PRAISE AND PRAYER
PAUL’S “UNANSWERED” PRAYER
Part Fifteen of Sixteen
PRAYER varies greatly in the Scriptures, like all truth, to agree with the administration in which it occurs. Incalculable disappointment and distress have come to sincere saints who sought to be scriptural by copying the example of those in another era. As a whole they have the mistaken conception that, if we persist and persevere in prayer, we will certainly obtain what we want, otherwise there is something radically wrong. The best concrete reply to this is the experience of the apostle Paul.
MESSENGER OF SATAN
Paul
entreated the Lord thrice, that the splinter in his flesh should withdraw
from him. It is well that we are not told exactly what it was, but we know
that it was not a selfish desire for some forbidden or harmful thing, but
rather the removal of a physical infirmity, which, the apostle
probably supposed, would hinder his ministry. Can we imagine a more
laudable motive? To begin with, why should God use a messenger of Satan to
give Paul an infirmity, when his strength was so much needed in his
arduous task of making known his gospel? Most of us would consider this a
prime necessity. It is not easy to realize that it is even more important
to be kept down. It was given to him lest he should be lifted up
(2 Cor.12:7).
This should
appeal especially to those of us who, like Paul, have had a glimpse of the
transcendent revelations which he received, as set forth in His prison
epistles. No doubt his bonds in jail were also a special dispensation to
keep him humble, for why, otherwise, reveal them in such a contrastive
environment? Some of us have wondered why, with such a glorious message,
while we are not enclosed within prison walls, we should be so constricted
in our efforts to make it known. Moreover, we, like the apostle, cannot
help entreating the Lord to enlarge our sphere. It seems to be more
important that His servants should be kept down, than that they should be
strong and free to work their will.
In Paul’s
case, and doubtless in all other such situations, there was a combination
of two distinct causes for his weakness, both flesh and spirit. The
physical side of it doubtless caused pain and suffering, for this is the
effect of a splinter or “thorn.” On the spiritual side it was
occasioned by a messenger of Satan, and his “buffeting” would consist
of blows of a spiritual nature. The word buffet suggests punishment
inflicted by those with whom there is close contact, as in the case of our
Lord when tried before the chief priest (Matt.26:67; Mark 14:65), and,
hidden, in Paul’s own experience (1 Cor.4:11). But Satan’s messenger
would be limited to Spiritual blows, dealt by men’s tongues rather than
their hands, such as the reviling and calumniation, which made him the
offscouring and scum of all! (1 Cor.4:11-13).
We, who
look forward to be with Christ among the celestials in the future, should
consider the path which He trod on earth to reach His high office. He
first came down to suffer pain and shame during His earthly life,
quite apart from that which was His as a Sacrifice for our sins by death.
He also prayed to have a cup carried aside from Him, but added, “not My
will, but Thine, be done” (Luke 22:42). It is our privilege to
have fellowship with Him in these sufferings which come to us through the
opposition of the Adversary, yet are apparently due to the blows of men,
and very often struck by saints who are seeking to exalt themselves in the
estimation of the world.
Let it be
very clear in our minds that the great grace we have received is not
intended to lift us up now, in the estimation of the world. God is making
a background now in order to display His grace. He does not call many wise
or powerful or noble (1 Cor.1:26), so that there can be no boasting. And
His servants must be kept down, to properly portray His grace. Otherwise a
man like Paul, instead of being an obscure prisoner in Rome, should have
been seated on Caesar’s throne, with seven diadems upon his brow, or at
least have the triple crown of the supposed successor of Peter, for his
ministry far transcended that of the chief of the apostles.
We are told
that he prayed thrice for the removal of the splinter, the messenger of
Satan. He was not answered immediately. There can be no doubt that he was
heard the first time. This must have been humiliating to him, before he
realized that this was intended to heighten his humiliation. God does not
always “answer” the prayer of even the best of His servants without
delay. It does not imply some sin or offense, as the associates of Job
insisted. Like the splinter itself, it was part of the gracious discipline
to keep the apostle from being unduly exalted by the transcendent
revelations.
If we need
special strength for doing the work which God has given us to do, and some
physical weakness interferes, it is quite in order to pray for its
removal. At least, in the writer’s own experience, God has answered his
petitions for increased vigor, in order to do His work.
Prayer
should be the constant attitude of the human heart. But specific
petitions, such as this one, should not be constantly repeated, as if God
were deaf or indisposed to bless. Suffering and infirmity may be a token
of His care and a means of ultimate blessing, as in the case of Job. Nor
does it follow that bodily weakness is used to humble in all cases. If the
task assigned to a slave requires strength of body or of mind, God has
other means of keeping us down. Indeed, the Adversary, being a spirit, is
an adept in the use of spiritual say-spears [reviling] and vilification.
Job may have suffered more from his false friends accusations than from
his physical infirmity.
Twice Paul
repeated his request. Is that recorded as the limit to which we should go?
By that time we should carefully weigh the situation, and consider whether
the evil of which we wish to rid ourselves is not a blessing in disguise.
If it humbles us, that is one of the greatest of boons. Even weakness may
be a means of displaying God’s power. We are only an infinitesimal
fraction of humanity, and partake of a minute portion of God’s purpose
with the whole. He created evil in order to provide a background for
blessing, and to reveal Himself through it. So that we should not ask to
have all evil extracted from our experience, but rather inquire as to its
ultimate effect. Then we may be able to thank God for it, rather than
entreat Him to remove it.
Paul’s
specific request was not granted so far as we are aware. But who of
humanity, except His Lord, came anywhere near being as powerful as he?
Nothing else can compare with the power of his prison epistles. His
infirmity only exemplified the grace it reveals and emphasizes the
transcendent power it unveils. So that, instead of persevering in prayer
for release from his fleshly infirmities, Paul gloried in them and took
delight in them and the outrages and persecutions and distresses which
came to him for Christ’s sake. Instead of praying for their cessation,
He gives thanks for the privilege of bearing them. His request was
refused, his prayer was not “answered,” his desire was not granted,
but his spirit was enlightened and his heart was humbled, and he bowed in
subjection to God’s will, which is the great ultimate of all God’s
creatures.
A. E. Knoch
