6.7.2016 Finney on PREVAILING PRAYER

THE EFFECTIVE, FERVENT PRAYER OF A RIGHTEOUS MAN AVAILS MUCH. James 5.16

225  there are two goals necessary for a revival:
one to influence men,
the other to influence God.
the truth is employed to influence men
and prayer to move God.
when i speak of moving God, i do not mean that God's mind is changed by prayer
or that His disposition of character is changed.
prayer produces such a change in us
that God is completely consistent with His nature
when He answers our prayers.

when a sinner repents, his state of feeling makes it proper for God to forgive him.
God has always been ready to forgive men on that condition.
likewise, when the sinner changes his feelings and repents,
it requires no change of feeling in God to pardon him.
it is the sinner's repentance that renders His forgiveness proper.
this is when God will act.

others make their mistake in the opposite direction - not that they lay too much stress on prayer, but that they overlook the fact that prayer could be offered forever, by itself and nothing would be done.

SPECIFIC PRAYERS

many people go to their rooms alone 'to pray', simply because 'they must say their prayers'. the time of day has come when they are 
226  in the habit of praying - in the morning, at noon, or at whatever time of day it may be. but instead of having anything to say, any definite reason on their minds, they fall down on their knees and simply pray for whatever floats into their imaginations. when they have finished, they can hardly remember what they have been praying for. THIS IS NOT EFFECTIVE PRAYER.

TO PRAY EFFECTIVELY, YOU MUST PRAY WITH SUBMISSION TO THE WILL OF GOD.
do not confuse submission with indifference. no tow things are more unlike.  i once knew an individual who came to a revival. he was cold and did not enter into the spirit of prayer. when he heard believers PRAYING AS IF THEY COULD NOT BE DENIED, he was shocked at their boldness. he insisted on the importance of praying with submission. yet it was plain that he confused submission with indifference.

CRUCIAL PRAYER

if the will of God is not known, submission without prayer is tempting God.
for all you know, your prayer may be the thing on which an event turns.
in the case of an impenitent friend, your prayers may be the key to his being saved.

christians often amaze themselves when they look back on their ardent, bold prayers
spoken in a moment of intense emotion.
yet these prayers have prevailed and obtained the blessing.
and many of these people are among the holiest people i know in the world.

EFFECTIVE MOTIVES

the temptation to have selfish motives is so strong
that there is reason to fear a great many parental prayers
never rise above the yearnings of parental tenderness.
that is why so many prayers are not answered and why so many pious, praying parents
have ungodly children.
prayer for the unsaved must be based on more than sympathy.
missionaries and others often make the mistake of praying only about those going to hell,
227  forgetting prayer about how the unsaved also dishonor God.

most christians work up to prevailing prayer through a prolonged process.
their minds gradually become filed with anxiety about something,
until they even  go about their business sighing out their desires to God.
it is like the mother whose child is sick who constantly sighs as if her hear would break.
if she is a praying mother, her sighs are breathed out to God all day long.
if she leaves the room where her child is, her mind is still on her baby.
if she is asleep, her thoughts are still on her child.
she will even jerk in her dreams, thinking perhaps her child may be dying.
her whole mind is absorbed with that sick child.
this is the state of mind in which christians offer prevailing prayer.

DEPTH OF CONCERN

the spirit of those who have been in distress for the souls of others is similar to that of the apostle paul, who worked for souls and was ready to wish himself cut off from Christ for the sake of others.

the psalmist showed the same concern when he prayed,
'indignation has taken hold of me because of the wicked, who forsake Your law...
rivers of water run down from my eyes, because men do not keep Your law'. (psalm 119.53,136)
the prophet jeremiah also experienced great sorrow because of israel's sins.
'O my soul, my soul! I am pained in my very heart!
my heart makes a noise in me;
I cannot hold my peace, because You have heard,
O my soul, the sound of the trumpet, the alarm of war (jeremiah 4.19)
in view of this, why should people be considered crazy if they cannot help but cry out loud when they think of the misery of those who are going to eternal destruction?

IF YOU PLAN TO PRAY EFFECTIVELY, YOU MUST PRAY A LOT.
it was said of the apostle james that after his death, people noticed his knes were callous, like a camel's, from praying so much. Ah, here was the secret of the success of those first ministers! they had callous knees!

USING THE NAME
228  if you intend to pray effectively, you must offer it in the name of Christ. you cannot come to God in your own name. you cannot plead your own merits. but you can come in a name that is always acceptable. you all know what it is to use the name of a man. if you were to go to the bank with a check endorsed by a millionaire (that would be giving you his name), you know you could get the money from the bank as easily as he could. in the same way, Jesus Christ gives you the use of His name. when you pray in the name of Christ, you can prevail just as well as He and receive just as much as God's beloved Son would if He were to pray for the same things. you must pray in faith.

these strong desires behind the prevailing prayer i mentioned are the natural results of great benevolence and a clear view of the danger for sinners.  this is a reasonable sentiment. if the average christian were to see their agony, he or she would be extremely upset - perhaps even sick. no one would consider these reactions strange. in fact, if they had no powerful reaction, they would be considered cold-hearted.

NECESSITY OF A LOVING CHARACTER
why is it, then, that christians are thought of as lunatics for their concern about the awful danger sinners are in?  the fact is, those individuals who have never felt such concern have never felt real benevolence and must have a very superficial Christian love. i do not mean to judge harshly or speak unkindly, but it is a simple fact that a person without such a loving character is a superficial believer. this is not being critical; it is the plain truth.
when christians are driven to the extreme, they make a desperate effort and roll the burden of the Lord Jesus Christ. they exercise a childlike confidence in Him. then they feel relieved, as if assured that the soul they were praying for will be saved. the burden

229  is gone and God seems to kindly soothe the mind with a sweet assurance that the blessing will be granted.
often, after a christian has had this struggle, this agony in prayer and has obtained relief in this way, he finds the sweetest and most heavenly affections flow out. his soul rests sweetly and gloriously in God and rejoices 'with joy unspeakable and full of glory'  (I peter 1.8 kjv)

BINDING PRAYER
this travailing in prayer for souls also creates a remarkable bond between warmhearted christians and young converts.  those who are converted are very dear to those who have had this spirit of prayer for them. the feeling is like that of a mother for her firstborn child. paul expressed it beautifully when he said, 'My little children, for whom i labor in birth again until Christ is formed in you'  (galatians 4.19). they had backslidden and he suffered all the agonies of a parent over a wandering child. in revival, i have often noticed how those who had the spirit of prayer loved the young converts. to those who have never felt this love, what i have described does not make sense.

another reason God requires this sort of prayer is that it is the only way in which the church can be properly prepared to receive great blessing without being injured by them. when the church is thus prostrated in the dust before God and is in the depths of agony in prayr, the blessing does it good. while at the same time, if the church received the blessing without this deep humility of soul, it would have grown puffed up with pride. but as it is, it increases in holiness, love and humility.

INTENSE, PREVAILING PRAYER

a minister once related a story to me about a town that had not had a revival in many years. the church was nearly extinct, the youth were all unconverted and desolation reigned unbroken. there
230  lived, in a retired part of the town, an aged blacksmith who stammered so badly that it was painful to hear him speak. one friday, as he worked in his shop, alone, he became very upset about the state of the church and of the impenitent. his agony became so great that he had to put away his work, lock the shop door and spend the afternoon in prayer.

he continued to pray all day.  then he asked his minister to arrange a conference meeting. after some hesitation, the minister consented even though he feared few people would attend. he called the meeting the same evening at a large private house. when evening came, more people assembled than coud be accommodated in the house. all were silent for a time, until one sinner broke out in tears and said, 'if anyone could pray, would he pray for me?' another followed and another and still another, until people from every part of town were under deep conviction. it was also remarkable that they all dated their conviction to the hour the old man prayed in his shop. a powerful revival followed. thus this stammering old man's prayers prevailed; and as a prince, he had power with God.