Prayer¹

4. Different Kinds of Prayer

Rev Donald Macdonald

Prayer is a means of grace, just as the Word and sacraments are means of grace. In true prayer there must be sincerity; there ought to be reverence, for God is infinitely exalted. There must be humility and importunity, the exercise of faith and submission to the will of God. The prayer of the true Christian must be offered in the name of Christ. As Charles Hodge says, “By ‘the name of God’ is meant God Himself, and God as manifested in His relation to us. Both ideas are usually united, thus to believe ‘in the name of

¹The previous part of this Theological Conference paper, last month, discussed the Spirit of prayer. This article covers the fifth main point and concludes the series.

the only begotten Son of God’, is to believe that Christ is the Son of God, and that as such He is manifested as the only Saviour of men.”² Some of the different types of prayer are: (1) private prayer, (2) social prayer, (3) public prayer, (4) persevering prayer. After speaking about these, we will comment briefly on methodology in prayer.

1. Private prayer. This has already been discussed in a general way, whether we speak to God in our mind or in an audible voice. We “clothe our thoughts and feelings with words”. “Those goings forth of the soul towards God in thought and feeling . . . reveal themselves in the forms of reverence, sorrow for sin, sense of dependence and obligation.”³ If our minds are bent in this direction, towards God and His Son Jesus Christ, prayer should be as natural as our breathing. Although we cannot physically be in private prayer all the time, it should be very natural to us to be speaking to God in our minds.

Even the Christian in a period of spiritual declension may experience neglect of prayer, coldness in prayer and lack of fervency, but eventually the Lord delivers His people from these situations. We would further add that, whatever a man’s profession might be outwardly before men, before the world, anyone who has no desire to draw near to God in secret and hold converse with the Most High knows nothing of communion with God. Union and communion with God is the very life of prayer. A prayerless soul is a graceless soul; he may recite the Lord’s Prayer or read from a prayer book, but it is an abomination to the Most High.

1. Social prayer, prayer in and with the family. Charles Hodge states, “As man’s nature is social, he must have fellowship with his fellow men in all that concerns his inward and outward life. No man lives, or can live, for himself in religion any more than in any other relation.” The most intimate bond of fellowship that the world knows is within the family unit. It is the bedrock of a happy society; it is fundamental to the well being of a nation, a community and, not least, a church of God. All the relations between parents and children, and others in the circle, are upheld and strengthened when all assemble for family worship morning and evening; there is no substitute for family religion and for the Scriptures to be taught in the home. Hodge adds, “All persons subject to the watch or care of the Church should be required to maintain in their households the stated worship of God. The character of the Church and of the state depends on the character of the family. If religion dies out in the family, it cannot elsewhere be maintained.”⁴

I maintain that the root cause of the terrible declension in society, in

²Charles Hodge, Systematic Theology, Eerdmans reprint, 1977, vol 3, pp 704-5.

³Hodge, Systematic Theology, vol 3, p 705.

⁴Hodge, Systematic Theology, vol 3, p 706.

Church and State and in the family, is that family religion has died out. I do not deny that Christian families may have their troubles and that children in Christian families may turn their backs on what they have been taught; there are exceptions to the rule. However, family religion is vital to the Church, to communities and nations, if they are to have God’s blessing.

1. Public prayer. Under our Presbyterian system, public assemblies are for instruction and worship, and all parts should be in due order. Preaching is the most solemn aspect of public worship; while the other parts of praise, prayer, the reading of the Word, and sacraments are important; they are subordinate to the function of preaching. It goes without saying that there cannot be true knowledge without the true knowledge of God. There is a tendency in too many churches to make preaching subordinate to what they call worship. It is important that those who lead public worship should do so with a solemnity that befits the worship of God. In the exercise of public prayer, what is said ought to come from the heart and not be mere words, however orthodox. Needless repetition should be avoided, and unnecessary length.

The use of biblical language is important. What is said in prayer should have some relevance to the subject of instruction. On important occasions, such as sacramental occasions or days of humiliation and prayer or thanksgiving, the first prayer especially should be directed by the purpose of the occasion. “Let all things be done decently and in order.”

It is a matter of importance that public prayer should not be presented to please individuals or a certain section of those present. At funerals there is a tendency to speak as if ministers were addressing men, not the Most High. Sin is hardly ever mentioned in many places today. Many prayers have descended into eulogies. If worship is controlled by the Spirit of God, both the minister leading and the people worshipping, God’s people especially, will engage in adoration, praise, thanksgiving, confession and supplication – sweet incense rising from the altar of the heart.

This will mingle with those petitions that are made for all. Paul exhorted “that, first of all, supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks, be made for all men; for kings, and for all that are in authority; that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty. For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour; who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth. For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus; who gave Himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time” (1 Tim 2:1-6).

1. Persevering prayer: There are many examples of this in the Scriptures. Just to mention two. First, Jacob at Peniel wrestling with the Angel and say-

ing, “I will not let Thee go except Thou bless me” (Gen 32:26). The other is Elijah on Mount Carmel on that very public occasion in determining who is the true God. James refers to him in the New Testament: “The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much. Elias was a man subject to like passions as we are, and he prayed earnestly that it might not rain: and it rained not on the earth by the space of three years and six months. And he prayed again, and the heaven gave rain, and the earth brought forth her fruit” (5:16-18). Many other examples could be cited also to indicate the power of prayer. The greatest example of all is the Saviour; He was a Man of prayer; He spent all nights in prayer during His earthly ministry. In particular, we see His wrestling in the Garden of Gethsemane.

Methodology in Prayer. I am not going to dwell on this; one can study Matthew Henry’s book on this subject.⁵ In the first chapter he lays down as the first matter in prayer: to have a sense of the majesty and perfections of God, the Being that we are approaching. And in the second chapter he lays down as the second matter: a sense of our sinfulness and needs as miserable creatures, for we are mere beggars at His footstool.

Conclusion. The subject that I have sought to outline is vast, and much has been written on the subject of prayer. When all is said and done, we are brought back to the need for a child-like disposition – to say with the disciples: “Lord teach us to pray, as John also taught his disciples”, for “we know not what we should pray for as we ought”.