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During the time when Victoria ruled as the Queen of England, she received an invitation to Sheffield for the ceremonial opening of the gates to the Town Hall of Sheffield.

 

As she went, the Queen carried in her hand a golden key.  She was told she had only to insert the golden key into its proper keyhole and turn it.  Thereon, the gates of the Town Hall of Sheffield would fly open.

 

Obedient to the one who instructed her on how to open the gates, Queen Victoria inserted the golden key into its keyhole and turned it.

 

In that moment, by the action of electricity, the Town Hall gates of Sheffield flew open.

 

In the same way, Jesus Christ knows something.  He knows what opens heaven's gates.  And we can go a step further.  He enables us to believe that the golden key of prayer, if we use it, will open the gates of heaven.5

 

We have available to us the golden key of prayer.  But we seldom use it to open the gates of heaven.  Sadly, days pass without praise to God or bringing our needs to a faithful Father.  We breathe a word of thanks at mealtime.  We profess to pray throughout the day by "mentally conversing with God by the attitude of our hearts."

 

We should meditate upon God and His word throughout the day.  But, time for effectual, fervent, private prayer seldom fits into our busy schedules.

 

Further, we demean prayer by making it a last resort.  "If you cannot do anything else, at least you can pray," we say.  Or we declare,  "All I can do is pray."  How sad that we make prayer the refuge of the last resort.

 

Furthermore, to act like everything depends upon you demeans prayer and the God Who answers prayer.  It implies equality between prayer and our actions.

 

In effect, such an attitude deifies mankind and humanizes God.  It robs God of His sovereignty.  A more correct statement would say, pray like it all depends upon God, because it does.

 

PRAYER HOLDS THE KEY

TO GOD'S SUCCESS

 

Prayer holds the key to God's success in our lives.  The Bible abounds with examples of this truth.  In Genesis 24, we find prosperity and prayer linked together in the successful journey of Abraham's servant to find a wife for Isaac.

 

Nehemiah longed to return to Jerusalem to rebuild its walls.  In Nehemiah 1:11, he prayed to God:

 

"O Lord, I beseech Thee, let now thine ear be attentive to the prayer of Thy servant, and to the prayer of Thy servants, who desire to fear Thy name: and prosper, I pray Thee, Thy servant this day, and grant him mercy in the sight of this man."

 

God heard and answered Nehemiah's prayer, and he returned to Jerusalem and rebuilt its walls.  Prayer was the key to God's prosperity in Nehemiah's life.

 

Daniel believed in prayer, too.  It became an essential part of his life.  He prayed, not as a last resort, but as a first priority.  And he tasted the full prosperity of God.

 

Daniel's example speaks to our need to "...come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need."6  In Daniel 2, we find the first recorded prayer of Daniel.

 

We Need To Pray For Wisdom.

First, Daniel prayed for wisdom concerning his pathway.  King Nebuchadnezzar dreamed a troubling dream.  He woke up, however, before it concluded and he forgot it.

 

So, the king called all of his magicians, astrologers, and sorcerers to come and show him his dream and its meaning.  But they failed.

 

Frustrated and furious, the king ordered the slaughter of all of Babylon's wise men.  When Daniel learned of the order, he questioned Arioch, the captain of the king's guard, about the king's decree.  When Daniel heard the king's plan, he pleaded with the king for time to determine the interpretation of the dream.

 

After meeting with the king, Daniel went home and called a prayer meeting with his companions.  He faced a difficult dilemma, but he knew the value of prayer.

 

In Daniel 2:18, he and his companions prayed:

 

"(They) desire(d) mercies of the God of heaven concerning this secret; that Daniel and his fellows should not perish with the rest of the wise men of Babylon."

 

They asked for wisdom from God for Daniel, and God gave it to him.  During the night, God revealed to Daniel the secret of the king's dream in a vision.  Daniel believed God and found wisdom from Him.

 

A growing uncertainty about the future often troubles us.  Confusion and uncertainty dog our footsteps.  In spite of this, we can obtain wisdom from God for our pathway through prayer.

 

We read God's promise in James 1:5:

 

"If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him."

 

God has our welfare in mind.  He hears our prayers and gives us wisdom freely.  He clears the fog of confusion from our minds, and by His Spirit gives generous wisdom to those who ask in faith.

 

Our Prayers Should Include Praise To God.

Daniel's prayers included praise to God.  God gave to Daniel the dream and its interpretation.  And Daniel praised and extolled the name of God.  In fact, Scripture devoted more explanation to Daniel's praise than to his petition.

 

Too often, we discount the importance of our praise and worship of the Father.  We fill our mouths with arguments advocating our appeals before God.  But we seldom adore Him.

 

We repeat the mistake of the Samaritan lepers whom Christ healed.  Like those ungrateful lepers, we go on our way without honoring the One Who hears and answers our prayers.7

 

Our prayers should always include praise to God.  He deserves glory and honor as the All-Sufficient One.  He calls us to enjoy Him.  Through praise, we sense His presence in our lives.  And the pleasure of His presence overflows into spontaneous celebration.  Praise completes our enjoyment of God.

 

We Should Pray In a Private Place.

Daniel found a private place to commune with God.  He did not settle for a grab bag prayer life.  He went to a specific place to pray and to praise God.  In Daniel 6:10, it says:

 

"He went into his house; and his windows being open in his chamber toward Jerusalem, he kneeled upon his knees three times a day, and prayed, and gave thanks before his God..."

 

Daniel set a certain place and a specific time for prayer and it helped him to establish the habit of prayer.

 

Jesus often left the crowds and departed alone to a private place to pray.  In fact, Christ taught us the value of private prayer.  According to Matthew 6:6, He taught:

 

"But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly."

 

Most Christians seldom take the time for private prayer.  We pray while doing something else.  Rarely does our schedule include time alone with God.  The clamor and clatter of life drowns out the still, small voice of God.

 

We can only hear it in the quiet of the closet.  Private prayer brings public provision.

 

We Need To Pray Persistently.

Daniel also prayed persistently.  In Daniel 6:10, it says he went to his chamber to pray as he often did.  Devotion to the private place became a pattern in his life.  He communed with God regularly and faithfully.

 

When teaching on prayer, Christ says in Matthew 7:7-11:

 

"Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you: for every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened.  Or what man is there of you, whom if his son ask bread, will he give him a stone?  Or if he ask a fish, will he give him a serpent?  If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your Father which is in heaven give good things to them that ask Him?"

 

The Scriptures urge the child of God to ask, seek, knock, and persist in prayer.  It reveals in James 4:2:

 

"Ye have not because ye ask not."

 

Prayer, alone with God, brings the riches of heaven into our lives.

 

Prayer should accept God's Pardon For Sin.

Daniel prayed for pardon.  In Daniel 9, we read that he humbled himself and confessed his sin and that of his nation against God.  God heard Daniel, responded to his cry, and forgave him.

 

Unconfessed sin in our lives closes the gates of heaven. In Psalm 66:18 it says:

 

"If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me."

 

God promised in 1 John 1:9:

 

"If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness."

 

When we confess our sins, the prosperity of God thrives in us.  Further, the forgiveness of our debtors assures its benefits.

 

A few years ago, a business trip took me through Indianapolis, Indiana.  While waiting for my plane, I stopped at a store in the airport.  They had on display an electric toy car that ran through an obstacle course.

 

As it ran its route, it stopped running because its power ceased.  Its battery needed recharging.  This fine toy had to wait for its propelling power to make it work.

 

This story remarkably pictures the life of the Christian.  As that toy car cannot run without power, neither can we carry through to completion the will of God without the power of God.  The power to accomplish the will of God comes as we wait for it in daily prayer.

 

Truly, as Alfred Lord Tennyson said:

 

"More things are wrought by prayer than this world dreams of."

 

Prayer is an indispensable function in God's idea of success.  God hears our private pleas and rewards us openly.  Praise to God bursts forth from our hearts for His goodness.  Persistent, daily prayer is the key to success God's way.

 

Biblical Law #4: Persistent daily prayer leads to God's success.