The basis of prayer

The basis of prayer

Bernard Burt The Testimony 2003 p. 145 THE HUMAN EAR has great difficulty following more than one conversation at a time. Yet Scripture reveals that the God of heaven is far above us in His capabilities. The wise man taught: "The eyes of the LORD are in every place, beholding the evil and the good" (Proverbs 15:3). David wrote: "O LORD, Thou hast searched me, and known me. Thou knowest my downsitting and mine uprising, Thou under standest my thought afar of f . . . For there is not a word in my tongue, but, lo, O LORD, Thou knowest it altogether .. . Whither shall I go from Thy spirit? or whither shall I flee from Thy presence?" (Psalms 139:1-7).

God is able to hear prayers which are offered from all parts of the earth at the same time. He is able to respond to all these prayers in ways which, in His infinite wisdom, He knows are best. Well might we exclaim with David: "Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is high, I cannot attain unto it" (Psalms 139:6). The Word of God goes further than to say that God can hear all prayers which are offered. The character of God is such that there is a willing ness to hear prayer, but not every prayer: "For the eyes of the Lord are over the righteous, and His ears are open unto their prayers: but the face of the Lord is against them that do evil" (1 Peter 3:12). Peter is quoting from Psalms 34:1-22, which was written by David when he was in terrible trouble in the land of the Philistines (see the title of the psalm). The teachings contained in this psalm will be considered in more detail later in this article.

Solomon, in the book of Proverbs, shows clearly that there are prayers which God will not hear:

"Because I have called, and ye refused; I have stretched out My hand, and no man regarded; but ye have set at nought all My counsel, and would none of My reproof: I also will laugh at your calamity; I will mock when your fear cometh .. . Then shall they call upon Me, but I will not answer; they shall seek Me early, but they shall not find Me" (Proverbs 1:24-28);

"He that turneth away his ear from hearing the law, even his prayer shall be abomination" (Proverbs 28:9). The prayers which God will hear God, having laid down the basis upon which man can approach to Him in prayer, will not change His purpose. David cried: "Hear my prayer, ? LORD, give ear to my supplications: in Thy faithfulness answer me, and in Thy righteous ness" (Psalms 143:1). God, in all His dealings with men, is true to the character which He has revealed in His Word. He is "merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abundant in goodness and truth" (Exodus 34:6).

There is no doubt that God will hear prayer; the area of doubt which exist is with us: will we offer acceptable prayer unto Him? Consider now the teaching of Psalms 34:1-22 in more detail: "I sought the LORD, and He heard me, and delivered me from all my fears. They looked unto Him, and were lightened: and their faces were not ashamed. This poor man cried, and the LORD heard him, and saved him out of all his troubles. The angel of the LORD encamp eth round about them that fear Him, and delivereth them. O taste and see that the LORD is good: blessed is the man that trusteth in Him. O fear the LORD, ye His saints: for there is no want to them that fear Him. The young lions do lack, and suffer hunger: but they that seek the LORD shall not want any good thing. Come, ye children, hearken unto me: I will teach you the fear of the LORD. What man is he that desireth life, and loveth many days, that he may see good? Keep thy tongue from evil, and thy lips from speaking guile. Depart from evil, and do good; seek peace, and pursue it. The eyes of the LORD are upon the righteous, and His ears are open unto their cry. The face of the LORD is against them that do evil, to cut of f the remembrance of them from the earth. The righteous cry, and the LORD heareth, and delivereth them out of all their troubles. The LORD is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart; and saveth such a be of a contrite spirit. Many are the afflictions of the righteous: but the LORD delivereth him out of them all" (Psalms 34:4-19). The emphasised words in the extended quotation above show what the Lord requires. Man has to make an effort on two fronts; firstly, to fear God, to trust Him, to seek Him and to cry unto Him. Secondly, and of equal importance, there must be effort in the life of that man to "walk in the light" (1 John 1:7). There must be a broken heart and a contrite spirit, there must be a conscious effort to keep the tongue, to depart from e to do good and seek peace. If we do these thing God will be "nigh unto" us and deliver us.

Praying to God as ’the Father’ In Old Testament times men and women prayed to God. Perhaps surprisingly, apart from Genesis 4:26, there are no clear references to prayers being offered during the first 2,000 years of man’s sojourn on the earth. The earliest records of prayer concern the time of Abraham, when he "called upon the name of the LORD" (Genesis 12:8; Genesis 13:4) and asked God questions concerning the promises (Genesis 15:2-3). From that time on there are frequent references to the patriarchs, Moses, Joshua, Samuel, David and many others, offering praise to God, giving thanks to Him and entreating Him in various circumstances.

These individuals addressed God by various names and titles—Yahweh (Genesis 4:26), Yahweh Elohim (Genesis 24:12), Yahweh Sabaoth (1 Samuel 1:11), Adonai Yahweh (Genesis 15:2), Eloah (Job 33:26)— but only very rarely (five occasions) as ’Father’. In fact the term ’Father’ is very rarely used in the Old Testament of God. It is used six times of God being the Father of Israel in an allegorical sense (for example, Psalms 68:5; Psalms 103:13), four times in prophecy of God being the future Father of the Lord Jesus Christ (for example, 2 Samuel 7:14) and once of Jesus being the father of the millennial age (Isaiah 9:6).

However, once the Son is born, the God of Israel is revealed in the New Testament Scriptures as ’the Father’. When Jesus prayed, he ad dressed God in this way; for example: "Father, glorify Thy name" (John 12:28); "Father, the hour is come" (John 17:1); "Holy Father" (John 17:11); "O righteous Father" (John 17:25); "O my Father" (Matthew 26:39). The relationship between Jesus and the Deity was literally that of Son and Father, hence it was entirely reasonable that Jesus should use the term ’Father’ when he prayed. It is, however, remarkable (on the basis of the infrequent use of the term in the Old Testament) that, when Jesus taught his disciples to pray, he said: "After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father Which art in heaven, Hallowed be Thy name" (Matthew 6:9). It is even more remarkable that the first person (other than the twelve) who was taught by Jesus that God is to be worshipped as ’the Father’ was the woman of Samaria (John 4:21-23). After Jesus had ascended to heaven, the apostles taught the same truth: "This Jesus hath God raised up, whereof we all are witnesses. Therefore being by the right hand of God exalted, and having received of the Father the promise of the Holy [Spirit], he hath shed forth this, which ye now see and hear" (Acts 2:32-33). They presented to Jew and Gentile the fact that the Almighty Creator of the heavens and the earth could be spoken to as ’Father’. Thus those allegorical references in the Old Testament could now become a reality for faithful individuals: "Like as a father pitieth his children, so the LORD pitieth them that fear Him" (Psalms 103:13).

Prayer offered through Christ The next stage of Jesus’s teaching to his disciples was that prayer to the Father must be offered in a particular way. Just as the incense—which represented prayer (Psalms 141:2)—had to be made from specific ingredients and compounded "after the art of the apothecary" (Exodus 30:34-38), so it should be with our prayers. This principle applies to all the words which we utter in prayer (as will be seen later), but for the moment we concentrate on the way in which we approach the One to Whom we pray.

It was in the upper room that Jesus taught his disciples that he was to be taken away from them and that they would no longer be able to make requests of him as they had done over the previous three years. Now he taught them to make their requests to the Father: "And in that day ye shall ask me nothing. Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in my name, He will give it you. Hitherto have ye asked nothing in my name: ask, and ye shall receive, that your joy may be full" (John 16:23-24). This teaching sets a pattern of prayer for believers in Jesus that is followed throughout the New Testament Scriptures. The following examples are taken from the prayers and teaching of the Apostle Paul:

• "First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for you all, that your faith is spoken of through out the whole world" (Romans 1:8);

• "Now unto Him That is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us, unto Him be glory in the church [ecclesia] by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world with out end. Amen" (Ephesians 3:20-21);

• ".. . giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ" (Ephesians 5:20);

• "And whatsoever ye do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father by him" (Colossians 3:17);

• "Wherefore Jesus also, that he might sanctify the people with his own blood, suffered with out the gate . . . By him therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of our lips giving thanks to His name" (Hebrews 13:12-15).

It ought perhaps to be pointed out in connection with the above that there is no corresponding pattern in the New Testament of prayers addressed directly to Jesus. The apostles taught that prayer was to be directed to God:

• "And when they heard that, they lifted up their voice to God with one accord, and said, Lord, thou art God, Which hast made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and all that in them is" (Acts 4:24);

• "Repent therefore of this thy wickedness, and pray God, if perhaps the thought of thine hear may be forgiven thee" (Acts 8:22);

• "Peter therefore was kept in prison: but prayer was made without ceasing of the church unto God for him" (Acts 12:5). The churches of Christendom, having invented a Triune God, offer prayers to and write hymns which address each person of their Deity as they see fit. Those whose understanding of God and His Son is based on the revelations contained in the Scriptures ought not so to do. Our prayers ought to follow this Scriptural pattern and be addressed to God (as "Our Father"), being presented through our great High Priest, the Lord Jesus Christ.

Since many of our hymns are prayers, it fol lows that the same Scriptural guidelines should apply, and that those who are responsible for the choice of hymns should be guided by the prayer-patterns in the Word of God, rather than preference for a particular tune or a form of words which is not based on the principles of Scripture.

Praying in accordance with God’s Word

Mention has already been made of the parallel between prayer and the offering of incense. Both have (or should have) several constituents. Both are (or should be) associated with sacrificed lives. Both ascend up to God and should be pleasing and acceptable to Him. The way in which our prayers should be offered to God (that is, through the Lord Jesus Christ) having been considered, we now move on to look at what might be called the ingredients of prayer. The incense was made from specific ingredients (Exodus 30:34-38); what are (or should be) the ingredients of our prayers? Some of these matters will be developed elsewhere within this issue, but praise, a recognition of the holiness of God, thanksgiving and petitions can all be found within the prayers of the faithful as recorded in the Scriptures.

How, then, did these spiritual apothecaries compound their prayers? It is not difficult to find out. Take an example of Scriptural prayer, and, through the use of marginal references, search out where the one who was offering the prayer found his or her ingredients. Nehemiah’s prayer in chapter 1 of his book is presented in the table below as a typical example.

Sources for the prayer inNehemiah 1:1-11 v.5: 0 LORD God of heaven: Cyrus—Ezra 1:2 v.5: the great and terrible God: Daniel—Daniel 9:4 v.5: That keepeth covenant and mercy for them that love Him and keep His commandments: Moses—Deuteronomy 7:9 v.6: Let Thine ear now be attentive: Solomon—2 Chronicles 6:40 v.6: and Thine eyes open: Solomon—2 Chronicles 6:40 v.6: and confess the sins of the children of Israel: Daniel—Daniel 9:20 v.6: both I and my father’s house have sinned: Psalms 106:6 v.7: We have dealt very corruptly against Thee: Daniel—Daniel 9:5 v.7: which Thou commandedst Thy servant Moses: Moses—Deuteronomy 28:15 v.8 If ye transgress, I will scatter you abroad among the Moses—Deuteronomy 4:25-27 nations v.9: but if ye turn unto Me, and keep My commandments: Moses—Leviticus 26:39-42 v.9: though there were of you cast out unto the uttermost part: Moses—Deuteronomy 30:4 of the heaven v.9: unto the place that I have chosen to set My name there: Moses—Deuteronomy 12:5 v.10: Now these are Thy servants and Thy people, whom Thou hast redeemed by Thy great power, and by Thy strong hand: Moses—Deuteronomy 9:29 v.11: let now Thine ear be attentive: Solomon—2 Chronicles 6:40 v.11: who desire to fear Thy name: Isaiah—Isaiah 26:8 The passages which Nehemiah quotes show, in their contexts, what he was seeking in his prayer. He was aware of the Seventy Weeks Prophecy in the Book of Daniel, and the decree of Cyrus which had initiated the rebuilding of the temple. Yet the terms of Daniel 9:24-27 required the king of Persia to issue a decree "to restore and to build Jerusalem" (Daniel 9:25). This was what Nehemiah sought, so before he went in to the king he compounded a prayer which was based on God’s revelation of His character, His purpose and His promises. This wonderful prayer climaxes in Isaiah 26:8, where the context from Isaiah 26:1-2 is as follows: "In that day shall this song be sung in the land of Judah; We have a strong city; salvation will God appoint for walls and bulwarks. Open ye the gates, that the righteous nation which keepeth the truth may enter in". Thus we see that what Nehemiah really wanted was the spiritual salvation of the nation. This is also made evident in the words of his enemies when he arrived at Jerusalem: "When Sanballat the Horonite, and Tobiah the servant, the Ammonite, heard of it, it grieved them exceedingly that there was come a man to seek the welfare of the children of Israel" (Nehemiah 2:10).

Yet for all of this Nehemiah had actually to go before the king (with a sad countenance!) and ask for the decree to be issued. In what strength did he do this? The answer is in Isaiah 26:3 : "Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace [literally ’peace, peace’], whose mind is stayed on Thee: because he trusteth in Thee".

Oh that we could so frame our petitions "in accordance with His will" and go forward in our lives in such confidence! The privilege of prayer

Children are always making requests of their fathers: "what man is there of you, whom if his son ask bread, will he give him a stone? or if he ask a fish, will he give him a serpent? If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your Father Which is in heaven give good things to them that ask Him?" (Matthew 7:9-11). Human fathers think that they know what is best for their children (sometimes they are right and sometimes they are wrong!), but our heavenly Father knows absolutely what is best for us. How foolish are we, then, if we neglect the privilege of speaking to Him and saying, "Our Father Which art in heaven . . ."! We should heed the counsel and example of the Apostle Paul:

"[continue] instant in prayer" (Romans 12:12); "give yourselves to fasting and prayer" (1 Corinthians 7:5);

"ye also helping together by prayer for us . . ." (2 Corinthians 1:11);

"I.. . cease not to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers" (Ephesians 1:15-16);

"praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit" (Ephesians 6:18);

". . . in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God" (Php 4:6);

"... we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you" (Colossians 1:9);

"Continue in prayer, and watch in the same with thanksgiving" (Colossians 4:2);

"Pray without ceasing" (1 Thessalonians 5:17);

". . . we pray always for you" (2 Thessalonians 1:11);

"I exhort therefore, that, first of all, supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks, be made for all men" (1 Timothy 2:1);

"I will therefore that men pray every where, lifting up holy hands, without wrath and doubting" (1 Timothy 2:8);

".. . without ceasing I have remembrance of thee in my prayers night and day" (2 Timothy 1:3);

"I thank my God, making mention of thee always in my prayers" (Philemon 1:4).

It is evident that Paul understood and constantly resorted to the privilege of prayer. Let us go and do likewise.