The Prayer of God
We pray because we were made for prayer, and God draws us out by breathing Himself in.
Peter Taylor Forsyth emphasizes the profound nature of prayer, highlighting how the Spirit intercedes for us with unutterable groanings, indicating that our prayers are a response to God's initial call and movement in our hearts. He delves into the concept that our prayers are actually a result of God's first prayer for us, demonstrated through the sacrifice of His Son for our redemption. Forsyth underscores that prayer is intricately linked to the Atonement, with Christ's self-offering to God being the essence of prayer. He explains that God's love ignites our desire to pray, drawing us closer to Him as His creations destined for communion with Him.
Text
"...the Spirit himself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered"
(Rom. 8:26).
If our prayer reach or move Him it is because He first reached and moved us to pray. The prayer that reached heaven began there, when Christ went forth. It began when God turned to beseech us in Christ--in the appealing Lamb slain before the foundation of the world. The Spirit went out with the power and function in it to return with our soul. Our prayer is the answer to God's. Herein is prayer, not that we prayed Him, but that He first prayed us, in giving His Son to be a propitiation for us. The heart of the Atonement is prayer--Christ's great self-offering to God in the Eternal Spirit. The whole rhythm of Christ's soul, so to say, was Godhead going out and returning on itself. And so God stirs and inspires all prayer which finds and moves Him. His love provokes our sacred forwardness. He does not compel us, but we cannot help it after that look, that tone, that turn of His. All say, 'I am yours if you will'; and when we will it is prayer. Any final glory of human success or destiny rises from man being God's continual creation, and destined by Him for Him. So we pray because we were made for prayer, and God draws us out by breathing Himself in.
Sermon Outline
- The Nature of Prayer
- The Source of Prayer
- The Purpose of Prayer
- To move God's heart
- To respond to God's love and initiative
- To fulfill our destiny as God's creation
Key Quotes
“The prayer that reached heaven began there, when Christ went forth.” — Peter Taylor Forsyth
“The whole rhythm of Christ's soul, so to say, was Godhead going out and returning on itself.” — Peter Taylor Forsyth
“He does not compel us, but we cannot help it after that look, that tone, that turn of His.” — Peter Taylor Forsyth
Application Points
- We must recognize that our prayer is a response to God's initiative and love.
- We must understand that our prayer is not just about us, but about fulfilling our destiny as God's creation.
- We must seek to move God's heart through our prayer, and respond to His love and initiative.