Prayer

8 April 2018

Dear Phyllis,

There are so many things on my heart it is hard to know what the Lord would have us consider today. As I was praying the other morning the subject of what moves God came to my heart.

Prayer has long been a major subject for me and I have come to some unusual convictions about prayer. The phrase “prayer changes things” is almost universally accepted as a fact. Most people think if you only prayer hard enough about something you can get it. May I say flat out that ain't true. To start with is the will of God. If what you want is not the will of God you can pray 'til the cows come home and still come up empty. No one ever prayed more for their family than I did for mine and I lost everything. And I thank God for it. He had something better in mind for me. It is dangerous to lust too intensely for something. You might get it (Ps. 106:14,15); and that could prove deadly. Sometimes it is the mercy of God not to give us what we crave for.

But the phrase “prayer changes things” strikes me as odd. Jesus told us the story about the poor widow who hounded the unjust judge until she got what she was after (Lk. 18:1-8).There certainly is such a thing as persistence in prayer and Jesus taught this story that we should pray and not faint. It has been suggested that the alternative to prayer is fainting. If you don't pray you will faint – and who wants that? But many still feel that their dilemma a is similar to hers and if they just stay with it long enough they can move God's hand to help them. They say prayer can move mountains. I don't think so. I would rather think Jesus can move mountains and Jesus doesn't have to be worn into submission. I believe church history and eternity will reveal that there have been thousands of hours of unanswered prayer because it was prayer amiss (Jm. 4:3). Perhaps one of the purposes Jesus had in telling this story was to demonstrate the intensity of the widows persistence rather than to teach prayer can wear away problems like water on rock.

I am somewhat at a loss to know what verb to use, but one that comes close is intensity. Jesus said that the kingdom had suffered violence and the violent took it by force (Mt. 11:12). Battering rams are not going to break down the gate to heaven but violence may open them. Violence is a very intense action.

The first year I was the director of the language school I faced a serious problem. Mrs. Tanaka was a very popular teacher. She was also a wonderful Christian but I knew she was also weak to pressure. When her mother died I knew she was facing a serious problem about bowing before idols and offering things to spirits. This is one of the most serious problems in Christianity in Japan. It is the rare Christian who won't compromise at funerals and for those who do they face terrific social pressure. I knew Mrs. Tanaka was not the kind of person who would defiantly take a stand; and if she compromised, what was my position? I said if it was adultery she would be fired on the spot, and to me, bowing before an idol was as serious as adultery. Therefore I settled in my mind that if she bowed she is finished. I also knew that few missionaries and pastors feel as strongly as I do on that subject and the language committee would not support me in my hard-line position. For several days I wrestled with this issue in my mind but came to the adamant position that if she bowed I would fire her and resign as director of the language school. Right or wrong was academic, but it was a life or death issue with me.

The day before the mothers funeral we had a terrific snow storm in Karuizawa. Mrs. Tanaka struggled to wade through two feet of snow to come to school. When she got there she had a serious heart attack. The next day, when I visited her in the hospital, she looked up at me and said, “Cook sensei, today is the day of my mothers funeral”. I looked at her and replied, “Yes, I know, and that is the reason you are here”. The Lord thought enough of both Mrs. Tanaka and me to keep us from that funeral crisis and laid her on her back to save the language school. Few Christians in Japan are as serious about compromise as I am but because I was very intense in my conviction the Lord saved me.

In the gospels the people who stand out the most as those who were the most desperate. One was Jairus (Mk. 5:22-43). His daughter was lying at deaths door step. She actually died. He fell down at Jesus feet crying, “Lord help me. Please come”. Another one was the woman of Tyre (Mk. 7:24-30). She is my favorite woman in the gospels. She raise such a commotion that the disciples pleaded with Jesus to send her away. At first Jesus ignored her, then He said, “I'm sorry, lady, but I am only sent to Israel and it isn't right to take the children's bread and give it to dogs”. That has got to be the coarsest, rudest, remark in the Bible, but the reason Jesus said it was to bring out the incredible character that He knew was in her heart. She came right back and said, “True Lord, but the dogs eat the crumbs under the table”. That was one of the pinnacle moments in the life of Christ. She took the breath away from Jesus, and He remarked, “Oh woman, great is thy faith!”. Of all the people Jesus met in the gospels she is probably the gold medalist. She was one of the most intense.

Another hero is blind Bartimaeus (Mk. 1o:46-52). When he heard Jesus was passing by he made such a fuss that people rebuked him. When he heard that Jesus had heard him and was calling for him he threw down his garment and rushed to Jesus. That garment was the only worldly possession he had, but – “Hang the garment, let me get to Jesus”. In all three cases these are very intense people.

Tozer said, “If God ever answered 5% of 90% of the prayer that is offered in the average Christian church in America on any given Sunday morning, that would startle everyone so much it would empty the church. And no one thinks this is odd.” Half-hearted prayer is no prayer at all. If the heart is not really in it, is it reasonable to expect that will move God's hand? But one of the things that will bring down the blessing of God is a fierce request from a burning heart.

The other morning one of the teachers from the training course that Pammy just finished came to see me. I asked him how he got saved. The thing that impressed me the most about this brother was the intensity of the man – both before and after he was saved. Before he was saved he was a successful business and made a lot of money. When his life stated to come unglued he went into Buddhism with such commitment that he told his wife he was going to be a monk and live in a temple. His conversion was wild. He was going out to commit suicide and wound up in a church not knowing why he was there. He cried uncontrollably for two days and the second night Jesus saved him. When Jesus spoke to him and came into his heart his response was like everything else in his life. He was 40 years old, he quit everything and went to Bible school with his family. Today he is one of the top men of God in Chiang Mai. The spirit of the man just radiates heat wherever he goes.

There is no record of the Spirit of God coming on anyone and they fall asleep. It can be safely said that if anyone is truly filled with the Spirit of God there is life and that life is characterized by intensity. The opposite of intense is rosy. I don't want to serve the Lord like I am half asleep.

Oh Lord, fill us with fire and so wake us to trim our lamps that they will be casting full light when You come back. Lord fill us with Your Spirit and give us intensity to run our race.

Onegai shimasu (I request), bill