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The Key to Continued Prayer

The key to being a real man of prayer is to believe God.

How could Daniel keep praying toward Jerusalem when Jerusalem was gone? How could he maintain his prayer life when God seemed to have lost? Reason and circumstance seemed to have shouted, “Stop! It’s no use!”

How can we continue to pray and to believe God when everyone around us seems to shout, “It’s not working! He is not listening!” We don’t have to be in the world very long before we encounter trials and difficulties. When we face confusing or baffling times, and perhaps, long before we experience it personally, we observe it around us.

1. What did Eliphaz say in Job 5:7

No Exemptions from Trials

Life is hard, and Christians are not exempt from difficulties.

2. What do the following New Testament passages tell us about trials and difficulties?
3. 1 Peter 4:12

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1. Philippians 1:29

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1. 1 Thessalonians 3:3, 4

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1. 2 Timothy 3:12

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One of the many challenges that we faced in our ministry to athletes was the challenge of the athlete’s responding to Christ’s offer because he thought it would advance his career. We always had to be sure that we didn’t present a “watered-down” presentation of the gospel that was more “palatable” to the athlete. In other words, if you trust Christ as your Savior, God will make you an all-star, you will get more playing time, and you will get a bigger contract!

Athletes are no different from anyone else. If they trust Christ, at some time they will face trials and challenges. Time and space do not permit for me to list the times ballplayers have really determined to live for Christ, and the result was that they were either traded or released, or they even suffered an injury. Satan is displeased when someone gets serious about his walk with God. Not only that, but trials still seem the best way to grow a Christian and the best way to allow Christ to be seen in our lives.

Immediate Rewards?

Several years ago I was speaking to two minor league baseball teams. After chapel, several players approached me and began a conversation. One of the players asked me if I had heard that So and So (a former baseball player) had become a Christian. I said that I had heard; then the player directing the question said, “I’m praying he will hit forty home runs, drive in one hundred runs, and bat over .300—wouldn’t that be great for God?”

I looked at those young men, their bright, eager faces reflecting their youth and strength. I knew they were hoping that what the first player had said was going to come true. If it was, then if they loved God, they would advance to the majors and become stars!

This is what I answered: “Maybe, but what if he has his worst year? What if he gets injured? Can God still use him? Maybe it would be a greater testimony if he loves God in spite of adversity. Anyone can say they love God if everything is going well.”

You would have thought I’d let air out of a balloon. My answer was not what they wanted to hear. By the way, that athlete, the superstar, developed cancer and had to leave his career early.

We all struggle with disappointment, and when it seems God is not consistently or powerfully answering our prayers, we are tempted to give up.

3. What was the key to Moses’ perseverance, according to Hebrews 11:27?

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4. Where was the apostle Paul’s vision directed, as seen in 2 Corinthians 4:18?

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Daniel kept praying, because he believed God. It didn’t matter what circumstances seemed to indicate. He still believed all the promises about Jerusalem, the temple, God’s people, and especially the Messiah. He was undaunted. In fact, it could be said of him that “he heard the inaudible, saw the invisible, believed the incredible, and thought the unthinkable.” Years ago someone challenged me with these words: “Bruce, is there anything happening in your life that cannot be attributed to you?” That question was very convicting.

Prayers Coupled with Faith?

5. Has God challenged you to trust Him for something specific? What?

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6. Can you think of something that God would receive incredible honor for if you trusted Him?

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Remember the story of the pastor who came to see me? Near the end of our conversation, I shared that I, too, have struggled at times with unanswered prayers, probably more than that young man. But I believe there are simply two choices: Either we believe God or we don’t. I certainly don’t believe Satan, who is the father of lies. I don’t always understand God, and I am often ignorant of His ways, but He is the only choice. I then said something that may bother you: “I have decided to go down with God.” Now, obviously, God is not going down, but we are putting all our trust in Him.

7. What did Job say in Job 13:15?

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8. What do you think Job meant?

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The key to praying regularly, the key to being a real man of prayer, is to believe God. I have been with many men who have experienced tragedy and heartache, men who are experiencing things that “don’t make sense.” I think of the man who has an anorexic daughter who has been in our prayers for years, the man whose sixteen-year-old son committed suicide, and the man whose eighteen-year-old son was found out to be in a sexual affair. The list could go on and on. But these men—all with godly home situations, all walking with God—have kept trusting, kept hoping, and kept praying despite the hurt and confusion.

The book of Job records a cruel accusation directed toward Job, but it is really an accusation directed at God.

9. Read Job 1:9–11 and 2:4 and 5. What did Satan accuse Job of? How does this accusation reflect on God?

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A Critical Question

Why do we serve God? Why do we say we love God? Is it because of what we hope He will do for us? And I’m not referring to His saving us. If we view Him as a “cosmic genie,” when He stops granting our wishes, we lose confidence in Him.

One day in basketball chapel, I was talking about God’s giving us the strength for trials. I gave each of the players a laminated card with the verse Philippians 4:13 on it: “I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.” Later on, just before the game, the star player, who didn’t attend chapel, came up to me and asked if he could have one of the cards (he had seen other players with them). I gave him one, and that night he had a fantastic game. He called me over and said, “Bruce, I had it in my shoe!” He thought it was some type of good-luck charm!

Daniel prayed because he loved God and he believed God, in spite of circumstances. The church and the world need more men like Daniel today. A century ago, E. M. Bounds wrote,

Christianity needs today, above all things else, men and women who can in prayer put God to the test and who can prove His promises.

10. Is there anything right now that could keep you from becoming a man of prayer?

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That day, in my office, the young pastor stood up and said, “I’m going down with God!” It was a great moment in his life.

We know, of course, that God is not going down! He is exalted and victorious over all. But even when all seems dim and frightening here, we will trust the Lord.

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A Verse to Memorize

“But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed” (James 1:6).

Next, I want to explore some practical ways to assist you in praying. We’ll look at these ways in the next lessons.