Please turn to Colossians—Colossians 1:29, continuing with Colossians 2:1-2.
Whereunto I also labor, striving according to His working, which worketh in me mightily.
For I would have you know how greatly I strive for you, and for them at Laodicea, and for as many as have not seen my face in the flesh;
That their hearts may be comforted, they being knit together in love, and unto all riches of the full assurance of understanding, unto the full knowledge of the mystery of God.
Then Colossians 4:12:
Epaphras, who is one of you, a servant of Christ Jesus, saluteth you, always striving for you in his prayers, that ye may stand perfect and fully assured in all the will of God.
Last Wednesday we mentioned that prayer is warfare. I feel I would like to add something more, and that is: prayer is work.
You know, somehow we do not consider prayer as work. We want to work for God. We want to do something for Him. But somehow, in our minds, we do not consider prayer as work.
And yet it is a work in which everyone can be engaged. There are works that I cannot do. There are works that you cannot do. But there is one work that we all can do, and that is prayer.
From the greatest one to the littlest one, we all can pray. And to pray is to work. It is, as a matter of fact, the greatest work in the whole world. And yet somehow we do not consider prayer as work.
Now, if we can only see that prayer is work—doing God’s work—then when we come together, we are working with God. We are doing God’s work, and all of us are involved in this work.
Now, in any work, you need strength. You cannot do any work if there is no strength. And especially in prayer, it demands more spiritual strength than in any other work of God.
It takes less strength to preach, more strength to pray. And that is the reason why we find prayer sometimes so difficult—why we feel ourselves so weak. We do not have the strength to pray.
After a day’s work, or after a whole day facing different things, when we come to the time of prayer, we are already tired and exhausted—not only physically, but spiritually drained. That is the reason why a prayer meeting, or prayer time, is so difficult: because it is not playing; it is working, and working needs strength.
Of course, the strength here is basically spiritual strength, but physical strength is involved too. When we are physically tired, even though our spirit is willing, our flesh is weak. We may go to sleep instead of watching and praying, and that is what the disciples did.
So, when we come together to pray, we really need to wait upon the Lord. The Scripture says, “They that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength.”
No matter how tired we are physically, or how drained we are spiritually, when we come to pray, we wait upon the Lord. We worship Him. We come to Him. We look to Him. And as we wait upon the Lord, our strength is renewed, and we are ready to pray.
So we know where the strength comes from. We do not need to say, “Well, I’m tired. I have lots of things in my mind; therefore, I cannot pray.” We do not need to say, “I’m weak; therefore, I cannot pray.”
If we come together and really wait and look unto the Lord, I believe every one of us can pray. He will renew our strength. We will mount up with wings like eagles. We are able to pray.
Another thing is that work requires discipline. If you really want to do some work, you really need to discipline yourself. Why? Because naturally, our flesh does not want to work. There is an inertia in us. It is comfortable just to stay where you are and do nothing.
It takes a little discipline for you to really break through and apply yourself to any work. And this is true with prayer.
One reason why we find ourselves unable to pray is because we are not willing to discipline ourselves. We just fall back upon ourselves, relax, and say, “I don’t feel like praying.”
Well, when you feel like working, you will never work. If you must wait until you feel like praying, you will never pray. I suppose some of us do not pray because of this.
You have to discipline yourself. We have to break through that inertia. And as you break through and begin to pray, you will find that the more you pray, the stronger you become.
Now, sometimes you may have heard, “Do not pray if the Spirit does not move you.” In other words, you have to feel a stirring in your spirit; then you open your mouth and pray. Now, that is fine.
But when the spirit is not stirring, your mind ought to help your spirit and get it stirred. In other words, if the Spirit of the Lord descends upon you and really constrains you to pray, that is good. But when your spirit does not seem to be stirred, it does not mean that the Holy Spirit is not stirring you; it may simply mean that your spirit is sleeping.
Then you need your mind to give your spirit a little push. You know, just like in the old days when you were drawing water: you needed to pour a little water in before you could draw the water out.
Sometimes you will find that your mind can help your spirit. You put a little water in. In the beginning, it is as if you are praying with your mind, but as you pray, the spirit awakens and takes over. That is discipline. That is discipline.
Because prayer is work, it requires discipline. If we are willing to discipline ourselves, I do believe that everyone will find that he or she can pray.
You know, when we come together, the one thing that we really want to see is that everyone is free. Now, of course, everyone is praying. You may say, “You are praying in your heart.” But when we come together, it requires more than that.
There are brothers and sisters there. If you are praying in your heart, nobody hears you, and nobody can say “Amen” with you. Unless you are super-spiritual, you will probably not be able to feel people’s spirit.
As you start to pray, the burden will increase. It is always like that.
Here you find Paul. Paul mentions how he toils, how he labors. That is work. He labors. He even combats. In some versions, it says “struggling” or “wrestling,” according to His working, which worketh in me in power.
Then he says, “I would have you know what wrestling I have for you, and those in Laodicea, and as many as have not seen my face in the flesh.” In other words, he had never seen these people in Laodicea. He had never seen these saints.
So it does require us to open our mouths and utter what is in our hearts. When you utter, brothers and sisters hear it, agree with you, and say “Amen” with you. That is where the prayer comes into accord, and the strength of prayer comes.
Our real purpose in a prayer time is not just that a few pray, but that everybody prays. I think that is what prayer time is to be. Do not keep back. Discipline yourself; enter into prayer. Take a burden and utter it. As you start to pray, the burden will increase. It is always like that.
Here you find Paul. Paul mentions how he toils, how he labors. That is work. He labors. He even combats; in some versions, it says “struggling” or “wrestling.”
Then he says, “I would have you know what wrestling I have for you, and those in Laodicea, and as many as have not seen my face in the flesh.” In other words, he had never seen these people in Laodicea. He had never seen these saints in Colossae.
For us, it is easy to pray for people whom we know. Why? We are emotionally involved. But for people we have never seen, we are not emotionally involved, and that becomes very difficult.
But if we are really involved with God and His purpose, then whether we have seen these people or have not seen them makes no difference.
Paul could toil, labor, struggle, combat, and wrestle because he had the heart of Christ for His people. He wanted to see God’s people perfected, reaching maturity, unto the stature of Christ. That urged him to pray.
It was not a personal emotional involvement. It was purely an involvement with Christ, with God’s purpose. And here you find not only Paul is like that; you find Epaphras is also like that—how he combats and labors, to the end that you may stand perfect and complete in all the will of God.
The purpose of the work—the ultimate purpose of prayer as work—is that the will of God may be completed and perfected in the lives of the saints. That is the ultimate purpose.
Whether we are praying for someone who is sick, praying for someone who has problems, praying for God’s people here and there, praying for a conference, praying for God’s work, or even praying for world situations or incidents, the final purpose is the will of God. That is the final purpose of prayer as a work.
We are called to work together with God. So pray. Every one of us is called to that work.
Sometimes you think, “Oh, if I could only do what this brother or this sister is doing, then he or she is really serving God.” But all the time there is some greater work that He has already called you to do, and we do not do it.
So I do hope that, brothers and sisters, we are all encouraged that we do not come together to play or to watch. We come together to work. We hope that everyone will put himself or herself into the work.
Otherwise, a few brothers or sisters have to work all the time, and the rest are just sitting there and watching. That is not fair. We have to join ourselves together in the work.
Just like what you find in the book of Acts: the one hundred and twenty gave themselves continually to prayer with one accord, every one of them. If you read on, you will find that when the two apostles were released and came to their own company, the whole company raised their voice and prayed.
Everyone, everyone—all came together, because this is work. You do not want your brothers and sisters to work themselves to death while you are there just loafing around. That is unkind.
Not to say there is reward. When the prayers are answered, that is important. So I do encourage brothers and sisters: since we come together, let us learn.
Ultimately, I think the church is not really manifested or expressed until everybody is functioning. Otherwise, you do not see the body. Until every member is functioning, then you see a healthy body.
If only part of the members are functioning, it is a sick body. You just drag, drag, drag that whole paralyzed body. The Lord wants us to be healthy, and that is why we all need to work.
Please turn to 2 Chronicles 6:18-21, and then verse 42.
But will God in very deed dwell with men on the earth? Behold, heaven and the heaven of heavens cannot contain Thee; how much less this house which I have built!
Yet have Thou respect unto the prayer of Thy servant, and to his supplication, O Lord my God, to hearken unto the cry and to the prayer which Thy servant prayeth before Thee;
That Thine eyes may be open toward this house day and night, even toward the place whereof Thou hast said that Thou wouldest put Thy name there; to hearken unto the prayer which Thy servant shall pray toward this place.
And hearken Thou to the supplications of Thy servant, and of Thy people Israel, when they shall pray toward this place: yea, hear Thou from Thy dwelling place, even from heaven; and when Thou hearest, forgive.
Now, O my God, let, I beseech Thee, Thine eyes be open, and let Thine ears be attentive unto the prayer that is made in this place.
Now therefore arise, O Lord God, into Thy resting place, Thou, and the ark of Thy strength: let Thy priests, O Lord God, be clothed with salvation, and let Thy saints rejoice in goodness.
O Lord God, turn not away the face of Thine anointed: remember Thy lovingkindnesses to David Thy servant.
Then Matthew 21:13, just the first part:
My house shall be called a house of prayer.
Solomon built the temple. When he dedicated that house, he acknowledged that God really did not dwell in a physical house, because even the heaven and the heaven of heavens cannot contain Him. How much less could this house which Solomon built contain Him, even though it was a magnificent building?
Yet he understood that even though God did not actually dwell in the temple, God did put His name there. Because His name was there, Solomon expected God to hear all the prayers that would be offered in the temple, or even toward the temple.
If you read 2 Chronicles 6, you will find that Solomon raised all kinds of imaginable situations before the Lord: when they were being attacked by the enemy, when they were going out to war, when there was famine, pestilence, or plague, when people sinned or took an oath, and even when the children of Israel, because of their sin, were scattered to the corners of the earth.
In other words, Solomon brought before the Lord all kinds of imaginable situations. Then he said that whenever, whatever the situation might be, when God’s people repented and prayed in the temple—or, if that was impossible because they had been taken to the corners of the earth, prayed toward the temple—God would hear, forgive, deliver, and answer.
Now, our Lord Jesus, when He was on earth, even with a temple that was rebuilt by the remnant, said, “My house shall be called a house of prayer.”
So the temple actually is a house of prayer. It is a house of prayer for all nations—not only for the children of Israel, but even for strangers. If they should turn toward the temple and pray, God would hear. It is a house of prayer. That is what the temple is.
Can you imagine the temple standing there and no prayer being offered in the temple or toward the temple? It is impossible.
But as we come to our time, under the new covenant, we find that we are the temple of God. In Ephesians 2, it is very clearly stated:
Being built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus Himself being the chief corner stone;
In whom each several building, fitly framed together, groweth into a holy temple in the Lord;
In whom ye also are builded together for a habitation of God in the Spirit.
Today the Lord Himself has built a temple, and He builds that temple not with stones but with living stones. The Lord Himself builds us together to be the temple, that house of God.
In this house of God, you find that not only is His name put there, but He Himself is present there. You remember in Matthew 18, He said, “Where two or three are gathered together unto My name, there am I in the midst of them.”
So actually, God today is dwelling in this house. He did not do that with the temple built by Solomon, but He does dwell in this temple built with living stones.
He has not only put His name in the church. Where two or three are gathered together unto His name, we are gathered together unto His name; His name is here. But He said, “There am I in the midst of them.” He is really there. His presence is here. He makes His residence in the church.
So how much more, as we think of this, is this house a house of prayer. How much more real is the church today, the house of prayer for all nations.
The church is called to pray. It is not just that prayer is offered in the temple, but the church is praying.
That is the reason why you find, in the beginning of church history, as you go back to Acts 2:42, that they all continued in the teaching and fellowship of the apostles, in the breaking of bread, and in prayers.
You find in the early church that whenever anything happened, they turned to prayer. It is a praying church. It is a house of prayer, and they do pray. The ministry of the church is basically prayer.
But unfortunately today, we find that people seem to flock to the time when the Word is ministered. Now, thank God for that. People love to hear the Word. But when it comes to the time of prayer, you find that lots of people disappear.
In some places there is no prayer time, no prayer meeting, because people just do not come to pray. If that is the case, it shows whether there is the church or not.
If there is church, there ought to be prayer. Unless we come to an understanding of what prayer really is, we really do not know what a church is. Or, to put it another way, we never really enter into the life of the church.
So it is a very serious thing as we come to this matter of prayer. Because if we do not see the importance of coming together to pray, then actually we do not know what the church is, and we do not practice church life.
Or may I put it another way? People who really come together to pray are people who are really appreciating, appropriating, and living church life.
You remember in Old Testament times, the priests served in the temple. The highest service a priest could ever perform in the temple was to offer incense at the golden altar of incense.
We are told that at the time of Christ, when the lot fell upon a certain priest to offer incense at the golden altar of incense, he could do it only once in his lifetime. It could never be repeated. Many priests served throughout their lives in the temple and were never given this privilege.
Burning incense at the golden altar of incense was the highest privilege, the highest function, that a priest could ever perform.
But today we are all priests. We are not only the house of God, the temple, but we are also the priesthood. We are the priests serving in the house of God.
But thank God, today every one of us has the privilege to burn incense at the golden altar of incense. It is not just once in a lifetime, but it is a lifetime work. We can do it all the time.
Furthermore, in Old Testament times, when the priests burned incense, there was a veil separating the altar of incense from the mercy seat. But today the veil is rent.
In other words, when we pray, we really enter into the very presence of God with unveiled face, face to face. There we can offer prayer on behalf of God’s people, on behalf of the world, and on behalf of God’s own interest—His own kingdom and His own concern.
Every imaginable situation we can bring before the Lord in prayer. That is our calling, and that is our privilege.
So I do hope that we will appreciate it. Think of it: suppose we were thousands of years back, and suppose we were priests in the temple built by Solomon or rebuilt by the remnant. How we would long that we might burn incense at the golden altar of incense—and we did not have a chance.
But coming down thousands of years later to our day, it is a privilege, a right, that is ours. Imagine that we are not exercising our right. We are not appreciating our privilege—that we are not burning incense at the golden altar of incense.
Can you imagine that? If we only knew what it means, brothers and sisters, how we must appreciate this time when the church gathers together to pray.
When we pray, He is listening. His eyes are open, His ears are open, and His heart is open. His name is here. His presence is here. How much more He will forgive, deliver, and answer.
So may we appreciate such a time as we come together.
Please turn to Acts 12. Acts 12:5, and then beginning with verse 11.
Peter therefore was kept in the prison: but prayer was made earnestly of the church unto God for him.
And Peter, when he was come to himself, said, Now I know of a truth, that the Lord hath sent forth His angel and delivered me out of the hand of Herod, and from all the expectation of the people of the Jews.
And when he had considered the thing, he came to the house of Mary the mother of John whose surname was Mark; where many were gathered together and were praying.
And when he knocked at the door of the gate, a maid came to answer, named Rhoda.
And when she knew Peter’s voice, she opened not the gate for joy, but ran in, and told that Peter stood before the gate.
And they said unto her, Thou art mad. But she confidently affirmed that it was even so. And they said, It is his angel.
But Peter continued knocking: and when they had opened, they saw him, and were amazed.
This happened when the gospel seemed to be spreading and prospering. The gospel had spread not only in Jerusalem, but through Judea, into Samaria, and at that time even to Antioch. Even the archenemy of the church, Saul, was converted.
So, in a sense, it was a time when the church seemed to grow, to prosper, and to be victorious. At that time, the enemy struck. Herod beheaded James and seized Peter, putting him in prison.
When God is working, the enemy is also busy.
Peter was taken before Passover. Because it was probably Passover the next day, Peter was kept in prison through the Feast of Unleavened Bread. We know that the Feast of Unleavened Bread continued for seven days.
Herod’s idea was to take Peter out after the feast was over and then have him killed. So Peter was actually kept in prison at least eight days.
The Bible says, “Peter therefore was kept in the prison.” It seemed as if the enemy was able to do what he wanted to do without restraint. For eight days Peter was kept in prison.
But prayer was made earnestly by the church unto God for him. I like the word but. You have to put the word but in the right place. Sometimes people put it in the wrong place: “Everything is fine, but…” That is the wrong place.
“Peter was kept in prison, but prayer was made earnestly by the church.” That is in the right place.
In spite of the difficult situation, James was dead. James, the brother of John, was killed, and Peter was kept in prison. It seemed as if the enemy had such power and the church was so weak.
But there was one thing the church could do: they prayed. That is the weapon the church has. Prayer was made earnestly by the church.
This is the way that the church always meets crisis. Whenever a crisis comes, the church meets that crisis with prayer.
The power of prayer is not in prayer itself. The power of prayer is in the God to whom they pray. In other words, prayer links us up with God; it links the church with God.
Our God is the Almighty God, and that is where the power of prayer really lies.
Now, God could have delivered Peter on the first night, but He did not do it. He allowed Peter to be kept there until the very last night, because the next morning Peter would be taken out, judged, and killed.
God is never in a hurry. He is never late, nor is He ever in a hurry.
I think probably the reason is that the church might continue to pray. So the Bible says that earnest prayer was made by the church to God. They just kept on praying as long as Peter was in prison.
Now, I do not know how they prayed. Did they pray and ask God to free Peter? James was already beheaded. I certainly do not think it was wrong for them to pray that God would spare Peter, even though James was killed.
But in a sense, the church did not really know what God’s will was—whether God was going to release Peter, or whether Peter would be killed just like James. They really did not know.
That was the reason why, when Peter was released, it was a shock to them. They really did not know, and yet they kept on praying.
In Acts 4, which we read last time, when John and Peter were released, they came to their own company and lifted up their voice. There was no uncertainty in their prayer. They knew what God’s will was. They had a mandate from heaven.
They did not ask the Lord whether they should be quiet or continue to preach in the name of the Lord. No, they just asked God to give them boldness to speak in the name of the Lord.
Their prayer was certain, positive, sure—without hesitation. They asked God for the thing they felt was the thing to ask, and their prayer was answered.
But here in Acts 12, you find an entirely different situation. They kept on praying, but they never knew exactly what God would do.
Otherwise, you cannot explain how God answered their prayer and, when God answered their prayer, they did not even know that was the answer. It showed that they really did not know what the will of God was.
Most likely, when they prayed, they prayed that whatever the Lord’s will might be, it might be done. Of course, they wanted the Lord to spare Peter, and yet they resigned themselves to whatever the will of God would be.
Now, sometimes people say, “When you pray, if you say, ‘Lord, Your will be done; if it is Your will,’ it is an indication that you have no faith.” Sometimes that is true, but not all the time.
Sometimes people, without knowing the will of God, become very presumptuous, thinking that they have to tell God what He must do and have to believe that it is so—that that is faith. But that is not necessarily faith.
If you have the Word of God, then you can pray positively, and that is faith. But if you do not know the will of God and you pray unceasingly, asking the Lord to do whatever He feels is the right thing to do, resigned to the will of God, that is not an indication of having no faith.
Sometimes we think that if we resign ourselves to the will of God, then we just do not pray. We say, “If you are resigned to God’s will, whatever it may be, just be passive and wait for God’s will to come to pass.”
But that is the wrong attitude. We need to resign ourselves to the will of God, and yet we need to pray unceasingly, so that the will of God may be manifested.
To pray that God’s will be done is not an indication that we do not have faith. On the contrary, it is an indication that we do resign ourselves to God’s will. What attitude pleases God more than resignation to the will of God?
God certainly knows what is best, and He knows what to do. Here you find the church not clear about what God would do, and yet they prayed unceasingly with a spirit of resignation. God answered their prayer.
You would think that Peter, having been in prison for eight days, and on the last night knowing that he would be taken out and that the expectation of the Jews was to have him killed—you would think that Peter could not sleep that night.
How could you sleep, knowing that tomorrow you might be beheaded? If the Lord would deliver, He could have delivered on the first day or on the successive seven days. But this did not happen. Probably God was not going to deliver him.
And yet Peter went to sleep—sound sleep. Why? Because he resigned himself to God’s will. Now, that is faith.
He was not agitated or agonizing. He rested. He rested in faith because he was resigned to God. Whatever God’s will might be, he was prepared for it.
Now Peter was sleeping, but the church was praying. If the church was sleeping, something was wrong. The person who was really involved should sleep—that is right. But the church that stands with him should pray, and that is faith.
So if any brother or sister has problems, and if he or she is agitated, that is a lack of faith. He or she should learn to rest, believing that God’s will will be done. But leave the church to pray for him. Let the church pray for him. That is what the church is for.
If the one who is involved is praying and agitated, and the church is sleeping, then something is very, very wrong.
So I do believe that is what we are here for. We are here to pray so that our brothers and sisters who have problems may go to sleep, and God’s will will be done.
You know, they really prayed because after Peter was released, he did not know that it was true. He did not expect it. He thought it was a dream.
But when he realized it was true, he had to think twice before he knew where to go. Why? Because there were so many homes where prayers were going on.
He just went to one of the homes where prayer was being offered, and the Bible says many were praying—not a few, many. Many were praying in that home, and they prayed until probably the morning light.
At least it was midnight, I would think, and they were still praying. In other words, they would not give up. They did not know what God would do, but they believed that God would do whatever was His will, and they stood with God’s will for God’s will to be done.
They would not stop until God’s will was manifested, one way or the other.
I really feel that sometimes we have a kind of concept that when you pray, you have to be so definite, telling God what He must do, and that this is faith. If we cannot do that and pray, “Now, Your will be done,” then people say, “You do not have faith at all, and your prayer will not be answered.”
I think it is not always so. We have to be open to either way. If the Lord gives us His word and we still say, “If it is Your will,” then that means we do not believe God’s will. It is a lack of faith.
But if we do not really know what God’s will is, if we do not have His word speaking to us, then it is not wrong for us to say, “Lord, Your will be done,” praying with a spirit of resignation.
I think the spirit of resignation is a spirit that really pleases God. Oftentimes, I am afraid people think that having that kind of spirit means that you will not have your prayer answered. But on the contrary, that is the kind of spirit God loves.
It is not a passive spirit, but an active spirit of wanting God’s will to be done—resigning ourselves to God’s will, whatever His will may be, and standing for it and praying for it until it is manifested.
That is faith. That is faith.
I do believe that this instance may help some, because you find various situations. Sometimes you have the Word of God; sometimes you do not. How are you going to pray if you do not have the definite Word of God?
You still can pray, and you still should pray, and you still can pray with faith in the will of God—that His will is the perfect will, and whatever it may be, it is His best.
So may the Lord help us as we continue to pray.