For Behold He Prayeth
Andrew D. Urshan
What a blessed divine expression! What an excellent divine recommendation! The Almighty is moved, heavens are stirred, the earth is visited by Him who is mindful of the oppressed. Why all this? What has happened? Jesus, the glorified one, in whom the whole Deity dwells and moves is speaking. He can keep no more silent, His heart is flooded with compassion over one of His bitter persecutors. Why? “FOR BEHOLD HE PRAYETH,” saith Jehovah from Heaven.
Hear 0 Earth! Hark ye inhabitants thereof! God is stooping down! God is seeking. “And He saw that there was no man, and wondered that there was NO INTERCESSOR.” What a disappointment! The Deity is almost puzzled! Why? For there was no intercessor. Then saith He who delights in prayer of the upright, “And I sought for a man among the, (His people) that should make up the hedge, and stand in the gap before me for the land, that I should not destroy it: but I found none. lsa. 59:16; Ezekiel 22:30.
The searcher of the hearts, the all seeing Lord; this time is not disappointed, For behold! there is one of which is said,”HE PRAYETH.” Oh! my faithful servant Ananias, thee up and hasten thyself toward the street which is called straight, and inquire in the house of Judas for one called Saul of Tarsus. Why Lord? “For behold he prayeth.” (Acts 9: 1-11).
O!dear ones, if the prayer of an enemy would stir God’s heart, shall not the prayers of His beloved children stir Him up more? Hath He not declared that He will “Avenge His own elect, which cry day and night unto Him, though He bare long with them?” Yes! He will, therefore, “Ye that make mention of the Lord keep not silence, and give Him no rest, till He establish, and till He make Jerusalem (The Church) a praise in the earth.”
It is a good thing the audience being moved and say of our prayers, “That brother knows how to pray,” and others, My!he certainly is a man of prayer. But how much more precious when, He who alone can answer prayers, say” Behold he prayeth.” Do all prayers being offered in these days move the Almighty? No! Indeed Why? Because they are not all a Saul’s of Tarsus.
Saul, first of all was struck by the Glory of the Lord and he was knocked down blind. That knocked out his great pride and human power. Second, he actually heard Jesus from Heaven and learned of his terrible meanness against His own Lord Jehovah. That broke down his ignorance and prejudice against the Lord of Glory.
Third, he received the Heaven-born instruction, “Arise, and go into the city, and it shall be told thee what thou must do.” These three things and his memory of tormenting God’s innocent children in Jerusalem made Saul’s prayer a prayer that could stir no less than the
Almighty God Himself.
There was a clean cut repentance and confession of sins behind that prayer. There was a sound and an everlasting “YES!” to God’s will behind that prayer. There was a real self hate and bitter sorrow behind that prayer, and there was great weeping and many tears with that prayer. The mighty conviction of Christ had not only broke loose that victim from all his religious pride, false holiness, mad courage and his mean actions, but also all his desires for food and sleep. Therefore we see him the supposed holy Pharisee now on his face bended low down like a publican crying out, “Have mercy on me a sinner? “Yea, a chief of sinners. No wonder that prayer lasted three days and nights, no wonder God’s heart had to be moved with compassion. No wonder Jesus Himself had to stir the earth and one who dwelt upon it and say, “Arise and go.” “For behold he prayeth.”
0! for a people who will pray, a people that will confess their faults to God and to one another, a people who will humble and reconcile with those who have an aught against them. Yea, a people who will pray to God with a broken heart while being struck by Christ’s revelation; so that the Omniscient One can look down and say to His myriads of the angels “Go down and strengthen my loved ones; FOR BEHOLD THEY ARE PRAYING.”
In the ancient days God looked down and saw the oppression of His people in the Land of Egypt and heard their cry. He Himself descended to say, “I have heard the cry of my people and have seen their oppression and I have come to deliver them by My mighty hand.” The same majestic One looked down again and saw this time their children in the promised land turning into secret places worshipping the idols, therefore their solemn meetings became an abomination to Him.
How about you? Do you know that the Lord’s eyes are looking upon the whole earth? Do you know God sees you? Can it be said of your life and of your prayers. “Behold he prayeth,” and prays the prayers that God will answer? Or, does God find you in company of the strife makers, the backbiters and the pleasure seekers? Oh that the Lord would be able to say of us, For behold he (or she) prayeth.”
“Sweet hour of prayer, sweet hour of prayer,” is not the song of this age. We are living in the days of “the falling away.” “The love of many shall wax cold.” “Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof.” Time for eating, for money making, time for singing and preaching and time for tea and coffee parties, .but no time to pray. Oh, let us take time to pray, then that will be taking time to be holy, that the blessed Jesus may look down and see and say, “For behold he prayeth.” What a delightful scene to our Lord who saw that prostrated soul, the praying Saul! No wonder he became Paul. No wonder his water baptism calling upon the Name Jesus his Lord cleansed him from all his sins,
no wonder he received his sight. Yea, no wonder he received the Holy Spirit baptism also and spoke in tongues more than they all. A four fold blessing as the answer to that “Behold he prayeth.”
1—Cleansed from all sin.
2—Filled with the Spirit.
3—Healed from soul and body blindness.
4—Anointed to preach the Gospel, all because God says, “For behold he prayeth.”
Let Him find us dear ones in this glorious attitude. Let Him be pleased with our right kind of Prayers. Yea, let Him find us also broken off from all the religious pride, meanness and unbelief, that He may gladly say of us also, “For behold they prayeth.”
Was the proud Pharisee persecuting Jesus? Yes indeed. He loved his own kinfolks if it were not for the Name of Jesus. He would have fought bravely for his people if they only had not that Name on them. He bitterly hated them and persecuted them because they were baptized in the Name of Jesus, and because they worshipped Jesus as their Jehovah Saviour. See Acts 2:38; 5:42; 9:1-2.
What a scriptural comfort to us who are being hated in these days for the sake of that matchless Name of the Deity! 0, lovers of the Lord, let us take our crosses meekly, and pray continually, and be glad that we are also counted worthy to bear His wonderful Name. He knows all about it, He knows all about it, He feels it with us, and He will conquer the modern Saul s and turn them to be His Pauls, if we give ourselves to prayer continually, that it may be said of you and me also, “For behold he prayeth.”
The above article, “For Behold He Prayeth” was written by Andrew D. Urshan. The article was excerpted from chapter 8 in Urshan’s book, The Supreme Need of the Hour.
The material is copyrighted and should not be reprinted under any other name or author. However, this material may be freely used for personal study or research purpo
