, formal and
official, it freezes instead of fructifies. To be ignorant of the necessity for
the cry, is to be ignorant of the sources of spiritual success. To fail to
stress the cry, and to fail to have responses to it, is to sap the sources of
spiritual life. Preachers must sound out the cry to the Church of God. Saints
everywhere and of every kind, and of every faith speedily respond and pray for
the preacher. The imperative need of the work demands it. "Pray for us,"
is the natural cry of the hearts of God's called men—faithful preachers of the
Word. Saintly praying in the early Church helped apostolic preaching mightily,
and rescued apostolic men from many dire straits. It can do the same thing
to-day. It can open doors for apostolic labours, and apostolic lips to utter
bravely and truly the Gospel message. Apostolic movements wait their ordering
from prayer, and avenues long closed are opened to apostolic entrance by and
through the power of prayer. The messenger receives his message and is schooled
as to how to carry and deliver the message by prayer. The forerunner of the
Gospel, and that which prepares the way, is prayer; not only by the praying of
the messenger himself, but by the praying of the Church of God.
Writing along this line in his Second Epistle to the Thessalonians, Paul is
first general in his request and says, "Brethren, pray for us." Then he becomes
more minute and particular: "Finally, brethren, pray for us," he goes on,
"that the word of the Lord may have free course and be glorified, even as it is
with you. And that we may be delivered from unreasonable and wicked men; for all
men have not faith." The Revised Version has for "free course" the word
"run." "The Word" means doctrine, and the idea conveyed is that
this doctrine of the Gospel is rapidly propagated, a metaphor taken from the
running of a race, and is an exhortation to exert one's self, to strive hard, to
expend strength. Thus the prayer for the spread of the Gospel gives the same
energy to the Word of the Lord, as the greatest outlay of strength gives success
to the racer. Prayer in the pew gives the preached Word energy, facility, and
success. Preaching without the backing of mighty praying is as limp and
worthless an effort as can be imagined. Prayerlessness in the pew is a serious
hindrance to the running of the Word of the Lord.
The preaching of the Word of the Lord fails to run and be glorified from many
causes. The difficulty may lie with the preacher himself, should his outward
conduct be out of harmony with the rule of the Scriptures and his own
profession. The Word lived must be in accord with the Word delivered; the life
must be in harmony with the sermon. The preacher's spirit and behaviour out of
the pulpit must run parallel with the Word of the Lord spoken in the pulpit.
Otherwise, a man is an obstacle to the success of his own message. Again, the
Word of the Lord may fail to run, may be seriously encumbered and crippled by
the inconsistent lives of those who are the hearers thereof. Bad living in the
pew will seriously cripple the Word of the Lord, as attempts to run on its
appointed course. Unrighteous lives among the laity heavily weights down the
Word of the Lord and hampers the work of the ministry. Yet prayer will remove
this burden which seriously handicaps the preached Word. It will tend to do this
in a direct way, or in an indirect manner. For just as you set laymen to
praying, for the preacher or even for themselves, it awakens conscience, stirs
the heart , and tends to correct evil ways and to promote good living. No man
will pray long and continue in sin. Praying breaks up bad living while bad
living breaks down prayer. Praying goes into bankruptcy when a man goes to
sinning. To obey the cry of the preacher, "Brethren, pray for us," sets men to
doing that which will induce right living in them, and will tend to break them
away from sin. So it comes about that it is worth no little to get the laity to
pray for the ministry. Prayer helps the preacher, is an aid to the sermon,
assists the hearer and promotes right living in the pew.
Prayer also moves him who prays for the preacher and for the Word of the Lord,
to use all his influence to remove any hindrance to that Word which he may see,
and which lies in his power to remove. But prayer reaches the preacher directly.
God hears the praying of a church for its minister. Prayer for the preached Word
is a direct aid to it. Prayer for the preacher gives wings to the Gospel, as
well as feet. Prayer makes the Word of the Lord go forward strongly and rapidly.
It takes the shackles off of the message, and gives it a chance to run straight
to the hearts of sinners and saints, alike. It opens the way, clears the track,
furnishes a free course. The failure of many a preacher may be found just here.
He was hampered, hindered, crippled by a prayerless church. Non-praying
officials stood in the way of the Word preached, and became veritable stumbling
blocks in the way of the Word, definitely preventing its reaching the hearts of
the unsaved.
Unbelief and prayerlessness go together. It is written of our Lord in Matthew's
Gospel that when He entered into His own country, "he did not many mighty works
there because of their unbelief." Mark puts it a little differently, but giving
out the same idea: "And he could there do no mighty work, save that he laid his
hands upon a few sick folks and healed them. And he marveled because of their
unbelief." Unquestionably the unbelief of that people hindered our Lord in His
gracious work and tied His hands. And if that be true, it requires no undue
straining of the Scriptures when we say that the unbelief and prayerlessness of
a church can tie the hands of its preacher, and prevent him from doing many
great works in the salvation of souls and in edifying saints. Prayerlessness,
therefore, as it concerns the preacher is a very serious matter. If it exists in
the preacher himself, then he ties his own hands and makes the Word as preached
by him ineffective and void. If prayerless men be found in the pew, then it
hurts the preacher, robs him of an invaluable help, and interferes seriously
with the success of his work. How great the need of a praying church to help on
the preaching of the Word of the Lord! Both pew and pulpit are jointly concerned
in this preaching business. It is a copartnership. The two go hand in hand. One
must help the other, one can hinder the other. Both must work in perfect accord
or serious damage will result, and God's plan concerning the preacher and the
preached Word be defeated.
