21.3 Section III, IV

Section III.—Prayer with thanksgiving, being one special part of religious worship, is by God required of all men; and that it may be accepted, it is to be made in the name of the Son, by the help of his Holy Spirit, according to his will, with understanding, reverence, humility, fervency, faith, love, and perseverance; and, if vocal, in a known tongue. Section IV.—Prayer is to be made for things lawful, and for all sorts of men living, or that shall live hereafter, but not for the dead, nor for those of whom it may be known that they have sinned the sin unto death.

Exposition Our Confession having given a general description of religious worship, in regard to its object, and the manner in which it ought to be performed, proceeds now to give a more particular account of the several parts of religious worship; and, in the sections under our consideration, it treats of prayer, which is one special part of that worship we owe to God. Prayer, when taken in its most extensive sense, includes adoration, or a devout celebration of the perfections of God, and of his works, in which they are displayed; confession of our sins to God; thanksgiving for the favours which we have received from him; and petition for the blessings of which we stand in need. But prayer, in the strict sense of the word, consists in petition alone; and in this light we shall view it in the observations we have to offer in illustration of the statements of the Confession.

I. Prayer is a duty incumbent on all men. As dependent creatures we owe this homage to God. "In him we live, and move, and have our being;" and "from him cometh every good gift, and every perfect gift." What, then, can be more reasonable than to acknowledge our constant dependence on him, and make daily application to him for the supply of our wants? That God knows our wants before we tell him of them, and that his infinite goodness will prompt him to bestow what is conducive to our happiness, have been sometimes urged as arguments against the necessity and utility of prayer. But, although prayer is certainly not necessary to give information to God, and is not intended to excite the divine benevolence, yet it does not follow that it is superfluous; because there may by other reasons of great importance for which it is required. It may be designed to impress our own minds more deeply with a sense of our wants, and to bring them into that state in which alone it is proper that the blessings we solicit should be bestowed upon us. Besides, prayer is the divinely appointed means of obtaining from our heavenly Father the blessings we need. He has commanded us to ask, and promised we shall receive.—Matt. vii. 7. He has given us many exceeding great and precious promises, and he has said: "For this will I be inquired of by the house of Israel, to do it for them."—Ezek. xxxvi. 37.

It has also been alleged, "that wicked and unregenerate men ought not to pray unto God at all." This error was broached by certain sectaries, at the very period when our Confession was compiled; and it has been revived in our own day. It is maintained that, because unbelievers cannot pray acceptably, they ought not to pray at all. It will be readily admitted that the prayer of faith can alone be acceptable; still we must hold that all men are bound to pray to God.—1. Prayer is a duty required by the mere light of nature, and must, therefore, be incumbent on all men.—Jonah i. 5, 6, 14. 2. Prayer is a duty enjoined upon men indiscriminately, and universally in the Word of God.—Ps. lxv. 2; Phil. iv. 6; 1 Thess. v. 17. 3. If unbelievers, or unregenerate men ought not to pray, then their omission of prayer would not be their sin; but their neglect of prayer is always represented in Scripture as highly criminal.—Ps. x. 4; Jer. x. 25. 4. The Apostle Peter required Simon Magus to pray unto God, though he was then "in the gall of bitterness, and in the bond of iniquity." - Acts viii. 22, 23. 5. Prayer is an appointed means of grace which all men ought to improve. Though it is not for our praying, yet it is in the way of prayer, as God’s instituted order, that we may expect any blessing from him.—Matt. vii. 7. Every one that needs and desires any good thing from God is, therefore, bound to ask it by prayer. 6. Though the prayer as well as the ploughing of the wicked be sinful, because not done by them in a right manner, yet the matter of it being lawful and good in itself, their neglect of it is a greater abomination. - Prov. xv. 8, xxi. 4. For these reasons we must maintain, agreeably to our Confession, that "prayer is by God required of all men."

II. Prayer is to be made for things that are lawful, or according to the will of God. As our petitions ought to be regulated by the revealed will of God, his Word must be the rule of prayer. Nor by this rule are our prayers circumscribed within narrower limits; for nothing really necessary for us can be pointed out which is not contained in some divine declaration or promise. We are warranted to ask temporal mercies of God; for "our heavenly Father knoweth that we have need of these things" (Matt. vi. 32); but spiritual mercies ought to have the preference in our requests; for thus saith our Saviour: "Seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you."—Matt. vi. 33. If we regulate our petitions by the Word of God, then we may feel the utmost confidence that there is an entire harmony between his will and our desires; and we may take the full encouragement of that beautiful and comprehensive promise: "If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what you will, and it shall be done unto you." John xv. 7; see also, 1 John v. 14.

III. Prayer is to be made in the name of Christ. Our Saviour frequently enjoins us to ask all things in his name, and assures us that all our lawful desires and requests, presented in his name, shall be granted.—John xiv. 13, 14; xvi. 23, 24. It is not enough, however, that we merely introduce the name of Christ into our prayers, or that we conclude them with the bare words: "All that we ask is for Christ’s sake." To pray in the name of Christ, is to draw all our encouragement to pray from Christ alone, to engage in this duty is dependence upon his strength, and to rely upon his merit and intercession alone for access to God, and for acceptance and a gracious answer to our prayers.

IV. Prayer is to be made in dependence upon the assistance of the Holy Spirit. This is frequently mentioned in Scripture as requisite to acceptable prayer.—Eph. vi. 18; Jude 20. We know not what to pray for as we ought, so that, without the assistance of the Spirit, we are in danger of asking amiss in regard to the matter of our requests. Neither do we know how to pray as we ought. But the Spirit is promised to help our infirmities, by enlightening our minds in the knowledge of our needs, bringing to our remembrance the promises which are our encouragement to ask of God the supply of our wants, and exciting within us those affections and graces which are necessary to acceptable prayer.—Rom. viii. 26, 29.

V. If we would have our prayers accepted of God, they must be offered up in a right manner, which includes a variety of things. We must pray—1. With understanding (Ps. xlvii. 7); with some knowledge of God, the alone object of prayer; of our wants, the subject-matter of prayer; of the person and work of Christ, the alone medium of acceptable prayer; and of the promises, which are our encouragement in prayer. 2. With reverence (Heb. xii. 28), arising from a deep sense of the infinite majesty and unspotted holiness of God. 3. With humility (Gen. xviii. 27), arising from a deep impression of our own unworthiness and sinfulness. 4. With fervency (James v. 16), arising from a lively apprehension of our own wants, and of the invaluable nature of the blessings which we ask of God. 5. With faith (James i. 6), believing that we shall receive what we ask according to the will of God. 6. With love (1 Tim. ii. 8), cherishing an ardent desire after God’s presence with us, and an affectionate regard to all those for whom we ought to pray. "With importunity and perseverance (Matt. xv. 22-28; Eph. vi. 18), pressing our suit, and renewing our petition again and again, until a gracious answer is obtained. 8. Hopefully, waiting upon God, with submission to his will, and looking for an answer to our supplications.—Ps. v. 3; Mic. vii. 7.

VI. Prayer, at least when public and social, ought to be offered up in a known tongue. This condemns the doctrine and practice of the Church of Rome, which maintains that it is not needful that public prayers be in a known tongue, and still continues to perform her service in the Latin language, which has ceased to be vernacular for a thousand years. This practice is so contrary to common sense, that no argument can be necessary to support the statement of our Confession in opposition to it. It is sufficient to observe, that the Apostle Paul occupies nearly the whole of the 14th chapter of the First Epistle to the Corinthians in showing that public prayers ought to be offered up in the vulgar tongue. He would rather speak five words which the people could understand, than ten thousand in an unknown tongue. He lays down this general rule: "Let all things be done unto edifying." But how can the people be edified by worship performed in a language which they do not understand?

VII. Prayer is to be made "for all sorts of men living, or that shall live hereafter; but not for the dead, nor for those of whom it may be known that they have sinned the sin unto death." We ought to pray "for the whole Church of Christ upon earth—for magistrates and ministers; our brethren, yea, our enemies." And as Christ prayed for those that should afterwards believe on him (John xvii. 20), so we should pray for the advancement of his kingdom in the world until his second coming.—Ps. cii. 18. The Statement that we are not to pray for the dead is levelled against the Church of Rome, which maintains that prayers and masses ought to be performed for departed souls, and may really profit them. In Scripture we find no precept requiring us to pray for the dead, nor any promise that God will hear our prayers for them, nor any example of prayer being offered on their behalf; for when Paul prayed that "Onesiphorus might find mercy of the Lord in that day" (2 Tim. i. 18), it cannot be proved that Onesiphorus was then dead. David ceased praying for his child when once it was removed by death.—2 Sam. xii. 22, 23. The state of the dead is unalterably fixed, and therefore our prayers cannot profit them.—Luke xvi. 22-26. The statement, that we are not to pray for those who are known to have sinned the sin unto death, is founded on the express words of the Apostle John: "If any man see his brother sin a sin which is not unto death, he shall ask, and he shall give him life for them that sin not to death. There is a sin unto death: I do not say that he shall pray for it."—1 John v. 16. The sin unto death most probably is the sin against the Holy Ghost, which alone is pronounced to be unpardonable; and the irremissible nature of that sin is evidently the reason why prayer is forbidden for the person who is known to be guilty of it.