And in hell he lift up his eyes, being in torments, and seeth Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom. And he cried and said, Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus, that he may dip the tip of his finger in water, and cool my tongue; for I am tormented in this flame.
This will always be the case the moment a man, for the first time, sees the kingdom of heaven. Whether that first time is in heaven or in hell makes no difference; the moment a man sees the kingdom of heaven, he is certain to begin to pray. The reason is this, he sees a satisfying portion, and his heart thirsts after it. If this happens in this world, his prayer will be heard, and for Christ's sake, and by Christ, his hungering and thirsting will be satisfied; but if it occurs in hell, the prayer will be too late, for man's need can only be satisfied by Christ, and there is no Christ in hell.
This cry for water was the first real prayer the Rich Man had ever uttered. He might have "said his prayers," as people call it, night and morning when on earth; but now he was no longer merely saying prayers, but praying; the words of his lips were the genuine desires of his heart: he really and truly wanted that for which he professed to ask. Had he so prayed on earth, God would have given him "rivers of living water," but he had not so prayed; indeed, he could not, for on earth he felt no need of what he wanted in hell. It is possible, I say again, that he might regularly have said his prayers, but the Rich Man never prayed until he lifted up his eyes in torments; he had nothing to pray for till then: on earth, he had everything except God, and on earth, he felt no need of God. There can be no real prayer where there is no sense of need.
Would that the vast distinction between saying prayers and praying was more pressed home upon congregations by their ministers, and on the world generally, by godly teachers and other Christians. How comparatively small compared with those who content themselves with what they term saying their prayers, is the number of those who really pray. Many have said their prayers from their earliest childhood, who have never prayed; many have for years knelt night and morning at the family altar, and joined Sabbath after Sabbath in professed worship, who have never prayed; many, both in public and in private, have put themselves daily from their youth upwards in the attitude of prayer, and uttered from the mouth words of prayer, whose so-called prayers have not only not been prayer, but blasphemy. SAYING PRAYERS WITHOUT PRAYING IS BLASPHEMY! God has said, "The Lord will not hold him guiltless that taketh His name in vain." Yet I believe that no greater breach of the Third Commandment ascends from earth into the ears of God, than that which too often ascends from the closet and from family circles, excepting only that which ascends on the Sabbath day from the public assemblies of God's professing worshipers.
Brownlow North, The rich man and Lazarus (Luke xvi.19-31) a practical exposition
This will always be the case the moment a man, for the first time, sees the kingdom of heaven. Whether that first time is in heaven or in hell makes no difference; the moment a man sees the kingdom of heaven, he is certain to begin to pray. The reason is this, he sees a satisfying portion, and his heart thirsts after it. If this happens in this world, his prayer will be heard, and for Christ's sake, and by Christ, his hungering and thirsting will be satisfied; but if it occurs in hell, the prayer will be too late, for man's need can only be satisfied by Christ, and there is no Christ in hell.
This cry for water was the first real prayer the Rich Man had ever uttered. He might have "said his prayers," as people call it, night and morning when on earth; but now he was no longer merely saying prayers, but praying; the words of his lips were the genuine desires of his heart: he really and truly wanted that for which he professed to ask. Had he so prayed on earth, God would have given him "rivers of living water," but he had not so prayed; indeed, he could not, for on earth he felt no need of what he wanted in hell. It is possible, I say again, that he might regularly have said his prayers, but the Rich Man never prayed until he lifted up his eyes in torments; he had nothing to pray for till then: on earth, he had everything except God, and on earth, he felt no need of God. There can be no real prayer where there is no sense of need.
Would that the vast distinction between saying prayers and praying was more pressed home upon congregations by their ministers, and on the world generally, by godly teachers and other Christians. How comparatively small compared with those who content themselves with what they term saying their prayers, is the number of those who really pray. Many have said their prayers from their earliest childhood, who have never prayed; many have for years knelt night and morning at the family altar, and joined Sabbath after Sabbath in professed worship, who have never prayed; many, both in public and in private, have put themselves daily from their youth upwards in the attitude of prayer, and uttered from the mouth words of prayer, whose so-called prayers have not only not been prayer, but blasphemy. SAYING PRAYERS WITHOUT PRAYING IS BLASPHEMY! God has said, "The Lord will not hold him guiltless that taketh His name in vain." Yet I believe that no greater breach of the Third Commandment ascends from earth into the ears of God, than that which too often ascends from the closet and from family circles, excepting only that which ascends on the Sabbath day from the public assemblies of God's professing worshipers.
Brownlow North, The rich man and Lazarus (Luke xvi.19-31) a practical exposition
