Page 51 - The Importance of Prayer Student Textbook

need to be appeased by our sacrifices and offerings. Remind Him again of the truth found in Isaiah 59:1
Behold, the LORD's hand is not shortened, That it cannot save; nor His ear heavy, that it cannot hear.
Remember, the One who promised to answer prayer is God Himself.

Psalm 119:18 Open thou mine eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of thy law. I call this verse
the supreme prayer of the learner. Begin to pray this prayer every time you sit down to read your Bible
or other books. Watch how God marvelously opens the understanding of your heart and be sure to
praise Him for this understanding. However, I want to sound this warning as your understanding of
scriptures increases. Always remember that greater understanding is not given to increase your
knowledge, but it is given to increase your obedience.

Psalm 147:9 He giveth to the beast his food, and to the young ravens which cry. It is interesting how God
uses different analogies to try and teach us about our value to Himself. In Psalm 147:9 He draws from
the life patterns of ravens. Ravens are very territorial and when young ravens reach a certain age, they
are driven from their birthplace and usually form gangs with other young ravens. Life is not easy for the
young ravens and during this period they usually express themselves with loud cries because of the
stress. God is trying to teach us that if he cares for the cries of the ravens will He not care for us?
Matthew 6:26 Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your
heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they?

When Misery Meets Mercy

C. H. Spurgeon said, I am learning to kiss the wave which has thrown me against the Rock of Ages. I will
never forget reading a book by C. H. Spurgeon on the Miracles of Christ over 30 years ago. In it he
pointed out that when Jesus healed a blind beggar in Luke 18:38 the beggar cried out, Jesus, Son of
David, have mercy on me! Mark 10:47 Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me! The scope of this syllabus
will not allow me to list miracle after miracle that Jesus did in the gospels, but two things seemed to
come up in most times He healed people. First there was a crying out to the Son of David, which means
the people crying out recognized He was the promised messiah. The second thing that surfaced was
there plea for Him to have mercy on them. Every time in the gospels that people in misery cried out for
His mercies to touch their lives, He did.

Is it any wonder that this was the case because we are told in Lamentations 3:22-23, It is of the LORD’S
mercies that we are not consumed, because His compassions fail not. They are new every morning: great
is thy faithfulness. And because his mercies greet us anew every morning, we are told that we can, come
boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.
(Hebrews 4:16) The Psalmist was so moved by the mercies of God he erupted in Psalm 89:1 and
proclaimed, I will sing of the mercies of the LORD forever: with my mouth will I make known thy
faithfulness to all generations. I beg you, I plead with you, learn how to plead with God to deal with you
in His mercies. When we do this, I believe we can find His grace to help in a time of need.

The When, Where, and Whom of Pray?

And interesting statement is made in Matthew 6:5 which says, and when you pray. It is automatically
assumed that a child of God will pray. With this assumption in mind then we can ask three follow-up
questions. Does the scriptures say anything about when we should pray, where we should pray, whom
we should pray to, and the posture of praying? Let me start with when we should pray. Psalm 55:17
says, Evening, and morning, and at noon, will I pray, and cry aloud: and He shall hear my voice. We learn

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