WHAT we have said may suffice as to the definition of prayer. We are now to inquire into its ADVANTAGE and NECESSITY, or the nature of its obligation upon us. Here we must first dispose of the subtle, but delusive arguments of the flesh, and, next, establish the wholesome truth.
The flesh concludes that prayer is SUPERFLUOUS; for why should we lay before God a wearisome enumeration of our wants, which, in proportion to its length and frequency, must be the more offensive? The Divine Being knows much better than we ourselves do what we want. And such a conclusion, we are told, ought not to be considered as unfounded, for it is not unlike what is stated by our Lord, Matt. 6. 31, 32. “Take no thought, saying, what shall we eat? or what shall we drink? or wherewithal shall we be clothed? For after all these things do the Gentiles seek; for your heavenly father knoweth that ye have need of these things.”
It is also alleged that prayer is USELESS. Whatever shall happen to any man God has determined by an eternal and unchangeable decree. It is in vain, therefore, for you to weary him by a multitude of prayers. What has been decreed for you will happen whether you pray or not. What has not been decreed you will not obtain by thousands of prayers. It is the glory of God that he will not deviate a hair’s breadth from a purpose which has once been formed. To importune him, and, for the sake of a feeble and wretched man, to make trial of his firmness, wears the aspect of impiety.
Prayer, it is thence argued, INSULTS the firmness of the Divine purpose. It insults, also, the Majesty of God, which we ought to hold in such reverence as not to venture to explain to him our desires. It is enough that we commit every thing to his disposal, and bow to his sovereign will. It insults even the goodness of God, for it is the glory of his goodness that he anticipates our wishes, and, out of the rich treasures of his kindness, bestows even on those who do not pray the enjoyment of himself and of his benefits, Isa. 65. 1. “I am sought of them that asked not for me; I am found of them that sought me not: I said, behold me, behold me, unto a nation that was not called by my name.” And, again, ver. 24, “and it shall come to pass that, before they call, I will answer; and while they are yet speaking I will hear.”
Plausible as these arguments may appear, they want solidity, and are at utter variance with true piety towards God. It is true that God knows our necessities, and needs not to be informed of them by us; but it is his will that we should acknowledge them, and that our acknowledgment should be openly made in prayer.
by an opposite course, we would expose ourselves to the charge brought against the church of Laodicea, “Thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked.” God sometimes acts as if he were ignorant of our affairs, and chose to remain in ignorance until we should lay them before him. A memorable passage of history, to this effect, occurs in Exodus 2. 23, 24, 25. “And it came to pass in process of time, that the king of Egypt died: and the children of Israel sighed by reason of the bondage, and they cried; and their cry came up unto God by reason of the bondage. And GOD HEARD THEIR GROANING, and God REMEMBERED HIS COVENANT with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob. And God LOOKED UPON the children of Israel, and God HAD RESPECT unto them.” To the same purpose is the declaration of David, Ps. 106. 44, 45. “Nevertheless, he regarded their affliction, when he heard their cry: and he remembered for them his covenant, and repented according to the multitude of his mercies.” Such expressions, no doubt, are applied to God after the manner of men, and must not be interpreted so as to lower the Divine perfections. But they clearly authorize us to conclude that an humble declaration of our wants is highly pleasing in the sight of God, that he commands us to draw them out in language, and that when they are properly presented, and then only, can they be regarded as worthy of the divine acceptance.
It must also be admitted, that prayer cannot alter the decrees of God. We must never subject ourselves to the imputation of asking that on our account a change should be effected in the Divine purpose. We must only supplicate that God will freely bestow, for our benefit, what is agreeable to his will, and thus our prayers will contribute to the fulfilment of his purpose. Whatever benefits he has decreed to bestow upon us, he has decreed to bestow in answer to prayer. We are not at liberty to employ foolish and sophistical reasonings in opposition to God himself. Let us hear his own declaration, Ezek. 36. 36, 37, “Then the heathen that are left round about you shall know that I the Lord build the ruined places, and plant that that was desolate: I the Lord have spoken it, and I will do it. Thus saith the Lord God, YET THIS WILL I BE ENQUIRED OF by THE HOUSE OF ISRAEL THAT I MAY DO IT FOR THEM.” The firmness of the divine purpose to bestow the favour is first declared, after which Jehovah makes known his will that, as the means of obtaining the favour, the prayers of his people shall be employed.
Again, Jer. 29. 11—13, “For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you an expected end. Then shall ye call upon me, and ye shall go, and pray unto me, and I will hearken unto you. And ye shall seek me and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart.”
Those persons, accordingly, who have been most highly celebrated both for piety and for wisdom when they had been informed of any divine purpose in their favour, devoted themselves most earnestly to prayer. David and Daniel are instances. When David has heard of any remarkable promises of God, and believes that they will be accomplished, he does not simply offer thanksgiving for that manifestation of the divine kindness, but prays, with all possible earnestness, that God will be pleased to show kindness, “according to his word.” “And now,” says he, “O Lord God, the word that thou hast spoken concerning thy servant, and concerning his house, establish it for ever, and do as thou hast said. For thou, O Lord of hosts, God of Israel, hast revealed to thy servant, saying, I will build thee an house; THEREFORE HATH THY SERVANT FOUND IN HIS HEART TO PRAY THIS PRAYER UNTO THEE,” 2 Sam. 7. 25, 27. When Daniel had understood, by the prophecies of Jeremiah, that seventy years had been fixed for the duration of the Babylonish captivity, and perceived that that period was near a close, he immediately “set his face unto the Lord God, to seek by prayer and supplications,” that the restoration of his country might be accomplished, Dan. 9. 2, 3. In this manner these eminently wise and holy men thought themselves highly honoured in being permitted to contribute, by their prayers, to the execution of the divine purpose. So remote were they from the employment of those sophistical reasonings which we have undertaken to refute.
Equally unfounded is the pretence, that the prayers of believers are an insult to the Deity. He testifies that they are, in the highest degree, acceptable in his sight, Song of Solomon. 2. 14. “Let me see thy countenance, let me hear thy voice; for sweet is thy voice, and thy countenance is comely.” And how should they be otherwise? They are the mind of the Spirit, suggested to us by himself, on account of which he chooses to be called the Spirit of supplication, Zech. 12. 10. And on what principle should prayers be disrespectful to the Divine Majesty? while every lawful prayer, such as that which Christ has taught us, contains an avowal of submission to the divine will. For we reckon no man to be at liberty so to narrow his prayer as to set limits to the Holy One of Israel.
The majesty of God, therefore, does not require that we shall present no prayers or desires, but that we shall lay them before him with reverence, and heartily submit them to his wisdom and to his will.
With as little truth is it alleged that prayers are an insult to the goodness of God. We do not press them on the notice of God as the meritorious causes of the blessings he bestows, but view them rather as the marks and consequences of divine grace acting on our minds. The knowledge we have of what is good and desirable; the desire we have to obtain it, and the expression of that desire, accompanied by proper dispositions towards God, are themselves gifts which are usually followed up by another gift, the granting to us of the things desired, according to the saying in the Psalms, (81. 10,) “Open thy mouth wide, and I will fill it.” The gifts of God become usually the more delightful to us in consequence of our obtaining them by our prayers. We then find that they came to us not by chance, but from the love of our heavenly Father, who keeps his ear open to our prayers. Hence arise comfort, joy, and filial love; Ps. 116. 1, “I love the Lord, because he hath heard the voice of my supplication.” Meanwhile, it is certain that God bestows on us many blessings for which prayers have not been offered, which we did not even feel that we needed, and by his grace anticipates our application.
Having now refuted the sophistical objections of the flesh, we shall proceed to lay down the true arguments which convince us of the advantage and necessity of prayer. They are chiefly two, of which one respects God, and the other respects ourselves. With regard to God, prayer is a most important part of that worship by which he commands us to do him honour. Hence, the whole of worship is described to be, calling on the name of the Lord. An instance of this, if I mistake not, we have in…; Gen 4. 26, “Then began men to call upon the name of the Lord.” These words are susceptible of a great variety of significations, which, in order to bring out the full meaning, may without impropriety be joined. “To call upon the name of” sometimes signifies to pronounce a name, and acknowledge it by open proclamation. In that sense, God said to Moses, Ex. 33. 19, “I will proclaim the name of the Lord before thee.” Which God actually did, as the narrative informs us. Ex. 34. 5. “The Lord descended in a cloud, and stood with him there, “and pronounced the name of the Lord.” In what manner this was done we are told, v. 6,
And he proclaimed, “the Lord, the Lord God, merciful and gracious.” Again, this phrase signifies to call on the name of the Lord by prayer, as in Gen. 8. 4, where it is related of Abram, that he came “unto the place of the altar, which he had made there at the first and Abram called there on the name of the Lord.”
Lastly, it signifies to call one’s self by the name of a person. Isa. 44. 5, “One shall say, I am the Lord’s, and another shall call himself by the name of Jacob.” Let us join all these, and we shall have the complete sense. At that time, the name of Jehovah began to be honoured by a public profession, and the true worshippers of God distinguished themselves, in this manner, from idolaters and carnal men. Again, they honoured that name by calling upon it in public assemblies, and, on this account, received their denomination from Jehovah, being called the sons of God in opposition to the ungodly Cainites, and their followers, who are called men; Gen. 6. 2. But in later times the whole worship of God was included in this calling on the name of the Lord; Joel 2. 32. “And it shall come to pass that whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be delivered.” Hence, a temple dedicated to the worship of God is called a house of prayer “For my house shall be called a house of prayer to all people.” Isa. 56. 7, compared with Luke 19. 46.
As the pious observation of the duty of prayer is the most important of …acts, so to omit it entirely is to banish all fear of God. Such a charge, though unfounded, Eliphaz brought against Job. (15. 4.) Thou castest off fear, and thou breakest off, or puttest away, fear before God. Heathens are charged with ungodliness on this ground, that they did not call upon God. Jer. 10. 25. “Pour out thy fury upon the heathen that know thee not, and upon the families that call not on thy name?”
It is evident from the nature of the subject, that holy prayers render the highest possible honour to God. They contain an acknowledgment and declaration, 1st, Of the Supreme MAJESTY of God, to which every knee in heaven and in earth ought to bow. He declares by an oath that he reserves this glory to himself as his peculiar right, Isa. 45. 23. What a lovely sight, and how worthy of God, when ten thousand times ten thousand, and thousands of thousands of angels, unite “with every creature which is in heaven and on the earth, and under the earth, and such as are in the sea,” and with one voice sing, “Blessing, and honour, and glory, and power, be unto him that sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb for ever and ever,” Rev. 5. 11—13.