They Don’t Pray Enough
Spiritual Building-Stone No. 167
Colossians 4:2-4, “Continue in prayer, and watch in the same with thanksgiving; withal praying also for us, that God would open unto us a door of utterance, to speak the mystery of Christ, for which I am also in bonds: That I may make it manifest, as I ought to speak.
Listen what God’s Prophet said about it:
You know, we could sing too much. We could shout too much till we got hoarse. And we could sing at the wrong time or shout at the wrong time, but here’s one thing we’re never out of order: when we’re praying. [1]
Prayer changes things. Prayer changes death to life. Prayer changes sickness to health, changes sinners to saints. It’s prayer. You may laugh too much. You may shout too much. You may eat too much, but you’ll never pray too much. The Bible said, “I would that man pray everywhere, lifting up holy hands,”(I Tim.2:8). So you’ll never be able to pray too much. [2]
Father, it is the greatest privilege that a mortal ever had was to close his eyes, and open his heart, and speak to You. And we know that You hear, if we could just believe that You hear. For Jesus said, “If you ask the Father anything in My Name it’ll be granted.” That was on conditions if we wouldn’t doubt it (Mark 11:24-25). [1]
I love the Word. Oh, I
just wished I could express it. You know where I preach my best sermons? In
my prayer room at home or somewhere, in the bed. I lay at nighttime and get
anointed with the Holy Spirit; I preach a half a night to myself. Oh, if I
could just do it like that in the pulpit, but I get too quick, too fast, and
in a little bit I run ahead of myself. I guess that’s ‘cause of
being nervous, and kind of lose my thought. But excuse me it be…
Don’t you like to get alone with the Lord? My, my, just be alone. There’s
sometimes... We used to sing a little song, “There’s sometimes
I like to be all alone with Christ, my Lord.” Did you ever hear it?
I can tell Him all my troubles all alone. And that’s the way He wants
to get you, alone to Himself. Your prayers, not so much as when you’re,
oh, maybe coming, you know, for instance be, well, out in the public when
you’re praying like in church or around the altar. Get alone. You’ll
pray a different prayer when you’re by yourself than you do when you’re
in the public. Slip alone, all of you; go out and just have a real secret
meeting place, where you and the Lord meet several times a day and pray (Luke
22:39-46; 6:12; 9:18). [3]
Preachers, a minister, why we don’t have burdens for lost souls. I believe that it’s a lacking of the revival. I believe we should still try to pray to God to give us passions for lost souls until Jesus comes. [4]
And remember, the astronaut is controlled by a radar power. You seen them bring John Glenn in. I looked down there at Cape Canaveral and seen that great big radar thing, and you couldn’t even see him nowhere, but you could tell where he was by the way that radar was pointing. That’s where he was at. See? And we got a radar too: prayer. Prayer is the radar power that directs the astronaut. “Ask the Father anything in My Name; I’ll do it.” See? Just watch the way the prayer’s going, you can see the way he’s pointing. Amen. Just watch the way the church is praying, you can see the way the missiles will fly. You can tell it by the way the astronauts are traveling, by the way the church is praying. [5]
And now, I thank you for praying for me. I knew many of you’d be praying when you heard that I’d gotten hurt. And one little group that just... My daughter back there, Rebekah, wrote Sister Dauch that comes here at the church, a letter, and told her about it. And she called up Meda a couple nights after that, said, “I don’t know whether it helped or not, but all of us group up here got together.” The Methodist minister, and Brother Brown, their relative and all of them got together, prayed all night for me. Said, “I don’t know whether God heard or not, but we knowed that Brother Branham prayed for so many; we thought we’d pray for him.” That’s the kind He does hear, (See? Yes, sir!) those kind like that.
Brother Crase, one of
our brethren here, Satan after him just recently, hit a culvert, oh, it just
cut his... completely. I don’t see how he ever got out of it alive.
And so he was laying out there in the hospital and said there was a little
brother come in from New Albany, named Metcalf, and he said, “Brother
Crase, I’m not worthy to come pray for you,” but said, “the
Lord just put it on my heart, so I couldn’t help it. And just come out
and knelt down, and said a little prayer and went out. God healed Brother
Crase right there. See? But see, it’s the gift of healing in the Body
of Christ, one member to another (I Cor. 12:4-11; 14-27).
Don’t think because you’re just a lay member, that... You’re
just as much member as anybody else. That’s just as much my finger as
this arm is my arm, or this ear is my ear. See? It’s just a member of
the body. If one member suffers, all members suffers with that (I Cor. 12:26).
A unity, how a blessed unity. [6]
Isn’t it
strange that God wants the people to have part into it? When Jesus looked
out upon the harvest, He said, “The harvest is ripe; the laborers are
few. You pray the Lord of the harvest (That was Him.)--you pray to Me, that
I’ll send laborers into My harvest.” (Matth. 9:36-38). It’s
some part you have to do. God’s waiting for His church to call on Him
(Rom. 10:12-13). He’s always did it. God is waiting today for the people
to call His servant into action. And the servant can’t get into action
till the people prays.
Israel could not get into action down there with signs and wonders until they
fell on their face and prayed for a deliverer (Exodus 3:6-8). God had His
deliverer. God had a prophet hanging up there in the wilderness, kept him
there for forty years waiting for them to get right to pray. But when they
got right and started praying, then God sent the deliverer. God will do the
same thing today, if the people will just get together, get to praying. All
right. First they have to pray. God waits. [7]
God gives the
answer to your prayer. You asked, and you shall receive. I could stop here
for hours on men and women, Christians even, praying for something; and God
gives the answer and they don’t even recognize it.
And now, God gave them the answer. They wanting a Messiah. They knowed that
they’d had Caesars, and they’d had Davids; they’d had Solomons
the wise man; they’d had David the mighty warriors; they’d had
all kinds; but they knowed they had to have help from heaven and they... God
had promised them a Messiah. And He sent them that Messiah in answer to their
prayer, but they didn’t want Him. (Dan. 9:25-26; John 19:15; John 1:11)
I wonder today, if our prayers... You hear them say, “Pray for a great
revival. Pray for this. Pray for a breaking forth. Pray for unity.”
I wonder, if God would send such a program, if we would accept it. I just
wonder if we would accept what He sends to us. The reason that we pray for
these things, because we know it’s needy. But when God sends it in the
way that He wants it, then it’s not according to our taste, and therefore,
we won’t receive it. And that’s the way it was in that day. If
He was not in the taste of their belief and their... They would not receive
Him again today. That’s the reason they asked this question, “Who
is this? Who is this fellow that’s coming?” [8]
A sign that’s overlooked, the real sign, and they miss it. They always
do. Back to the true church, the true Message. [9]
Jesus said, “Whatever
you ask the Father in My Name, that will I do.” (John 16:23). Did you
ever realize what that means? Do you realize if we go before God in the Name
of Jesus, it’s just the same as Jesus Himself praying? It isn’t
me praying anymore. If I come in His Name, and He recognizes His Name, and
Jesus said, “Whatever you ask the Father in My Name, that I do.”
And then I go to the Father in Jesus’ Name, it isn’t me praying
anymore; it’s Jesus. It’s His Spirit praying through me (Romans
8:26-27).
And then I’ve got to receive what I ask for, because He said it, and
it’s God’s Own Word. It can’t do nothing else but produce
just what it said.
So then we believe that we are... This is the confidence we have in God that
we get what we ask for, for He’s God, and cannot take back His Word.
He’s got to stay with His Word. (I John 3:21-22).
So then, “If ye abide in Me and My Words abide in you, ask what you
will, and it’ll be given unto you” (John 15:7). Isn’t that
simple? Faith created. We was made for that purpose. Then through the fall,
why, we was taken away from that, and then in redemption we was brought back
to it again. [10]
Somebody said: “What
do you pray to? I asked for so-and-so and certain things; I didn’t get
it.”
I said, “You pray wrong. We should never pray to change God’s
mind; we should pray to change our mind. God’s mind don’t need
any changing. It’s right.” I said, “Not what you pray for...”
I know a young Catholic boy one time had a prayer book saying prayers for
his mother to live. And she died, and he throwed the prayer book in the fire.
Well, see... I don’t go for the prayer book, but anyhow... See, you
take the wrong attitude. You’re trying to tell God what to do. Prayer
should be, “Lord, change me to fit Your Word,” not change, not,
“Let me change Your mind; You change my mind. You change my mind to
Your will, and Your will’s written here in the Book. And Lord, don’t
let me go till You got my mind set just like Your mind. And then when my mind
is set like Your mind, then I’ll believe every Word You wrote. And You
said in there You’d make everything work together for good to them that
loves You, and I love You, Lord. It’s all working together for the good.”
(Romans 8:28-29) [11]
You know, sometimes when we are praying for others, we are the one that gets the help many times, when you’re praying for others. [12]
Now, Jesus, He didn’t say, “Lay hands on and pray.” He said, “These signs shall follow them that believe, if they lay hands on the sick” (Mark 16:17-18). Never said, pray for them; just laid hands on them. The order of praying is, “Call the elders of the church, let them anoint them in oil and pray over them” (James 5:14-16). That’s for the church. But the evangelistic gift of healing is just lay hands on the sick. We know that. Not pray for them, lay hands on them, these signs shall follow. [13]
Brother Branham was asked:
“Tell us what we can do for you in any way to help lighten the load.”
Now, isn’t that sweet. See?
“What can we do to lighten the load?” Yes, brother, sister, ever
who it is writing this, pray for me; that’s the best thing to do. Thank
you. I don’t need money. I... Enough of that comes in to take care of
me. Thank the Lord for that. I don’t need clothes. Most the time people
give me my clothes that I wear. And my friends and things give me clothes.
And I get enough money to feed my family; that’s all we need. And you
can pray for me though, ‘cause I certainly need spiritual help. [14]
So if the prayer of faith brings God’s blessings down, let’s continue
to pray. [15]
And I listened to these, this young fellow and this other one over here, praying awhile ago, with all that enthusiasm. I thought, “You know, I used to be able to pray like that, without catching my breath, hardly.” And then you get older, you kind of slow down a little, you know, and that. You’re still moving, but you’re in second gear as I told Brother Wood out there. And then after while you get down into low gear, when you get about seventy or eighty, I guess. But, you know, you’re still moving though. As long as you can move, what difference does it make? Just a little more time to get there. [16]
Jesus at the house of Jairus didn’t have to pray (Mark 5:21-24,35-43); He was the Word. I don’t have to pray, if I can see the vision, ‘cause the Word’s already made ready. I have to pray to get the Word, get what God says, then I can speak It after I get what He says. But He was the Word. Amen! [17]
Now, in the Scripture
once there was a man by the name of Jehoshaphat, a great man, a religious
man. And he went over to another king, which was the King of Israel. And he,
Jehoshaphat being the King of Judah, and he went down to Ahab, the King of
Israel, and they got all buckled up together and made an alliance with one
another to go fight up at Ramoth-gilead. (I Kings 22:1-38). And they did it
without first praying.
Oh, if people could only realize. That’s why I come this morning and
ask you to remember me as I go overseas. In all things, pray. Someone come
the other day and said, “Brother Branham, do you think it’s wrong
to do a certain thing?”
I said, “What are you questioning about?” See? If there’s
a question in your mind, leave it alone. Don’t do it at all. Just stay
with that. When you start to do anything, and if it’s a question whether
it’s right or wrong, stay away from it. Don’t go into it at all.
Then you know you’re right.
Now, all things ought to be considered prayerfully first. “Seek ye first
the Kingdom of God and His righteousness and all these other things will be
added” (Matth. 6:33-34). I am positive sure this morning if men and
women could only get into the position of where their soul, their thinking,
their attitudes would be perfect in the sight of God, that would be one of
the most powerful churches that ever existed. [18]
I want to give
you a little secret. The Lord has blessed me greatly, and to Whom I give praise,
for praying for the sick. And I have watched it through these years, and I
have found it to be the absolute truth. I can never, never get my prayers
through till actually I get right into the real fellowship with the person
I’m praying for. You’ve got to get down and feel that person’s
condition.
Here not long ago, down in Mexico, poor, old Mexican man, black, hair gray,
and his mustache gray, never had, a probably, a decent meal in his life, and
there he come to the platform; Catholic, by faith; moving around with a little
shawl over him, no shoes on, his feet wrinkled. He was asking for me. And
when he knelt down before me. I picked him up by the hands. And he reached
to find his beads, and old wore-out looking beads, he’d rubbed over
them so much to say his prayers. And I said, “That’s not necessary,
dad. You don’t have to do that. Just put that away, just for a minute.”
The interpreter telling him. Then he felt around to me. I said, “Just
come here, dad. I want you to believe on the Lord Jesus.” And he put
his old hands up; he got ahold of my shoulders, and leaned his head across
my shoulder. I looked down at them old wrinkled feet, dusty, dirty. I flipped
off one of my shoes to see if it would fit him. I’d rather go bare-footed
than to see him walk off like that. See, and my heart went to him; he was
blind (James 2:13).
Now, there’s when you really get into it. All of our culture will fail.
All of our signs will fail. All of our gifts will fail. But love never faileth
(I Cor. 13:4-7). That’s what takes to hold the grip.
And I thought, “Poor, old fellow, about the age my daddy would be if
he was living.” And I thought, “Maybe he’s got a child too
somewhere.” And he was mumbling off something, and the interpreter didn’t
give it to me. And I looked at the old fellow, I just couldn’t... Not
in my eyes, but in my heart. I could just like teardrops dropping. “Poor,
old thing,” I thought, “he’s probably never had a good meal
in his life; ragged.” And I entered in with him, entered into his affliction.
I thought, “Besides being poor, besides his condition and his affliction,
all that, yet in a dark world, can’t see: blind.” I thought, “O
God, what if that was my daddy standing there?” Then I got the feeling
of Him. I said, “Heavenly Father, be merciful to this poor blind man.”
It wasn’t praying from my head. It was Something in my heart praying
for that. See, but, love...
And I heard him going. And there the Mexicans, by the tens of thousands was
screaming. I wondered what it was. He was screaming, “I can see. I can
see.” Then he turned around and knelt down and started to rubbing my
shoes, trying to pat me on the foot, and I raised him up. And he run up and
down, the old fellow stooped over, hollering “I can see. I can see.”
What was it? Entering into the fellowship with him. Love, that’s what
does it, no strain, just pure, unadulterated love. That’ll beat all
the gifts of laying on of hands. That’ll beat all the interpretations
and speaking with tongues (I Cor. 13:8-13). That’ll beat all the...
I’d say it, the melodious voices of singing. That’ll beat everything,
if you’ll just enter into the love of God with the person you’re
trying to win to the Lord Jesus. And you get to studying about that poor lost
friend of yours until you just simply can’t stand it day and night,
you just got to go to him in love. Watch what the Holy Spirit will do. “The
love of God constrains us.” (II Cor. 5:14).
That’s what a real Christian does. You pray and humble yourself, and
keep before God day and night in order you might give yourself to somebody
else [19], just like I want somebody to hold for me and pray while I was going
through my trials, and you want somebody for yours. [20]
Not what you keep, it’s what you give that counts. You must give yourself
out to others. That’s the way Jesus did. He gave Hisself to others.
[19]
And I can’t love Christ until first I love His people. See? I’ve
got to love His people. So if I love His people, then I love Him (I John 3:14-18;
4:7-13). [21]
Today men walk ignorantly; they don’t know that this Word is the Truth. They think it’s some kind of a ism. They don’t dig down deep enough to get into the spirit of revelation. They don’t pray enough; they don’t call upon God enough. They just lightly take it, “Oh, well, I believe it’s God. Sure.” The devil believes the same thing. The devil believes it more than some people claim to believe; the devil believes it and trembles (James 2:19). People just believe it and go on, but the devil trembles, knowing his judgment is coming. And people believe it and don’t pay no attention that judgment that’s coming. [22]
The Holy Spirit has no more right-of-way in the church than nothing. No more prayer meetings, no more agonizing with God to fulfill His Word. No more believing that the Word is still the same yesterday, today, and forever! [23]
A woman said, “Who
did Jesus pray to in the garden of Gethsemane,” on a street meeting
one time.
I said, “I want to ask you something. You testified you had the Holy
Ghost. Where’s it at? What do you pray to?” It’s on the
inside of you, of course.
Well, we have the Spirit with measure. He had it without measure. We are sons
and daughters of God by measure, (II Cor. 10:13; Rom. 12:3) like taking a
spoonful of water out of the ocean, and He’s the whole ocean. But the
same chemicals that’s in the spoon is in the whole ocean. It’s
quantity, but the same quality. Therefore, if Jesus Christ’s the same
yesterday, today, and forever (Heb. 13:8), God is in us. Yes. [24]
Lord Jesus, we humbly come confessing our wrong. We come confessing that we are worthy of sickness and death and sorrow, but we are accepting Your propitiation for our sins and our sickness (John 3:14-15). And tonight these sons and daughters of God setting here, and hear the correction of the Word, and raising their hands, and wanting a closer walk. You said the prayer of faith shall save the sick and God shall raise him up; and if he’s did any sin, it shall be forgiven him. Confessing your faults one to another, pray one for the other that you might be healed. For the effectual fervent prayer of the righteous availeth much (James 5:16). [25]
References:
[1] “Birth Pains”, pg. 5
[2] “Faith”, par. E-5
[3] “Faith Once Delivered to the Saints”, pg E-8
[4] “Questions&Answers”, COD pg.1162, Q-398
[5] “Countdown”, par. 85
[6] “Possessing all Things”, par. 12-14
[7] “True Sign that’s Overlooked”, par. 141b-143
[8] “Who Do You Say This is?”, par. 55-57
[9] “True Sign that’s Overlooked”, par.186
[10] “Fundamental Foundation f. Faith”, par. 16-17
[11] “Christ Revealed in His own Word”,par.33-35
[12] “Why”, par. E-8 b
[13] “Let us See God”, par. 196
[14] “Questions&Answers”, COD pg.1162,Q-397
[15] “Revelation Chap.4, Pt.1”, par. 43
[16] “Warning then Judgment”, par. 10
[17] “Wisdom Versus Faith”, pg. 52
[18] “Enticing Spirits”, par. 42-45
[19] ”Revelation Book of Symbols”, par.35-42;48
[20] “Indictment”, pg. 3
[21] “Letting off the Pressure”, par. 27 b
[22] “Indictment”, pg. 43
[23] ”Seed not Heir with Shuck”, par. 126
[24] “Show us the Father”, par. E-68 b - E-69
[25] “Things that are to Be”, par. 153