4. The Use of Prayer: Part 4

WSC 98. What is prayer? A. Prayer is an offering up of our desires unto God, for things agreeable to his will, in the name of Christ, with confession of our sins, and thankful acknowledgement of his mercies.

For today’s class, we will learn how we are to conduct ourselves in prayer. There are certain forms of prayer are inappropriate and wrong (Ja. 4:3) and some even described as an abomination (Prov. 15:8). Therefore, we should strive to pray in a way that is acceptable and pleasing to God. On this, the Westminster Larger Catechism provides useful instruction:

Q185: How are we to pray? A: We are to pray with an awful apprehension of the majesty of God, and deep sense of our own unworthiness, necessities, and sins; with penitent, thankful, and enlarged hearts; with understanding, faith, sincerity, fervency, love, and perseverance, waiting upon him, with humble submission to his will.

Accordingly, it is helpful to consider the duties that we should attend to before prayer, those in prayer, and the things after prayer.¹

Preparing Ourselves for Prayer

Ideally, we should prepare our minds before praying (Job 11:13-15; cf. Ps. 57:7).² Our minds should be free from all improper thoughts and our hearts from impure desires. As much as possible, we should remove ourselves from the business of life and bustle of this world (Isa. 26:20; Mt. 6:6). We should be humble, recognizing our wretchedness and God’s majesty (Eccl. 5:1). Preparation also means that we ask the Holy Spirit for His help. In ourselves, we are not naturally inclined to pray, and unless God helps us, true prayer cannot be properly performed (Lk. 11:1; Rom. 8:15, 16). While the aforementioned are ideal, this does not mean that formal preparation is always possible. Sometimes, spontaneous prayer is appropriate (e.g., during times of emergency). Still, as much as we can and as situations permit, we are encouraged to keep our minds and hearts in a constant state of habitual preparation.

The Manner of Prayer

Acceptable prayer must proceed from faith (Ja. 1:6, 7); by faith, we are accepted by God on account of Jesus Christ, are able to ask for things that are good, and can submit to God’s wisdom whatever His answer.³ It is impossible for us to please God without faith in Him (Heb. 11:6). Accordingly, our prayers need to be furnished with faith in God and His promises (Mk. 11:24; Ja. 1:6), as well as with true sincerity, fervency and love for God (Ps. 145:18; 17:1; Ja. 5:16; 1 Tim. 2:8; Rom. 12:12; cf. Heb. 5:7; Lk. 22:44). Otherwise, our prayers are reduced to empty words, spoken mechanically but without earnest desire (cf. Mt. 6:7).

We are commended to pray with an “awful apprehension of the majesty of God.” Here, the historical meaning of the word awful is to be filled with awe (i.e., to have a reverential fear; cf. Heb. 12:28-29).⁴ This means that we are to realize God’s supreme majesty in our prayers, acknowledging Him to be far greater than us (Eccl. 5:1-2). Without His voluntary condescension, we would have no ability to reach out to Him.⁵ Sadly, many people (even those who may prove to be true children of God) frequently fail to approach God with proper reverence. In our prayers, we can be offensive in how we address God (e.g., by using God’s name lightly); we can adopt the wrong attitude towards God (e.g., by treating Him like a vending machine). “We should always remember that God is not a casual acquaintance to whom we may speak in any manner we please; God is the infinite, eternal, unchangeable Creator and Ruler of the universe.”⁶

Not only are we to have high thoughts of God, but we need to have a true awareness of our unworthiness in prayer (Gen. 18:27; 32:10). We have no right to seize upon any of God’s blessings. As sinners, we are not only undeserving, we are actually ill-deserving. But, in His mercy, God deals with us graciously by showing us unmerited favor.⁷ Anyone who thinks that God is in some way indebted to him or her, cannot pray aright. Related to this, true prayer also requires us to know our personal needs (Lk. 15:17-19), so that we can properly ask God for what we are lacking (Mt. 7:7-12; Lk. 11:9-13; cf. Ja. 4:2-3; 5:13). Without this, our prayers are empty. For example, the Pharisee in Luke 18:11-12 had no sense of his need before God, but only congratulated himself for his own achievements, and therefore asked nothing from God! It is crucial for us to realize our sinful condition (Lk. 18:13-14). A person who lacks a sense of his or her own sinfulness is self-righteous and his or her prayer is loathsome to God (Prov. 15:29; Isa. 1:15; 59:2; Ps. 109:7; cf. Ps. 66:18; Jn 9:31).

For matters of great importance, we may need to pray frequently, sometimes struggling at length until we receive God’s blessing (cf. Gen 32:26). Thus, we are encouraged “always to pray, and not to faint” (Lk. 18:1). This is what it means to pray “continually” (1 Thess. 5:17). It does not mean we literally pray without any pauses (cf. Lk. 11:1; 22:45; etc.), nor does it mean we should needlessly construct lengthy prayers, just for the sake of prolonging them (cf. Mt. 23:14). “As prayer is a conversation between the soul and God, that prayer ought to be considered as the best which is the simplest, and which expresses most briefly the pious desires produced by the Holy Spirit.”⁸ God is not pleased by vain repetition or the use of many thoughtless words (Mt. 6:7).

While some prayers are articulated with our tongues, many remain silent in our hearts (cf. 1 Sam. 1:12-13). It is not necessary that all our prayers are said aloud. “God, who is infinite in knowledge, cannot but perceive all the thoughts of our mind as if they were uttered aloud. Psalm 38:9, ‘Lord, all my desire is before thee; and my groaning is not hid from thee.’”⁹ God does not value our prayers based on our eloquence or oratory skills. Sometimes, we may struggle to find the right words to say, but these types of prayers can be pleasing to God nonetheless:

“Fear not because your prayer is stammering, your words feeble, and your language poor. Jesus can understand you… He can read a sigh, and see a meaning in a groan… There are few children of God who do not often find the season of prayer a season of conflict… I believe we are very poor judges of the goodness of our prayers, and that the prayer which pleases us least often pleases God most.”¹⁰

It is important to emphasize that prayer is never an unintelligent, mindless activity (1 Cor. 14:15).¹¹ We are required to pray “with understanding.” This means that our prayers are to be constructed with real language that can be understood.¹² It also means that we are to be principally guided by God’s Word and informed by our personal needs (and the needs of others). It is wrong to simply pray for whatever is on our hearts (cf. Jer. 17:9). If we resort to that, then our prayers will be no different than those of the wicked.

Related to this, a common error is for people to substitute Bible study with prayer. When faced with a difficult choice between right and wrong, this type of person will try to evade the issue by “making it a matter of prayer” rather than submitting to God’s will as revealed in the Scriptures. For example, rather than looking to the Bible for guidance in seeking a spouse (such as from Prov. 31:10-31; 1 Tim. 2:9-10; 1 Pet. 3:3-4; or Ps. 15), some people ignore God’s revealed will in pursuit of an unbeliever or a person with very different religious convictions (cf. 2 Cor. 6:14), and then defend their decision by claiming that they “prayed over it.”¹³ Prayer is never to be used as an excuse for disobedience. When people pray for “guidance” on something that is already clearly laid out in the Bible, they are in danger of misusing prayer.

Duties Following Prayer

Following prayer, we also have a duty to look to God patiently for His answer (Ps. 85:8; Mic. 7:7) by diligently using the lawful means that have been given to us (cf. Pr. 2:3-5) and leaving all things to God’s own timing(Heb. 4:16; Acts 1:7; Ps. 69:13; cf. Ps. 31:15; Isa. 49:8). We can be certain that God will answer us in His own way and at the appointed time according to His will (Eph. 6:18; Mic. 7:7; cf. Phil. 4:6-7; Ja. 1:6).¹⁴ This means that we need to humbly submit to God’s sovereignty in all things, never presuming that we can ever dictate to God how and when He may answer our prayers (1 Jn. 5:14-15; cf. Mt. 26:39). If we find that He “delays” in answering us, we should not be discouraged but to keep praying patiently (Lk. 18:1-8; 1 Th. 5:17; cf. Ja. 5:16-18 and 1 Ki. 18:43). If God does not answer our prayer in the way that we would have initially wanted, we should realize that God, in His love, sometimes withholds the things that we ask for (either temporarily or permanently) for our own good and His glory. For instance, the Apostle Paul prayed three times that his “thorn in the flesh” may be removed from him, but God did not grant his request, but instead used this occasion to teach Paul, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness” (2 Cor. 12:9). It was only through this that Paul was kept from being conceited (v. 7).

In response, we must come away from our prayers with “penitent, thankful, and enlarged hearts.” This means that we need to have sincere repentance, forsaking our sins (Pss. 51:17; 32:5-6; 38:18); to this, we add thanksgiving to God for His many mercies (Phil. 4:6); and we enlarge our hearts by fostering an intense desire to be closer to God (1 Sam. 1:15; 2:1; cf. Ps. 73:25-26, 28). The result of prayer is that we come forth as better and holier people. “He who has conversed familiarly with God must carry away some of the brightness of the divine holiness.”¹⁵ Perhaps, in this way, prayer can be understood as a subjective means of grace.

Today’s lessons can be nicely summarized as follows—briefly outlining the requisites before prayer, the duties we have during prayer, and our proper response afterwards:

“Prayer… is a discourse addressed to God. The suppliant lays before the Deity his wants and desires (Phil. 4:6), accompanied by the hope of being heard (Ja. 1:6), which rests on the promise of God (Mt. 7:7). This, however, must be understood with certain reservations: (1) The person who prays must be in the exercise of a proper disposition for prayer (Job 11:14), for God does not hear those who refuse to hear God (Prov. 1:24; 15:28-29; Is. 1:5; Jn. 9:31). (2) The prayers must be drawn up in a right manner (Ja. 4:3; 1 Jn. 5:14). (3) We must not presume to restrict God to the time which we think the most suitable, but leave the matter to God, that he may act in it according to his own wisdom (Eccl. 3:11; Acts 1:7; Ps. 22:5; 69:13; Is. 49:8; cf. 2 Cor. 6:2). (4) We must not imagine that our prayer is heard only when God gives the thing sought, but also when, in place of it, he gives what, in his infinite wisdom, he knows to be more [beneficial] for us (Gen. 17:18, 19; 2 Cor. 12:8).”¹⁶

Footnotes

1
Recall from our earlier classes, the Westminster Larger Catechism presents a similar outline in reference to the Lord’s supper, with attention to how we are to prepare for it beforehand (question 171), what is required of us during the time of its administration (question 174), and the duties that should be attended to afterwards (question 175).
2
Witsius, Herman. Sacred Dissertations on the Lord’s Prayer. Reformation Heritage Books, 2010, pp. 58-60.
3
Ibid, pp. 60-61.
4
Vos, Johannes Geerhardus. The Westminster Larger Catechism: A Commentary. P&R Publishing, 2002, p. 534.
5
The Westminster Confession of Faith, chapter 7, paragraph 1 says it this way, “The distance between God and the creature is so great that although reasonable creatures do owe obedience unto him as their Creator, yet they could never have any fruition of him as their blessedness and reward but by some voluntary condescension on God’s part, which he hath been pleased to express by way of covenant.” The following “proof texts” are often given: 1 Sam. 2:25; Job 9:32-33; 22:2-3; 35:7-8; Pss. 100:2-3; 113:5-6; Isa. 40:13-17; Luke 17:10; and Acts 17:24-25.
6
Vos, Johannes Geerhardus. The Westminster Larger Catechism: A Commentary. P&R Publishing, 2002, p. 535.
7
Francis Turretin clearly explained that no one can ever be in a position to merit anything from God. “To true merit, then, these five conditions are demanded: (1) that the ‘work be undue’—for no one merits by paying what he owes (Lk. 17:10), he only satisfies; (2) that it be ours—for no one can be said to merit from another; (3) that it be absolutely perfect and free from all taint—for where sin is, there merit cannot be; (4) that it be equal and proportional to the reward and pay; otherwise it would be a gift, not merit; (5) that the reward be due to such a work from justice—whence an ‘undue work’ is commonly defined to be one that ‘makes a reward due in the order of justice.’ From these we readily gather that there now can be no merit in man with God by works [whatsoever]… (1) They are not undue by due; for whatever we are and can do, all this we owe to God, whose debtors we are on this account called (Lk. 17:10; Rom. 8:12). (2) Not one is ours, but all are gifts of grace and fruits of the Spirit (Jam. 1:17; Phil. 2:13; 2 Cor. 3:5). (3) They are not perfect, but alloyed as yet by various impurities (Rom. 7:18; Gal. 5:17, 18; Is. 64:6). (4) They are not equal to future glory because there is no proportion between the finite and temporary, and the infinite and eternal (Rom. 8:18; 2 Cor. 4:17). (5) The reward promised to them is purely gratuitous and undue and so to be expected not from the internal merit of the work and its intrinsic worth, but only from the most free estimation of it by the one who crowns it (Rom. 6:23; 4:4; 11:6). Hence also it appears that there is no merit properly so called of man before God.” Turretin, Francis. Institutes of Elenctic Theology: Volume 2. Phillipsburg, NJ: P&R Pub., 1994, 17.5.6-7, p. 712.
8
“… [Prayer’s] principal object ought to be, that the mind of the suppliant may be laid open to God in all its recesses, so that God may not only hear the prayers as they are expressed in language, but may see them as they are formed in the heart.” Witsius, Herman. Sacred Dissertations on the Lord’s Prayer. Reformation Heritage Books, 2010, pp. 57-58. Also: “In all our prayers, [whether] public or private, we must avoid empty and ostentatious repetition of the same or similar words, which our Lord condemns (Mt. 6:7). This does not forbid us, on some occasions, to continue and lengthen our prayer, which was done by Christ and his Apostles. Neither does it forbid us to convey our earnest requests by repeating the same words, or others of a like import, as frequently happens in the Psalms. But we are forbidden to deal out our words as if God were to estimate our prayers by their length and the labour of the outward performance, rather than by the inward affection of the mind.” Ibid, pp. 41-42.
9
Witsius, Herman. Sacred Dissertations on the Lord’s Prayer. Reformation Heritage Books, 2010, pp. 33-34.
10
Ryle, J.C. Practical Religion. Banner of Truth, 1998, pp. 86-87.
11
Prayer is never irrational or mindless. Related to this, it is important address what it means to pray in a tongue, particularly given the frequent misunderstanding in today’s church. The phrase, “to pray in a tongue,” appears in 1 Corinthians 14, verses 14 and 15. Herman Witsius explained it like this, “The ‘tongue’ means here a language unknown to others… It is probable that those of the Corinthians who had received the gift of tongues, had a partiality for the Hebrew above all other languages, and, on that account, chose to employ it in their discourses and prayers, even in the presence of their countrymen, who did not understand Hebrew… ‘To pray with the tongue,’ therefore, is to pray in a language unknown to others; as, for instance, to pray in the Hebrew language in [the] presence of Greeks [1 Cor. 14:2]… ‘To pray with the mind’ [1 Cor. 14:15] is to pray in such a manner that the prayers which you deliberately conceive may be conceived and understood by others… [such that] I [can] show that I am not mad, but possessed of a sound understanding; and I will endeavour that others, as well as myself, be edified by my prayer.” Witsius, Herman. Sacred Dissertations on the Lord’s Prayer. Reformation Heritage Books, 2010, pp. 37-38. In contrast, the modern version of “tongues” that states it is an unintelligible language is quite different than the biblical account. John MacArthur points out, “Historically, irrational and ecstatic speech has been associated only with heretical fringe groups… It is exegetically impossible and irresponsible to claim that the phenomenon described in 1 Corinthians was any different from that of Acts [which consisted of rational languages].” MacArthur, John F. Strange Fire: The Danger of Offending the Holy Spirit with Counterfeit Worship. Thomas Nelson Publishers, 2013, pp. 137, 141.
12
Herman Witsius also draws the point from this verse that “to pray with the mind is to pray in such a manner that the prayers which you deliberately conceive may be conceived and understood by others.” In other words, “if I pray in a tongue unknown to the assembly in whose presence I pray [e.g., Hebrew language in the presence of Greeks]… [it] is unfruitful… [so] I will show that I am not mad but possessed of a sound understanding [by praying in a common language] and I will endeavour that others, as well as myself, be edified by my prayer.” From this, we can make a couple conclusions: first, the recent re-interpretation of “the gift of tongues” by the 20^th century charismatic movement where this gift is said to be an unintelligible language of angels is unbiblical; second, when we are assembled for corporate worship, the language spoken should be understood by those present, if at all possible, for mutual edification. Witsius, Herman. Sacred Dissertations on the Lord’s Prayer. Reformation Heritage Books, 2010, pp. 37-38.
13
Vos, Johannes Geerhardus. The Westminster Larger Catechism: A Commentary. P&R Publishing, 2002, p. 536.
14
“This, however, must be understood with certain reservations. (1) The person who prays must be in the exercise of a proper disposition for prayer (Job 11:14); for God does not hear those who refuse to hear God (Prov. 1:24; [Prov. 15:29]; Isa. 1:15; Jn. 9:31). (2) The prayer must be drawn up in the right manner (Ja. 4:3; 1 Jn. 5:14). (3) We must not presume to restrict God to the time which we think the most suitable, but leave the matter to God, that he may act in it according to his own wisdom (Eccl. 3:11; Acts 1:7; Pss. 22:5 and 69:13; Isa. 49:8; cf. 2 Cor. 6:2). (4) We must not imagine that our prayer is heard only when God gives the thing sought, but also when, in place of it, he gives what, in his infinite wisdom, he knows to be more convenient [i.e., helpful] for us (Gen. 17:18-19; 2 Cor. 12:8).” Witsius, Herman. Sacred Dissertations on the Lord’s Prayer. Reformation Heritage Books, 2010, pp. 42-43.
15
Witsius, Herman. Sacred Dissertations on the Lord’s Prayer. Reformation Heritage Books, 2010, p. 63.
16
Ibid, pp. 42-43.

Footnotes

Related Articles

1. The Use of Prayer: Part 1

2. The Use of Prayer: Part 2

3. The Use of Prayer: Part 3

5. The Use of Prayer: Part 5

6. The Lord’s Prayer: The Rule of Prayer

7. The Lord’s Prayer: Preface