PRAYING MEN
Our Wednesday night series has examined the prayers of praying men in the Scriptures. These were men who could commune with God:
- Moses: the mighty intercessor. Do I pray for anyone, let alone my enemies, like Moses did?
- Elijah: pray powerful prayers. Do I think Elijah was somehow different than me, even though James 5:17 says he was merely human?
- Hezekiah: praying from the integrity of his heart. Is hidden sin keeping me from praying, because I know I can’t pray with integrity?
- Ezra: expect God to move in desperate situations. Do I pray with doubt or faith? Do I really pray believing that God can change this thing?
- Nehemiah: praying without ceasing. Do I go through my day in conversation with my Father?
Tonight is the story of Samuel, born out of the prayers of a praying woman. He was raised in a culture of prayer, and he became a product of his culture.
This is a powerful quote from the book Praying Men by E. M. Bounds:
Would you have your child called early into divine service and separated from the world unto God? Would you have him so situated that he will be called in childhood by the Spirit of God? Put him under prayer influences. Place him near to and directly under the influence of the Man of God and in close touch with that house which is called “the house of prayer.”
Samuel knew God in boyhood. As a consequence he knew God in manhood. He recognized God in childhood, obeyed him and prayed unto him. The result was that he recognized God in manhood, obeyed him, and prayed unto him. If more children were born of praying mothers, brought up in direct contact with “the house of prayer,” and reared under prayer environments, more children would hear the voice of God’s spirit speaking to them, and would more quickly respond to those divine calls to a religious life. Would we have praying men in our churches? We must have praying mothers to give them birth, praying homes to color their lives, and praying surroundings to impress their minds and to lay the foundations for praying lives. Praying Samuels come from praying Hannahs. Praying priests come from “the house of prayer.” Praying leaders come from praying homes.
–Pastor Ryan