God’s Word is filled with promises, but they generally will not come to us unless we actively believe. Paul said to Timothy,
“Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called.” (I Timothy 6:12)
Our English phrase take hold is translated from the Greek word epilambanomai which means “to seize, lay hold of, or take possession of.” It comes from a metaphor drawn from the act of seizing someone with both hands to rescue him from peril. It is an active and aggressive word. It implies that if we want to experience God’s promises, we must take hold of them with a violent and aggressive faith.
On September 4, 1987, Henry Dempsey was flying a commuter jet about 4,000 feet above the Atlantic Ocean from Maine to Boston. He heard a rattling sound toward the rear of the plane, and leaving the controls to his copilot, went to investigate. As he approached the tail section, the plane hit turbulence and he was thrown forward against the rear door.
The door was hinged at the bottom but not properly latched. When Dempsey crashed against the door, it opened and sucked him out of the plane. The copilot saw the ''door ajar'' indicator light flash on and immediately requested an emergency landing at the nearest airport. He radioed the Coast Guard and asked for a search and rescue operation for a pilot who had fallen out of a plane.
But the rescue was not needed. The moment Dempsey had tumbled out of the plane, he seized the outdoor ladder railings. He held on for ten minutes upside down with only his feet inside the plane. When they landed, his head was twelve inches from the ground.
When the rescue workers arrived, he could not let go of the rail. He had seized it so tightly, it took more than fifteen minutes for the workers to pry his hands free. Henry Dempsey’s amazing rescue vividly portrays the essence of epilambanomai. He seized the ladder railings the way we must seize the promises of God.
Monday, June 29, 2009
The Power of Persistent Prayer
Jesus has given us some magnificent and astonishing promises concerning prayer. All effective prayer is based on a strong confidence in these promises.
“If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer.” (Matthew 21:22)
“I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Son may bring glory to the Father. You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it.” (John 14:13, 14)
“My Father will give you whatever you ask in my name. Ask and you will receive, and your joy will be complete.” (John 16:23-24)
“This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. And if we know that He hears us — whatever we ask — we know that we have what we asked of Him.” (I John 5:14, 15)
“All things for which you pray and ask, believe that you have received them, and they shall be granted you.” (Mark 11:24)
These verses make it plain that faith is an essential prerequisite for answered prayer.
The nineteenth century evangelist George Muller recounted an incident he experienced while crossing the Atlantic on an ocean liner to an engagement in Quebec. During the voyage, the ship encountered a severe fog that threatened to delay its arrival. Muller found the Captain and said, “I must be in Quebec on Saturday.” When the Captain told him his request was impossible, Muller responded, “I have never missed an engagement in fifty-seven years; let us go to the chart room and pray.”
Once in the chart room the incredulous Captain said, “Mr. Muller, do you know how dense the fog is?” “No,” Muller said, “my eye is not on the fog, but on God who controls every circumstance of my life.”
He then knelt and said a simple, faith-filled prayer. When he finished, the Captain knelt and began to pray also. Muller stopped him, saying, “As you do not believe, there is no need for you to pray. Get up, Captain, open the door and you will find the fog has lifted.” The Captain did as he was instructed, only to see that the fog had lifted. Muller made his engagement in Quebec on time.
Another example from his diary shows the importance of persistent faith in prayer.
“In November 1844, I began to pray for the conversion of five individuals. I prayed every day without a single intermission, whether sick or in health, on the land, on the sea, and whatever the pressure of my engagements might be. Eighteen months elapsed before the first of the five was converted. I thanked God and prayed on for the others. Five years elapsed, and then the second was converted. I thanked God for the second, and prayed on for the other three. Day by day, I continued to pray for them, and six years passed before the third was converted. I thanked God for the three, and went on praying for the other two.”
These two remained unconverted. Thirty-six years later he wrote that the other two were still not converted:
“But I hope in God; I pray on, and look for the answer. They are not converted yet, but they will be.”
In 1897, fifty-two years after he began to pray, these two men were finally converted – after Muller’s death.
“If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer.” (Matthew 21:22)
“I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Son may bring glory to the Father. You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it.” (John 14:13, 14)
“My Father will give you whatever you ask in my name. Ask and you will receive, and your joy will be complete.” (John 16:23-24)
“This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. And if we know that He hears us — whatever we ask — we know that we have what we asked of Him.” (I John 5:14, 15)
“All things for which you pray and ask, believe that you have received them, and they shall be granted you.” (Mark 11:24)
These verses make it plain that faith is an essential prerequisite for answered prayer.
The nineteenth century evangelist George Muller recounted an incident he experienced while crossing the Atlantic on an ocean liner to an engagement in Quebec. During the voyage, the ship encountered a severe fog that threatened to delay its arrival. Muller found the Captain and said, “I must be in Quebec on Saturday.” When the Captain told him his request was impossible, Muller responded, “I have never missed an engagement in fifty-seven years; let us go to the chart room and pray.”
Once in the chart room the incredulous Captain said, “Mr. Muller, do you know how dense the fog is?” “No,” Muller said, “my eye is not on the fog, but on God who controls every circumstance of my life.”
He then knelt and said a simple, faith-filled prayer. When he finished, the Captain knelt and began to pray also. Muller stopped him, saying, “As you do not believe, there is no need for you to pray. Get up, Captain, open the door and you will find the fog has lifted.” The Captain did as he was instructed, only to see that the fog had lifted. Muller made his engagement in Quebec on time.
Another example from his diary shows the importance of persistent faith in prayer.
“In November 1844, I began to pray for the conversion of five individuals. I prayed every day without a single intermission, whether sick or in health, on the land, on the sea, and whatever the pressure of my engagements might be. Eighteen months elapsed before the first of the five was converted. I thanked God and prayed on for the others. Five years elapsed, and then the second was converted. I thanked God for the second, and prayed on for the other three. Day by day, I continued to pray for them, and six years passed before the third was converted. I thanked God for the three, and went on praying for the other two.”
These two remained unconverted. Thirty-six years later he wrote that the other two were still not converted:
“But I hope in God; I pray on, and look for the answer. They are not converted yet, but they will be.”
In 1897, fifty-two years after he began to pray, these two men were finally converted – after Muller’s death.
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