Is anything greater than praying? Is prayer not the master key that opens all doors? the omnipotence that moves all mountains? Why do we not have revivals in our churches? Is it not because we do not pray? Why is our land oppressed? Why do the wicked rule us? Is it not because we do not pray?
The answer would seem to be evident, that prayer is the only missing ingredient from our individual and collective lives, the one factor responsible for our many woes. But a reading of 2 Chronicles 7:14 seems to reveal otherwise; it seems to indicate that sometimes we have put too much emphasis on prayer to the neglect of other factors on which successful prayer itself depends.
If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land (2 Chronicles 7:14).
Before prayers, a man has to ensure that he is a person of God; that he belongs to God; that he knows, and God knows, that he is God’s. Next, he has to be one called by the name of God. A name is what people call you. This then refers to two aspects of a person’s character: (1) Does God claim him as His? (2) Do people also know him as God’s? Do they know him enough as God’s to so address him? The two parts, then, refer essentially to the character of the one who can pray to bring results down not only for himself but also for his community.
As creatures of God, everyone, just and unjust, is entittled some general blessings such as rainfall and sunshine from the Father in heaven (Matthew 5:45). But when it comes to praying for the land, not everyone is qualified.
Anybody may ask some blessing for himself as an individual, and receive it from God. But when it comes to standing in the gap for a land, one needs more than the general rights which entitle everyone to God’s general blessings. One needs both to be God’s person, as well as be called by God’s name.
In Matthew 16:13-17, Jesus did something that seemed to stress the importance of the kind of name one earns in society. During His baptism in River Jordan, Jesus heard the voice of God saying, "This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased" (Matthew 3:17). In other words, God was testifying to everyone that Jesus was His. That is, that Jesus qualified as one of those He would imply by the term "my people." So, He belonged to God, and God belonged to Him. Yet that witness alone was not sufficient for Him. Jesus also wanted to confirm the second aspect of 2 Chronicles 7:14 - the name by which men called Him. In Matthew 16:13-17, therefore, Jesus asked His disciples two questions.
Firstly, He asked, "Who do men say that I am ?" In other words, "By what name do they call me in this community?" They replied, "Some say You are Elias, others say You are Jeremiah. Some see You as John the Baptist." In other words, "Some call You Elijah, some call You Jeremiah, others see You as one of the prophets. They all see You in a proper light and they class You only among the best." Then He went further to ask the disciples what they thought He was. Peter called Him by His true name: the Christ, the Son of the living God.
God had initially said in Jordan: "You are mine." But that was not enough for Jesus. He also wanted to ensure the `Part B’ of the pre-conditions stated in 2 Chronicles 7:14. He asked if He was called by God’s name, or if He was known by a bad name whereas He thought He was a good man.
We can go further to infer from 2 Chronicles 7:14 that the people who are called by God’s name still have to do something more before they can start to pray revival down upon their land. They will have to humble themselves to pray. They cannot pray in pride. A proud people do not qualify to pray the kind of prayer that can bring healing down upon their land. That further stresses the fact of character for the one who may pray the kind of prayer that can bring down results to his land.
The kind of life you live is very important to the kind of prayers you can pray...
Why does the Bible say in James 5:16 that the "prayer of a righteous man" - righteous man specified - "availeth much"? It is not just prayer that avails much. The quality of life of the one who prays is also a factor in how potent or otherwise the prayer can be. David states in Psalm 66:18: "If I regard iniquity in my heart, the LORD will not hear me." What was he saying? He meant clearly that if he should go to pray, with sin in his heart, no matter how fervent his prayer would be, the Lord would not hear him. In other words, it is possible to pray, while having sin in the heart. He states that the prayer of such a person will not be answered. The person may have a consistent and rigorous prayer life of about three hours every day, yet he would not have results commensurate with his input. He might say the right words, yet not be answered. Another who has no sin in his heart might say the same words, and get results. It means, then, that it is not just the words God answers in prayer. It means that the life of the one who speaks the words is also very important.
In Matthew 6:7, Jesus further reveals that it is not our words that attract God’s attention. We are not heard for our "much speaking." "Much speaking" is the pattern of prayer for the heathens; but the fact that they speak more words (which also implies that they spend a longer time in prayer) does not mean that their prayers are effective. Why? They are heathens. They have iniquity in them. They pray more, but they lack the other very important factor of "righteousness" which makes prayer to avail much.
Prays so much but is not righteous. Luke 18:9-14 indicates that also. Two men went into the temple each to hold a prayer meeting. The first was not a righteous man, but he had been doing many righteous works, such as giving alms, fasting, paying tithes, and generally living a moral life that was better than many other men lived. He presented those works of his as his certificate, as the reason why God had to answer him. The other man had no such credentials as fasting or good works to cite. He acknowledged his sins before God. We are informed in the end that the proud man, who did not humble himself to pray, went home with his problems, whereas the shorter prayer of the other man, even without the decorations of regular fasting, giving of alms, a moral life, etc, had a greater result.
The kind of life you live is very important to the kind of prayers you can pray, whether effective or not. It is not so much your words God answers in prayer, but your life also. Prayer is important. Let us emphasize it as much as we can. But the reason why we do not yet have a revival in our nation, in our churches, in our individual lives, might not be so much the absence of prayer as it is the absence of holy living. For prayers, we pray a lot. Prayer vigils, prayer conferences, fasting retreats, etc. Hardly any day passes without a person praying at least one minute for the land or his church. Multiply over 2 million Christians in the nation by that amount of prayer... or let us even take a very conservative figure of 1,000. Multiply 1,000 Christians praying at least 1 minute a day for the land, that makes over 16 hours of prayer. That is longer than the prayer meetings that we usually hold. I wonder how many single prayer meetings, prayer vigils, or prayer conferences have had a prayer meeting so long. Now let us do the same computation for any church. Multiply at least 50 Christians in the church by 2 minutes of prayer daily, that comes to 100 minutes, which is 1 hour, 40 minutes of prayer for the church daily, which is a lot of prayer time. So, it is obvious that a lot of prayer is being prayed. Why then is there no result? The answer is what we are here discussing - a discrepancy between the volume of words we speak in prayer, and the quality of the lives of the people who pray the prayers.
We need to pray, but saying prayers is not all upon which the welfare of our nation or church depends. It also depends on the intensities of our holy lives. Amen.
From: The Preacher’s diary
