“What Is a Christian?” Part 40” by Romans
We are continuing in our Series, "What Is A Christian?" In recent weeks, in a number of Installments, we have focused on the multiple roles that the Holy Spirit plays in our lives as Christians. Tonight, we are going to review and examine a feature of being a Christian that is not exclusive to Christianity: Prayer.
I am not aware of any theistic religion in which its followers and believers do not pray. Buddha is not a god, and while Buddhists do engage in chants and making invocations, they do not pray in the same sense that Christians pray. Also, while prayers are included in pagan religions, there are five factors that differentiate Christian prayers from pagan prayers.
This is from an anonymous source on the Internet:
1. Nature of Deities:
Pagan Prayers: Often directed to multiple gods and goddesses, each with specific domains (e.g., love, war, harvest) and characteristics.
Christian Prayers: Directed to a single, omnipotent God, often through Jesus Christ, emphasizing a personal relationship with a singular deity.
2. Purpose and Focus:
Pagan Prayers: Frequently focus on specific, tangible outcomes like good harvests, protection, or success in endeavors. They can also be about building a relationship with the deities and nature.
Christian Prayers: Often emphasize spiritual growth, forgiveness, and guidance. They include praise, thanksgiving, confession, and requests for help in accordance with God’s will.
3. Ritual and Form:
Pagan Prayers: Can be highly ritualistic, involving offerings, chants, and specific ceremonial practices. They may vary widely depending on the tradition and deity being addressed.
Christian Prayers: Typically involve spoken or silent communication with God, often following a structure like the Lord’s Prayer. They can be formal (e.g., liturgical prayers) or informal (e.g., personal prayers).
4. Community vs. Individual Focus:
Pagan Prayers: Often performed in communal settings, especially during festivals or rituals, but can also be personal.
Christian Prayers: Can be both communal (e.g., church services) and personal (e.g., private devotions), with a strong emphasis on personal relationship with God.
5. Theological Underpinnings:
Pagan Prayers: Based on polytheistic beliefs, where gods are seen as powerful but not omnipotent, and humans can have reciprocal relationships with them.
Christian Prayers: Rooted in monotheistic belief, viewing God as all-powerful, all-knowing, and ever-present, with humans seeking to align their will with God’s will.
The Bible has much to say where our prayers are concerned. Consider these verses from both the Old and New Testaments that clearly demonstrate the importance and significance of our prayer lives. I will be sharing just the verses without comment.
First, in Psalm 143:1 we read, "A Psalm of David. Hear my prayer, O LORD, give ear to my supplications: in thy faithfulness answer me, and in thy righteousness,” and in Psalm 145:18: "The LORD is nigh unto all them that call upon him, to all that call upon him in truth.”
In 2 Kings 19, King Hezekiah prayed to God to save Jerusalem from the Assyrian army which had surrounded the capital. He prayed in verses 15-16, “O LORD God of Israel, which dwellest between the cherubims, thou art the God, even thou alone, of all the kingdoms of the earth; thou hast made heaven and earth. 16 LORD, bow down thine ear, and hear: open, LORD, thine eyes, and see: and hear the words of Sennacherib, which hath sent him to reproach the living God.
Verses 19-20: “Now therefore, O LORD our God, I beseech thee, save thou us out of his hand, that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that thou art the LORD God, even thou only. 20 Then Isaiah the son of Amoz sent to Hezekiah, saying, Thus saith the LORD God of Israel, That which thou hast prayed to me against Sennacherib king of Assyria I have heard.”
We read of God's answer in 2 Kings 19:34-35: “For I will defend this city, to save it, for mine own sake, and for my servant David's sake. 35 And it came to pass that night, that the angel of the LORD went out, and smote in the camp of the Assyrians an hundred fourscore and five thousand: and when they arose early in the morning, behold, they were all dead corpses.”
Jeremiah 29:11-13: “ For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end. Then shall ye call upon me, and ye shall go and pray unto me, and I will hearken unto you. And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart.”
In the New Testament, in the Gospels we read in Matthew 5:44, “But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you.”
Still in Matthew, we read in Matthew 7:8: “For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened,” and in Matthew 21:22: “And all things, whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive.”
In the Book of Acts, we read of when an angel appeared in a vision to Cornelius, the first Gentile convert to Christianity. We would do well to consider the importance of our prayers in this account from Heaven's perspective: “ There was a certain man in Caesarea called Cornelius, a centurion of the band called the Italian band, A devout man, and one that feared God with all his house, which gave much alms to the people, and prayed to God alway...
He saw in a vision evidently about the ninth hour of the day an angel of God coming in to him, and saying unto him, Cornelius. And when he looked on him, he was afraid, and said, What is it, Lord? And he said unto him, Thy prayers and thine alms are come up for a memorial before God” (Acts 10:1-4).
Also in the Book of Acts, when the Apostle John's brother James had already been martyred, and Peter was in prison awaiting his own execution, we read, “Peter therefore was kept in prison: but prayer was made without ceasing of the church unto God for him” (Acts 12:5).
Those prayers were heard and answered: Peter was miraculously released from prison, being escorted out by an angel as the two chains that bound him to two guards fell off, and he walked past the remaining fourteen Roman soldiers who were guarding him, and through the iron doors that opened by themselves (Acts 12:6-10).
We read in 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18: “Rejoice evermore. Pray without ceasing. In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.”
Philippians 4:6-7: “Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.”
James 5:13-16: “ Is any among you afflicted? let him pray. Is any merry? let him sing psalms. Is any sick among you? let him call for the elders of the church; and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord: And the prayer of faith shall save the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up;
and if he have committed sins, they shall be forgiven him. Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.”
And finally, Colossians 4:2: “Continue in prayer, and watch in the same with thanksgiving.”
Certainly prayer is a vital aspect of Christianity. And to review this topic I am going to read to you from a tract called “A Call to Prayer.” It was written in the late 1800's by J.C. Ryle, the Bishop of Liverpool, England. In spite of its age, this 125 year old tract is as valid, and powerful and edifying as when the ink dried on the first copy that was printed. Because of its length, I will be presenting the first half, tonight, finishing it, God willing, next week.
And now, “A Call to Prayer,” by Bishop J.C. Ryle. “I have a question to offer you. It is contained in three words, Do you pray? The question is one that none but you can answer. Whether you attend public worship or not, your minister knows. Whether you have family prayers in your house or not, your relations know. But whether you pray in private or not, is a matter between yourself and God.
I beseech you in all affection to attend to the subject I bring before you. Do not say that my question is too close. If your heart is right in the sight of God, there is nothing in it to make you afraid. Do not turn off my question by replying that you say your prayers. It is one thing to say your prayers and another to pray. Do not tell me that my question is unnecessary.
Listen to me for a few minutes, and I will show you good reasons for asking it. I ask whether you pray, because prayer is absolutely needful to a man's salvation. I say, absolutely needful, and I say so advisedly. I am not speaking now of infants or idiots. I am not settling the state of the heathen. I know that where little is given, there little will be required.
I speak especially of those who call themselves Christians, in a land like our own. And of such I say, no man or woman can expect to be saved who does not pray. I hold salvation by grace as strongly as any one. I would gladly offer a free and full pardon to the greatest sinner that ever lived.
I would not hesitate to stand by his dying bed, and say, "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ even now, and you shall be saved." But that a man can have salvation without asking for it, I cannot see in the Bible. That a man will receive pardon of his sins, who will not so much as lift up his heart inwardly, and say, "Lord Jesus, give it to me," this I cannot find.
I can find that nobody will be saved by his prayers, but I cannot find that without prayer anybody will be saved. It is not absolutely needful to salvation that a man should read the Bible. A man may have no learning, or be blind, and yet have Christ in his heart.
It is not absolutely needful that a man should hear public preaching of the gospel. He may live where the gospel is not preached, or he may be bedridden, or deaf. But the same thing cannot be said about prayer. It is absolutely needful to salvation that a man should pray.
There is no royal road either to health or learning. Princes and kings, poor men and peasants, all alike must attend to the wants of their own bodies and their own minds. No man can eat, drink, or sleep by proxy. No man can get the alphabet learned for him by another. All these are things which everybody must do for himself, or they will not be done at all.
Just as it is with the mind and body, so it is with the soul. There are certain things absolutely needful to the soul's health and well-being. Each must attend to these things for himself. Each must repent for himself. Each must apply to Christ for himself. And for himself each must speak to God and pray. You must do it for yourself, for by nobody else can it be done.
To be prayerless is to be without God, without Christ, without grace, without hope, and without heaven. It is to be on the road to hell. Now can you wonder that I ask the question, Do you pray? I ask again whether you pray, because a habit of prayer is one of the surest marks of a true Christian.
All the children of God on earth are alike in this respect. From the moment there is any life and reality about their religion, they pray. Just as the first sign of life in an infant when born into the world is the act of breathing, so the first act of men and women when they are born again is praying.
This is one of the common marks of all the elect of God, "They cry unto him day and night" (Luke 18:1). The Holy Spirit, who makes them new creatures, works in them the feeling of adoption, and makes them cry, "Abba, Father" (Romans 8:15).
The Lord Jesus, when he quickens them, gives them a voice and a tongue, and says to them, "Be dumb no more." God has no dumb children. It is as much a part of their new nature to pray, as it is of a child to cry. They see their need of mercy and grace. They feel their emptiness and weakness. They can not do otherwise than they do. They must pray. I have looked carefully over the lives of God's saints in the Bible.
I cannot find one of whose history much is told us, from Genesis to Revelation, who was not a man of prayer. I find it mentioned as a characteristic of the godly, that "they call on the Father" (I Peter 1:17), or "the name of the Lord Jesus Christ" (I Cor. 1:2). Recorded as a characteristic of the wicked is the fact that "they call not upon the Lord" (Ps. 14:4).
I have read the lives of many eminent Christians who have been on earth since the Bible days. Some of them, I see, were rich, and some poor. Some were learned, and some unlearned. Some of them were Episcopalians, and some Christians of other names. Some were Calvinists, and some were Arminians. Some have loved to use a liturgy, and some to use none. But one thing, I see, they all had in common. They have all been men of prayer.
I study the reports of missionary societies in our own times. I see with joy that heathen men and women are receiving the gospel in various parts of the globe. There are conversions in Africa, in New Zealand, in Hindustan, in China. The people converted are naturally unlike one another in every respect. But one striking thing I observe at all the missionary stations: the converted people always pray.
I do not deny that a man may pray without heart and without sincerity. I do not for a moment pretend to say that the mere fact of a person's praying proves is everything about his soul. As in every other part of religion, so also in this, there may be deception and hypocrisy.
But this I do say, that not praying is a clear proof that a man is not yet a true Christian. He cannot really feel his sins. He cannot love God. He cannot feel himself a debtor to Christ. He cannot long after holiness. He cannot desire heaven. He has yet to be born again. He has yet to be made a new creature. He may boast confidently of election, grace, faith, hope, and knowledge, and deceive ignorant people. But you may rest assured it is all vain talk if he does not pray.
And I say, furthermore, that of all the evidences of the real work of the Spirit, a habit of hearty private prayer is one of the most satisfactory that can be named. A man may preach from false motives. A man may write books and make fine speeches and seem diligent in good works, and yet be a Judas Iscariot.
But a man seldom goes into his closet, and pours out his soul before God in secret, unless he is in earnest. The Lord himself has set his stamp on prayer as the best proof of a true conversion. When he sent Ananias to Saul in Damascus, he gave him no other evidence of his change of heart than this, "Behold, he prayeth" (Acts 9: 11).
I know that much may go on in a man's mind before he is brought to pray. He may have many convictions, desires, wishes, feelings, intentions, resolutions, hopes, and fears. But all these things are very uncertain evidences. They are to be found in ungodly people, and often come to nothing. In many a case they are not more lasting than the morning cloud, and the dew that passeth away. A real, hearty prayer, coming from a broken and contrite spirit, is worth all these things put together.
I know that the Holy Spirit, who calls sinners from their evil ways, does in many instances lead them by very slow degrees to acquaintance with Christ. But the eye of man can only judge by what it sees. I cannot call any one justified until he believes. I dare not say that any one believes until he prays. I cannot understand a dumb faith.
The first act of faith will be to speak to God. Faith is to the soul what life is to the body. Prayer is to faith what breath is to life. How a man can live and not breathe is past my comprehension, and how a man can believe and not pray is past my comprehension too.
Never be surprised if you hear ministers of the gospel dwelling much on the importance of prayer. This is the point we want to bring you to; we want to know that you pray. Your views of doctrine may be correct. Your love of Protestantism may be warm and unmistakable. But still this may be nothing more than head knowledge and party spirit.
We want to know whether you are actually acquainted with the throne of grace, and whether you can speak to God as well as speak about God. Do you wish to find out whether you are a true Christian? Then rest assured that my question is of the very first importance - Do you pray? I ask whether you pray, because there is no duty in religion so neglected as private prayer.
We live in days of abounding religious profession. There are more places of public worship now than there ever were before. There are more persons attending them than there ever were before. And yet in spite of all this public religion, I believe there is a vast neglect of private prayer. It is one of those private transactions between God and our souls which no eye sees, and therefore one which men are tempted to pass over and leave undone.
I believe that thousands never utter a word of prayer at all. They eat. They drink. They sleep. They rise. They go forth to their labor. They return to their homes. They breathe God's air. They see God's sun. They walk on God's earth. They enjoy God's mercies. They have dying bodies. They have judgment and eternity before them.
But they never speak to God. They live like the beasts that perish. They behave like creatures without souls. They have not one word to say to Him in whose hand are their life and breath, and all things, and from whose mouth they must one day receive their everlasting sentence.
How dreadful this seems; but if the secrets of men were only known, how common.I believe there are tens of thousands whose prayers are nothing but a mere form, a set of words repeated by rote, without a thought about their meaning. Some say over a few hasty sentences picked up in the nursery when they were children.
Some content themselves with repeating the Creed, forgetting that there is not a request in it. Some add the Lord's Prayer, but without the slightest desire that its solemn petitions may be granted.
Many, even of those who use good forms, mutter their prayers after they have gotten into bed, or while they wash or dress in the morning. Men may think what they please, but they may depend upon it that in the sight of God this is not praying. Words said without heart are as utterly useless to our souls as the drum beating of the poor heathen before their idols.
Where there is no heart, there may be lip work and tongue work, but there is nothing that God listens to; there is no prayer. Saul, I have no doubt, said many a long prayer before the Lord met him on the way to Damascus. But it was not till his heart was broken that the Lord said, "He prayeth."
Does this surprise you? Listen to me, and I will show you that I am not speaking as I do without reason. Do you think that my assertions are extravagant and unwarrantable? Give me your attention, and I will soon show you that I am only telling you the truth. Have you forgotten that it is not natural to any one to pray? "The carnal mind is enmity against God."
The desire of man's heart is to get far away from God, and have nothing to do with him. His feeling towards him is not love, but fear. Why then should a man pray when he has no real sense of sin, no real feeling of spiritual wants, no thorough belief in unseen things, no desire after holiness and heaven? Of all these things the vast majority of men know and feel nothing. The multitude walk in the broad way. I cannot forget this. Therefore I say boldly, I believe that few pray.
Have you forgotten that it is not fashionable to pray? It is one of the things that many would be rather ashamed to own. There are hundreds who would sooner storm a breach, or lead a forlorn hope, than confess publicly that they make a habit of prayer. There are thousands who, if obliged to sleep in the same room with a stranger, would lie down in bed without a prayer.
To dress well, to go to theaters, to be thought clever and agreeable, all this is fashionable, but not to pray. I cannot forget this. I cannot think a habit is common which so many seem ashamed to own. I believe that few pray. Have you forgotten the lives that many live? Can we really believe that people are praying against sin night and day, when we see them plunging into it?
Can we suppose they pray against the world, when they are entirely absorbed and taken up with its pursuits? Can we think they really ask God for grace to serve him, when they do not show the slightest desire to serve him at all? Oh, no, it is plain as daylight that the great majority of men either ask nothing of God or do not mean what they say when they do ask, which is just the same thing.
Praying and sinning will never live together in the same heart. Prayer will consume sin, or sin will choke prayer. I cannot forget this. I look at men's lives. I believe that few pray. Have you forgotten the deaths that many die? How many, when they draw near death, seem entirely strangers to God.
Not only are they sadly ignorant of his gospel, but sadly wanting in the power of speaking to him. There is a terrible awkwardness and shyness in their endeavors to approach him. They seem to be taking up a fresh thing. They appear as if they wanted an introduction to God, and as if they had never talked with him before.
I remember having heard of a lady who was anxious to have a minister to visit her in her last illness. She desired that he would pray with her. He asked her what he should pray for. She did not know, and could not tell. She was utterly unable to name any one thing which she wished him to ask God for her soul.
All she seemed to want was the form of a minister's prayers. I can quite understand this. Death beds are great revealers of secrets. I cannot forget what I have seen of sick and dying people. This also leads me to believe that few pray.
I cannot see your heart. I do not know your private history in spiritual things. But from what I see in the Bible and in the world I am certain I cannot ask you a more necessary question than that before you - Do you pray? I ask whether you pray, because prayer is an act in religion to which there is great encouragement.
There is everything on God's part to make prayer easy, if men will only attempt it. All things are ready on his side. Every objection is anticipated. Every difficulty is provided for. The crooked places are made straight and the rough places are made smooth. There is no excuse left for the prayerless man.”
I am going to stop at this point in the tract, and I plan to pick up next week where we left off. Bishop Ryle has much more to say to us on this subject. I invite all of you who are hearing or reading my words to join us next week at this same place and time as I read the second of three Installments of this tract.
This concludes tonight's Discussion for our current Series, “What Is A Christian? Part 40.”
This Discussion was presented “live” on Wednesday, November 6th, 2024.
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