One day Jesus was praying in a certain place. When he finished, one of his disciples said to him, "Lord, teach us to pray, just as John taught his disciples". -- Luke 11:1

Even before they founded L'Abri, the Schaeffers lived by prayer and depended on the prayers of others to help them show forth the glory of God and lead others to faith in Him. Because some people recognized their closeness to God, their life of prayer, and God's continual faithfulness to them, they wanted the Schaeffers to teach them about God and prayer. Before they moved, Madame Turrian had known the Schaeffers long enough to see God work in their lives and solve their problems, so she asked them to teach her how to pray.

First, Fran and Edith pointed her to Jesus Christ, and His willingness to answer the prayers of those who placed their faith in Him alone as their Savior. They assured her that God had pledged himself to answer the prayers of believers in Jesus, of those who prayed in His name. They showed her in the Bible how God answered the many prayers of His people and met their daily needs. They told her to pray and read the Scriptures to learn why God answers the prayers of His people, and said that the Holy Spirit would teach her more about prayer the more she prayed.

When Madame Turrian learned that the Schaeffers wanted to live in the mountains and not return to her boarding house, she became concerned about the income she needed each month. Of course the Schaeffers had already been praying about this, but they encouraged her to pray as well, to see what God could do for her in answer to her prayers. In this time of her own need, Madame Turrian began to learn that God wanted her to trust in Him and not the Schaeffers' prayers or other renters to meet her needs. God wanted her to learn that He loved her and would hear her prayers too.

Like so many new believers, Madame Turrian prayed, but also set the conditions that she wanted God to fulfill in answering her prayers. She did not want to release the Schaeffers from their rental agreement until every room they had used had been rented. She prayed for God to meet her needs, but within the predetermined boundaries she set. And then, as she prayed and read her Bible, God taught her more about faith and surrender. She learned that she needed to surrender her life to God and His loving care with a deeper trust in His wisdom. She needed to trust that God would provide for her in His way, and that His way would be the best way for everyone. She needed to surrender her will to God, and pray, "Not as I will, but as you will" (Matthew 26:39). Because God wanted to teach her this next lesson in prayer, He would not bring her renters until she surrendered her will to His. But at the same time, by His grace and Spirit, God knew that He could teach her this lesson in time for the Schaeffers to move to the mountains so Fran could preach at a Christmas Eve service they knew nothing about yet.

In addition to praying, the Schaeffers made an effort to find renters for Madame Turrian. And then, just before they needed to move, God revealed the problem to Madame Turrian. She went to Edith and said, "I believe that the Lord wants me to be willing not to rent them, to stop saying that they must be rented." Edith and Madame Turrian prayed again, and the very next day renters came to rent her rooms. Madame Turrian and the Schaeffers rejoiced to see God's wonderful provisions for all their needs and His perfect timing.

Teaching others to pray in these practical ways began almost the very moment the Schaeffers moved to Switzerland. After they founded L'Abri, Edith taught many times on prayer, especially on their days of prayer and special days of fasting. She encouraged the members, workers, helpers, and students at L'Abri to persevere in prayer by telling of the many answers to prayer they and others had received at L'Abri. Her inspirational examples of answered prayer poured out one after the other until they all dismissed for prayer. And because the Schaeffers maintained a constant closeness to God in prayer, their stories of God's answers to prayer were not all from the distant past. They told about the things God was doing in the present, and asked for prayers that today's needs be met, so students and nonbelievers at L'Abri could see for themselves that God existed and answered prayers. They knew and taught that God is consistent and answers prayer today according to His unchanging principles in the Bible.

Before God led them to trust so totally in prayer for Him to meet their needs and those they served in L'Abri, God taught them how to teach others about prayer. Just as Jesus' disciples recognized His closeness to His Heavenly Father and asked Him to teach them how to pray, so many who came to know the Schaeffers asked them to teach them about God and prayer. God wants us to learn everything we can about His grace, faithfulness, and desire to hear prayer from the biographies of His servants, so we can learn how to pray more effectively from them and by experience. And as we learn, God will give us opportunities to teach others about Jesus and how to pray as He has commanded.

Throughout their prayers, the Schaeffers demonstrated submission or surrender to God, to putting His will before theirs. They prayed for God's Kingdom to come and then worked and witnessed so others would enter His Kingdom. They prayed for God's will to be done, and then sought to understand and obey God's clear pronouncements or commands in the Scriptures. They prayed for God's will to be done, and then for the courage and wisdom to do His will in specific situations. God wants to teach us these principles, not just so we can pray for Him to meet our needs, but so His meeting our needs will bless others too.

The Schaeffers saw their personal needs in the context of following Jesus, so they prayed for God's provisions in the context of what would help them demonstrate the glory of God and bless others. This seems to be the open secret of their effective prayers. God honored the spirit of their prayers and taught them the right priorities in prayer. Those who spent much time with them learned the fundamental principle of submission from their lives and manner of praying.

As God teaches us how to pray for our needs, He will lead us to be submissive in prayer. Our prayers will not be as effective as God wants them to be until we learn this lesson. If our prayers seem ineffective, we may have allowed our needs to take precedence over God's purposes. Our sincere confession of this selfishness and a firm resolve to live for God by His grace will often free His hand to bless us in ways that would otherwise be impossible or inconsistent with His holy character. Sometimes, we need to ask God to show us any barriers that we have set up that are preventing His answers, because we might not be as submissive to Him as we think.

Prayer

Dear Jesus, in my times of greatest need, I sometimes spend more time asking for my need to be met than seeking your will in my situation. Teach me to be submissive to you in all things. Teach me to pray for your will to be done before all else. Give me the confidence I need to believe that you know far better than I exactly what I need. If I am blind to a sin that is preventing your answering my prayers, show me what I need to confess and change to honor you and receive the blessing I seek. Amen.

© Copyright L. G. Parkhurst, Jr. Revised Edition 2008
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