PUBLIC-DOMAIN CHRISTIAN BOOK
The Ministry of Intercession: A Plea for More Prayer
Murray, Andrew, 1828-1917 · 55,421 words · 138 reading sections
Part 1
Produced by Heiko Evermann, Nigel Blower and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from images generously made available by The Internet Archive/Canadian Libraries)…
32 wordsSECTION 2AUTHOR OF "THE HOLIEST OF ALL" "ABIDE IN CHRIST" "WAITING ON GOD" "THE LORD'S TABLE" ETC. ETC.
"I have set watchmen upon thy walls, O Jerusalem, which shall never hold their peace day nor night: ye that are the Lord's remembrancers, keep not silence, and give Him no rest, till He establish, and till He make Jerusalem a praise in the earth." ISA. lxii. 6, 7.…
49 wordsSECTION 3_THIRD EDITION_
London JAMES NISBET & CO. LIMITED 21 BERNERS STREET, W. 1898…
10 wordsSECTION 4TO MY BRETHREN IN THE MINISTRY AND OTHER FELLOW-LABOURERS IN THE GOSPEL
WHOM IT WAS MY PRIVILEGE TO MEET IN THE CONVENTIONS AT LANGLAAGTE, JOHANNESBURG, AND HEILBRON DURBAN AND PIETERMARITZBURG KING WILLIAM'S TOWN, PORT ELIZABETH AND STELLENBOSCH…
25 wordsSECTION 5THE MINISTRY OF INTERCESSION
There is no holy service But hath its secret bliss: Yet, of all blessèd ministries, Is one so dear as this? The ministry that cannot be A wondering seraph's dower, Enduing mortal weakness With more than angel-power; The ministry of purest love Uncrossed by any fear, That bids us meet At the Master's feet And keeps us …
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And evermore the Father Sends radiantly down All-marvellous responses, His ministers to crown; The incense-cloud returning As golden blessing-showers, We in each drop discerning Some feeble prayer of ours, Transmuted into wealth unpriced, By Him who giveth thus The glory all to Jesus Christ, The gladness all to us!…
49 wordsSECTION 7F. R. HAVERGAL.
_September_ 1877.…
2 wordsSECTION 8INTRODUCTION
I have been asked by a friend, who heard of this book being published, what the difference would be between it and the previous one on the same subject, WITH CHRIST IN THE SCHOOL OF PRAYER. An answer to that question may be the best introduction I can give to the present volume. Any acceptance the former work has had …
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The one is--that Christ actually meant prayer to be the great power by which His Church should do its work, and that the neglect of prayer is the great reason the Church has not greater power over the masses in Christian and in heathen countries. In the first chapter I have stated how my convictions in regard to this h…
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We have heard a great deal of systematic Bible study, and we praise God for thousands on thousands of Bible classes and Bible readings. Let all the leaders of such classes see whether they could not open prayer classes--helping their students to pray in secret, and training them to be, above everything, men of prayer. …
306 wordsSECTION 11ANDREW MURRAY.
WELLINGTON, _1st September 1897_.…
4 wordsSECTION 12CHAPTER I
The Lack of Prayer "Ye have not, because ye ask not."--JAS. iv. 2. "And He saw that there was no man, and wondered that there was no intercessor."--ISA. lix. 16. "There is none that calleth upon Thy name, that stirreth up himself to take hold of Thee."--ISA. lxiv. 7. At our last Wellington Convention for the Deepen…
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We all know the difference between a man whose profits are just enough to maintain his family and keep up his business, and another whose income enables him to extend the business and to help others. There may be an earnest Christian life in which there is prayer enough to keep us from going back, and just maintain the…
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And what is now the way by which our sense of the lack of prayer can be made the means of blessing, the entrance on a path in which the evil may be conquered? How can our intercourse with the Father, in continual prayer and intercession, become what it ought to be, if we and the world around us are to be blessed? As it…
619 wordsSECTION 15CHAPTER II
The Ministration of the Spirit and Prayer "If ye, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children; how much more shall your Heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask Him?"--LUKE xi. 13. Christ had just said (v. 9), "Ask, and it shall be given": God's giving is inseparably connected with our askin…
697 wordsSECTION 16Part 16
Go on to the sixth chapter. There we find that, when murmurings arose as to the neglect of the Grecian Jews in the distribution of alms, the apostles proposed the appointment of deacons to serve the tables. "We," they said, "will give ourselves to prayer and the ministry of the word." It is often said, and rightly said…
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Our next reference will show us faith in the power that the Church's prayer has with its glorified King, as it is found, not only in the apostles, but in the Christian community. In chapter xii. we have the story of Peter in prison on the eve of execution. The death of James had aroused the Church to a sense of real da…
845 wordsSECTION 18CHAPTER III
A Model of Intercession "And he said unto them, Which of you shall have a friend, and shall go unto him at midnight, and shall say unto him, Friend, lend me three loaves; for a friend of mine is come unto me from a journey, and I have nothing to set before him; and he from within shall answer and say, Trouble me not: …
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It is the love of a mother to her prodigal son that makes her pray for him. True love to souls will become in us the spirit of intercession. It is possible to do a great deal of faithful, earnest work for our fellowmen without true love to them. Just as a lawyer or a physician, from a love of his profession and a high …
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This is the central lesson of the parable. In our intercession we may find that there is difficulty and delay with the answer. It may be as if God says, "I cannot give thee." It is not easy, against all appearances, to hold fast our confidence that He will hear, and to persevere in full assurance that we shall have wha…
772 wordsSECTION 21CHAPTER IV
Because of His Importunity "I say unto you, Though he will not rise and give him, because he is his friend, yet _because of his importunity_ he will arise and give him as many as he needeth."--LUKE xi. 8. "And He spake a parable unto them, to the end, they ought always to pray and not to faint.... Hear what the unrig…
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It is even so in our intercourse with God. Just imagine what the result would be if the child of God had only to kneel down and ask, and get, and go away. What unspeakable loss to the spiritual life would ensue. It is in the difficulty and delay that calls for persevering prayer, that the true blessing and blessedness …
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Think of Moses when Israel had made the golden calf. Moses returned to the Lord and said, "Oh, this people have sinned a great sin. Yet now, if Thou wilt forgive their sin--; and if not, blot me, I pray Thee, out of Thy book which Thou hast written." That was importunity, that would rather die than not have his people …
844 wordsSECTION 24CHAPTER V
The Life that can Pray "_If ye abide in Me, and My words abide in you_, ask whatsoever ye will, and it shall be done unto you."--JOHN xv. 7. "The supplication of _a righteous man_ availeth much in its working."--JAMES v. 16. "Beloved, if our heart condemn us not, we have boldness toward God; and whatsoever we ask, w…
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Do let us connect the two things, and take them both in their simple, literal truth, and their infinite, divine grandeur. The promises of our Lord's farewell discourse, with their wonderful six-fold repetition of the unlimited, _anything, whatsoever_ (John xiv. 13, 14; xv. 7, 16; xvi. 23, 24), appear to us altogether t…
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And if any are asking, with somewhat of a despair of attainment, what the reason may be of the failure in this blessed branch-life, so simple and yet so mighty, and how they can come to it, let me point them to one of the most precious lessons of the parable of the Vine. It is one that is all too little noticed. Jesus …
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Beloved brethren,--ministers, missionaries, teachers, workers, believers old and young,--are you mourning your lack of prayer, and, as a consequence, your lack of power in prayer? Oh! come and listen to your beloved Lord as He tells you, "only be a branch, united to, identified with, the Heavenly Vine, and your prayers…
256 wordsSECTION 28CHAPTER VI
Restraining Prayer: is it Sin? "Thou restrainest prayer before God."--JOB xv. 4. "What profit should we have, if we pray unto Him?"--JOB xxi. 15. "God forbid that I should sin against the Lord in ceasing to pray for you."--1 SAM. xii. 23. "Neither will I be with you any more, except ye destroy the accursed from amo…
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Throughout the Church there is a complaint of defeat. The Church has so little power over the masses, or the educated classes. Powerful conversions are comparatively rare. The fewness of holy, consecrated, spiritual Christians, devoted to the service of God and their fellowmen, is felt everywhere. The power of the Chur…
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If we have reason to think this is the sin that is in the camp, let us begin with personal and united confession. And then let us come before God to put away and destroy the sin. Here stands at the very threshold of Israel's history in Canaan the heap of stones in the valley of Achor, to tell us that God cannot bear si…
810 wordsSECTION 31CHAPTER VII
Who shall Deliver? "Is there no balm in Gilead; is there no physician there? why then is not the health of the daughter of my people recovered?"--JER. viii. 22. "Return, ye backsliding children, and I will heal your backslidings. Behold, we come unto Thee; for Thou art the Lord our God."-JER. iii. 22. "Heal me, O Lo…
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It is evident that as long as this spirit prevails, there can be very little prospect of improvement. Discouragement must bring defeat. One of the first objects of a physician is ever to waken hope; without this he knows his medicines will often profit little. No teaching from God's Word as to the duty, the urgent need…
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Many will not be prepared to admit that this is their disease, that they are not living "under grace." Impossible, they say. "From the depth of my heart," a Christian cries, "I believe and know that there is no good in me, and that I owe everything to grace alone." "I have spent my life," a minister says, "and found my…
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In the chapter that follows that in which Paul wrote, "Ye are not under the law, but under grace," he gives us a picture of a believer's life under law, with the bitter experience in which it ends: "O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death?" His answer to the question, "I thank God thr…
349 wordsSECTION 35CHAPTER VIII
Wilt Thou be made Whole? "Jesus saith unto him, Wilt thou be made whole? The impotent man answered him, Sir, I have no man to put me into the pool. Jesus saith unto him, Rise and walk. Immediately the man was made whole, and walked."--JOHN v. 6-9. "Peter said, In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk…
380 wordsSECTION 36WHAT THE HEALTH THAT JESUS OFFERS.
I might mention many marks of spiritual health. Our text leads us to take one,--walking. Jesus said to the sick man, Rise and walk, and with that restored him to his place among men in full health and vigour, able to take his part in all the work of life. It is a wonderfully suggestive picture of the restoration of spi…
717 wordsSECTION 37HOW JESUS MAKES US WHOLE.
When a physician heals a patient, he acts on him from without, and does something which is, if possible, ever after to render him independent of his aid. He restores him to perfect health, and leaves him. With the work of our Lord Jesus it is in both respects the very opposite. Jesus works not from without, but from wi…
598 wordsSECTION 38WHAT CHRIST ASKS OF US.
The story invites us to notice three things very specially. Christ's question first appeals to the will, and asks for the expression of its consent. He then listens to man's confession of his utter helplessness. Then comes the ready obedience to Christ's command, that rises up and walks. 1. Wilt thou be made whole? Ab…
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Can it indeed be? Yes, it can. He has done it for many: He will do it for you. Beware of forming wrong conceptions of what must take place. When the impotent man was made whole he had still all to learn as to the use of his new-found strength. If he wanted to dig, or build, or learn a trade, he had to begin at the begi…
207 wordsSECTION 40CHAPTER IX
The Secret of Effectual Prayer "What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye have received them, and ye shall have them."--MARK xi. 24. Here we have a summary of the teaching of our Lord Jesus on prayer. Nothing will so much help to convince us of the sin of our remissness in prayer, to discover its ca…
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2. "What things soever ye desire when _ye pray_."--The desire of the heart must become the expression of the lips. Our Lord Jesus more than once asked those who cried to Him for mercy, "What wilt thou?" He wanted them to say what they would. To speak it out roused their whole being into action, brought them into contac…
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There is nothing so heart-searching as this faith, "_Believe that ye have received._" As we strive to believe, and find we cannot, it leads us to discover what there is that hinders. Blessed is the man who holds nothing back, and lets nothing hold him back, but, with his eye and heart on God alone, refuses to rest till…
806 wordsSECTION 43CHAPTER X
The Spirit of Supplication "I will pour upon the house of David the Spirit of grace and of supplication."--ZECH. xii. 10. "The Spirit also helpeth our infirmity; for we know not how to pray as we ought: but the Spirit Himself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. And He that searcheth the…
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Especially in the matter of prayer grieve Him not. Do not expect, when you trust Christ to bring you into a new, healthy prayer-life, that you will be able all at once to pray as easily and powerfully and joyfully as you fain would. No; it may not come at once. But just bow quietly before God in your ignorance and weak…
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May I be allowed to speak a very personal word to each of my readers? I have humbly besought God to give me what I may give them--Divine light and help truly to forsake the life of failure in prayer, and to enter, even now, and at once, upon the life of intercession which the Holy Spirit can enable them to lead. It can…
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We read, "Stephen was a man full of faith and the Holy Spirit." The two ever go together, in exact proportion to each other. As our faith sees and trusts the Spirit in us to pray, and waits on Him, He will do His work; and it is the longing desire, and the earnest supplication, and the definite faith the Father seeks. …
92 wordsSECTION 47CHAPTER XI
In the Name of Christ "Whatsoever ye shall ask _in My Name_, that will I do. If ye shall ask anything _in My Name_, I will do it. I have appointed you, that whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father _in My Name_, He may give it you. Verily, verily I say unto you, whatsoever ye shall ask the Father _in My Name_, He will gi…
690 wordsSECTION 48CHRIST OUR EXAMPLE.
Prayer in Christ on earth and in us cannot be two different things. Just as there is but one God, who is a Spirit, who hears prayer, there is but one spirit of acceptable prayer. When we realise what time Christ spent in prayer, and how the great events of His life were all connected with special prayer, we learn the n…
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Christ's life and work, His suffering and death--it was all prayer, all dependence on God, trust in God, receiving from God, surrender to God. Thy redemption, O believer, is a redemption wrought out by prayer and intercession: thy Christ is a praying Christ: the life He lived for thee, the life He lives in thee, is a p…
125 wordsSECTION 50CHRIST OUR TEACHER.
Christ was what He taught. All His teaching was just the revelation of how He lived, and--praise God--of the life He was to live in us. His teaching of the disciples was first to awaken desire, and so prepare them for what He would by the Holy Spirit be and work in them. Let us believe very confidently: all He was in p…
536 wordsSECTION 51CHRIST AS OUR INTERCESSOR.
We have gazed on Christ in His prayers; we have listened to His teaching as to how we must pray; to know fully what it is to pray in His Name, we must know Him too in His heavenly intercession. Just think what it means: that all His saving work wrought from heaven is still carried on, just as on earth, in unceasing co…
773 wordsSECTION 52CHAPTER XII
My God will hear Me "Therefore will the Lord wait, that He may be gracious unto you. Blessed are all they that wait for Him. He will be very gracious unto thee at the voice of thy cry; when He shall hear it, He will answer thee."--ISA. xxx. 18, 19. "The Lord will hear when _I call_ upon Him."--PS. iv. 3. "I have cal…
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3. "_My God will hear me._"--_What a deep mystery!_--There are difficulties that cannot but at times arise and perplex even the honest heart. There is the question as to God's sovereign, all-wise, all-disposing will. How can our wishes, often so foolish, and our will, often so selfish, overrule or change that perfect w…
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5. "_My God will hear me._" _What a blessed prospect!_--I see it--all the failures of my past life have been owing to the lack of this faith. My failure, especially in the work of intercession, has had its deepest root in this--I did not live in the full faith of the blessed assurance, "_My God will hear me!_" Praise G…
741 wordsSECTION 55CHAPTER XIII
Paul a Pattern of Prayer "Go and inquire for one called Saul of Tarsus: for, _behold, he prayeth_."--ACTS ix. 11. "For this cause I obtained mercy, that in me first Jesus Christ might show forth all long-suffering, for a pattern to them which should hereafter believe on Him to life everlasting."--1 TIM. i. 16. God t…
526 wordsSECTION 56PAUL'S HABITS OF PRAYER.
These are revealed almost unconsciously. He writes (Rom. i. 9), "God is my witness, that without ceasing I make mention of you _always in my prayers_. For I long to see you, that I may impart unto you some spiritual gift, to the end ye may be established." Rom. x. 1, ix. 2, 3: "My _heart's desire and prayer to God_ for…
544 wordsSECTION 57THE CONTENTS OF PAUL'S PRAYERS.
It is of as much importance to know _what_ Paul prayed, as how frequently and earnestly he did so. Intercession is a spiritual work. Our confidence in it will depend much on our knowing that we ask according to the will of God. The more distinctly we ask heavenly things, which we feel at once God alone can bestow, whic…
620 wordsSECTION 58PAUL'S REQUESTS FOR PRAYER.
These are no less instructive than his own prayers for the saints. They prove that he does not count prayer any special prerogative of an apostle; he calls the humblest and simplest believer to claim his right. They prove that he does not think that only the new converts or feeble Christians need prayer; he himself is,…
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But is it really possible? Can it indeed be that those who have never been able to face, much less to overcome the difficulty, can yet become mighty in prayer? Tell me, was it really possible for Jacob to become Israel--a prince who prevailed with God? It was. The things that are impossible with men are possible with G…
260 wordsSECTION 60CHAPTER XIV
God seeks Intercessors "I have set watchmen upon thy walls, O Jerusalem, which shall never hold their peace day nor night. Ye that are the Lord's remembrancers, keep not silence, and give Him no rest till He make Jerusalem a praise in the earth."--ISA. lxii. 6, 7. "And He saw that there was _no man_, and wondered tha…
748 wordsSource & rights
Public domain in the USA; original historical text digitized by Project Gutenberg.
Project Gutenberg source record →
Historical Christian writing; not Scripture.