There is one word associated with our prayer life that we Christians need to remove from our vocabulary. It’s the one word that flies in the face of the prayers we are placing before the Lord.
One of the best books I have read on prayer was the autobiography of George Muller. Muller was an evangelist in the 1800’s who started the Ashley Down orphanage in Bristol, England, which cared for over 10,000 orphans. He was a most remarkable and simple man who was strong in faith. Not once did he ever ask for money, disclose to anyone the amount of money he needed, discuss any financial needs, or ask any man for anything. And his orphanage and orphans never wanted for anything. Every prayer he lifted up was answered… I went to my God and prayed diligently, and received what I needed.
You might remember my update on the word “importunate.” George Muller was the epitome of a man who understood importunate prayer. He always confidently claimed that God had guided him throughout it all. And that’s the key! He prayed according to the Word of God and in so doing he was able to stand confidently in knowing that God not only heard his prayers but that He would answer them. For George Muller there was no room for “if” in his prayers!
Far too often Christians set their prayers before the Lord and include the insidious “if it be your will Lord.” There is no place for “if” in our prayers. There is no excuse for us not knowing the Lord’s will and praying accordingly. We have looked at that issue in several of our last updates and God has made it very clear in His Word just how we are to pray. His Word is replete with promises that He not only hears our prayers, but that He “will” answer them. But the onus is on us to know His Word and pray accordingly. And nowhere in His Word is the word “if” associated with God’s will, but “I will” is.
Ps 91:15 He shall call upon me, and I will answer him: I will be with him in trouble; I will deliver him, and honor him.
John 14:13-14 And whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. 14 If ye shall ask any thing in my name, I will do it.
George Finney certainly understood that:
To put an “if” in God’s promise when God has put none there, is tantamount to charging God with being insincere. It is like saying, O’ God, if thou art in earnest in making these promises, grant us the blessing we pray for.”
The bottom line… it is our responsibility to understand what the Lord has told us and promised us about prayer in His Word. Without that understanding we will constantly undermine our faith with that insidious word, whether we utter it or not. If it’s in the back of our mind it will force its way right in front of our faith.
How can we stand strong in faith without standing strong on God’s promises? How can we stand on God’s promises if we don’t know His Word? How can we pray diligently without confidence in our prayers? We can’t! Read George Muller’s life story and you will not only be encouraged, you will be challenged to change your prayer life and delete the insidious “if” from it… I went to my God and prayed diligently, and received what I needed.