Global Prayer Team e-Newsletter -- April 7, 2008

We Can Help Each Other in Prayer! by A. B. Simpson

“You are working together for us by your prayers…” (2nd Corinthians 1:11).

There is something in the unity of the spirit which we may not be able to totally understand, but must be recognized as an essential spiritual force and a divine condition of a larger blessing. I may not be able to tell you why two musical notes produce a more beautiful melody than one, but the fact is unquestioned, and four notes lift us to an even greater harmony than two. Our Savior alluded to this spiritual principle when He used the beautiful language, “'If two of you on earth agree about anything you ask for, it will be done for you by my Father in heaven." This symphony is more than mere agreement of judgment; it is the full harmony of spirit and soul in the Holy Spirit.

The Apostle Paul urged above all things the prayers of his friends, and attributed much of his blessing and success to their fellowship in his grace and work. This is one way in which every Christian can be useful. The prayer that they offer up in the Spirit for other Christian workers will affect the added usefulness of the worker… God links us together in the body of Christ largely with a view to this cooperation. In the human body some organs are intended to supply nourishment and life, while others are designed to be the working implements of the body. The hands, the tongue and feet work outwardly and the heart, lungs and organs of assimilation supply and sustain them in their activity - It works just the same way in the body of Christ.

Not only are we to help the work of our brethren, but we are especially to help in their prayers. There is a peculiar power in the unity of prayer which is produced by the Holy Spirit. How often we have seen that when one heart would have grown faint, a friend helps lift the soul and the burden of prayer until the trouble was over and both again stand strong. It is a great thing to have a true Christian friend to share the burden of prayer, and it would be a happy and holy influence in all our friendships if they were linked in this praying bond and blessed ministry.

However, we must remember that it is essential to the power of united prayer that we don’t overly depend on others for the answer to our prayers. This would be superstition, and would neutralize all our blessing. This would also destroy the genuine unity of the prayer. If my eyes are upon my brother and his eyes are upon the Lord, we are not one in spirit – But, if we both forgetting about each other, are looking to the Lord, that common look unites us in that very act and moment in perfect oneness. It is very deceptive and destructive to depend upon the prayers of good Christians. We must not get into the habit of seeking other people’s prayers because we feel that they have some special influence with God. We are heard not for ourselves but for Christ’s sake. It’s actually when we start to forget about all our helpers and begin looking only to the Lord, that the Lord lays our needs upon some of His servants and leads them to claim for us the blessing for which we ourselves have already begun to look to God.

Reference: The Life of Prayer by A.B. Simpson

A. B. Simpson 1843-1919

Albert Benjamin Simpson was born on Prince Edward Island on December 15th, 1843. His family emigrated from Scotland and eventually relocated to a farm in western Ontario. After graduating from Knox College in Toronto in 1865, Simpson accepted a pastorate at Knox Church in Hamilton, one of Canada's largest and most influential churches. Simpson was next called to lead the Chestnut Street Presbyterian Church in Louisville, Kentucky. However, after the recent Civil War many of the churches in this part of the country were still bitterly divided and struggling with racial and social resentment. As a neutral Canadian pastor, A. B. Simpson was greatly used to bring reconciliation and forgiveness among many of these divided congregations. At his suggestion, the pastors agreed to come together and pray for a fresh baptism of love that would sweep away all their differences. Soon reconciliation began to break in among the ministers and then opened the way for two months of nightly gatherings across the denominations. As the pastors came together in unity, over 10,000 local residents joined them in prayer meetings lasting for a year.

Later Mr. Simpson went on to pastor the New York 13th Street Presbyterian Church. However in 1881, he resigned and began to hold independent evangelistic meetings in New York City. A year later, the Gospel Tabernacle was built, and Simpson began to turn his vision toward establishing an organization for missions. A. B. Simpson was instrumental in organizing and leading two different evangelization societies—The Christian Alliance and The Evangelical Missionary Alliance. In 1897 these two ministries were combined under the name; “The Christian and Missionary Alliance”. A. W. Tozer writes, "For thirty years he continued to lead the society which he had formed, and never for the least moment did he forget or permit the society to forget the purpose for which it was brought into being . . . 'It is to hold up Jesus in His fullness, the same yesterday, and today, and forever!' … He wanted the Alliance to be a spiritual association of believers who hungered to know the fullness of the blessing of the Gospel of Christ, working concertedly for the speedy evangelization of the world."

On October 28, 1919, Simpson slipped into a coma and sadly never recovered. His Family said that his final words were uttered in intercession for all the missionaries he had helped to send into the World. A. B. Simpson strongly believed that close fellowship with Jesus was an essential part of every effective and joy-filled ministry. He was sometimes heard to say, "I am no good unless I can get alone with God."