We've been thinking about prayer, have we not?
The laws of prayer in the first study,
and then yesterday, prayers and ministry, the ministry
of intercession.
This morning, we're going to be thinking about
some of the great prayers of history.
The history, of course, sacred history.
As these prayers here in the Word are
found, and then we'll touch on one or
two or three beyond the pages of sacred
history as it is here in the Word.
Prayers that have made history.
Shall we just entitle this particular aspect of
our studies in this fashion?
There is such a thing.
We want to limit the Lord, we think,
yes, very well, for personal problems, problems of
the home, problems of the local church.
But there have been prayers that have made
history.
So I just hope as we consider them
this morning, we shall be encouraged to reach
out more boldly to distant lands, laying hold
of world situations and problems, international,
national.
Again, may I call your attention to Jeremiah
33.3. Call unto me and I will
answer thee, and show thee great and mighty
things.
Of course, when we say great and mighty
things, it's one thing, but when the Lord
says it, it's another.
Great and mighty things which thou knowest not.
We'll begin with Moses.
We've already spoken of that great prayer, but
we cannot go on without referring to it,
if it only be for a moment.
When the very life of the nation, not
yet a nation, the children of Israel had
gone forth from Egypt, but incipient nation, I
say, threatened because of that great sin, the
golden calf.
And Israel, led by Aaron, it would seem,
though he tried to excuse himself, went forth
dancing, singing about this idol.
Well, Moses tells us in Deuteronomy 9 that
the Lord said to him, let me destroy
this people.
There is such a thing as the wrath
of God, why we even read in Revelation
of the wrath of the Lamb.
We may not be able to understand, but
we know, even within our own experience, that
there is such a thing as a holy
indignation.
I've said that a man who can look
upon some atrocity would say some wicked man
abusing a child without feeling, experiencing holy indignation.
Well, we're just jellyfishes.
If that's true, there's a place for anger.
Doesn't the apostle say, be angry and sin
not?
Well, of course, only the Savior could do
that.
Pretty dangerous for me to be angry, you
know, but there is a place.
The Savior looked out upon these Pharisees and
he was angry because of the hardness of
their hearts.
And so the Lord said, let me destroy
this people.
And Moses said, no.
Isn't that wonderful?
Dare man do that?
Moses said, no.
Well, yes, when your object is the glory
of God and the good of souls, yes,
you may.
The Lord honors that.
Moses said, no.
And he went back up into the mountain
for 40 days and 40 nights.
Oh, this people, he said, Lord, has committed
a great sin.
Forgive.
If not, let me out of the book
which thou hast written.
Lord, what will they say in Egypt?
They won't understand, Lord.
They'll say you couldn't bring them in.
You were not able to do it.
Your name will not be glorified in Egypt.
And Moses tried.
I sought for a man among them, Ezekiel
2230, that should make up the hedge and
stand in the gap before me for the
land, that I should not destroy it, but
I found none.
Oh, there are mysteries here.
But here it is, brethren.
This should encourage us.
I sought for a man among them that
should make up the hedge and stand in
the gap before me for the land, a
nation, but I found none.
It costs to pray.
For if we're going to really pray like
Moses, we just have to put all on
the altar.
I wonder if I might digress here for
a moment.
I've been wanting to say this, but it
didn't seem to fit in at any point.
Perhaps at this point.
The story is told in quiet talks on
prayer by Gordon, of a dear lady in
Iowa, greatly burdened for her husband, off there
in Washington, a politician, member of Congress, not
a Christian.
And she agreed with a friend of hers,
a Christian lady, to pray, that they would
pray together until her husband was converted.
And Gordon said that in the night the
Lord spoke to her as they began to
pray together, will you accept the consequences?
Why, Lord, I'm asking for the conversion of
my husband.
Will you accept the consequences?
Was she close?
Yes, Lord.
Well, the next day, according to the story,
the husband sought a pastor in Washington and
asked what must I do to be saved
and was led to the Lord.
And then she understood.
He gave up politics and came home and
became a circuit rider in those days back
there.
Think of the hardships of this good wife
with her husband, village to village, circuit rider.
Then she understood what the Lord meant.
Will you abide by the consequences?
So the prayer really has to represent us,
really have to mean it, and Moses really
meant it.
Lord, if there's no forgiveness for this people,
blot my name out of your book.
And Moses triumphed.
And an incipient nation is forgiven.
Now we turn to another great prayer to
be found in the third psalm, David.
Moses, David, the greatest of the kings.
We sometimes wonder about David.
We see that he was indeed great, a
man after God's heart.
How good the Lord was to forgive him
his sin.
You will recall the story how Absalom conceived
iniquity.
He aspired to sit in his father's throne.
He would overthrow the king and step in
and sit upon the throne.
Seems to be a sort of type of
the evil one, doesn't he?
It seems he was very beautiful physically.
Ah, that hair.
The Scripture tells us all about it.
You will recall how he...
Now, I wasn't thinking of the dear ladies.
This was a man.
You will recall the clever way, the subtle
way in which he wrought, taking his place
at the gateways into Jerusalem to speak to
those who came to consult the king with
their grievances.
Ah, yes, if I were in the throne,
on the throne, I can see your causes
just, but who knows if I were there.
And so little by little he took over
until the hour came for the uprising and
the king fleed, cursed as he was.
On the way, you will recall Shammai who
cursed him.
Many there be would say of my soul
there is no help for him in God.
There's no way out of this, David.
You're licked.
Absalom marches in and sits on the throne
as the king flees.
But the king is a man of prayer.
Oh, he learned to pray as a boy
out tending the sheep with his harp.
The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not
want.
And then later, fleeing from cave to cave,
hiding from Saul, jealous, infuriated Saul, he
learned to pray.
And now he cries unto the Lord.
Lord, how are they increased that trouble me?
Many are they that rise up against me.
Many there be would say of my soul
there is no help for him in God,
Selah.
But thou, Lord, art a shield for me.
My glory and the lifter up of mine
head.
I cried unto the Lord with my voice
and he heard me out of his holy
hill, Selah.
I laid me down and I awake for
the Lord to sustain me.
I will not be afraid of ten thousands
of people that have set themselves against me
round about.
Arise, O Lord, save me, O my God,
for thou hast smitten all mine enemies.
Upon the cheekbone thou hast broken the teeth
of the ungodly.
Salvation belongeth unto the Lord.
Thy blessing is upon thy people, Selah.
Well, it was settled up here before it
was settled down here.
Seems we have to get our victories up
here first, friend.
And now it's settled, having been settled up
here on the field of battle, I've always
felt there was something so significant in the
fact that this in which Absalom so gloried
should have been the means of his tragic
end.
Ah, that's fair.
There we have him hanging.
Yes, friends, it's very perilous for us to
glory in anything save the cross.
Paul said it.
You dare not glory in your denomination.
You dare not glory in your learning.
You dare not glory in your eloquence should
be.
You be eloquent.
You dare not glory in anything.
It becomes an idol.
Save in the Lord Jesus Christ.
So here again we have a prayer that
made history.
It was a whole nation that was in
the balance.
Now let us turn to, oh, they abound
here in the Scriptures, but we must choose.
Some of my dear friends here have heard
me speak on this theme, but I'm thinking
again of our dear brethren here, the missionary
candidates.
Oh, so much will depend upon whether or
not they have learned to pray.
You will recall that period
post-captivity,
after the captivity.
There had been a returning Cyrus
being in the hands of the Lord, the
instrument for the fulfilling of the prophecy, Jeremiah,
saying that it would be 70 years of
suffering for Israel, for Judah.
And then the people would again return, and
the temple rebuilt.
Of course, Israel's history had to be again
initiated.
The Messiah had not yet come.
And Daniel was permitted to see that.
You've read there in Daniel 10, 11, and
12, the Messiah cut off, and the weeks
of years, the things of which Daniel speaks.
I say here in the book of Ezra,
we have a great return to Jerusalem, the
heads of families, princes, and with it all
came a great problem for this priest, warrior,
leader, the desert lands infested with bandits through
which I was ashamed to require the king
a band of soldiers and horsemen.
That's beautiful, isn't it?
I was ashamed to require of the king
horsemen to help us against the enemy in
the way because we had spoken unto the
king, saying, The hand of our God is
upon all of them for good that seek
him.
He was just afraid that the Lord would
not be glorified in the eyes of the
king, that his conduct would cast a shadow.
I was ashamed.
I've often felt we're wanting in this kind
of shame, with a hasten to run to
the secondary, you know, get help here, get
help there, get help who knows where.
What does Ezra do?
Why, he calls for a prayer meeting.
Let's pray.
I proclaim the fast there at the river
of Ahava, that we might afflict ourselves before
our God to seek him.
Of him a right way for us and
for our little ones and for our substance.
Oh, those precious vessels, gold and silver, and
the result?
Did he make a mistake in not asking
for horsemen to protect the families?
Did he make a mistake?
Were they set upon by thieves, bandits in
the way?
Why, not a hair of their head.
As we read, beginning with verse 31, Then
we departed from the river of Ahava on
the twelfth day of the first month to
go unto Jerusalem.
And the hand of our God was upon
us, and he delivered us from the hand
of the enemy.
And of such a lay in wait by
the way.
And we came to Jerusalem and abode there
three days.
Ezra 8.31 Here again, here again, here
we have Israel getting underway.
The seventy years have passed.
Getting underway again.
For the Messiah must come.
Critical hour, wasn't it?
Why, they might have been decimated in the
way and taken off.
No.
He said that the hand of God was
upon them for good.
And now we turn to Daniel.
We had referred to Daniel.
Oh, this great man of prayer.
How these Jewish...
You know, this has been repeated again and
again in history.
Some great Jewish statesman at the side of
a king, a president, an emperor.
Well, Daniel, you know, it was first with
the Babylonian kings and then the Persian.
Babylon fell, but Daniel didn't fall.
And then with the Persian kings, Daniel is
exalted.
And he becomes the prime minister.
That great empire, the Persian you will recall,
that seemed to be bringing all the world
under its sway.
In Greece, no.
Thermopylae.
Greece never fell.
It pleased Darius to send over the kingdom
a hundred and twenty princes which should be
over the whole kingdom and over these three
presidents.
Over these three presidents of whom Daniel was
first.
That the princes might give accounts unto them
and the king should have no damage.
Then this Daniel, chapter 6 of the book
of Daniel, was preferred above the presidents and
princes because an excellent spirit was in him
and the king thought to send him over
the whole realm.
Makes us think of Joseph, doesn't it?
Makes us think of the Israeli.
Makes us think of that Jewish statesman who
was at the head.
The secretary of the treasury under FDR. Makes
us think of that great family in Britain,
Jewish.
So rich.
Ah, but of course this stirred up the
envy and jealousy, the politicians around the king.
What?
A Jew?
No.
This place is for one of us.
And then comes the plot, you will recall.
They come up on the king's blind side,
fanning his pride, requesting that he might decree
that no one should, for the period of
a month, was it not, ask a petition
of any god or man for thirty days,
save of thee, O king.
Well, the king falls from his throne.
He falls into the net.
Very dangerous thing to be flattered, isn't it?
And the decree is made and signed.
Wherefore, now when Daniel, verse 10, knew that
the writing was signed, he went into his
house and took down the blind.
Is that what your Bible says?
No, that's not Daniel.
That's not Daniel.
He might well have done so.
He might have been precautious and yet have
remained within the bounds of the word.
He might have said, I'll not worship this
idol, I'll go right on worshiping.
But there's no need of telling all the
world about it.
I'll just pull down the blind.
Well, that isn't Daniel.
Now when Daniel knew that the writing was
signed, he went into his house and his
window being opened and his chamber toward Jerusalem.
A good Jew would pray toward Jerusalem.
In the dispersion, he kneeled upon his knees
three times a day and prayed and gave
thanks before his God as he did aforetime.
And there are the politicians looking on.
And they run to the king.
Now they have Daniel.
And they have the king too.
The decree it read that should anyone disobey,
would be cast into the den of liars.
We read that the king does his best
to liberate Daniel to no avail.
The law of the nations Persian, which could
not change.
The king went to his palace and passed
the night fasting.
Neither were instruments of music brought before him
in his sleep went from him.
Then the king arose very early in the
morning and went in haste under the den
of liars.
And when he came to the den, he
cried with a lamentable voice unto Daniel.
And the king spake and said to Daniel,
O Daniel, servant of the living God, is
thy God whom thou servest continually able to
deliver thee from the lions?
Then said Daniel unto the king, O king,
live forever.
My God has sent his angel and has
shut the lions' mouths, that they have not
hurt me.
For as much as before him innocency was
found in me, and also before thee, O
king, have I done no hurt.
Please turn the tape over at this time.
Daniel is taken out and the politicians are
plunged in.
Then king Darius wrote unto all people, nations,
languages, that dwell in all the earth.
Peace be multiplied and make a decree that
every dominion of my kingdom, in every dominion,
men tremble in fear before the God of
Daniel.
For he is the living God and steadfast
forever.
And his kingdom, that which shall not be
destroyed.
And his dominion shall be even unto the
end.
He delivereth and rescueth, and he worketh signs
and wonders in heaven and in earth, who
hath delivered Daniel.
So this Daniel prospered in the reign of
prayer that shook nations.
I wonder if I might digress for a
moment and tell a story at this point.
It was told to me over in Japan
by one of the missionaries of the, of
Tim.
He gave me the name, I think the
name was Peterson, a fellow missionary of his
over in India.
He said out in the village where the
going was very hard, he could make no
progress.
Until one day someone came to him and
said, knocked at his door, there's a lion
out on the outskirts of the village, missionary,
you'll have to kill him.
Well, he realized he'd been put on the
spot.
So he accepted the challenge.
He got his gun, put in two shells,
and went with this gentleman, went out to
the outskirts of the village.
And the moment came when his guide said,
now you'll have to go alone.
I can go no farther.
And so he pressed forward towards the jungle.
And there he was, the lion, and he
raised his gun.
The shell was a dud.
And again he fired, the second shell was
a dud.
And the Lord spoke to him and said,
lay hold of the lion and cut off
his wind.
And he threw his arms around his neck.
The Lord gave him superhuman power.
And he cut off his wind.
He fell dead.
Then the Lord said, now you stay here.
I want all the glory to be for
you.
Through you, of course, for the Lord.
Because if you leave it, the natives will
come and claim the glory.
So though his back was bleeding, he remained.
And then they came from the village and
the lion was carried in.
This missionary told me that the fellow missionary
still has the lion's skin.
And then the village opened for the gospel.
Now, let us hasten on to the New
Testament.
Oh, we haven't exhausted what's found in the
old.
We really ought to pause to gaze upon
that scene in Gethsemane.
But no, ah yes, that was the greatest
prayer of all history.
For it was not a nation, but all
the nations and all the destiny of all
Trembled in the balance as the Savior cried
and said, Father, if it be possible, let
this come past.
Nevertheless, not by will, but thine be done.
He triumphed.
And so redemption came.
As he took the cup to all mankind.
I say here in the book of Acts,
this prayer, of course, we can't compare with
other prayers.
It was so very great.
Now I say we will for a moment
read and meditate upon what we find in
Acts 16.
I've always thought that it was a great
moment in the history of the world.
How is the gospel through Asia, from Asia?
No, Europe, the ambassadors of Christ to Europe,
to America, to South America.
Now it was Paul's resolve to go into
Asia.
And he tells us here in this chapter
that the Spirit forbade him.
The Spirit suffered him not.
No, Paul, it's not going to be Asia.
It's going to be Europe.
And the Lord spoke through that vision.
The Macedonian, the man from Macedonia, come over
and help us.
And Paul and his companions accept the challenge.
And here we have them marching toward Europe
and crossing over into Europe.
It was a critical moment in the history
of the world for as this ambassador of
Christ, the apostle Paul, goes.
Well, it seems like it roused the devil.
You shall not enter here.
And he mobilizes his forces.
And the blows begin to fall.
You will recall the story.
The one out of whom Paul cast the
demon.
The accusation before the magistrates.
And how Paul and Silas are beaten, scourged.
And how they are thrown into prison.
And how the magistrates order that it should
be the innermost prison.
And how at midnight, ah yes, with their
feet in the stocks and their backs bleeding
in that dank cell, the innermost, we read,
prison.
Well, here it is, at midnight, Paul and
Silas, what?
Is that the way your Bible reads?
If it had been for Teagle, that's the
way your Bible would have read.
Oh, I'm sure I'd have gotten out my
handkerchief.
Grumble, Silas, the Lord sure let us down
this time.
No, that, Silas, keep your hands off my
back, can't you see how it is?
That's not Paul.
At midnight, Paul and Silas prayed and sang.
You know, we said last night, when defeated
shall victory.
Well, that's what Paul's doing here.
That's what Paul's doing here.
Well, you might say, isn't that rather ridiculous?
He'd better be a realist.
Well, he's a realist.
He's a realist.
He sees beyond circumstances.
As we said last night, his position hasn't
changed.
He's still reigning with Christ.
Still seated in heavenly places with his Redeemer.
He sang praises unto God.
Well, the Lord has permitted this.
Silas, why do you turn it all to
good?
You watch.
All things work together for good.
Silas, there's something great in store.
It's just around the corner.
Let's sing.
And the prisoners heard that.
And suddenly there was a great earthquake, so
that the foundations of the prison were shaken,
and immediately all the doors were opened, and
every man's back.
And the keeper of the prison, awaking out
of his sleep, and seeing the prison doors
open, he drew his sword and would have
killed himself, supposing that all the prisoners.
But Paul cried with a loud voice, saying,
Do thyself no harm.
Paul looking after this one who had done
him harm.
Do thyself no harm, for we are all
here.
Then he called for a light, and sprang
in, and came trembling, and fell down before
Paul and Silas, and brought them out, and
said, Sirs, what must I do to be
saved?
And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus
Christ, and thou shalt be saved in thy
house.
And they spake unto him the word of
the Lord, and to all that were in
his house.
And he took them the same hour of
the night, and washed their stripes, and was
baptized.
He in all his straight way.
Now we have Paul marching into your triumph.
You know, I love this defiant attitude he
assumes at the close of the chapter there.
It makes you think of Daniel.
The keeper of the prison told to, we
must read the 35th, and when it was
day, the magistrate sent the sergeant saying, Let
those men go.
And the keeper of the prison told this
thing to Paul.
The magistrates have sent unto them, they have
beaten us openly, uncondemned, being Romans.
I think there is a place for this
sort of thing.
Yes, and I don't think humble
men can be.
Think of Sergeant George.
You know the story.
He felt he couldn't go to war.
You know the story.
Oh, I'm a Christian.
I can't go to war.
But he spent a day in the mountains
alone, in his Bible.
The Lord told him to go to war.
Then he went.
He became the outstanding hero of World War
I.
Why, it looked like he was going to
take the whole German army.
Cleaned up these pillboxes, whatever they called them,
you know.
Brought in, how many were there?
Not only according to Americans, but according to
generals.
He spent a day alone in the mountains
with God.
Shall I go to war, Lord?
Now, there may be some pacifists here.
And we're not going to quarrel.
There's a place for that too.
I think some, perhaps, the Lord said, no,
you're not going to war.
We're not going to quarrel.
No, humility doesn't clash with courage.
And valor.
In the right way, in the right moment.
Let them come out, these, why, we're Roman
citizens, and uncondemned they cast us into prison.
And they came, and we sought them, and
brought them out, please, please.
Look at them.
And they went out of the prison, and
entered into the house of Lydian, and when
they had seen the brethren, they took their
time about it.
They comforted them, and departed.
Now, perhaps you're thinking very well, that these
things don't happen today.
Yes, they do.
You know, prayers are still making history.
And I'm so glad that I can talk
to you about this matter this morning.
For it's such a critical hour in the
history of America.
Prayers are still making history.
Some of you heard me tell about what
happened over in Jerusalem in the days of
World War I.
Wait a minute.
World War I?
Yes.
In the days of World War I, you'll
recall Turkey was allied, at that time, with
Germany.
The Holy Land under the heel of the
Turks.
Well, great wars were fought over that.
Oh my, a whole century.
Europe convulsed.
Crusades, even children.
Nothing permanent.
The hour hadn't come.
General Allenby, down there in Egypt, of the
British forces, was ordered to take Jerusalem.
This was a critical hour in the history
of the world.
Jerusalem, Israel, is still the framework of history.
And Allenby and his forces marched northward to
take Jerusalem.
And when Allenby came to the gates of
Jerusalem, he trembled.
He was a Christian.
I cannot bomb the Holy City?
What shall I do?
The Christian and the soldier.
And he called together the members of his
staff, fellow officers, laid before them the problem.
What shall we do?
Will you pray with me, the General said,
for the Lord to intervene?
Yes, General.
And so we have General Allenby and the
members of his staff on their knees in
his tent, calling on the Lord.
And the next day, the civilian walked out
of Jerusalem with a white flag in the
city.
A great hour in history.
Just before you know how things began to
change from that hour for this ancient people
of God, British Mandate, World War II, Hitler's
hate for the Jews, and we have them
fleeing by the thousands to the Holy Land.
And you know the result.
Israel again a nation after twenty centuries.
Again a nation.
And the Savior had said to Israel, Jerusalem
shall be throtten under foot.
Yes, yes, yes.
Until the times of the Gentile people.
Yes.
Prayer still makes history.
Prayer still changes the very course of history.
For there's nothing impossible with the Lord.
I want to say this before I close.
It isn't the prayer and all.
It's the prayer hearing God.
It's not the sole force of prayer.
No.
I loathe that kind of a heresy.
It's the glory of Almighty God who has
given His promises, who says, call unto me
and I will answer you.
There's where the greatness of prayer is found.
In Him and Him alone.
I wonder if I might tell that story
again.
There's a book out that God was a
Dunkirk.
Indeed He was.
Never was there a darker hour in the
history of the world.
For if Britain had fallen, if Hitler had,
ah yes, but he'd gone as far as
the Lord was going to permit him to
go, subjugating the nations, this demon-possessed soldier,
God was at Dunkirk.
You'll recall the Maginot Line had fallen in
France and the British
forces, 300,000, were fleeing to the Channel
and Hitler was laughing.
I've got them.
What could they do, 300,000 British soldiers,
once they reached the Channel?
And behind them the old Wehrmacht and then
the King.
George V?
George, was it George V?
And then the King, a decree calling upon
the peoples of Great Britain, the world over,
for a day of prayer.
I had the privilege of joining in Mexico
City British citizens in the Anglican church that
day I remember the dear brother who led
them to Peasland, gone home to be with
the Lord.
Were those prayers answered?
Ah, Fred, you know what happened.
Over the German line, such a storm, not
a plane could take off, not a soldier
could move, such a storm bogging down the
entire Wehrmacht.
And on the British side, why they never
saw the Channel, it was like glass, so
calm and all day long ships, even women
with little boats crossing the Channel and rescuing
British Tommies.
Two hundred and ninety thousand saved.
And it appeared in a little magazine published
by the officers, Christian officers of the British
forces that so clear was the manifestation of
God, so clearly was it His hand that
British soldiers formed prayer circles to praise His
name.
Was God at Dunkirk?
Why, friends, at Dunkirk the whole Nazi movement
was hot.
Then things began to change, you know.
Yes, God was at Dunkirk and He laid
bare His holy arm and Hitler had to
bite the dust.
To kill your thing to come from the
lips of one whose ancestors were Germans.
But you know, when you belong to Christ,
you are liberated from national points of view
and you take God's point of view.
Yes, God was at Dunkirk and prayers do
make history and prayer can determine the course
of a nation.
Oh, may the Lord teach us to pray,
to be more bold.
Ah, yes, we need light, we need understanding.
We need to be taught of the Holy
Spirit.
Oh, may the Lord teach us to pray
for these coming days.
Ah, we know not.
Oh, gracious Father, we're so thankful for Thou
art a prayer-hearing God, covenant-keeping God.
Thy promises are sure.
The Lord Jesus Christ, our great high priest,
is at Thy right hand and He ever
liveth to make intercession for the saints.
How wonderful, Father, to realize that He ever
liveth to make intercession.
And now, Father, teach us to pray.
Bring us deep into the Savior's wounded side
that we may share the burdens of our
great high priest, who ever liveth to make
intercession for the saints.
Oh, Father, teach us to pray.
We ask it humbly through Christ our Savior
and Lord.
Amen.