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DIRECTIONS RESPECTING PRAYER
WHAT David spoke respecting the Pentateuch is strongly exemplified in the Sermon on the Mount; “By it are God’s servants warned.” Both sins and duties are here exhibited to us in their proper light: the sins of the heart are reprobated, no less than those of the outward act: and the duties which are performed without proper motives and dispositions are shewn to be void of any real worth. Hence we are warned to look chiefly at the heart, and to judge of our state entirely by what we find there. If, for instance, we have been in the habit of dispensing alms, we must not therefore conclude that we have pleased God, unless, upon an examination of our own hearts, we have the testimony of our conscience that we desired to please him. In like manner, if we have been given to prayer, we must not imagine that our prayers have been accepted, unless they have been offered in sincerity and truth. To this effect our Lord teaches us in the words of our text; in which he gives us directions respecting prayer, and guards us against those dispositions which are too frequently indulged in the performance of that duty.
I. Against hypocrisy—
An ostentatious display of devotion is most hateful to God—
[The Pharisees of old were intent only on gaining the applause of man. Hence, on every occasion, they acted a part, as players on a stage [Note: Ð ñ ὸ ò ô ὸ è å á è ῆ í á é , in ver. 1, seems to convey this idea.]. Even their private devotions were made subservient to their main design; and were ostentatiously displayed in places of public concourse. They pretended to have so much reverence for God, that they would not defer their accustomed services even for a few minutes, but would perform them in the corner of a street, or in any other place, however conspicuous and frequented; whilst, in reality, the whole was a contrivance, in order to attract notice, and obtain a high reputation for sanctity. Such persons our Lord justly calls “hypocrites,” and their services he declares to be altogether unacceptable to the heart-searching God.
These precise habits are no longer seen; but the disposition from whence they arose, prevails as much as ever. We shall not now speak of formalists, who frequent the house of God in order to be accounted religious, because we shall notice them under another head: but there are many in the religious world who very nearly resemble the Pharisees of old, whilst they themselves have not the least idea that there is any such defect in their character. I refer to those who are forward to pray and to expound the Scriptures in religious societies, whilst they have no delight in secret prayer, but only in displaying their gifts and talents. I would notice those also, who, in the house of God, use unnecessary peculiarities, whether of voice or gesture, in order that they may appear to be pre-eminently devout. Nor must we overlook those who carry the same hypocritical desires even into their own closets, and contrive, either by the loudness or the length of their devotions, to convey to their families an idea of transcendent piety. But such dispositions, by whomsoever indulged, are hateful to God: and in proportion as we are actuated by them, we debase our best services, and render them an abomination to the Lord.]
In all our approaches to God, we should rather affect privacy and retirement—
[Doubtless, when in the house of God, we ought to conduct ourselves with the deepest reverence: nor should we be afraid of the observations which may be made upon us by ungodly men. Whatever consequences may attend a reverential regard for God, we ought not to put our light under a bushel; but should, like Daniel, brave death itself, rather than for a moment deny our God [Note: Dan_6:10.]. But where our devotions are professedly private, and no necessity is imposed upon us, we should shun every thing which has the appearance of ostentation or vain-glory, and study to approve ourselves to Him only, “who seeth in secret.” It is his approbation only that we should regard; and from him only should we seek “a recompence of reward.”]
At the same time it becomes us to be equally on our guard,
II. Against superstition—
Superstitious services are scarcely less common than those which are hypocritical—
[The Heathen imagined that their gods were to be moved by long services and vain repetitions. Hence the worshippers of Baal cried to him, “O Baal, hear us! O Baal, hear us!” and continued their cry from morning to noon, and with increased earnestness from noon to evening [Note: 1Ki_18:26-29.]. And to this hour a great part of the Christian world (the Papists, I mean) continue a superstition as absurd as any that can be found in the heathen world: they repeat their Ave-Marias and their Paternosters a great number of times; (keeping an account thereof with their beads;) and then think that they have performed an acceptable service to the Lord, though they have not offered to him one spiritual petition. Happy were it if such superstition were confined to them: but the same thing obtains also amongst ourselves. What is more common than for persons to attend the house of God, and to go through the service in a dull formal manner, and then to return home satisfied with having performed a duty to their God? Yet the religion of many who fancy themselves devout, consists in nothing but a repetition of such services: and if these services be repeated on the week days as well as on the Sabbath, they take credit to themselves for possessing all the piety that God requires. In some things, I confess, these persons set an example worthy the imitation of the religious world: they are always in their places at the beginning of the service; and they shew a becoming attention to it throughout the whole, both in their reverent postures and their audible responses: and, if my voice could reach to every professor of religion throughout the world, I would say, Learn of them; and as far as these things go, Imitate them. Still, however, inasmuch as the religion of these persons consists in forms only, without any suitable emotions of the heart, it is no better than the worship of the heathen: our Lord himself says, that “in vain do any persons worship him, who draw nigh to him with their lips, whilst their hearts are far from him [Note: Mat_15:7-9.].”
Some who are truly enlightened, have yet the remains of this old leaven within them; and are apt to judge of their state, rather by the number and length of their services, than by the spirituality of their minds in them: and it would be well if some who minister in holy things, and who multiply their services beyond what their strength will endure, would attend to this hint.]
But we should have more correct notions of the Deity, than to imagine that he requires, or accepts, such services as these—
[We mean not to say, that persons may not profitably and acceptably prolong their services to any extent, when their spirits are devout and their hearts are enlarged; for our Lord himself spent whole nights in prayer and in communion with his God: nor do we say, that all repetitions of the same requests must necessarily be superstitious; for our Lord himself, thrice within the space of one hour, retired for prayer, and poured out his soul in the very same words [Note: Mat_26:44.]: but we must be understood to say, that the acceptableness of our prayers does not depend on the length of them. God does not need to be informed, or to be persuaded, by us: he is omniscient, and “knows what we need, before we ask him;” and he is all-merciful, and is infinitely more ready to give than we are to ask. We mistake the nature of prayer altogether, if we think that God is prevailed upon by it to do what he was otherwise averse to do. It is true, he requires us to be importunate [Note: Luk_11:8-10; Luk_18:7-8.]: but such expressions as these are not to be strained beyond their proper import: the use of prayer is, to affect our own souls with a deep sense of our guilt and misery; to acknowledge our entire dependence upon God; to raise our expectations from him; and to prepare our hearts for a grateful reception of his blessings; that, when he has answered our petitions, we may give him the glory due unto his name. It is a truth not generally known, that the very disposition to pray is a gift from God; and that God does not give because we pray, but stirs us up to pray, because he has before determined to give: and this truth, well digested in the mind, will keep us equally from a presumptuous neglect of prayer, on the one hand, and from a superstitious use of it, on the other.]
In addition to the foregoing cautions, we will suggest two or three others, arising out of a more minute attention to the text, which will serve as a further application of the subject—
Guard then,
1. Against neglect of prayer—
[Our Lord does not here directly enjoin prayer as a duty, but he takes for granted that all his followers will pray. On any other supposition than this, his directions would lose all their force. In a subsequent part of this sermon he both enjoins it as a duty, and suspends on the performance of it all hopes of obtaining blessings from God. In truth, it is not possible for a child of God to neglect prayer. Prayer is the very breath of a regenerate soul: and “as the body without the spirit is dead,” so the soul, without those spiritual affections which go forth to God in prayer, is dead also. As soon as ever Saul was converted to God, the testimony of God respecting him was, “Behold, he prayeth [Note: Act_9:11.].” Those who neglect prayer, are decidedly ranked among the workers of iniquity [Note: Psa_14:4.], on whom God will pour out his everlasting vengeance [Note: Jer_10:25.]. Think then, beloved, how many there are amongst us, who have reason to tremble for their state! O that every prayerless person would lay this thought to heart! — — —]
2. Against formality in prayer—
[Prayer is a service of the heart, and not merely of the lip and knee. It is a “pouring out of the soul before God,” and “a stirring up of ourselves to lay hold on God.” Let none then deceive themselves with mere formal services, whether public or private. As to the circumstance of using a preconcerted form of words, that makes no difference either way: a person may pray spiritually with a form, or formally without one. The true point to be ascertained is, Do the feelings and desires of our souls correspond with the expressions of our lips? If they do, that is acceptable prayer; if not, it is altogether worthless in the sight of God. In the foregoing address, we have warned the infidel and profane: in this we would warn the superstitious and hypocritical. Yes: we must testify against them, that God looketh at the heart; and that they never will find acceptance with him, till they come to “worship him in spirit and in truth” — — —]
3. Against unbelief in prayer—
[It is our duty not only to pray, but to pray in faith. We are to draw nigh to God as “a Father,” and as “our” Father. It is our privilege to “have access to him with boldness and with confidence by faith in the Lord Jesus.” We “should lift up holy hands to him, without doubting.” We are told that “if we waver in our minds, we must not expect to receive any thing at his hands [Note: Jam_1:6-7.].” Let us then come to him with enlarged hearts: let us “open our mouths wide, that he may fill them.” Let us ask, whatever we feel that we stand in need of: and, when we have asked all that we are able to express, let us think what unsearchable gifts he has further to bestow: and when we have exhausted our store of words and thoughts, let us remember that he is “able to give us exceeding abundantly above all that we can ask or think.” Petitions offered in such a frame as this, will never be unacceptable: such addresses will never be considered as “vain repetitions,” even though they were offered every hour in the day. Indeed, such a frame as this is intended by the Apostle, when he bids us to “pray without ceasing:” and such devotions will surely bring with them a rich reward: even in this world will God “reward” them, and “openly” too, by the manifestations of his love and the communications of his grace: and, in the world to come, he will say concerning us, as of Nathanael of old, “Behold an Israelite indeed,” a man of prayer: “I saw him under the fig-tree,” and in other places whither he retired for prayer; and I now, in the presence of the assembled universe, bear testimony to him as a faithful servant, that shall inherit the kingdom, and possess the glory which I have prepared for him.]