Prayer: A Means of Grace - Brad Anderson

Prayer is one of the most accessible means of grace for God’s people. Wherever one may be, in joy or trouble, in public or private, one can pray. Prayer is an essential means of grace where God sanctifies, comforts, strengthens and nurtures his people to grow in a stronger relationship with him. Warfield helps us understand that prayer is the essence of true religion.

When we kneel before God, not with the body merely, but with the mind and heart, we have assumed the attitude which above all others deserves the name of religious. And this religious attitude by way of eminence is obviously just the attitude of utter dependence and humble trust. He who comes to God in prayer, comes not in a spirit of self-assertion, but in a spirit of trustful dependence.

 

As one comes to prayer we realize the need for dependence upon the Holy Spirit, “for we do not know what to pray for as we ought” (Rom. 8:26). The Holy Spirit intercedes for us, for “he who searches hearts knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God” (Rom. 8:27). In this manner we have the confidence in prayer that “if we ask anything according to his will he will hear us” (1 John 5:14). The Spirit knows and makes known to us the desires of our hearts and takes those petitions to the Father on our behalf. Therefore, prayer is a means of grace because it is an active work of grace in the soul of one who follows Christ. Again, from Warfield, 

prayer is a means of grace above everything else because it is in all its forms conscious communion with God. This is the source of all grace. When the soul is in contact with God, in intercourse with God, in association with Him, it is not only in an attitude to receive grace; it is not only actually seeking grace; it is already receiving and possessing grace. And intercourse with God is the very essence of prayer.

In prayer we seek the Lord (1 Chron. 16:11), we are drawn to him (Ps. 145:18), and we pray in the name of Christ for it is, as the Shorter Catechism tells, “in obedience to his command, and in confidence of his promise, to ask mercies for his sake.” In sin our distance is so great from God that we have no access to him without the mediatorial work of Christ. For we are to do everything in the name of Christ, giving thanks to the Father through him (Col. 3:17) because it is his work alone that give us the benefit of access to the Father.

The Shorter Catechism explains prayer as “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,”  It is important, however, to understand while the Shorter Catechism is helpful to teach us what prayer is about, it is our Savior who taught us to pray (Matt. 6:9-15) by first ascribing glory to God in saying “hallowed be thy name.” While it is man’s purpose to glorify God and enjoy him forever, in prayer we ascribe glory unto him and “bless his name” (Ps. 100:4). Ascribing to God the glory due to him alone we may step into the other aspects of prayer the Shorter Catechism directs us toward: petitions, intercession, confession, thanksgiving, and corporate prayer.

We petition by offering up our desires to God. Petitioning is to mold our own minds and hearts to his own revealed will (Deut. 29:29). Without God-given desires, the words of our mouth are empty and vain as seen in Isaiah: “Because this people draw near with their mouth and honor me with their lips, while their hearts are far from me, and their fear of me is a commandment taught by men” (Isa. 29:13). Ezekiel furthers this thought by saying, “with lustful talk in their mouths they act; their heart is set on their gain” (Ezek. 33:31). Therefore, our petitions must be an offering up of our desires just as a sacrifice is offered. The Lord’s house is a house of prayer (Isa. 56:7), and prayers are a “spiritual sacrifice” (1 Pet. 2:5) offered to him alone. According to Vos prayers are offered up, because, “only God has the certain, sure power to hear our prayers, discern the desires of our hearts, and understand what our real needs are.” As we approach him in prayer, we bring our desires to match his will. We speak to “him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us” (Eph. 3:20) first seeking his kingdom and righteousness (Matt. 6:33).  

The apostle Paul encourages believers not only to make petitions for themselves, but to make prayerful intercession for one another (1 Thess. 5:25, 2 Tim. 1:3). Intercession is bearing one another’s burdens before God in prayer, asking for grace and for one another. Whitfield relays a close connection between the Christian life and intercession:

If we inquire, why there is so little love to be found amongst Christians, why the very characteristic, by which everyone should know that we are disciples of the holy Jesus, is almost banished out of the Christian world, we shall find it, in a great measure, owing to a neglect or superficial performance of that excellent part of prayer, INTERCESSION, or imploring the divine grace and mercy in behalf of others.”

Our Lord Jesus’ high priestly prayer (John 17) is a dear example of him praying for present and future disciples as he simply states “I am praying for them… whom you have given me for they are yours.” (John 17:9).

Through the work of Christ we confess our sins and receive pardon (1 John 1:9). The healing that comes from confession to God flows into confession and intercession for the saints (James 5:16). For the Lord desires the confession of a broken and contrite heart (Ps. 51:17). By not confessing, our bones waste away, yet in bringing our sin to the Lord we are able to say, “I acknowledged my sin to you, and I did not cover my iniquity; I said, ‘I will confess my transgressions to the LORD,’ and you forgave the iniquity of my sin.” (Ps. 32:3, 5). As we confess our sins, we humbly set ourselves before the Father while growing in hatred of our sins (Luke 18:13) and desire to truly abolish them (Job 34:32).

Upon confessing our sins and partaking of God’s gracious forgiveness, we give thankful acknowledgement of his mercies. The believer is most thankful for the redemption of Christ and the amazing gift of his Son (2. Cor. 9:15, Ps. 116:17). True thankfulness in prayer only begins when we see who we are in the guilt of our sin then who we are as redeemed in Christ. 

As we look upon our sin and the finished work of Christ applied to us in our union with him, we begin to understand prayer. Williamson says, “It is only when the law has shown us that we are lost—and when the gospel has shown us how we may be saved—that we can go on to learn how to pray! Or rather, it is only after we have experienced the work of the law and of the gospel in our hearts that we will also be able to pray the way we ought!” Prayer then becomes as natural to the one who trusts in Christ as breathing is to each human. 

Corporate prayer with the Body of Christ is worth discussing as well. The ARP Directory of Public worship states, “the whole of public worship should be approached and conducted in a spirit of prayer, whether singing, reciting Psalms, reading and hearing the Word, making offerings, and receiving the sacraments and benedictions.” Prayer is the whole-hearted posture of individual believers and the Body of Christ throughout the entirety of the service. 

We see that when faced with difficulty, the church “lifted their voices together to God” in prayer (Acts 4:24-30). In doing so they received boldness to speak the word of God. The church prays to receive boldness and boldness in God’s word grows the church. As Grudem says, “The more genuine fellowship of a church increases, the more there ought to be continual prayer for one another within the church, and the more genuine spiritual blessing from the Holy Spirit may be expected to flow through the church.” Closing with the words of Calvin on his commentary on John 7:37-39 may help draw God’s people to pray with more fervency both publicly and privately: “That we lie on earth poor and famished and almost destitute of spiritual blessings, while Christ sits in glory at the right hand of the Father, clothed with the highest majesty of empire, must be imputed to our slothfulness and the narrowness of our faith.”