PARENTHOOD
a divine stewardship

A brother expressed it very well when he said, "God's will is like a train engine, and our prayer is like the tracks of the train." The train can go many places, but it can only travel along the tracks. The power of the engine is very great, and it can go east, west, south, or north. Yet it can only go where the tracks are laid. God is not without power, yet He is controlled by man's prayer. All worthy prayers are prayers that pave the way for God's will. Hence, if we do not take up the responsibility of prayer, we will frustrate the accomplishment of God's will.

Three Wills in the Universe

When God created man, He gave man a free will, so that now there are three wills in the universe. One is the will of God, the second is the will of Satan, and the third is the will of man. Man wonders why God would not destroy Satan quickly. But God would not do this. He wants man to join Him in dealing with Satan. God has His will, Satan has his will, and man also has his will. God wants man's will to be joined to Him; He does not want to destroy Satan alone. We do not fully understand, but we know that God wants to do it this way. He does not want to act alone; He wants man to cooperate with Him. This is the responsibility of the church on earth.

In order to do something, God must first put His will within us through the Holy Spirit. He will only accomplish something after we have echoed it in our prayer. God operates through this procedure. He works this way. He wants man's cooperation; He wants a will that is one with Him and that echoes Him. If God does everything without us, then man does not need to be here, and we do not need to know God's will. Yet every part of God's will needs someone to carry it out, and He wants our will to become one with His will. 

The first step in carrying out His will is to pray out God's will and utter His will through our prayer. From this we see that prayer is a work. There is no work more important than this work because prayer is the speaking of God's will and the accomplishment of His will. Brothers and sisters, we have to know that God's will is uttered through our prayers. Therefore, prayers that originate from our self-will are useless prayers. Prayers that are according to God's will originate from God. He conveys His will to us through the Holy Spirit, and then we return the same thought to Him through our prayer. Prayers that are after God's heart have God's will as the starting point; man is merely the transmitting and responding organ. Prayer that originates from ourselves has no spiritual value.

... Hence, when we pray, we are not asking God to do what He does not want to do, and we are not asking Him to change His will. Rather, we are declaring God's will in prayer so that He can do what He intends to do. If we think that by begging desperately we can make God do what He does not want to do, we are wasting our energy; the effort is fruitless. If God does not want to do something, no one can make Him do it. We can only do one thing, and that is to pray for God to do what He wants to do. God will accomplish His work through our oneness with Him....

It would be wonderful if we could engage ourselves exclusively in the work of prayer. God is waiting for man to cooperate with Him so that He can accomplish His work. Some Christians have asked why God does not save more sinners. Why does He not make every believer victorious? We sincerely believe that God would do these things, if there were men who first prayed for them. God is not reluctant to work. He is waiting for a group of people who will cooperate with Him. As soon as man cooperates with God, He will work. There is much spiritual work to be done, but God is waiting for His children to respond....

Those who do not know God will say, "If God wants to do anything, He can do it all by Himself. Why is there the need for our prayer? God knows everything. If we pray too much, we may tire Him out." We have to remember that man has a free will. God will not act contrary to His will, but neither will He take over man's will. If man does not pray for God's will, He has to wait. If He wants His will to be done on earth as in heaven, He can do it Himself. Why does He need the disciples to pray, "Our Father who is in the heavens ... Your will be done, as in heaven, so also on earth"? (Matthew 6:9-10).... The answer to these questions is that God does not want to do anything alone; He wants man's cooperation. God is powerful, but we have to lay the tracks. The more tracks we lay, the more God works. Therefore, our prayers should be like a railway network, the more the better.

Seeing To, For, and Against Whom We are Praying

How should we lay the tracks for God's will? Ephesians 6:18 says, "By means of all prayer and petition, praying at every time in spirit and watching unto this in all perseverance." Our prayer should be by all means and at every time. We should have general prayers, and we should also have specific prayers. Many of our prayers are too loose and too careless; there are too many loopholes. This is why Satan finds many opportunities to creep in. If our prayers are fine and careful, and if we cover everything in prayer, Satan will not be able to do anything.

... Hence, the work of prayer is a very practical work. Whoever is lazy, foolish, and loose cannot participate in the work of prayer. After we have earnestly prayed over all the aspects of a certain matter, we often find the matter eventually being accomplished.

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