Asahel Nettleton, one of the great leaders and preachers during the 2nd Great Awakening, began a sermon with this statement: "There is no duty in Christianity, the practice of which Christ and the Apostles press upon us more frequently than prayer. Amidst all the absurdities and heresies which have sprung up in the Christian world, we know of none who have dared to deny the duty of prayer" [Asahel Nettleton: Sermons from the Second Great Awakening, 205]. While none of us would argue with Nettleton's statement, perhaps all of us would in some way shrink from its call and demand. Though prayer is central to all of life and spirituality, most Christians struggle to maintain any semblance of consistency and effectiveness. Why is this so?
Perhaps in the duty of prayer, we are more enamored with the need to pray than the actual practice of prayer. Yet prayer is not to be merely looked upon as if it was a new suit or dress hanging on the mannequin in a shop window. Prayer is to be exercised and that with regularity. Prayer needs to become a constant exercise in the believer; as Paul exhorted, "Pray without ceasing" (I Thes. 5:17).
Prayer was central to the practice and fellowship of the early church. They did not view prayer as a work of the faithful few, rather, prayer was the mainstay of the whole Body's spiritual lives. We must remember that in the context of this passage, these early believers were in the midst of persecution and opposition. They made up the infancy of Christianity, yet they were not infants in their praying. They gave themselves to prayer! They did not excuse their prayerlessness or simply discuss prayer. They prayed...and God answered.
Many things can color our view of prayer so that it becomes a foreign commodity, an archaic religious practice, or a senseless waste of time. We are affected by our culture, background, and even the prayers we have heard as youngsters. For some, praying is more of a 'lucky rabbit's foot' than approaching the throne of grace. For many, prayer is more idolatry than a relationship with the Godhead. Perhaps a few explanations of prayer will help us to think more clearly on the subject before we look into our text.
The Shorter Catechism offers a classic definition of prayer: "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 acknowledgment of His mercies" [Q. 98]. Notice that prayer involves our desires, but desires that have yielded to God's will.
Theologian John Murray writes, "Prayer might be called the very breath of spiritual life. Where saving grace is in exercise there will be prayer. Where there is no prayer saving grace is absent....[Prayer] amounts to the same thing as constant awareness of our dependence upon God and of our indebtedness to him for salvation, protection, sustenance, direction and blessing" [Collected Writings of John Murray, vol. III, 168]. I think his point of prayer being a "constant awareness of our dependence upon God" captures the heart of constant prayer. We are to live in God-dependence and that dependence will be continually expressed in prayer.
Another theologian, R.L. Dabney of the 19th century, offers a superb treatment on the subject of prayer in his Systematic Theology. He says this of prayer: "Prayer is the natural homage due from the creature to his heavenly Father....[it] is the natural means of grace appropriate to the creature....Prayer is the vital breath of religion in the soul....Prayer is a means of grace, because God has appointed it as the instrument of man's receiving His Spiritual influences" [715-716].
Baptist pastor, John Piper, has written extensively about the prayer life in a number of his books. His classic book, Desiring God: Meditations of a Christian Hedonist, gives us some of his perspectives on prayer. "Prayer is the open admission that without Christ we can do nothing. And prayer is the turning away from ourselves to God in the confidence that he will provide the help we need. Prayer humbles us as needy, and exalts God as wealthy....Prayer is the essential activity of waiting for God: Acknowledging our helplessness and his power, calling upon him for help, seeking his counsel....Prayer is God's appointed way to fullness of joy because it is the vent of the inward burnings of our heart for Christ" [133, 140, 145]. I love that last phrase, "...it is the vent of the inward burnings of our heart for Christ." This is much different from a merely mechanical practice of prayer. It is a heart that longs for Christ with such longings expressed throughout the day in prayer.
With some of these explanations of prayer in mind, I want us to spend some time investigating the dynamics of prayer that are found in our text. Understanding the dynamics involved in prayer can help us grow in the practice of prayer.
Consider the following dynamics of prayer that are found in our text. I challenge you to evaluate your own prayer life in light of these dynamics. And I exhort you to seek to put them into practice in becoming men and women of prayer.
1. Acknowledging the character and majesty of our God. v. 24
I believe it is significant to notice that after Peter and John were released from jail they went immediately to the brethren, not for an early-release party, but for prayer. It is in the midst of that gathering that we can see the truth of what Christian fellowship really is. They came together, they felt bound together by their bonds in Christ, and they melted their hearts and voices together in prayer to the Sovereign Lord for the furtherance of the gospel.
Some commentators have pointed out that the disciples did not begin their praying by thanking God for their early release from jail. Instead, they lifted their voices in one accord to acknowledge the character and majesty of their great God! They were more overwhelmed with the majesty of God than the fact they had been released unscathed from jail. Their focus was on Him, not on themselves. That offers us a true perspective on prayer: it is the child of God being consumed with the Lord and the majesty of His Being.
Their prayer begins with addressing God: "O Lord...." We must not let this slip by us for there are significant truths found even in the various names of God. This particular one is used only five times in the New Testament by Luke, Peter, Jude, and John (Luke 2:29; II Pet. 2:1; Jude 4; Rev. 6:10, with 3 of these references pointing specifically to Jesus Christ). It is the Greek word, despotes, from which we get the English word, despot. It means that He is the Sovereign Lord and we are His willing servants. It refers to His absolute reign as Sovereign over the universe so that every thing, animate and inanimate, is under His authority and exists for His glory. Alexander Maclaren made this claim about the implications in the use of this word: "God is the Master, we are His 'slaves,' bound to absolute obedience, unconditional submission, belonging to Him, not to ourselves, and therefore having claims on Him for such care as an owner gives to his slaves or his cattle...." He continues, "Unquestioning submission and unreserved dependence are our duties. Absolute ownership and unshared responsibility for our well-being belong to Him" [Expositions, vol. 11, p. 152].
Peter and John were arrested with malicious-intent by the Jewish religious leaders. The Sovereign Lord, the Divine Despot, delivered them as their Provider and Protector. There was gratitude even in the title chosen for addressing the Father. It was an acknowledgment that though the most power forces of this earth are arrayed against the least of God's children, they are but pawns fulfilling the divine purpose and under the Master's authority. It is an acknowledgment that our Father has our welfare in mind in all of His actions toward us. I think John Piper captures the thrust of this in one of his comments.
God is not looking for people to work for him, so much as he is looking for people who will let him work for them. The gospel is not a Help Wanted ad. Neither is the call to Christian service. On the contrary, the gospel commands us to give up and hang out a Help Wanted sign (this is the basic meaning of prayer). Then the gospel promises that God will work for us if we do. He will not surrender the glory of being the Giver [140].
This gathering of believers acknowledges God as Creator. "O Lord, it is Thou who didst make the heaven and the earth and the sea, and all that is in them." Two of their leaders had just been released from captivity by the Jews. They knew they were frail and powerless to stop the strong oppression of the Jewish leaders. But, who were these Jewish opposers compared to God their Creator? Why should these believers who belong to the Sovereign Lord fear what mere men could do to them? As they thought upon the Lord God they began to drink deeply of the richness of His divine character. They approached God for Who He is...not as one who pathetically hangs on in heaven hoping that His children can pull through in the plights of life! He is the Creator of all that is! This is My Father's world! I am His and He is mine!
My brethren, one of the vital dimensions of prayer is our taking the time to think upon the greatness of our God. We are to engage our minds to contemplate the revelations of God in His Word. We are to verbalize these thoughts of His character and majesty as we pray. These brethren had tasted of the goodness and grace of God, that's why it is expressed in their divine acknowledgments in prayer. I believe the Psalmist had this same experience when he exclaimed, "One thing I have asked from the Lord, that I shall seek; that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life,"...and why?... "To behold the beauty of the Lord, and to meditate in His temple" (Ps. 27:4). 'If I could only spend my time gazing at the depth and magnificence of the Lord, then that would satisfy me!'
Too many people address the Lord as if He was a stranger. They are unfamiliar with the clothing of His attributes or the greatness of His divine being or the holiness of His character. They approach Him tritely or casually, treating Him as though he was a catalogue store phone operator. We must take the time to consider Who it is we are calling upon in prayer. We have an incomparable privilege in prayer: the Majesty on High bids us to call upon Him and seek His face in prayer!
Take the time to see how God reveals Himself in Scripture. Include such truths in your prayer life. Read the prayers of the Bible, as well as the prayers we have recorded of the Puritans and Evangelical leaders of the past. See how these prayers acknowledge the character and majesty of God. Understand that He delights in our approaching Him with confession and understanding of Who He is!
2. Agreeing with the revelation of God in His Word. vv. 25-26
The beginning confession and expression of worship in this prayer comes directly from Scripture. Then the early content of this prayer also comes from Scripture. What were they doing as they prayed?
These believers had acknowledged God's Sovereignty, His authority as Creator, and now, they acknowledge Him as the God of revelation and history. The prayer continues, "who by the Holy Spirit, through the mouth of our father David Thy servant, didst say, 'why did the Gentiles rage, and the peoples devise futile things? The kings of the earth took their stand, and the rulers were gathered together against the Lord, and against His Christ'."
It is easy to see the familiarity of early believers with the whole of divine revelation as they prayed. Their praying was not based on subjective assumptions about God, but upon the revelation of God in His Word. There is a sense that much of prayer is simply our coming to God and agreeing with what He has spoken in His Word. In this text we find the disciples quoting from the Messianic second Psalm and finding its fulfillment in what had taken place in their lives. It is a majestic psalm which describes the Lord as the conquering Ruler over all of creation. It shows that though the nations 'snort like a wild horse' (the Greek idea of 'rage') and they create shrewd plans to usurp the purposes of God, He laughs at their folly and crushes them like iron shatters a piece of pottery.
Somehow it seems that many Christians have the idea that our God is just a little bit more powerful than the devil and all the forces of this world, that He will ultimately win, but it will be a strain to do so. This psalm dispels any such foolishness! The devil is no match for our divine Sovereign! The combined power of the nations of the world cannot resist Him or threaten Him! And then this same God invites us to approach Him as a child comes to his father or as a sheep finds refuge in the arms of his shepherd. Where do I get such ideas? From seeing what God has revealed in His Word and letting that direct my praying.
Just about everyone will tell you that they pray. I talked with one lady who said she did not know if there was a God, but she did pray regularly! The problem with that kind of praying is that is goes far afield from truth, which leads the one praying into some kind of religious subjectivism or even mysticism. How else do you account for these very religious gurus and Hindu monks who pray for many hours each day? And there are plenty versions of this same sort of thing among the world of Christians. People spend countless hours in prayer but it leads them into all sorts of ideas that are foreign to the Word of God.
R.L. Dabney wrote, "The proper rule of prayer is the whole Word of God....There is no part of Scripture which may not minister to the guidance of the Christian's prayers. But further, the Word of God is the rule of our prayers also in this sense, that all which it does not authorize, is excluded" [p. 720]. Does this mean that we are to randomly open the Bible, put our fingers on a verse, then claim it? Certainly not, though many operate by such a fallacy. The Bible gives us specific promises related to our redemption which are made to all believers, but it also gives us examples of those things that please God in our prayers.
The biggest danger in this whole matter is taking a verse out of context to use as a 'promise of answered prayer'. There are verses that will cover just about anything that you might want to consider; the only problem is that we take the Lord's name in vain when we use His Word for some purpose other than for what it was given. I used to hear some young people claim they had Scriptural precedent for attending the University of Alabama. They did so by pointing to the passage in Ezekiel 20:29, "Then I said to them, 'What is the high place to which you go?' So its name is called Bamah to this day."
There are many instances where well-meaning and sincere believers will claim to 'have a word from God' about some issue. Brethren, I believe God speaks very clearly to us, but I believe He does so primarily through the revelation of Scripture. Anything other than this is subjective and may or may not come to pass. He does not manipulate His Word to cover every material and physical need which 20th century believers think they deserve. We are not given liberty in Scripture to take some passage that we think applies to our situation, but contextually or in principle has nothing to do with our need, then "claim it" as a promise from God.
Our hearts are to bow to the truths of God in faith. Our heads are to contemplate the truths of God in study. Our lips are to express the truths of God in prayer. I will guarantee you that if you study the Word of God, seeking to know what it means, you will have more to pray about within the proper use of Scripture than you will have time to pray! We must seek to stand against this pseudo-spirituality that is being displayed by a great many Evangelicals who claim some kind of unique revelation from the Word which they lay claim to in prayer.
Dabney offers some excellent help on this issue in his Systematic Theology. He speaks of there being two classes of objects for which we can pray as Christians. "One is the class of...objects naturally desirable, and in themselves innocent, which yet are not essential to redemption." These may include prayers for the sick, financial needs, release from persecution, etc. It is fine to pray for these things with the understanding that we have the right to come before our Father and bring our perceived needs to Him. According to His goodness, His purpose, and His will we can receive an answer to these prayers. God's answer may not be what we expect, though. Dabney comments, "But still the truest believer will offer those prayers with doubts of receiving the specific answer; for the simple reason that God has nowhere specifically promised to bestow it. The enlightened believer urges such petitions, perhaps warmly: but still all are conditioned on an "if it be possible," "if it be consistent with God's secret will"."
The second class of objects of prayer is "the benefits accompanying redemption; all the gifts which make up, in the elect, growth in grace, perseverance, pardon, sanctification, complete redemption. For these we may pray with full assurance of a specific answer, because God has told us, that it is His purpose specifically to bestow them in answer to all true prayer" [p.723].
So, on some matters we pray with the proviso "if it be Thy will," while on the other matters we pray with the confidence that it is His will because it is specifically promised in Scripture. This is another reason why we must study the Word of God! If we do not know what God has specifically promised, then our prayer lives will suffer because of disappointment. But when we learn to pray those things promised clearly in the Word, we have a renewed confidence that God answers accordingly. Consistent study of the Word will overflow into your prayer life.
3. Accepting the decrees and purposes of God. vv. 27-28
Prayer gives us the time to contemplate and rest in the providences of God. The disciples realized that the events that had been taking place in their lives had not been simply matters of chance. There was a divine hand behind it all, including the death of Christ. "For truly in this city there were gathered together against Thy holy servant Jesus, whom Thou didst anoint, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, along with the Gentiles and the peoples of Israel, to do whatever Thy hand and Thy purpose predestined to occur."
Dr. James P. Boyce expressed this matter of the Providence of God with clarity in The Abstract of Principles.
God from eternity, decrees or permits all things that come to pass, and perpetually upholds, directs and governs all creatures and all events; yet so as not in any wise to be the author or approver of sin nor to destroy the free will and responsibility of intelligent creatures.
One of the great struggles in the prayer life is coming to the place where we rest securely in the hand of God and His work. We do not always accept the decrees and purposes of God with ease. We may find ourselves facing "bitter providences" and struggling to trust the Lord through the trials of life. The believers who made up that small band were faced with the bitter providence of suffering for Jesus' sake. Here was the beginning of persecution to some degree in the days of the early church. Later, in Acts 8, we will see the persecution against the church exploding upon them. The fact that they faced these early bitter providences with trust in the Lord helped to prepare them for the more difficult times ahead.
Prayer is not simply a time of asking for things. It is a time in which we bear our hearts before the Lord and cry out to Him in the depth of our needs. Many of the psalms illustrate this (cf. for e.g., Psalm 22, 42, 43, 46, 54, 56, 57...). They show the OT saint facing trials of immense proportions, yet knowing that the Lord is still present working in the believer's life.
We see in the Apostle Paul's life this same kind of struggle. He pulls back the curtain in Second Corinthians 12 for a glimpse at the struggles which are common to every believer. The providences of God for Paul left him with a "thorn in the flesh," which he prayed earnestly that it might be removed. We don't know what this "thorn" might have been, but whatever it was, it was severe enough for the godly apostle to wrestle in prayer. And what did the Lord tell him? "My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness." In prayer he wrestled with such bitter providence, but also in prayer he received grace to face it.
Do you contemplate the great providential workings of God while you are praying? Do you lift your voice and heart before Him until you find yourself bowing in glad submission to His hand? That's what we see in these believers, for in verse 29 they remind the Lord that they are His "bond-servants." He is the Sovereign Lord. We are His bond-servants ready to do whatever He demands, ready to yield in any divine bending in our lives.
I recall a situation I faced a number of years ago that came as a bitter providence, that is, God brought something to bear in my life that I definitely would not have chosen for myself. In the crucible of this situation I had a time of wrestling before the Lord in prayer. Now you know that God always wins the wrestling match! It was not that I was wrestling with Him, for how can I as a mere man 'twist God's arm' to do my bidding? It was that I was wrestling before the Lord with my own stubbornness and desires. These wrestlings went on for a couple of days. They were intense, until finally the light began to break and I saw that the hand of God, even when perceived as a bitter providence, is still His same loving, caring hand toward His child.
Until we accept the providences of God in our lives, we will not walk in liberty and peace. I would propose to you that the best ground for such acceptance is in prayer. There you come with the consciousness of the greatness of your God and the perfection of His plans. There you find yourself agreeing with the revelation of His Word. And there you recognize His hand at work in your life.
Conclusion (part 1)
We have covered quite a bit of ground concerning prayer and we have not asked God for anything! We must get it into our minds that prayer is much more than asking and receiving. It is that, but that is not the whole story. Prayer is one of the means given to you by God to develop your relationship to Him. Are you seeking to develop in your walk with Him?
While prayer is something we are to do throughout our day, it is also something which we will do very little of if we fail to plan to pray. Prayer is so important, so vital to the life of the Christian, that he must set apart time to pray. "The reason is," according to Professor Dabney, "that man, a finite creature, controlled so greatly by habit, cannot well perform any continuous duty, without a season appropriated to it; and that, a stated season" [p. 724].
I want to ask you to set apart time each day this week to pray. Keep in mind what we have looked at concerning prayer, as well as those areas we will seek to cover in our next study together. Acknowledge the character and majesty of God. Agree with the revelation of God in His Word. Accept the decrees and purposes of God. Then, by all means, ask freely and specifically through Jesus Christ for those things which you recognize as needs and burdens.
Brethren, this is a call to prayer. I would remind you that prayer is the battle ground. We are engaged in eternal business as we pray. Let's not be negligent in this nor slothful. Let us be diligent to pray for Jesus' sake and for the sake of His church in this world.
Part 2, July 28
4. Asking specifically in order that Christ might be glorified in our lives. vv. 29-30
5. Access to the Father through the Mediator, Jesus Christ. v. 30
6. Action which follows praying. v. 31
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