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                Prayer
                                —conversation
                           WITH GOD

by Rev. Billy Graham

Have you ever said, “Well, all we can do now is pray”?

SOMETIMES, INSTEAD OF BEGINNING WITH PRAYER, WE RESORT TO IT AFTER ALL OUR OTHER RESOURCES HAVE BEEN USED. WHEN WE COME TO THE END OF OURSELVES, WE COME TO THE BEGINNING OF GOD. WE DON'T NEED TO BE EMBARRASSED THAT WE ARE NEEDY. GOD DOESN'T DEMAND THAT WE PRAY WITH ELOQUENCE OR IN KING JAMES ENGLISH. OUR FEEBLE, STUMBLING PRAYERS ARE HEARD BY GOD. A CRY, A SIGH, A “HELP!” ARE PRAYERS, ACCORDING TO THE BIBLE.

Prayer is for every moment of our lives, not just for times of suffering or joy. Prayer is a place, a place where you meet God in genuine conversation.

Frank C. Laubach, a missionary, said, (1) “Prayer at its highest is a two–way conversation” and stated that listening to God's replies is the important part.

OUR PRAYER MODEL

Jesus is the supreme model of a person devoted to prayer. He was constantly in an attitude of prayer, and never more urgently than when in the face of suffering. An amazing thing in Scripture is how much time Jesus spent in prayer. He had only three years of public ministry, but He was never too hurried to spend hours in prayer. He prayed before difficult tasks and crises in His ministry. No day began or closed in which He was not in communion with His Father. He prayed long and often. He prayed briefly when He was in a crowd; He prayed a little longer when He was with His disciples; He prayed all night when He was alone.

We pray so haphazardly. Snatches of memorized verse spoken hastily in the morning. Then we say good–bye to God for the rest of the day. At night we push through a few sleepy petitions. That is not the example of prayer that Jesus gave.

The Scriptures say, ”Pray without ceasing.“ This should be the motto of every true follower of Jesus. No matter how dark and hopeless a situation might seem, never stop praying. For us, prayer should not be merely an act, it should be an attitude of life.

Do we pray for God's will? Or do we demand our own way? Prayer needs to be an integral part of our lives, so that when a crises comes we have the strength and the faith to pray for God's will.

PATTERN FOR PRAYER

Jesus frequently prayed alone, separating Himself from every earthly distraction. We need to have a place—a room or corner in our home or yard or garden—where we can regularly meet God alone. This does not contradict the admonition to (2) “pray without ceasing,” but rather it expands it.

Jesus prayed with great earnestness. At Gethsemane, in the earnestness of His praying, He agonized with God until His sweat became like (3) “drops of blood.” The force of His prayers was increased during times of extreme suffering.

When we know someone in need, pray. When we know someone in pain, pray. The story is told of a missionary and his family who were camped outside on a hill. They had money with them and feared an attack by roving thieves. After they prayed, they went to sleep. Months later an injured man was brought to the mission hospital. He asked the missionary if soldiers were guarding him and his family that night. “We intended to rob you,” the man said, “but we were afraid of the 27 soldiers.”

According to the story, the missionary, when he was back in his homeland, related this story. A member of his church told him, “That night we had a prayer meeting. There were 27 of us praying.” Prayers have no boundaries.

Selfishness is part of human nature, but today self-centeredness has been raised to state–of–the–art levels. But Jesus said that we are to pray not only for ourselves but also even (4) “for those who persecute you.”

WE are to forgive our enemies and plead for them, asking God to lead them to Christ. Persecution whether it is physical, social, or mental, is one of the worst types of pain, but those who persecute us are to be the objects of our prayers. Jesus, in words uttered from the cross, said, (5) “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.”

Christian teachers through the ages have urged the importance of prayer in the lives of believers. One wise man said, “If Christians spent as much time praying as they do grumbling, they would soon have nothing to grumble about.”

THE POWER OF PRAYER

Few of us have learned how to develop the power of prayer. We have not yet learned that a person has more strength when he is at prayer than when he is in control of the most powerful military weapons ever developed.

Effective prayer is offered in faith. From one end of the Bible to the other, we find the record of people whose prayers have been answered—people who prayed fervently and whom God answered.

Prayer is more than a wish; it is the voice of faith directed to God. One of my favorite verses is: (6) “If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him. But when he asks, he must believe and not doubt, because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind.”

Jesus said, (7) “I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.” I have heard many stories of prayers being answered for a loved one miles away, and Bible teaching, church history, and Christian experience all confirm that prayer does work.

CREATIVE SILENCE

It is reported that during World War II, R. G. LeTourneau, an industrialist, received an order from the government to build a complicated machine for lifting airplanes. No machine of this type had yet been designed, and LeTourneau and his engineers could not come up with a plan. After some time everyone was becoming tense.

Finally, on a Wednesday evening, LeTourneau told his staff that he was not going to continue to work but was going to a prayer meeting. He said, “ I've got a deadline with God.”

He went to the prayer meeting, sang hymns and prayed. Afterward, as he was walking home, the design of the machine in complete detail came into his mind. He needed time with God and creative silence to bring the design to the surface.

Sometimes we try so hard to solve the problems of our health, our children, our businesses, our future, that we become agitated or depressed: (8) ”Be still, and know that I am God“

PRAYER IS A PLACE IN YOUR HEART

Prayer is a place we need to spend time if we are to learn its power. A minister I knew gradually lost his faith. In a world of suffering he could no longer feel the presence of God in his life. He had spent his life studying and pursuing an understanding of God, and now he had only a sense of betrayal and emptiness. His prayers seemed to bounce off an invisible barrier.

The man expressed his anguish to an old friend whom he had known since childhood. He told his friend that he thought he knew what Moses would have felt like if the burning bush had stopped burning and had gone up in a puff of smoke. He said that for him there was no more burning bush or the sense of God's presence in his life.

His friend, a rancher, confided that often he too felt that way. “But,” he said, “I realized a while back that the burning bush is always there, it's always burning. But I hadn't been spending much time in that part of the pasture.”

Prayer is “that part of the pasture” where the bush is burning. If we are to be powerful in prayer, we must spend time in the pasture.

Prayer is not just for emergencies. Prayer is a place in the heart. Prayer is a way of life.

You have just read Mr. Graham's message on prayer. If you want to have close communication with God and you need Jesus in your heart as Savior, pray the following prayer:

“O God, I am a sinner, I am sorry for my sin. I am willing to turn from my sin. I receive Jesus as my Savior; I confess Him as my Lord. From now on I want to follow Him in the fellowship of His Church. In Jesus' name. Amen”

If you responded to this sermon and prayer to accept Jesus as your Savior, please contact The Billy Graham Evangelistic Association to receive information to help you by following the instructions below. Do it today!

Write to The Billy Graham Association at: Christian Guidance Department, Billy Graham Evangelistic Association, P.O. Box 779, Minneapolis, Minnesota 55440-0779, USA Send e–mail to: help@bgea.org. Visit Web site at: www.billygraham.org. Telephone the Response Center toll–free between 7:00a.m. and 7:00p.m. Central Time, Monday through Friday: 1–877–247–2426.

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