Our Greatest Privilege

Luke 18:1—Men ought always to pray, and not to faint.

When I was a little boy, we lived in a small house on the windy plains of northwest Texas. These were the Dust Bowl Days.   We had no electricity, indoor plumbing, or telephone.  The wood floor house was sparsely furnished.  The kitchen was the favorite room in the house.  It was equipped with a kerosene cook stove, a small table and four chairs.

We had a 1929 model car which dad drove to work each day. He was a bookkeeper for a bank in Pampa, Texas.  We were fortunate. This was the time of the Great Depression. At least my dad had a job. Many men did not. I did not feel poor. The highlight of the week was our trip to church every Sunday. It was in the Central Baptist Church in Pampa where Dad later surrendered to preach.

My parents taught me to offer thanks to God before each meal and to say a prayer each night before going to sleep.  I had the general idea that if you prayed for something you would get it.  It seemed like a pretty good plan to me so I decided that if I wanted something, all I had to do was pray in a loud voice and my parents would hear me and grant my wish.  My dad explained some of the meaning of prayer.  He told me that God was my best friend and that I could talk to Him anytime, and that He would hear me.  My mom put a small chair in the corner of the room.  She called it Frank’s prayer chair.

I am thankful that my parents taught me to pray.  They knew that it was vital to train a child to have fellowship with God by praying. I recall that, years later, on a cold winter evening when I was living in Nagoya. In Japan, the pastor of the local church called and asked me to come to the church immediately. I asked what the reason was, and he answered with two words, “Come now.” I went.  When I arrived, He welcomed me and asked me to sit by the warm hibachi with him and deacon Kamakura. The deacon looked at me and in a very terse voice told me that Jesus was a phony, and I should return to the States immediately.  He went on to say that his sister had committed suicide that afternoon by stepping in front of a train. He said that Jesus was not real or that would not have happened.  He said that he was on his way to the Buddhist Temple to arrange for a Buddhist wail the next afternoon at the spot on the rail line where his sister had stepped in front of the train. He took his Baptismal Pen from his lapel and handed it to me.  I told him that the young pastor and I would like to pray and that if God did not answer my prayer, I would return to Texas.  He said that would be fine but to make our prayer short. I prayed a brief audible prayer and Pastor Ikeda prayed.  He asked God to speak to Deacon Kamakura and change his heart.  He told God that only He could assure the deacon of his reality and asked Him to do so.  After a moment of silence, Deacon Kamakura spoke I shall never forget his words. In a soft but firm voice, he said, “Please give my Baptismal pen back to me and tomorrow afternoon, I would like for you to meet me at the spot on the rail where Suzuki committed suicide .”

Deacon Kamakura announced to the eighty people who had come to the rail site, thinking that they were attending a Buddhist wail, that we were believers in Jesus. He asked me to tell those assembled how they could have a living Jesus as their personal Lord and Savior.  Then he asked Pastor Ikeda to pray.  After the prayer, the three of us stood on the rail and sang all verses of “Amazing Grace”. Yes, there is Power in Prayer.

Prayer is a mighty privilege. So much so that Jesus taught his disciples how to pray. We know this model prayer as The Lord’s Prayer. The Lord Jesus often went alone to talk with His Father.  Isn’t it wonderful that we can speak individually, and personally to the Creator? What a blessed privilege, this is.

 When Dr. Charles H. Spurgeon was the pastor of the London Tabernacle, it was not uncommon for ministers from abroad to travel to England to hear him preach and receive the blessing of worshipping with the thousands of  fellow believers in the London Tabernacle. On one occasion when a group of twenty pastors had come to visit, Dr. Spurgeon took a few minutes to meet them and share with them. It is recorded that he told them that the most important thing he could show them was the church heating system. They were bewildered and surprised that they were going to be shown a heating furnace. As he opened the door. He requested that they be silent.  They saw that one hundred men were on their knees in prayer.  Dr Spurgeon spoke softly and said, “Gentlemen, this is the heating system for the London Tabernacle” Yes, there is power in prayer.

Let me remind you of some of the many privileges of Prayer.

*We have the blessed privilege of praying in the name of Jesus to our Eternal Heavenly father.

*We can pray for each other, and in so doing, bear one another’s burdens. 

*Let us pray for our world, our nation, and our adversaries.

*It is very important that we offer sincere prayers of thanksgiving.

I urge you to join with me in prayer each day.

Let us lift our voices in praise as we sing The Doxology

Praise God from whom all blessings flow.
Praise Him all creatures here below.
Praise Him above ye Heavenly Host.
Praise Father, Son ad Holy Ghost.

Amen