Prayer Warrior

by G. Jarvie, Glasgow | Category: The Life And Work Of Paul | Apr 1971

"I bow my knees unto the Father" (Eph. 3:14).

Paul was a man of prayer, there is no doubt about that. "Behold he prayeth" the Lord said to Ananias when he feared to visit Paul in Damascus (Acts 9:11). No need to be afraid of him if he was praying! Without sight, and taking neither food nor drink for three days, Paul prayed. The sight of the risen Christ had changed him for ever. He was the Lord's chosen vessel.

All God's men, in all ages, have been men of prayer. And so also today. How can we hope to prevail in the spiritual warfare if we know little of the vital exercise of private prayer (Matt. 6:6). Like Daniel, Paul bowed his knees to the Father. This is a comely attitude in private prayer. We see Paul with the elders of Ephesus as he - "kneeled down, and prayed with them all" (Acts 20:36). Those mature men wept sore and fell on Paul's neck and kissed him; they knew how he had prayed and laboured among them. Where would they find another like him, this man of prayer? At Tyre, with the disciples there, they all with wives and children, knelt down on the beach and prayed (Acts 21:5). Those were days of deep devotion to the Lord and this was manifest in their prayer-life. What about our prayer-life, in private and in the home? Do we teach our children to bow their knees to the Father? and do they see us on our knees? If in such prayer we are weak or lacking then surely our service for the Lord will be superficial and powerless.

There is no doubt that the prayer of dying Stephen would be heard by young Saul of Tarsus, who kept the garments of those who slew the faithful martyr. Stephen, whose face shone like an angel, was a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit. What a man of prayer he must have been! "Lord, lay not this sin to their charge", he said, as he knelt down and cried with a loud voice (Acts 7:60). He died on his knees! Paul never forgot that sight and that prayer. Later, when in a trance in the Temple, he prayed with confession, "When the blood of Stephen Thy witness was shed, I also was standing by and consenting" (Acts 22:20). The prayer of Stephen brought forth Paul who in due time was mighty in prayer for others.

"Continuing stedfastly in prayer" Paul wrote to the saints in Rome (12:12). "I beseech you that ye strive together with me in your prayers to God for me" (15:30). No easy praying this ! This is the warfare of the sanctuary. We have much to learn of this kind of prayer; what a difference it would make to our prayer meetings!

To the Corinthians Paul wrote, "This we also pray for, even your perfecting" (2 Cor. 13:9). He rejoiced when he himself was being perfected, even through a thorn in the flesh. He had besought the Lord thrice for its removal. God's answer brought from Paul the triumphal cry, "I take pleasure in weaknesses ... for Christ's sake ..." (2 Cor. 12:9,10). Only through prayer and faith can we view weaknesses and distresses in this way. They are for our perfecting. This is not resigning ourselves to the will of God as something we cannot avoid. Rather it is using it to climb higher; something permitted for our perfecting.

To the Thessalonian saints Paul wrote, "Rejoice alway; pray without ceasing; in everything give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus to you-ward" (1 Thess. 5:16-~18). What a watchword for us all today; let us spread it abroad in Asia and Australasia; in Europe and North America! This is the will of God for us.

To the Philippians he wrote, "In nothing be anxious" (Phil. 4:6). But how could they (or how can we) live without anxiety in a world full of trouble? The answer comes back from the prison, "In everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known unto God. And the peace of God ... shall guard ...". Paul was guarded by a soldier but his heart and mind were guarded by the peace of God. And so will ours be if we abide in the secret place of the Most High (Psa. 91:1).

We conclude with Paul's great prayer for the Ephesian saints (3:14-21): "I bow my knees unto the Father". There he was, alone with God, asking that they might be strengthened with power through His Spirit in the inward man; that they might have Christ dwelling in their hearts through faith; that they might apprehend the love of Christ that passes knowledge and be filled unto all the fulness of God. When we think about it, and compare our spiritual attainment with this prayer, we are amazed at our poverty and powerlessness. How can we be so poor when such spiritual riches can be ours? How little we seem to have grasped of the grace that is available to us in Christ! What poor witnesses we are to the excellencies of the One who has called us out of darkness into His marvellous light! Let us bow our knees to the Father in private prayer and supplication that He will grant to us also what Paul prayed for those Ephesian saints.

The sands of time are fast running out. The Master's coming draws near. Oh that God will grant us that "power and love and discipline" (2 Tim. 1:7) that was so manifest in His servant Paul, that prayer warrior! Manifest too in many others, and among them the little band of men and women, who with the children, knelt with Paul on the sands of Tyre that day. They lived at the beginning of this dispensation; we live at its end. What Jesus Christ was to them He can be to us also.

G. Jarvie, Glasgow | Apr 1971
The Life And Work Of Paul